2020 NASCAR RCA Cup Series (Johnsonverse)

The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series was the 72nd season for NASCAR professional stock car racing in the United States and the 49th season for the modern era Cup Series. The season began at Sonoma Raceway with the Dodge/Save Mart 350 on January 26, and ended with the Los Angeles Times 500 on December 20.
Ross Chastain, driving for Stewart-Foyt Racing, won the Cup Series Championship. William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports won his first race in the RCA Cup Series, and Tyler Reddick won the Rookie of the Year honors. Pontiac won the Manufacturers' Championship following the Sprite 500. 
This was the final season for Bob Jenkins as a play-by-play announcer for ESPN, a position he had held since 1979. He would later die of brain cancer in August 2021. Jenkins was succeeded by Wendy Venturini after this season. 
This was also the final season for Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Jimmie Johnson and Emily Senn, Front Row Motorsports driver Clint Bowyer, and Trackhouse Racing driver Blaise Alexander.
== Teams, drivers and manufacturers ==
=== Manufacturers ===
Company 	Marquee 	Model 	Status
General Motors 	Chevrolet	Camaro 	Full factory support
General Motors 	Chevrolet	Impala 	Full factory support
Ford Motor Company 	Ford 	Mustang 	Full factory support
Ford Motor Company 	Ford 	Fusion 	Full factory support
Ford Motor Company 	Ford 	Taurus 	Full factory support
Ford Motor Company 	Ford 	Roush Mustang 	In-house variant
Ford Motor Company 	Ford 	Shelby Mustang	Full factory support
Ford Motor Company 	Lincoln 	Continental 	Full factory support
Johnson Motors 	Dodge 	Charger 	Full factory support
Johnson Motors 	Dodge 	Challenger 	Full factory support
Johnson Motors 	Pontiac 	Trans-Am 	Full factory support
Johnson Motors 	Pontiac 	G8 	Full factory support
Toyota Motor Corporation 	Toyota 	Camry 	Full factory support
Toyota Motor Corporation 	Toyota 	Supra 	Full factory support
Toyota Motor Corporation 	Toyota 	Avalon 	Full factory support
Honda Motor Company 	Honda 	Accord 	Full factory support
Honda Motor Company 	Honda 	Civic 	Full factory support
Nissan Motor Corpooration	Nissan 	Maxima 	Full factory support
=== Complete schedule ===
Manufacturer	Team 	No.	Race driver 	Crew chief 	Model 	Primary Sponsor
Chevrolet 	Earnhardt-Childress Racing *	01 	Brad Keselowski 	 	2020 Impala 	U.S. Army
Chevrolet 	Earnhardt-Childress Racing *	3 	Jeffrey Earnhardt 	 	2020 Impala 	Wrangler
Chevrolet 	Earnhardt-Childress Racing *	8 	Tyler Reddick (R) 	 	2020 Impala 	National Guard
Chevrolet 	Earnhardt-Childress Racing *	38 	Josh Berry 	 	2020 Impala 	Pennzoil
Chevrolet 	Earnhardt-Childress Racing *	81 	Martin Truex Jr. 	 	2020 Impala 	Bass Pro Shops
Chevrolet 	Hendrick Motorsports 	5 	William Byron 	Alan Gustafson 	2020 Camaro 	Farmers
Chevrolet 	Hendrick Motorsports 	24 	Kyle Larson 	Steve Letarte 	2020 Camaro 	Axalta
Chevrolet 	Hendrick Motorsports 	25 	Shane Hmiel 	 	2020 Camaro 	Lowe's
Chevrolet 	Hendrick Motorsports 	52 	Casey Atwood 	Chad Knaus 	2020 Camaro 	M&M's
Dodge 	AK Racing 	7 	James Kulwicki 	 	2020 Avenger 	Zerex by Valvoline
Dodge 	AK Racing 	11 	Tina Cooke (R) 	 	2020 Avenger 	Microsoft
Dodge 	Chip Ganassi Racing 	1 	Jimmie Johnson 	 	2020 Challenger 	UAW-Delphi
Dodge 	Chip Ganassi Racing 	41 	Emily Senn 	 	2020 Challenger 	Target
Dodge 	Chip Ganassi Racing 	46 	Bryan Clauson 	 	2020 Challenger 	Tums
Dodge 	Elliott-Evernham Motorsports	9 	Chase Elliott 	 	2020 Dart 	Coors Light
Dodge 	Elliott-Evernham Motorsports	13 	Matt DiBenedetto 	 	2020 Dart 	Nickelodeon
Dodge 	Elliott-Evernham Motorsports	94 	Alex Coletti (R) 	 	2020 Dart 	Flonase
Dodge 	Furniture Row Racing 	77 	Corey LaJoie 	 	2020 Charger 	Golden Corral
Dodge 	Furniture Row Racing 	78 	Emi Charendoff 	Cole Pearn 	2020 Charger 	5-Hour Energy
Dodge 	Petty Enterprises 	43 	Adam Petty 	Mike Shiplett 	2020 Challenger 	STP
Dodge 	Petty Enterprises 	44 	Chad McCumbee 	Kevin Buskirk 	2020 Challenger 	McDonald's
Dodge 	Team Penske 	02 	Joey Logano 	 	2020 Challenger 	Verizon
Dodge 	Team Penske 	2 	James Buescher 	 	2020 Challenger 	Miller Lite
Dodge 	Team Penske 	12 	Ryan Blaney 	 	2020 Challenger 	Circuit City
Dodge 	Trackhouse Racing 	40 	Jane Brewer 	 	2020 Charger 	Kmart
Dodge 	Trackhouse Racing 	42 	Blaise Alexander 	 	2020 Charger 	Juicy Fruit
Dodge 	Trackhouse Racing 	45 	Alana Houston 	 	2020 Charger 	UPS
Ford 	Allison-Yates Racing 	28 	Robbie Allison 	Jimmy Fennig 	2020 Mustang 	Texaco/Havoline
Ford 	Allison-Yates Racing 	88 	Stephen Leicht 	 	2020 Mustang 	Citi Financial
Ford 	Brett Favre Racing 	15 	Parker Kligerman 	 	2020 Mustang 	Nike/Sony
Ford 	Brett Favre Racing 	90 	Katrina Goode 	 	2020 Mustang 	FujiFilm
Ford 	Roush Racing 	6 	Carla Alvarez 	Drew Blickensderfer	2020 Roush Mustang 	Best Buy
Ford 	Roush Racing 	16 	Chris Buescher 	Donnie Wingo 	2020 Roush Mustang 	3M
Ford 	Roush Racing 	99 	Trevor Bayne 	Bob Osborne 	2020 Roush Mustang 	Office Depot
Ford 	Wood Brothers Racing 	21 	Ryan Newman 	Donnie Wingo 	2020 Shelby Mustang	Motorcraft
Honda 	Andretti Autosport 	27 	Kurt Busch 	 	2020 Accord 	DHL
Honda 	Germain Racing 	30 	Aric Almirola 	Bootie Barker 	2020 Civic 	GEICO
Honda 	JTG Daugherty Racing 	47 	Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 	Todd Berrier 	2020 Accord 	Kroger
Honda 	Michael Waltrip Racing * 	00 	Brian Vickers 	Rodney Childers 	2020 Civic 	Aaron's Dream Machine
Honda 	Michael Waltrip Racing * 	17 	Macy Waltrip 	 	2020 Civic 	NAPA Auto Parts
Nissan 	Front Row Motorsports 	33 	Jane Ritter 	 	2020 Maxima 	Speedco
Nissan 	Front Row Motorsports 	34 	Clint Bowyer 	Jay Guy 	2020 Maxima 	Love's Travel Stops
Nissan 	Front Row Motorsports 	35 	John Hunter Nemechek (R)	 	2020 Maxima 	Long John Silver's
Nissan 	Moroso-Rudd Racing 	82 	Denzel Lane 	 	2020 Maxima 	Mountain Dew
Nissan 	Moroso-Rudd Racing 	83 	Michelle Basone 	 	2020 Maxima 	Tide
Nissan 	Moroso-Rudd Racing 	84 	Boston Reid 	 	2020 Maxima 	RCA
Pontiac 	Combos Racing 	73 	Alana Burleson 	 	2020 G8 	Facebook
Pontiac 	GMS Racing 	51 	Alex Bowman 	Nick Harrison
Jimmy Elledge	2020 G8 	Marvel Comics
Pontiac 	Stewart-Foyt Racing 	4 	Kevin Harvick 	 	2020 Trans-Am 	Budweiser
Pontiac 	Stewart-Foyt Racing 	10 	Kyle Busch 	Tony Gibson 	2020 Trans-Am 	Valvoline
Pontiac 	Stewart-Foyt Racing 	14 	Ross Chastain 	Greg Zipadelli 	2020 Trans-Am 	Home Depot
Toyota 	Joe Gibbs Racing * 	02 	Christopher Bell (R) 	 	2020 Camry 	Yahoo!
Toyota 	Joe Gibbs Racing * 	18 	Daniel Suárez 	 	2020 Camry 	Arris
Toyota 	Joe Gibbs Racing * 	19 	Erik Jones 	 	2020 Camry 	GameStop
Toyota 	Joe Gibbs Racing * 	20 	Denny Hamlin 	Steve Addington 	2020 Camry 	FedEx
Toyota 	Joe Gibbs Racing * 	80 	Carl Edwards 	Darian Grubb 	2020 Camry 	Rheem
Toyota 	Jordan-Davis Racing 	22 	Kasey Kahne 	 	2020 Camry 	Caterpillar
Toyota 	Jordan-Davis Racing 	23 	Bubba Wallace 	 	2020 Camry 	Dr Pepper
Toyota 	Swan Racing 	37 	Johanna Long 	Steve Lane 	2020 Avalon 	Petco
Toyota 	Team Red Bull 	85 	Ryan Truex 	Jimmy Elledge 	2020 Avalon 	Red Bull
Toyota 	Team Red Bull 	86 	Michael McDowell 	Ryan Pemberton 	2020 Avalon 	Red Bull
=== Limited schedule ===
Manufacturer	Team 	No.	Race driver 	Crew chief 	Model 	Primary sponsor	Rounds
Chevrolet 	Beard Motorsports 	75 	Danica Patrick	Darren Shaw	2020 Camaro 	GoDaddy 	4
Dodge 	Team Penske 	102	Austin Cindric	 	2020 Charger	Verizon 	1
Ford 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Honda 	Germain Racing 	127	 	 	 	 	
Nissan 	JTG Daughterty Racing	159	 	 	 	 	
Pontiac 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Pontiac 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Toyota 	Joe Gibbs Racing 	181	 	 	 	 	
=== Lend-Lease entries ===
Manufacturer	Team	No.	Race driver	Model	Primary sponsor	Rounds
Chevrolet 	 	197	 	 	 	
Chevrolet 	 	237	 	 	 	
Chevrolet 	 	328	 	 	 	
Chevrolet 	 	328	 	 	 	
Chevrolet 	 	151	 	 	 	
Chevrolet 	 	151	 	 	 	
Dodge 	 	151	 	 	 	
== Changes ==
==== Teams ====
==== Drivers ====
* Jeffrey Earnhardt moved from the No. 30 (which was taken by rookie Josh Berry) to the No. 8, replacing his uncle Dale Earnhardt Jr. (who moved to the Busch Series for his final season).
==== Manufacturers ====
==Schedule==
NASCAR unveiled the 2020 schedule on March 26, 2019.
Due to implications from the COVID-19 pandemic, the schedule was changed significantly during the season as detailed below.
No.	Race name 	Venue 	Track Type 	Date 	TV
1 	Dodge/Save Mart 350 	Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma 	Road Course 	January 26 	WBC
 	Busch Clash 	Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach	Superspeedway (restricted) 	February 9 	WBC
 	Gatorade 125's 	Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach	Superspeedway (restricted) 	February 13 	WBC
2 	62nd Daytona 500 by STP 	Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach	Superspeedway (restricted) 	February 16-17	WBC
3 	Subway 400 	Rockingham Speedway, Rockingham 	Intermediate 	February 23 	WBC
4 	Pennzoil 400 	Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas 	Intermediate 	March 1 	WBC
5 	TranSouth Financial 400 	Darlington Raceway, Darlington 	Egg-Shaped Intermediate 	March 8 	WBC
6 	San Jose 500 	San Jose Motorplex, Gilroy 	Superspeedway (restricted) 	May 17 	WBC
7 	Sprite 500 	San Jose Motorplex, Gilroy 	Superspeedway (restricted) 	May 20 	ABC
8 	Coca-Cola 600 	Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord 	Superspeedway 	May 24 	WBC
9 	Bank of America 500 	Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord 	Superspeedway 	May 28 	ABC
10 	Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 	Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton 	Superspeedway 	May 31 	WBC
11 	Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500	Martinsville Speedway, Ridgeway 	Paperclip-Shaped Short Track	June 7 	TNN
12 	TBA 	 	 	June 14 	WBC
13 	TBA 	 	 	June 21 	WBC
14 	TBA 	 	 	June 28 	WBC
15 	TBA 	 	 	July 5 	
16 	TBA 	 	 	July 12 	
17 	TBA 	 	 	 	
 	RCA Open 	Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, Tennessee 	Short Track 	July 15 	WBC
 	RCA All-Star Challenge XXXVI 	Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, Tennessee 	Short Track 	July 15 	WBC
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36 	 	 	 	 	
37 	 	 	 	October 25 	
38 	 	 	 	November 1 	
39 	 	 	 	November 8 	
40 	 	 	 	November 15 	
41 	 	 	 	November 22 	TNN
42 	 	 	 	November 29 	WBC
43 	Dixie Vodka 400 	Homestead-Miami Speedway, Homestead 	Intermediate 	December 6 	WBC
44 	Sprite 500 	Denver International Speedway, Denver 	Superspeedway (restricted) 	December 13 	WBC
45 	Los Angeles Times 500 	Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario 	Rectangular-Shaped Oval 	December 20 	WBC
Bolded races indicate a NASCAR Major, also known as Crown Jewel race.
===Changes===
The original 2020 schedule for the NASCAR RCA Cup Series underwent a series of significant changes.
* TBA
* TBA
* TBA
=== Changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic ===
* In the wake of Rudy Gobert and the NBA situation, on March 12, 2020, NASCAR initially announced that the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway and the Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead–Miami Speedway would take place as scheduled, but behind closed doors with no spectators admitted. The next day in respect of the NBA 2019–2020 season suspension, NASCAR announced that the two races and all associated events had been postponed.
* On March 16, 2020, NASCAR announced all race events through May 3, 2020 had been postponed.
==Season summary==
===Race reports===
==== Round 1: Dodge/Save Mart 350 ====
Carl Edwards started on the pole. During the parade laps, news broke that Kobe Bryant had been killed in a helicopter crash, and Tim Johnson gave the order for the WBC booth to go silent at Lap 24 in his honor; as it was short-notice, the silent lap was not announced on-air, and Bryant's death wasn't announced until Lap 25, when Mike Joy broke the news; William Byron was leading during the silent lap, and would lead the most laps that day. The hotly-contested race was decided in a last-lap pass when Chad McCumbee pulled a bump-and-run on Byron for the win.
==== Speedweeks 2020 ====
In Daytona 500 qualifying, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the pole with Alex Bowman qualifying second.
In the Busch Clash, Ryan Newman started on pole. Brad Keselowski led the most laps, but got into the wall. Joey Logano was leading, but got into the wall after contact with Kyle Busch. On the restart, several drivers spun their tires causing a crash before the start-finish line including Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr., and Jimmie Johnson. In overtime, Denny Hamlin had a tire go down and collected several cars. On the next overtime restart, Chase Elliott spun after contact with Kyle Larson. Erik Jones, running with a damaged front end, made a last lap pass on Newman with help from Hamlin for the win. Out of the 16 cars that started the race, only six finished, these being Jones, Austin Dillon, Tony Stewart, Larson, Ryan Newman, and Hamlin, who was off the lead lap.
In the Gatorade 125s, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. led the first 125. Daniel Suarez got into the wall after contact with Ryan Blaney. Joey Logano held off Aric Almirola to win his second straight Duel. In the second Duel, Alex Bowman led. J. J. Yeley hit the wall after contact with Corey LaJoie. William Byron and Jimmie Johnson drove past Kevin Harvick and Byron held off Johnson to win. Yeley, Chad Finchum, Kyle Krisiloff, and a record 98 Lend-Lease entries failed to make the race.
==== Round 2: Daytona 500 ====
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. started on the pole. The race ran for 20 laps before the red flag was shown for rain, and by 6:50 PM EST, the decision was made to postpone the race to 4 PM EST on Monday, marking the second Daytona 500 delayed to Monday, the first being the 2012 running. William Byron spun and slammed the wall after contact with polesitter Stenhouse. Stenhouse was hit from behind coming to pit road. In the closing laps, Kyle Busch blew an engine as Brad Keselowski was turned into the wall collecting Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, Aric Almirola, Bubba Wallace, Justin Haley, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon, Matt DiBenedetto, Adam Petty, and eight Lend-Lease entries. Ross Chastain had a tire go down and collected Joey Logano, Ryan Preece, Ty Dillon, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, and three Lend-Lease entries. Ryan Newman took the lead from Tony Stewart on the last lap, but was turned by Ryan Blaney and went airborne and landing on the roof before being plowed into by Corey LaJoie. Stewart edged Blaney at the line for his third 500 win in six years and his second consecutive Daytona 500 win, becoming the first driver since Sterling Marlin to win back-to-back 500s. Newman was found unresponsive and was removed from the car and was rushed to the hospital with serious, but non-life-threatening injuries; he was awake and talking to family and doctors by the next day, and by Wednesday, had been released. Following the race, lead commentator Allen Bestwick spoke with Tim Johnson on the air via phone, during which time Tim ordered WBC to go to wall-to-wall coverage until an update on Newman was available, and also warned everyone not to spread rumors and fake news on social media. Later, during the press conference where Newman's condition was announced, Tim also ripped into those who ignored him and spread rumors of Newman's supposed death, as well as on Fireside Chat with Tim Johnson the next night. LaJoie was also injured in the crash, complaining of testicular pain en route to the infield care center.
==== Round 3: Subway 400 ====
==== Results ====
No.	Race name 	Pole position 	Most laps led	Winner 	Model
1 	Dodge/Save Mart 350 	 	 	Chad McCumbee	Dodge Challenger
 	Busch Clash 	 	 	 	
 	Gatorade 125s 	 	 	 	
 	Gatorade 125s 	 	 	 	
2 	Daytona 500 	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	 	Tony Stewart 	Pontiac Trans-Am
3 	Subway 400 	 	 	Joey Logano 	Dodge Charger
4 	Pennzoil 400 	 	 	Adam Petty 	Dodge Challenger
5 	TranSouth Financial 400	 	 	Alex Bowman 	Ford Roush Mustang
6 	 	 	 	 	
7 	 	 	 	 	
8 	 	 	 	 	
9 	 	 	 	 	
10 	 	 	 	 	
==Cars Used in 2020 Season==
File:50F2AF4A-2E66-437B-A141-7D9D9002D2CC.jpg|Chevrolet Camaro
File:0CAB59B9-4B7D-4D07-A86C-8A6206F907E1.jpg|Chevrolet Malibu
File:72D36C9B-00C7-401F-8976-70E55D26F5D3.jpg|Dodge Challenger
File:B4C91907-22BF-40D3-A22D-5A3F2AF10E36.jpg|Dodge Charger
File:BEAC0A05-B454-46F5-863A-6E23F5C776C2.jpg|Ford Mustang
File:D5C064B7-AC20-4406-B1E4-7E795EAE0B0C.jpg|Honda Accord
File:2FB39BA7-0FC3-4135-B11A-F1847C4158A5.jpg|Honda Civic
File:8A1B9899-6853-4BA2-9078-5ADB8C6DDF1D.jpg|Nissan Sentra
File:2020 Pontiac Firebird.jpeg|Pontiac Firebird
File:00731DAE-C69D-4305-AEED-520FE8D2EC8A.jpeg|Pontiac Grand Prix
File:2B273CEF-42F9-4ED5-8F8B-B5E5D51E2932.jpg|Toyota Avalon
File:0C93E788-922C-4516-B2C9-D45FBE40146E.jpg|Toyota Camry
==Event logos==
File:Busch Clash logo.png|Busch Clash
File:2020 Daytona 500 logo.png|Daytona 500 by STP
File:First Union 400 logo.png|First Union 400
File:TranSouth Financial 400 logo.png|TranSouth Financial 400
File:Southern 500 logo.png|Southern 500
File:Coke Zero Sugar 400 logo.png|Coke Zero Sugar 400
File:2020 Coca-Cola World 600 logo.png|Coca-Cola World 600
File:Daytona Late Model Classic logo.png|Daytona Late Model Classic
File:ShowBiz Pizza 500 logo.png|ShowBiz Pizza 500
File:2020 LA Times 500.png|Los Angeles Times 500
Category:Johnsonverse