Every week on from the conclusion of the 2024 season, it’s time to take inventory of how the yr unfolded.
The columns and recaps have been written about Workforce Penske’s Joey Logano profitable his third NASCAR Cup Collection championship. There will likely be an opportunity for drivers to supply any last ideas about their season and early previews of subsequent later this week in the course of the awards ceremony.
Within the meantime, the numbers have been tabulated. As soon as the yr has been accomplished, it’s at all times fascinating to see how issues performed out. Some classes are simple to comply with all through the season, akin to wins and prime finishes. However there may be additionally loop information that helps present how nicely a driver did.
Wins
Kyle Larson led the sequence with six victories. Joey Logano had the second-most at 4 (three of which got here within the final 10 races).
Stage wins
Kyle Larson had a series-leading 12 stage wins. Christopher Bell was his closest competitors, with 11 stage wins.
High 20 finishes
Christopher Bell had a series-leading 23 top-20 finishes in 36 races.
High 5 finishes
Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson led the sequence with 15 top-five finishes every.
Poles
Michael McDowell and Entrance Row Motorsports used Roush Yates Engines to their benefit to assert a series-leading six pole wins. All however one in every of them, St. Louis, was on a superspeedway. Kyle Larson had the second-most pole wins at 5.
Laps led
Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell had been the one two drivers who led greater than 1,000 laps within the Cup Collection this yr. Larson led the sequence with 1,699 laps led, whereas Bell had 1,131.
The subsequent drivers in line? Denny Hamlin, with 943 laps led, and Tyler Reddick with 597.
Joey Logano
A 3rd championship for Logano got here after he began from the No. 9 seed. No, it’s not the bottom a driver has been seeded and gained the championship. That honor belongs to Logano’s teammate, Ryan Blaney, who did so from the No. 12 seed in 2023.
Common end
Chase Elliott and the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports group had a strong season with a victory and postseason look whereas main the sequence with an 11.7 general common end.
There was a lot of clear observe via Chase Elliott’s windscreen over the course of the yr. The Hendrick Motorsports driver ended the season with the very best common end. Gavin Baker/Motorsport Pictures
Lead lap finishes
Chase Elliott was additionally on the prime of this class. Elliott had 32 lead lap finishes in 36 races. Denny Hamlin was second consistent with 30 in 36 races.
Rushing
On his method out the door, Martin Truex Jr. did one factor higher than everybody else: velocity. Truex had eight rushing penalties this yr. All the non-point occasions (Daytona qualifying races, All-Star Open, All-Star Race) had been included within the tally monitoring.
Zane Smith and Daniel Hemric had the second most rushing penalties at seven.
Common season winners
There have been 14 completely different winners via the primary 26 races. Within the elimination period, that’s the third time there have been 14 completely different winners earlier than the postseason. Essentially the most in a season was 16 in 2022.
General completely different winners
In 2024, there have been 17 completely different winners, starting with William Byron, adopted by Daniel Suarez, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Tyler Reddick, Brad Keselowski, Austin Cindric, Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon, Harrison Burton, Chase Briscoe, Chris Buescher, Ross Chastain, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Loop information
There are at all times some fascinating statistical nuggets within the year-ending loop information ebook, akin to:
* Christopher Bell was the perfect nearer, which is common end, common spots gained, and positions moved up. Bell had a mean end of 12.1 with 3.2 common spots gained, and 112 positions moved up.
* Kyle Larson had the very best driver score at 101.2. This class combines wins, finishes, prime 15 finishes, common operating place whereas on the lead lap, common velocity below inexperienced, quickest lap, led most laps and lead lap end.
* William Byron was the quickest driver early in a run. Byron’s common rank was 7.935 over Kyle Larson, whose common rank was 9.069.
* Ryan Blaney was the quickest driver late in a run. Blaney’s common rank was 7.148.
* Ryan Blaney was the quickest on restarts with a mean rank of 12.571. Christopher Bell was second within the class at 12.667.
* Denny Hamlin had essentially the most laps run within the prime 15 at 7,565. Kyle Larson was second at 7,332.
* Kyle Larson was the miles chief on the season at 1,794.71. Christopher Bell was second at 1,403.43.
* Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott tied for the perfect driver within the proportion of laps run on the lead lap at 93.84%, which was 9,140 laps out of a complete 9,686 laps.
Martin Truex Jr.
In a nod to his full-time profession ending, it’s value zooming out and taking a look at his numbers in totality. His resume within the Cup Collection will make Truex a first-ballot NASCAR Corridor of Famer with 693 begins and 34 wins, plus the 2017 championship. He additionally had 147 top-five finishes, 291 top-10 finishes, and 25 poles. After which there have been the 12,747 laps led.
Among the many wins for Truex had been two of the 4 crown jewel occasions: the Coca-Cola 600 and Southern 500. Sadly, he was on the shedding finish of the closest end in Daytona 500 historical past with Denny Hamlin in 2016 at 0.01s.
Of the tracks on the Cup Collection schedule that Truex made begins at, he gained in any respect however 16 of them. And consider, a few of these services he made lower than 10 begins on, just like the Daytona street course, Highway America, and Iowa.
There was additionally his transient however spectacular Xfinity Collection profession. Though Truex made 104 profession begins, he ran simply two full seasons. In each of these seasons, he gained the championship (2004-2005). Truex gained 12 races in these two seasons earlier than including yet one more in 2006 to convey his profession whole to 13.
