2020 Daytona 500 in just 27 days

Ryan Blaney made the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) playoffs in the last three seasons. He got as far as the final elimination race in 2018 and 2019, but missed making the Championship 4 finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Here are some brief performance notes on Blaney and some other drivers who finished in the top 20 in points for the NCS, XFINITY Series and Gander Outdoors Truck Series. Since a few teams are still firming up their 2020 plans, follow NASCAR Headlines and "Player" News on this page for the latest driver updates. With 27 days before the NCS season-opening Daytona 500, a tentative list of NCS Driver/Team lineups is shown below for all full-time teams that plan on entering every event.

                                       NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)

2019: Brad Keselowski (Team Penske #2 Ford Mustang) - In 36 races, the Rochester Hills, MI native scored 3 victories, 3 poles, 13 top-five finishes, 19 top-tens, had a 10.0 average start, a 12.9 average finish and led 1,085 laps. He made it into the season playoffs Round of 16 and the Round of 12 but was cut before the Round of 8. Keselowski closed out the season 8th in the standings. His best NCS starts were the poles at Loudon (7/21), Michigan (8/11) and Richmond (9/21). His best finishes were the wins at Atlanta (2/24), Martinsville (3/24) and Kansas (5/11).
2020: Keselowski is contracted through at least 2020 to drive the #2 Mustang. Team Penske reassigned crew chiefs during the off-season. Paul Wolfe moved over to teammate Joey Logano's #22 team and Jeremy Bullins will cover that job for Keselowski's team in 2020. Miller Lite, Discount Tire, Dent Wizard, Pirtek and AutoTrader have committed primary sponsorship money for the #2 Ford.
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2019: Ryan Blaney (Team Penske #12 Ford Mustang) - In 36 races, the High Point, NC native scored 1 win, 1 pole, 11 top-five finishes, 18 top-tens, had a 12.3 average start, a 13.7 average finish and led 422 laps. He made it into the season playoffs Round of 16, the Round of 12 and into the Round of 8 but did not make the final cut heading into the NCS Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami. Blaney closed out the season 7th in the standings. His best NCS season start was the pole at Phoenix (3/10) and his best finish was the victory at Talladega (10/13). He also drove Team Penske's #12 Mustang in 2 NXS events. At Watkins Glen, he started 3rd and finished 4th. At Darlington, he earned the pole and finished 3rd.
2020: Blaney signed a multi-year contract and will return through at least 2020 in the #12 Mustang. At this time, only Advance Auto Parts has firmly signed up as a primary sponsor for 4 races. As noted above, Team Penske swapped crew chiefs. Jeremy Bullins, Blaney's 2019 chief moved to teammate Keselowski's crew. Blaney now has Logano's former crew chief Todd Gordon leading the #12 crew for the upcoming season.

                                   NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS)

2019: Noah Gragson (JR Motorsports #9 Chevrolet Camaro) - In 33 races, the Las Vegas, NV native scored 9 top-five finishes, 22 top-tens, had a 10.5 average start, a 9.3 average finish and led 72 laps. He made it into the season playoffs Round of 12, also the Round of 8 but did not make the final cut heading into the NXS Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami. He closed out the season 8th in the standings. His best NXS season start was 3rd at Kentucky (7/12) and best finish was 2nd at Michigan (6/8). Gragson also drove Jefferson Pitts Racing #7 Chevrolet in the K&N Pro Series West (renamed ARCA Menards West in 2020) event at Sonoma (CA) road course; started 2nd, won the race.
2020: Unless something unexpected happens, Gragson will return for his second season as the driver of JRM's #9 Camaro. Dave Elenz will continue as his crew chief. Sponsorship has yet to be confirmed.
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2019: John Hunter Nemechek (GMS Racing #23 Chevrolet Camaro) - In 33 races, the Mooresville, NC native scored 6 top-five finishes, 19 top-tens, had a 13.7 average start, a 12.5 average finish and led 14 laps. He made it into the season playoffs Round of 12 but was cut before the start of the Round of 8. He closed out the season 8th in the standings. His best NXS season start was 5th at Indianapolis (9/7) and best finish was 2nd at Las Vegas (3/2). Nemechek's last NXS win was at Kansas Speedway on 10/20/2018. He also debuted in the Cup series driving for Front Row Motorsports in 3 events in preparation for a possible move.
2020: GMS Racing shut down their NXS teams at the end of 2019 in order to focus on the GOT trucks and ARCA Menards Series teams this season. Nemechek has been hired full-time to drive the Front Row Motorsports #38 Ford Mustang in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series (NCS). Seth Barbour is crew chief for the team which will be sponsored by MDS Trucking. Nemechek will also be a contender for the Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors in the NCS.

                                  Gander Outdoors Truck Series (GOT)

2019: Tyler Ankrum (DGR-Crosley #17 Toyota Tundra) – In 20 GOT races, the San Bernardino, CA native scored 1 win, 3 top-five finishes, 8 top-tens, had an 11.0 average start, a 15.3 average finish and led 304 laps. He made it into the season playoffs Round of 8, also into the Round of 6 but did not make the final cut heading into the GOT Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami. Ankrum closed out the season 8th in the standings. His best truck season starts were 2nd at Kansas (5/10) and Talladega (10/12). His best finish was the victory at Kentucky (7/11).
2020: At the end of 2019, Ankrum moved to GMS Racing and will pilot their #26 Chevrolet Camaro. Chad Walter will partner with Ankrum as crew chief for the #26. Sponsorship has not been announced at this time.
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2019: Grant Enfinger (ThorSport Racing #99 Ford F-150) – In 23 GOT races, the Fairhope, AL native scored 2 poles, 10 top-five finishes, 18 top-tens, had an 8.0 average start, an 8.5 average finish and led 304 laps. He made it into the season playoffs Round of 8 but was cut before the start of the Round of 6. Enfinger closed out the season 8th in the standings. His best truck starts were the poles at Texas (3/29) and Kentucky (7/11). His best finish was 2nd at Daytona (2/15). Enfinger's last GOT win was in the World of Westgate 200 on September 14, 2018 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
2020: According to ThorSport Racing's website, Enfinger will continue driving the #99 Ford F-150 again this season. At this time, Jeff Hensley is listed as crew chief and Champion Power Equipment is the primary sponsor for the Ford truck.

                                 2020 Tentative NCS Series Team Chart