2020 Cup Series Bounceback and Breakout Years
- Amerigo Allegretto
- Feb 11, 2020
- 4 min read
Kyle Larson – After over two years and being briefly overshadowed by wily veteran teammate Kurt Busch, Kyle Larson finally broke an unprecedented 75-race winless streak at Dover in the fall Round of 12 race. Despite proving he could still win and his best points finish so far in the Cup Series, 6th, it was still a frustrating year for Larson fans. Larson finished his 2019 campaign with 8 top-5’s and 17 top 10’s. The year before, he had 12 top 5’s, 19 top 10’s and four DNF’s compared to his eight last year. He also led less laps and had a higher finishing average last year. Still, the win is enough to consider him as a prime bounce-back candidate.
William Byron – Had it not been for a terrible race at Homestead where he finished 39th, Byron would have finished his improved sophomore season in the top 10 in points. There’s plenty of reason to believe the former Xfinity Series champion will get his first win and perhaps his first top 10 points finish in 2020. He notched five pole awards, got his first five top-5 finishes, finished in the top 10 13 times, brought his DNF count from nine to three, led plenty more laps and brought his average finish down from 22.1 to 14.9. It seems the young driver, entering the magic third season, is starting to gel with future Hall-of-Fame crew chief Chad Knaus. It’s been a slower start to Byron’s career than some pundits (including myself) expected, but this team should find its stride this season.
Matt DiBenedetto – Yeah, call me a sucker for a feel-good underdog story like Diburrito’s. I was heartbroken when Denny Hamlin passed DiBenedetto to win at Bristol last fall and was even more heartbroken when Leavine Family Racing decided to move on after the 2019 season. But with the unexpected retirement of Paul Menard, DiBenedetto has newfound hope on his side. After all, Ryan Blaney brought this team back from the dead during his short tenure in the No. 21 ride. In his final 10 races in the No. 95, DiBenedetto had just two finishes outside the top 20. Compare this to his season before Sonoma, and you’ll see that team made remarkable progress. This could be the start of a beautiful relationship between driver and team.
And speaking of Blaney…
Ryan Blaney – Once again, Ryan Blaney’s lone win of the season came late with a strong Talladega performance that saw him lead the most laps. His win snapped a 16-race winless streak for Team Penske. 2019 was another mixed bag for Blaney, though slightly better than his 2018 season. The only categories he slipped in were laps led (422 compared to 660), average start (12.3 to 9.4) and pole awards (1 to 3). It’s tough to gauge Team Penske’s true strength since all drivers seem to pick one half of the season to be dominant in and be dormant the next. Keselowski and Logano fooled me (and I’m sure others) last year with a very strong first half, but this is Blaney’s third season in the No. 12. Should he want to stay for the long run, this is the year to prove his value to Roger Penske, who got his first two Cup Series championships last decade.
Erik Jones – The only real dud for Joe Gibbs Racing last year, that Jones boy had a weird 2019 that was somehow worse than 2018. Despite winning one of “The Big Four” races at the Southern 500, Jones had less top 10’s, more DNF’s and a higher average finish. However, he also had more top 5’s and more laps led as well. He was also disqualified at the fall Richmond race for a rear wheel alignment issue and was credited with a 38th-place finish that race. He signed a contract extension with JGR last year, so Coach Gibbs clearly has hope for Jones, who enters his third season in the Cup Series. But if he doesn’t want to wind up like former teammate Daniel Suarez, Jones should make 2020 his true breakout year.
Any of the 2020 rookie class – This has to be the strongest rookie class we’ve seen in a long time. Any one of these guys, Tyler Reddick, Cole Custer and Christopher Bell, could easily make a big impact in the Cup Series. Sure, there’s also Brennan Poole, John Hunter Nemechek and Quin Houff, but the first three are the biggest candidates for Rookie of the Year honors. Bell takes over the No. 95 ride for LFR, which has a technical alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing that has paid dividends in previous years. Custer will drive the No. 41 car with a strong Stewart-Haas Racing team that’s looking for a bounce-back season. Reddick has Xfinity Series championship momentum on his side, and he got his first top-10 Cup Series finish last year in just his second race and could very well be Richard Childress’ last hope at success. It’ll be interesting to see just how each adjusts to their new teams and their advanced careers.
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