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2020 Cup Series runners-up still searching for a win
By Staff Report | Thursday, September 17, 2020
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Several prominent NASCAR Cup Series drivers have found themselves on the second-highest step of the finishing podium this season without quite reaching the top perch. With eight races left presenting a chance for a trip to Victory Lane, here are the six drivers who have finished second in 2020 and are still searching to break into the win column.
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Kyle Busch
Runner-up finishes: 3 (Auto Club, Darlington-2, Atlanta)
Noteworthy: Busch has gone 15 consecutive seasons with at least one Cup Series win, and this year has seen him come agonizingly close. His three second-place finishes came in the first 10 races of the year. Since then, he has led in 12 of the last 18 races, adding five top fives to his tally. But that same stretch has also produced four crash-related DNFs. ... Busch has one win in the last 50 Cup Series races, and that Homestead-Miami Speedway triumph clinched him the 2019 title. He had four more runner-up finishes without a win before his Miami clincher.
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Clint Bowyer
Runner-up finishes: 1 (Bristol-1)
Noteworthy: Bowyer's second-place finish came after following winner Brad Keselowski through the Chase Elliott-Joey Logano skirmish with three laps to go at Bristol Motor Speedway on May 31. His only other top-five finish this year came at Phoenix Raceway on March 8. ... Bowyer has finished second three times since his last victory -- at Michigan International Speedway in June 2018.
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Matt DiBenedetto
Runner-up finishes: 1 (Las Vegas-1)
Noteworthy: DiBenedetto logged his second career runner-up finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway back in February. His only other top-five result this season was third place at Kentucky Speedway on July 12. ... DiBenedetto returns to the site of his other runner-up finish in what was arguably the best drive of his Cup Series career -- an emotional second-place run in Leavine Family Racing's No. 95 in the 2019 night race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
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Matt Kenseth
Runner-up finishes: 1 (Indianapolis)
Noteworthy: Kenseth's lone top-five finish in his Cup Series return came on a grand stage, a turn-back-the-clock performance at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 5. Momentum since then has been hard to come by -- he has led just one lap in the No. 42 Chevrolet since the Brickyard, 13 races ago.
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Tyler Reddick
Runner-up finishes: 1 (Texas-1)
Noteworthy: The top-flight rookie chased teammate Austin Dillon to the checkered flag in Fort Worth, Texas, on July 19, sealing the back end of a 1-2 finish for Richard Childress Racing. Reddick's next-best finish was a fourth place in Miami, where he has two Xfinity Series wins. ... Reddick's seven top-10 finishes this year top all Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidates.
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Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Runner-up finishes: 1 (Talladega-1)
Noteworthy: The JTG Daugherty driver opened the season with a Daytona 500 pole and has posted three top-five finishes in 2020, most recently with his second-place run at Talladega Superspeedway on June 22. He has led just one lap since and hasn't posted a finish in the single digits in the last 15 races. ... Stenhouse's best chance to improve a spot and return to Victory Lane? It's down to Talladega, where his superspeedway skills shine through, or Bristol, his strongest short track.
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