The 63rd annual Daytona 500 in just 20 days

Only 20 days remain before the green flag drops to start NASCAR’s Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500. Here is a brief look at Cup Series 3rd-placed Joey Logano’s 2020 season and snapshots on a few other drivers who finished in the Top-20 across NASCAR’s three premium series. The tentative list of 2021 Cup Driver/Team lineups attached shows only those teams who plan on entering all events. Follow NASCAR Headlines and "Player" News on this site for the latest driver/team updates.

                    NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)

2020: Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing #11 Toyota Camry) - In 36 races, the Chesterfield, Virginia native scored 7 wins, 18 top-fives, 21 top-tens, had an 8.9 average start, a 9.31 average finish and led 1,083 laps. The wins earned him a spot in the NCS Playoffs Round of 16. He advanced to the Round of 12 and made it through the Round of 8. As one of the four drivers entering the Championship 4 event, Hamlin started 4th in the lineup and finished in 4th place. He closed out the season 4th in the 2020 NCS Championship standings behind 3rd-placed Joey Logano.
2021: Hamlin is signed through at least 2021 with JGR in the #11 Camry. Crew chief Chris Gabehart and sponsor FedEx return as well. Hamlin also takes on a new role as a team owner this season. He and NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan have joined to form a new single-car Cup team. 23XI Racing (combo of Jordan’s career number 23 and Hamlin’s car #11) will field the #23 Toyota Camry with Bubba Wallace (former driver of Richard Petty Motorsports’ #43 Mustang) behind the wheel. 23XI purchased a NASCAR CUP Charter to run full-time from Germain Racing who ceased operations at the end of 2020. The team will also work out of Germain’s former facility with some of their former employees.

2020: Joey Logano (Team Penske #22 Ford Mustang) - In 36 races, the Middletown, Connecticut native scored 3 wins, 12 top-fives, 21 top-tens, had a 6.4 average start, an 11.89 average finish and led 939 laps. The wins earned him a spot in the NCS Playoffs Round of 16. He advanced to the Round of 12 and made it through the Round of 8. As one of the four drivers entering the Championship 4 event, Logano started 2nd in the lineup, led 125 laps and finished in 3rd place. He closed out the season 3rd in the 2020 NCS Championship standings behind 2nd-placed Brad Keselowski.
2021: Logano is signed through 2023 with Team Penske in the #22 Mustang. Crew chief Paul Wolf and sponsors: Shell-Pennzoil, AAA, Autotrader and MoneyLion will also return this season.

           NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS)

2020: Chase Briscoe (Stewart-Haas Racing #98 Ford Mustang) - In 33 races, the Mitchell, Indiana native scored a series-high 9 wins, 16 top-fives, 22 top-tens, had a 6.3 average start, an 8.39 average finish and led a series-high 1,032 laps. The wins earned him a spot in the NXS Playoffs Round of 12. He made it through the Round of 12 and the Round of 8. As one of the four drivers entering the Championship 4 event, Briscoe started 2nd in the lineup, led 41 laps and finished in 9th place. He closed out the season 4th in the 2020 NXS Championship standings behind 3rd-placed Justin Haley. 
2021: SHR’s Cup driver Clint Bowyer was hired by FOX Sports for broadcast coverage of NASCAR races full time in 2021. Briscoe has moved up to the CUP Series to take over Bowyer’s #14 Mustang. John Klausmeier continues as crew chief for the team. So far, HighPoint has signed on as primary sponsor for some of the races. Briscoe will be a contender for the CUP Series 2021 Sunoco Rookie of the Year honor. Former Joe Gibbs Racing NXS driver Riley Herbst was picked up by SHR as the new pilot of the #98 Ford.

2020: Justin Haley (Kaulig Racing #11 Chevrolet Camaro) - In 33 races, the Winamac, Indiana native scored 3 wins, 10 top-fives, 21 top-tens, had a 7.2 average start, a 10.3 average finish and led 113 laps. The wins earned him a spot in the NXS Playoffs Round of 12. He made it through the Round of 12 and the Round of 8. As one of the four drivers entering the Championship 4 event, Haley started 4th in the lineup and finished in 8th place. He closed out the season 3rd in the 2020 NXS Championship standings behind 2nd-placed Justin Allgaier.
2021: Haley will return for another full season in the LeafFilter sponsored #11 Camaro with Alex Yontz as crew chief. Kaulig Racing has expanded into the Cup Series by entering it’s #16 Camaro for a part-time schedule with multiple drivers. Kaz Grala will attempt the Daytona 500 and AJ Allmendinger will drive it in the Daytona Road Course race. It is very possible Haley will take his turn in the Cup car but nothing has been announced at this time.

         NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NTS)

2020: Grant Enfinger (ThorSport Racing #98 Ford F-150) - In 23 races, the Fairhope, Alabama native scored 4 wins, 8 top-fives, 13 top-tens, had a 6.7 average start, a 10.43 average finish and led 156 laps. The wins earned him a spot in the NTS Playoffs Round of 10. He made the cut for the Round of 8 and also advanced to the season-ending race. As one of the four drivers entering the Championship 4 event, Enfinger started on the pole, led two laps and finished in 13th place. He closed out the season 4th in the 2020 NTS Championship standings behind 3rd-placed Brett Moffitt.
2021: Grant Enfinger will return to the #98 truck but ThorSport Racing has parted ways with Ford. Also, Enfinger’s 2020 crew Jeff Hensley has moved to the GMS #23 Chevrolet truck team. ThorSport has yet to announce the brand and crew chief lineup for its four trucks (Enfinger’s #98, Johnny Sauter’s #13, Matt Crafton’s #88 and Ben Rhodes’ #99).

2020: Brett Moffitt (GMS Racing #23 Chevrolet Silverado) - In 23 races, the Grimes, Iowa native scored 1 win, 10 top-fives, 16 top-tens, had a 5.1 average start, a 9.74 average finish and led 469 laps. The win earned him a spot in the NTS Playoffs Round of 10. He made the cut for the Round of 8 and also advanced to the season-ending race. As one of the four drivers entering the Championship 4 event, Moffitt started 4th in the lineup, led a race-high 78 laps and finished in 10th place. He closed out the season 3rd in the 2020 NTS Championship standings, 8 points behind 2nd-placed Zane Smith. Moffitt also drove almost a full schedule in the XFINITY Series (29 of 33 races) in Our Motorsports #02 Camaro. He scored 1 win and averaged an 18.3 finish.
2021: Moffitt left GMS Racing and will continue running for his second NTS Championship in Niece Motorsports’ #45 Silverado this season. Phil Gould is the assigned crew chief for the team. Although he won’t be collecting points in the XFINITY Series, Moffitt has also committed to running the full NXS schedule in Our Motorsports’ #02 Chevrolet Camaro as well. He will have his 2020 crew chief Joe Williams again and sponsorship from Fr8Auctions. Chase Purdy was hired by GMS Racing to drive the #23 truck in 2021.

                      2021 Tentative NCS Series Team Chart