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What Will Happen In NASCAR In 2024?
We are less than 40 days from cars hitting the track at the LA Coliseum for the Busch Clash, the symbolic start to the 2024 NASCAR Cup season. A stacked field of championship contenders will pose interesting weekly dilemmas when making your NASCAR betting picks.
New Faces, New Places
This year’s silly season was far more tame than in years past, though there will be some new faces in new places.
The most driver upheaval occurred at Stewart-Haas Racing. Josh Berry will be tasked with replacing future Hall of Famer Kevin Harvick. The 33-year-old Berry had some impressive runs in 2023 in a substitute capacity for Hendrick Motorsports.
Noah Gragson also joins the fold, replacing Aric Almirola. Gragson was amidst a terrible year in 2023 before being indefinitely suspended. Both drivers have had success in the Xfinity Series, though SHR has struggled immensely of late.
Outside of Harvick, they only scored seven top-fives and 15 top-10s in 2023. We believe the struggle will continue, though they will make good for some top-five and top-10 NASCAR picks, particularly at short tracks.
A more impactful newcomer will be John Hunter Nemechek, piloting the 42 for Legacy Motor Club, with newfound Toyota support.
Legacy ran well at the end of the year with Erik Jones and Carson Hocevar, and this will be Nemechek’s first taste in what should be a competitive Cup car. He may not contend for wins, but like Jones this past year, could be a solid top-10 bet.
Meanwhile, Hocevar and fellow truck series driver Zane Smith were promoted to Cup by Spire Motorsports. Despite being a backmarker since its inception, the injection of youth could lead to a year of improvement for the team alongside veteran Corey LaJoie.
Blaney Looks To Repeat Amidst Stacked Field
Ryan Blaney’s Cinderella run late in the playoffs made him the seventh active champion in the field entering 2024, with all still performing at a high level.
Kyle Larson has won 17 races in the last three seasons and has the second-best NASCAR future betting odds, behind Blaney, to win his second Cup in 2024.
Martin Truex Jr. revived his career in 2023, winning three races and the regular season championship. He boasts +900 NASCAR odds to hoist the Cup in what might be his swansong season.
Chase Elliott looks to bounce back from arguably the worst season of his career, going winless for the first time since 2017. So long as Elliott avoids injury, we expect him to be back in victory lane and contending for the championship.
Kyle Busch, the lone two-time champ in the field, is looking to build on a roller coaster first season with Richard Childress Racing, while Brad Keselowski made great strides in his second season as co-owner of RFK Racing
This doesn’t include William Byron, whose six wins was most in the series in 2023, as well as Denny Hamlin, who always seems poised to win his first championship.
Chris Buescher also broke out with three wins, while Ross Chastain won two for the second straight year. Whoever is going to win the championship in 2024 is going to have to work for it.
