NASCAR
2024’s Most Dramatic, Memorable, and Unique Moments from the NASCAR Cup Series
Photo finishes, upset winners, and near-weekly drama defined the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season. 38 weeks of racing action are now in the history books, with 2025 inching ever closer by the day. In the final stretch of this calendar year, here’s a look back on the highlights from this season in stock car racing’s premier level.
Hendrick 1-2-3 in Anniversary Race
2024 was a milestone year all around for Hendrick Motorsports. NASCAR’s all-time winningest team celebrated their 40th anniversary all year long, kicking off this achievement with a huge win. William Byron led a HMS 1-2 sweep in the Daytona 500, but would also carry their banner seven weeks later.
On the anniversary of Rick Hendrick’s first win at Martinsville Speedway, his four ruby red cars were unstoppable in April. Byron, Kyle Larson, and Chase Elliott all paced the field in a 1-2-3 outing, with Alex Bowman not far behind in eighth. The HMS fab four led over half of the laps that day in Virginia, giving the Hall of Fame owner his record 29th victory at ‘The Paperclip.’
Larson Conquers Indianapolis
From one Hendrick highlight to another, July saw the celebrated return of the Brickyard 400. 2024 marked 30 years since the first foray for stock cars around the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In overtime, a driver who was the center of attention around May’s Indy 500 took home a career-defining win. Kyle Larson earned another crown jewel triumph, only months after being awarded Indy 500 Rookie of the Year.
Memorial Day Sunday for Larson may have been a literal washout (more on that later), but he eventually stood tall in the McLaren/HendrickCars colors. Larson now owns wins in the All-Star Race, Coke 600, Southern 500, and Brickyard 400. He only lacks an elusive Daytona 500 trophy to complete a career Grand Slam.
Elliott Honors Kulwicki
Any Chase Elliott win is a fan-favorite moment, but his lone 2024 victory carried with it extra meaning. At Texas Motor Speedway in April, Elliott took command late with his Hooters Chevrolet. This marked the first NASCAR win for the restaurant chain since Alan Kulwicki’s final win in 1992. The Hall of Famer beat Chase Elliott’s father, Bill, in that year’s well-documented title fight. Chase was beside himself to join Kulwicki in this fashion and return his sponsor to winning glory. The No. 9 did a Polish Victory Lap that day, honoring fans with Kulwicki’s trademark celebration.
Aside from the Kulwicki connections, this win also broke a 42-race losing streak for Elliott. 2023 was the first year for Elliott without a victory since 2017, largely marred by his early-season leg injury. The 9 team rallied back to prominence in 2024, however. The Hendrick crew was a threat deep into the Round of 8 and showed peak performance across multiple Playoff races. Come 2025, Elliott should be a weekly threat once again.
Briscoe Breaks Through at Darlington
Moving the beloved Labor Day Classic Southern 500 to the regular season finale date did bring some angst. Few thought that Darlington could deliver an eleventh hour Playoff upset win, but Chase Briscoe proved those doubters wrong. Amidst the waning weeks of Stewart-Haas Racing’s existence, their flagship No. 14 was in the winner’s circle on NASCAR’s toughest track. In shades of his 2020 Xfinity Series victory here, Briscoe held off Kyle Busch for a season-defining triumph.
Stewart-Haas Racing was awarded one final moment in the spotlight and a last title run. Briscoe’s 14 team did survive past the opening round eliminations. A flat tire in the Charlotte Roval elimination race, however, did seal their fate with a second-round exit. The two-time Cup Series winner now makes perhaps the biggest 2025 silly season move, heading to Joe Gibbs Racing to fill Martin Truex Jr.’s vacancy. The Indiana native will always be remembered though as SHR’s last Cup Series winner.
Soggy Memorial Day Weekend
Perhaps the biggest anticipation and letdown of 2024 were only a few hours apart. Memorial Day Sunday began with Kyle Larson’s maiden Indianapolis 500 run in a McLaren. This promising effort was postponed by a rain delay, and further derailed by a pit road speeding penalty. Fresh off an 18th place run at Indy, Larson was rushed to Charlotte for the Coca-Cola 600.
Upon Larson’s arrival midway into Stage 2 though, the same storm that plagued Indy rolled into Charlotte. Following hours of track drying, the race was called after 249 laps. This handed the win to Christopher Bell, and left Larson without a single lap turned in ‘The Double’ attempt. Between a rain-shortened race and Larson’s daredevil quest falling apart, many felt let down by these events.
Larson was later granted a Playoff eligibility waiver for missing the 600. He will try to run back this effort in 2025, hoping for better outcomes in each crown jewel race.
Rain Turns New Hampshire Wet and Wild
While rain may have dampened Charlotte’s show, the opposite happened at New Hampshire. The final stretch of this race saw very wet track conditions. This proved to be the most dramatic test yet for Goodyear’s wet weather racing tires. The visual of Cup cars racing on a damp oval under control is a pivotal moment that won’t be soon forgotten. The Magic Mile proved to be spellbinding in NASCAR’s wet weather racing evolution.
Christopher Bell grabbed the victory here as well, further cementing team 20 as title contenders. This capped off a weekend sweep for Bell in Loudon, only adding onto his unreal numbers there.
Atlanta Photo Finish
All the way back in February, race two of the young season from Atlanta set a very high bar for the rest of 2024. Coming to the checkers three-wide, Daniel Suarez just edged ahead of Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch in one of the closest finishes ever. This highlight reel moment marked the fourth-closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history, putting Daniel Suarez into his second Playoffs.
Atlanta certainly earned its keep as the first race after the Daytona 500. The quasi-superspeedway racing product on a tighter track has resulted in some of the best finishes in recent years. It will be fun to see if next February’s Atlanta date can live up to this hype.
All-Star Race Brawl
May’s All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway was another viral moment, for what happened after the checkers. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was wrecked out by Kyle Busch on lap two, and proceeded to wait for a post-race discussion. This prolonged pause was helped by North Wilkesboro not having any tunnel, trapping Stenhouse in the infield for two hours.
Both Busch’s and Stenhouse’s haulers were coincidentally parked next to each other, meaning a confrontation was imminent. Words exchanged quickly turned to a punch thrown by driver 47. Before Busch or anyone else could react, crew members from both teams were involved in the madness.
Fallout from this fight saw Ricky Stenhouse Jr. fined $75,000, as well as brief suspensions for his father and two crew members. The punch heard around the NASCAR world went super viral for several cameras (including yours truly) being right there capturing the high emotions.
Burton Shakes Up Playoffs
Kyle Busch was equally disappointed after losing the lead in overtime at Daytona. The August race was chaotic to say the least, seeing Michael McDowell and Josh Berry both have separate airborne crashes. With a very depleted field remaining, Busch’s No. 8 Chevrolet held the lead for a two-lap dash to the checkers. On the last lap, however, momentum ran out behind Busch, allowing Parker Retzlaff to push Harrison Burton clear of the 8.
The free agent driver gave the 2024 Playoffs their biggest shock entry by winning Daytona. Burton went from 34th in points to a top-16 lock with his maiden Cup triumph. This victory also marked number 100 for Wood Brothers Racing, NASCAR’s oldest active team. Burton learned a lot from being a part of the 16-man title hunt, but ultimately was a Round of 16 exit. Burton moves back down to Xfinity competition for 2025, taking over the AM Racing No. 15 Ford. The iconic No. 21 will meanwhile be driven by Josh Berry for the foreseeable future.
The pair of back-to-back runner-up results at Daytona and Darlington were also the closest Kyle Busch got to winning in 2024. This was the first winless season in his legendary Cup career, ending a record 19-year run of finding victory lane.
Tempers Flare at Richmond
A Sunday night throwdown at Richmond Raceway had all the pieces for an instant classic NASCAR race, until a line was crossed. Taking the lead away from Denny Hamlin inside the final 30 laps, Austin Dillon appeared to be having a career night. Dillon entered Richmond outside of the top-30 in points, and was swinging for the fences in a Hail Mary for a Playoff berth. Dillon had to this point put together arguably his most impressive run yet in Cup.
Following a late caution, however, Dillon was quickly passed on an overtime restart. Joey Logano gained position on the 3, until turn three on the last lap. Dillon moved Logano for the top spot, rifling his way off into the corner at the 22’s expense. Denny Hamlin briefly took the lead in this exchange, until the 11 was right-rear hooked into the turn four wall by Dillon. After wrecking two of the sport’s most controversial figures, Dillon appeared to be the big winner under the lights.
After days of carefully investigating data, communication, and footage, NASCAR stripped Dillon of his Playoff eligibility. Race control made the hardline stance that wrecking multiple people for a win is a step too far over any competitive code of conduct. Dillon did not win a subsequent appeal, and only had two more top-10s for the remainder of 2024.
Martinsville Madness, Walk-Off for the Ages
For well over a decade, Martinsville’s fall Playoff race has thrived on delivering Playoff and season-defining highs and lows. 2024 continued this trend, with simultaneous positives and negatives unfolding on track. This drama would continue to play out in an unprecedented call after the race as well.
Up front, Ryan Blaney put together one of the most clutch performances in recent Playoff memory. Having to win for a chance to defend his championship, the 12 passed the 9 of Chase Elliott with 15 laps to go and drove off to a finale berth.
Behind Blaney, meanwhile, several Chevrolets were running interference for William Byron. This blockade prevented the No. 24 from losing position and hold onto the last Championship 4 berth. Being relayed this information on the last lap, Christopher Bell overdrove turns three and four trying to make up ground. A premature acceleration saw Bell’s No. 20 go wide, performing a wall ride move through the corner.
Following almost 30 minutes of post-race scrutiny officials deemed Bell’s move illegal, removing him from the Championship 4. This gave the final berth to Byron, but other Chevrolet and Toyota teams were later penalized for race manipulation.
As a result, Martinsville saw both the highs and lows of 2024 NASCAR play out at the same time. A significantly softer tire compound produced immense falloff, leading to a much-improved short track product and an incredible walk-off win. Conversely, blatant collusion and cheating amongst manufacturers did sour this race in many people’s eyes.
Homestead Last-Lap Heroics
A week prior to Martinsville was perhaps the best finish of the Playoffs. On a late restart at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Tyler Reddick had just enough life left in his older tires for magic to happen. The No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota passed bossman Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney on the last lap for a maiden Championship 4 showing. Reddick planted his Toyota against the fence in turn three and never lifted, narrowly beating Blaney back to the line.
Reddick’s Homestead win capped off a career season that saw a Regular Season title and three victories. The lead changed hands multiple times over the final two laps between the 11, 12, and 45. All three drivers faced a must-win scenario for a shot at Phoenix, maxing out the Playoff pressure here. For some people, these hair-raising last few laps sealed Homestead as the best finish of the season.
Closest Cup Finish Ever
From one viral finish to another, the spring Kansas race lives on in history for breaking a 20-plus year record. The margin of victory from Kyle Larson to Chris Buescher was an astounding 0.001 second, the closest ever in Cup. Larson vs. Buescher was slightly closer than Kurt Busch vs. Ricky Craven at Darlington in 2003. The finish was so tight that multiple replay angles had to be used to determine the correct winner; timing and scoring initially had the incorrect result. After review, Larson’s splitter was just barely ahead of the 17.
The last lap saw Larson barrel off into turn three against the fence and never quit, making slight contact with Buescher coming to the line. Between this heartbreak and the next week at Darlington, team 17 had two seemingly guaranteed wins stripped away. Buescher missed out on the Playoffs by not winning in the regular season, with 0.001 second at Kansas ultimately keeping the RFK Racing driver out of title contention.
Across the Next Gen era’s duration, Kansas has become arguably the best track on the circuit with consistently thrilling races. 2025’s two dates in the Heartland will have a lot of drama to match.
Bristol Brings the Tire Falloff
Marking the first spring event on paved Bristol since 2020, March’s Food City 500 had everything one could ask for in a short track race. From the drop of the green flag, it became very evident that tires were falling off at an incredible, unprecedented rate. This led to a 500-lap chess match of attrition and rubber conservation that saw driver talent rise up.
By the closing laps, the three most experienced drivers in the field were up front. Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., and Brad Keselowski were duking it out for the gladiator sword trophy. Hamlin’s No. 11 finally passed Truex’s No. 19 inside the final 20 laps, saving just enough tire life for the end.
After this race, drivers were in near-unison praising the racing product they had just experienced. Goodyear was very apologetic for this apparent failure, saying that outside factors caused aggressive tire wear. If not for Bristol spring, then the softer tire would not have been more precise at Martinsville in the fall. The much-maligned Next Gen short track package is slowly turning a corner. This Bristol race proved to be an inflection point.
Logan-o Lucky?
Death, taxes, and even-year championship runs for Joey Logano seem to be three guarantees in life. Dating back to the first iteration of the elimination Playoff format in 2014, Joey Logano is 6-0 in making the finale every other year. 2024 was perhaps the most unconventional path to the summit for team 22, but the Penske crew took advantage of every chance they were afforded.
Logano’s lone regular season win already came with a bit of an asterisk in some people’s opinions. It took a record-tying five overtime finish at Nashville and competitors running out of gas for Logano to earn a victory. This was one of only eight top-10s for the 22 across the opening 26 weeks.
Logano entered the Playoffs largely as a championship afterthought. His worst statistical season at Team Penske led to many overlooking any title aspirations. Week one of course saw Logano seal a Round of 12 berth in Atlanta, and the weird championship path did anything but stop there.
When the checkers fell in the Round of 12 cut race at Charlotte, Logano was on the outside looking in. Following Alex Bowman’s disqualification for not meeting minimum weight, the 22 was reinserted into the elite eight. With new life and a second chance ahead, Logano made the most of this opportunity by stretching his fuel mileage to a clutch Las Vegas win. Because each of Logano’s past championship seasons saw him win the Round of 8 opener, many already began to think that the unlikeliest of championship stories was unfolding.
Thanks to three weeks’ worth of preparation, Logano was almost perfect in Phoenix. After starting second in the finale race, the 22 went on to lead over 100 laps, and earn a third career Cup title. Logano was just ahead of teammate Ryan Blaney at the end, leading to Team Penske’s first ever Cup title 1-2 result.
Logano is now only the tenth man in NASCAR history to earn at least three Cup Series titles. Where the Connecticut driver goes from here remains to be seen, but he is firmly established among the best and most clutch drivers of all time. Logano, 34, will likely continue to challenge record books for the next decade or more at NASCAR’s highest level.
Antitrust Lawsuit Looms Large
Although Atlanta Motor Speedway was the site of Playoff race one in 2024, this week saw off-track drama make rival headlines. NASCAR gave race teams an updated charter agreement on the Friday before race weekend, informing the 15 owners that they had mere hours to review and sign the 100-plus page document. Two race teams stood their ground and refused to give in: 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports.
Roughly a month later, both teams announced an antitrust lawsuit brought against the sanctioning body. Court proceedings and speculation have been a near-daily presence in the ensuing months. Federal judge Kenneth Bell is now presiding over the case. In 23XI and FRM’s corner is renowned sports attorney Jeffrey Kessler, who remains steadfast and optimistic amidst his quest for a competitive and fair business model.
The trial’s ongoing nature seemingly trumps any on-track moments or news from the 2024 season. NASCAR, the teams, and the industry as a whole are collectively wading into uncharted waters. The lawsuit’s many forthcoming twists and turns will likely be a developing story throughout the coming year that may cast a shadow on the NASCAR season.
Nine months and over 12,000 miles of racing led to a laundry list of weekly controversies, stories, and headlines. The new calendar year should bring countless opportunities for memorable moments. The countdown is on until racecars hit the track again for the 2025 Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credits to Sean Gardner, Jonathan Bachman, and James Gilbert/Getty Images
