With the racing ‘graduation’ of several of the last two season’s championship contenders – including two-time Xfinity champion Tyler Reddick, Cole Custer, Christopher Bell, and John Hunter Nemechek all to the NASCAR Cup Series this year – the 2020 Xfinity championship field has a distinctive new competitive look.
DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 14: Natalie Decker, driver of the #44 N29 Technologies LLC Chevrolet, qualifies for the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series NextEra Energy 250 at Daytona International Speedway on February 14, 2020, in Daytona Beach, Florida. Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Niece Motorsport’s Natalie Decker was grinning widely before she even arrived at the many microphones and reporters ready to interview the Wisconsin driver following her historical run in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series season-opener Friday night at Daytona International Speedway.
DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 13: Daniel Suarez, driver of the #96 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota, crashes in the infield grass during the NASCAR Cup Series Bluegreen Vacations Duel 1 at Daytona International Speedway on February 13, 2020, in Daytona Beach, Florida. Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Looking simultaneously frustrated and disappointed, Daniel Suarez emerged from the Daytona International Speedway’s Infield Care Center Thursday night miffed at his early exit from the Bluegreen Vacations Duel 1 qualifying race – a fateful outcome that has cost him a position on Sunday’s Daytona 500 (2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) starting grid.
DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 13: Matt Crafton, driver of the #88 Mold Armor/Menards Ford, stands in the garage area during practice for the NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series NextEra Energy 250 at Daytona International Speedway on February 13, 2020, in Daytona Beach, Florida. Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images
Only one time in its 20-year history has a driver won back-to-back NextEra Energy 250 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoor Truck Series races – Todd Bodine in 2008-09. And with the stacked field set for Friday night’s season-opener, defending winner Austin Hill faces a mighty challenge.
HOMESTEAD, FLORIDA – NOVEMBER 17: Team owner Joe Gibbs of Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Toyota, celebrates after winning the championship and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead Speedway on November 17, 2019, in Homestead, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
HOMESTEAD, Fla. – It was Kyle Busch’s championship evening at Homestead-Miami Speedway Sunday, but it also had a distinctive feel of being a J.D. Gibbs’ kind of achievement.
Team owner Joe Gibbs’ oldest son J.D. was president of the Joe Gibbs Racing team and an omnipresent positive vibe in the NASCAR garage for more than a decade. Typically smiling and joking, but also ultra-competitive, the team won four previous Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championships under his leadership and won hearts because of his enduring positive spirit.
J.D. Gibbs passed away on January 11 at the age of 49 after a valiant and lengthy fight against degenerative neurological disease. His passing and its effect on the 2019 season has been simultaneously heart-breaking and heart-strengthening.