With the 2020 NASCAR season formally over, it’s time to have a look again at how every staff carried out over the course of the season. We began our staff opinions with JTG-Daugherty Racing and Entrance Row Motorsports and now it’s time to have a look again at Roush Fenway Racing’s season.

Roush Fenway Racing

Drivers

Chris Buescher

2 prime 5s, eight prime 10s, 21st within the factors standings

Ryan Newman

2 prime 10s, 25th within the factors standings

In all honesty, 2020 was a very good yr for Roush Fenway Racing after Newman was in a position to stroll away from the hospital days after his horrific crash on the ultimate lap of the Daytona 500. Newman’s wreck was one of many gnarliest in years and it’s a testomony to NASCAR and auto racing’s security advances that he was in a position to return to the cockpit after lacking simply three races.

A Newman playoff berth would have been a improbable story too. However he by no means got here near sniffing the playoffs after his return. His ninth-place end within the 500 was one in every of two top-10 finishes he had all season. The one different one got here when he completed sixth at Talladega,

Newman’s common end of 20th was his worst since 2008 and his common factors per race tempo would have solely put him at 22nd within the standings.

Neither Ryan Newman or Chris Buescher completed within the prime 20 of the factors standings. (Photograph by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Photos)

Buescher, in the meantime, introduced over the consistency he’s develop into identified for in his quick Cup Sequence profession. Buescher had simply three DNFs in 2020 and was a relentless presence inside the highest 20.

He simply couldn’t get into the highest 10 fairly often. Buescher by no means strung greater than two consecutive top-10 finishes collectively all through the season and spent the ultimate 31 races of the season between 19th and 23rd within the factors standings.

At 28, Buescher nonetheless has loads of time to enhance as a driver. And it’s simple to see how he may very well be a playoff contender on a greater staff. However he’s been hamstrung by his employers to date. And hasn’t completed greater than 20th within the standings since his shock win and playoff berth in 2016.

Grade: D+

Roush ought to have had each Newman and Buescher on the periphery of playoff competition and presumably gotten one in every of them into the playoffs. As a substitute, every driver mainly completed 20th each week.

Story continues

That’s squarely midpack. And that’s what Roush Fenway Racing is at this level. A midpack staff. The times of Roush getting 5 automobiles within the playoffs are lengthy gone. However one automotive within the playoffs shouldn’t be an excessive amount of to ask, proper?

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