NASCAR’s Most Valuable Teammates: Which Driver Is Leading The Way For Each Organization?

In NASCAR, “teammates” are a funny concept.

On the one hand, drivers in the same organization need to work together to succeed. But on the other hand, consistently getting beaten by a teammate can be very bad for a driver’s career, since most people assume they’re driving the same equipment.

With the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series now halfway to the Chase, it’s a good time to look at each of the multi-car teams in NASCAR and pick out which driver has been the most valuable for his organization on the track this season.

Carl Edwards tied for last year’s championship and entered 2012 as the favorite to win this year’s Chase, but he’s lagged behind his two teammates at Roush.

Edwards is 12th in points while Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth are 1-2 in the point standings. Biffle and Kenseth have each won a race while Edwards has not.

This is a tough call because Kenseth won the Daytona 500 and is just one point behind Biffle, but the Biff has been leading the point standings since the third race of the season.

MVT: Greg Biffle

At Hendrick, the campus is divided into two different race shops. One building houses the teams of Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne; just down the sidewalk, the other building is home for Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Though all four Hendrick cars have been fast this year, Gordon and Kahne have experienced well-documented rotten luck. Kahne has won a race and made a comeback to climb within one point of a Wild Card spot, but he’s not quite in MVT contention.

That leaves Earnhardt Jr. (third in points with a series-leading 10 top-10 finishes) or Johnson (fifth in points with two wins).

Wins ultimately triumph over consistency, so Johnson gets the nod.

MVT: Jimmie Johnson

This is an easy one. Denny Hamlin is fourth in points with two wins while Kyle Busch is 58 points behind Hamlin with one win.

Joey Logano might be able to save his job if he wins or makes the Chase, but he and his team are not at the same level as Busch and Hamlin right now.

MVT: Denny Hamlin

MWR is in the midst of easily its best season ever, with drivers Martin Truex Jr. (sixth) and Clint Bowyer (10th) both currently inside the top 10 in points.

But is it possible the Most Valuable Teammate at MWR this year isn’t even a full-time driver? No, we’re not talking about Brian Vickers, but Mark Martin.

Martin has a series-high three pole positions this year and is 24th in the point standings despite having missed three races so far. And his veteran experience has unquestionably contributed to MWR’s turnaround.

Still, the No. 56 team has been truly leading the way this year. Truex has four top-five finishes to Martin’s one and has double the amount of top-10s (8-4). It was tempting to pick Martin as the MVT, but not quite enough.

MVT: Martin Truex Jr.

From an outsider’s view, it seems like RCR puts the most resources into its flagship No. 29 car while its other two cars don’t get quite the same attention.

Kevin Harvick has done his part on the track, sitting seventh in points and firmly inside the Chase top 10.

Harvick also has seven top-10 finishes, which is more than his two teammates combined (six). Paul Menard is 15th in points and Jeff Burton is 18th, suffering through another season of bad breaks.

MVT: Kevin Harvick

Danica Patrick was going to be the pick here, but since she technically drives for Tommy Baldwin Racing, it’s not her.

(Just kidding about the first part.)

Anyway, Tony Stewart is the obvious choice because he’s won twice and is eighth in points while Ryan Newman is 13th with one win (though Newman currently holds the final Wild Card spot).

MVT: Tony Stewart

There’s not even a debate here. Brad Keselowski picked up where he left off at the end of last season and has already won twice. Keselowski sits 11th in points while teammate AJ Allmendinger hasn’t had anything go his way and is mired in 23rd place.

MVT: Brad Keselowski

I wasn’t sold on Aric Almirola at the start of the season, but he’s done quite a nice job for RPM so far and is actually ahead of teammate Marcos Ambrose in the standings.

Granted, Almirola is only up by eight points, but he’s running respectable races with far less experience than most of his competitors. This could change if Ambrose wins a race or two and gets himself into Chase Wild Card contention, but Almirola deserves the MVT at RPM for now.

MVT: Aric Almirola

Sometimes, a driver can only do so much. That seems to be the case at EGR this season, where drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and Jamie McMurray are both struggling and are separated by only one point in the standings. One point!

Montoya is ahead in the standings by the aforementioned single point (20th vs. 21st), but McMurray has one more top-10 than his teammate (two vs. one).

MVT: Jamie McMurray

See above comment about how drivers can only do so much. Front Row is an organization that works hard and tries its best, but that’s not everything in racing. With lesser equipment than the top teams, drivers David Ragan and David Gilliland are looking for top-20s, not top-10s (and rookie Josh Wise is just trying to make races).

Ragan and Gilliland are 29th and 30th in points, respectively, and that’s roughly equivalent to the quality of their cars. I’ll give the slight edge to Ragan, based on his top-10 finish at Talladega. Wise has done a good job to make 11 straight races before missing Dover, but he’s a start-and-parker.

MVT: David Ragan

It hasn’t been a very good start for BK Racing, which is struggling with drivers Landon Cassill and a combination of Travis Kvapil and David Reutimann.

Cassill, Kvapil and Reutimann are 31-32-33 in the point standings, though Cassill has one more start than both.

MVT: Toss-up

No, it’s not Danica Patrick. The decision comes down to Reutimann or Dave Blaney. Unfortunately, Blaney is behind Reutimann in the point standings despite making one fewer start, so Reuti gets the call.

MVT: David Reutimann