This year will see a rash of changes with tampered spacers being added to the cars at tracks larger than a mile to slow the cars down and spoilers increasing in size to increase downforce and drag in hopes to improve the racing on track.
Before we get to see the new aero and engine package in action we start the season with the Daytona 500. Qualifying took place on Sunday and the front row and grids for the qualifying races were set and we know who will have to race their way into the race.
This preview will go through each team and look at what their prospects are for advancing to the 16-driver Chase, now doing business as Playoffs, as well as where each one of these teams and drivers could win a race and lock up a spot to chase a championship. This preview has been broken down into the 36 chartered teams and the six non-chartered teams entered for the Daytona 500.
Chartered Teams
Landon Cassill - #00 Permatex Chevrolet
Team: StarCom Racing
2018 Championship Finish: N/A (Ineligible for points)
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 12th (2014)
2019 Chase Prospects: Not likely. StarCom will run Cassill full-time but the team's best result was 18th last year.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: Most likely nowhere. He is going to have to hope to be in the right place on a rainy day.
Kurt Busch - #1 Monster Energy/GearWrench Chevrolet
Team: Chip Ganassi Racing
2018 Championship Finish: 7th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 1st (2017)
2019 Chase Prospects: Pretty good. It is forgotten how good Busch's season was in 2018. He was seventh in the final championship but he was fourth entering the Chase and his 22 top ten finishes were fourth-most. The problem is he only had six top five finishes. Ganassi has a good program and should put two cars in the Chase.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: Busch won at Bristol last year and 15 of his 30 victories have come at tracks one-mile or shorter.
Team: Team Penske
2018 Championship Finish: 8th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 3rd (2014)
2019 Chase Prospects: He will make the Chase and likely contend for the final four. Last year, Keselowski did not win until the Southern 500 and then he won the two races after that but six of his 12 top five finishes came in the final 12 races. He doesn't need to stout in the first four months of the season but it can set him up in a better position come autumn.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: I think he will have a great shot at the Daytona 500 after the Ford's success at restrictor plate races last year. He led laps in the ten races before the Homestead finale in 2018. He could win anywhere.
Austin Dillon - #3 DOW/Bass Pro Shops/Liberty National Chevrolet
Team: Richard Childress Racing
2018 Championship Finish: 13th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 1st (2018)
2019 Chase Prospects: It is difficult to tell. Last year, Dillon was in the right place at the right time at Daytona and ran into the right guy. He wouldn't get another top five finish until Michigan in August. However, Dillon was quick at the Las Vegas test where teams got to test out the new aero package. How much will that test transfer over to the season? We will only find out as the season goes a long but it is tough to see this new package elevating Dillon to the top of the pile.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: Daytona and Talladega.
Kevin Harvick - #4 Busch/Jimmy John's/Mobil 1 Chevrolet
Team: Stewart-Haas Racing
2018 Championship Finish: 3rd
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 1st (2007)
2019 Chase Prospects: Harvick is coming off a career year that just didn't end up in a title. He has finished in the top four in five of the last six seasons. He is going to win multiple times and he is at least going to make the semifinal round.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: Phoenix but really anywhere. Four of his eight victories in 2018 came at 1.5-mile ovals.
Ryan Newman - #6 Wyndham Rewards/Oscar Mayer Ford
Team: Roush Fenway Racing
2018 Championship Finish: 17th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 1st (2008)
2019 Chase Prospects: Slim. Newman is in a declining career and is going to a team on the decline. He is coming off nine top ten finishes and zero top five finishes, the first time he has not scored a top five finish in a season as a full-time Cup driver, and his average finish was 17.2, the third-worst of his career.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: It is unlikely he will get a victory.
Daniel Hemric - #8 Caterpillar/Liberty National Life Insurance/Bass Pro Shops/Cabela's/VF Workwear Chevrolet
Team: Richard Childress Racing
2018 Championship Finish: Rookie (Ineligible for points/3rd in the Grand National Series)
Best Daytona 500 Finish: This is his debut.
2019 Chase Prospects: Hemric never won in two years in NASCAR's second division and he never won in the Truck series. He made 116 starts between the two series. Few rookies have come into the Cup series and ascended to the top. The last rookie to finish in the top ten of the championship was Denny Hamlin in 2006. On top of that he is driving for Richard Childress Racing and the team has taken a step back since Harvick left.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: Hemric was particularly strong at Phoenix and Dover in the second division. He also had a good record on road courses.
Chase Elliott - #9 NAPA Auto Parts/Mountain Dew/Kelley Blue Book/Hooters Chevrolet
Team: Hendrick Motorsports
2018 Championship Finish: 6th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 14th (2017)
2019 Chase Prospects: After Elliott's breakthrough with three victories in 2018, it feels like he has made it to a new level. He had one good year and a championship will take more but the foundation has been laid. He will be in the top 16 and could make a title push.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: Dover, Michigan, Texas and Pocono. He has at least five top ten finishes at all of those tracks. Although, this year's Daytona 500 comes 34 years to the day after his father Bill won his only Daytona 500 and if we have learned anything from NASCAR it is those too good to be true stories happen all the time.
Aric Almirola - #10 Smithfield/Mobil 1/Valley Technical Academy Ford
Team: Stewart-Haas Racing
2018 Championship Finish: 5th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 4th (2017)
2019 Chase Prospects: Almirola will go down as finishing fifth in the championship in 2018 even though he had fewer victories, top five finishes and top ten finishes than Elliott. Almirola was solid throughout the season and he was one of the ten best drivers. He will likely have to find a bit more and get a victory in the first 26 races to make it back to the Chase.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: He won at Talladega last autumn and he has always been strong there but he has also finished in the top ten in three consecutive Phoenix races.
Denny Hamlin - #11 FedEx Toyota
Team: Joe Gibbs Racing
2018 Championship Finish: 11th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 1st (2016)
2019 Chase Prospects: Hamlin is either going to turn it around from 2018 or continue his slide. Joe Gibbs Racing has gotten stronger. On paper, he should finish in the top 16 no problem but it is hard to imagine him making a deep run.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: He is always good at home, whether it be Richmond or Martinsville.
Ryan Blaney - #12 Menards/BodyArmour/PPG/Fitzgerald Gilder Kit/REV Group/Dex Imaging/VF Workwear/MoneyLion Ford
Team: Team Penske
2018 Championship Finish: 10th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 2nd (2017)
2019 Chase Prospects: Blaney made it last year without a victory and then he was in the right place when Jimmie Johnson decided to win the battle and lost the war. The Penskes are going to be strong and in three seasons he has increased his total top five finishes and top ten finishes in each season. I don't think that trend changes.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: Nine of Blaney's 16 top five finishes in his Cup career have come on 1.5-mile ovals and he has four top top finishes in five starts at Las Vegas and five top ten finishes in eight Kansas races.
Ty Dillon - #13 Geico Chevrolet
Team: Germain Racing
2018 Championship Finish: 27th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 25th (2016)
2019 Chase Prospects: Not likely. Richard Childress' second-favorite grandson is on the B-Team and when a spot opened at his grandfather's team Childress chose the man he wishes was his second-favorite grandson in Daniel Hemric. He has one top ten finish in 90 Cup starts and it took half the field to be wiped out in the second Daytona race for that to what. He some how got worse in 2018 with his average starting position going from 26.2 to 27.2 and his average finish dropped from 20.7 to 24.1.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: A go-kart facility.
Clint Bowyer - #14 Mobil 1/PEAK/Rush Truck Centers/One Cure Ford
Team: Stewart-Haas Racing
2018 Championship Finish: 12th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 4th (2009, 2010)
2019 Chase Prospects: Bowyer was that perplexing driver in 2018 where he had two victories and yet no one was sure where he fell when it came to the hierarchy after Harvick, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex, Jr. had pulled away from the rest of the field. The one thing that killed Bowyer is he had only six top ten finishes in the final 18 races of the season. Bowyer could be a fringe guy and we could be left wondering what went wrong.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: A short track. He did really well at Bristol in August, leading 120 laps. He won at Martinsville in the spring, finished eighth in the first Martinsville race and finished in the top ten in both Richmond races.
Ross Chastain - #15 Premium Motorsports Chevrolet
Team: Premium Motorsports
2018 Championship Finish: N/A (Ineligible for points/10th in the Grand National Series)
Best Daytona 500 Finish: This will be his debut.
2019 Chase Prospects: Not eligible. He will be competing for NASCAR's second division championship.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: In NASCAR's second division.
Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. - #17 Fastenal/Fifth Third Bank/SunnyD Ford
Team: Roush Fenway Racing
2018 Championship Finish: 18th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 7th (2014)
2019 Chase Prospects: Stenhouse, Jr. did not make the final 16 in 2018 after he won at Talladega and Daytona in 2017. The problem is Stenhouse, Jr. has only seven top ten finishes in 54 races since that Daytona victory. The only top ten not at a short track or Talladega was tenth in the Coca-Cola 600. There aren't enough short tracks for Stenhouse, Jr. to be a title contender and there are too many drivers that are better than Stenhouse, Jr. at short tracks to think he can sneak a victory.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: A short track or Talladega. He has been particularly strong at Bristol but to win there he is going to have the race of his life and then some.
Kyle Busch - #18 M&Ms/Skittles/Snickers/Pedigree/Interstate Batteries
Team: Joe Gibbs Racing
2018 Championship Finish: 4th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 3rd (2016)
2019 Chase Prospects: He is going to be there. Similar to Harvick, it is really a matter of how far will Busch go? He could win eight or ten races and with NASCAR, as Busch described it "taking the talent out of the car" with the new regulations, I think Busch could wipe the floor.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: Everywhere. That is a boring answer. I think Busch will be a contender for the Daytona 500, he will surpass Lee Petty and Rusty Wallace for all-time Cup victories before he get to NBC's portion of the schedule, he will be the all-time leader in Truck victories before we get to Easter and he will surpass 200 victories between NASCAR's three national touring divisions.
Martin Truex, Jr. - #19 Bass Pro Shops/Auto Owners Insurance Toyota
Team: Joe Gibbs Racing
2018 Championship Finish: 2nd
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 2nd (2016)
2019 Chase Prospects: Truex moves to a new team and yet his championship hopes improve. He still has Cole Pearn on the pit box and after being a competitive force at Furniture Row Racing for four seasons, Joe Gibbs Racing will only be a springboard for Truex to continue to succeed in the Cup Series.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: People love bring up that Truex hasn't won at a restrictor plate track in the Cup Series or he hasn't won a Cup race on a short track. I will pick him to win the Daytona 500 and I also think he will win a short track race this year and he will shut a lot of people up.
Erik Jones - #20 DeWalt/Sport Clips/Craftsman/Circle K Toyota
Team: Joe Gibbs Racing
2018 Championship Finish: 15th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 36th (2018)
2019 Chase Prospects: Jones' first year with Joe Gibbs Racing saw the sophomore make gains over his rookie year at Furniture Row Racing. Eight of his nine top five finishes came in the final 19 races. I think he improves on his 2018 results and somehow remains the third-best driver at Gibbs.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: A 1.5-mile oval. Seven of Jones' 16 victories between NASCAR's lower two divisions came at 1.5-mile ovals.
Paul Menard - #21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane/Menard's Ford
Team: Wood Brothers Racing
2018 Championship Finish: 19th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 5th (2017)
2019 Chase Prospects: We know who Paul Menard is. He isn't going to be flashy. He isn't going to be in the top ten for eight consecutive races. He will have a few good days but mostly remain unseen. He won a pole position last year and didn't lead a lap in that race. He has never led more than 82 laps in a season and he has been a full-time driver for 12 years. It is unlikely he makes the top 16.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: Menard has seven top ten finishes at Michigan, tied with Talladega for most in Menard's Cup career.
Joey Logano - #22 Shell/Pennzoil/AAA Southern California/MoneyLion/AutoTrader Ford
Team: Team Penske
2018 Championship Finish: 1st
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 1st (2015)
2019 Chase Prospects: The defending champion will likely be defending his title into September. Logano missed the final 16 in 2017 after a fluky run of results but Logano is a consistent driver. He fits the Penske mold well. He isn't going to win 10 races but he will win when he can and settle for a good points day when he can't.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: Logano's 21 victories have come at 14 different circuits. The only track he has won more than twice is Talladega, where he has three victories. He has never won at Las Vegas and has an average finish of 9.2 there. Before his Homestead victory in November, he had not won at a 1.5-mile oval since Kansas 2015. Yes, that Kansas race.
William Byron - #24 Axalta/Liberty University/Hertz/UniFirst Chevrolet
Team: Hendrick Motorsports
2018 Championship Finish: 23rd
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 23rd (2018)
2019 Chase Prospects: This kid was rushed to Cup. Hendrick Motorsports couldn't run the risk of letting someone else put him in a Cup car and so he was dropped into a car at least a season if not two early. I think he will still be getting a hang of the Cup series and this will be another learning experience. However, he does start on pole position for the Daytona 500 and the pole-sitter has not won the Daytona 500 since Dale Jarrett in 2000. It is bound to happen again.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: If not at Daytona this weekend then iRacing.
Corey LaJoie - #32 Schulter Systems/Old Spice Ford
Team: Go Fas Racing
2018 Championship Finish: 34th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 24th (2017)
2019 Chase Prospects: Nope....
Most Likely Place for a Victory: Nope again...
Michael McDowell - #34 Love's Travel Stops/K-LOVE Ford
Team: Front Row Motorsports
2018 Championship Finish: 26th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 9th (2013, 2018)
2019 Chase Prospects: For the longest time it seemed like McDowell was that guy who could win at a restrictor plate race or road course but with the regulation changes that first option seems to be off the table. It all comes down to whether he can win one of those six races and then just doing enough to stay in the top 30 in points. By the way, McDowell hasn't had a top ten finish since his ninth in last year's Daytona 500.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: You would think for a guy who is heralded for his road course ability his average finishes at Sonoma and Watkins Glen would be better than 26.1 and 29.2 respectable but that is it. Even worse, those are his third- and fifth-best track in average finish and they would each be a spot higher if you do not count the Charlotte infield road course, where he finished 18th last autumn.
Matt Tifft - #36 Speedco Ford
Team: Front Row Motorsports
2018 Championship Finish: Rookie (6th in the Grand National Series)
Best Daytona 500 Finish: This is his debut.
2019 Chase Prospects: This is another driver rushing to the Cup series and you cannot blame a guy who has the funding and the opportunity in front of him and takes it instead of spending another year in the second division. With that said, if his teammates are in the back half of the top twenty, I think I know where Tifft will be.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: He does have a good track record at road courses but like Hemric, Tifft has zero victories in 102 starts in NASCAR's lower two divisions.
Chris Buescher - #37 Kroger ClickList/Scott Products/Kleenez/Cottonelle/Bush's Beans/Louisiana Hot Sauce Chevrolet
Team: JTG Daughtery Racing
2018 Championship Finish: 24th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 5th (2018)
2019 Chase Prospects: The unlikely occurrence of having lightning, or in Buescher's case, fog striking twice.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: Buescher finished fifth in both Daytona races last year but that isn't going to happen. His best track is Darlington, with an average finish of 15.7 in three starts but that isn't going to happen either.
David Ragan - #38 Select Blinds Ford
Team: Front Row Motorsports
2018 Championship Finish: 25th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 5th (2007)
2019 Chase Prospects: It comes down to Daytona or Talladega. No win there then forget it.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: Ragan has had ten top ten finishes since leaving Roush Fenway Racing after the 2011 season. Those top ten finishes were at Talladega, Talladega, Talladega, Talladega, Martinsville, Martinsville, Talladega, Daytona, Talladega and Talladega. No reason to get creative here.
Jamie McMurray - #40 McDonald's/Cessna/Bass Pro Shops
Team: Spire Motorsports
2018 Championship Finish: 20th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 1st (2010)
2019 Chase Prospects: The Daytona 500 shapes up to be the final race of his NASCAR Cup career in partnership with Chip Ganassi Racing. Spire Motorsports has formed from the scraps of Furniture Row Racing and it will be looking to just make it to the end of the season. Quin Houff will run 16 races.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: Daytona is it for McMurray.
Daniel Suárez - #41 ARRIS/Haas Automation Ford
Team: Stewart-Haas Racing
2018 Championship Finish: 21st
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 29th (2017)
2019 Chase Prospects: Better than 2018 but in no way a guarantee. Suárez got a raw deal with Gibbs. Two years isn't enough time to justify kicking a driver to the curb, especially after he won the Grand National Series title for the organization and his Cup results were respectable. He had three top five finishes and had nine top ten finishes in his sophomore season. It seems like a lateral move to go form the fourth Gibbs seat to the fourth Stewart-Haas Racing seat. I think he will be in the fight for that final spot in the final 16.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: He has two top ten finishes in two Watkins Glen starts but he also has four top ten finishes in four Dover starts and two top ten finishes in three Loudon starts.
Kyle Larson - #42 CreditOne/McDonald's/First Data Chevrolet
Team: Chip Ganassi Racing
2018 Championship Finish: 9th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 7th (2016)
2019 Chase Prospects: Larson has to win races this year and he should. The stars never aligned for Larson in 2018 and on the days when he was best he was beat or a caution went against him. Larson will comfortably make it and he may be the best Chevrolet through the first 26 races.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: Anyone where that it is hot, slick, rough and the top line may be preferred. Although, with the new regulations who knows if any that will matter? Larson will win at one of Atlanta, Bristol, Martinsville, Chicagoland, Richmond, Darlington, Dover and/or one of the road courses in the first 26 races.
Darrell Wallace, Jr. - #43 Aftershokz/U.S. Air Force/World Wide Technology/STP Ford
Team: Richard Petty Motorsports
2018 Championship Finish: 28th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 2nd (2018)
2019 Chase Prospects: Not likely. Everyone got caught up in his runner-up finish last year but he is still driving for a crap team. How many times did Wallace, Jr. have brake failures? How many other drivers had multiple brake failures last season? He finished tenth in the penultimate race at Phoenix and it was his only top ten finish in the final 29 races. Tyler Dillon was better than him in the championship! That is how bad it was and it isn't going to get better, don't let the Las Vegas testing results fool you.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: Some NASCAR fan-fiction.
Ryan Preece - #47 Kroger ClickList Chevrolet
Team: JTG Daugherty Racing
2018 Championship Finish: Rookie (21st in the Grand National Series)
Best Daytona 500 Finish: This is his debut.
2019 Chase Prospects: Preece made a name for himself as a part-time driver for Joe Gibbs Racing in NASCAR's second division and after two victories, 11 top five finishes and 14 top ten finishes in 19 starts over two seasons it has landed him a full-time Cup ride. The problem is Preece is driving for JTG Daughtery Racing, which is a good team but good isn't going to be enough.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: I think this is JTG Daugherty Racing rolling the dice, taking a hyped name and hoping things improve because this driver has won in the second division but I don't think this gamble is going to pay off.
Jimmie Johnson - #48 Ally Financial Chevrolet
Team: Hendrick Motorsports
2018 Championship Finish: 14th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 1st (2006, 2013)
2019 Chase Prospects: Johnson is going to make it. Yes, he didn't win a race last year and it was the worst season of his Cup career and Chad Knaus has moved to Byron's car but Johnson will be fine. He is going to win a race. That will settle it.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: Somewhere. He will win at Charlotte or Dover or Martinsville.
B.J. McLeod - #51 Jacob Companies Chevrolet
Team: Rick Ware Racing
2018 Championship Finish: N/A (Ineligible for points/29th in the Grand National Series)
Best Daytona 500 Finish: This will be his debut.
2019 Chase Prospects: Moving on.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: Like I said, moving on.
Cody Ware - #52 Winn Dixie Chevrolet
Team: Rick Ware Racing
2018 Championship Finish: 42nd
Best Daytona 500 Finish: This will be his debut.
2019 Chase Prospects: Ware will not be full-time and it is not clear if he will run after Daytona.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: Like I said, it is not clear he will run after Daytona.
Alex Bowman - #88 Nationwide Insurance/Valvoline/Eastman/Llumar Chevrolet
Team: Hendrick Motorsports
2018 Championship Finish: 16th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 17th (2018)
2019 Chase Prospects: For his first full season with Hendrick Motorsports, Bowman did a respectable job and he had some really good stretches of races but he will need to take a step forward in 2019 and I think it will be difficult for him to do better than he did in 2018.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: Bowman ran well at the road courses last year and he has a good record at Bristol.
Matt DiBenedetto - #95 Procore/Dumont Jets Toyota
Team: Leavine Family Racing
2018 Championship Finish: 29th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 9th (2017)
2019 Chase Prospects: A lot of people think that since Furniture Row Racing has ceased operations and Leavine Family Racing has moved to Toyota it has filled the void and DiBenedetto will be competing for victories. That hasn't happened folks. This team may get better results than it did with Chevrolet and Kasey Kahne but still be off the top half of the field.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: DiBenedetto has had some remarkable results at Bristol but I have listed Bristol for about 18 drivers above and there are only two races at that place.
Non-Chartered Teams
Casey Mears - #27 Germain Racing Chevrolet
Team: Germain Racing
2018 Championship Finish: N/A (Did not make any starts)
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 2nd (2006)
2019 Chase Prospects: This is an Daytona 500 one-off. Mears has clinched a spot into the Daytona 500 based on his qualifying time.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: This is his only shot at a victory.
Tyler Reddick - #31 Symbicort Chevrolet
Team: Richard Childress Racing
2018 Championship Finish: N/A (Did not make any starts. 2018 NASCAR Grand National Series champion)
Best Daytona 500 Finish: This will be his debut as Reddick has clinched a spot into the Daytona 500 based on qualifying time.
2019 Chase Prospects: Not possible because he will be defending his Grand National Series title.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: In a Cup car, this is it but he should be competitive in the Grand National Series.
Brendan Gaughan - #62 Beard Oil/South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet
Team: Beard Motorsports
2018 Championship Finish: N/A (Ineligible for points/44th in the Grand National Series)
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 11th (2017)
2019 Chase Prospects: He will not be full-time. Gaughan could get into the Daytona 500 based on qualifying time but he would need both Mears and Reddick to be the top non-chartered team in their respective qualifying race.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: He will likely only run the restrictor-plate races.
Joey Gase - #66 Medic Air Systems, Inc./Fan Memories Toyota
Team: MBM Motorsports
2018 Championship Finish: N/A (Ineligible for points/20th in the Grand National Series)
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 23rd (2017)
2019 Chase Prospects: Not going to happen. Gase will have to race his way into the Daytona 500.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: A victory isn't going to happen either.
Ryan Truex - #71 Accell Construction Chevrolet
Team: Tommy Baldwin Racing
2018 Championship Finish: N/A (Did not make any starts/12th in the Grand National Series)
Best Daytona 500 Finish: This could be his debut. Truex could get into the Daytona 500 based on qualifying time if one of Mears or Reddick is the top non-chartered team in their respective qualifying race.
2019 Chase Prospects: Slim to none but mostly because he is a one-off.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: Here but more likely nowhere.
Parker Kligerman - #96 Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota
Team: Gaunt Brothers Racing
2018 Championship Finish: N/A (Ineligible for points/24th in the Truck Series)
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 29th (2014)
2019 Chase Prospects: He will not be full-time. Kligerman will have to race his way into the Daytona 500.
Most Likely Place for a Victory: The television studio.
Chase Driver Predictions
1. Kyle Busch
2. Kevin Harvick
3. Martin Truex, Jr.
4. Chase Elliott
5. Kyle Larson
6. Brad Keselowski
7. Jimmie Johnson
8. Joey Logano
9. Ryan Blaney
10. Erik Jones
11. Kurt Busch
12. Clint Bowyer
13. Alex Bowman
14. Aric Almirola
15. Denny Hamlin
16. Daniel Suárez
The first of two Daytona 500 qualifying races will take place at 7:00 p.m. ET on Thursday February 14th with the second qualifying race following at 9:00 p.m. ET.
The 61st Daytona 500 will take place at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday February 17th.
