Cameron Bebeau

Originally Published at: https://www.fsuthevoice.com/rookies-are-the-new-veterans-an-early-look-at-the-nascar-season/

As of writing, the NASCAR Cup Series has completed three races this season with varying results. The fourth will be contested on March 9, in the deserts of Arizona, at Phoenix Raceway. 

This short, one-mile-long flat oval will be a great equalizer, namely because it follows a slate of drastically different races – two superspeedway races at Daytona and Atlanta, followed up by a road course race at Circuit of the Americas. Phoenix is more of a traditional NASCAR track, and many are eager to see who will master the next hurdle in the early season standings. 

William Byron currently sits atop the standings after a second consecutive Championship 4 appearance in 2024, solidifying his status as the new face of Hendrick Motorsports. He made a powerful statement in February by winning his second consecutive Daytona 500 – a feat achieved by only five other drivers in NASCAR history. The 27-year-old is entering his eighth full-time season and is poised to contend for the championship yet again, with hopes of becoming the first driver to ever complete the three-for-three. The three-for-three reflects winning Rookie of the Year, along with the championship in all three of national touring series. To date, no driver has ever accomplished this. 

Fellow 2024 championship competitors, Ryan Blaney and Tyler Reddick, join Byron in second and third place, respectively. Both drivers’ 2024 campaigns saw various new personal bests in categories like win totals, average finishes and top ten finishes. 

Aside from the usual juggernauts, there have been a few surprises. Michael McDowell, driving the #71 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports, is currently sitting in 8th place in the points standings, outperforming the 2024 champion Joey Logano (12th), 2021 champion Kyle Larson (16th), and both teammates Carson Hocevar and Justin Haley, who sit in 14th and 23rd respectively.  

Another surprise is Bubba Wallace, driving the #23 Toyota for Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing. Wallace currently sits in sixth place and even won his duel race for Daytona qualifying earlier this year. Wallace has consistently been an underperformer when compared to his teammate, Reddick, but the progression that team has shown is a positive sign, especially as the organization expands to three full-time teams in 2025. 

Historically, NASCAR would race at Daytona and immediately follow it with traditional NASCAR tracks. Because of this, smaller operations such as Spire Motorsports would fall out of the top 20 much faster, as that “great equalizer” race was held much earlier. Now, it’s possible to see underdogs persist in the first three, four, or even five races of the season.  

The next four races after Phoenix will be diverse: Las Vegas and Homestead-Miami (both 1.5-mile tri-oval tracks), followed by Martinsville (0.533-mile paperclip) and Darlington (1.366-mile egg-shaped oval) are all very different tracks that test different strengths and weaknesses of drivers. We’ll likely see some shakeup headed into the one-quarter mark of the 36 race-long season. 

Photo courtesy of Frank Albrecht on Unsplash.

Originally Published at: https://www.fsuthevoice.com/rookies-are-the-new-veterans-an-early-look-at-the-nascar-season/