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NASCAR Cup Series: Top 5 open seats for 2021

By Asher Fair

FORT WORTH, TEXAS - NOVEMBER 03: Kyle Larson, driver of the #42 McDonald's Chevrolet, leads Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Ally Chevrolet, during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on November 03, 2019 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)
FORT WORTH, TEXAS - NOVEMBER 03: Kyle Larson, driver of the #42 McDonald's Chevrolet, leads Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Ally Chevrolet, during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on November 03, 2019 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images) /
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DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 08: Erik Jones, driver of the #20 DEWALT Toyota (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 08: Erik Jones, driver of the #20 DEWALT Toyota (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /

No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Erik Jones has driven the #20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing since replacing Matt Kenseth ahead of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season. He was confirmed by the team for the 2020 season back in September of 2019, but this confirmation came amid speculation that he would be replaced by then-Joe Gibbs Racing Xfinity Series driver Christopher Bell.

The team confirmed the 23-year-old Byron, Michigan native for a third season behind the wheel of the #20 Toyota, but they did so by signing him only to a one-year deal.

Notably, they promoted Bell to the Cup Series anyway. Bell now drives for Leavine Family Racing, which formed a technical alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing ahead of the 2019 season, and they enhanced that alliance for 2020 with the arrival of Bell. Bell is still under contract with Joe Gibbs’s team.

If Jones does not perform at a high enough level, it is hard to see Gibbs even hesitating to replace him with Bell in 2021 after Bell tore it up in two seasons in the Xfinity Series, winning 15 races in 66 starts and qualifying for the Championship 4 in both years. Additionally, Bell is actually older than Jones, so it wouldn’t be like Gibbs would be promoting an inexperienced teenager.

Jones has everything it takes to be a top-tier Cup Series driver, and he has shown it in his first three seasons in the series, particularly in his first two seasons driving for Joe Gibbs Racing. He just needs some consistency, something he lacked severely in 20198.

So will it be Jones or Bell behind the wheel of the #20 Toyota in 2021? Could somebody else potentially emerge as a dark horse candidate as well?

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