As the NASCAR off-season rolls on, plenty of questions remain unanswered. From broadcasting to charters, to where drivers will end up, there are plenty of things that fans want answers to. Here is every unanswered question heading into NASCAR’s 2024 season.
NASCAR’s new TV deal does not take effect until 2025, but 2024 still has questions surrounding streaming. Peacock had exclusive streaming rights to three simulcast NBC races in 2023: the Chicago Street Race, the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona, and the Championship Race at Phoenix.
It’s likely that a few races will be streaming on Peacock exclusively as well, but which ones? The Chicago Street Race brought in the most viewers aside from the Daytona 500 in 2023. The Brickyard 400 is returning, so could NBC put that on Peacock as well? It may or may not be the exact same three races as 2023. NBC has still announced nothing surrounding Peacock and NASCAR in 2024.
iRacing has the NASCAR video game license, and the game will come out in 2025. When exactly in 2025 is still to be determined, but will NASCAR fans at least get a trailer in 2024? We can guess based on past precedent.
NASCAR 21: Ignition reveal trailer came in August of 2021, about 2 and a half months before the game came out. NASCAR Heat Evolution’s trailer came out in July of 2016, and the game was released about 2 months later.
If iRacing’s NASCAR game comes out in early 2025, then maybe the trailer could come towards the end of the calendar year. However, if the game is pushed back to late 2025, a trailer in 2024 may be too ambitious.
Adam Stern was recently a guest on “The Money Lap” podcast with Parker Kligerman and Landon Cassill, and Stern indicated there is no guarantee a charter deal will be done by the Daytona 500. He later goes on to say that teams could find creative ways to send messages to NASCAR during a race.
The charter agreement, or lack thereof, has been a talking point for a while now. When the TV deal was announced, many hoped that would jump-start the charter negotiations. Well, it may be longer than NASCAR or the teams hoped for. The longer this goes on, the more concerning it gets.
NASCAR’s Silly Season is still up in the air in many regards. The Kaulig Racing Cup Series seat is still unknown, and Noah Gragson has yet to officially sign with Stewart-Haas Racing. Matt DiBenedetto is still a free agent as well.
There are also plenty of seats still open in the lower series. All of these questions will gradually be answered as silly season goes on.
Kyle Larson is attempting the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day in 2024. However, Indy is far bigger than a one-day show. Qualifying is a week before the race, and Larson is not guaranteed a starting spot.
The All-Star Race is the same weekend as the Indianapolis 500 qualifying, and both are two-day shows. Indy 500 qualifying is in the afternoon, and the All-Star Race is at night. Larson may be able to race in the All-Star Race, but qualifying for the race may be tricky.
Plenty of NASCAR questions remain unanswered heading into 2024. When will we find an answer to these questions?
