The 2020 NASCAR season is officially over, and that means it’s time for For The Win’s annual investigation to see what some drivers really think of each other. Throughout the last several weeks, we asked drivers these 11 questions about their competitors’ personalities, quirks and skills on the track.
Now, mid-race, it might not seem like drivers like each other all that much. But many are friends, and some have been racing against each other for a long time and actually know each other pretty well.
NASCAR Superlatives: 2019, 2018, 2017
So, here’s what some of NASCAR’s top drivers had to say about each other this year.
These answers have been condensed and edited for clarity.
1. If you had to be trapped on a deserted island with only one other driver, who would it be?
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Chase Elliott: Probably Ryan Newman. I feel like he’s just a really outdoorsy guy, might save my life or something.
Martin Truex Jr.: Newman. We hunt and fish together a lot. So we don’t mind spending time around each other. And we’d also be able to feed ourselves and build fires and do all the things you need to do to be on an island. We would definitely survive, and we’d probably have fun too.
Ryan Newman: Truex because we’re good fishing buddies. And we could probably at least catch dinner.
Alex Bowman: I feel like Truex because he could like, hunt something down for food, maybe?
Joey Logano: Only one other driver is probably going to be Michael McDowell. I feel like he’s the most like outdoorsy person I know.
William Byron: I’d say Kevin Harvick, just because I feel like he’s pretty resourceful.
Austin Dillon: My brother, Ty.
Clint Bowyer: Mario Andretti. That was a dig on my active fellow drivers. There’s not really one of them that would be worth a damn being on an island by myself with them.
Bubba Wallace: Easy, Ryan Blaney. We’re best friends on the race track, so it’s a that’s an easy go-to right there.
Ryan Blaney: Before he retired last year, I would have said Paul Menard because he’s the most resourceful person ever. He still races a tiny bit. I’d still stick with Paul Menard.
Matt DiBenedetto: I would have to choose Paul Menard. I think he would have the survival skills that would make up for my deficit of them.
Brad Keselowski: The answer used to always be Paul Menard because he was a survivalist. Now, it’s Aric Almirola because he’s the guy that seems to understand how to do all that stuff now. He’s a survivalist. I’m thinking about this completely practical. Not like, “Hey, who would be the best party?” Because honestly, the party would end really quick when you’re like, “Hey, I’m thirsty,” and there’s no water.
2. What’s one specific skill another driver has that you wish you could steal?
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Wallace: I hope to have a manly and grisly enough beard as Jimmie Johnson does when I get his age. I’ll go with that.
Keselowski: I wish I was as athletic as Ryan Blaney. He’s amazing athletic. Hands down, most athletic guy in the garage.
Elliott: Denny [Hamlin] is a pretty good golfer. Golf is pretty fun and universal for most, so golfing skills would be would be nice because I certainly don’t have any.
Bowman: Probably Jimmie [Johnson]’s work ethic. But not necessarily like towards the race-car side of things, just like the physical side. He can just motivate himself to go run all the time and cycle all the time. The way he can like push himself — I’m jealous.
Byron: Denny Hamlin’s golf game.
Truex: I don’t know if there’s any drivers that are that are any good on the guitar. But I know Bubba is a really good drummer. Whoever is good in the music side of things. I’ve always wanted to learn play guitar.
Dillon: Kyle Petty can play the guitar. He’s no longer in the series right now, but I would go with being able to play the guitar.
DiBenedetto: My buddy, A.J. Allmendinger. I always look at him when he gets out of the car after a hot, sweaty race, and I always wonder how his hair still looks fixed and so good. That skill of his — that would be nice because I look like a hot mess when I get out of the car.
Blaney: Kyle Busch is a really good — one of the best race car drivers I think ever that I’ve ever seen. What he can do with the race car, how he describes his car, is really, really unique. So I’d like to steal some of his driving talent.
Logano: I used to think of Carl Edwards a lot and his acting abilities and his ability to like work in sponsors and his interviews so seamlessly. I always thought that was really, really good.
3. Who do you definitely want behind you on a restart?
Logano: Most likely one of your teammates, if you want someone behind you to push you on a restart that you can trust.
Keselowski: My teammates are really good pushers. Oh, that’s really cliché. You know who’s been a really good pusher lately for me is Clint Bowyer.
Elliott: Maybe a teammate, any of the three would be would be fine. Preferably them over over the rest of the field.
Byron: Alex Bowman. He’s a pretty good pusher and good teammate.
Truex: Probably a rookie.
Dillon: Tyler Reddick.
Bowyer: Timmy Hill.
Newman: The guy in second.
DiBenedetto: Ryan Blaney.
Wallace: I don’t really have anybody that I’m worried about that’s behind me. I’m good with anybody and everybody.
Blaney: I don’t want a super fast car to make it difficult and try to pass me. I don’t want anyone behind me, but that means you’re running last if you don’t have anyone behind you. A teammate would be good. They’re probably not going to take a chance and wreck both of you.
4. Who do you definitely not want behind you on a restart?
DiBenedetto: That depends. I’m gonna say Denny Hamlin. Sometimes, that 11 car haunts me because whenever we’re in contention for a win, so is he.
Bowyer: Kevin Harvick.
Bowman: Probably Harvick. You think he’s helping you, and then all of a sudden, he’s driving by you. He’s really good at his timing and how he how he pieces restarts together.
Keselowski: I don’t want probably Kevin Harvick because he’s usually really fast.
Dillon: Someone that can’t push good. Shoot, Newman.
Elliott: I guess anybody but [my teammates]. Everybody’s pretty cutthroat in this deal now.
Byron: Probably Clint Bowyer because he usually runs over me. Or anybody, really, for that matter.
Truex: Depending on the track, I would say that Logano is probably the worst one to have behind.
Newman: I’m gonna go with Blaney, just a gut feel.
Blaney: [Ricky] Stenhouse [Jr.] is always really aggressive. He’s a good restarter, so I think he’d be pretty tough to keep behind you.
Wallace: If it’s at a speedway like that Daytona or Talladega, maybe Stenhouse. He’s just a wild man. But it’s all good. It’s aggressive, but it’s aggressive at the wrong times for me.
5. Who’s most likely to have the worst real-life road rage?
Logano: Oh, Kyle Busch, for sure.
Bowman: Kyle Busch, for sure. Have you listened to his radio before?
Truex: Kyle Busch.
Wallace: Either Kyle Busch or Kurt Busch. I could just see them — their past attitudes, I should say, could kind of resemble of what they’d be like on a daily driver.
Bowyer: The old Kurt Busch. Nobody really understands the new Kurt Busch yet or if it’s new or real or if it’s gonna last. But definitely the old Kurt Busch. I would say 10 years ago, for sure.
Elliott: I feel like Bowyer. I could see him going off on somebody going down the road.
Dillon: Bowyer. I think he loses his temper fast too.
DiBenedetto: I’m gonna go with Clint Bowyer. I think he’d be the most animated.
Byron: I feel like it’d be me. I feel like I have a pretty good amount of road rage when it comes to driving around town.
Newman: Joey Logano
Blaney: From experience riding around with some buddies, Bubba Wallace has gotten better at it. But he used to have some bad road rage years back riding in a car with him. He used to get up on the wheel or angry at some people, but he’s got a lot better.
6. Who’s most likely to text while driving?
Keselowski: Me. I feel pretty confident I’m gonna win that one.
Logano: Brad. I don’t even have to think about that.
Bowyer: Brad Keselowski.
Byron: Brad, probably because he tweets so much.
Bowman: DiBenedetto. He like gets distracted pretty easily.
Dillon: Who’s on Twitt — DiBenedetto, social media guy.
Truex: I’m gonna say Newman.
Newman: Me.
DiBenedetto: It wouldn’t be Jimmie Johnson. I feel like he’s pretty responsible guy. I’m gonna pick on Alex Bowman.
Wallace: Hopefully, nobody. It’s illegal. Who can’t stay off the phone? All of us are addicted to our phones. It’s 2020. It’s all we know.
Elliott: Heck, I don’t know. I feel like most of them would probably be guilty of that. We’ll go with Ryan. He strikes me as one to be on his phone driving down the road.
FTW: Blaney or Newman?
Elliott: Either one.
7. Who would have the best chance at going pro in another sport — and what sport would it be?
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Bowman: Definitely not me. I’m not coordinated at all.
Bowyer: That would be Jimmie Johnson. He’s already going IndyCar racing.
Byron: Jimmie Johnson, cycling. Man, I’d say he’s probably be up there. Pretty close to those guys.
Truex: Jimmie Johnson, and it would be some kind of cycling or triathlon.
Elliott: I mentioned Denny on the golfing thing, and I think he’s a good golfer. Ryan [Blaney] is a pretty athletic guy. I could see him doing something somewhere else.
Logano: Blaney is pretty athletic. He’s a hell of a kickball player, if I’m being honest. I don’t know if he can go pro in that, but he’s really good at that.
DiBenedetto: Blaney because he is naturally athletic at literally everything. He’s stupid good at anything, whether it’s kickball or football. Blaney could be a pro maybe kicker in the NFL. He’s just really good at everything, and a lot of people don’t know that. Like, to a level that’s just not even natural. It’s unreal.
Keselowski: Ryan Blaney, almost any sport. He would be a really good — I mean, if he wanted to be, which I don’t think he wants to be — baseball player. He’s got good size for that.
Wallace: I would say Blaney at basketball. Blaney’s good at everything. In any sport we play, he just succeeds at everything. So I would say basketball. I’ve played basketball with him for a couple years, and he’s pretty talented. I could also say Corey LaJoie at baseball. We went to high school together, and he was he was on the baseball team.
Blaney: Corey LaJoie is a good is a really good athlete. He’s got a heck of an arm, so I could see him being a baseball player. Or like a quarterback. I think he would have made a really good college quarterback. I don’t know if he could be big enough to make it in the NFL, but I think he’s a good runner. He’s a lefty too.
Newman: I’d go Austin Dillon, baseball.
8. Which driver would make the best politician?
Logano: Haha, compared to who we got running right now, probably anyone. I don’t know, what is a good politician considered? I feel like I’d fall in that category and be all right at that.
Wallace: Brad Keselowski. He just he always has an opinion, and I don’t mean that in a negative way. But he’s a he’s got an opinion on everything. And some of it’s super insightful.
Elliott: Brad, I guess. I feel like he likes to talk about politics more than most do.
Bowman: I think Brad K. Or maybe Jimmie.
Keselowski: Me. Does that count?
Byron: I’d say Denny. He’s probably the biggest in our group chats of rule changes and track changes and stuff like that.
Truex: Jimmie Johnson. He’s polished and a good speaker, and I feel like he has a good grasp on reality. Not that politicians do, but you know what I’m saying? He would be good at it.
Dillon: Denny Hamlin. He’s always involved in everything.
DiBenedetto: I’m gonna go with Brad. I feel like he’s a good leader on our team.
Newman: Probably Hamlin. He likes to be involved with that stuff. You got politicians that like that business, and you got people that don’t like that business. I think he likes that business. I wouldn’t call it nosiness, but…
Blaney: Brad has a very, I think he could be a pretty good politician. He’s well spoken. He’s very, very smart about a lot of interesting topics. I could see Brad put on a suit and tie and running for office one day.
Bowyer: Brad Keselowski, definitely.
9. A question Dale Earnhardt Jr. posed a few years ago with no malicious intent: Who has the most punchable face in NASCAR?
Newman: I’ll go with Bowyer on that one. It’s something we already started.
Bowyer: Kyle Busch.
Truex: Boy, you’re really trying to get us in trouble on these questions. Punchable is definitely Joey Logano.
Dillon: Brad Keselowski.
Byron: I’d say Brad or Joey. It’s probably a tie.
Keselowski: I think a lot of people say Joey because they don’t like that he smiles a lot. But I honestly appreciate that about. So it depends on what you think makes somebody punchable. I think of somebody that’s punchable in the sense of those who are ungrateful, so I don’t think of someone like Joey Logano.
Logano: Beats me. I don’t know what a punchable face really is. Some of them probably say me. Hell, I don’t know if I’m really looking to punch anybody.
Elliott: Joey Logano, for sure.
Wallace: We’ve had our run-ins; I’d have to go with Bowman right now.
Bowman: Oh, man, Tyler Reddick. Like I feel like I feel like that’s a good one. And I really like Tyler. We’re good friends. But I’m going Tyler Reddick.
DiBenedetto: I’m gonna pick Bowman here again on this one, because I used to pick on him all the time when we were teammates back in the K&N days. And we were really young, and I would mess with him in a little brother type way, beat him up in a very playing, obviously joking type of way. Now I feel bad for picking on him, so I try and be nicer to him.
Blaney: I think anybody could have a punchable face if they make you upset enough. Anybody’s can anybody’s face can turn very punchable really quick.
10. What’s your go-to move when you’re feuding with another driver?
KYLE BUSCH TURNS CHASE ELLIOTT 😳😳 pic.twitter.com/XQMGSBrtP5
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 21, 2020
Bowyer: Your pissed-off level is always different given the circumstances, and I guess everybody surprises themselves when something escalates out of hand or or vice versa. You never know what to expect until you get up there and step up to the plate, like, “Oh, [expletive]! We’re gonna fight.”
Wallace: On the race track, it’s giving him the finger. Away from the race track, it just kind of depends on [the] kind of the situation or just how heated it is. Logano and I got into it a [few] weeks ago, and we texted each other.
Elliott: I feel like that varies. Most people run their mouths a bunch now, but it varies, depending upon the person you’re dealing with.
Logano: I just try to be me. You just try to be honest, right? Just like if it’s any other relationship. If you are wrong, you apologize. You feel like you’re not wrong, you tell them that this is what happened and you feel like you’re treated unfairly, and see how it goes from there. But honesty is always the best policy.
Bowman: I think it depends on the situation. Sometimes, things kind of just blow over. Sometimes, you have to go talk to somebody. Sometimes, you crash them.
Truex: I just ignore him. Life’s too short.
Dillon: I just ghost him.
DiBenedetto: I definitely I’m a face-to-face kind of guy. I don’t like to text or anything. So it’d either be a phone call or a you know face-to-face conversation. I definitely don’t like the trash talking thing. I like the old-fashioned, regular old communication type way.
Newman: I guess talk it out.
Blaney: I’ve always been someone who just actually talk to them. A lot of the things are unintentional. Obviously, there are some things that are that are intentional that you see out there and more — payback things and anything else from an unintentional wreck. But I’ve just always wanted to talk to them, get their side. Or, if I think that it was on purpose, just for the hell of them doing it, I probably won’t talk to them and just repay the favor on the race track.
Byron: I don’t usually talk to him. The more people have a chance to talk, the more BS that they can spew to you. So usually just try not to get into talking to somebody.
11. Which driver is having the largest impact on the sport this season?
Keselowski: Bubba Wallace, because he draws attention from areas that we wouldn’t get otherwise.
Bowyer: Jimmie Johnson, seven-time champion, and he’s fixing to make a massive, massive void in the sport as soon as he gets out of this car.
Logano: Biggest impact on the sport this season is probably Bubba. With everything that’s going on, in our country, only African-American driver — at least in our in our NASCAR community — he’s probably made the most impact this year.
Elliott: I would say either either Harvick or Matt DiBenedetto. Harvick, obviously, has had a fantastic year. And then Matt racing for his job. I felt like he’s done a really, really good job and still kind of seems uncertain.
Byron: Jimmie, just because it’s his last year and all the press and and things that come with that. OK, let’s say Bubba or Jimmie, probably.
Wallace: I can brag on myself for everything that’s happening off the race track and how we’re elevating the sport to new heights and a new audience, which is super important and super powerful. But on the right track, look at what Kevin Harvick is doing, [almost getting] 10 wins [this season]. I think that’s pretty damn cool.
Dillon: Me, because I helped create the choose cone [rule].
DiBenedetto: I think Denny Hamlin this year. I think he’s really shaking things up and putting a lot of pressure on people, between him and Harvick. The fans are seeing them really dominate and kick a lot of butt. So I’d say either Denny or Harvick.
Newman: I would go Bubba on that one, but I don’t know how to quantify that.
Bowman: Probably Jimmie. With him retiring, obviously, it’s a big deal — or moving on to racing other things. I think just with the magnitude of his career, he’s made just a huge impact on the sport in general.
Blaney: I say Bubba has had a huge impact on the sport this year. The way he responded months ago when certain things happened, I think he’s done a really good job of talking about it and making really good points about it. I was really proud of him when that initially happened, and he was really outspoken on it. I think that had a huge impact on bringing a lot of recognition to the sport and bringing a lot of new eyes and fans that come out and and want to support it.
NASCAR, we kind of get a bad rap of, “Oh, we’re a southern sport. We’re all rednecks” and things like that. And that’s not true, whatsoever. He’s definitely been changing the sport for the better, and it’s been really cool to watch him do that.
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