Could NASCAR see an additional full-time driver?

One driver who is not a confirmed full-time driver for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series has competed in every race so far this year. Could he end up running the full schedule?

Through the first three races of the 36-race 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, 35 drivers have competed in every race, including 33 of the 36 drivers who were confirmed as full-time drivers before the start of the season.

As far as the 36 full-time drivers are concerned, the number of drivers who could potentially compete in every race quickly fell to 34 when Rick Ware Racing’s J.J. Yeley and Gaunt Brothers Racing’s Daniel Suarez failed to qualify for the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

It then fell to 33 after Roush Fenway Racing’s Ryan Newman was injured in a last-lap crash in the Daytona 500, which resulted in him being out indefinitely. To add on to that, two of the remaining 33, Rick Ware Racing’s Joey Gase and MBM Motorsports’ Timmy Hill, are not eligible for points.

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Ross Chastain competed in the Daytona 500 for Spire Motorsports through an alliance with Chip Ganassi Racing, and he has since filled in for Newman. He is not slated to be a full-time Cup Series driver this year, as he competes full-time for Kaulig Racing in the Xfinity Series.

But one other driver has not missed a Cup Series race thus far, and that driver is Reed Sorenson. Sorenson opened up the season behind the wheel of the #27 Chevrolet for Premium Motorsports, and he has since driven the #77 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports.

The plans for the remainder of Sorenson’s season are unconfirmed, but also unconfirmed are the plans for both the #27 Chevrolet and the #77 Chevrolet, aside of the fact that Chastain is set to drive the #77 Chevrolet in the race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May. Additionally, the #77 Chevrolet is a chartered entry slated to compete throughout the entire season.

Could Sorenson end up competing in every race on the schedule?

Sorenson has been in the Cup Series for 16 years, competing every season since 2005 on some level. But he has only competed full-time for five of those years, four times competing in all 36 races on the schedule.

The 34-year-old Peachtree City, Georgia native has not competed full-time since 2014, but in three of the last four seasons, he has competed in at least 25 races, and he has done it in a similar race by race fashion every year without any set plans when the season began.

Last year, he drove the #27 Chevrolet in 14 of its 27 races and the #77 Chevrolet in 11 of its 36 races.

But taking a look at the drivers who shared these rides with him last year, it is very possible that he could compete in more races than he has in recent years.

The other drivers of the #27 Chevrolet last year were Chastain, Casey Mears, Quin Houff, Ryan Sieg and Joe Nemechek. Now Chastain competes full-time in the Xfinity Series, as does Sieg, and Houff competes full-time in the Cup Series for StarCom Racing. Mears is no longer in NASCAR, and Nemechek competed in only seven Cup Series races last year, his first races since 2015.

The other drivers of the #77 Chevrolet last year were Houff, Hill, Justin Haley, D.J. Kennington, Garrett Smithley, Blake Jones and Jamie McMurray. Houff and Hill, as mentioned, are now full-time Cup Series drivers for other teams.

Haley competes full-time in the Xfinity Series, and his Daytona 500 start this year was with his Xfinity Series team, Kaulig Racing. The plans of Kennington and Jones are unknown, but they only combined for two starts in 2019. McMurray is now an analyst for Fox NASCAR, and Smithley is a part-time driver for Rick Ware Racing in the Cup Series and JD Motorsports in the Xfinity Series.

That alone should indicate an increased role on the horizon for Sorenson. But even with all of that being said, the odds that he competes in all 36 races throughout the season are slim. Throughout the season, drivers tend to come along for one or two-race deals with sponsorship, and that’s who generally ends up getting the nod for the smaller and underfunded teams.

In how many races will Reed Sorenson compete before the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season comes to an end? Will he end up running a full schedule for two teams?