This article is part of our NASCAR Barometer series.
Mother nature forced the teams and drivers of the NASCAR Cup Series to wait one day longer than expected to get the 2024 season underway when rain washed out Sunday's scheduled events at Daytona International Speedway. When the green flag waved Monday afternoon for the Daytona 500, it didn't take long for the crashes the track is known for to bite. Lap 5 saw the first incident, taking out a few contenders, while two other multi-car crashes affected much of the field later in the running. The biggest crash of the race came on lap 192 with 15 cars involved, setting up a four-lap sprint to the finish. Hendrick Motorsports teammates lined up to challenge the other contenders. At the white flag, one final caution ended the racing with William Byron heading a Hendrick one-two finish in the season's biggest race. The win was the first Daytona 500 triumph for Byron and the ninth for the Hendrick organization, tying them with Petty Enterprises for the most in history.
While Byron and team celebrate, the series moves onward to Atlanta Motor Speedway for the second superspeedway race in as many weeks. Byron won at the track last fall, while Joey Logano was the one that took the checkered flag in the spring. The coming week's race is likely to resemble what fantasy players saw at Daytona. The track's high banks and smooth surface has created pack-style racing in recent seasons, and Sunday's victory promises to be another closely fought battle for
Mother nature forced the teams and drivers of the NASCAR Cup Series to wait one day longer than expected to get the 2024 season underway when rain washed out Sunday's scheduled events at Daytona International Speedway. When the green flag waved Monday afternoon for the Daytona 500, it didn't take long for the crashes the track is known for to bite. Lap 5 saw the first incident, taking out a few contenders, while two other multi-car crashes affected much of the field later in the running. The biggest crash of the race came on lap 192 with 15 cars involved, setting up a four-lap sprint to the finish. Hendrick Motorsports teammates lined up to challenge the other contenders. At the white flag, one final caution ended the racing with William Byron heading a Hendrick one-two finish in the season's biggest race. The win was the first Daytona 500 triumph for Byron and the ninth for the Hendrick organization, tying them with Petty Enterprises for the most in history.
While Byron and team celebrate, the series moves onward to Atlanta Motor Speedway for the second superspeedway race in as many weeks. Byron won at the track last fall, while Joey Logano was the one that took the checkered flag in the spring. The coming week's race is likely to resemble what fantasy players saw at Daytona. The track's high banks and smooth surface has created pack-style racing in recent seasons, and Sunday's victory promises to be another closely fought battle for supremacy.
UPGRADE
William Byron - Byron delivered Hendrick Motorsports a racing anniversary gift with his first Dayton 500 win Monday evening, becoming the sixth driver to win the famous race for the organization. Leading just the final four laps, Byron was able to avoid major damage in multiple incidents to race at the front with a shot at the win in the final miles. Paired up with teammate Alex Bowman, the two Chevrolet drivers made it to the front of the pack to battle for the win, when contact just behind brought out the final caution of the race. Since Byron had taken the white flag before the caution was released, he won the race. The win gives Byron, one of last year's final four contenders, an early leg up on the competition as everyone's focus shifts toward securing spot in the playoffs and a run at the championship. Byron and his No. 24 team have the rest of the season to prepare.
Alex Bowman- A 20th-place finish in the championship standings in 2023 meant Bowman and team would be entering the new season looking for a big turnaround. They took their first step toward that Monday night. Bowman grabbed stage points in the opening segment and then went on to race Byron for the win. In the end, Bowman came up just a few meters short, but the second-place finish was his best in a points race since the 2022 season. Bowman dealt with a number of challenges in 2023 that are hopefully fully behind him now, which should clear the path for a return to form, and potentially the playoffs, this season. Looking ahead, his best Atlanta finish last season was 14th in the spring race. He has three top-10s from 11 career starts at the track, and will be aiming to build on his promising result at Daytona to join teammate Byron with a 2024 victory.
Chase Elliott - Elliott scored his second Daytona 500 stage win in a fuel-strategy opening segment Monday evening. The Hendrick Motorsports driver spent the stage working with his teammates to grab command of the race to settle the stage amongst themselves. While the car had speed, Elliott spent much of the rest of the race in traffic, unable to connect with teammates at the front to race for the win. However, Elliott did well to keep out of major trouble and finish the race 14th. In total, he led 13 laps, too. Monday's small success should give the former champion a boost after a difficult season in 2023. The team's goal this year is to win races, make the playoffs, and race for another championship. Monday's stage win and a decent race finish was a good first step toward those goals. Elliott won at Atlanta in 2022 and started from pole in three of the last six races at the track.
Ryan Blaney - The second stage in Monday's Daytona 500 was a drafting duel, and Team Penske's Blaney pushed teammate Austin Cindric to the front to challenge leader Kyle Busch. After that push, Blaney then snuck to the inside of his teammate on the final lap to capture the stage win with Penske cars taking the top two spots. All the Penske Fords appeared capable of winning Monday's race, but as often happens with superspeedway racing, crashes interfered with that potential. While going for the top spot late in the running, the No. 12 was caught in yet another crash that knocked him out of the competition. While Blaney is one of the better drivers in the draft, luck isn't always on his side, and that was the case again Monday. For the coming week, Blaney won at Atlanta in 2021 and has only finished lower than ninth once in the last seven races at the track.
Corey Lajoie - It bears repeating, Lajoie should be on fantasy managers' lists whenever the series visits Daytona. Again, Lajoie successfully navigated the perils throughout the race's 500-mile distance and was among the top 10 contenders in the final miles. He has a knack for survival at this track and continuing that trend will give him chances of winning his first race in the series. Monday night, Lajoie finished fourth despite starting 29th and not scoring any stage points. He found his way to the front when the awards were ready to be distributed, though. He had a decent 2023 season with two top-five and three top-10 finishes, and he now heads to the second race of this new season with one top-five already in hand. Similar to Daytona, Lajoie also offers upside potential at Atlanta. He has two top-fives from the last four races there and will be riding high after Monday's top finish.
DOWNGRADE
Michael McDowell - The Daytona 500 race week started well for Front Row Motorsports and McDowell when they put their Ford on the front row for the big race. McDowell won it in 2021 and has a history of finishing up the order at Daytona. Wednesday's qualifying and that past success was reason for optimism about their chances Monday night, but circumstances didn't cooperate. McDowell was slow on his first pit stop after needing more fuel than the rest of his drafting partners, leaving him languishing behind the pack and hoping to pick up whatever positions may be possible. When the checkered flag waved, McDowell was in 36th position and 24 laps behind the leaders. While Monday was a disappointment, there is still reason for optimism. McDowell won a race in 2024 and has another chance at Atlanta's superspeedway this week where he finished fourth last fall.
Tyler Reddick - Another driver that showed promise through the qualifying races that didn't translate to success on Monday was Reddick. After finishing sixth in the championship in 2023 and then winning his qualifying duel on Thursday, Reddick was set up for a successful 500. Bad luck bit when he was one of 15 cars involved in "the big one" on lap 192. That was the end of Reddick's night. His 29th-place finish was not all bad, though. He picked up stage points in the second segment and will head to Atlanta 23rd in the championship standings. While Daytona was a disappointment, Reddick will be expected to turn things around quickly for this long season. He finished fifth in the spring race at Atlanta last season, and fantasy players should expect him to have more top-10 potential again this week despite Daytona's bad luck.
Harrison Burton - Last season was a disappointment from Burton, who finished 31st in the standings with only two top-10 finishes to boast. Those woes continued in Monday's Daytona 500 when he was one of the first drivers to exit the race in a crash on lap 5. He barely had a chance to break a sweat with a car that showed the potential for at least a top-10 finish. Earlier in the week, he finished fifth in his qualifying duel, which should have been a dose of optimism for a better start to 2024. Instead, Burton got a head start leaving Daytona to head to the coming week's race at Atlanta. Burton started fifth at that track in the fall race last year and has one top-10 finish from four tries. The Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 machine should be capable of more than it has shown recently, and it is on Burton's shoulders to take what the car will give him. Just doing that should move him up the standings, but he'll need some better luck than he had Monday, too.
Austin Dillon - Being a former Daytona 500 champion, Dillon certainly looks forward to a new season starting at the famous track. His optimism lasted less than 10 laps Monday afternoon, though. Dillon was one of the unfortunate drivers caught up in a typical superspeedway accident through no fault of his own. The damage, occurring early in the race, made for a long afternoon of underperformance with a less than perfect car. He returned to the race after making repairs, hoping to continue picking up places as others dropped out. By the end, Dillon was 54 laps down in the 37th position. The good news for a driver like Dillon is that the coming week's race is another draft-heavy superspeedway. However, with finishes of 20th and 21st there in the two races last season, he may still be looking for a turnaround to get 2024 back on the rails quickly.
BIGGEST SURPRISE
John Hunter Nemechek - Despite being involved in the first crash of Monday's Daytona 500, Nemechek persevered and scored a seventh-place finish in the first race of his full-time return to the NASCAR Cup Series. He was highest placed driver for Legacy Motor Club and an example of never giving up. The team made quick repairs after the lap 5 incident and Nemechek then avoided the race's other crashes on his way to the finish. In the end, he started and finished in the top 10, which is an excellent start for the No. 42 team that is continuing to improve and climb higher in the standings each season. Nemechek has shown the talent necessary for success at this level, and it appears as though his equipment is capable of some top results this season, too. Fantasy players should keep Nemechek on the radar to see what other results he will deliver early in 2024.
