Christmas is coming, and NASCAR drivers write letters to Santa too! Here is a quick peak at what the 2020 Playoff Contenders wanted to make their 2021 even better than 2020. Chase Elliott- More Road Courses... When you win the championship it's hard find a gift better than that, but Chase is by far the best road course racer in the Cup Series. NASCAR has already scheduled seven points paying road course races in 2021, but the more the merrier for Chase. Joey Logano- Tj Majors Life Time Contract... Tj Majors spotting for Joey Logano is what got him to the Championship Four. Logano blocked Harvick for roughly forty laps at Kansas which essentially eliminated Harvick from advancing, and helped him advance. Brad Keselowski- A Better Pit Crew... Brad's pit crew folded when he needed them most, routinely bad pit stops in the championship race at Phoenix putting him behind every Championship Four Contender every pit stop. Denny Hamlin- A Championship... This one is low hanging fruit, but its true. Back to back seasons where he was one of the two best drivers of the season, and comes up short. Denny is entering his age forty season so regression is coming its time he gets his ring. Kevin Harvick- A Return To Winston Cup Points... Another easy one, but Harvick was head and shoulders the best driver all season. An unlucky Round of 8 lead to Harvick's shocking elimination from the playoffs. Had the Winston Cup points been in place Harvick is a dominant champion. Martin Truex Jr.- Cole Pearn Back... 2020 was a solid season for MTJ, but for the first time since 2016 Truex did not make the final four. COVID might’ve hurt Truex’s first year with James Small, but either way Pearn’s experience with Truex would be a huge advantage with limited practice at tracks. Go get Peaen back. Alex Bowman- A Multiyear Contract...2020 was the best season of Alex Bowman’s career. He won at Auto Club, made the Round of 8 and even appeared to be a legit title contender. In March Alex Bowman signed a one year extension and has taken of the legendary 48 car, but he will be a free agent in 2021. Give Bowman job security. Kurt Busch- Return To Title Contention… As the sunset on Kurt Busch’s career continues since moving to CGR he has significantly out performed the expectations of that 1 car. Albeit unlikely Kurt Busch should get one more good run at a championship. Kyle Busch- To End 2020… This is the most realistic gift on the list. With 2020 ending less than a week after Christmas Kyle Busch will be the most excited driver in the garage. 2020 was a struggle for Kyle Busch plagued by the lack of practice KFB only won one Cup race and that was the fall Texas race after being eliminated from the playoffs. Austin Dillon- Earn Playoff Points…AD has had some big wins throughout his career… most notably the 2018 Daytona 500, but 2020 was arguably his best year yet. He earned his way to the Round of 12 after a win at Texas earned him a spot in the playoffs. Dillon just needs more playoff points to make advancing easier. Aric Almirola- Wins...Almirola was one of the most consistent drivers in 2020, and consistency will get you in the playoffs, but not far. Winning races will elevate Almurola to a title contender. Cole Custer- Consistency... Custer’s rookie season had a peak with his win at Kentucky, and a lot of just not putting races together. Custer will get better in 2021, and this was arguably the hardest season ever to be a rookie. Making the playoffs is a great start for him and next year he needs to be more consistently a top 10 threat. Ryan Blaney- Finish Races ...This was another hard gift. A driver who seems to win the craziest race of the season. Blaney established himself as a top tier Super Speedway driver with a win at Talladega in June. Blaney’s season ended with a shocking exit in the Round of 16. Blaney needs to finish races the way he starts them… up front. Matt DiBenedetto- A Win...This is a double gift. Matty D already knows he will be replaced by Austin Cindric in 2022. If he wins next season it will be the Wood Brothers 100th win, and a very popular win at that. Matty D needs the win to make a case for a new year to sign him, and a win could get him a better ride than the Wood Brothers. William Byron- To Be A Legit Contender… A driver who has shown all the potential in the world needs to take the next step. After getting his first win at Daytona in August William Byron needs to get to the Round of 8. I think making that Round shows he’s a legit contender and will be a nice building block for Byron heading into 2022. Clint Bowyer- Another Chiefs Super Bowl… I could gift him a wonderful retirement, but he’s already earned that, so I will gift back to back Super Bowl wins for Clint’s beloved Kansas City Chiefs.

In case you missed it, StatChat is counting down the days ‘til the 2021 Daytona 500. Every two days, we will have a new article featuring one of the Top 30 Drivers of 2020. 22nd Place – Bubba Wallace – 597 pts By the Numbers: 21.08 2020 Average Finish – Bubba Wallace, in his 3rd full-time Cup Series season, had the best average finish of his career. While only 3 seasons is a fairly small sample size, it was a significant difference (2.86 positions) from even his 2nd best year. -332 Pass Differential – Ranking worst out of all drivers in 2020, Wallace was passed 332 more times than he passed other drivers. Since Pass Differential only measures passes under green flags, it may be a flawed statistic. However, when the 2nd worst Pass Differential, belonging to Quin Houff, is 108 positions better (-244), it certainly doesn’t show well for Bubba. 1st Place Daytona Average Finish – Bubba Wallace, with an Average Finish of 14.86 at Daytona over the course of 7 career races at the Super Speedway. The next two best drivers are Brennan Poole (with a surprisingly low 15.50) and Austin Dillon (15.53). 17 Lead Lap Finishes – Finishing on the lead lap can be a good indicator of a driver who keeps his car clean, and is consistently competitive. Bubba Wallace finished 2020 with 17 of the 36 races being Lead Lap Finishes, only good enough for 47.2% of the season. 261,921 Gained Twitter Followers – From February to November 2020, Bubba Wallace gained (approximately) 261,921 Twitter followers. The 2020 NASCAR season will likely be most remembered as the COVID season, but it was also a year of progress, acceptance, and inclusion – a lot of which was spearheaded by Bubba Wallace. Wallace gained notoriety beyond NASCAR through his open support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Bubba has famously left Richard Petty Motorsports and joined the new 23XI Racing team formed by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, and will drive the No. 23 Toyota. Coming up in two days – Chris Buescher

In case you missed it, StatChat is counting down the days ‘til the 2021 Daytona 500. Every two days, we will have a new article featuring one of the Top 30 Drivers of 2020. 23rd Place – Michael McDowell – 588 pts By the Numbers: 20.92 2020 Average Finish – Michael McDowell quietly put together his best average finish of his career in 2020. This being his 3rd year with Front Row Motorsports, his average finish has continued to get better with each season (24.53 and 24.17 in 2018 and 2019, respectively). 355 Career Starts – Being a record holder is usually something to take pride in, but Michael McDowell is likely not too excited about this one: He currently has the most Career Starts without a win out of all the active drivers. McDowell has unfortunately spent his career on mostly back-marker teams. 6 Laps Led – In all of 2020, Michael McDowell only led 6 laps. And even less impressive, the most laps he led in a single race was 2 at the Summer Daytona race. Every other lap led was a one-off in 4 other races. 137 Career DNFs – Michael McDowell leads all active drivers in Career DNFs (Did Not Finish) by a long shot. JJ Yeley with the 2nd most only has 95. Many of these came earlier in the 2010s when McDowell was part of the “Start-and-Park” teams such as Prism Motorsports, HP Racing, and Phil Parsons Racing. (The term Start-and-Park refers to the idea that it was more financially feasible to start a race and retire very early on due to a phony excuse such as engine or transmission failure, rather than having to fund more fuel, tires, etc. only to finish a few spots ahead. NASCAR has since changed some of the rules in an effort to stop this, and in 2020 McDowell only had 2 DNFs). 103 Points – From 2019 to 2020, Michael McDowell’s point production improved dramatically. With 485 points in 2019, and 588 points in 2020, McDowell improved by 103 points over the course of a single season. Throw in the fact that due, in part, to NASCAR’s new COVID-related qualifying procedure (which was based on a formula involving the previous race’s fastest lap, finishing position, as well as owner points), Michael McDowell also started races on average 3.4 positions farther back this year than he did in 2019. McDowell will hope to build on the momentum of a career year in 2021, when he will return to the Front Row Motorsports No. 34 Ford. Coming up in two days – Bubba Wallace

Few topics in the NASCAR world were more talked about than Kyle Busch’s winless streak and his decline in performance in 2020. After winning his 2nd championship in 2019, expectations were high in 2020, but Busch suffered through a disappointing season, going winless until the 34th race of the season when he visited victory lane at Texas in October for his lone win in 2020. Opinions varied as to why victories eluded Busch in 2020, and the Kyle Busch haters had a ball throwing out theories on why he wasn’t winning. Busch turned 35 during the 2020 season, and one popular opinion is that Father Time was beginning to catch up with Busch. Another opinion is that the lack of practice time was hurting Busch’s performance. Possibly the most absurd opinion was that the overall decline at Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) exposed Busch as a mediocre driver that could only win when he was in superior equipment – don’t laugh, I actually read that one more than once! The truth is that there’s nothing wrong with Kyle Busch. Kyle Busch is an immensely talented driver, and he didn’t wake up one day and just forget how to drive. As much as people might want to envision Kyle walking into Joe Gibbs office and asking him “which one of these pedals is the gas and which one is the brake”, it simply didn’t happen. So, let’s take a deeper dive into the 2020 version of Kyle Busch.. Slumps are not that uncommon, and Kyle Busch’s 2020 season could best be described as a slump. They aren’t uncommon among NASCAR drivers, even among Hall of Fame caliber drivers. Kevin Harvick, who is still going strong in his mid-forties, suffered through a similar slump. In 2012, Harvick only won one race. Eight years later, Harvick is still going strong! Admittedly, Harvick was driving for Richard Childress Racing(RCR) at the time, and RCR was beginning to decline in 2012. Harvick aside, there are other examples of drivers suffering through a mid-career slump. Jeff Gordon went winless in 2008 and won only once in 2009, but rattled off 10 more wins in his career before retiring. Gordon and Harvick were both 37 when they suffered through their slump. Even the great Dale Earnhardt, Sr. suffered through a miserable 1992 season where he only won one race, but rebounded and won championships in 1993 and 1994. Earnhardt was 41 at the time of his slump. The slumps of Harvick, Gordon and Earnhardt all look very similar to Busch’s 2020 season. Harvick and Gordon were both 37 when the hit their slump and Busch turned 35 during the 2020 season, so a slump in your mid-thirties is not uncommon for a NASCAR driver. Harvick and Earnhardt only won one race during their slump, which is exactly what Busch did this season. Maintaining a high standard of excellence, as Busch has done for the last 15 years, is incredibly hard to do, so let’s cut him a break for having one sub-par season. The schedule is another factor that did not play into Busch’s favor in 2020. Between rain delays, elimination of practice and shortening or skipping races at some of Busch’s best tracks, the #18 crew had to feel like both Mother Nature and the NASCAR schedule makers were out to get them. 12 of Busch’s 57 wins have come at the following tracks: Watkins Glen, Sonoma, Chicagoland, Darlington and Pocono. What is significant about these tracks? Well, due to the schedule upheaval, Watkins Glen, Sonoma and Chicagoland all got skipped on the 2020 NASCAR schedule. Pocono and Dover had their races shortened. These tracks account for over 20% of Busch’s career win total. Elimination of 3 of them and shorter races at the other two certainly hurt Busch’s chances of getting into victory lane in 2020. Another popular opinion is that the lack of practice time hurt Busch in 2020. There may be some substance to this theory. From a driver’s perspective, there was probably no bigger change than the elimination of practices in the post-Covid portion of the season. It seems plausible that this hurt Busch and impacted his win total. He was running for the same team, had the same crew chief, and visited the same tracks, but couldn’t find the same speed. Practice makes perfect, and maybe Busch needs that practice time to work with his crew chief to get the car dialed-in. Also under the category of needing time to get the car dialed-in is the fact that 9 of the first 15 races were impacted by weather. When a NASCAR track gets rained on, it’s like starting from scratch for a crew chief, and most of your setup plans get washed away like the rubber that had accumulated on the track. If you subscribe to the theory that Busch needs time to get the car dialed-in, then Mother Nature certainly didn’t do him any favors with all of the rain delays that made fine-tuning a setup even more challenging. Admittedly, this line of reasoning may fall into the category of “excuses”. After all, it was the same for everybody, and all teams had to face the same challenges, but they did still throw an added challenge onto an already difficult season. Finally, it’s somewhat overlooked that the overall JGR performance dropped in 2020. JGR had an unbelievable 2019 season, winning 19 races, landing three drivers in the Championship four and bringing home the championship. It would be unfathomably difficult to put together back-to-back seasons of that caliber. By most standards, 2020 was a good season at JGR, with 9 wins, but 7 of the wins came from Denny Hamlin, with Busch and Martin Truex, Jr. each having one win apiece. The lack of parity in how the wins were distributed at JGR is what’s most striking when comparing 2019 to 2020. In 2019, Busch won 5 times, Hamlin had 6 wins and Truex led the way with 7 wins. The fact that almost all of JGR’s wins came from the #11 team in 2020 is what should concern fans of JGR racing. Martin Truex, Jr. suffered a similar decline in performance as Busch, going from 7 wins in 2019 to 1 win in 2020, but Truex doesn’t draw the ire of keyboard warriors, so his 2020 season stayed under the radar much more than Bush’s season. Truex may have flown under the radar with his lone win, but it shows that Busch wasn’t the only Gibbs driver that was struggling in 2020. Don’t expect the coach to be content with ultra-talented drivers like Truex and Bush winning one race apiece. Gibbs will figure out the problems and make the appropriate changes. The bottom line is that it’s extremely tough to win in NASCAR. There are millions of ways to lose a race and very few ways to win and one sub par season out of the last 15 isn’t any reason to push the panic button. Kyle Busch is still as talented as any driver in the garage, not only has he not forgotten how to drive, he’s at the “sweet spot” in his career with the right blend of experience and talent that make him a threat to win anyplace he races. Look for Busch to come back with a strong 2021 season and visit victory lane multiple times.

In case you missed it, StatChat is counting down the days ‘til the 2021 Daytona 500. Every two days, we will have a new article featuring one of the Top 30 Drivers of 2020. 24th Place – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – 584 pts By the Numbers: 8 DNFs in 2020 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. tied with two other regular drivers for most DNFs (Did Not Finish) this year with 8. He tied with Ryan Preece and Brennan Poole. If Ricky wants to have a better next year, he’s going to need to keep his car clean. 4.75 Average Places – 2020 was Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s first year at JTG-Daugherty Racing, essentially swapping teams with Chris Buescher. In 2019, Buescher had an average finish of 17.83, and this year Stenhouse finished with a 22.58. This means that in basically the same equipment, Ricky finished an average of 4.75 places worse than Buescher did a year earlier. 6.82% Less Miles Driven – Piggybacking off the DNF stat above, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., while he started all 36 races of the season, finished with 6.82% less miles driven than even Ryan Newman, who missed 3 races after his wreck at Daytona. Newman actually drove 921.47 more miles than him in 3 less races. 1 Stage Win – 2020 wasn’t a complete write-off for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. He managed to score a stage win and nearly even had a victory, all in the same race. Race 13 at Talladega featured Ricky winning stage 2, and finishing in 2nd place behind Ryan Blaney. 4 “Under Green” Penalties – Tied for most with Joey Logano, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had 4 penalties while under green flag conditions. While no penalties are necessarily good during a race, having to serve one under green flag conditions can be more costly than when under yellow. Having to pass through Pit Road while the other drivers are able to continue racing can result in a lot of lost time. Despite a less-than-stellar season, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will look to bounce back in 2021. Always a threat at Super Speedways, he will be returning to the JTG-Daugherty Racing No. 47 Chevrolet for a second year. Coming up in two days – Michael McDowell

In case you missed it, StatChat is counting down the days ‘til the 2021 Daytona 500. Every two days, we will have a new article featuring one of the Top 30 Drivers of 2020. 25th Place – Ryan Newman – 566 pts By the Numbers: 15:40 – Ryan Newman suffered one of the most horrific crashes in recent memory at the Daytona 500. Ryan spent 15 minutes and 40 seconds stuck in his car before being removed from it, though there was a trauma doctor at the car with him within 33 seconds. 12 Less Top 10s – A speedy health-related recovery for Newman after his crash didn’t necessarily translate to a return to form on the track. In 2020, Ryan Newman scored only 2 Top 10s, and one of those was his 9th place at the Daytona 500 where he crossed the finish line upside down – compare this to 14 Top 10s in 2019. 24.3% Laps in the Top 15 – Of the 8,976 laps that Ryan Newman ran in 2020, 2,206 of them were spent in the Top 15. Compared to some of the premiere drivers (Elliott – 84.8%, Harvick – 82.4%, etc), that just isn’t enough time spent near the front of the pack to get good results. 1428 Days – When the 2021 Daytona 500 starts on February 14th, that’s how many days it will have been since Ryan Newman’s last win. His last win came at the Camping World 500, the 4th race of the 2017 season at what was then called ISM Raceway, now simply known as Phoenix. 18 Years – Until Ryan Newman missed 3 races while recovering from his big wreck at the start of the year, he had not missed a single race in his entire career as a full-time racer – dating back to his first full-time season in 2002. That amounts to 649 consecutive starts without missing a race. At 43 years old, Ryan Newman is likely passed the prime of his career. Since his best statistical season in 2014, his averages have been trending in the wrong direction. However, a fully healthy season next year may be just what he needs to get back to form. He will return to Roush-Fenway Racing’s No. 6 Ford in 2021. Coming up in two days – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

In case you missed it, StatChat is counting down the days ‘til the 2021 Daytona 500. Every two days, we will have a new article featuring one of the Top 30 Drivers of 2020. 26th Place – Ty Dillon – 556 pts By the Numbers: 1 Stage Win – Ty Dillon had a single stage win in 2020 – he won the first stage of the 32nd race of the season at the Charlotte Roval. (Ty couldn’t stay up front for the remainder of the race and wound up finishing 23rd) 162 Winless Races – Ty Dillon has started 162 races in the Cup Series, and still has yet to score a win. Unlike some of his other winless compatriots, things aren’t looking hopeful for Ty to get his first win any time soon. 14 Lead Lap Finishes – In 2020, Ty Dillon finished on the lead lap only 14 times. If you add his 4 DNFs (Did Not Finish), that means 18 of 36 races in 2020 (50%) had Ty Dillon finishing at LEAST one lap down. 7.41% DNF % – That is a very low DNF (Did Not Finish) percentage for Ty Dillon, good enough for 3rd best percentage among current drivers (bested only by Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano). Ty Dillon may not have the most impressive finishing results, but he consistently brings his cars back in one piece. 671 Days – That’s how many days younger Ty Dillon is than his older brother, Austin. Ty Dillon’s future, as of publishing date, is still up in the air. The Germain Racing No. 13 Chevrolet is defunct for 2021, their charter having been bought up by 23XI Racing’s Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan. While rumours of his pending retirement swirled at the end of 2019, Ty was adamant that he wants to continue racing “for many, many years.” For now, the question of where remains unanswered. Coming up in two days – Ryan Newman

Catchfence.com is reporting that the #62 Chevrolet from Bear Motorsports that was recently vacated when Brendan Gaughan retired will be driven by NASCAR Xfinity star Noah Gragson. The driver will participate in his first ever NASCAR Cup Series event in the 2021 Daytona 500. Details on sponsorship or future schedule were not made available and the team did not confirm this at the time of the report. Follow Racing Refresh for further updates on this story.

In case you missed it, StatChat is counting down the days ‘til the 2021 Daytona 500. Every two days, we will have a new article featuring one of the Top 30 Drivers of 2020. 27th Place – John Hunter Nemechek – 534 pts By the Numbers: 11th Place – At both Daytona races in 2020, John Hunter Nemechek placed 11th. This gave him the best career average finish at Daytona for any active driver (2nd Place is Bubba Wallace with 14.86). Of course, it’s important to note that this is a small sample size, based only on 2 races. 16 Top 20s – Finishing the year with 16 Top-20 finishes (44.4%) may not sound like much, but when considering that JHN’s veteran Front Row Motorsports teammate Michael McDowell only managed 2 more than him (in a career year of his own, no less), that is an impressive haul in subpar equipment for a rookie. 100 Average Green Flag Passes – (A Green Flag Pass is when you pass another car while the race is under green flag conditions) – This ranks considerably higher than a lot of his competitors. John Hunter Nemechek’s Average number of Green Flag Passes per race is higher than such notable drivers as Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, and Alex Bowman, among others. He ranks 5th among full-time drivers in 2020. (Keep in mind that the farther back you start, the more cars you have in front of you to pass!) 96.95% Miles Completed – If a driver had finished every race on the lead lap, they would have raced a total of 13,520.69 miles. John Hunter Nemechek finished 13,108.67 miles in 2020, or 96.96%, which ranked 8th out of full-time drivers this year. 1 Lap Led – Nemechek only led a single lap for the entire 2020 season. This one lap led was at the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte on May 24th. John Hunter Nemechek has stepped away from Front Row Motorsports and the NASCAR Cup Series. In November he announced that he will run a full-time season in the Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 4 Toyota for the 2021 Camping World Truck Series. Coming up in two days – Ty Dillon

In case you missed it, StatChat is counting down the days ‘til the 2021 Daytona 500. Every two days, we will have a new article featuring one of the Top 30 Drivers of 2020. 28th Place – Matt Kenseth – 521 pts By the Numbers: 20 seasons – 2020 was Matt Kenseth’s 20th (nearly) full-time season as a Cup Series driver. It seems time has not been friendly to Matt, as this was also his worst season by average finish. 697 races – Kenseth will finish just 3 races shy of 700 for his career, as he has decided 2020 will be his last year of full-time racing. Only 17 drivers in NASCAR history have achieved over 700 starts. 6.81 Average Finish – Matt Kenseth’s average finish of 21.38 in 2020 was 6.81 points worse than his career average. Since he has so many starts, his year only caused his average to increase by 0.32 points. 16th Race – 2020’s 16th race of the year was the Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 at Indianapolis. This was also the site of Matt Kenseth’s best finish of 2020, where he placed 2nd. It also served as his lone Top-5 of the year. -226 Pass Differential – In 2020, Kenseth was passed 226 more times than he passed anyone else under green. This put him only behind Quin Houff and Bubba Wallace for worst pass differentials of the year. Matt Kenseth has retired from full-time racing and will not return next year to the Chip Ganassi No. 42 Chevrolet. He is to be replaced by Ross Chastain. Coming up in two days – John Hunter Nemechek

In case you missed it, StatChat is counting down the days ‘til the 2021 Daytona 500. Every two days, we will have a new article featuring one of the Top 30 Drivers of 2020. 29th Place – Ryan Preece – 477 pts By the Numbers: P9 – Ryan Preece’s best finish of the 2020 Cup Series Season. The finish came during the Round of 16 at the Bristol Night Race. This and a 10th place finish two races later at Talladega marked Ryan Preece’s only 2 Top-10 finishes (compared to 3 Top-10s the year prior). 1.28 – Ryan Preece may only have been in his second year of full-time Cup Series racing, but his results at JTG-Daugherty Racing have trended in the wrong direction, finishing an average of 1.28 spots worse per race than in 2019. 13.53 points – The average number of points earned by Preece per race. JTG-Daugherty may not be one of the premiere teams but even Ricky Stenhouse Jr., his teammate (who would be the first to admit he had a dismal season) was able to secure an average of 16.42 points per race. Ryan Preece will have to be better in 2021. 18.18% Career DNF Rate – To wreck out of almost 1 in 5 races is not a stat that Ryan Preece is going to want to continue to grow. Even the top drivers have DNFs – there are certain things in NASCAR that are beyond your control – but Preece’s rate is too high to be considered solely unlucky. 13.43 Average Finish – During the COVID-19 break between the Phoenix race on March 8th and NASCAR’s triumphant return to racing on May 17th, many drivers participated in the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series to help pass the time and keep the fans engaged. Ryan Preece’s average finish was 13.43 through the 7 races, including a 2nd place finish at e-Texas. Was this a sign of what talent may be hiding behind bad equipment? Or is Ryan just good at video games? Ryan Preece is set to return to the JTG-Daugherty No. 37 Chevrolet in 2021. Coming up in two days – Matt Kenseth

-- Roush Fenway Racing Press Release -- Premier retail mortgage lender to continue serving as primary partner in 2021 CONCORD, N.C., (December 17, 2020) – Guaranteed Rate, which joined Roush Fenway as a primary partner on Ryan Newman’s No. 6 Ford Mustang entry in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2020, has extended its partnership and will continue as a primary in multiple races in 2021. “We are excited to have Guaranteed Rate back on our Ford this season,” said Newman, who boasts 18 wins in the NASCAR Cup Series. “They came on board last year and were really a strong presence for our team down the stretch. They are a great group to work with and I look forward to building on the program in 2021.” Guaranteed Rate, one of the largest retail mortgage lenders in the United States, initially joined Roush Fenway midway through the 2020 campaign, as a primary on Newman’s Ford at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Following that event, in conjunction with Fenway Sports Management, the brand expanded its relationship and was featured as the lead partner in 11 of the season’s final 14 races. “Our launch into NASCAR this past season was a huge success,” said Guaranteed Rate Chief Marketing Officer Steve Moffat. “Ryan Newman and the Roush Fenway Team are true professionals and outstanding partners. Ryan set some big goals for 2021, and we at Guaranteed Rate share that same competitive spirit and focus on winning.” Roush Fenway is coming off a noteable launch with Guaranteed Rate, having won a MarCom Gold Award for its efforts in integrated marketing. As part of the campaign, Guaranteed Rate rolled out an expansive sweepstakes program on social, allowing fans the opportunity to win multiple prizes from Newman. “We are very happy to announce that Guaranteed Rate will return in 2021 and continue to serve as a primary partner with Ryan Newman and the No. 6 Ford,” said team president Steve Newmark. “Since joining the team in July of 2020, Guaranteed Rate launched a robust marketing campaign around the partnership that saw great fan response. The high level of engagement from our fanbase is a testament to their brand and the quality of their products and services. We look forward to continuing to expand the partnership in 2021 and beyond, and jointly offering creative programs to our fans.” Newman enters his 20th full season in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2021, and third behind the wheel of the No. 6 Ford. The South Bend, Ind., native has 260+ career top-10 finishes, 115 in the top five, along with 18 wins, including the 2008 Daytona 500. The No. 6 Guaranteed Rate Ford with Newman at the wheel will be seen in the Daytona Clash (2/9), Martinsville (4/10), Dover (5/16), Circuit of the Americas (5/23), Pocono (6/27), New Hampshire (7/18), Richmond (9/11) and Las Vegas (9/26). About Guaranteed Rate Companies The Guaranteed Rate Companies, which includes Guaranteed Rate Inc., Guaranteed Rate Affinity, LLC, and Proper Rate, LLC, has more than 8,000 employees in over 700 offices across the U.S. Headquartered in Chicago, Guaranteed Rate Inc. is one of the largest retail mortgage lenders in the United States funding $37 billion in 2019. Founded in 2000 and licensed in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., Guaranteed Rate Companies has helped homeowners nationwide with home purchase loans and refinances. The company has established itself as an industry leader by introducing innovative technology, offering low rates and delivering unparalleled customer service. 2017 marked the launch of Guaranteed Rate Affinity, LLC, a mortgage origination joint venture between Guaranteed Rate, Inc. and Realogy Holdings Corp. (NYSE: RLGY), a global leader in residential real estate franchising and brokerage. In 2020, the company launched Proper Rate, LLC, a mortgage origination joint venture between Guaranteed Rate and @properties, one of the nation’s largest residential brokerage firms. Collectively, the companies have earned honors and awards including: HousingWire’s 2020 Tech100 award for the company’s industry-leading FlashClose SM technology; Top Lender for Online Service for 2018 by U.S. News & World Report; No. 3 ranking in Scotsman Guide’s Top Retail Mortgage Lenders 2019; Chicago Agent Magazine’s Lender of the Year for five consecutive years; Chicago Tribune’s Top Workplaces list for seven consecutive years; and Best Online Mortgage Lender, Best Mortgage Lender for VA loans and Best Conventional Mortgage Lender by NerdWallet in 2019. Visit rate.com for more information. About Roush Fenway Racing About Roush Fenway Racing Roush Fenway Racing is one of the most successful teams in NASCAR history, fielding multiple teams in NASCAR Cup Series. Set to begin its 34th season in 2021, Roush Fenway is a leader in driver development, having launched the careers for many of the top drivers in the sport. Off-track, Roush Fenway is a leader in NASCAR marketing solutions, having produced multiple award-winning Social Media, digital content and experiential marketing campaigns. Roush Fenway is co-owned by NASCAR Hall of Fame team owner Jack Roush and Fenway Sports Group, parent company of Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox and English Premier League’s Liverpool F.C. Visit RoushFenway.com, become a fan on Facebook and Instagram, and follow on Twitter at @roushfenway. from News – Roush Fenway https://ift.tt/2KCOTOl via IFTTT -- Syndicate Post --

In case you missed it, StatChat is counting down the days ‘til the 2021 Daytona 500. Every two days, we will have a new article featuring one of the Top 30 Drivers of 2020. 30th Place – Corey LaJoie – 408 pts By the Numbers: 30th Place – Corey LaJoie’s 2020 season may not have seemed all that flashy compared to some of his Cup Series compatriots, but his 30th place finish is actually the best that his team, Go Fas Racing, has ever managed since its inception in 2011. 1 Top-10 – It might have been lost in the shuffle of Ryan Newman’s devastating crash at the Daytona 500, but Corey LaJoie’s lone Top-10 finish of 2020 came in the first race of the season, where he finished 8th. 7 DNFs – A career-high number of DNFs (Did Not Finish) for LaJoie in 2020, being plagued by untimely mechanical failures, and a penchant for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. 13 Laps Led – Coming into this season, Corey had never led a lap in the Cup Series. Interestingly, of his 13 laps led, 11 of them came split between the two Martinsville races. 87 Days – That’s how long the Twitter feud between Corey LaJoie and JGR driver Denny Hamlin lasted. What may have started as some less-than-well-intentioned playful jabs turned into something much bigger and resulted in a public apology from LaJoie on June 18th. LaJoie will be with Spire Motorsports in 2021, driving the new No. 7 Chevrolet. Coming up in two days – Ryan Preece

-- Roush Fenway Racing Press Release -- High-performance lubricant brand to continue serving as team’s official oil partner Castrol to Serve as Primaries on both No. 6 and No. 17 Ford Mustangs CONCORD, N.C., (December 15, 2020) – Roush Fenway Racing has announced that Castrol, who joined the team prior to the 2020 season, has expanded its partnership with Jack Roush’s championship organization in 2021 and beyond. In addition to serving as the team’s official oil partner, Castrol will serve as a primary on both Ryan Newman and Chris Buescher’s Cup Series entries in select events. “We are very pleased to have Castrol expand their program with Roush Fenway,” said NASCAR Hall-of-Fame owner Jack Roush. “Castrol is one of the most recognized brands in the world and has been synonymous with high engine performance for decades. We consider it a distinct advantage to utilize their products in our Fords on the race track and look forward to growing the program off the track as well.” Roush Fenway will continue to run Castrol Motor Oil exclusively in all of its Ford machines, with its 2021 debut as a primary partner coming at the Daytona Road Course on February 21 on Newman’s No. 6 Ford. The brand will also serve as the primary for the No. 6 team at the spring Talladega race, the Charlotte Roval and the season finale at Ford Championship weekend in Phoenix. Buescher’s No. 17 will carry the iconic Castrol colors at Atlanta and Michigan in July and August. Castrol will also be featured as an associate partner throughout the 2021 NASCAR season on both cars. “Roush Fenway has been an outstanding partner over the last year and continuing this partnership was something we were very keen to do,” said Rayne Pacek, Castrol’s Vice President Marketing.  “We are excited to continue to bring both fans and customers unique opportunities to get to know Ryan and Chris, as well as enhance the Castrol and Roush Fenway brands over the next two racing seasons”.    Roush Fenway and Castrol teamed up to win a prestigious MarCom Platinum Award in their debut season in 2020 for their work promoting the brand’s Garage Life platform, which highlighted Newman’s off-track hobbies during the early weeks of the COVID-19 shutdown. Entering 2021, the brand will continue to feature Newman and Buescher with unique social content geared to engage the NASCAR and car culture fan base. Newman, who completed his 19th full Cup season in 2020, drove the Castrol Ford to a 15th-place run early in the year at Bristol and improved on that with a 13th-place finish in the summer at Michigan with Castrol on board. Newman enters his 20th full season in NASCAR’s top series in 2020, and third behind the wheel of Jack Roush’s iconic No. 6 machine. He enters 2021 with 263 career top-10s, including 115 finishes inside the top five, and 18 wins. Buescher, a five-year Cup veteran, embarks on his second season in the seat of the No. 17 Ford. The Texas native is fresh off a campaign that brought him eight top-10 finishes, doubling his previous career–high dating back five years. About Castrol Castrol, a global leader in lubricant technology, serves consumers in over 140 countries. Our leadership brands include Castrol® GTX® — a premium conventional motor oil; Castrol® GTX® High–Mileage – a premium synthetic blend designed for vehicles with over 75,000 miles; the Castrol® EDGE ® line of advanced full-synthetic super premium motor oils that offer unsurpassed strength and performance; as well as our range of commercial transport lubricants. To find out more about Castrol products and programs, please call  1–888–CASTROL  or visit  www.castrol.com/us About Roush Fenway Racing Roush Fenway Racing is one of the most successful teams in NASCAR history, fielding multiple teams in NASCAR Cup Series. Set to begin its 34th season in 2021, Roush Fenway is a leader in driver development, having launched the careers for many of the top drivers in the sport. Off-track, Roush Fenway is a leader in NASCAR marketing solutions, having produced multiple award-winning Social Media, digital content and experiential marketing campaigns. Roush Fenway is co-owned by NASCAR Hall of Fame team owner Jack Roush and Fenway Sports Group, parent company of Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox and English Premier League’s Liverpool F.C. Visit RoushFenway.com, become a fan on Facebook and Instagram, and follow on Twitter at @roushfenway. from News – Roush Fenway https://ift.tt/3qZueF7 via IFTTT -- Syndicate Post --

Our first guest ever returns to Racing Refresh! Bill Lester returns to promote his newest project, 'Winning In Reverse'. From publisher Pegasus Books : "As America continues to grapple with racismin the world of sports and beyond, Bill Lester, a Black pioneer in NASCAR racing, offers us new insight into his personal journey with Winning in Reverse: Defying Odds and Achieving Dreams–The Bill Lester Story. NASCAR has traditionally been a southern, white man’s sport, but it was knocked off its axis when Bill Lester entered the playing field. Bill did not grow up in the sport as so many other drivers have. He enjoyed racing as a side hobby while he worked as an engineer at Hewlett Packard until, at the age of 40, standing on the brink of peril or promise, he quit his job to pursue racing full time. Blessed with a natural talent, Bill still had a trifecta of odds against him: he was Black, he was middle aged, and he was not a southerner. Bill was certainly not the quintessential “good old boy” that NASCAR was used to seeing, and many fans did not hide their contempt. In Winning in Reverse, Bill Lester describes how he was able to rise above it all as his rankings rose, too and make history time and again, becoming the first African American to race in NASCAR’s Busch Series, the first to participate in the Nextel Cup, and the first to win a Pole Position start in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Ever the optimist, Bill’s voice provides new inspiration and guidance about how to overcome adversity." Winning in Reverse hits shelves in February 2021. Catch Bill this Thursday night on Racing Refresh! Our team will catch up with Lester on trending motorsports topics and discuss the book in greater detail. Plus, we will be giving away copies of the book and offering a full book review here on the site soon. See you there!