NASCAR: Way-too-early 2021 Championship 4 prediction

Now that the most unusual NASCAR season in recent memory is complete, it is time to look forward to the 2021 season. Who could we see fighting for a Cup Series championship at Phoenix Raceway?

The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, like the seasons of all other sports, was met with extreme challenges. The sanctioning body, the teams and the drivers were forced to adapt to the changes made throughout the season.

Ultimately, a full 36-race season was contested, and a champion was crowned. Chase Elliott won the final two races of the season at Martinsville Speedway and Phoenix Raceway to take home his first ever title.

Now his focus, along with the focus of the rest of the drivers, shifts to the 2021 season.

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I fully expect Elliott to be back in the Championship 4 next season. With him now seeming to be the new “face” of Hendrick Motorsports after Jimmie Johnson’s retirement, there is no reason to believe that he won’t be back with a chance to win another title.

Having finished the season by winning three of the last five races, he is entering 2021 with more momentum than anybody. He is poised to continue his success and enter the final race of the year with a shot at the championship once again. He is also the odds-on favorite to win the 2021 title.

Another driver whom I expect to be back as a Championship 4 driver in 2021 is Denny Hamlin. Hamlin has been ultra-competitive over the last few years and has pretty much won everything except a championship.

I expected him to win the championship this season, but after being outperformed in the last race once again, he fell short, marking three Championship 4 appearances, including two in a row, without a championship. I’m sure he will pull out all the stops to have another opportunity to win his first title next season.

Among the drivers who didn’t make the Championship 4 this year but have a real shot at making it next year is Kyle Busch. This may seem like an easy pick, but Busch is coming off of one of the worst seasons of his career with only one win that came late in the year after he had already been eliminated from the playoffs.

I cannot see Busch having another season like he had in 2020. I expect to see him come out extremely motivated to be back to the dominant form we have seen over the past multiple years.

My last pick to make the Championship 4 next season may come as a little bit of a surprise to some, but it really shouldn’t. I expect Ryan Blaney to make his first appearance as a championship eligible driver in the final race of the 2021 season.

Even though he only had one win this season, he was consistently in contention for wins. If not for some untimely caution flag periods late in races, it’s easy to argue that he could have had at least two or three more wins this season.

Due to a 10-point penalty before the first race of the playoffs, which knocked him below the cut round of 12 cut line, he was never in position to make it to the second round. But next season is the year that I believe that the #12 team will put it all together and gets multiple wins en route to qualifying for the championship race with a shot to win it all.

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A Championship 4 between Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney could provide us with an amazing season finale, and I believe that Denny Hamlin will secure his first NASCAR Cup Series championship in 2021. The season is scheduled to begin on Sunday, February 14 with the 63rd annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

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