The Daytona 500 is less than four weeks away and you know that means…it is time for The Sports Chief NASCAR preview! Just like last year, we will start with JTG Daugherty Racing. In 2019, I was a little optimistic about this team and predicted two too many top 5’s and 10’s for Chris Buescher. I also predicted Ryan Preece to do a little better as well, but I digress…click the hyperlink “last year” for more of that.

JTG Daugherty Racing has a different lineup this year and I have to say…I won’t be as optimistic this year. Chris Buescher is now in the #17 car for Roush-Fenway and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will be driving for JTG. As far as I know, they still have a technical alliance with Hendrick Motorsports, which gives them access to some of the best that Chevrolet has to offer. In all reality, they are the test team for the Hendrick guys and get the “lesser” of the quality equipment. One thing this team does not lack is sponsorship. Kroger is a massive sponsor for JTG Daugherty. Their other major sponsors include Cottonelle, Kingsford, Tide, NOS Energy and Reese’s. If they aren’t the fastest on the track, I can guarantee you they will have some of the nicest looking cars out there.

#37 Ryan Preece: The returning Sophomore driver will be taking over the seat left by Chris Buescher. I am not sure why Preece is swapping cars, but I don’t really need to know because it is unimportant. The #37 car performed better than the #47, as Chris Buescher finished 20th in the points last year compared to Preece’s 26th place. His rookie season consisted of 1 top-5 (Talladega) and 3 top-10’s (Daytona and Michigan). It is not surprising that two of those quality finishes ended up at restrictor plates, but the Michigan top-10 is impressive. He should consider himself lucky as he kept his ride, when even the rookie of the year, Daniel Hemric, lost his. Trent Owens will be up on the box as Crew Chief this season for him, which may help being that he was Buescher’s crew chief last year. With more talent than ever at the Cup level this season, I see Preece getting 0 top-5’s and 1 top-10.

#47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr: I have to be honest, this move surprised me. When Ricky Stenhouse Jr. lost his ride…I wasn’t sure where he would end up. He is a two-time Xfinity (was Nationwide when Ricky won it) Series and he does belong at the Cup level, but quality rides were few and far between. I wonder if ole’ Jack Roush and Brad Daugherty had a poker game and ended up just swapping drivers…you never know. Now let’s get back to racing…Ricky finished 23rd in the points with numbers identical to Preece, 1 top-5 (Charlotte) and 3 top-10’s (Las Vegas and Talladega). The new aero package suited Stenhouse well at 1.5 mile tracks as he finished in the top-20 82% of the time at them. Brian Pattie will be coming from Roush to partner up with Ricky. His career numbers have regressed in the past two years. 2019 was his worst season since 2015. I think Ricky is a good driver, but he is not in a car that will allow him to win. Because of his restrictor plate record, I will give him at least 1 top-5 and 2 top-10’s this season.

2020 NASCAR Preview: JTG Daugherty Racing