Speedweeks at Daytona and the start of the 36-race NASCAR Cup Series season is quickly approaching. Below is a quick recap of this past offseason and the futures odds for each driver to lift the trophy at the end of the 2020 season. ## Changes to know for 2020 NASCAR season Martin Truex Jr. opened as the 2020 favorite (5/1) at the Westgate SuperBook in November, but following the announcement that his crew chief Cole Pearn was stepping away from the sport, his odds lengthened to 6/1 and Kevin Harvick took over the top of the oddsboard at 5/1. Reigning Cup champion Kyle Busch is also 6/1 as the "Big 3" of Busch, Truex and Harvick are likely to have the shortest odds to win nearly every weekend. __MORE:__ [How to win betting on NASCAR](https://www.betchicago.com/how-to-bet-nascar-2019-stats-news) Team Penske also underwent a sweeping offseason change by swapping the crew chiefs for Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano. Penske's fourth car, through an alliance with the Wood Brothers, added driver Matt DiBenedetto to the No. 21 car. DiBenedetto has made a name for himself on non-traditional tracks despite underfunded teams, but now with the fastest equipment of his career, he's on the same odds line as 7-time champion Jimmie Johnson at 40/1. The "Big 3" of the Xfinity Series last season -- Christopher Bell (80/1), Tyler Reddick (300/1) and Cole Custer (80/1) are among six drivers to get the promotion to the Cup Series. Of the trio, Custer has the best equipment as he moves into the No. 41 Stewart-Haas machine to replace Daniel Suarez. The musical chairs this offseason also saw the ouster of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. from the No. 17 car. He'll be replaced with Chris Buescher, who is at 300/1 odds to win November's title. ### 2020 NASCAR Cup Series rookies No. 95-Christopher Bell No. 41-Cole Custer No. 00-Quin Houff No. 38-John Hunter Nemechek No. 15-Brennan Poole No. 8-Tyler Reddick ### 2020 NASCAR driver/team changes • Chris Buescher (moves from JTG Daugherty Racing to No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing) • DiBenedetto (moves from #95 Leavine Family Racing to No. 21 Wood Brothers) • Joey Gase (moves from Motorsports Business Management to Rick Ware Racing) • Daniel Hemric (released by RCR, will run a partial Xfinity schedule with JR Motorsports) • Daniel Suarez (released from No. 41 Stewart-Haas, moves to No. 96 Gaunt Brothers Racing) • Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (moves from No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing to No. 47 at JTG Daugherty Racing) • For Year 2 with JTG Daugherty Racing, Ryan Preece will have a new car number as he shifts to the No. 37. ## 2020 NASCAR schedule changes It's worth a reminder that Phoenix will host the championship-deciding [finale in November](https://www.mrn.com/2020-nascar-cup-series-schedule/), a track Harvick has historically dominated with nine wins and 23 top-10 finishes. Also seeing a schedule change is Martinsville Speedway in getting both a night race and the penultimate playoff race. Daytona gave up its traditional July Fourth weekend to Indianapolis Motor Speedway (and will now host the final regular season race) and Pocono Raceway is going to host two Cup Series races in one weekend. Also new this season is a reduced-downforce package designed to enhance competition on road courses and short tracks. The changes include significantly smaller spoilers, splitters and other aerodynamic devices in an effort to place a greater emphasis on handling and driver input with less stabilizing downforce, [according to](https://www.nascar.com/news-media/2020/01/14/cup-series-aero-reduced-downforce-package-short-tracks-road-courses-2020/) NASCAR. ## 2020 NASCAR Cup Series title odds <style type="text/css"> table.tableizer-table { font-size: 12px; border: 1px solid #CCC; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; } .tableizer-table td { padding: 4px; margin: 3px; border: 1px solid #CCC; } .tableizer-table th { background-color: #104E8B; color: #FFF; font-weight: bold; } </style> <table class="tableizer-table"> <thead><tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>Driver</th><th>Open</th><th>Current</th></tr></thead><tbody> <tr><td>Martin TRUEX JR</td><td>5/1</td><td>6/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Kyle BUSCH</td><td>6/1</td><td>6/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Kevin HARVICK</td><td>6/1</td><td>5/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Denny HAMLIN</td><td>8/1</td><td>8/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Kyle LARSON</td><td>10/1</td><td>10/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Joey LOGANO</td><td>10/1</td><td>10/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Chase ELLIOTT</td><td>12/1</td><td>12/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Brad KESELOWSKI</td><td>12/1</td><td>12/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Ryan BLANEY</td><td>20/1</td><td>20/1</td></tr> <tr><td>William BYRON</td><td>20/1</td><td>20/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Erik JONES</td><td>20/1</td><td>20/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Alex BOWMAN</td><td>40/1</td><td>40/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Kurt BUSCH</td><td>40/1</td><td>40/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Clint BOWYER</td><td>40/1</td><td>40/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Aric ALMIROLA</td><td>40/1</td><td>40/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Matt DIBENEDETTO</td><td>40/1</td><td>40/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Jimmie JOHNSON</td><td>40/1</td><td>40/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Cole CUSTER</td><td>80/1</td><td>80/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Christopher BELL</td><td>80/1</td><td>80/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Ryan NEWMAN</td><td>100/1</td><td>100/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Austin DILLON</td><td>300/1</td><td>300/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Chris BUESCHER</td><td>300/1</td><td>300/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Tyler REDDICK</td><td>300/1</td><td>300/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Ricky STENHOUSE JR</td><td>1000/1</td><td>1000/1</td></tr> <tr><td>TY DILLON</td><td>5000/1</td><td>5000/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Darrell WALLACE JR</td><td>5000/1</td><td>5000/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Ryan PREECE</td><td>5000/1</td><td>5000/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Michael McDOWELL</td><td>5000/1</td><td>5000/1</td></tr> <tr><td>John HUNTER NEMECHEK</td><td>5000/1</td><td>5000/1</td></tr> <tr><td>FIELD ( all others )</td><td>40/1</td><td>40/1</td></tr> </tbody></table> __Bookmark us:__ [Weekly NASCAR betting previews of each race](https://www.betchicago.com/nascar-betting)