Ranking The Top 5 Stories From The 2020 NASCAR Season

LOUDON, NEW HAMPSHIRE - JULY 19: Kyle Larson, driver of the #42 McDonald's Chevrolet, stands on the grid during qualifying for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 19, 2019 in Loudon, New Hampshire. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images)

When the NASCAR 2020 season got underway mid-February, the global lockdown that highly affected sports activities worldwide was barely an issue. However, when panic engulfed the country on 8th March, as different players started developing health complications, major sports organizations, including NASCAR, had no choice but to postpone events. That disrupted several businesses, although NASCAR’s president Steve Phelps promised that their three national series would eventually resume according to their schedules.

Here are NASCAR’s top stories in 2020 that helped the fans and the bookies storm as the league crowned their three national series champions under trying circumstances.

Kyle Larson Gets Fired By Chip Ganassi Racing

NASCAR continued enjoying rave reviews from their iRacing activities during the lockdown after suspending their activities. However, the situation quickly became negative after Kyle Larson was filmed casually on a live stream, hurling a racial slur as he prepared for a race. His actions got him fired from Chip Ganassi Racing within two days, and NASCAR suspended him from the tournament indefinitely.

Larson dedicated his summer months engaging in different educational diversity programs and competing in sprint car races. Fortunately, NASCAR finally reinstated the driver’s state before Hendrick Motorsports hired him for their No. 5 Chevrolet competing in the Cup Series.

Ryan Newman Crashes

Before NASCAR halted the competition in March, the competition wasn’t yet over the Daytona 500 season opener that saw Ryan Newman crash on the wall. Newman turned upside-down after hitting a wall before another driver struck the driver’s side door to leave him with an internal head injury. Fortunately, Newman was on his feet, leaving the hospital two days later with his daughters. He missed three races following the accident, but he was in the driver’s seat by May.

Chase Elliot Wins His First Series Championship

Bill Eliot’s 25-year-old son, Chase Elliot, won his first series championship within a year, despite the feat being a major struggle for the Chevrolet teams. Elliot closed the year with a career-best of five wins, including one race at Phoenix in the season finale. The 25-year-old was generally stunned after winning his first title during the year, as Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin combined to record 16 wins from 36 races.

23XI Racing 

NBA legend Michael Jordan is interested in NASCAR alongside Cup driver Denny Hamlin as they announced in September that they’d be launching a team for 2021. Reportedly, the team will include driver Bubba Wallace in the No 23 Toyota, with the pair having purchased their charter from Germain Racing.

Austin Cindric Earns His First Oval Track Victory

After beginning his career with sports cars, Austin Cindric got his first oval track triumph in 2020. The 22-year-old driver recorded six wins and got the first Xfinity Series Championship in his career. Driver Sheldon Creed also followed Austin’s footsteps to end the year with his first career win in the 2020 track season.  The two drivers are still preparing for their respective series in the 2021 season.

Greg Engle