One of the biggest headlines entering the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season was the potential for an immediate competitive impact from the rookie class — namely, the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ “Big Three.” Now a quarter of a way through the year, we’ve seen everything from newcomers consistently formulating top-10 speeds, the ascension of an unlikely household name, and certain drivers who appear to be having a difficult time adjusting. While there may already be a clear-cut candidate for the Rookie of the Year accolade, there’s a lot more racing left, and with that comes added time to improve.
Which incoming freshmen are proving their worth in their ability to hang tough with the premier series’ veterans? Who’s got some work to do before they can comfortably remove their rookie stripes from the rear bumper of their stock cars? Here’s your guide of who to watch and what to expect as the halfway point of the regular season nears:
We’ve made mention of the trio of drivers headlining the 2020 rookie class; Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell and Cole Custer. These three heavyweights accounted for 21 wins in the 33-race season for the Xfinity Series in 2019. While many projected it to be a dog fight between these drivers for the rookie title, it’s come down to just one of them seemingly steamrolling their way to the award, leaving the others pretty far behind.
Enter, two-time reigning Xfinity Series champion, Reddick.
Although only two top-10 finishes to show for through nine races, this doesn’t reflect the speed the 24-year-old has flaunted thus far. Reddick has consistently proven to be one of the fastest cars on track come race day each week. He’s right up there with the best of them challenging for positions well inside of the top-10, even top-five at times. But much like most young drivers, there’s the difficulty in stringing together a complete race.
Regardless, Reddick is a constant threat to his veteran competitors, and he’s a part of something even more significant than that — putting Richard Childress Racing back on that map. This once-dominant team was the home of NASCAR legend, Dale Earnhardt. After Kevin Harvick took over, the Chevrolet team has seen moderate success. Fast-forwarding to the late-2010s, the organization has struggled to find relevance.
It might be too early to tell, but it seems Childress may have found his savior in Reddick. He currently sits two positions outside of a playoff spot, but it’s not too presumptuous to expect at least a win from the California native. He should be a postseason contender and currently a lock for Rookie of the Year.
Shifting gears to the remaining pair of drivers who entered 2020 with high expectations, they’ve been quite the opposite of their counterpart. They’ve been the standard for mediocrity.
This assessment may sound harsh, but it’s not a reflection of Custer and Bell’s true talents. Young drivers typically have difficulty adjusting to new teams, increased competition, and the cars in general. However, given the new low downforce package implemented this season, the cars do drive similar to the Xfinity cars. This should have given them a slight advantage in adjusting smoothly to the Cup cars compared to rookies in years past.
For Custer in specific, this should have been a pain-free transition. The 22-year-old’s start to his Cup career came after Stewart-Haas Racing abruptly decided to oust Daniel Suárez from his ride in the No. 41.
He’s in a prime position right now, driving with the best equipment of the entire rookie class and legion of veteran teammates to lean on for advice. What’s he doing with these advantageous layups? In short, not much at all.
Custer has been a non-factor in mostly every race thus far. He did notch a ninth-place finish at Phoenix Raceway and has shown glimmers of promise, but he’s kind of just there. You have Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer racing the same equipment, and they’re leading laps, winning stages and running well inside of the top-10. While no one said the transition to Cup would be smooth for him, this is about as simple as it gets.
With over half a season left, expect Custer to replicate some of that magic he displayed in Arizona. Can he steal a top-five somewhere? Sure. But don’t count on him vying for a playoff spot as things stand currently.
And now, that leaves Bell — the winningest driver of the bunch last season with eight.
Many predicted the Oklahoma native to be the frontrunner for Rookie of the Year. It’s hard to go against 16 combined wins over the last three seasons in the Xfinity series and an additional 10 across NASCAR-sanctioned races with an illustrious Late Model career to boot. Much like Custer, Bell’s performance thus far has been very lackluster.
However, the 25-year-old can get a slight pass on his slow start.
Driving the No. 95 for Leavine Family Racing, Bell took over for the ride made famous by Matt DiBenedetto. We all saw what he did in that Toyota Camry last season — a runner-up finish, consistent speed and results. It should be noted, however, that these results didn’t come to fruition until the second half of the season. Not to mention, DiBenedetto had four full years of experience in the Cup Series before running with LFR. Bell hadn’t turned a single lap at this level prior to 2020.
There’s also the competition factor. It’s been well documented how Chevrolet improved its program over the offseason, and as a result, it’s been Toyota as a whole that’s taken a step back. While Joe Gibbs Racing has managed to snag two wins this year, it only has one stage victory in the Daytona 500 and has only led for a combined 481 laps through nine races — that’s about 200 less than Team Penske and 300 less than Hendrick Motorsports.
With all of this in mind, it’s not to say that Bell hasn’t shown speed. He finally picked up a 10th-place finish in the Coca-Cola 600 and ninth at Bristol after showcasing a reasonably fast car each week. What took so long for the young driver to notch an admirable finish? Inexperience and failure to put together a complete race. You’ll see that No. 95 Camry is lurking in the same areas as guys like Erik Jones and Martin Truex Jr., but it’s one thing after another for Bell; a late-race spin, inability to keep pace with the competition and a transitioning track — you name it, it’s most likely occurred.
Bell sits 25th in the standings, and it won’t be smooth sailing the rest of the way. He’s got a long and arduous road to clawing his way up from the depths of despair even to be considered a playoff contender. Again, it is early, but it’s looking right now like he may need a win to advance and that is highly unlikely.
The most pleasant surprise for the 2020 rookie class and the season as a whole has been John Hunter Nemechek.
The racing prodigy turned heads after driving his way to a ninth-place finish in his Darlington Cup debut — an impressive feat by any measure. There’s more than meets the eye to this single result. Nemechek has been consistently posting top-15 runs and has even been a common candidate for a top-10 finish, usually being bested in the end.
It may seem odd to get giddy at the sight of top-15 finished, but the important thing for Nemechek is that he’s outperforming in the equipment he’s been dealt with at Front Row Motorsports. Similarly to Truex and Furniture Row Racing and DiBenedetto with Leavine Family Racing, the 22-year-old is putting another smaller budget team on the map. If history has shown us anything in this situation, it’s that people love a good underdog story, and this should bode well for his future in NASCAR.
Not to mention, he’s bringing the Nemechek name back into the spotlight. People are familiar with his father, ‘Front Row Joe,’ and he will be a welcomed addition to the sport’s lasting heritage and tradition alongside fellow legacy racers Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney.
Rounding out the rookie class of 2020 is Brennan Poole and Quin Houff.
At 29 years old, Poole is the eldest of the Rookie of the Year contenders, and there’s no shortage of experience for the driver of the No. 15 Camaro. Upon entering the ARCA Menards Series in 2011, the Texas-native notched six wins in the respected division, on top of a combined nine top-five finishes between 2015-19 in NASCAR’s lower rankings.
Houff entered his freshman season with the most limited seat time of any of his fellow rookies. This season he will be turning laps at nine different tracks for the first time in his racing career (this includes the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval). Before competing in half the Cup races last year for Spire Motorsports, he had only run a handful of races in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series, ARCA and Xfinity Series between 2014-18. Most of his experience resides in his success racing Late Models.
For Poole at Premium Motorsports and Houff at StarCom Racing, 2020 is all about garnering seat time, experience and consistency for their low-budget teams.
After finishing the Daytona 500 in 16th, not much has gone right for the driver of the No. 15. His highest finish since then came at Bristol, and that was 24th. He’s had multiple parts failures and been caught up in quite a few accidents. Houff was able to secure his best career Cup finish in the 500-kilometer race at ‘The Lady in Black’ with 26th. Much like Poole, the 22-year-old has torn up a few cars and been the unfortunate subject of various mechanical issues.
As both of these drivers and teams know, it’s all about focusing on each week ahead as a new learning experience. The tasks are straightforward; don’t wreck your equipment, strive for moderate success and seek weekly improvements.
While it appears that Reddick is sprinting away with the Rookie of the Year accolade, there’s much more racing to go in this 2020 season. Can Bell and Custer give the driver of the No. 8 a run for his money? Will Nemechek continue to outshine his heavyweight counterparts? Only time will tell, but it’s going to be incredibly exciting to see how these young guns progress the rest of the way.
