NASCAR Cup Series: Early 2020 power rankings

#28 and #27

John Hunter Nemechek’s replacement of Matt Tifft in the final three races of the 2019 season was like a shot in the arm to a struggling Front Row Motorsports team. He finished no lower than 27th place, finished in 21st in his debut and recorded an average finish of 23.67. If he can put up those kind of numbers on a regular basis in his rookie season as the replacement for the semi-retired David Ragan, it will be considered a successful year. He is fully capable of doing it given the success he has had in both the Truck Series and the Xfinity Series.

With three top eight finishes, including a career-high third place finish at Talladega Superspeedway, Ryan Preece’s rookie season wasn’t terrible; he nearly won Rookie of the Year honors. But it wasn’t all that great either, especially considering the fact that teammate Chris Buescher was one of the most consistent drivers in the field, at one point recording 16 consecutive top 18 finishes. Preece, meanwhile, recorded only eight all year. With Ricky Stenhouse Jr. set to be his new teammate after losing his ride at Roush Fenway Racing, Preece will need to have a better sophomore season.