At this year's installment of the Nextel Cup Series, dominance was shown by Chevrolet teams early on. The domination started on the first race of the season which was the Daytona 500. The race was won by a Chevrolet driven by Kevin Harvick in his Number 29 Chevrolet Impala. Aside from Harvick, five other Chevrolet cars finished in the top ten at the said event, a feat which showed that Chevrolet cars are in a position to win any race this season.
The second race though was won by Matt Kenseth on his Number 17 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing. While a Chevrolet failed to win at the Auto Club 500, six of them finished in the top ten. After this win by a non-Chevy car team, the domination became evident as Chevrolet took a string of win which ended at the fourteenth race of the season; at the Pocono 500.
After the Pocono 500, a Ford won the Citizens Bank 400 at the Michigan International Speedway. Going into that race, history was against Chevrolet since in the past five years, only Dodge and Ford cars have won a race at the MIS. And the string of losses for Chevrolet teams at the MIS continued as Carl Edwards driving his Ford Fusion for Roush Fenway Racing took the win.
The next race after the Citizens Bank 400 is the Toyota/Save Mart 350 which was held at the Infineon Raceway. It was expected on that race that Chevrolet would once again assert their dominance but it was not meant to be. Former Formula One driver Juan Pablo Montoya on the Number 42 Dodge Avenger driving for Chip Ganassi Racing made sure of that. Being billed as one of the top road course drivers in NASCAR today, the Colombian driver took Dodge's first win of the season.
After two losses, Chevrolet teams saw their dominance weakening. But at the Lenox Industrial Tools 300, the seventeenth race of the season, the domination which saw Chevrolet teams take win after win at the start of the season was evident. The said race was won by Denny Hamlin on his Number 11 Chevrolet Impala which performed smoothly as if it is equipped with . Not only did a Chevy car win the race, but eight Chevrolet cars finished in the top eight.
Just as everyone was thinking that Chevrolet is back on track and its dominance will be reasserted, came the Pepsi 400, the eighteenth race of the season and is the halfway point of the season. The race was held at the Daytona International Speedway where interestingly, Chevrolet's dominance this year was first manifested. There was no repeat performance for Chevrolet though as Jamie McMurray's Number 26 Ford Fusion won the race.
The next race of the season is scheduled to take place at the Chicagoland Speedway on the 15th of this month. The said race will be the nineteenth race of the season and it will be a pivotal race for those drivers looking to qualify in the top twelve to be eligible for the Chase for the Nextel Cup. Whether Chevrolet will once again dominate the race is yet to be revealed. To date, all teams except Toyota has scored a win, Chevrolet already has sixteen wins including the All-Star race, Ford already has three wins and Dodge has one.
