NASCAR: Can Xfinity Series make up for lost talent in 2020?

The NASCAR Xfinity Series was stacked with talent in the 2019 season. But much of that talent has left the series, and only a few wins worth of it were replaced.

The “Big 3” highlighted the 2019 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, with Richard Childress Racing’s Tyler Reddick, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell dominating much of the season and combining to win 21 of the 33 races that were contested.

Unsurprisingly, for the second consecutive season, all three drivers advanced to the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Reddick capped off the season with his sixth win and second consecutive championship while Custer had to settle for his second consecutive runner-up finish with a career-high seven wins.

Bell finished in a career-high third place after again posting a series-high win total, this time with a career-high eight; he set a rookie record with a series-high seven wins en route to a fourth place finish in 2018.

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But all three of those drivers are gone now.

Reddick was promoted to the Richard Childress Racing Cup Series team as the replacement for Daniel Hemric behind the wheel of the #8 Chevrolet. Custer was promoted to the Stewart-Haas Racing Cup Series team as the replacement for Daniel Suarez behind the wheel of the #41 Ford.

Bell was promoted to the Joe Gibbs Racing-affiliated Leavine Family Racing team as the replacement for Matt DiBenedetto behind the wheel of the #95 Toyota, which is effectively a fifth Joe Gibbs Racing car given the enhanced technical alliance between the two teams.

The Xfinity Series motto is “Names are made here”. So the fact that these three drivers are now Cup Series is just a part of what the series is designed to do.

The problem is, only one of them was replaced; there will be no replacement for Reddick and no replacement for Custer in 2020.

Harrison Burton, despite a winless rookie Truck Series season for the top-tier Kyle Busch Motorsports team during which he failed to qualify for the eight-driver playoffs even though only 11 drivers competed full-time, was promoted as Bell’s replacement. He recorded just one top five finish in nine Xfinity Series starts in 2019.

So can NASCAR’s second highest level make up for the lost talent from 2019 to 2020?

JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier is the only Championship 4 driver from the 2019 season slated to return in 2020. In nine seasons competing for top-tier teams in the Xfinity Series, he hasn’t finished lower than seventh place in the championship standings, but he also hasn’t won a title.

Of the 12 races that were not won by Reddick, Custer or Bell in 2019, only six were won by full-time Xfinity Series drivers. Allgaier won one, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe won one, Team Penske’s Austin Cindric won two, JR Motorsports’ Michael Annett won one and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Brandon Jones won one.

Aside of Allgaier, those four drivers finished in sixth, seventh, ninth and 10th place in the championship standings, respectively.

The only other driver aside of them who finished in the top 10 who is slated to return in 2020 is JR Motorsports’ Noah Gragson, who finished in eighth place. GMS Racing’s John Hunter Nemechek, who finished in seventh, was promoted to the Cup Series with Front Row Motorsports.

Taking a look at the top-tier teams, Richard Childress Racing don’t have any full-time drivers. Stewart-Haas Racing have one this year, not two, with Briscoe, while Team Penske still have Cindric. JR Motorsports still have Allgaier, Annett and Gragson.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s driver lineup is particularly interesting with three unproven drivers, especially since Jones, who has just one win in four seasons competing for top-tier teams, including two competing for Joe Gibbs Racing, is effectively the leader and the veteran of the pack, as ironic as that may sound. Burton replaced Bell and the team brought in Riley Herbst as a third full-time driver.

It will be interesting to see if RSS Racing’s Ryan Sieg, another one of the two playoff drivers from 2019, will be able to take the next step and find victory lane.

The other playoff driver from a year ago, Kaulig Racing’s Justin Haley, will be a driver to keep an eye on as well, as will new teammate Ross Chastain. Chastain won a race for Kaulig Racing as a part-time driver last year, and their expansion to two full-time drivers after a consistent season with Haley in 2019 indicates that they are heading in a positive direction.

With all things considered, the 2020 season certainly doesn’t look like it is going to shape out the way the 2019 season did with a group of three — or possible any — dominant drivers, as there simply don’t appear to be drivers capable of that same level of dominance.

But in some ways, that may not be a bad thing. There are still more than enough quality drivers competing for top-tier teams, and that could lead to a tight championship battle that features plenty of parity and lots of unpredictable outcomes, perhaps even a Championship 4 that nobody expects.

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The 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series season opener is scheduled to get underway in a few minutes. The NASCAR Racing Experience 300 is set to be broadcast live from Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1.

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