By Will Clifford

Cars on track during the 2023 Daytona 500 on February 19, 2023. Photo credit: Zach Catanzareti Photo via Wikimedia Commons.

As the off-season concludes and the new NASCAR Cup Series season dawns, anticipation grips the racing world as fans prepare to see cars back on track for the first time since November. The 2024 season looks to be an incredible array of speed, skill, and strategy, as drivers and teams gear up to navigate the racetracks that are the heart and soul of NASCAR.  

This season sees an exciting rookie class moving up into the top division of NASCAR, the Cup Series. NASCAR rookies can come from many different disciplines of racing, but they will most often rise through the two lower-tier series before making their Cup Series debuts. The third-tier Craftsman Truck Series and second-tier Xfinity Series allow drivers to develop their racing skills, with the ultimate goal of reaching the Cup Series. 2024 will have Zane Smith, Carson Hocevar, and Josh Berry take to the track for their first full-time Cup Series seasons. 

Zane Smith driving the #38 Ford F-150 for Front Row Motorsports during the Baptist Health Cancer Care 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on October 21, 2023. Photo credit: Motorsport.com.

Smith has been touted as a future star for years, as his three full-time seasons Craftsman Truck Series saw nine wins, 35 top fives, 57 top tens, and the 2022 Truck Series Championship. During the 2023 season, Smith signed a developmental contract with Trackhouse, a race team founded as a collaborative effort between NASCAR crew chief Justin Marks and rapper Pitbull. This season, Smith will race for Spire Motorsports in their #71 Chevrolet Camaro as part of a technical alliance with Trackhouse. Look for Smith to challenge for top-20 finishes throughout the season and compete for top-ten and even possibly top-five finishes at tracks over 2.5 miles in length (Daytona and Talladega), and road courses (Circuit of the Americas, Sonoma Raceway, Watkins Glen, and the Chicago Street Course). Smith struggled last year during his limited starts in the Cup Series, but look for a breakout now that he is full-time.

Portage, Michigan’s Hocevar made nine appearances in the Cup Series last season, filling in for driver Noah Gragson, who was suspended and fired after liking an Instagram post making light of the 2020 murder of George Floyd. Gragson has since been reinstated and will race full-time for Stewart-Haas Racing in the #10 Ford Mustang. 

Hocevar showed promise last year in his Cup starts, having top-ten speed at Bristol and Darlington, with a best finish of 11th. This season, Hocevar will be teammates with fellow rookie Smith at Spire Motorsports, piloting the #77 Chevrolet Camaro. Hocevar will likely develop quickly in his first full-time Cup season, although he is seen as a less polished driver who is known to be aggressive and a rule-breaker on track. Other drivers have heavily criticized Hocevar for his actions in the third-tier Truck Series, notably his intentional spin-outs to bring out cautions at Las Vegas in 2021 and Talladega in 2022. 

Corey Heim and Carson Hocevar battle at Phoenix during the Craftsman 150 on November 3, 2023. Photo credit: Fox Sports.

His most reviled act, however, was his intentional wreck of Truck Series Championship contender Corey Heim in the 2023 finale race at Phoenix. Hocevar was widely criticized for this move, with NASCAR commentator Dale Earnhardt, Jr. warning him of the “hard lessons” that would be coming in the Cup series for his reckless behavior. Hocevar’s talent on track is undeniable, but his actions toward other drivers will determine if he will have long-term success in the Cup Series. Hocevar has been strong on intermediate tracks (1- 2 miles) including Texas, Homestead-Miami, and Nashville. Hocevar also has had success at short tracks, (under 1 mile) like Richmond and Bristol, with a win at Richmond during the 2023 Truck Series season. 

33-year-old Berry will take over in 2024 for retiring legend Kevin Harvick. Berry will be driving for Stewart-Haas Racing in the #4 Ford Mustang. Yet another 2024 rookie who made Cup starts in 2023, Berry had the best overall stats in his time filling in for injured drivers Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman, and making two starts for the suspended Gragson. Berry surprised many with his strong performances. Of ten total starts, Berry had three top-tens and a top-five, with his best being a second-place finish at the spring Richmond race. Berry competed for the win until the end, but 2021 Champion Kyle Larson surged ahead in the closing laps. 

Josh Berry wins the 2022 Alsco Uniforms 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 30, 2022. Photo credit: JR Motorsports.

Seen as one of the most Cup-ready prospects in years, Berry is expected to immediately contend for wins. Coming off a down season in the lower-tier Xfinity Series, going winless, Berry and his team are hoping for a rebound. Expect the #4 team to stumble early and often but eventually find their form and hold it through the season’s conclusion. Berry, barring catastrophic failure, should compete for top-fifteen finishes weekly, but fans should watch out for possible top-ten and top-five runs at the short tracks and intermediates, notably Richmond, Dover, Charlotte, and Las Vegas. 

In the garage, Toyota and Ford will be debuting new body styles for their Cup Series cars. Toyota will reflect the updated Camry for their new body, while Ford will be highlighting the new Mustang Dark Horse. In the Xfinity Series, Ford will put new decals on their cars to reflect the model change. The new body styles for Ford and Toyota will likely give Chevrolet an early-season advantage, as drafting tracks make up a significant portion of the early season schedule. Once Ford and Toyota figure out how to most effectively use their new body styles, look for them to surpass Chevrolet. 

NASCAR has continued their schedule changes into 2024, with many tracks gaining or losing dates. The Richmond races (March 31 and August 11) will both be at night this year, in an attempt to bring more fans to the track. Richmond also replaces Bristol as the Easter race this year, with the 7:00 p.m. start time on Sunday, March 31 catered toward boosting TV viewership, as races in primetime typically perform better in terms of ratings. The spring Bristol race will no longer take place on dirt, returning to asphalt. Atlanta takes the place of the now-demolished Fontana as the second race of the season, and Iowa will be added to the schedule for the first time ever. Finally, Texas loses its playoff date and moves to April 14. 

Lastly, NASCAR is in the last year of its current media rights deal. Currently, the season’s broadcasts are split evenly between FOX and NBC. FOX has the media rights to the first half of the season, from the Busch Clash to Sonoma. NBC has the second half of the season, including the 10 playoff races at the end of the season. NASCAR announced its new media rights deal last November, and it has proven to be unpopular with fans. NASCAR’s new media deal includes the FOX and NBC portions of the schedule fans are used to, while also returning to cable’s TNT after 10 years. It has been unpopular because it puts races onto paid streaming services, including Peacock and Prime Video. NASCAR has traditionally had most of its races on network and cable television, but this new media deal will privatize a significant portion of the schedule. It will be a waiting game to determine the outcome and repercussions of this new media deal, but for now it looks very unpopular and could ostracize the sport from its most loyal fanbase.

The 2024 NASCAR season will be instrumental in determining the future of NASCAR. 2023 had the lowest viewership of any NASCAR season, but changes made for 2024 could very easily turn that figure around. 2024 will be the deciding factor in how NASCAR moves forward as a sport. It will be an entertaining season with a talented rookie class and new sponsors moving into the sport. 

The NASCAR regular season kicked off on February 18 at 2:30 p.m. with the 66th annual Daytona 500 in Daytona Beach, Florida, with Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron claiming victory. 

Featured image credit: NASCAR.