NASCAR
Top-10 Moments from 2024 Xfinity, Craftsman Truck Series Seasons
2024 is almost fully in the rearview mirror, and with it came a lot of NASCAR highlights. Here’s a look back at the year’s top moments from Xfinity and Truck Series competition. A season’s worth of highs and lows across both series ended with two new champions crowned. Were any top moments left off this list? Comment below if your favorite 2024 Xfinity or Truck highlight didn’t make the cut.
Eckes Leads Every Lap
History was put on display at Nashville Superspeedway in June. After starting third, Christian Eckes took the lead on lap one and never looked back. The No. 19 Napa Chevrolet led for all 150 laps that day, taking home a wire-to-wire victory. This was only the eighth time in Truck Series history where a winner led every lap, and the first time since 2012.
Eckes put together one of the most dominant seasons in Truck Series history, with Nashville being an exclamation point on the year. The No. 19 team now shifts to Daniel Hemric’s hands for 2025. Eckes will move up as an Xfinity Series rookie for Kaulig Racing.
Lone Star State Photo Finish
The early weeks of 2024 were very kind to photo finishes across all series. The Xfinity Series shared in this trend at Texas Motor Speedway in April. Coming into turn three, Sam Mayer sailed past Ryan Sieg but overcooked his entry. This allowed the underdog to get back alongside the No. 1. Both drivers banged doors across the checkers in a near tie. The second-closest Xfinity Series margin of victory ever gave this win to Mayer by 0.002 seconds.
Mayer may have fallen short of another Xfinity Championship 4 appearance, but he did see two more wins in 2024. Mayer will take his talents to the newly branded Haas Factory Team Xfinity operation for 2025; he hopes to win more races and contend for another Xfinity Series title.
Frantic Finish at the Brickyard
From one wild last lap to another, the last lap of the Pennzoil 250 in July will live on for ages. At the white flag, Aric Almirola made a daring three-wide pass over teammates Cole Custer and Riley Herbst. The Stewart-Haas Racing duo were far from disposed of though. Going into turn three on the last lap, Herbst muscled his way by Almirola on the inside, sliding loose while taking the lead. Amidst their swan song season as a team, SHR pulled off an improbable 1-2 result at their co-owner’s home track.
Herbst went on to earn another win in the season finale at Phoenix (more on that race later). These results were enough to warrant a promotion to the Cup Series for 2025. The Las Vegas native will drive a third 23XI Racing entry, the No. 35 Toyota.
Zilisch Dusts Competition in Debut
Winning in any series debut is a very rare feat in NASCAR, only happening six times in Xfinity before 2024. Connor Zilisch added his name to this elite list with a dominant day at Watkins Glen. Piloting the JR Motorsports No. 88, the road course ace was unbeaten in his maiden Xfinity voyage. The teenage racing prodigy saw two more top-fives and a 12th-place result across three more 2024 Xfinity starts.
Zilisch will return to this ride full-time in 2025, where he will likely contend for plenty more trophies and perhaps the championship.
Caruth Claims First NASCAR Win
Few opened up 2024 with as much consistency and potential as Rajah Caruth. Top-10 in both drafting races to start the year, a big season appeared on deck for the Spire No. 71. Race three at Las Vegas would be Caruth’s defining drive of 2024; he converted his first career pole into a maiden NASCAR win.
This victory vaulted Caruth into the 2024 Playoffs and into NASCAR history books. The Washington, DC native became only the sport’s third-ever Black winner on a National stage. This on-track success also propelled Caruth to Most Popular Driver honors in the Truck Series. Year one with Spire Motorsports and HendrickCars.Com backing proved fruitful enough to run it back in 2025. Now with experience of managing a race from the lead and Playoff pressure, Caruth may be a championship sleeper pick for the new year.
Roval Caution Controversy
Jumping ahead to the first Xfinity Playoff elimination race, a lot was on the line for several front runners in the closing laps at the Charlotte Roval. Inside the final 10 laps, a determined and unwavering Parker Kligerman passed Shane van Gisbergen for the lead, with both drivers facing must-win scenarios. Kligerman had announced his full-time NASCAR retirement just weeks prior, and appeared to be driving off to a career-defining first Xfinity triumph.
When the No. 48 Chevrolet initially took the white flag, the race appeared to end prematurely with a caution. Leland Honeyman Jr’s car was buried in a tire barrier, and the yellow appeared to fly too late for a restart. Mere seconds before Kligerman crossed the line however was when the caution was triggered. This led to an overtime restart where Kligerman fell to sixth, allowing Sam Mayer to take the win. The drama amidst these few minutes were some of the highest all year in Xfinity, with a fan favorite having a guaranteed win stripped away.
Mayer moves on from JR Motorsports to take over a Haas Factory Team Xfinity ride, while Kligerman has his own big plans ahead. The Connecticut driver recently announced a Rolex 24 at Daytona entry with Big Machine Racing, marking his first foray into the elite endurance race. Should Kligerman have the availability in his 2025 schedule, a potential Roval retribution race would be a welcome sight.
Larson vs. SVG at Chicago
Perhaps the greatest race-long battle of the season in any NASCAR series was Saturday on the Chicago Streets. Defending Cup race winner Shane van Gisbergen and heavyweight threat Kyle Larson duked it out for what felt like the entire 50-lap day. Throwing haymaker after haymaker on each other, both elite talents were on prime display at the ultra-technical track. SVG did ultimately come out on top in this battle, remaining undefeated in Grant Park. Larson meanwhile faded late to finish third.
The Kaulig Racing No. 97 picked up three road course wins total in 2024, but was a threat in each race. It will be a treat to watch SVG hone his craft on Sundays in 2025 against the best NASCAR talent.
Dale Jr. Returns at Bristol
Perhaps the biggest spotlight for Xfinity competition every year is when Dale Earnhardt Jr. makes his moonlighting appearance, bringing along with him legions of fans. For a second-straight year the Hall of Famer competed at Bristol Motor Speedway in September, and had a spotlight on his every move on and off-track.
Earnhardt had a very up-and-down night that few will forget. Early radio issues forced the No. 88 Chevrolet to pit several times, losing all his track position and having to rally from the start. One by one however, Earnhardt did slowly pick off cars and move his way higher and higher up the running board. By the time the checkers waved, Earnhardt was in sixth-place.
Cole Custer may have won that night, but Dale Jr’s every move captured the attention of everyone watching. Earnhardt was excited by this massive recovery effort, and celebrated on pit road post race with a beer toast. Junior currently does not have any NASCAR plans to race in 2025, but would not rule out future appearances after some time away.
Tempers Flare at Martinsville
Known for high-intensity and desperate Playoff moments, Martinsville’s cutoff race lived up to the hype in the Truck Series. After dominating the night, Christian Eckes was passed on a late restart by Taylor Gray. The TRICON Garage driver had a tire advantage, and was gunning for a first career win and a Championship 4 berth. the 17’s time out front would be short-lived though, as contact from Eckes gave the 19 the top spot again and ultimately the victory.
Gray was none too happy with how he was raced after the fact, and marched to victory lane to confront Eckes. While the conversation never turned physical, it showed the best of high-stakes Playoff drama and short track emotions.
Allgaier Claims First Title in Dramatic Fashion
In similar fashion to Earnhardt’s comeback drive at Bristol, Justin Allgaier overcame years worth of turmoil in the Xfinity Series finale. The Championship 4 contender’s weekend got off to a rough start in practice, wrecking his primary car and forcing his team to prepare a backup car. Coincidentally enough, their backup car was the very same Chevrolet that Earnhardt ran at Bristol.
Once the race began at Phoenix, Allgaier was a man on a mission. Starting in the rear, the No. 7 found the top-five with relative ease. A cut tire late in Stage 2 forced a loss of track position on pit road though. The next restart also saw Allgaier penalized for pulling out of line too early. He then proceeded to speed on pit road serving this penalty. Nearly two laps down, all hope appeared lost for Allgaier. Team 7 had no quit in them though, fighting and clawing their way back into contention.
Allgaier made what would have been the championship-winning pass with six laps left, only for a late caution to force overtime. A bad pit exit put the 7 behind his title rivals on the restart. The right hole opened up and allowed Allgaier to regain lost ground yet again. Another overtime yellow gave everyone one more shot at Allgaier, but second on-track was enough for Allgaier to finally claim an elusive NASCAR Championship.
2024 was a season full of weekly highlights across every division of NASCAR. Be sure to stay tuned for the NASCAR Cup Series moments list as well. All of us at TSJ Sports hopes everyone reading this had a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday season. We are eagerly gearing up for the new racing season that draws closer each day.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credits to: Meg Oliphant, James Gilbert, and Justin Casterline/Getty Images
