2020 NASCAR Preview: Joe Gibbs Racing
Photo Credit: JGR
Last but definitely not least, we have the dominant TRD team…Joe Gibbs Racing. 2019 was an insanely successful season for JGR. I mean c’mon…19 wins?!?!?! Honestly, that is just flat out dominant. It’s hard to believe that these guys can keep up that pace, but I think they will be close. NASCAR…whether you like it or not…is as competitive now as it has ever been. One of my pet peeves is hearing people talk about how competitive NASCAR used to be…while years past has produced legends in our day…most races are a true toss-up in terms of who may win. As you all may know…Joe Gibbs was a former NFL Head Coach who had a dream of building a NASCAR team. Not only did he do this…but he has built an auto racing empire. Partners include, FedEx, M&M’s, Stanley, Bass Pro Shops, DeWalt, Rheem, Interstate Batteries and Coca-Cola.
Photo Credit: AP News
#18 Kyle Busch: Let’s start with the 2019 NASCAR Champion Kyle Busch. He closed out his 2ndchampionship in style…winning 5 races, getting 17 top-5’s and 27 top-10’s. The winningest driver in NASCAR (all 3 series) in NASCAR history is entering his 16th full time season in the Cup Series and has won a race in all of his full-time seasons. Kyle had an average finish of 8.9 in 2019. One cool thing that Kyle Busch is doing this season is introducing his own energy drink called Rowdy Energy. Not only is he a great driver, but an entrepreneur in the business world. Maybe it has some “Rowdy” Busch powers in it…I’ll have to see. I have Rowdy getting 6 wins, 16 top-5’s and 26 top-10’s.
Photo Credit: Forbes
#11 Denny Hamlin: Long-time JGR driver Denny Hamlin had his most consistent season on record with a career high in top-5’s (19) and top-10’s (24) in 2019. It seems that a lot of drivers hit their peak in their late-30’s and Hamlin showed it. I thought for sure he would come away with the title last season, but came up short in 4th place in the final standings. I do think that Denny will continue this dominance in 2020, but I think it depends on whether the FedEx team gets a good start…I see Hamlin as a rhythm driver and winning last season’s Daytona 500 helped that for sure. Darlington is Hamlin’s best track as he has an average finish of 7.8 there. I have Hamlin getting 4 wins, 15 top-5’s and 24 top-10’s in 2020.
Photo Credit: AP News
#19 Martin Truex Jr.: Here is another driver who blossomed in his late 30’s. Truex has won 23 races in the past 4 years and being a part of the Toyota Racing Development family has helped in that. After being dominant in the then Busch Series…Truex entered the Cup Series with Dale Earnhardt Inc. and was pretty bad to be honest. Before 2016, he had 3 wins in 10 seasons and seemed to be on the verge of being out of a ride, but Furniture Row Racing gave him a shot. A long-time partnership with Bass Pro Shops has not hurt him either. Martin is a guy that is hard for me to analyze, because I remember all of those years at DEI and MWR and every year I expect him to fall off…but I will be more liberal in my expectations this season. Give me 3 wins, 11 top-5’s and 21 top 10’s.
Photo Credit: Autosport
#20 Erik Jones: For our final driver in the JGR stable, we have Erik Jones. I’ll just flat-out say it…I think Erik is unfairly on the hot seat at JGR. I know that Christopher Bell is coming up and is predicted to be in this ride possibly in the near future…but I think Erik is a very solid driver. When he was coming up through the then Nationwide Series, he would beat Kyle Busch, Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski on a regular basis. I think we have to realize that he is only 23 and has 2 wins and has gotten over 10 top-10’s in each of his full-time season. If Joe Gibbs let’s go of this guy…he will regret it pretty quick. There are 5 tracks that Jones is crazily good at…Darlington (Avg. Finish 4.7), Kentucky (Avg. Finish 5.3), Watkins Glen (Avg. Finish 6.3), Pocono (Avg. Finish 8.3) and Texas (Avg. Finish 9.4). I have Erik Jones getting a win, 10 top-5’s and 19 top-10’s.
AustYn
References: Jayski, Racing Reference, Joe Gibbs Racing