NASCAR Cup Series: What we still don’t know about the 2020 driver lineup

While several drivers have been confirmed for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, there are still several seats unavailable. What do we still not know about next year’s driver lineup?

Many of the seats that were previously open for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season have been filled over the last few months. As a result, much of next year’s driver lineup has been confirmed.

That said, there are still several open seats in that driver lineup, and with the 36-race 2019 season coming to a close, there will likely be several more confirmations made by several different teams in the near future.

So what do we still not know about the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series driver lineup?

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Kurt Busch currently drives the #1 Chevrolet alongside Kyle Larson at Chip Ganassi Racing, but he does not have a contract to return next year. He has, however, been rumored to return to the team with primary sponsorship from Monster Energy in 2020.

Chris Buescher was slated to return to JTG Daugherty Racing as the driver of the #37 Chevrolet next season alongside Ryan Preece, but he ended up signing with Roush Fenway Racing to replace Ricky Stenhouse Jr. behind the wheel of the #17 Ford. As a result, JTG Daugherty Racing need to find his replacement.

Front Row Motorsports have not confirmed their driver lineup for next year other than the fact that David Ragan will not return to drive the #38 Ford, as he announced that he will retire from full-time competition after the 2019 season ends. As a result, the team will need to find his replacement. Meanwhile, Michael McDowell currently drives the #34 Ford for the team and Matt Tifft currently drives the #36 Ford.

Corey LaJoie currently drives the #32 Ford for Go Fas Racing, but there are rumors that he will replace Ragan at Front Row Motorsports. There are also rumors that Go Fas Racing will form a technical alliance with Stewart-Haas Racing and sign Cole Custer, who currently drives for Stewart-Haas Racing in the Xfinity Series.

As for Stewart-Haas Racing, they have only confirmed half of their driver lineup for next year. While Kevin Harvick and Aric Almirola are set to return to the team, Clint Bowyer and Daniel Suarez are both without contracts for 2020.

Custer has also been rumored as a potential Stewart-Haas Racing driver if Bowyer does not return to the seat of the #14 Ford or if Suarez does not return to the seat of the #41 Ford next year.

The additional chartered teams of Premium Motorsports, Spire Motorsports, StarCom Racing and Rick Ware Racing have also not confirmed their drivers lineups for next year. Ross Chastain currently drives the #15 Chevrolet for Premium Motorsports while Landon Cassill currently drives the #00 Chevrolet drives for StarCom Racing.

Spire Motorsports currently field one car, the #77 Chevrolet. This car is shared by several drivers. Rick Ware Racing typically field three or four cars in each race, but only two, the #51 Chevrolet/Ford and the #52 Chevrolet/Ford, are chartered. They are all shared by several drivers, but one of them, Garrett Smithley, has been rumored as the possible driver of the former for next year.

With several open seats remaining for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, who will the teams without confirmed driver lineups for next year confirm as their drivers to complete next year’s driver lineup alongside the drivers who have already been confirmed?