NASCAR Cup Series: 5 drivers poised for low-key championship runs

While the spotlight has shone on a select few drivers in the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season, there are several other drivers who are poised to make under-the-radar championship runs.

A lot of the hype through the first 20 races of the 36-race 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season has been on a few drivers, four to be exact. While there really hasn’t been a true “Big 3” or “Big 4” emerge like in the past, four of the sport’s 31 full-time drivers have spent the bulk of the time in the spotlight.

Defending champion Joey Logano of Team Penske leads the championship standings and has earned two victories. Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr., two drivers who joined Logano in last year’s Championship 4, co-lead the Cup Series in victories with four each. Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski has earned three victories of his own.

These four drivers, who have made a combined six Championship 4 appearances in the last two seasons, have combined to win 13 of the season’s first 20 races, and they have combined to lead more than half of the laps in these 20 races (2,876 of 5,721).

But there have been several other drivers having productive seasons without taking up too much of the spotlight, and there is almost always an upset or two come playoff time, particularly when it comes to determining which four drivers will compete in the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in mid-November.

Here are five drivers who are poised to make low-key championship runs.