7 NASCAR teams that went from powerhouse to broke in record time

NASCAR has seen a myriad of teams take home the championship glory throughout the decades. While securing a title or even a race win is a difficult task for many, some teams have excelled at remaining at the helm of the field.

Though achieving prestigious feats is a difficult task, staying at the top is another one. So, let's take a look at some teams whose stories have not ended on a good note and have struggled in the racing sphere after being at the top once in their storylines.

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7 NASCAR teams that went from heading the field to being backmarkers

#7 Red Bull Racing

While the Austrian energy drinks maker was not a championship-winning outfit in NASCAR, it was reckoned to soon be one owing to its upward trajectory in other championships. Moreover, Red Bull is a powerhouse in the F1 sphere, where the team has been on a roll as it recently secured four consecutive world championships between 2021 and 2024.

However, its tale in NASCAR was not as successful as it had hoped for. After joining the field regularly in 2006, it struggled to qualify for races. But these concerns soon went away in the following years as the squad started scoring race wins and respectable finishes inside the top-10.

Despite this, the team ran into financial trouble as the sport relied on funding by sponsors, and it had to incur the indirect expense of running large Red Bull graphics by the side of the car. Thus, leading them to leave the sport.

If you want to discover in detail why the Austrian giant left the stock car racing realm, readers can visit here to learn about all the factors in play for Red Bull's departure.

#6 Furniture Row Racing

Furniture Row Racing was established in 2005, and it largely remained a single-charter operation. While the squad won the 2017 title at the hands of Martin Truex Jr., running two cars for the whole year in the team's history, financial strain caused them to revert to a single-car formula in the subsequent year.

Despite the team's valiant efforts and a championship victory, they were unable to sustain the business and folded operations after the conclusion of the 2018 Cup Series season.

#5 RFK Racing

RFK Racing was at the top of NASCAR during the 2000s. It won the 2003 and 2004 championships at the hands of Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch.

However, these performances were not able to last for long. The team used to run five racecars at one point, but it witnessed a slow decline in performance, as it went down from a championship-contending outfit to a midfielder within the span of a decade.

The team has recently scored some decent results at the hands of Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher, but it is no longer the benchmark that it once used to be.

#4 Dale Earnhardt Inc.

While RFK Racing is still on the racing map, this cannot be said for Dale Earnhardt Inc. Dale Earnhardt's son used to be the team's leader in the Cup Series, as he brought a string of victories, but he also departed the squad in 2007.

This saw the squad fall into more misery as ownership struggles tainted the team, leading to it operating until the end of the 2008 season. So after 24 race victories and two championships, the team merged into Chip Ganassi Racing in the following year, ending Dale Earnhardt Inc.'s time in the racing field.

#3 Michael Waltrip Racing

The notoriously infamous Spingate laid down the domino for Michael Waltrip Racing's exit from the sport. With an attempt at manipulating the Richmond race result through Clint Bowyer's choreographed spin to aid Martin Truex Jr., the team was destined to be involved in a bigger controversy.

NASCAR soon suspected that the string of incidents that night was eerily coincidental. Moreover, officials soon investigated the issue and did not show any mercy as they slammed the team with a massive $300,000 fine and docked 50 points from each MWR driver's tally.

So, after scoring seven race victories over two decades, the burden of the fine and the strained reputation saw the team fold its operations just years later, as it remained on the field till the 2015 season.

#2 Stewart-Haas Racing

Stewart-Haas Racing remains on the NASCAR field under the alias of Haas Factory Team. While the Gene Haas-owned venture is still here, it is far away from its glorious days.

SHR was opened in 2009 and won its first championship in 2011 and repeated this feat in 2014. The squad also had multiple champions drive for it, but the team was seemingly past its prime.

The best result of a runner-up spot secured by Kevin Harvick in 2015 remains its highlight in the following decade as the four-charter team is now reduced down to a single-charter effort with HFT. The squadron is nowhere near its former success in the Cup Series field.

#1 Petty Enterprises

While other teams have tasted the success of winning championships, Petty Enterprises was on a different platform in the NASCAR sphere. The team won 10 championships, divided between Lee Petty and his son, Richard Petty.

But the 80s were seemingly not kind to the squad as they soon witnessed a dip in performance, and while some glorious moments stood out through such dismal results, the team never returned to its previous form.

This trend continued into its following era under the Petty Motorsports moniker, where the Richard Petty-led outfit secured even lower results, leading the team to finally bid adieu to NASCAR in 2021.