NASCAR: 5 teams that could have different driver lineups in 2021
By Asher Fair
2021 driver lineup changes: Joe Gibbs Racing
Joe Gibbs Racing’s driver lineup situation for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season is probably the least flexible one discussed in this article. But even among this four-car Toyota team, there is flexibility.
Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. are all set to return in the 2021 season, assuming the Hamlin departure rumors don’t amount to anything. But there are questions surrounding the future of Erik Jones, who signed a one-year contract extension with the team late last season.
Now we know that none of the possible answers to those questions include a return for Jones to the #20 Toyota next year.
Jones clearly entered the 2020 season on the hot seat. Joe Gibbs Racing fielded three of the four Championship 4 entries last season, and Jones was the only driver left out. He didn’t even make it out of the round of 16 of the playoffs, and he won one race all year. Busch, Hamlin and Truex combined for half of the season’s wins, 18, with five, six and seven, respectively.
Since arriving at Joe Gibbs Racing as Matt Kenseth’s replacement ahead of the 2018 season, the 24-year-old Byron, Michigan native has won just two races. Joe Gibbs Racing’s other drivers have combined to win 32, and that is despite the fact that Hamlin went winless in 2018, Truex only arrived in 2019 and Daniel Suarez went winless as well before he was cut from the team in favor of Truex
Joe Gibbs Racing moved Toyota prospect Christopher Bell from their Xfinity Series team to Leavine Family Racing, which have had a technical alliance with Joe Gibbs’s team since last year, ahead of the 2020 season, positioning Bell to take over behind the wheel of the #20 Toyota next year.
With Leavine Family Racing no longer operating after 2020 and Jones having confirmed that he won’t be back, the Jones vs. Bell battle for the #20 Toyota appears to have been won by Bell.