NASCAR Cup Series: What we know about the 2020 driver lineup

There are several seats still up for grabs for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season. But what do we already know about the rest of the driver lineup?

The 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season is quickly approaching its end, as 29 of the 36 races on the schedule are in the books.

Only the playoff races at Dover International Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, Kansas Speedway, Martinsville Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway, ISM Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway remain on this year’s schedule.

Silly Season for the 2020 season has been in full swing for quite some time, and several big announcements pertaining to next year’s driver lineup heave been made during it.

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There are still several open seats for next year, but much of the driver lineup has been confirmed.

So what do we already know about the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series driver lineup?

Kyle Larson is set to return to Chip Ganassi Racing as the driver of the #42 Chevrolet. The team’s other driver, Kurt Busch, does not have a contract to continue driving the #1 Chevrolet.

Ty Dillon is set to return to Germain Racing as the driver of the #13 Chevrolet, and Hendrick Motorsports’ driver lineup has been confirmed with Chase Elliott, William Byron, Jimmie Johnson and Alex Bowman all set to return to drive the #9 Chevrolet, #24 Chevrolet, #48 Chevrolet and #88 Chevrolet, respectively.

Ryan Preece is set to return to JTG Daugherty Racing to drive the #47 Chevrolet while Chris Buescher, who currently drives the #37 Chevrolet, is set to leave the team for Roush Fenway Racing to drive the #17 Ford as the replacement for Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Austin Dillon is set to return to Richard Childress Racing to driver the #3 Chevrolet. The team’s other driver, Daniel Hemric, will not return to drive the #8 Chevrolet next year, and he is set to be replaced by Tyler Reddick. Darrell Wallace Jr. has a contract to return to Richard Petty Motorsports to drive the #43 Chevrolet assuming the team have enough funding to continuing operating.

In addition to Buescher, Ryan Newman is also set to drive for Roush Fenway Racing next season. He currently drives for the #6 Ford for the team.

Stewart-Haas Racing have confirmed half of their driver lineup next season, as Kevin Harvick and Aric Almirola are set to drive the #4 Ford and the #10 Ford, respectively. Clint Bowyer currently drives the #14 Ford while Daniel Suarez currently drives the #41 Ford.

Team Penske have confirmed that Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano are set to return to the team to drive the #2 Ford, the #12 Ford and the #22 Ford next year.

Matt DiBenedetto, who currently drives for the Joe Gibbs Racing-affiliated Leavine Family Racing, is set to replace Paul Menard at the Team Penske-affiliated Wood Brothers as the driver of the #21 Ford, as Menard is set to retire after the 2019 season ends.

Joe Gibbs Racing have confirmed their driver lineup as well. Denny Hamlin is set to continue driving the #11 Toyota while Kyle Busch is set to continue driving the #18 Toyota, Martin Truex Jr. is set to continue driving the #19 Toyota and Erik Jones is set to continue driving the #20 Toyota.

Set to replace DiBenedetto behind the wheel of the #95 Toyota is Christopher Bell, who currently drives for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Xfinity Series. Leavine Family Racing are set to have an enhanced technical alliance with Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing starting next season, much like the one Joe Gibbs Racing had with Furniture Row Racing from the 2016 season through the 2018 season.

Go Fas Racing are set to continue fielding one car, the #32 Ford, next season. Corey LaJoie currently drives this car.

Premium Motorsports, Spire Motorsports and StarCom Racing are set to continue fielding one car each next season as well. Ross Chastain currently drives the #15 Chevrolet for Premium Motorsports while several drivers drive the #77 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports and Landon Cassill currently drives the #00 Chevrolet for StarCom Racing.

Rick Ware Racing are set to continue fielding two chartered cars next season, the #51 Chevrolet/Ford and the #52 Chevrolet/Ford. They are both currently driven by multiple drivers.

Finally, Front Row Motorsports are set to continue operating as a three-car team next year, although none of their three drivers have been confirmed. David Ragan, who currently drives the #38 Ford, is set to retire. Michael McDowell and Matt Tifft currently drive the #34 Ford and #36 Ford, respectively.

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Which drivers will end up being confirmed alongside the drivers who already have rides lined up for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season? There are still several seats available and several candidates to land in each of them.

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