Team Penske is putting familiar faces in unfamiliar roles.
All three of its crew chiefs will have new drivers in 2020, with all parties remaining in-house. Paul Wolfe moves from Brad Keselowski to Joey Logano, while Todd Gordon moves from Logano to Ryan Blaney and Jeremy Bullins switches from Blaney to Keselowski.
The organization announced the changes late Monday, with about a month to go until the season-opening Daytona 500 on Feb. 16 in Florida, and surely it wasn’t just a luck of the draw who ended up where.
When looking at last season alone, Logano had the most successful 2019 due to his fifth-place finish in the final standings. Blaney was then seventh, and Keselowski ended up eighth.
But zoom out here. Logano actually had a down season. The driver of the No. 22 Ford was the reigning champion, yet didn’t make the Championship 4. Keselowski, in the No. 2 Ford, matched his 2018 ranking. It was Blaney who improved his year-to-year overall mark by three spots, among other bettered statistics with the No. 12 Ford.
Take a look.
So, going back to the recent shake-up, it would make sense to give the driver who is growing overall (Blaney) a crew chief who can further aid in that development (Gordon).
Gordon has eight years — all but one with Logano — in the Cup Series. That’s less than Wolfe’s nine years — again, all with Keselowski — but Gordon has the most recent championship from 2018 and the only Team Penske championship under the current NASCAR Playoffs elimination format (established in 2014, after Keselowski’s 2012 title). Also worth noting is the Wolfe-Keselowski title came in Team Penske’s last year with Dodge, as the organization has fielded Fords since.
Speaking of the postseason, Blaney was the only Team Penske driver to score a checkered flag during the 10-race final stretch (Talladega Superspeedway in the Round of 12). Keselowski’s three wins all came during the opening 12 races. He managed just one runner-up showing afterward. Logano’s pair of victories fell within the first 15 events. He also managed just one runner-up showing afterward.
None of them advanced to the Championship 4. Keselowski got the boot after the Round of 12, while Logano and Blaney got cut after the Round of 8.
Blaney also happened to have the best average playoff finish among his teammates.
Average finish in the NASCAR Playoffs
Ryan Blaney: 11.4 (a win, four top-five and six top-10 finishes)
Joey Logano: 11.8 (two top-five and six top-10 finishes)
Brad Keselowski: 13.7 (four top-five and five top-10 finishes)
That’s not to say the second half of the season matters more than the first — 2019 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch had a 21-race winless drought end at Homestead-Miami Speedway — but it could signify growth. Blaney’s playoff average was better than his season average (13.7), while Logano’s (10.8) and Keselowski’s (12.9) were worse.
Putting Logano with the next-most experienced option in the garage (Wolfe) fits, considering the veteran did bring Team Penske its latest championship. That leaves Bullins for Keselowski, who could possibly use a fresh perspective after nine years with the same pit-box commander and his recent stagnancy.
This could all mean absolutely nothing. Maybe team owner Roger Penske just wants to shake things up; he has been known to in the past. Perhaps there is, in fact, a method to his offseason madness.
The NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs have seen a bit of turnover in the elimination era. Four of the past five seasons have seen at least four drivers reach the postseason after not making the playoffs in the previous year. The exception to that trend? The 2019 season where just two drivers – William Byron and Ryan Newman – hopped into the 16-driver field after not being a part of it the year before.
With a host of drivers in new places and one of the most competitive rookie battles on tap, the field is ripe for some turnover.
Which two drivers are most likely to reach the playoffs in 2020 after not reaching the postseason in 2019? NASCAR.com’s RJ Kraft and Jonathan Merryman each offer their main candidate to join the field.
MERRYMAN:It’s the preseason, and I’m not in the mood for a safe bet. I’m going to take a risk on Chris Buescher making a huge step in his young career and say he is the most likely driver to make the playoffs in 2020 after missing out in 2019.
Buescher has a few things going for him in the No. 17 Ford Mustang — the first of which is familiarity. He’s comfortable in house at Roush Fenway Racing. Buescher won the NASCAR Xfinity Series title for Jack Roush in 2015, but circumstances kept him out of one of Jack’s Cup cars back then.
His second advantage is his teammate, Ryan Newman. The addition of Newman helped the performance of the No. 6 team last year at RFR, and Buescher should study Newman closely. We know Buescher can finish races, and if he wants to finish off the season in the playoffs, following Newman’s 2019 model of keeping the car out of trouble to nab top 10s, 12s and 15s may be the key to his success.
KRAFT: Like you, Jonathan, I’m going to take a driver in a new place as my pick to most likely surge into the playoffs. That pick would be Matt DiBenedetto. The move to Wood Brothers Racing is yet another step up for the 28-year-old.
Being armed with the Penske power — Team Penske has an alliance with Wood Brothers — should make a noticeable difference for Matty D at superspeedways and intermediates and help lead to better finishes and more consistency. Consistency is the key point with DiBenedetto. In his first 15 starts with Leavine Family Racing in 2019, he had just one top-15 finish. In the final 11 regular-season races, he had six top 10s, including a memorable runner-up finish in the Bristol Night Race. I expect his 2020 results to closer mirror that stretch of races.
A win at Pocono Raceway in 2017 helped Ryan Blaney reach the playoffs in the iconic No. 21. The organization’s next win will be its 100th at the NASCAR Cup Series level, and I would not be surprised if DiBenedetto nabs it to secure his place in the playoffs — although, I expect him to be able to point his way in if necessary.
WELCOME, N.C — Richard Petty Motorsports announced Monday that Jerry Baxter will join the organization as crew chief of the No. 43 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE driven by Bubba Wallace in the NASCAR Cup Series.
A native of San Diego, California, Baxter is no stranger to teaming with Wallace, as the pair worked together for two seasons dating back to Wallace’s time in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series. It was with Baxter that Wallace finished third in the Gander Truck Series driver point standings in 2014. As a duo, Wallace and Baxter have amassed five victories, 14 top-five finishes and 25 top-10 finishes while leading 963 laps collectively, as well as securing three pole awards.
“During our time together, he trusted what I did as a crew chief, and trusted himself more and more, and we got better and better as we went,” Baxter said. “This is an incredible opportunity, and change is good. Having the confidence of Bubba and everyone at Richard Petty Motorsports means a lot to me. I am excited about working with Bubba again, and the foundation Richard Petty Motorsports has in place with their group of guys.”
Since 2012, Baxter served as a crew chief in the Gander Truck Series, building strong foundations for many careers. Most recently, Baxter spent the 2019 season on top of the pit box for the 2018 Gander Truck Series champion, Brett Moffitt, collecting four wins en route to championship contention.
“The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season is a crucial year for Richard Petty Motorsports,” Wallace said. “As a team, we have made a ton of progress from my debut in 2018, and we are looking to continue that progress with Jerry calling the shots.
“He has been a great mentor, and even better friend, since we were able to work together in 2013 and 2014. I am excited to see him get this opportunity in the NASCAR Cup Series and use our past success to take this team to new levels.”
With 34 years of experience as a crew chief in NASCAR, Baxter has been atop the pit box in the Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and Gander Truck Series. He has scored victories in two of the top three series with nine drivers, including Wallace. In 2007, Baxter led his team to a runner-up finish for the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship and guided David Reutimann to his first career victory.
In 2015, as a California native, Baxter was inducted into the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame.
Team Penske pulled the string on a major personnel shake-up before the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, shifting the driver-crew chief pairings for all three teams.
The new alignment for Roger Penske’s organization:
No. 2 Ford: Brad Keselowski, the operation’s senior-most driver, will work with crew chief Jeremy Bullins.
No. 12 Ford: Ryan Blaney will be paired with crew chief Todd Gordon.
No. 22 Ford: Joey Logano will have veteran crew chief Paul Wolfe atop his pit box.
All three drivers won races last season and finished among the top 10 in the final Cup Series standings, but none reached the Championship 4 round of the playoffs. Team owner Roger Penske indicated the timing was right to make a move, even if it meant breaking up long-running driver-crew chief partnerships.
“As we do after the completion of each season, we evaluated what we can do to better achieve our goals and we felt it was time to make these changes to better position us to reach our potential,” Penske said in a release provided by the team. “We are fortunate that we have three very strong leaders in Paul, Todd and Jeremy, who work with experienced and talented crews. Pairing each of these winning teams with different drivers and cars should provide new energy and a fresh approach for the 2020 season.”
Keselowski and Wolfe had been one of the longest-established pairings in the NASCAR garage, dating back their run to the Xfinity Series championship in 2010. The two had been paired together for the last nine seasons at the NASCAR Cup Series level, accumulating 29 victories and the 2012 series championship.
Gordon and Logano had been paired together since 2013, Logano’s first year with the Penske organization. Together, they teamed up for 21 wins and a march to the 2018 series crown.
Blaney and Bullins had worked with each other on at least a part-time basis since 2012, when Blaney first entered the Xfinity Series. Their pairing in the Cup Series spanned a three-year stint with the Wood Brothers (2015-17) and the last two seasons with Team Penske. The Blaney-Bullins combination has yielded three Cup Series victories, one in each of the last three seasons. Bullins also has 21 Xfinity Series wins spread among a group of Penske drivers.
Kyle Busch came out hot in 2019, snagging a trio of race victories amidst an 11-race top-10 streak to start the season. It seemed a foregone conclusion at the time that he’d be a championship favorite — but after his victory at Pocono Raceway in early June, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver was held winless until his somewhat surprising title-clinching victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November.
Given his talent behind the wheel and resources at JGR, Busch would appear to be a slam dunk to repeat as NASCAR Cup Series champion — but is he? Many had him pegged as the least-likely Championship 4 driver to win after his second-half drought and up-and-down playoffs, but Busch and crew chief Adam Stevens found a way to prevail.
Is a third Cup Series title in the cards for Busch in 2020? NASCAR.com’s Pat DeCola and Chase Wilhelm debate.
DeCola: In absolutely no way am I ruling out Kyle Busch as a championship contender … but I don’t think he’s going to repeat. Through the first six iterations of the elimination-style NASCAR Playoffs format, we’ve yet to see a repeat champion, and in two of the last three years, the champion from the previous season failed to even make it back to the Championship 4.
Rowdy’s victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway, though impressive, felt like more of a rising-to-the-occasion-type moment for him, Stevens and the No. 18 team than a sign all of their second-half ailments had all of a sudden been cured. The early portion of Busch’s 2019 season was dominant at times, but the group seemed to either lose its footing midway through or, perhaps, were just caught up to by other organizations as the summer months ticked off. Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 team, specifically, seemed to have the inverse of Busch’s season, sputtering out the gate a bit but riding a hot streak to Miami.
Throw in that two of his own teammates in Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. — arguably the two best drivers of ’19 — are destined for more success this season and Busch might not even be the championship favorite in his own stable.
I fully expect Busch to win around five races in ’20 and probably make his sixth Championship 4 appearance in seven years — who knows, maybe he could steal it away again — but I’d probably put him at about third overall on my championship favorites list at the moment.
Wilhelm: During Championship 4 Media Day in Miami, I was persistent in saying Busch had the lowest chances of hoisting the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series trophy at Homestead-Miami Speedway compared to Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr.
Let’s just say I’ve learned from my mistakes.
So, I’m going to try a different strategy by getting on the Rowdy train and riding it all the way to the finale at Phoenix Raceway in 2020. I think Busch hits a stride this upcoming season, winning way more than three races on his way to defending his title.
Busch didn’t have a career season by any stretch last year, but that should teach everyone to never count out the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing team led by mastermind crew chief Adam Stevens — no matter the circumstances. Regardless of his winless streak after Pocono Raceway last season, we should have known not to bet against him when the odds aren’t in his favor. Case in point: 2015 when he missed 11 races and came back to earn five race victories en route to his first championship.
Are there plenty of other championship-caliber drivers who will give him a hell of a run for his money this year? Yes.
But will Busch be able to handle any pressure thrown at him for the ultimate prize? Fo sho.
In NASCAR, the goal is to win races. Everybody knows that. However, with 40 competitors vying for the same checkered flag each week, there’s a small dilemma: 39 of those 40 don’t win.
Luckily, for the 39 losers, there’s another goal at hand: chasing what we’ve dubbed the All 40 Challenge — the feat of finishing in every single position first through 40th at least once over the course of a driver’s career.
Sure, that 25th-place finish isn’t a great points day, but maybe it’ll check off a box on the All 40 Challenge tracker. An underdog steals a top 10 at Talladega against all odds? Another box checked on the chart.
No, there’s no prize or points bonus for completing the All 40 Challenge sweep; it’s nothing more than a neat stat that a majority of drivers never complete.
Thirteen full-time active drivers have completed the All 40 Challenge, however:
– Aric Almirola
– Ryan Blaney
– Alex Bowman
– Clint Bowyer
– Kurt Busch
– Kyle Busch
– Denny Hamlin
– Kevin Harvick
– Jimmie Johnson
– Joey Logano
– Ryan Newman
– Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
– Martin Truex Jr.
Aric Almirola (second place), Ryan Blaney (21st place) and Alex Bowman (first place) joined the elusive list in 2019.
The now-retired David Ragan came oh-so-close to completing the sweep before hanging up the helmet at the end of 2019, but somehow he never finished ninth in his 470-start career spanning 14 seasons.
A handful of drivers are just two finishes away:
– Austin Dillon (2nd, 40th)
– Brad Keselowski (28th, 40th)
– Kyle Larson (22nd, 32nd)
– Reed Sorenson (1st, 2nd)
We’ll track the finishes of drivers throughout the 2020 season below, keeping vigilant watch of drivers’ pursuits of the All 40 Challenge. Highlighted numbers indicate positions where a driver hasn’t yet finished; grayed-out names indicate drivers who’ve already finished in all 40 positions throughout their careers.
Stewart-Haas Racing announced Monday that Chase Briscoe will return to the organization for a full-season campaign in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2020.
Briscoe won Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors last season, falling just shy of qualifying for the Championship 4 in his first playoff appearance. The 25-year-old driver won two pole positions and prevailed at Iowa Speedway for his second series victory, a triumph that followed his breakthrough win at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval in a part-time season in 2018.
“This is the first time I’ll be able to run back-to-back, full seasons with the same team, and I couldn’t be happier to do it with Stewart-Haas Racing,” Briscoe said in a release provided by Stewart-Haas Racing. “Their faith in me means a lot, and I want to reward them and Ford with more wins and a run for the championship.”
Briscoe, who accelerated his racing career on the dirt tracks near his home state of Indiana, is a prospect in the Ford Performance driver development program. He recently completed testing an IMSA Ford Mustang GT4 at Daytona International Speedway in preparation for the Michelin Pilot Challenge opener later this month.
“We’re very proud to have Chase back with Stewart-Haas Racing,” said SHR co-owner Tony Stewart. “Chase is an Indiana kid with a dirt-track background who has shown he can race on asphalt as well as he can on dirt. We think very highly of him and look forward to a strong season in 2020.”
Briscoe is also a two-time winner in NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Series competition. His first national series victory came in the Gander Trucks finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2017. Briscoe followed that by winning his only truck start in 2018, a one-off triumph on the dirt at Eldora Speedway.
Briscoe is also the 2016 ARCA Menards Series champion, turning a six-win season into a runaway in the final standings.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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?
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.”
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.
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.
