2024 NASCAR Midseason Awards

As NASCAR Cup Series teams turn their focus to Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend, it’s hard to believe they’re preparing to kick off the second half of the regular season.

Indeed, it’s 13 races down, 13 races to go with the start of Sunday’s (May 26) longest race of the year, the Coca-Cola 600. That sparks a countdown including races at every type of track NASCAR has (short tracks, one-milers, superspeedways, intermediates, road courses, even the street race at Chicago) the sport hopes will jumpstart competition heading into summertime. The peak will come with a regular season finale at Darlington Raceway (not Daytona International Speedway this year) that sets the 16-driver playoff field.

So, where are we? 2024 has seen two organizations in particular rise above the fray. There’s Hendrick Motorsports, celebrating its 40th anniversary in style: three of four drivers have already won and all-but-clinched postseason bids. Their six-race haul includes February’s Daytona 500 (William Byron), a third straight win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Kyle Larson) and the end of Chase Elliott’s long losing streak (Texas Motor Speedway).

But Joe Gibbs Racing has appeared to match HMS punch-for-punch, setting up a heavyweight fight for those all-important playoff points in a year we’re unlikely to see 16 winners. Denny Hamlin has three victories this early in the year for the first time since 2010; Christopher Bell laid down the gauntlet at Phoenix Raceway, vanquishing demons at the site of the championship finale and Martin Truex, Jr. sits second in points, one of the sport’s most consistent drivers who has seen a handful of “almosts” soured by bad luck.

Is there anyone else who could fight through the scraps and keep JGR and HMS from a clean sweep of the Bowlesys this year? Let’s find out as this NASCAR midseason awards column keeps on rolling through the 2020s. …