The Official 2024 NASCAR Playoffs Discussion Thread

[Tommy Bedlam]

Hamlin said on his podcast that everything is ironed out with Toyota. In theory, that means he’s back with JGR, and 23XI looks the same next year. But I’m not updating my free agent sheet until something official comes out. They already got me on this once lol

 

[Hidden Blaze]

Hamlin said on his podcast that everything is ironed out with Toyota. In theory, that means he’s back with JGR, and 23XI looks the same next year. But I’m not updating my free agent sheet until something official comes out. They already got me on this once lol

Well they already said he's back with JGR, that got made official already, so you can update that. The tweet is a few post up, I think right above where I asked about your head to head matches haha. But yeah, that would have to mean that 23XI is still with them also.

 

[Tommy Bedlam]

Ahh. I'm so behind lately. Started college, and got the green light to work ahead, so I've knocked out 2 8-week courses in the last 14 days lol. I'll update it now. Yes, Hamlin resigning with Gibbs means 23XI is locked into Toyota.

 

[Tommy Bedlam]

Another update to the Silly Season chart to reflect the Hamlin news and some rumors that are floating around.

#1: Ross Chastain-Signed through 2025
#2: Austin Cindric-No contract details available, but no indication that he won’t be with Penske
#3: Austin Dillon-No contract details available, but reports say he signed a multi-year extension…and his grandpa owns the team.
#4: Josh Berry-Just announced that he’s replacing Harvick. Haven’t seen contract details
#5: Kyle Larson-Signed through 2026
#6: Brad Keselowski-No contract details, but he owns part of the team.
#7: Corey LaJoie-Signed multi-year extension to stay at Spire.
#8: Kyle Busch-No contract details available, but no reason to think he’s going anywhere.
#9: Chase Elliot-Signed through 2027
#10: Aric Almirola-Still waiting to see what he's going to do. Turns out, he has a driver option for next season. SHR put him on a 30-60 day deadline to tell them if he's staying or going, but I'm not entirely sure how they can enforce it.
#11: Denny Hamlin-Now it's official. Hamlin is staying put. 23XI is staying with Toyota.
#12: Ryan Blaney-Conflicting information out there on this one. Some sources say his contract is up after this year, while others have it ending after 2024 and even 2025. Doubtful that he leaves Penske, and even harder to guess since we don’t know his contract details.
#14: Chase Briscoe-No contract details available. Jayski has his deal running through 2026, while Sportrac says it ends after this season.
#16: AJ Allmendinger-No details available, but it’s expected that Dinger returns to the 16 next season.
#17: Chris Buescher-Signed a multiyear deal in 2022, and it’s expected that he’ll be back next season. Fastenal, the primary sponsor, is signed through 2024. Has some good results this year. Some reports also said that Keselowski bought into the team because he really believed in Buescher, making it even less likely that he's gone. ***Update: This guy can friggin drive, and isn't going anywhere!****
#19: Martin Truex Jr.-Returning to JGR next year. Says he's only doing 1-year deals.
#20: Christopher Bell-No contract details available.
#21: Harrison Burton-Somehow, he’s sticking around next year. The only full time driver he’s ahead of in points is Ty Dillon. 31st overall, but he’s locked in for next year.
#22: Joey Logano-Signed through 2025
#23: Bubba Wallace-He’s either signed through 2024 or 2025.
#24: William Byron-Signed through 2025
#31: Justin Haley-Leaving to join the RWR 51 car.
#34: Michael McDowell-FRM picked up his option, so he's back next season.
#38: Todd Gilliland-Same as McDowell
#41: Ryan Preece-Free agent after this season. Apparently, SHR planned on possibly losing everyone after this season, and with their results…who could blame them?
#42: John Hunter Nemechek officially in on a multi-year deal. The Hamlin news made this the worst kept secret this side of Josh Berry to the 4.
#43: Erik Jones-Believed to be signed through 2024 after signing a multi-year deal in 2022.
#45: Tyler Reddick-Believed to be signed through 2024 after joining 23XI this season.
#47: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.-Signed a multi-year extension in 2023.
#48: Alex Bowman-Signed through 2026
#51: Cody Ware (and some other people since he’s been suspended)-Replaced by Justin Haley
#54: Ty Gibbs-No contract details available, but his grandpa owns the team.
#77: Ty Dillon-Free agent after this season. Worth noting that Spire is an affiliate of RCR…so Grandpa probably has a lot of say in whether Ty comes back.
#78: This charter has been sold to Spire Motorsports in conjunction with their alliance with Trackhouse. Zane Smith has been named as the driver for one of the cars, so I'm penciling him into this slot. I'm sure numbers will update soon.
#99: Daniel Suarez-Signed through 2025


Reports are swirling that there's more changes coming to SHR. At this point, we're not sure if it's on the Cup, Xfinity, or both. I would assume both, as there's gonna be some driver shuffling going on.

The 31 car is expected to have an announcement "soon." Who knows what that means? All signs indicate that it's not going to be SVG. There's also some rumbling that there could be changes coming to the 16 and the 31.

 

[Tommy Bedlam]

Harrison Burton will return to the 21 car next year. Apparently they couldn’t find anyone else with two legs who could sit upright for the duration of a race.

 

[Tommy Bedlam]

Oh, updated the last silly season list accordingly. I’m mind blown on this one folks. Wood Brothers is a Penske affiliate. It truly amazes me that Penske signed off on this.

 

[Hidden Blaze]

Tbh. I don’t think anyone can really do much in that car. Ryan Blaney got a win back when he drove it. Matty D came close like, a few times but that was mostly on Plate tracks. It might be a Penske affiliate, but I don’t think it’s up to par with the other Penske cars. Which is a shame as I really wanna see Harrison do good.

 

[Tommy Bedlam]

Watching RaceHub. JHN officially to the 42 next season.

 

[Hidden Blaze]

If I was him I would’ve stayed in the JGR xfinity car personally

 

[Tommy Bedlam]

Tbh. I don’t think anyone can really do much in that car. Ryan Blaney got a win back when he drove it. Matty D came close like, a few times but that was mostly on Plate tracks. It might be a Penske affiliate, but I don’t think it’s up to par with the other Penske cars. Which is a shame as I really wanna see Harrison do good.

Oh Blaney was the best that car has looked in forever. But DiBennedeto at least had them as a fringe/barely out playoff team. Harrison struggled as a rookie, ok, that’s acceptable. But he managed to get significantly worse this year. No, they don’t have “Penske Power” but these cars are also much more uniform than they used to be, putting more onus on the drivers. Harrison just isn’t that good. I have nothing against him, he’s just a guy who took a job. But after how unfairly I think WBR treated Matty D, I’m glad they suck. They left him flapping in the breeze for 75% of his final season, and didn’t officially tell him he was out until most other open rides were taken. It was shit. So I hope they suck forever lol.

On a related note, more and more sources are pointing towards DiBennedeto to the 31 next year. Nothing official tho.

 

[Tommy Bedlam]

If I was him I would’ve stayed in the JGR xfinity car personally

Eh, this is Toyota prepping him to replace MTJ or Hamlin in a year or two. Get him in the next gen car and let him turn laps.

 

[Doom]

Watching RaceHub. JHN officially to the 42 next season.

Good luck to John Hunter on his way back to the Cup Series full-time.

 

[Hidden Blaze]

Eh, this is Toyota prepping him to replace MTJ or Hamlin in a year or two. Get him in the next gen car and let him turn laps.

Yeah I guess that’s true. I just hope he is able to do something with the car, so fans aren’t ready to throw him to the way side if he doesn’t perform well.

 

[Tommy Bedlam]

Hocevar showed that that car can be a top 20-25 machine after finishing 17th in it. JHN will also have a bit more leeway because I think most people know, he is just in it until Gibbs has a spot for him. But I mean, if he goes from 27th to 31st in points between years 1 and 2, barely ahead of Ty Dillon, I think people will become uneasy. But overall, his future is locked in.

 

[Tommy Bedlam]

So, I had missed this, but some interesting potential news. Allmendinger was on Sirius XM Friday morning and said, "Kaulig is trying to strengthen the organization. I'll do whatever they want me to do" and also said that there was a "good chance" that he's back in the 16 next season but that there's also a "good chance" that he's back in Xfinity. Apparently he also said that if it were up to him, he'd probably rather race Xfinity than Cup. So we may have 2 open rides at Kaulig next year, with Daniel Hemric and....Ty fucking Dillon as two names being thrown around to replace Dinger.