NASCAR silly season: Expiring contracts and how teams will look different in 2021
NASCAR’s silly season is under way and 2021 teams are taking shape, especially after two major questions of this season were answered this week: Will Brad Keselowski stay at Team Penske and what is happening with Leavine Family Racing?
After Keselowski’s third win of the season Sunday at New Hampshire, his team announced Monday that its driver of the No. 2 Ford Mustang had agreed to a contract extension — a yearlong deal, according to The Associated Press. The following morning, Leavine Family Racing team owner Bob Leavine announced that he had sold LFR’s charter and would not run the No. 95 car next season.
With Keselowski’s deal confirmed, Team Penske’s driver lineup is expected to look identical next year, while Joe Gibbs Racing is also shaping up in a similar fashion to this season. Still, questions remain unanswered for a few top teams and drivers in the premier series. Here’s a breakdown.
Team Penske takes shape
In March, Team Penske announced that it had signed No. 12 driver Ryan Blaney to a “multi-year extension,” locking him in through at least the next two seasons. Driver of the No. 22 Ford Mustang Joey Logano and Shell sponsor are signed with Penske through 2023.
The team lineup is expected to look very similar next season with Keselowski’s deal confirmed Monday. While crew chiefs could mix up, as they did this season, those names should remain the same. Last year, all three Penske drivers placed in the top 10 in points for the second year in a row, but none made it to the final four championship round in the playoffs. Currently, Keselowski has three race wins, Logano has two and Blaney has one. They are ranked third, fourth and sixth, respectively, in projected playoff points.
“We’ve accomplished a lot of things together over the years,” Keselowski said in a release from the team Monday. “Including winning both the Cup and Xfinity Championships, the Brickyard 400, the Southern 500 and the Coca-Cola 600. Now, my goal is to win the Daytona 500, another championship and continue to build Team Penske into the best NASCAR team in the garage area.”
The biggest question within the Penske organization is tied to Wood Brothers Racing, which has a technical alliance with Team Penske, and the No. 21 driver Matt DiBenedetto. DiBenedetto snagged a ride with the Wood Brothers for the 2020 season less than a month after Leavine Family Racing announced that he would not return as their No. 95 driver last year.
DiBenedetto is having a solid run this season despite not yet winning a race. He has six top-10 finishes in 2020 and remains above the playoff cutline, which would be a major signal to the organization if he is able to hold onto that slot. Still, factors outside his control, such as sponsorship deals and funding, could impact his return to the team.
Uncertainty at Joe Gibbs Racing
No. 19 Toyota Camry driver Martin Truex Jr. joined Joe Gibbs Racing in 2019 with a “multi-year” deal and is expected to return to the organization next season, according to Jayski.com, while No. 18 driver Kyle Busch and No. 11 driver Denny Hamlin are also expected to be back at JGR. Hamlin, who currently leads the series in race wins with five, signed a multi-year extension with his longtime FedEx sponsor in 2017.
Busch’s JGR contract, which expired at the end of his championship-winning 2019 season, was extended last year and was for three seasons. While his current deal was announced as a “multi-year” extension, as contract details are not often released, top-tier drivers usually commit to three-year stints.
There’s still a big question mark in the driver’s seat for JGR’s No. 20 ride, however. Team president Dave Alpern said last week that the pandemic has delayed a decision on the contract of current No. 20 driver Erik Jones, whose one-year extension is up after this season. Alpern said that discussions are taking place, but the team is still working through “timing and circumstances,” as well as sifting through sponsorships and other driver contracts.
“We’re in the process, but being July, we have many of those other boxes that still need to be checked,” Alpern said. “Because there’s just puzzle pieces that haven’t been decided yet. Obviously, that’s at the top of everybody’s mind.”
The closure of Leavine Family Racing, which has a technical alliance with JGR, also adds uncertainty to Christopher Bell’s future, who currently drives the No. 95 Toyota Camry. Neither Jones nor Bell have won a race and both are currently below the cutoff for playoffs. Jones is ranked 19th and Bell is 23rd in points for the postseason. Both drivers are young and have shown their potential through the Xfinity and Cup Series, but it’s increasingly looking like a battle between the two for JGR’s final seat, with the opportunity for either to add to his case in the coming races.
Hendrick will have an open seat
The other major contract question of the year goes to Hendrick Motorsports: Who will drive the No. 48 Chevy Camaro after Jimmie Johnson retires at the end of the season? Bell could be a possible contender for that spot if he doesn’t land the ride with JGR, as could Jones. Corey LaJoie, who currently drives the No. 32 Ford Mustang, has also expressed interest in a deal with Hendrick for the No. 48. He wrote a letter to team owner Rick Hendrick at the beginning of the season asking for consideration, RacinBoys.com reported in February.
“I’m probably on the bottom of the list, but I’d like to think I’m on the list,” LaJoie said at the time. “There’s no doubt, I think a lot of people would attest, what I can do when cars are apples to apples. It’s something I’ve been able to do my whole life. But in my NASCAR career, I haven’t been apples to apples.”
But LaJoie has not placed in the top 10 this season, and sometimes struggled to even finish a race, while other drivers with an opening next year, including DiBenedetto, Bubba Wallace and Cup rookies Tyler Reddick and John Hunter Nemechek have shown their strength.
There is also the possibility that Hendrick, content with its lineup of three young and competitive drivers in Chase Elliott, William Byron and Alex Bowman, decides to either retire the No. 48 car or transition either Bowman or Byron, who have signed with the team through 2021, to the ride. It’s 2020. Anything is possible.
Decisions for Bubba
The unlikely circumstances of the year were reiterated last weekend when Wallace was offered a rare ownership stake in his Richard Petty Motorsports team, according to Forbes.com. He is reportedly considering the deal. Owner Andrew Murstein said Wallace’s increased visibility this year, through his influence in NASCAR banning the Confederate flag and his support for the Black Lives Matter movement, has led to increased sponsorship deals for the driver and the RPM organization.
“We went from probably having one meeting a week with a potential sponsor to five the last five weeks or so,” Murstein said. “I think Bubba is probably the most recognizable NASCAR driver now, other than Richard Petty. So we’ve got probably the two most recognizable names in the sport. It’s a marketer’s dream.”
If Wallace takes the deal, he would follow in the footsteps of NASCAR Cup champions Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart, who signed with their respective Hendrick Motorsports and Stewart-Haas Racing teams as both team owners and drivers during their tenures in the series. But the increased fandom for Wallace could also have increased interest from other, better funded organizations, such as Hendrick or even Chip Ganassi Racing, according to Sports Business Journal.
Stewart-Haas should stick with what’s working
Finally, there’s not much reason to think Stewart-Haas Racing’s lineup will undergo massive rejiggering next season, nor does it need it. No. 4 Ford Mustang driver Kevin Harvick said in February that he had signed with Stewart-Haas through 2023. He currently leads the series in points and sits one race win behind Hamlin. Cup rookie Cole Custer has already notched an unexpected win for his No. 41 team, locking them into playoffs, and Aric Almirola has dominated in points outside of getting to Victory Lane this year.
The future of No. 14 driver Clint Bowyer remains a point of discussion, however, as his contract is up at the end of the year. Bowyer recently said he hasn’t discussed an extension with team leadership much and wants to remain with SHR until he retires. He’s posted five top 10s this season and is currently ranked 14th in points for playoffs, still in contention for the postseason.
“You are always trying to improve performance each and every season,” Bowyer said this week. “Once you get a taste of success and winning, that mind-set takes hold, it drives everything you do, shaping families and defining who you are. Winning has roots.”
Bowyer isn’t the only driver whose future home is in question. All teams are still dealing with the financial fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, meaning no one in the sport is necessarily “safe.” While a lot remains uncertain this season and beyond, there is one point of consistency when it comes to contract negotiations: Winning matters.
This story was originally published August 5, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
