With the 2024 NASCAR season coming to a close in a few months, it’s a good time to look back at the moments this season that didn’t come to fruition that everyone thought otherwise. As usual, there are predictions made that the fanbase mostly agrees on that turn into reality (i.e., Kyle Larson making the playoffs or Chase Elliott having a bounce-back season). But there are others that fans would have considered as locks for the season, only for the opposite to happen, and their predictions are rendered obsolete. Some drivers missed the playoffs that everyone thought would, or a race played a more significant role in the season than otherwise. Let’s look at some wrong predictions for the 2024 NASCAR season.
Let’s start with the elephant in the room. From 2013 to 2023, Kyle Busch made the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs in 11 consecutive seasons. After a three-win season in a playoff berth in his first year with Richard Childress Racing, it looked to be the same song and dance for Rowdy come 2024. Many considered Busch as a playoff lock, given his past success. But it’s been a rough skid for the pairing since the start of the season, one where Busch could face his first winless season in the Cup Series.
The Las Vegas native has had his worst Cup season since his rookie year in 2005. With RCR struggling overall this season, Busch has not only failed to win a race so far but has also missed the playoffs for the first time since 2012. A lack of speed from RCR and 10 races outside the top 10 from Charlotte to Richmond have put Busch 20th in points after the regular-season finale at Darlington Raceway. While the team has picked up speed since the Olympic Break, there is no guarantee that Busch will find victory lane this year. A two-time champion with 63 wins should be considered a lock to make the playoffs. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the case for Kyle Busch in 2024.
On the opposite end of the playoff drivers, who predicted Harrison Burton to make the playoffs, let alone win a race. Burton was one of the worst drivers in the Cup Series throughout the 2024 regular season, sitting last among full-time drivers for most of the year. But all it takes in one win to change your season, and that’s exactly what happened with Burton during the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona. Burton made a last-lap pace on Busch to win his first Cup Series race and lock himself into the playoffs. After being let go by the Wood Brothers for 2025, Burton found some redemption under the lights at Daytona.
If you looked at the majority of pre-season playoff brackets, chances are most, if not all, did not have Burton making the playoffs this year. For most of the year, that looked to be the case. Burton had struggled during his Cup tenure, and he was one of the last drivers many would pencil in for a playoff berth. But 2024 has proved to be a wild season and many would agree in terms of busting playoff brackets, the main perpetrator was Harrison Burton winning at Daytona.
This was the biggest bombshell of the 2024 season. Despite a downward turn in performance, many assumed that Stewart-Haas Racing would remain in the Cup Series for many years. So when the news dropped that SHR would close its doors at the end of the season, it left many with their jaws dropped to the floor.
From 2009 to 2024, SHR has been one of NASCAR’s premiere teams. They won two Cup championships in 2011 and 2014 and an Xfinity Series championship in 2023. To see one of the top teams in the sport shut down is something no one could have predicted. While the last few seasons were not the best, they still went out with a win in the Southern 500 and a chance to win more championships with Chase Briscoe and Cole Custer. As for wrong predictions for the 2024 season, this one has to take the cake, cause no one saw this coming.
Finally, let’s discuss Trackhouse Racing. Many predicted the 2022 runner-ups would return to the postseason for the third straight year. But most would’ve penciled in Ross Chastain as the driver to represent Trackhouse in the postseason, not Daniel Suarez. It turned out to be the exact opposite. In the iconic photo finish, Suarez locked himself into the playoffs at Atlanta in the spring. With one car locked in, the focus shifted toward the No. 1 team for the rest of the regular season. Chastain failed to find victory lane all year. And with drivers like Suarez, Burton, Austin Cindric, and Chase Briscoe winning their way to playoff spots, Chastain was the odd man out at Trackhouse.
After finishing second in the championship in 2022 and 10th in 2023, Chastain’s making the playoffs, let alone winning a race, should’ve been a given. So what happened? Trackhouse took a step back in performance. They did not have the speed they had in 2022 and 2023 this season, culminating in his worst season with the team. What many predicted to be one of the safest picks in 2024 turned over its head when Ross Chastain failed to make the playoffs.
What do you think about all this? Let us know on Discord or X what your take is, and don’t forget you can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
Following comments about Carson Hocevar on his podcast Actions Detrimental, NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin made an interesting comparison of Hocevar in a social media post late Monday night.
This past weekend, EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta offered fans another classic race weekend full of solid racing and an exciting finish.
While the sport itself had a great weekend, the attention of the NASCAR community was lasered in on one driver, Carson Hocevar, whose aggressive driving, while nothing new, always seems to catch the attention of his peers.
This week, the key incident involving Hocevar was a wreck involving Christopher Bell during an overtime restart, in which Hocevar attempted to shoot for a gap between Bell and race leader Bubba Wallace.
While Hocevar was gunning for the lead, many commenters, such as FOX Sports analyst Kevin Harvick, said the young Spire Motorsports driver had “nowhere to go.”
Much like anything involving Hocevar, there has been a somewhat mixed reaction to this crash, with some praising his unapologetic style of racing and others, such as Bell’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Denny Hamlin, disapproving of this decision.
During the latest episode of his podcast Actions Detrimental, Hamlin called the situation “tough to watch,” saying that while the media loves Hocevar’s somewhat brash on-track style, as a competitor, he knows that Spire Motorsports driver’s actions will come back to bite him.
“It’s going to come back around. He’ll be in a position where he thinks he’s about to win, and then someone will decide that he’s not going to, and that’s gonna suck.” — Denny Hamlin
Following this episode, in which Hamlin also said Hocevar lacks the “craftsmanship” needed to win races, “beyond just having a fast car,” fans reacted to Hamlin’s take after Dirty Mo Media uploaded the clip on X.
In response, one user responded by comparing Hocevar’s competitiveness to a changing of the guard, saying, “Same old story, old dog doesn’t like puppy.” Hamlin, the proverbial old dog in this case, using this same symbolism, responded to this fan saying:
“Puppies are great, but if they shit in your bed you gonna just lay in it? Or teach the puppy where to properly take a dump?” — Denny Hamlin via X
The fan reaction to Hamlin’s comment ranged from praise to support for Hocevar, and even questions of past on-track actions made by the future Hall of Famer.
Of course, this comment, paired with the latest episode of Actions Detrimental, paints a broader picture of how Hamlin sees this lesson playing out for Hocevar.
Hamlin said on the podcast that he understands that this is just how Hocevar races, but that style will come with consequences, as the former Rookie of the Year is never going to get a break from the rest of the Cup Series garage.
“You’re just never gonna get anyone to give you a break when you clearly won’t give anyone else a break,” Hamlin said. “His style is his style, and he’s free to be whoever he wants to be.”
Nonetheless, it doesn’t seem that Hocevar has reached a point where Hamlin feels a need to take action into his own hands, with the veteran driver adding, “I don’t think we’re gonna do anything about it. I think you gotta just let it play itself out over time.”
What do you think about this? Let us know your opinion on Discord or X. Don’t forget that you can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
Road course racing is back, and with the NASCAR Cup Series at Circuit of the Americas up next, it’s the perfect time for a special conversation. Josh Bilicki joins the show to talk COTA prep, a new season with SS-Green Light Racing, why he loves the O’Reilly cars, and his new partnership with Mando.
From winning a recent endurance race at COTA to breaking down the challenge of managing brakes and tires in the O’Reilly car, Josh offers insight into why road courses are such an opportunity for drivers like him. It’s a great look at the grind smaller teams embrace every week and how preparation can make the difference.
Huge thanks to Mando for supporting Josh and the show this season. Don’t just mask it, Mando it. Available at Walmart and Target.
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Five years ago, turning Atlanta into a drafting track felt like madness. Drivers were mad, fans were skeptical, and the history of track reconfigurations didn’t exactly inspire confidence. Now, nine races into the new era, it’s fair to ask a wild question — is EchoPark Speedway actually one of the best tracks in NASCAR?
From instant classic finishes to all three national series delivering intensity, the new configuration has built a reputation quickly. What once looked like a risky overreach now feels like a bold move that paid off in a big way. The bigger debate might be what happens next. If the surface keeps wearing and the style evolves again, Atlanta could shift yet another time. For now, though, this track has gone from controversy to cornerstone.
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