NASCAR started the season with nearly two races washed out, which could have led to a difficult 2024 season. However, the top motorsport series in the U.S. showed its ability to adapt by moving its preseason race at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum up one day, which helped set the tone for a year full of surprises.
The season had 18 different winners, including Austin Dillon, who was disqualified from advancing to the playoffs after an aggressive move that led to his victory. Joey Logano became the controversial Cup Series champion, sparking debates about the fairness of the playoff system.
As NASCAR moves toward the 2025 season, it will have a Cup Series race outside the United States for the first time in the modern era, with a race in Mexico City. This is part of NASCAR’s new seven-year television deal with multiple partners. The series is also facing a federal antitrust lawsuit filed by two teams, one of which is owned by Michael Jordan.
NASCAR President Steve Phelps defended the four drivers competing for the title last month and promised to review the playoff format if necessary. He also highlighted the positive television ratings and what worked well for the series in 2024. “It says the sport is resilient and the sport is growing,” Phelps said.
How it all began
The season began with heavy rain that caused problems. The third edition of the exhibition Clash at the Coliseum was threatened by rain in California. NASCAR knew they wouldn’t be able to race on the scheduled day, so they moved the entire event up by one day.
This unusual change meant racing on a Saturday night, a time with lower television ratings, which cost NASCAR in viewership and money. “We did something we had never done before. We pulled a race up a day, and we raced on Saturday night,” Phelps said. “Got crushed in the ratings, right? Saturday night is the lowest-rated day of the week, but it was the right thing to do.”
Rain also delayed the Daytona 500 in February and shortened the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, which prevented Kyle Larson from completing the Indy 500-Coke 500 double. The Chicago street race was also delayed by rain, making three of the biggest events of the season affected by weather.
Despite these setbacks, Phelps pointed out that NASCAR was able to recover from a 27% ratings decline by the end of the season.
“If you had asked me at the beginning of the year, ‘I will bet you that you can dig out of a 27% hole at the 500 and then two double-digit ratings declines on your next two highest-rated races,’ I would have said there is no way that’s going to happen,” Phelps said. “And we sit here for our Cup races, we are in the positive numbers.”
How they raced
Most of the winners this season were familiar faces, like Kyle Larson, who had the most wins with six, and William Byron, who won the Daytona 500 and three races in total along with four other drivers who also secured three wins each.
Joey Logano, who won his third Cup championship, only had one regular-season win but managed to win three races in the playoffs. This made him the 10th driver in NASCAR history to win three or more Cup titles.
There were also some surprises. Chase Briscoe and Harrison Burton won the last two regular-season races to take the final two spots in the 16-driver playoff field. Both had mixed feelings about their wins. Briscoe raced for Stewart-Haas Racing, which shut down at the end of the season. Burton, who won for the first time in his Cup Series career, did so in his final season with Wood Brothers Racing.
Austin Dillon got his first win in almost two years at Richmond Raceway, but the victory was taken away by NASCAR after he wrecked two cars in the final laps. There were also rumors that Richard Childress Racing had bought the car setup information from a Joe Gibbs Racing employee, but JGR has not commented, and no formal complaint has been made.
In the second-to-last race of the season, when spots for the championship were up for grabs, NASCAR fined several teams for working together to help drivers from the same manufacturers. NASCAR found this unfair and said it might consider suspending drivers in the future.
The Playoffs
As for the playoffs, NASCAR may review the format after Logano, who was eliminated in the second round, ended up winning the title. Logano was reinstated after Alex Bowman’s car failed inspection, which allowed him to continue in the playoffs.
He eventually secured a win, giving Roger Penske his third straight Cup Series title. NASCAR insisted that the correct four drivers—Logano, regular-season champion Tyler Reddick, Byron, and 2023 champion Ryan Blaney—competed for the title but said it would consider making changes if necessary.
“We are always looking if there are opportunities for us to tweak something,” said Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR’s chief operating officer. “We are not the only sport where the best statistical team does not get to the Final Four or the Super Bowl or the World Series.
We’re not going to go away from playoffs. We read fans and everything. We will, as we always do, we’ll absolutely look at what form the playoffs take in the offseason.”
The lawsuit
NASCAR has been in tough talks with the teams for more than two years about its revenue-sharing model, which is based on charter agreements. The teams were given a final offer that they called a “take-it-or-leave-it” deal, just 48 hours before the playoffs started in September.
Out of the 15 teams that held 36 charters, 13 agreed to the deal. The two teams that didn’t agree were 23XI Racing, which is owned by NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, and Front Row Motorsports, owned by businessman Bob Jenkins. These two teams are now suing NASCAR with antitrust claims.
NASCAR has revoked the charter offers from the two teams, which held two charters each. These charters guarantee a spot in all 38 races and also secure revenue. The teams can still compete, but as “open” cars without the same benefits. The two teams had plans to buy charters from Stewart-Haas Racing to expand to three cars, but NASCAR said it will not approve these transfers.
The teams have requested a hearing in December to try to get an injunction, hoping to clear things up before their charters expire at the end of this year. NASCAR asked for the lawsuit to be dismissed on Monday.
The outcome of this situation could have big consequences, but it’s unclear how 23XI and Front Row will proceed if there is no resolution by February. Jeffrey Kessler, a lawyer for the teams, argues that if the cars aren’t chartered, drivers and sponsors may leave, and without the charter transfer, expansion plans are in doubt, even though both teams have hired drivers for 2025.
This is a complicated situation that will likely continue until a judge makes a decision or a settlement is reached. It’s unclear if that will happen before the preseason Clash, which will be held for the first time at Bowman-Gray Stadium in North Carolina on February 2.
