Odds to Win the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Championship
Harry's Top 5 Driver Picks
+400 Kyle Busch
+450 Denny Hamlin
+450 Martin Truex Jr.
+450 Kevin Harvick
+800 Joey Logano
The 2020 season will hopefully have the same down to the wire finish that we enjoyed in 2019. Just to remind you, Kyle Busch beat Martin Truex Jr. at the finish line of the NASCAR points standing nipping him by just 5 points with a score of 5040 points to Truex Jr.'s 5035 points. Kevin Harvick was right there as well, finishing in third for the third straight season. Toyota and Ford can’t complain about last season as they combined to have seven of the top nine drivers and will strive for even better marks in 2020.
Kyle Busch—Busch comes into this season hungry and is looking for his third championship in six seasons. Busch has 56 cup wins and is second in wins among active drivers, behind only Jimmy Johnson (83 career wins) who is retiring after this season.
Denny Hamlin—The defending Daytona 500 winner turns 40 this year and absolutely has his sights set for a championship and not another second-place finish.
Kevin Harvick—Harvick had another solid season with 15 top 5’s and 6 poles. He also had his second highest starting average at 8.5 of his careers, which is promising for his 2020 season. However, at 44 years old and 49 career wins, how many years will Harvick keep attempting to win his second Cup Championship?
Joey Logano—Logano enters his 8th season with Team Penske. The Daytona 500 will mark his 400th career start and Logano will be the youngest (29 years old) driver ever to make 400 starts in NASCAR history.
Kyle Larson—The 42 car had a strong Daytona 500 finishing seventh after starting in 26th. Larson has opportunity to do special things this year as long as he continues to finish well in tracks he does well at. For example, he finished first and third in the races in Dover last year.
Martin Truex Jr.—What a season it was for Joe Gibbs most consistent driver, Martin Truex Jr. Last season despite having zero poles he still won seven races and had an astonishing 24 Top 10’s. Truex Jr. is primed to have one of the greatest NASCAR seasons ever and knock off Kyle Busch from the top spot in racing.
Chase Elliott— We Chase's have to stick together. Elliott had three wins and finished 10th overall in 2019. A lot of big things are expected from him and not just being able to dominate road courses. No one is better than him at Watkins Glen (won the last 2 years) and I expect him to make a serious run at Daytona.
Brad Keselowski—Keselowski is looking for a shakeup this season and that starts with hiring Ryan Blaney’s former crew chief Jeremy Bullins. Keselowski and Bullins have to make sure if they want to compete for the Cup having great flat track races is a must. Keselowski for example, has a first and a second-place finish in two of the last three years at Indy and at Pocono, he has finished in the Top 8, in eight of the last nine years.
Clint Bowyer—Bowyer had 18 Top 10’s, but to improve on his overall racing he’s going to be even better than he was on short tracks (4 straight Top 10’s at Richmond).
Jimmy Johnson—The 7-time champion is retiring after this season and it will be must see Tv when he makes his farewell tour from track to track. Johnson will go down as one of racings all-time greats.
This season will be action packed with different names challenging Kyle Busch for the Cup. Speaking of different things, NASCAR will have its first ever night race at Martinsville on May 9. Another different thing that will happen during the season is in his fifth season, Chase Elliott will make serious strides in challenging for the Cup. Here are my predictions for the 2020 season which kicks off on February 16 in Daytona.
Harry’s Top 5 Finishers in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Standings
#5-Denny Hamlin
#4-Kyle Busch
#3-Joey Logano
#2-Chase Elliott
#1-Martin Truex Jr.
Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch will take a backseat to Chase Elliott this season. Joey Logano is extremely reliable and consistent with any course him and his team run on, but it will be Martin Truex when the smoke clears who wins NASCAR in 2020. All of this reminds me I have to have my oil changed. Start your engines for 2020 !