2020 final Fantasy Live rankings: 34th
2021 championship odds: 1,000-1
Chris Graythen | Getty Images
What’s new: No significant changes will alter the core of the StarCom Racing group as Quin Houff returns for the second season of his two-year contract with the No. 00 team, paired again with George Church as crew chief. One twist: StarCom team manager Derrike Cope is set to make his first Cup Series start since 2018, making a final run at notching his second Daytona 500 crown in a Rick Ware Racing one-off.
Team/driver outlook: Houff’s 2020 season was marked by a bright career high (a rugged 13th place at Talladega Superspeedway in October) and a nonsensical low (a lapse in judgment that triggered a crash at Texas Motor Speedway in July and a subsequent questioning of his racing cred by his rivals). The 23-year-old Virginian has plenty of room to grow, and some planned upgrades in the team’s equipment may help achieve some of those modest goals, but cleaning up the unforced