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What’s up, Daily Downforce fans? 2024 was a wild and crazy year, jam-packed with lots of drama, great racing, and two of the closest finishes in NASCAR history. There were so many great moments this year that it’s hard to fit them on a single list. But what about some of the moments that were great in their own respect but flew under the radar for whatever reason? Here are the biggest moments from the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season that you forgot about.
The 2024 Daytona 500, in some respects, feels like a lifetime ago. Ford dominated Speedweeks with eventual Champion Joey Logano sitting on the pole and Michael McDowell starting alongside. In fact, people tend to forget just how fast Ford was at the beginning of the year. They mostly dominated the running of the 2024 Daytona 500, but, as is often the case, it was a Hendrick Chevy that was left standing tall when the checkered flag waived.
All in all, William Byron had a pretty good 2024 season. I don’t think it quite measured up to that of his teammate Kyle Larson, but it was pretty good, especially early on. He ultimately made the 2024 Championship 4, and he kicked off the year right with a win in the Great American Race.
After 3 years of racing on a dirt surface at BMS, the Food City 500 made a monumental return in 2024. Initially, the news of the race coming back was received with mixed reactions from fans. On one hand, the dirt race had always been controversial. Many fans, myself included, asked why NASCAR wouldn’t just go to a purpose-built dirt track like Eldora. On the other hand, the NextGen car has had mediocre results, at best, on short tracks. That trend likely would have continued if Goodyear hadn’t brought the tire they brought.
The story of this race was experience vs. inexperience as the veteran drivers were able to save their tires while the youngsters shredded rubber pretty quickly. Denney Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. dominated the race. Hamlin went on to win after leading the most laps. When the checkered flag flew, there were fewer than 5 cars on the lead lap.
Before becoming the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion at long last, Justin Allgaier put together an impressive run in Kyle Larson’s number 5 car. Allgaier wasn’t originally scheduled to drive the car. Rather, Kyle Larson was expected to complete the Double, becoming the first driver to do so since Kurt Busch in 2016. However, a rain delay in Indianapolis forced HMS to make a decision: depart Indy before the race was over to make the start of the Coca-Cola 600 or wait it out and miss the green flag in Charlotte.
In a controversial move, Larson and HMS chose to miss out on the start of the Coke 600. In fact, Larson never turned a lap in Charlotte as rain plagued that race as well, ending it prematurely. In the 5 car instead was Xfinity Series veteran Justin Allgaier…and he did an admirable job. In fact, he was running 13th when the caution came out, ending the race.
Maybe this doesn’t need to be on this list because his legion of fans won’t let us forget it, but yes, Chase Elliott returned to victory lane in 2024, snapping a 42-race winless streak. And he did so in convincing fashion. Up to this point, he was having a great year. He was, by far, the most consistent driver in the first half of the year, and he ran in the top 5 in Texas for most of the race. Elliott inevitably won after battling Denny Hamlin and several overtime restarts. Once the driver of Engine number 9 took the white flag, Ross Chastain and William Byron collided, effectively ending the race under caution.
This turned out to be Elliott’s only win on the year but definitely one of the more popular ones.
To say that Kyle Busch had a miserable year would be an understatement. There weren’t a whole lot of highlights in 2024 for Kyle Busch, at least not on the Cup side of things. For the first time in his career, he went winless, though he did manage to capture a pair of wins in the Truck Series. That said, he did manage to win something in 2024 in Cup: a pole. That’s right, Kyle Busch led the way to the green flag at Dover. He didn’t win the race, though, and he finished 4th, which was almost as good as it got for Busch in 2024.
That does it for us, Daily Downforce readers. What was your favorite underrated moment of the 2024 NASCAR season? Let us know, and be sure to keep it right here at DailyDownforce.com for more exciting content all about NASCAR.
