Power Rankings: Hall of Fame cases among active drivers entering 2021

The NASCAR Hall of Fame houses the greatest faces in the sport's history, and with so much talent racing behind the wheel these days, it's likely several current-day drivers will be enshrined down the road. NASCAR.com's Pat DeCola ranks the top 10 active drivers with the best Hall of Fame resumes.

Honorable mentions: Johnny Sauter, Austin Dillon, Matt Crafton

Comment: This is an interesting trio of drivers with a ton of experience across all disciplines of NASCAR national series racing. All three have been crowned champion in the Camping World Truck Series, with Crafton hoisting the trophy at year's end three times. Sauter has the edge in CWTS victories, however, with 24 to Crafton's 15 among the truck mainstays. The 30-year-old Dillon (both Crafton and Sauter are 40-plus) will likely have the most illustrious resume of the three when all is said and done, having also tacked on an Xfinity Series title (2013), a Coca-Cola 600 win (2017) and Daytona 500 win (2018), with at least a decade of racing probably still ahead of him.

10. Bubba Wallace

Accolades: 6 Camping World Truck Series winsComment: Obviously, this nod is not because of Wallace's racing resume to date, though we expect that to be padded in a significant way over the coming years as he takes the next step forward in his career with 23XI Racing. No, there are some things bigger than racing, and Wallace has led the charge for social justice in a tremendously powerful way. The wins are coming, but he may already be Hall worthy for his impact on the sport alone.

9. Ryan Newman

Accolades: 18 Cup Series wins; 7 Xfinity Series wins; 1 Camping World Truck Series winComment: "Rocket Man" is one of the greatest qualifiers in NASCAR history, with 51 poles in his career. That puts him at ninth all-time, with the eight in front of him all Hall of Famers. The rest of his resume ain't too shabby either, and he's one of those "you can't tell the story of NASCAR without him" drivers. A few more wins (and perhaps a championship) would help boost his chances, but odds are he'll have a blue blazer someday. Two crown-jewel wins (Daytona 500/Brickyard 400) certainly stand out.

8. Kurt Busch

Accolades: 32 Cup Series wins, 2004 title; 5 Xfinity Series wins; 4 Camping World Truck Series winsComment: From here on out, the rest of this list features nothing but near-to-guaranteed locks, starting with Busch. The veteran has looked like a rejuvenated man over the past half decade, picking up seven wins since 2015 and reaching the playoffs in 14 of its 17 years of its existence. He'll likely add a few more wins before retiring, but he's already a strong candidate.

7. Chase Elliott

Accolades: 11 Cup Series wins, 2020 title; 5 Xfinity Series wins, 2014 title; 3 Camping World Truck Series winsComment: Surprised? You shouldn't be. Elliott has not even remotely approached his prime racing years yet, and he's already a double-digit-winning premier-series (and NXS) champion. The three-time NMPA Most Popular driver has a legitimate shot to double his 2020 win total (five) and could be primed for a Jimmie Johnson-esque run of multiple titles in the coming years.

6. Martin Truex Jr.

Accolades: 27 Cup Series wins, 2017 title; 13 Xfinity Series wins, 2004/'05 titles Comment: The notion of Truex as a Hall of Famer just five years ago would have seemed a stretch, despite his two NXS titles. The New Jersey native compiled just three wins through his first 10 full-time Cup Series seasons. He has turned on the afterburners in his stints with Furniture Row Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing, however, notching 24 victories from 2016-on, establishing himself as a perennial championship contender and part of NASCAR's vaunted "Big 3."

5. Joey Logano

Accolades: 26 Cup Series wins, 2018 title; 30 Xfinity Series wins; 1 Camping World Truck Series winComment: It took a while for "Sliced Bread" to rise, but he has proven to be among NASCAR's elite since his shift to Team Penske before the 2013 season. He nearly added another championship to his resume in 2020, and there's little reason to think the 30-year-old won't add one (or several) more before all is said and done.

4. Brad Keselowski

Accolades: 34 Cup Series wins, 2012 title; 39 Xfinity Series wins, 2010 title; 1 Camping World Truck Series winComment: Keselowski could retire today and would likely line up as a first-balloter (goes without saying for the three drivers left on this list, too.) Kes has piled up Cup wins at a prolific rate over the past decade, adding three or more in eight of the last 10 seasons. He nearly added another title this season, and that would have more than solidified his case.

3. Denny Hamlin

Accolades: 44 Cup Series wins; 17 Xfinity Series wins; 2 Camping World Truck Series winsComment: The big knock on Hamlin, of course, is the lack of championships at any national series level. Ask any of his fellow competitors if he deserves a placement in the Hall, however, and you'll likely get a unanimous "yes." With the exception of a 2013 season in which he missed four races due to injury, Hamlin has been an upper-echelon talent for the better part of two decades. He's a perennial championship contender, and there's still a better chance than not he claims his first title before hanging up the pajamas fire suit.

2. Kevin Harvick

Accolades: 58 Cup Series wins, 2014 title; 47 Xfinity Series wins, 2001/'06 titles; 14 Camping World Truck Series winsComment: The only thing standing in the way of Harvick's Hall of Fame candidacy is the fact he's still racing. With a career-high nine wins and Regular Season Championship coming in 2020 alone, the 45-year-old is showing no signs of slowing and could conceivably add buckets of race wins and compete for championships well into his 50s if he chooses to.

1. Kyle Busch

Accolades: 57 Cup Series wins, 2015/'19 titles; 97 Xfinity Series wins, 2009 title; 59 Camping World Truck Series winsComment: Of course. You might have heard something about this, but Busch's career national series wins total tops the bicentennial mark, a figure that will be tough to match for any other current driver we can think of. This past season was among his worst of the decade and still included a trip to Victory Lane, 20 top-10 results and an eighth-place finish in the standings. Busch has plenty of racing years ahead of him, and it would not be surprising to see him top Dale Earnhardt's 76 wins and pick up a few more championships along the way.