Kansas reveals Trackhouse’s massive weakness

As the AdventHealth 400 continued and Denny Hamlin battled for the lead, Trackhouse Racing’s overall presence in the race felt limited. But this seems to have been their story throughout the season so far. Even Shane van Gisbergen, who was almost guaranteed to bring the team their first race win at COTA, finished in second place. Tyler Reddick, who has pretty much dominated the season with his fifth race win coming in at Kansas, won that race as well.

But there was a massive difference between COTA and Kansas. While Trackhouse at least had a car in winning contention that race, they were no better than the backmarkers at the most recent Cup Series race. While all eyes were focused on the front of the pack, popular NASCAR insider and analyst Eric Estepp pointed out their position in the middle of the race.

“Trackhouse running 30th, 32nd, and 34th. Who are they tanking for?” He wrote on X.

There is possibly another aspect to their struggling performances. Apart from the obvious, their OEM, Chevrolet, has also not managed to win enough against Toyota this season. Considering this, Kyle Larson, arguably one of the best performers at Kansas, lost out to a Toyota in the final moments. In fact, it was a Toyota that led most of the laps.

There is seemingly an issue with the Chevys; however, that doesn’t mean that Trackhouse has to sit at the back of the field. Many pointed this out, as they reacted to the massive drop in Trackhouse’s performance in the race.

Fans bash on Trackhouse’s performance after NASCAR’s Kansas visit

“Trackhouse either needs to make some big changes or sell the charters. The way they are running this year is atrocious,” a fan wrote, commenting on the team’s subpar performance so far this season. It doesn’t come as a surprise that there has been a massive backlash against their performance. The team has competitive drivers, but they fail to provide them with the resources to perform at a peak level.

Some of the fans also suggested some interesting strategies for the team as they continued to fall further behind the leader with every passing lap. “Someone should tell LappedHouse that when they pit after the leaders, they lose track position to the leaders and go another lap down.”

At the same time, many also pointed fingers at Richard Childress Racing because of their partnership with Trackhouse Racing. Neither of the teams has been performing well on the grand stage in NASCAR, and it’s easy to see why fans are so frustrated with them. “Anyone affiliated with ECR is pretty much a back marker now.”

“That’s the best they can do, Eric. They’re clueless on ovals, Ross has just outdriven his equipment from time to time,” wrote another fan, commenting on Ross Chastain’s performance as a driver. While it is true that Trackhouse does manage to pull out better performances on road courses, it is usually SvG who gets the job done because of his expertise on road courses.

While the fans seem to be making the most of Trackhouse’s situation (as another comment read: “They’re acting like there’s an NCAA racing series”), it paints a much more dire picture for them as a team. NASCAR has never been easy, but for a team like Trackhouse, running three full-time charters, it is quite understandable why the fans expect them to perform better.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR