5 NASCAR Cup Series Drivers in the Hot Seat for 2021

 

5 NASCAR Cup Series Drivers in the Hot Seat for 2021

By Brian Cotnoir

Silly season is in full swing in the NASCAR Cup Series.  We’ve heard lots of driver moves for drivers such as Bubba Wallace, Erik Jones, Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe, and Daniel Suarez will be racing for new teams in 2021 season, but as for the rest of the field there are certain drivers who I feel are under more pressure than others.  Here are 5 Cup Series drivers who are going to be in the Hot Seat during the 2021 season.

1.) Aric Almirola

Aric Almirola is definitely a driver I feel is in the Hot Seat for the 2021 season.  While he has run decently making the playoffs in his 1st two seasons at Stewart Haas Racing—including a career high 5th in the final points standings in 2018—he has yet to show signs of improvements.  Almirola’s saving grace this season is that he still has sponsorship from Smithfield Foods and he finished in the Top 5 in five consecutive races, but he is constantly being outshined by his teammates.


Almirola’s teammate, Kevin Harvick, is a threat every week to win the race and is competing for championships season after season.  His other teammate the, rookie driver Cole Custer, scored his 1st win of the season, and next season is set to be teamed up with another rookie, Chase Briscoe.  Almirola turns 37 next season and to date his only has 2 career wins (and only one came while driving for SHR).   If he does not show signs of improvement in 2021 and return to victory lane he could be out of a competitive ride. 

2.) William Byron

William Byron has won in everything he’s drove.   He won in the ARCA East Series, the NASCAR Truck series & Xfinity Series, and even achieved his first Cup Series win at Daytona this summer.  Now in his 3rd season at Hendrick Motorsports, Byron has not shown the same flashes of talent he showed in the lower-tier series.   He is only 22-years-old, but like Almirola is constantly being outshone by his more successful teammates Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman.


Also he could face some issues with sponsorship.  Liberty University, which has sponsored William Byron since his days racing legend cars in North Carolina, has been in an embroiled scandal led by its president Jerry Falwell Jr.  If the private Christian University were to drop its sponsorship of Byron due to financial strains caused by Falwell’s scandal, it could be disastrous for Byron’s time at Hendrick in the 24 car.   Fortunately Hendrick Motorsports has other associate sponsors they could put on Byron’s car if Liberty University were to leave, but Byron still needs to show signs of improvement in the Cup Series.   We know he can win races and championships, and he needs to start having great drives like he did in the Trucks & Grand National Series.

3.) Ty Dillon

As of right now Ty Dillon has not announced a new ride for the 2021 season, but my money is on that he will more than likely race for his grandfather, Richard Childress’s, team next season along his brother Austin and driver Tyler Reddick. 


Now Ty Dillon early in his career looked like he was going to follow in the footsteps of his brother, Austin.  He won the ARCA Series championship in 2011, and in 2012 almost won the Truck Series championship before a late race wreck with Kyle Larson at the season finale at Homestead cost him the chance.  In 2013, Ty Dillon finished runner-up to Matt Crafton.  He’s raced for Germain Racing full-time since 2017, but has never finished inside the Top 20 in points.  Safe to say, that Ty needs to show more consistent results in the Cup Series if he hopes to land sponsors and be as successful as his brother.

4.) Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

By the time Rickey Stenhouse Jr. joined Roush in the Cup Series several years ago he was a 2-time Grand National Champion and was touted as a driver who could return the team to prominence.  Unfortunately he was driving lackluster equipment for a team way past it’s prime; the fact that he managed 2 wins while driving for Roush Fenway Racing is nothing short of a miracle.


Now with the JTG Daugherty team, Stenhouse showed some early potential early on, sitting on pole for the Daytona 500, and very narrowly missing out on a victory for his new team at Talladega.  After that race at Talladega Stenhouse’s 2020 stats began to dwindle, he failed to finish in the top 10 in the next several races, only managing a best finish of 14th at New Hampshire.  If Stenhouse doesn’t improve in 2021 he will more than likely find himself out of a ride by the end of the 2021 season.

5.)  Matt DiBenedetto

Matt DiBenedetto’s entire NASCAR career has been him in the hot seat fighting to keep his ride, but he’s always managed to get good results even with underfunded mid-field teams.  He has scored Top 10 finishes for the defunct BK Racing, Levine Family Racing, and Go Fas Racing.   He is having the best season of his career with the Wood Brothers Racing.  He has 2 runner-up finishes this season and is so close to that first win of his NASCAR Cup Series career (and the Wood Brothers 100th race win as an organization)


It is already known that 2021 will be DiBenedetto’s last season with the Wood Brothers as he will be replaced in 2022 with Austin Sh!twreck, so if he hopes to land another competitive seat in 2022, he’s really going to need to get results and make the playoffs.

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