The NASCAR 2019 XFINITY and Truck Series banquet and awards ceremonies are history. The CUP Series’ banquet is this coming Thursday in Nashville. Time to ‘Look Ahead’. During the off-season, we’ll give a snapshot of where drivers finished in 2019 and what’s ahead for them in 2020. Drivers who finished in the top 20 in points for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, XFINITY Series and Gander Outdoors Truck Series will be covered. Since many teams have yet to firm up their 2020 plans, follow NASCAR Headlines and “Player” News on this screen for the latest driver updates.
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With 78 days to go until the 2020 NASCAR Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500, here are a few driver recaps followed by a tentative list of 2020 Cup Driver/Team lineups. Teams listed are full-time and plan on entering all events.[[ad:athena]]
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (CUP)
2019: Chris Buescher (JTG Daugherty Racing #37 Chevrolet) - In 36 races, the Prosper, TX driver scored 4 top-tens, had a 21.6 average start, a 17.8 average finish, led 13 laps and closed out the season 20th in the standings. Buescher’s best CUP season start was 7th at Richmond (4/13) and best finish was 6th at Charlotte (5/26). His last Cup win was August 1, 2018 at Pocono Raceway.
2020: Buescher left the #37 at the end of the season and will replace Ricky Stenhouse Jr. as the driver of the #17 Roush Fenway Ford. Luke Lambert will be his crew chief. Stenhouse will move to JTG Daugherty Racing, tentatively piloting Buescher’s former #37 Chevy.
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2019: Paul Menard (Wood Brothers Racing #21 Ford) - In 36 races, the Eau Claire, WI driver scored 4 top-10s, had a 16.6 average start, a 16.6 average finish, led 11 laps and closed out the season 19th in the standings. Menards’ best CUP season start was 2nd at Indianapolis (9/8), best finish was 6th at Bristol (4/7). His last CUP win was at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 31, 2011. Menard also piloted Team Penske’s #12 Mustang in 2 XFINITY Series races; best start pole, best finish 4th, both in the June 8th Michigan race.
2020: Menard has retired from full-time racing to spend time with family and, also, to get more involved in the family business (Menards). Matt DiBenedetto has been signed to drive the #21 Ford for the Wood Brothers.
NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS)
2019: BJ McLeod (JD Motorsports #4 and #15 Chevrolet) - In 30 races, the Wauchula, FL driver had a 25.9 average start, a 22.8 average finish and closed out the season 20th in the standings. His best NXS season start was 12th at Homestead (11/16) and best finishes were 16th at Dover (10/5) and Texas (11/2). McLeod also made 18 Cup starts for Rick Ware Racing with a best finish of 19th at Daytona (2/17).
2020: McLeod will continue fielding his own McLeod Motorsports #5, #78 and #99 cars with several drivers. He will most likely return to JDM’s #15 Chevy and he will also be one of the drivers in one of the three Rick Ware Racing cars entering CUP Series races in 2020.
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2019: Garrett Smithley (JD Motorsports #0 Chevrolet) - In 33 races, the Ligonier, PA driver had a 29.4 average start, a 23.6 average finish and closed out the season 19th in the standings. His best NXS season starts were 20th at Richmond (4/12) and Dover (10/5). His best finish was 12th at Talladega (4/27). He also made 14 Cup starts (all “start and park”) for several teams with a best finish of 28th place.
2020: No firm plans for Smithley at this point. JD Motorsports has yet to announce their driver lineup for next season. Smithley is also being considered for one of the three Rick Ware Racing CUP Series cars.
NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series (GOT):
2019: Christian Eckes (Kyle Busch Motorsports #51 Toyota Tundra) – In 8 GOT races, the Middletown, NY driver scored 3 top-fives, 4 top-tens, earned 3 poles, had a 4.8 average start, a 10.5 average finish, led 90 laps and closed out the season 20th in the standings. His best truck season starts were the poles at Daytona (2/15), Las Vegas (9/13) and Martinsville (10/26). His best finishes were 3rd at Las Vegas (9/13) and Homestead (11/15). Eckes also earned the 2019 ARCA Menards Series Championship title driving Venturini Motorsports #15 Toyota. He entered 19 of the 20 AMS races (illness for one event) averaging a 5.1 start (including 2 poles), a 4.8 average finish (including 4 victories), led 400 laps and closed out the AMS season 25 points ahead of 2nd-placed Michael Self for the championship.
2020: Kyle Busch Motorsports announced that Eckes will be the full-time driver of KBM’s #18 Toyota Tundra in the GOT series with Safelite as his primary sponsor.
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2019: Natalie Decker (DGR-Crosley #54 Toyota Tundra) – In 19 races, the Eagle River, WI driver had a 19.9 average start, a 22.2 average finish and closed out the GOT season 19th in the standings. Her best truck start was 11th at Daytona (2/15) and best finish was 13th at Las Vegas (3/1).
2020: At this time, there are no firm 2020 plans announced for Decker or DGR-Crosley in the truck series.
2020 Tentative Cup Teams
Car | Driver | Owner | Crew Chief | Sponsor |
00 Chev | StarCom | ? | ? | |
1 Chev | Chip Ganassi | Matt McCall | Monster Energy | |
2 Ford | Team Penske | Paul Wolfe | Miller Lite/Discount Tire | |
3 Chev | Richard Childress | Justin Alexander | Dow | |
4 Ford | Stewart-Haas | Rodney Childers | Busch Beer/Mobil 1 | |
6 Ford | Roush Fenway | Scott Graves | Oscar Mayer | |
8 Chev | Tyler Reddick - R | Richard Childress | Randall Burdett | Caterpillar |
9 Chev | Hendrick Mspt | Alan Gustafson | NAPA/Mountain Dew/Hooters/Kelley Blue Book | |
10 Ford | Stewart-Haas | John Klausmeier | Smithfield | |
11 Toyota | Joe Gibbs | Chris Gabehart | FedEx | |
12 Ford | Team Penske | Jeremy Bullins | Advance Auto Parts | |
13 Chev | Germain | Matt Borland | Geico | |
14 Ford | Stewart-Haas | Mike Bugarewics | Rush Truck Centers/Haas Automation | |
15 Chev | ? | Premium Mspt | Pat Tryson | ? |
17 Ford | Roush Fenway | Luke Lambert | Fifth Third Bank/SunnyD | |
18 Toyota | Joe Gibbs | Adam Stephens | M&M’s/Skittles/Snickers/ Interstate Batteries | |
19 Toyota | Joe Gibbs | Cole Pearn | Bass Pro Shops/Auto-Owners Insurance | |
20 Toyota | Joe Gibbs | Chris Gayle | DeWalt/Reser’s Fine Foods/Sport Clips/Stanley/Craftsman | |
21 Ford | Wood Brothers | Greg Erwin | Menards/Motorcraft/Quick Lane | |
22 Ford | Team Penske | Todd Gordon | Shell-Pennzoil/AAA So.Cal. | |
24 Chev | Hendrick Mspt | Chad Knaus | Liberty University/Axalta/UniFirst/ | |
32 Ford | ? | GoFAS Racing | Randy Cox | ? |
34 Ford | Front Row Mspt | Drew Blickensderfer | ? | |
36 Ford | Front Row Mspt | Seth Barbour | ? | |
37 Chev | JTG Daugherty | Trent Owens | Kroger/Bush’s Beans | |
38 Ford | ? | Front Row Mspt | Mike Kelly | MDS Trucking |
41 Ford | Cole Custer -R | Stewart-Haas | ? | Haas Automation |
42 Chev | Chip Ganassi | Chad Johnston | ? | |
43 Chev | Richard Petty | Derek Stamets | ? | |
47 Chev | JTG Daugherty | ? | Kroger | |
48 Chev | Hendrick Mspt | Cliff Daniels | Ally Financial | |
51 Chev | ? | Rick Ware | George Church | Jacob Companies |
52 Chev | ? | Rick Ware | ? | ? |
77 Chev | ? | Spire | Peter Sospenzo | ? |
88 Chev | Hendrick Mspt | Greg Ives | Axalta/Valvoline/Cincinati Inc | |
95 Toyota | Leavine Family | Jason Ratcliff | Procure/Rheem | |
| R-Rookie of The Year |
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