NASCAR Cup Series: Early 2020 power rankings

#22 and #21

Chris Buescher is slated for his best opportunity yet in the Cup Series, as he is set to drive for Roush Fenway Racing, the team for which he won the 2015 Xfinity Series championship, in 2020. He made steady improvements throughout his three seasons at JTG Daugherty Racing to land this opportunity, including an amazing stretch of 16 consecutive top 18 finishes in the 2019 season. He could be a dark-horse candidate not only to qualify for the playoffs but to win a race next year; just look at the success Ryan Newman had in his first season driving for the team after they completely missed the playoffs in three of the previous four years.

Aric Almirola finished in fifth place in the championship standings in his first season at Stewart-Haas Racing in 2018 with just one victory, but he was nowhere near as prolific and consistent in 2019. At one point, he went 20 races without finishing a race in the top six, recording only three top 10 finishes during that time. He qualified for the playoffs largely due to his solid start to the year, which included six consecutive top nine finishes following the season opener. Set to enter a contract year, he will need to perform at a high level, and that means he will need to step up in a big way. Even though he finished the season with some momentum due to two top four finishes in the last six races, his other four results were all 22nd place results or worse.