The 2024 NASCAR All-Star Race is coming up this weekend, but, the 20-car grid isn’t set yet. One spot will go to the winner of the All-Star Fan Vote, and these are the drivers eligible for the Fan Vote.
This is the first year Austin Cindric has to compete in the All-Star Open as his 2022 Daytona 500 win gave him All-Star bids in 2022 and 2023. He’s in his third year at Team Penske, so, he hopes to join Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano in the All-Star Race. The Fan Vote will be an uphill battle as Cindric was not in the top 10 in the most recent Fan Vote update.
Austin Dillon was also outside of the top 10 in the most recent vote, and he’s never won the fan vote before. His best finish in the Open was 2nd, coming in 2022.
Josh Berry is the defending winner of the All-Star Open. He’s also currently in the top-10 in fan vote rankings as well. Berry could easily slot his way into the main show one way or another.
Corey LaJoie also finds himself in the top 10 with just a few days remaining. He has never made it into the All-Star Race before, with his best Open result coming in 2022, finishing 4th.
Noah Gragson is the defending fan vote winner, but, he has some stiff competition for that title this year. Regardless of that, Gragson finished a solid 7th in last year’s Open after some early incidents.
For the first time since 2021, Chase Briscoe is in the Open and the Fan Vote, and he is currently in the top 10. He would love to get into the All-Star Race one way, as he finished 4th in this event one year ago.
Kaz Grala is the lone part-time driver on this list. He will take the wheel of the No. 15 car for Rick Ware Racing. This is Grala’s first All-Star Race attempt.
Harrison Burton has been in the Open each of the last two seasons, and, he’s never gotten close to making the All-Star Race through either the Open or the Fan Vote. He sits outside of the top 10 in fan voting as of right now.
Bubba Wallace is in the top 10 in fan voting, and this is the first time he’s been forced to run the Open since 2021. He did get into the All-Star Race via the Open in 2019 and finished 2nd in the Main Event in 2023.
Daniel Hemric is back in the Cup Series and in the All-Star Open for the first time since 2019. He won the pole in that event but crashed out without making the All-Star Race.
Todd Gilliland is back in the Open in 2024 for the third time in a row. He crashed out of the Open in 2023, so, he’s hoping for better luck from that or the Fan Vote this time.
Ryan Preece is in the Open for the 4th time in his career. He’s never made the All-Star Race, but, he did record a best Open finish of 4th in 2023.
John Hunter Nemechek is surprisingly outside of the top 10 in fan voting. He raced in the All-Star Open in 2020 for Front Row Motorsports but failed to make the All-Star Race.
Erik Jones is known to go to great lengths to get into the All-Star Race, as evidenced by his attempted “Pass in the Grass” in 2017. He’s also a former fan vote winner, taking home the honor in 2022. He is in the top 10 of fan voting this year as well.
Alex Bowman is probably the most notable driver in the Open. This is his first time in the Open since 2019, when he won the Fan Vote. He’s in the top 10 once again this year.
Justin Haley is one of two drivers to go all-in on the Fan Vote campaign. With the #HaleYES campaign, Haley is determined to get into the All-Star Race via that Fan Vote. It’s working so far, as he finds himself in the top 10.
Ty Gibbs found his way into the All-Star Race in 2023 by finishing 2nd in the Open after leading 53 laps. If he doesn’t do that this year, he has a top 10 spot in the fan vote to lean onto as well.
Zane Smith has had an abysmal season so far, and he isn’t doing too great in the Fan vote either. It would likely take a miracle for Smith to race in the All-Star Race in his rookie season.
Carson Hocevar has been meticulously crafting the most low-budget, yet, intriguing All-Star Race campaign. This includes tricking fellow drivers and campaigning on race broadcasts. He’s in the top 10 in fan voting, and many believe it’s between him and Haley for the best campaign.
Three of these drivers will get into the All-Star Race this year via either the Fan Vote or the Open. Who will take home both crowns?
The NASCAR Truck Series breaks off from the main touring series schedule this weekend, but that doesn’t mean the O’Reilly Auto Parts and Cup Series aren’t racing. So, whether you are going to be at the track or home, what does the forecast look like for the race weekend in Austin, Texas?
Before the OAP Series Race (11:00 AM – 2:00 PM)
During the OAP Series Race (2:00 PM – 5:00 PM)
After the OAP Series Race (5:00 PM – 8:00 PM)
Before the Cup Series Race (11:00 AM – 2:00 PM)
During the Cup Series Race (2:00 PM – 5:00 PM)
After the Cup Series Race (5:00 PM – 8:00 PM)
When the three NASCAR National Series rolled into Austin for COTA’s first NASCAR race weekend in 2021, no one could have guessed the chaos that lay in wait. A major rain shower did not prevent the series from racing that day, as, though it was still somewhat foreign at the time, NASCAR sent the Cup Series out in the rain for a chaotic race, ultimately won by Chase Elliott.
Note: This article will be updated with a more accurate and detailed forecast as the race weekend nears.
After back-to-back drafting tracks, NASCAR’s three National Series split ways as the O’Reilly Auto Parts and Cup Series head for Circuit of the Americas, and the Truck Series makes its debut at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
This information will be available when NASCAR releases it on Monday afternoon.
Note: This article will be updated as more information about the weekend comes out.
Just like that, the first two weeks of the NASCAR season are in the books. After kicking the season off at Daytona, the sport headed up north to EchoPark Speedway for back-to-back superspeedway action. The Cup series saw a familiar face in victory lane, as Tyler Reddick went 2-for-2 to start the year.
In the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, Sheldon Creed finally got the monkey off his back, thanks to help from Ross Chastain, and won his first career O’Reilly Auto Parts race. In Trucks, Kyle Busch continued his EchoPark dominance, taking home the checkered flag in familiar Hendrick colors, well, familiar two decades ago.
Now, how was the racing as a whole? Where do the races stack up against each other? Let’s take a look at my Race Weekend Rankings and see where the EchoPark weekend ranks among the rest of the 2026 season!
Check out the latest episode of The Cutline, where Armany broke down the weekend at Atlanta, alongside NASCAR_Opinion.
You can follow along with Armany by creating your own Race Weekend Rankings Tier List. Make sure to tag Armany and The Daily Downforce on X, and we’ll share your list with the rest of the NASCAR Community.
