Audio: NASCAR Live – Top 10 Stories
It was an eventful 2019 NASCAR season highlighted by these 10 stories.
Kyle Busch Wins Second Title
In many ways Kyle Busch’s 2019 was as much trying as it was successful. He made no bones about a dislike for the new rules package over the course of the season but still found Victory Lane four times in the early part of the schedule and didn’t win from June 2nd at Pocono until he took the checkered flag in the Championship 4 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway to wrap up a second career Cup title.
Johnson Misses Playoffs
After seven Cup championships and making the post-season for 16 consecutive years, Jimmie Johnson missed the cut to run for the title. He came up short of the goal in the regular season finale at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The year began with Johnson separated from long-time crew chief Chad Knaus, who moved to teammate William Byron’s team at Hendrick Motorsports. But Johnson and new crew chief Kevin Meendering didn’t make it through the entire campaign with Cliff Daniels taking over crew chief responsibilities just past mid-season. Then to cap off the season, Johnson announced 2020 would be his final as a full-time Cup Series driver as he moves into retirement.
Historic Business Transactions
The business of the sport experienced some dramatic changes in 2019 that will shape the way NASCAR proceeds in the future. NASCAR acquired International Speedway Corporation, bringing together the sanctioning body with the company that owns and operates a majority of tracks on the schedule. Speedway Motorsports Inc., which owns and operates the bulk of the remaining tracks, went private and was acquired by Sonic Automotive, a move some see as a avenue to be purchased by NASCAR as well. Finally, Roger Penske’s organization acquired both the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the IndyCar Series, transaction that could have significant impact to NASCAR in the coming years.
New 2020 Schedule
Radical changes to next year’s schedule were unveiled in an effort to shake up the NASCAR calendar. While the same tracks that dotted the calendar this year will return, there are major changes in the order of events that will bring a new dynamic to many races and events. Among the highlights include the Championship 4 moving from Homestead-Miami Speedway to ISM Raceway in Phoenix, the second Daytona race sliding back to the regular season finale to determine the playoff field, Darlington’s Southern 500 kicking off the Playoff schedule, Bristol’s night race sliding into the playoffs and the penultimate race of the season taking place at Martinsville Speedway to determine the Championship 4 field.
Xfinity Series ‘Big 3’
Tyler Reddick became a back-to-back Xfinity Series champion in 2019 following his title the year before with JR Motorsports and bringing a crown to Richard Childress Racing. Reddick along with Christopher Bell and Cole Custer dominated the season with the trip teaming up to win 21 of the season’s 33 races. All three made the Championship 4 and the trio will graduate to the Cup Series in 2020. Reddick will drive for RCR while Bell moves to Leavine Family Racing and Custer joins Stewart-Haas Racing.
Silly Season
There will be a great deal of driver movement from 2019 to 2020 with a number of high profile and popular names on the move. Daniel Hemric will be replaced by Xfinity Series champ Tyler Reddick at Richard Childress Racing. Chris Buescher returns home to Roush Fenway taking the seat formerly occupied by Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who ironically hops over to Buescher’s former team – JTG Daugherty Racing. Matt DiBenedetto will be displaced by Christopher Bell and migrates from Leavine Family Racing to replace the retiring Paul Menard at the Wood Brothers. David Ragan’s retirement opened up a seat at Front Row Motorsports for John Hunter Nemechek.
Playoff Moments
This year’s playoff schedule produced a number of memorable moments culminating with Kyle Busch’s second career Cup championship. But along the way there were other standout memories including a surprising exit by Brad Keselowski at Kansas in October. Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson got to Victory Lane and did so during the playoff schedule. Martinsville again delivered for the highlight reel with a post-race scuffle between Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano that escalated into a fight that before it was over included several crewmembers.
JGR Domination
It was definitely a year to remember for Joe Gibbs Racing topped by Kyle Busch’s Cup Series title. The organization put three drivers in the Championship 4 finale with Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. joining Busch in the title race. Hamlin began the year with a second career Daytona 500 win, the first of five victories in 2019, and leading a JGR podium sweep in “The Great American Race. Overall JGR won 19 of the year’s 36 races including three of the four “crown jewel” events Hamlin/Daytona 500, Truex Jr./Coca-Cola 600, Erik Jones/Southern 500). Shockingly at season’s end, crew chief Cole Pearn announced his intention to step away from the sport after guiding Truex Jr. to 23 career wins and the 2017 championship.
NASCAR On the Rise
The sport saw a solid year in television ratings and attendance. Several events were sell outs including the Daytona 500, Southern 500, Watkins Glen and a pair of races at ISM Raceway in Phoenix. Both television partners also enjoyed a resurgence in audience figures as FOX and NBC saw ratings rise for many events with the overall season finishing on par with the previous year, ending a streak of audience declines in recent years.
New Rules Package
The dynamic new Cup Series rules package generated a great deal of attention and conversation this year. Added down force and less horsepower were the two major components of the package created as a means of increasing competition. The results were mixed with a major positive impact on intermediate tracks while short tracks and road courses suffered competition challenges. NASCAR officials were overall pleased with the general results but vowed to examine tweaks and changes in the off-season to improve the short track and road course packages in 2020.
