Posted on by Staff Report

New Year’s Day has come and gone, so it’s time to look forward to the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season. The editorial staff at NASCAR.com has come up with its best predictions for the upcoming 36-race stretch, which starts Feb. 16 at Daytona International Speedway with annual season-opening Daytona 500. Here’s what each member had to predict:

— Bold 2020 prediction on anything.
— Best candidate for first career win in 2020.
— Expectations for how Jimmie Johnson’s last season unfolds.
— Who will be the ultimate season champion.

Answers are below.

RELATED: 2020 schedule | Jayski: Driver-team chart | Opening odds for 2020 Daytona 500

2020 Nascar2
Sean Gardner | Getty Images

ZACK ALBERT

Bold prediction: Cole Custer wins a closely contested Sunoco Rookie of the Year contest, but both he and Christopher Bell push their way into the postseason. For good measure, Chris Buescher wills himself into a playoff berth as his overachieving trend continues at Roush Fenway Racing.

First win: William Byron

No. 48: The seven-time champ ends his long winless drought with a return to form at a favorable track (looking at you, Martinsville Speedway and Dover International Speedway). Jimmie Johnson’s postseason miss last year turns out to be a blip, but the No. 48’s road should end in the Round of 12, where Talladega Superspeedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Roval loom.

Season champ: Denny Hamlin

PAT DeCOLA

Bold prediction: Jimmie Johnson quickly quiets the doubters by winning the 2020 Daytona 500 … but then doesn’t find Victory Lane again the rest of the way in his final season in the Cup Series. It gives Johnson a fittingly high-profile moment in the spotlight on NASCAR’s biggest stage before he rides off into the sunset, but I’m not sure there’s much left in the tank otherwise.

First win: William Byron

No. 48: See above, but to be honest, it’s a tough call and I hope I’m wrong. New crew chief Cliff Daniels did seem to give a late-season spark to the No. 48 group and Johnson, who appears to be more motivated than ever. He’s also Jimmie Johnson, so we can’t even fully rule out a record-breaking eighth title in 2020, but missing the playoffs for the first time in his career on top of a two-year winless drought doesn’t offer much hope.

Season champ: Kevin Harvick

RJ KRAFT

Bold prediction: William Byron scores more wins than Chase Elliott in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season and goes further in the postseason than his slightly older teammate. However, Byron will not be the first driver to get his first premier series win. That will go to …

First win: Matt DiBenedetto

No. 48: Jimmie Johnson will win one race in his final full-time season — thinking the spring Dover International Speedway race — and reach the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Playoffs. He will finish the season as the third-highest Hendrick Motorsports driver in the standings.

Season champ: Kyle Larson

STEVE LUVENDER

Bold prediction: The replacement driver for Jimmie Johnson will surprise everyone. It’s not every day there’s an opportunity for somebody to succeed the GOAT.

First win: Cole Custer

No. 48: Jimmie Johnson’s a seven-time champ, so I’m not too worried about his performance in 2020. What really piques my curiosity is the types of gifts he’ll receive throughout his retirement tour. The bar is high.

Season champ: James Dennis Alan Hamlin

JONATHAN MERRYMAN

Bold prediction: Chris Buescher makes the playoffs. Using the guidance of Ryan Newman, Buescher makes strides and finishes races to point his way into the playoffs. Back with Jack Roush, Buescher picks up where the two left off after winning an Xfinity Series title in 2015.

First win: William Byron

No. 48: Has to win. No bones about it. This guy has 83 wins at NASCAR’s highest level. He has to get one more to complete his legendary career.

Season champ: Denny Hamlin

BRAD NORMAN

Bold prediction: The Championship 4, dominated by a handful of names since its inception in 2014, will have at least one first-timer to the title field. Meanwhile, the talk of the playoffs will be which veteran (Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski or Joey Logano) will join Kyle Busch as a two-time champion, but we’ll ultimately crown a first-time champ for the third time in four years.

First win: Matt DiBenedetto

No. 48: This won’t be a lame-duck season. The No. 48 team fully expects to compete for both wins and a championship in 2020. Given the speed Hendrick Motorsports found late in 2019, I expect they’ll do both and Johnson will find Victory Lane at least once in 2020 as he concludes his legendary NASCAR career.

Season champ: Denny Hamlin

TERRIN WAACK

Bold prediction: Going big here … The driver who wins the season finale at ISM Raceway will not be playoff eligible and therefore will not be the 2020 champion. A new venue will shake things up and test the postseason format. The Championship 4 better be ready to battle it out, and not necessarily for the checkered flag.

First win: Bubba Wallace

No. 48: Oh, JJ. Still hard to believe this is Jimmie Johnson’s final season. He’ll win at least one race. But to be more specific, he’ll win at least one playoff race. Johnson will go winless through the regular season but point his way into the NASCAR Playoffs. Then, knowing the end is in sight, he’ll return to Victory Lane.

Season champ: Martin Truex Jr.

ALEX WEAVER

Bold prediction: The Championship 4 is completely different this upcoming season. We may see some of the same drivers as last season. But the final four will be a different mashup.

First win: William Byron

No. 48: Jimmie Johnson has a successful year. With this being his last year racing full time, he is a competitor who wants to go out on top of his game. Three-plus wins for the driver of the No. 48. I love a storybook ending!

Season champ:Jimmie Johnson

CHASE WILHELM

Bold prediction: William Byron wins the 2020 Daytona 500. The No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports driver will start off his third NASCAR Cup Series season with a bang, earning his first career victory on NASCAR’s biggest stage. He was close at Daytona International Speedway last July after finishing second, but this time around he’ll get the job done.

First win: William Byron

No. 48: Of course we’d all be lying if we didn’t want Jimmie Johnson’s final Cup Series season to end like a fairy tale by capturing his eighth title. But I just don’t see it unless the No. 48 squad makes a major overhaul from last season. He’ll get back in Victory Lane a couple of times at least, but I need to see more proof that his team is ready to battle for a title.

Season champ: Kevin Harvick

GEORGE WINKLER

Bold prediction: Matt DiBenedetto gets his first NASCAR Cup Series win during his first season with Wood Brothers Racing, providing the milestone 100th victory for the team. Having affiliate Team Penske and its superspeedway program in his corner should help DiBenedetto, possibly leading to an upset win at one of those unpredictable tracks.

First win: William Byron

No. 48: Lots of tears and tributes and great memories are in store for Johnson and his fans in his final season, but I don’t expect a ton of on-track success. I’d be happy to see one more win (preferably at his home track at Auto Club Speedway) and a berth in the playoffs.

Season champ: Chase Elliott

@NASCARCASM

Bold prediction: Tyler Reddick, Cole Custer and Christopher Bell will ALL make the playoffs. You heard it here first. And if it’s wrong, you did not hear this. At least not from me.

First win: William Byron

No. 48: In his final year in Cup, Jimmie Johnson will win at least two races and make it to the Round of 8. He will also be handed a bunch of retirement gifts like Jeff Gordon was given and Paul Menard wasn’t, which I still don’t understand. WHY DID YOU IGNORE OUR DEAR PAUL, TRACKS?

Season champ: Denny Hamlin

Posted on by Staff Report

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — In his final media availability of the Roar Before the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway, reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch discussed the differences he has experienced in braking and passing etiquette during his weekend in a sports car.

And in a light-hearted moment, also the cut of his fire suit.

While being asked about the ribbing that Jack Hawksworth — his teammate in the No. 14 AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC-F GT3 — doled out, Busch said the other drivers’ fire suits “looked like underwear, long johns,” whereas his looked like “a pair of pants, I’ve got the regular boot cut … NASCAR-style.”

“Theirs are all wrong; mine’s right.”

MORE: Roar Before the Rolex 24 photos

When it got back to the more serious matter of differences in racing between NASCAR and IMSA, Busch brought up a couple of “interesting” moments on track while navigating traffic.

“(I) learned from Jack that correct road course driver etiquette is do not ever be on the outside of another guy ’cause they’ll just force you off,” Busch said. “He was actually quite entertained when he ran his NASCAR race at Road America last year that guys would actually give you room on the outside of the corner and not just throw you off on the dirt.”

The challenge of passing similarly paced GT cars while staying out of the way of fast-approaching Daytona Prototype international (DPi) cars, all while still maintaining consistent lap times, is one that is not lost on Busch.

“Interesting moments like that that are going to play out the whole time in the race,” he said. “You have instances in which you’re faster than the guy in front of you, and just barely because it’s a class car, and you’re trying to pass that guy … but you have these other guys coming and blowing your doors off on some of these corners, that you basically have to forfeit. You can lose a lot of time in doing those things.”

Busch also indicated that he’s still learning the braking — as his NASCAR Toyota Camry carries a great deal more weight than the IMSA Lexus RC-F GT3, which also has ABS braking that is lacking in the stock car. Throughout the weekend he felt he started to get a better grasp on the limits in the corners and gained consistency each time out.

RELATED: Busch turns first laps in IMSA test

One additional surprise came in the visibility on the track during the one night practice session Saturday evening.

“What do you even need the headlights for? There’s plenty of light. I raced local short tracks, some of them dirt … and there wasn’t very much light at those places.

“It seems as though my eyes still work OK.”

Busch will return to Daytona later this month alongside co-drivers Hawksworth, Parker Chase and Michael De Quesada for the 58th annual Rolex 24 At Daytona. The race begins at 1:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, January 25th on NBC, with around-the-clock coverage divided among NBCSN, CNBC, IMSA.tv and TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold.

Posted on by Jason Christley

NEW SMYRNA, Fla. — Brad May turns 42 next week, but he showed Saturday night that he has no problem keeping up with the younger generation at his home track.

In fact, when it comes to New Smyrna Speedway, it’s the teenagers that need to catch him.

May opened the 2020 NASCAR race season by winning the 50-lap portion of the RedEye 50/50, pulling away from 15-year-old Jett Noland in an eight-lap dash to the finish. Another 15-year-old, Daniel Dye, followed home in third in his Super Late Model debut for Ben Kennedy Racing.

Derek Griffith was fourth and fastest qualifier Anthony Sergi was fifth after losing out on a fierce battle for the third spot with Dye over the closing laps.

May is the defending and three-time Super Late Model Division champion at the high-banked Florida half-mile, while Dye won the Pro Late Model title last year.

The drivers used Saturday’s extra-distance event as a tune-up for the 54th Annual World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna from Feb. 7-15.

It’s one event hat has eluded May, who came up second to short-track veteran Bubba Pollard during last year’s week-long championship. The other, until Saturday night, was the track’s traditional opener. The Red Eye 100 dates back to 1984 when it was held on New Year’s Day. Beginning last year, it was split into two 50-lap features for the Super Late Model and Pro Late Model divisions.

May was second in both races last year.

The Oviedo, Florida, driver qualified second Saturday and started seven after a post-qualifying invert of the top eight spots. He took the lead in Turn 4 of Lap 10 from Noland after early race leader David Rogers slipped up the track in Turn 2 earlier in the lap. May was slow to fire off the line on a Lap 23 restart, and it allowed Noland to take over the point.

While May took the lead back two laps later, a Lap 42 caution set up another shot for Noland.

“You just never know what can happen,” said May, who executed a clean restart and rolled to the victory. “The car was definitely good enough to win, I knew I wasn’t going to let that happen again what happened on the first start, but you never know. One little slip or one little bobble getting into the corner and he can stick a nose in and be gone.”

RELATED: RED EYE 50/50 RESULTS

It wasn’t all disappointment for Noland, who won the 50-lap Pro Late Model portion of the season-opening, non-points event.

Other opening-night winners included:

Defending division champion Wayne Parker won the Modified feature, while Michael Trocki (LKQ Super Stock), Jared Zabele (Bombers), Devin McLeod (Sportsman), Kelly Jarrett (Ground Pounders) and Tyler Simpson (Mod Minis) posted wins.

Weekly Jett Noland 010520

Posted on by Holly Cain

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — No, Hailie Deegan conceded with a wide grin, she never expected that her competitive debut on the famous Daytona International Speedway high banks would come in a sports car.

But judging by the smiles and ease she showed Saturday afternoon speaking with reporters at Daytona between Roar Before the Rolex 24 At Daytona practice sessions, she’s eager and mentally prepared for her IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race debut at the grand track on Jan. 24. The in-car skills and sports car initiation is coming together too, she said.

“I never thought I’d race a road course especially at Daytona, that was new for me,’’ Deegan said. “I always thought my first time at Daytona would be in an ARCA car but I’m happy to be here on the road course.”

MORE: Kyle Busch gets IMSA head-start on Daytona

Deegan’s ARCA Menards Series season debut at Daytona will follow the Rolex 24 race weekend and comes only weeks after the 18-year-old Californian was formally introduced as a Ford Performance development driver. She will co-drive a Ford Mustang GT4 with NASCAR Xfinity Series front-runner Chase Briscoe in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race at Daytona later this month. Austin Cindric, another young Ford talent in the Xfinity Series, will be driving a Multimatic Motorsports team car as well, teaming with Sebastian Priaulx in the No. 15 Mustang.

In February, Deegan will compete in the season-opening ARCA Menards Series race that essentially opens Daytona Speedweeks – the green flag to a much-anticipated full season of stock-car racing. All three of these young NASCAR stars say they are grateful for the chance to begin their season early, confident that the extra laps will only help their skill set.

“I’m really excited just to gain experience in these new cars,’’ Deegan said. “Just everything’s new. A fresh start. It’s waiting to get planned out, meeting new people, new faces, new relationships. I’m excited to grow the relationships in the Ford family and everyone that’s a part of it.

“One thing I haven’t really touched on in my career is road courses, pavement road course type stuff. Coming here and filling that base of what I’m missing as a driver as a hole is definitely going to help me be all around as a driver.

“I feel what makes a good driver is a driver that’s not just good at ovals or road courses, they are good at everything and have that skill set. I think if I can just keep getting better skill sets to bring to my career, it will help even more.”

RELATED: IMSA Roar before the Rolex 24 photos

Deegan and Briscoe certainly gave proof of their talent and ability to learn the new car and course. They were 14th fastest overall in the opening practice, ninth quickest in the second session and finally fifth best in Saturday’s latest round.

Cindric and Priaulx were fourth fastest in the second session – tops among the two Multimatic team cars.

Posted on by IMSA Wire Service

Usually race fans have to wait until February to see the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion take to high banks of Daytona International Speedway, but Kyle Busch is providing a sweet treat to race fans this year as he joins Lexus for the 2020 Rolex 24 in the GTD class.

He’s in Daytona this weekend to turn laps in the No. 14 AIM VASSER SULLIVAN Lexus RC F GT3 alongside his co-drivers Jack Hawksworth, Parker Chase and Michael De Quesada.

It took a little persuading to get him behind the wheel of the sports car, but Busch didn’t want to lose the opportunity to try out the road course for the marquee event of the WeatherTech Championship season.

RELATED: New IMSA president John Doonan talks about dream job

“I’ve been asked the last couple years by the folks at Toyota/Lexus to come out here and run their car, and I politely declined them the first couple times,” Busch said Friday afternoon. “I felt like if I didn’t say yes eventually, then I would probably never be asked again.”

Busch has turned laps on the Daytona road course before – over a decade ago in a Daytona Prototype with Scott Speed in the summer sprint race in 2008. And he hopes this time he fares better.

“It was a thousand degrees inside the car, we had the NASCAR race that night, I remember just being flushed after that race was over, it was so hot,” he said. “We didn’t fare too well. I was slow. The car was slow. We were slow. So, I’m looking forward to being a bit faster this time around.”

MORE: Roar Before the Rolex 24 photos

Busch is relying heavily on teammate Hawksworth for advice as the Joe Gibbs Racing driver gets used to the lighter weight and overall different feel of the Lexus compared to the Toyota Camry he pilots in NASCAR. Hawksworth traveled to the Charlotte area to spend a day on the simulator with Busch at TRD. Without Hawksworth’s guidance at the session, “I probably would have been completely lost,” said Busch.

After this first practice session, Busch admitted that he still has his “NASCAR driving techniques just embedded in (his) brain” and he has to shed them as he learns the differences in the car.

RELATED: Kyle Busch’s 2019 season in review

He also acquiesces that his biggest adjustment is to the braking.

“I’m used to our big heavy stock cars where you have to start the slowdown process early, the braking zone is forever, and then by the time you turn in you have to be off the brakes otherwise the inside wheels will lock up,” he said. “You also have to take care of our brakes on the Cup cars because they’re so heavy … you can really overheat them.

“Completely different techniques. On these cars, you can drive the snot out of them.”

The car Busch is driving was fast in the opening practice session. In fact, his co-driver Hawksworth put up the fastest time of the day for the GTD class. Busch’s speed was middle of the pack as he learned the car, with his fastest lap clocking in at 1:48.544 (118.066 mph).

But for all the differences, one thing remains the same. Busch wants to make his way to Victory Lane at the end of the race.

“I didn’t come here to completely have fun, of course I want to have fun,” he said. “But more importantly I want to be able to go out there and win for Lexus and for AIM VASSER SULLIVAN racing.”

Posted on by IMSA Wire Service

The former director of motorsports for Mazda North America Operations John Doonan “finally” saw cars on track as he officially started his third day as the new president of IMSA.

He admitted that watching while in his new role is a bit of an adjustment.

“Little different not having a specific horse in the race,” Doonan said while speaking with media at Daytona International Speedway on the opening day of the Road Before the Rolex 24. “I sat back in my office for the first time all weekend and watched the first session quietly because I didn’t want to show any emotion on pit road for anybody in particular.

“I explained to some people who don’t necessarily understand sports car racing that I used to be responsible for the elephants in the circus, now I’m responsible for the whole circus.”

Being responsible for the whole circus means he gets a chance to expand on what has already been a dream career in motorsports as he takes over the reigns from the now-retired Scott Atherton.

“It was an awesome journey, a boyhood dream to work for Mazda,” said Doonan, who began working alongside Atherton and transitioning to his new role with the sanctioning body in October. “Several people in the garage area said I can’t believe you’re wearing a different shirt.

“But rarely do you get to live out two boyhood dreams. In February of ’79, I was sitting in my living room with my family, at that time there were just regular, I don’t even think it was hourly, I think it was every six or eight hours they gave some updates from Daytona and the Rolex 24. To imagine being a young person like that, I spoke about being that next generation of wanting to be somehow in the game or be part of the action. And now to have had the opportunities I’ve had at Mazda and now to come here, it’s really hard to explain.”

For a leader who started in the sport as a fan, it’s especially important to Doonan that he helps lead IMSA on a path that grows the audience of the sport he has a great passion for. And he knows he can’t do it alone.

“We – as a collective, and I continue to use the word ‘we’ and that’s not just ‘we’ IMSA, it’s ‘we’ the team owners, ‘we’ the drivers, ‘we’ the media – need to do our ever best to continue to grow our platforms and to grow our value,” Doonan asserted. “For me, it starts with our audience.”

“I think growing the audience, growing the outreach of how people can take in the IMSA content is critical. We also need to look at our audience, especially the younger generation.”

That will include developing initiatives to encourage fans to follow along with IMSA in new ways, such as through eSports or platforms like the newly launched TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold.

Another key tenet of Doonan’s leadership will be preserving and elevating the values on which the France and Bishop families founded IMSA.

“I’m honored to work for the France family,” he said. “I had a chance to talk with Jim France and then called Mitch Bishop. I said to both of them, IMSA was founded on a set of values that would allow racers, drivers, manufacturers to go racing on a variety of levels. It would be my personal goal to make that those original value statements of what IMSA was founded on are carried through to today.

“I think without a doubt the staff at IMSA has done that with a lot of passion. A lot of professionalism. And I’m here and fortunate enough to be the next caretaker of it.”

Posted on by NASCAR.com

Name: Brandon
Current City: Tallahassee, Florida 
Member Since: 2014

Getting to KNOW Brandon:

Q. How did you first become interested in NASCAR?
“I started loving NASCAR at a young age starting around 8 years old seeing a few races on TV with family. For my 10th birthday I was surprised with tickets to the Pepsi 400 at Daytona in July 2000. It only took one race to get me hooked! From that point on I have been an avid NASCAR fan ever since following the sport in many different ways and only missing a couple races a year in the last 20 years. I have had the privilege of attending over 15 races at a variety of tracks with plans to attend many more in the future.”

Q. What is your favorite part about NASCAR?
“I love that the drivers are all authentic, like someone you could go hang out with and they would just be a normal person and down to earth. I love the accessibility that us fans have to the drivers and the access that the sanctioning body gives us with pit passes and tours of the garage that other sports do not have. The action and excitement of a NASCAR race is awesome. From the green through the race, to the pit stops and strategy used during the race, all building up to the end where a driver is chasing down the leader… There is no better feeling than your driver winning and no greater defeat then losing a race that your driver dominated. But that’s what keeps us fans coming back for more!”

Q: Do you have a favorite in any of the following categories?
Driver: “Chase Elliott.”
Track: “Martinsville.”
OEM: “Chevy.”

Q. What are some of your race-day traditions?
“I can’t start a race day without a good cup of coffee out of my NASCAR coffee mug! After that while watching at the house, the pre-race shows play while we grill out or eat lunch. Then race time comes and we are focused on the action!”

Q. What are some of your hobbies?
“I love traveling, seeing new places and experiencing new cities. While at home I enjoy spending time hiking, kayaking, and fishing.”

FROM ALL OF US AT NASCAR, WE THANK BRANDON FOR HIS CONTINUED SUPPORT AND LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM HIM IN 2020!

Look for Brandon on the Official NASCAR Fan Council page on NASCAR.COM.

Posted on by Staff Report

Jimmie Johnson hasn’t found his way to a Victory Lane in the NASCAR ranks since 2017, but he’s not done winning.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champ teamed with 9-year-old daughter Genevieve, Aspen Olympian Alex Ferreira and the rest of his six-person group — the “West Side Hillbillies” — to win Monday’s 10th annual Audi Ajax Cup on Aspen Mountain in Colorado. Ferreira, the team’s pro, won the Gorsuch Cup on the final race of the afternoon.

“Resume builder,” Johnson joked to the Aspen Times. “It feels great winning and to have this experience with my daughter and with Adam Lewis, who is on our team and his two sons, to watch our kids work through the challenges of the day, dealing with nervousness, is so special.”

Johnson’s “West Side Hillbillies” had twice been the Ajax Cup runner-up but never won before Monday. The future NASCAR Hall of Famer calls Aspen home on a part-time basis, and Evie, who is part of the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club, won a couple of races in the finals to propel the team to victory.

“She did great. Every year it gets a little better, but something happened three or four days ago where she really found her edges and she’s been flying ever since,” Johnson said of Evie. “But then to see Alex, it was all on his shoulders at the end. For Alex to pull it off, and for the AVSC, it’s so cool.”

It’s just another of Johnson’s varied forays into non-motorsports racing, as he also placed 4,155th overall in the 2019 Boston Marathon, completing the 26.2-mile course in 3 hours, 9 minutes and 7 seconds.

RELATED: Johnson finishes first Boston Marathon

After a frustrating 2019 campaign in which he missed the playoffs for the first time in his career, perhaps this is the spark Johnson needed ahead of his final season racing NASCAR full time.

Posted on by Terrin Waack

The numbers tell Justin Allgaier’s story. His 306 starts in the Xfinity Series dwarf the 76 he notched in the Cup Series. So do the 11 wins, 85 top fives and 176 top 10s when compared to a sole top 10 netted at NASCAR’s highest level.

Allgaier is not only successful in the Xfinity Series, he is also happy as JR Motorsports’ No. 7 Chevrolet driver.

“I love where I’m at,” Allgaier said back in November at the NASCAR Awards in Charlotte, North Carolina. “This race team is fantastic. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere different as far as people go. I love the people I’m around. I’ve been disappointed in the successes we have not had. I want to bring a championship back home.”

With nine full years in the Xfinity Series — sandwiched around two Cup Series seasons from 2014-15 —  Allgaier has yet to do that. The 33-year-old Illinois native ended up fourth in the 2019 final standings. That’s one spot short of his career-best seasons in 2011, 2016 and 2017.

RELATED: Recapping 2019 season | Interesting 2019 stats

Allgaier’s lone win last year was at ISM Raceway near Phoenix during the NASCAR Playoffs, the last race in the Round of 8. It clinched his spot in the Championship 4 battle at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where he ultimately finished 14th.

Phoenix will host this year’s finale.

“Looking at 2020, to compete for a championship, I think we need a few more regular-season wins, obviously go for that regular-season championship and then do the same thing leading up to ISM Raceway,” Allgaier said. “Obviously if we can do what we did last year at ISM Raceway, we’re going to be in great shape.”

The three other Championship 4 drivers will be gone, too. Title-winner Tyler Reddick (No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet), runner-up Cole Custer (No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford) and third-place Christopher Bell (No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) are moving up to the Cup Series.

While those who were dubbed the “Big 3” move up, a 2019 full-time Cup Series driver is actually returning to the Xfinity Series ranks to compete alongside Allgaier and Michael Annett in the No. 1 car with JR Motorsports, and Allgaier thinks the addition will only make the team as a whole stronger.

Daniel Hemric will pilot the No. 8 entry in a part-time role, but perhaps as the headliner. He’s slated for 21 of the 33 races, while Jeb Burton will handle 11 events and Dale Earnhardt Jr. will make his annual appearance behind the wheel once.

“I think Daniel and I grew up a lot the same way in how we were raised,” Allgaier said. “You build race cars, you work all-nighters, and you put stuff together. If you don’t, you’re not going to go to the race track. Having that understanding of the car and how it operates is a big deal. So I think he’s going to be a big part of that.

“But on the other side of it, I think his talent alone is what’s really going to be the big difference-maker. The understanding of how to be fast week in and week out, how to optimize the race car. He’s very good at that. He’s probably one of the best I’ve been around.”

Hemric was full time in the Xfinity Series from 2017-18, placing fourth and third in the rankings each year, respectively, without any wins. In 66 starts, he had 23 top fives and 39 top 10s. He averaged an 8.0 start in both seasons.

Meanwhile, this past year, Allgaier had 16 top fives and 24 top 10s. He averaged a 9.0 finish.

“As long as they keep putting my name above the door,” Allgaier said, “I’ll be back.”