NASCAR: Which drivers are set to hit the free agent market?

Next year’s NASCAR Cup Series free agent class is set to be loaded. Let’s take a look at the drivers who do not yet have contracts to compete in the 2021 season.

Just four of the 36 races on the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule had been contested when the sports world was brought to a screeching halt by the coronavirus pandemic, and there are now no races for the foreseeable future.

So far, seven races have been postponed, even after NASCAR had initially intended to get this past weekend’s festivities underway without any fans in attendance.

Postponements and cancellations: TRACKER

As of right now, action is scheduled pick up again on Sunday, May 9 at Martinsville Speedway, although this is subject to change.

Next non-postponed or canceled race: TRACKER

As a result, the 2020 season is effectively at a standstill, so there is really not much to discuss about it; all the drivers and teams are set, so while this hiatus could end up being quite lengthy, it is much different than an offseason.

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So let’s take an early look ahead to 2021, which is slated to have a free agent class that is absolutely stacked.

While it is no secret that there are already many top-tier drivers who are signed for beyond the 2020 season, this free agent class contains many of the sport’s top drivers.

Looking only at the sport’s top five teams (Joe Gibbs Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing), there are 17 drivers.

Entering the 2020 season, only one of these 17 drivers did not compete last year; rookie Cole Custer replaced Daniel Suarez behind the wheel of the #41 Ford at Stewart-Haas Racing.

But of the 17 drivers who compete for one of these five teams this year, only eight entered the 2020 season under contract for next year. Only one more has been added to this list since the season began.

With the season now in limbo, let’s take a look at the pending free agents.

At the four-car Joe Gibbs Racing team, only Erik Jones is a pending free agent after signing a one-year contract extension to continue driving the #20 Toyota last September.

Christopher Bell, who currently competes for the Joe Gibbs Racing-affiliated Leavine Family Racing, is seen as a possible replacement for him if he doesn’t sign a new contract. But Bell is technically not a pending free agent, as he is under contract with Toyota for at least the 2021 season.

Things are far from certain at the four-car Stewart-Haas Racing team, and that comes to absolutely nobody’s surprise considering the fact that they have altered their driver lineup in some way, shape or form after each of the last four seasons.

Aric Almirola and Clint Bowyer both signed one-year contract extensions last October to continue driving the #10 Ford and the #14 Ford, respectively, and while rookie Cole Custer is seen as a long-term option behind the wheel of the #41 Ford, he is technically not under contract for beyond 2020.

At the four-car Hendrick Motorsports team, there is one pending free agent and another guaranteed open seat. Alex Bowman signed a contract extension to drive the #88 Chevrolet through the 2020 season back in August of 2018, but he has not yet signed a new deal.

Meanwhile, seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson is set to retire after the 2020 season, leaving the #48 Chevrolet in the hands of another undetermined driver.

The three-car Team Penske team are in a situation comparable to that of Joe Gibbs Racing in that they only have one driver to worry about, but they only recently joined Joe Gibbs Racing in that respect.

They just inked Ryan Blaney to a multi-year contract extension back in early March, so their lone pending free agent is now Brad Keselowski, who last signed an extension to continue driving the #2 Ford for the team back in July of 2017. Keselowski has never competed full-time for a team other than Roger Penske’s organization, and his full-time career began back in 2010.

Widely seen as the top pending free agent on the market, especially after Team Penske secured Blaney’s services for at least another three years, Kyle Larson is in a contract year at the two-car Chip Ganassi Racing team. The #42 Chevrolet is the only car he has ever driven as a full-time driver. He has competed full-time since the 2014 season.

Elsewhere, there are several other notable drivers who are set to be out of a contract following the 2020 season. Those drivers include Matt DiBenedetto at the Team Penske-affiliated Wood Brothers Racing and Corey LaJoie at the Stewart-Haas Racing-affiliated Go Fas Racing.

These two drivers are in good positions to return behind the wheel of the #21 Ford and #32 Ford, respectively, next year, but both have been rumored as candidates to move one or more of the sport’s top-tier teams.

The other full-time drivers who are currently competing for points but without contracts for next year include StarCom Racing’s Quin Houff, Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon, Germain Racing’s Ty Dillon, Premium Motorsports’ Brennan Poole, Front Row Motorsports teammates Michael McDowell and rookie John Hunter Nemechek, JTG Daugherty Racing’s Ryan Preece, Richard Petty Motorsports’ Darrell Wallace Jr. and Gaunt Brothers Racing’s Daniel Suarez.

Next. Top 10 NASCAR drivers of all-time. dark

Where will these pending free agents end up in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season? How many of them will return to the series, and how many of them will return to their current teams?

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NASCAR: Who is set to hit the free agent market?

By Asher Fair | Mar 21, 2020

Next year’s NASCAR Cup Series free agent class is set to be loaded. Let’s take a look at the drivers who do not yet have contracts to compete in the 2021 season.