Did You Notice? … The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season is at hand?
Hopefully, the Daytona 500 will be off and running without any weather issues on Monday, Feb. 19, after getting postponed from its scheduled time on Sunday.
What are the big questions facing the Cup field this coming season? Let’s take a look at each full-time chartered team below through one stat that gives us an indication of where they are heading into 2024.
For drivers of car Nos. 1-20, click the link below.
No. 21 – Harrison Burton
9.3%. The percentage of laps Burton spent in the top 15 last season, just 40th best among drivers who competed in at least one Cup race. Remember, there’s typically 36 cars in the field each week. … It was a disastrous sophomore slump, as Burton wound up 31st in the standings, ahead of only Ty Dillon among full-time drivers. Keep in mind this single-car Wood Brothers Racing team has an alliance with Team Penske, the same organization who won the championship with Ryan Blaney. Burton’s a nice young talent, but it makes me hard-pressed to see a situation where this partnership improves; Burton’s average finish of 24.7 was the worst for the Woods since they returned to full-time competition in 2016.
No. 22 – Joey Logano
18. The number of wins Logano’s collected in even-numbered years since joining Team Penske at the beginning of the 2013 season. Since 2014, he has never missed the Championship 4 in those years, winning two titles (2018, 2022) and leading over 4,000 laps. With no major offseason changes, the reigning champion his teammate within the Penske stable and Logano in the midst of his prime (age 34 this year), there’s little reason to believe 2024 will be anything different.
No. 23 – Bubba Wallace
2,141. The number of quality passes Wallace made last season, good for fifth-best in Cup. A quality pass is defined as passing another car in the top 15 under green-flag conditions, showcasing Wallace’s ability to adjust to track conditions and crank out speed effectively over long runs. Indeed, Wallace appeared to mature last season, earning a career-best 10th-place points finish and notching a career-best 28 lead-lap finishes.
But staying out of trouble is half the battle; closing the deal on victory lane is another one altogether. If Wallace wants to be taken seriously as a true contender, that’s where the 23XI Racing partnership lags behind. His two wins in three seasons pale in…
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