It’s the start of February, which means that the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season is almost upon us. Cars will take to the track this weekend for the Busch Clash at L.A. Memorial Coliseum on Feb. 4, and the 66th running of the Great American Race at Daytona International Speedway is less than three weeks away.
With a wide array of driver and team changes from the offseason alongside more minor personnel tweaks — or even a few lineups that stayed exactly the same — there’s a lot to discuss as the Cup Series moves into the third season of the Next Gen era.
For 2024, the Frontstretch staff each voted on a top-30 ranking, taking into account each driver’s 2023 season as well as their outlook for 2024.
Below is where we landed. Positions No. 30-21 were posted on Jan. 30, while positions No. 20-11 were posted yesterday (Jan. 31).
10. Joey Logano
Joey Logano is a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, so he can put it all together to get into the postseason and peak when it counts. He drives for Team Penske, an organization that’s the two-time defending Cup Series champions. So, the team is obviously there for Logano to go for title number three.
The trick, however, is making all of that come together at the right time. Logano managed a single win last year. He was solid behind the No. 22 car overall by putting together 11 top-five finishes, the same as his championship season the year before. But a sour opening round, marred by a crash at Bristol Motor Speedway, ended his hopes of repeating as champion in a postseason round with no finishes better than fifth.
In the end, Logano was pretty good last year, good enough to make the playoffs. But he wasn’t great, and an elimination in the Round of 16 showed that.
Logano has a penchant for running a solid race and being in the position to win in the end. If he can do that multiple times this year, the No. 22 will be a contender in the latter part of the NASCAR Playoffs. -Brad Harrison
9. Martin Truex Jr.
After a rough 2022 season saw Martin Truex Jr. go winless for the first time since 2014, he finally got the monkey off his back at Dover Motor Speedway last May to score his first points-paying win in the Next Gen car. He followed it up with dominant wins at Sonoma Raceway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the summer, the latter of which saw him lead all but 47 of the 301 laps.
From the eighth race at the Bristol Motor Speedway dirt track to the…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at …