TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) — The Rick Hendrick Express rolls into Talladega Superspeedway, with Joe Gibbs Racing nipping at their bumpers.

Good luck to everyone else in the NASCAR Cup series.

Even at this high-banked madhouse in rural Alabama, which is usually as much of a crapshoot as any track on the circuit, there’s already a sense that 2024 is shaking out as a two-team sprint to the championship.

Through nine races, the top six spots in the standings are split evenly between the Hendrick and Gibbs powerhouses. They’ve hoarded nearly all the wins, too, with Daniel Suarez’s pulsating Atlanta victory being the only race that prevented a clean sweep.

William Byron already has three wins for Hendrick Motorsports, while teammate Chase Elliott took the checkered flag a week ago at Texas Motor Speedway. A third Hendrick driver, Kyle Larson, leads the standings and had won three straight poles until he was booted from qualifying Saturday because of an unauthorized change to his car.