NASCAR Cup Series: Way-too-early 2021 power rankings
By Asher Fair
Way-too-early 2021 NASCAR Power Rankings: #28 and #27
JTG Daugherty Racing, Chevrolet. RICKY STENHOUSE JR.. #28. . No. 47
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. illustrated that JTG Daugherty have speed at tracks other than superspeedways in 2020, something that hadn’t been on display much in the past. In addition to his photo finish second place finish at Talladega Superspeedway, he netted finishes of third and fourth at the intermediate tracks of Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway, respectively. But inconsistency plagued him down the stretch, and after beating teammate Ryan Preece in 18 of the 26 regular season races, he only beat him four times throughout the 10-race playoffs, and he only recorded a single top 10 finish in the season’s final 23 races.
No. 37. JTG Daugherty Racing, Chevrolet. RYAN PREECE. #27.
Ryan Preece appeared to be on his way out at JTG Daugherty Racing for much of the 2020 season, given the step back he took from what was a satisfactory rookie season in 2019 overall. In the season’s first 28 races, he finished no higher than 12th place, and in the 26 regular season races, he beat teammate Ricky Stenhouse Jr. just eight times and recorded just seven top 20 finishes. But in the first nine playoff races, he recorded eight top 20 finishes, including two top 10 results, and beat Stenhouse six times. He is poised for a career year in 2021, provided he is confirmed by the team as expected.