NASCAR: Three full-time drivers aren’t competing for points in 2020

Three full-time drivers, Joey Gase, Timmy Hill and J.J. Yeley, are not competing for points throughout the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season.

The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season opened up with 36 confirmed full-time drivers, including 33 who were slated to drive chartered entries throughout the entire 36-race season.

Two of the three full-time drivers, Gaunt Brothers Racing’s Daniel Suarez and Rick Ware Racing’s J.J. Yeley, who were on the entry list for the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway driving non-chartered cars ultimately failed to qualify for the race, making 34 the maximum number of drivers competing throughout the entire season.

As far as the number of drivers actually competing for points is concerned, that tally has dropped even further.

More from NASCAR Cup Series

• NASCAR Cup Series: New team set to compete in 2024
• NASCAR: Surprising name continuously linked to new seat
• NASCAR driver at risk of missing the Daytona 500?
• NASCAR set for rare appearance last seen 13 years ago
• NASCAR team adds third car, names driver for 2024 Daytona 500

Rick Ware Racing’s Joey Gase and MBM Motorsports’ Timmy Hill, two drivers slated to compete full-time throughout the year, finished in 23rd and 27th place, respectively, in the Daytona 500.

But neither one was classified as having scored any points, as both are ruled ineligible.

Gase is set to drive in select races for RSS Racing in the Xfinity Series this season while Hill already competed in the Xfinity Series opener for MBM Motorsports and did not officially score points in that race either. He is also set to compete in select races for Hill Motorsports in the Truck Series this year.

So barring any late declarations for Cup Series points, which really wouldn’t make sense since both Rick Ware Racing and MBM Motorsports are, relatively speaking, backmarker teams, this means that there are a maximum of 32 drivers who can compete for points in all 36 races.

That number could drop to 31 depending on the status of Roush Fenway Racing’s Ryan Newman, who was injured in a last-lap Daytona 500 crash.

Suarez and Yeley are both still classified as full-time drivers, although they have both already missed a race. However, Yeley is also not eligible to score Cup Series points, meaning that there are just 33 points-eligible full-time drivers.

Suarez, unlike the 32 points-eligible full-time drivers who actually competed in the season opener, will still need to qualify to secure his position in every race on the schedule, although that should not be too much of an issue since the Daytona 500 was the only race on last year’s schedule that featured more than 40 cars on the entry list.

Following the Daytona 500, there are officially 34 drivers classified in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings. Two of them are not full-time drivers: eighth place David Ragan of Rick Ware Racing (fourth in Daytona 500) and 33rd place Reed Sorenson of Premium Motorsports (31st).

Daniel Suarez remains not yet classified, although that should change in this Sunday’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, as there are only 38 cars on the entry list.