Fantasy NASCAR Racing

They posted 13 Top 5 finishes over the two year span.  He posted second place finishes at Memphis and Kentucky.  2007 saw Gibbs hire several drivers for Ratcliff to over see that season.  Brad Coleman started the most races (17) and posted three Top 5 finishes.  Aric Almirola and Tony Stewart also added one Top 5 finish each. In 2008, he was the crew chief for Kyle Busch, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin, all of which shared driving duties of the #18 car.  He was able to win five races total during the season, four with Busch and one with Hamlin.  During 2009, Kyle Busch became the full time driver of the 18.  Ratcliff and Busch won the championship, piling up an amazing eight wins.  2010 saw the duo remain together and this season was better than the year before.  Busch grabbed 13 wins and 22 Top 5’s but only ran 29 of the 33 races; landing him in third place in the points.  In 2011 Busch again visited victory lane eight times while only running 20 races.  He also finished with 17 Top 5’s in those 20 races.  In 2012, after seven years being the crew chief for the No. 18 Xfinity Series car, Ratcliff was announced to replace Greg Zipadelli as the crew chief of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Cup Series car, driven by Joey Logano.  The pair managed to win a rain shorted race at Pocono with a great call from Ratcliff.  In 2013, Ratcliff served as crew chief for Matt Kenseth, but was suspended for one race after the #20 engine failed post race inspection following Kenseth's victory in the STP 400.  The duo won six races in 2013, and was just edged out by Jimmy Johnson for the Cup Championship.  2014 saw Ratcliff and Kenseth remain together; but they didn’t claim any wins.  Ratcliff remained with Kenseth at Joe Gibbs Racing through 2017.  Kenseth won five times in 2015; but missed two races that season and he could only finish seventh in points.  2016 saw them win twice more; and Kenseth won again in the next to last race of in 2017.  Gibbs had announced in the middle of the 2017 season that Kenseth was going to be released at the end of that season.  So this would be Kenseth’s final win.  At the end of that season Ratcliff was left with no one to lead.  2018 saw Ratcliff lead Christopher Bell full time in the Xfinity Series.  They had two second place finishes and four Top 5 finishes in the season first six races.  The pair broke through for the first win of the season at Richmond.  They continued to run well and be a contender to win every week.  At the mid-way point of the season Bell run off a string of three wins in a row going to victory lane at Kentucky; New Hampshire; and Iowa. Before the season was out he would win again at Richmond and add wins at Dover and Phoenix.  The duo was the ones everyone was pointing to to claim the Xfinity Championship when it reached Miami.  Bell had a fast car and run up front.  He had stiff competition in drivers Tyler Reddick and Cole Custer.  The three swapped the lead around and Bell found himself up front with 40 laps to go.  But Bell got into the outside wall and did slight damage to his car.  It was just enough to mess up the air coming over the car and he lost speed.  He was run down and passed by Tyler Reddick who went on and win the race and the Championship.  Bell limped home to an 11th place finish one lap down. 2019 saw the pair return to the Xfinity series with unfinished business to attend to.  They had let the Championship slip from their grasp the previous year and were determined to win it this time around.  Once again Bell, Custer and Reddick would be the class of the series all season long.  "The big three' as they were dubbed were tough to beat and battled each other hammer and tong race after race.  Ratcliff led Bell to an amazing season as they claimed eight wins and added five second place finishes and four thirds.  Reddick claimed six wins and Custer had seven.  So once again they went to Miami and 'the big three' was the story.  Reddick and Custer claimed the front row in qualifying with Bell starting seventh.  Just like the previous year, the three swapped the lead and battled all night long.  Bell led 37 laps on the evening and fount himself leading with 35 laps to go.  But Reddick had the fastest car at the end and motored by everyone to claim the Championship for the second year in a row.  Bell finished the race fifth; third in the points.  2020 looks to be a barn burner as all three of the big three are moving to race in the Cup series full time.  It is expected we'll see a great Rookie of the Year battle between these three and John Hunter Nemechek who will also join them.  As Bell moves up to the Cup, level Ratcliff will move along with him and they will compete in the #95 Toyota owned by Levine Family Racing.  Since Furniture Row Racing closed up shop; Levine Family Racing has taken the place of Joe Gibbs Racings satellite team and they will get support from Gibbs.  Ratcliff moving up with Bell from the Xfinity to Cup Series was expected to produce some results.  But in 2020, Bell and Ratcliff seemed to struggle.  Bell had run great in the Xfinity Series; but Cup was a whole 'nother deal.  After eight wins in the Xfinity series; Bell went win-less in the Cup Series.  He only had two Top 5 and seven Top 10 finishes the whole season.  They teamed up to only be able to finish 20th in points.  Bell will be back in the #20 in 2021 but Adam Stevens will be the new crew chief for Bell.  For 2021,Jason Ratcliff stepped down to the Xfinity Series to help JGR driver Harris Burton chase the Xfinity Series Championship.  Burton had a good season with a chance to win several races,  But something always happened to mess things up.  They started out third at Daytona on the oval; and followed that up with a sixth the next week on Daytona’s Road Course.  For the most part, the only time they finished outside the Top 10 was because of a crash or mechanical failure.  For the 33 race season, they had nine Top 5 and 21 Top 10 finishes.  Burton is moving to the Cup Series in 2022.  Jason Ratcliff paired with Trevor Bayne and Sammy Smith to make nine starts each for JGR in 2022.  Ratcliff also worked with several other drivers as they shared the vehicle.  Ratcliff led his drivers in a total of 33 starts.  Bayne was grateful to the ride as he was trying to prove he is still a quality driver and deserves a full time ride.  In his nine starts; Bayne finished second at Nashville and Loudon. He had a third at Fontana, a fourth at Phoenix and a fifth at Las Vegas.  He completed all but one lap in his starts. Every finish was 13th or better; except for Atlanta where he finished in the lead pack; but in 28th. Sammy Smith drive the #18 car much of the later part of the season.  Smith had a best finish of third at Watkins Glen; and added two more top tens in his nine starts.  He had great runs going at Pocono and Daytona, but got caught up in a crash at each track.  He had five finishes inside the top 15.  Even though Bayne produced better results; Smith was pegged to drive the JGR #18 in 2023.  Jeff Meendering will lead his efforts.  Ryan Truex also started the #18 five times with a best finish of third; and four top 12 finishes.  John Hunter Nemechek started the car once, and finished second at Richmond. The other top five result came as James Davison was at the controls and finished fourth on the Roval.  Ryan Truex has been tabbed to drive for JGR in six races in 2023, and Ratcliff will lead his efforts.   2023 would be the final year as a crew chief for Ratcliff.  He worked with JGR’s “All Star” #19 car which sported several different drivers.  Ty Gibbs drove the most races (8), and claimed a win at Indy on the road course.  He had an impressive five top five finishes also.  Denny Hamlin also drove the car for one start.  It was a productive start as Hamlin would win at Darlington.  Ryan Truex made six starts, and he also had good results.  After a second and third place finish early in the year; Ratcliff led Truex to his first career win, coming at Dover.  Myatt Snider and Joe Graf Jr also made six starts each.  Snider finished fifth at Daytona for his best finish.  Graf finished seventh at Daytona and added one other top ten finish.  Finally Trevor Bayne and Connor Mosack ran three races each.  Bayne ran great, running at or near the front every start, but got caught up in crashes in two events.  The other start came at Bristol where he finished seventh.  Instead of fully sunsetting his career, Ratcliff says he’s looking forward to his next chapter and the opportunity to mentor and refine JGR’s operations in its development series programs.  After the season, the 55-year-old veteran will transition to a new role as the team/driver coordinator for the organization’s Xfinity and ARCA Menards Series programs.  Even as he wraps up his final season as a crew chief, he says he’s already assembled a substantial to-do list for his next endeavor.  Ratcliff’s new role will keep his hand in JGR’s future trajectory.  “The dreams and aspirations that I had coming into the sport were much less than what it actually turned out to be,” Ratcliff says.  For his career Ratcliff spent seven seasons full time in the Cup series.  His drivers made 253 starts His first win was with Joey Logano in 2012, and he added 14 other wins; all with Matt Kenseth. In the Xfinity series his drivers made 548 starts. They got 57 wins, of which Kyle Busch claimed 33, and also the Xfinity championship in 2009.