Five to Watch: Drivers looking for first superspeedway win

Racing at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway can sometimes be unpredictable, but there are a number of NASCAR Cup Series drivers that have mastered the craft. Brad Keselowski (six wins), Denny Hamlin (five wins) and Joey Logano (four wins) lead a long list of active full-time drivers that have conquered the superspeedways in Cup. But what drivers could be next in line to be added to that list? Here's a look at five that are looking to add a Cup victory at Daytona or Talladega to their racing resume. Two on the list are still seeking their first career Cup win and the two tracks combined have produced 32 first-time winners.

Martin Truex Jr. leads all active drivers with the most Cup starts at Daytona and Talladega without a win. He's come close with two runner-up finishes at Daytona. Truex lost the 2016 Daytona 500 to Denny Hamlin by 0.010 seconds, which is currently tied for the ninth closest finish in NASCAR history. With 63 combined starts at the two tracks, Truex has posted five top fives, 13 top 10s and 179 laps led. His last top five came last summer at Daytona with a fourth-place finish after recording the fourth-best driver rating in the race. Truex does have three Xfinity wins at Talladega and one at Daytona.

Chris Buescher recorded three top 10s and a 10.0 average finish last season in the four superspeedway races held at Daytona and Talladega. If not for a penalty for forcing Chase Elliott below the yellow line on the final lap at Talladega last fall, Buescher could have four straight top 10s. He was relegated to a 22nd-place finish, but not before posting the second-best driver rating in the race. Daytona is Buescher's best track on the schedule based on top fives (3) and top 10s (5).

Bubba Wallace moves to 23XI Racing to pilot the No. 23 Toyota owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan and Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin. Two of Wallace's three career top fives — as a member of Richard Petty Motorsports — came at Daytona, including a career-best second-place finish in the 2018 Daytona 500. Wallace will drive a Toyota for the first time in the Cup Series, a manufacturer he had success with in both the Camping World Truck Series and ARCA Menards Series East. The team will have a technical alliance with JGR, an organization that has won three of the last five races at Daytona, including back-to-back 500s with Hamlin.

Alex Bowman has a pair of seventh-place finishes and an average finish of 9.3 in his last three superspeedway starts. Bowman is tied for third in points earned in the last 10 superspeedway races at Daytona and Talladega dating back to the 2018 summer race at “The World Center of Racing” where he finished 10th. Bowman's best finish in 13 superspeedway starts is second to his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott at Talladega in 2019. Daytona will begin Bowman’s fourth consecutive full-time season with Hendrick and first behind the wheel of the No. 48. Hendrick has a combined 28 superspeedway wins at Daytona and Talladega.

Matt DiBenedetto will kick off his second consecutive season with Wood Brothers Racing at Daytona where he has a personal-best three top 10s among all tracks. The Wood Brothers are tied with Hendrick for the most wins (15) at "The World Center of Racing" with their most recent coming when Trevor Bayne scored his first career win in the 2011 Daytona 500. The next win for the Wood Brothers will be their 100th. Last year, DiBenedetto posted a top 15 driver rating in three of the four superspeedway races with his best coming when he finished 12th in August at Daytona. In the Talladega fall race, DiBenedetto was issued a similar penalty as Buescher, dropping him from second to 21st in the finishing order. DiBenedetto has led 50 laps at Daytona, which ranks second to his total at Bristol Motor Speedway, the site of one of his three career-best runner-up finishes.