This is the first of three columns where we’ll look back on the end of the 2020 season and look forward to the 2021 season. We’ll start with the Cup Series.
NASCAR said goodbye to three of the top Cup stars: Jimmie Johnson, Clint Bowyer and Matt Kenseth.
With Johnson still being an active driver, albeit in other disciplines including IndyCar for Chip Ganassi Racing, I think he is the most likely to make limited comebacks in NASCAR. I think he would return in the same capacity Jeff Gordon did a couple of years ago, when Rick Hendrick (or, for that matter, Chip Ganassi) is in need of a relief driver.
Of course, Matt Kenseth who retired in 2017, I believe, has returned a couple of times in just that capacity, once for Roush Fenway and again this past year for Chip Ganassi Racing, so there’s nothing that says he wouldn’t make another return. For all the Matt Kenseth fans out there, I kinda hope he doesn’t. When he came back and struggled driving for Roush Fenway, it could be written off as driving a sub-par car for a struggling team. Driving for Ganassi, however, I think Matt should have had much better results than he did. He has stated he’s not expecting to return full-time.
The thing I think I might be looking forward to the most for 2021 is going to be Clint Bowyer joining the Fox Sports broadcast team with Mike Joy and Jeff Gordon. Bowyer has made appearances behind the microphone for XFINITY (and perhaps Trucks?) for Fox and stole the show during the iRacing broadcasts. He certainly has the knowledge and passion for NASCAR, much like Joy and Gordon have already demonstrated. But Bowyer is going to be hilarious on the mic. He doesn’t take himself serious and he is entertaining as hell! I am going to go so far as to say non-fans may tune into the Daytona 500 and want to watch the next week just because of Bowyer.
As far as incoming drivers go, I don’t know that 2021 will have the same depth as far as a rookie class goes. Chase Briscoe is coming up from the XFINITY Series to take over the #14 Stewart-Haas Ford vacated by Bowyer. I had Briscoe picked to win the XFINITY Championship and I think he will do well in the Cup Series, once he gets acclimated to the series.
Actually with Briscoe and Cole Custer, that means half of the Stewart-Haas roster will have less than two years Cup experience. With all the talk about the youth movement at Hendrick Motorsports, Christopher Bell moving to Joe Gibbs Racing, and the surprising results of Tyler Reddick at Richard Childress Racing, I think there’s a lot to be excited about when it comes to the future of NASCAR. I’ve been very vocal about the detrimental effects having so many Cup drivers stealing wins and the experience of racing for wins has had on the XFINITY roster but I think the gradual decline of Cup drivers’ involvement is paying dividends for the sport in general.
Another driver transitioning from XFINITY to Cup is Ross Chastain, who will be driving the #42 Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing but he’s not a rookie. Never mind Kyle Busch, I think Chastain has probably run more races in NASCAR’s top three series over the past couple of years than anyone. It will be great to see what he can do concentrating on Cup and in good equipment. I think Chastain is going to be the sleeper pick this year. I’m not foreseeing Ross Chastain – 2021 Cup Champion but I think he runs up front with multiple Top 10s and maybe makes the playoffs, more likely on points than with a win.
I think it’s fair to say, for the first time in a long while, there’s more excitement over a team entering NASCAR’s Cup Series than a driver. I am talking, of course, about 23XI Racing, owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan and NASCAR Cup driver Denny Hamlin. The car, numbered 23, will be driven by Darrell Wallace, Jr.
They will be getting support from Joe Gibbs Racing – probably more than Leaving Family Racing or other JGR-allied teams got – and have the combined Cup experience of Wallace behind the wheel and Hamlin behind the scenes. I know there will be a lot of hype for 23XI Racing in 2021 both in NASCAR circles and certainly beyond. I think Wallace will be a lot like Chastain in that with the equipment and the experience he has, he will make his presence felt in 2021 – and that can only mean good things for NASCAR.
I will say I think because of the “hype”, for lack of a better term, that this new team will carry into 2021, the expectations for 23XI Racing will, unfairly, be a lot higher than they will be for the other new teams (which I will mention in a moment), but that’s another column coming down the pike.
I think the 2020-2021 off-season may be one of the most tumultuous as far as existing teams folding and new teams starting. We saw Leavine Family Racing fold – and, I’m sorry, I think there’s more to that story but that’s a conspiracy theory I won’t get into – as well as Germain Racing, which by the way, leaves Ty Dillon still searching for a ride. As a fan of Ty Dillon, I am really hoping he gets another ride soon.
Meanwhile, in addition to 23XI Racing, the NASCAR Cup Series will welcome Live Fast Motorsports, with Matt Tift as owner and BJ McLeod driving the #78, and Trackhouse Racing, with Justin Marks as owner and Daniel Suarez as driver. At first glance, teams owned by Tifft and Marks may not be exciting but then the news that Richard Childress was starting a team, even with former Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt, probably didn’t excite too many people.
To go back to the sports franchise metaphor, these are teams in the first season. They’re just going to trying to find their footing. I think for McLeod and even former XFINITY champion Suarez, 2021 is going to see a lot of finishes off the lead lap. But, ten years from now, maybe Live Fast Motorsports achieves the success in Cup that Kaulig Racing is in the XFINITY Racing, sneaking under the radar and has a breakout season.
Speaking of the XFINITY Series, that will be our next Looking back, looking forward installment.
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