Did You Notice? … The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season is at hand? By the time you read this column, the Daytona 500 will be hours away as we follow up the NFL’s Super Bowl with stock car racing’s biggest race of the year.
What are the big questions facing the Cup field this coming season? Let’s take a look at each full-time driver below through one stat that gives us an indication of where they are heading into 2024.
No. 1 – Ross Chastain
157. It’s how many laps Chastain led in the Phoenix Raceway finale last year, more than the previous 21 races after owner Rick Hendrick lashed out at Chastain about a wreck involving Kyle Larson in May. Chastain drove tentative after that but a fiery exchange with champion Ryan Blaney last November was a big step toward regaining his mojo. Can he keep it?
No. 2 – Austin Cindric
5. The amount of top-five finishes Cindric has after winning the 2022 Daytona 500 as a rookie. In that same time period, his Team Penske teammates have 42, eight wins and the last two Cup championships. 2024 feels like put up or shut up for the son of Team Penske President Tim Cindric; more mediocrity could be risking a Cole Custer-like demotion to the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The key? Rebuilding on road courses, where Cindric earned five of his 13 career NXS wins.
No. 3 – Austin Dillon
21.8. Dillon’s average finish last season, the worst for him in Cup since his rookie season of 2013 and better than just three other full-time drivers. Remember how Kyle Busch’s arrival was supposed to make Richard Childress Racing better across the board? The key for Dillon in 2024 is to avoid messes of his own making; a driver who once finished all 36 races in a Cup season has a whopping 18 DNFs over the past two years. Opportunities at superspeedways and a handful of intermediates need to be cashed in or building criticism Dillon might be holding back this program will be warranted.
No. 4 – Josh Berry
33. Josh Berry’s age as a full-time Cup freshman. If he goes on to win Cup Rookie of the Year, he’d be the oldest recipient since Andy Lally (36) back in 2011. Berry is deserving of the promotion with JR Motorsports but there are some yellow flags: no wins in the NXS and mixed results as a Cup super sub. There’s also the not-so-small problem of how rough Stewart-Haas Racing equipment has been without Kevin Harvick at the controls: only seven top-five finishes last season and no other drivers ending the…
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