Joey Logano won his third championship at Phoenix, while William Byron's Daytona 500, Tyler Reddick's regular-season crown and a run of big playoff wrecks shaped the 76th season.
Joey Logano of Team Penske won the 2024 Cup championship at Phoenix on November 10, holding off Ryan Blaney in a close finish. It was his third title, and it followed Tyler Reddick's regular-season crown at Darlington, a season that also opened with William Byron's Daytona 500 win for Hendrick Motorsports.
This was the 76th year of NASCAR's top-level stock-car competition, and the 53rd of the modern Cup era. Joey Logano of Team Penske won his third championship in the finale at Phoenix, after Tyler Reddick had taken the regular-season title. The year also saw several drivers leave the full-time field and the end of a long run of sponsorship and broadcast arrangements.
How did Joey Logano win the 2024 title?
Logano won the 2024 championship at Phoenix on November 10, edging out Ryan Blaney. It was his third title, and it came in a season that included an All-Star Race win and a playoff victory, while the standings stayed close through the playoffs.
Logano's points-race win arrived in the playoffs at the Quaker State 400, a result that kept his title hopes alive in the middle rounds. His All-Star Race victory came earlier in the year and was his second in that event.
Reddick's regular-season title had been settled at Darlington, so the two drivers who led the standings for much of the year met again in the finale. Blaney, the defending champion, pressed Logano hard in the closing laps.
Logano's championship also came against a strong field. Blaney had won the 2023 title, Reddick had led the regular season, and several other drivers had been in contention late in the year.
Phoenix was decided by small margins. Martin Truex Jr. started from the front for the second race in a row, and Logano took the win and the title in a finish that stayed open until the final laps. The result gave him three championships and confirmed the strength of his team across the year.
A close finish at Phoenix gave Joey Logano his third championship, after a season that began with William Byron's Daytona 500 win.
What happened at the 2024 Daytona 500?
William Byron won the 66th Daytona 500 for Hendrick Motorsports after a race pushed from Sunday to Monday by rain. The victory gave Hendrick its ninth Daytona 500 win, a total it shares with Petty Enterprises as the most in the race's history.
Speedweeks began with Logano on the Daytona 500 pole, and the two Bluegreen Vacation Duels went to Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell. Michael McDowell started from the pole for the second Duel.
The race reached its turning point on lap 191, when Byron tangled with Brad Keselowski in turn three. The crash swept up Blaney, Logano, Chase Elliott and several others, and a red flag followed. The restart came only after the track had been cleared of the wreckage.
Many of the year's storylines were built around that Daytona week. The 500 gave Hendrick Motorsports its ninth win in the race, and the team went on to win more races across the season.
The finish came at the white flag. A late caution, triggered by a crash involving Ross Chastain, Corey LaJoie and Austin Cindric near the white flag, left Byron ahead of his teammate Alex Bowman when the yellow came out, and Byron was declared the winner on that position.
The Hendrick one-two finish put two of the team's cars at the front after several contenders were caught in the early wrecks. Byron went on to win two more races that season.
Who led the regular season?
Tyler Reddick, who drives for 23XI Racing, secured the regular-season crown at the Cook Out Southern 500 in Darlington. He had earlier won the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan, his second victory of the year, before the title was secured.
Reddick reached the Championship 4 by winning the Straight Talk Wireless 400 during the playoffs. It was the first time he had reached the final four, and it meant he was part of the title fight for the first time in his career.
Chase Briscoe won the same Darlington race and locked himself into the playoffs. Kyle Busch chased him hard in the closing laps, but Briscoe held on to take the win and the place that came with it.
Kyle Larson also had a strong year. He won the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis, his third crown jewel win, and he swept the stages at the Bass Pro Shops Night Race in the playoffs.
Larson's season included a very close finish at the AdventHealth 400, which was decided by a thousandth of a second over Chris Buescher. At the time it was the closest finish in Cup history.
What rules and schedule changes shaped 2024?
NASCAR introduced an aero package for road courses and for tracks one mile or shorter, featuring a three-inch spoiler and a simplified diffuser. Road and street courses also gained stage-break cautions, and the spring race at Bristol returned to concrete after three years on dirt.
The package applied to all road courses and to tracks one mile or shorter, except Bristol and Dover.
Corey LaJoie's flip at Michigan led to a rule change within a week. A right-side rear window air deflector was made mandatory for the next race at Daytona, a direct response to that crash.
The schedule had 31 oval races, four road courses, one street course and four non-championship events on ovals. Auto Club Speedway was absent for the first time since 2021, while Iowa Speedway joined the calendar as a new venue for the Cup Series.
Indianapolis returned to an oval layout for the 30th anniversary of the first Brickyard 400. The series also took a two-week break during the summer, because NBC was covering the Olympics.
The return to the oval followed the road-course races held at Indianapolis in 2021.
Early-season and summer winners
The season opened with the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum in Los Angeles on February 3, a one-day show for a 23-car field. Denny Hamlin started on the pole and was in front for the opening stretch before Ty Gibbs moved ahead. Gibbs then controlled 84 of the following 91 laps, and Hamlin regained the lead with ten laps left to win.
The Food City 500 at Bristol produced 54 lead changes, a record for a short-track Cup race. Hamlin held off Martin Truex Jr. at the end, and Keselowski, Bowman and Larson finished behind them, with five or fewer cars on the lead lap.
Ryan Blaney won the Iowa Corn 350, the first Cup race held at Iowa Speedway. He was on two tyres at the end and held off a charging William Byron.
Alex Bowman won the Grant Park 165 in Chicago, a race that was shortened to 58 laps when the time limit expired. The win ended an 80-race winless streak for Bowman.
Christopher Bell won the USA Today 301 after a red flag for weather, and his win was his third of the season. He also swept the weekend after winning the Xfinity race the day before.
Harrison Burton won the Coke Zero Sugar 400 for his first career Cup victory, a result that also gave Wood Brothers Racing its 100th win.
Which playoff races decided the title?
Several playoff races separated the contenders. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the YellaWood 500 at Talladega by six thousandths of a second over Brad Keselowski, Chris Buescher won at The Glen, and Ross Chastain took the Hollywood Casino 400. Reddick later won the Straight Talk Wireless 400 to reach the final four.
Each of those results affected the points picture in a different way. Some drivers saw their chances rise and others faced a race that ended their season.
The YellaWood 500 was defined by a single wreck. The Big One on lap 185 collected 28 drivers, the largest such crash in the sport's history, and Stenhouse emerged from the carnage to win.
At the South Point race, Christopher Bell led 155 laps and looked set to win, but Joey Logano held him off in the closing laps to clinch a place in the Championship 4.
The Xfinity 500 was the last elimination race before the title. Ryan Blaney won it, and speculation about race manipulation followed when Ross Chastain and Austin Dillon formed a blockade behind William Byron late in the race.
The finale at Phoenix began with Truex on pole and Logano winning the first stage. A red flag followed the pace car's contact with the SAFER barrier, and Blaney took the second and final stage. Logano then pulled ahead in the closing laps to win the race and the title.
Selected race results
| Race | Winner | Notable detail |
|---|---|---|
| Busch Light Clash | Denny Hamlin | Run as a one-day show with 23 cars |
| 66th Daytona 500 | William Byron | Hendrick's ninth Daytona 500 win |
| Food City 500 | Denny Hamlin | 54 lead changes, a short-track record |
| AdventHealth 400 | Kyle Larson | Won by a thousandth of a second |
| Goodyear 400 | Brad Keselowski | First win as an owner-driver |
| Brickyard 400 | Kyle Larson | Third crown jewel win |
| Coca-Cola 600 | Christopher Bell | Race called after 249 laps |
| Cook Out Southern 500 | Chase Briscoe | Locked into the playoffs |
| YellaWood 500 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | The Big One took 28 drivers |
| Straight Talk Wireless 400 | Tyler Reddick | First Championship 4 appearance |
| Championship finale | Joey Logano | Third championship |
Team and driver changes
Kevin Harvick retired after 2023 and moved into FOX's broadcast booth, while Aric Almirola stepped away from full-time racing after the same season. Their departures changed the make-up of the regular field.
Harvick's move to FOX gave the network a former champion's voice in the booth, while Almirola's exit left a well-known driver out of the full-time field.
Martin Truex Jr. announced on June 14 that he would retire from full-time racing at the end of the season. GEICO also ended its run as a premier partner of the series.
Tony Stewart's ownership of Stewart-Haas Racing came to an end with the season, and Gene Haas took full control. The team was set to run as Haas Factory Team in 2025, with Joe Custer as its president.
Spire Motorsports bought the Live Fast Motorsports charter for about $40 million, and Trackhouse signed Zane Smith, the 2022 Truck Series champion. Legacy Motor Club moved from Chevrolet to Toyota for 2024, while Ford introduced the Mustang Dark Horse and Toyota updated the Camry.
