The Official 2024 NASCAR Playoffs Discussion Thread

[Tommy Bedlam]

I’m legit pumped for this kid. Doesn’t hurt that he’s gonna be aligned with Trackhouse for me either. I thought he’d land the JRM Xfinity ride.

 

[Doom]

I'm so happy for Carson piloting the 77 car for Spire Motorsports. He's exciting to watch.

 

[Bobby Barrows]

Good for Hocevar, hopefully he can capitalize further on the new contract and win some races for his team.

 

[Tommy Bedlam]

Fun little piece of information. If we were still under the good ol' days of the Winston Cup points system, Chris Beuscher would be leading the points right now.

 

[Bobby Barrows]

Fun little piece of information. If we were still under the good ol' days of the Winston Cup points system, Chris Beuscher would be leading the points right now.

Honestly what's wild is that it's not like the points system would be incompatible with the current setup of NASCAR either. Especially with the stage points too. We'll never see those days again, but I feel like things would be a lot more interesting if NASCAR finally took away the restrictor plates, since safety is at an all time high.

 

[Hidden Blaze]

Fun little piece of information. If we were still under the good ol' days of the Winston Cup points system, Chris Beuscher would be leading the points right now.

I’ve seen two different ones. Which is weird like Denny on both I seen has the same amount of points, so clearly both these people are using the same point scale for it, but he only has a 9 point lead over Chris, instead of Chris being 1 above. But yeah here’s one I seen



I seen the one you mentioned on YouTube by The Iceberg. Either way whichever one you go by, we’re having an amazing battle!

 

[Tommy Bedlam]

HAHA! Yep; the guy who I heard that from cited a YouTube video, so I'm sure it was that one.

 

[Tommy Bedlam]

More Xfinity Silly Season news. Sheldon Creed is out at RCR. So now he's a free agent (Kaulig needs to call him yesterday), and the RCR Xfinity entry is vacant.

 

[Tommy Bedlam]

*an RCR car is vacant.

 

[Stellar]

Not surprised about Sheldon Creed.... A bummer that he struggled a lot this year. Yeah, surely Kaulig is trying to get him. Id like to see Allmendinger stay in the cup series. Sure, he could get a lot of wins in the xfinity series but he is a cup series driver who races for a team that needs all of the experienced help that they can get.

 

[Tommy Bedlam]

FWIW, there are some rumblings this morning concerning the 2 car. Ty Dillon, Childress' grandson, is currently on the outside looking in when it comes to a job, having lost his ride at Spire to Hocevar. Since RCR already has one under-performing grandson driving in the Cup Series, it's entirely possible that the other one lands in the Xfinity Series, but nothing official yet.

 

[Tommy Bedlam]

Updated the Cup Series Silly Season. I had missed the Ryan Preece news completely and hadn't gotten some other updates in.

#1: Ross Chastain-Signed through 2025
#2: Austin Cindric-No contract details available, but it's confirmed that he will be back in this car next season.
#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 which is now an affiliate of Trackhouse.
#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-Not expected to return next season; no replacement has been named, though.
#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.
#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-Free agent after this season. Underperformed last year and is statistically worse this year. All of that is still true, but somehow (sponsorship), this kid gets a third year to drive terribly.
#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. Daniel Hemric will be in this car next season.
#34: Michael McDowell-FRM picked up his option, so he's back next season.
#38: Todd Gilliland-Same as McDowell
#41: Ryan Preece-Confirmed on 9/26 that he would be returning to the 41 next season.
#42: Noah Gragson-Replaced by John Hunter Nemechek with the team's switch to Toyota.
#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-Replaced by Carson Hocevar. Also, this car is now an affiliate of Trackhouse racing.
#78: BJ McLeod (with Josh Bilicki and Anthony Alfredo)-This team has sold its charter to Spire (Trackhouse affiliate). Still unclear on who is driving this car. Zane Smith will be driving this car after signing with Trackhouse. Car number TBD.
#99: Daniel Suarez-Signed through 2025

Rumors:
Some speculation that Noah Gragson could be replacing Aric Almirola in the 10 next season, but that's not been confirmed. After missing out on everyone they really wanted, it does seem possible.

 

[Tommy Bedlam]

bell on the pole for tomorrow. Josh berry for today. I’m out of town, so I’ll be following along through the app as much as possible.

 

[Bobby Barrows]

I'm betting Algaier is gonna win today.

 

[Hidden Blaze]

Getting me some food. Might be a few minutes late