Musings From the Weekend: The Ballad of IndyCar

Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...

The Daytona 500 and NASCAR's second division race were both rained out until Monday. At least that wasn't the worst thing to happen in Daytona this week. The snow did not stop the World Rally Championship. In fact, a drought ended in Sweden. Rain only slowed the Bathurst 12 Hour, as did the invitational entries. One driver is off to a start of a banner year already. Conor Daly rode the bench to his first victory since the 2013 GP3 feature race in Valencia. IndyCar made some news in Nashville, and that is where we start this week. 

The Ballad of IndyCar

The unexpected news this past week was IndyCar announcing its season finale in Nashville would move from a new downtown street course that would take the course to the other side of the Cumberland River to Nashville Superspeedway, the 1.333-mile oval in Lebanon, Tennessee.

Instead of racing down Broadway and pass the Bridgestone Arena, home of the Nashville Predators,, IndyCar will crown its champion about 40 minutes from downtown Nashville, at a circuit that previously hosted the series from 2001 to 2008. 

Reasons for the move were plenty. 

Street concerns with the construction of the new Tennessee Titans stadium. 

No guarantee from the NFL the Tennessee Titans would not have a home game over that weekend. 

Internal issues within the Music City Grand Prix organizers that saw music executive and long-time motorsports supporter Scott Borchetta take over control of the event after being a co-owner over the first three years. 

It was the perfect mixture of turmoil to spoil the party seven months before it was scheduled to take place. A solution was found, but it is the same old song for IndyCar. 

On the verge of something spectacular, it all collapsed on the series. Nashville was supposed to be the first season finale that was a true event in quite some time. The first three years of the Music City Grand Prix brought out a notable crowd and the race was snuggling into the Music City. The stadium construction was going to force some changes, but for IndyCar's sake, these would good changes. Having the race run on part of Broadway was a phenomenal snag. The famed street lined with bars, restaurants and constantly full of people would arguably be the most famous street IndyCar has ever raced on. The race would become even more ingrained in the city and could not be a greater example of bringing the race to the people. 

Instead, this season finale will head 40 minutes southeast of heart of the party, to a track that isn't really in the town of Lebanon, but rather is 20 minutes away from a town of around 38,000 people that is most famously home to Cumberland University, a school that's best claim to famous is being the loser in the most lopsided game in college football history (Georgia Tech beat Cumberland 222-0 on October 7, 1916), and it is the home of the Cracker Barrel headquarters (Who knew!?). 

However, things can be two things. It is devastatingly deflating for IndyCar to lose its downtown Nashville finale only seven months before it was supposed to take place, and less than a month before the 2024 season was about to commence. It is pleasantly uplifting the finale will still take place at Nashville Superspeedway and another oval was added to the IndyCar schedule. 

As has been pointed out by others, the issues with the downtown Nashville race is not on IndyCar the series. The independent race organizers were having their own issues that likely were deeper than the change of circuit. This was not someone within the Penske Entertainment-owned offices in Speedway, Indiana that dropped the ball, but boy does it feel like another failure at the goal line for a series that has a long list of failed high-profile events. 

It is quintessential IndyCar that the Nashville street race failed after it failed to race in Boston and failed to produce international races in Dubai and China and failed to return to Baltimore after three successful years but an event that was forced to take a pause due to Ohio State and Navy scheduled to play at the football stadium and with a promise an attempt to return in 2014. How did that work out? This is a series that thought it would have a grand finale in Las Vegas and that is remembered for all the wrong reasons. IndyCar couldn't even return to Richmond for a midseason race after it was cancelled during the pandemic. Austin was a one-and-done due the pandemic, and year two had a title sponsor for the race. 

Anytime the series dreams big, it cannot pull it off. It doesn't have the power to win an arm wrestling match in a boardroom. Do you think Formula One would have an issue making sure the Tennessee Titans didn't have a home game if it wanted a mid-September race in Nashville? Puny IndyCar can be bullied around and tossed to the curb even when it is doing nothing wrong. 

On the flip side, IndyCar was able to keep a race in the area. This wasn't a case of a race disappearing and no replacement being found. Nashville Superspeedway isn't easy to get to, but it has brought out 40,000 people in each of its two seasons on the NASCAR Cup schedule. I don't know if IndyCar will be able to draw that but it could bring in 25,000 to 30,000 for a respectable showing, and IndyCar does have seven months to draw people to Nashville. It might not be downtown, but it could still be a chance to have concerts and make it a party atmosphere. If Newton, Iowa can draw Carrie Underwood and Ed Sheeran, Lebanon, Tennessee can pull a notable artist or two. 

There is also the unexpected conclusion to the season on an oval. After spending most of this offseason listen to people cry out in disgust after the loss of Texas Motor Speedway and the general lack of oval weekends in IndyCar over recent seasons, here is another oval! There will be five oval tracks on the 2024 season, in line with the total IndyCar has had since the introduction of the DW12 chassis, and there will be seven oval races this season, the most since 2011. Not to forget mentioning the season finale is on an oval for the first time since 2014. 

You can be reluctantly joyful about this outcome in Nashville because it is only a Band-Aid to a larger problem. The wound has been addressed but what persistent problems will linger for years to come? 

From the sounds of it, any return to downtown Nashville will not be likely until the new football stadium is complete. That is scheduled to open in 2027. However, Nashville Superspeedway might not be a long-term solution either. Boston was supposed to be a marquee Labor Day weekend race for IndyCar that couldn't get off the ground. It was quickly replaced with Watkins Glen, but that return to Central New York was only a two season filler. 

This alternate event also doesn't make up for the issues that already exist. It is another case of a promoter swindling IndyCar, and even if it isn't the series to blame for the race failing, it still looks bad on the series when another race falls to pieces within its first three to five years or never gets off the ground. Other then never trusting anyone and the series deciding it will be the only promoter of its races, I don't know how IndyCar can avoid these bad actors and do its best to protect its image. 

It is important to remember the race we are getting in the Nashville-area isn't a race anyone had plans to organize. 

The desperate contingent for oval races will take whatever it can get. As desperate as some of those souls at 2:00 a.m. on Broadway looking to take someone home, this oval-crazed cult will take even a bad option of an oval race. That is how low their standards are. It has been awhile since IndyCar raced at Nashville Superspeedway, and we may need to go back and watch the tape, but previous races at Nashville Superspeedway were not exciting affairs. This wasn't a track that was praised for great racing. There is a group that clearly doesn't care. 

We still have to get through this year. A new oval means a late add of oval testing to make sure the right tire compound and aerodynamic package is selected. These teams will need to squeeze at least one extra trip, if not two, down to Tennessee to pound around a concrete oval to get a feel for the circuit and make sure the series doesn't end its 2024 season with a flop. 

For all the excitement anyone is feeling for six of the final eight races taking place on ovals, it must be acknowledged this isn't close to being a sign of things to come for the future. Iowa is propped up by Hy-Vee. Gateway has done well, but the crowd is not as stunning as it was when it first return. This will be Milwaukee's first year back after nine away and that race struggled to draw people over its final years. 

There might be this great stretch of six oval races late in the season to decide the championship but it is six races at four tracks that aren't close to being stable events on the IndyCar schedule and any or all four could not continue into 2025. 

We must also acknowledge IndyCar may never run in downtown Nashville again. Things will be wildly different in three years. Nashville is an expanding city. Not only is a new stadium being built but apartments buildings and office buildings and hospitals. The mood will change. Come 2027, the desire for a street race could be completely gone. Unless it is Formula One. That is trendy, and a party guest worth hosting. 

For the moment, IndyCar has a Nashville-ish race. It is an oval and it will be the finale. There are positives to glean but one must accept the negatives that have led to this chain of events. It will exist for now. The future remains unwritten. 

This is the story of IndyCar. Right when you get excited, the carpet is pulled out from underneath the series. It is making the best of the hand it has been dealt, but it continues to flirt with going bust. 

Winners Fromt he Weekend

You know about the weather in Daytona, but did you know...

The #912 Manthey EMA Porsche of Matt Campbell, Laurens Vanthoor and Ayhancan Güven won the Bathurst 12 Hour.

Esapekka Lappi won Rally Sweden, his first victory since 2017 Rally Finland.

Nick Sanchez won the NASCAR Truck race from Daytona, his first career victory. 

Coming Up This Weekend

The World Superbike season begins at Phillip Island, the only round outside of Europe.

Supercars keeps Bathurst busy as it starts its season with a sprint round at Mount Panorama.

Supercross is back in Arlington. 

NASCAR has its second round of the season in Atlanta.

2024 IndyCar Team Preview: Dale Coyne Racing

Twenty-three days remain until the 2024 IndyCar season opener from St. Petersburg, and while we are almost within three weeks of the first race, there are still some open seats in IndyCar. Dale Coyne Racing will have two new drivers in 2024. David Malukas has moved to Arrow McLaren. Sting Ray Robb has moved to A.J. Foyt Racing. However, who those two drivers will be are still a mystery though this close to the first race.

At First Glance... Is this acceptable in 2024?

At time of writing, it is less than a month until the 2024 IndyCar season opener, IndyCar media day was over a month ago, and Dale Coyne Racing has still yet to announce any drivers for the upcoming season. 

It has long been a joke that Coyne waits until the last minute to announce its drivers, sometimes not confirming drivers until hours, maybe even minutes, before the first practice session of the season. But that has rarely been the case for Coyne in recent seasons. For the better part of the last decade, Coyne has had its drivers confirmed in timely fashion, most years before Christmas, a previously unthinkable time for the organization. This year has been a break from recent DCR trends, but should it have even gotten to this point? Should it even be allowed?

Considering the growing fervor for larger financial protections for team owners, including possible guaranteed starting spots in the Indianapolis 500, teams should make a greater effort to be a part of the series. Every team had a driver present at IndyCar media day last month... except Dale Coyne Racing. Every team had a driver the media could talk to and write about and gain greater insight during an already lengthy offseason with still two months until the first race... except Dale Coyne Racing. Every participant was there and participating... except Dale Coyne Racing.

This might be the Dale Coyne Racing way of old and something we cannot be surprised about, but in 2024, can IndyCar afford to have a team that is completely silent and disengaged from the moment one season ends until the next one begins? If these team owners view themselves as a sort of shareholder of the series and believes it is crucial they receive a greater financial reward to assure long-term stability in the series than they must do better than being anonymous for half the year and leave us all guessing who will be driving its cars until we get to the opening weekend. 

It is isn't 1998 anymore. Coyne isn't the small team blocked out by about a dozen bigger teams with tobacco sponsorships. There are ten teams in IndyCar. That's it, the same number as Formula One. IndyCar prides itself on open competition and any of these organizations, doesn't matter the size, can win a race. Coyne is an example of that, but in 2024 it must at least show an effort to be a part of the series. 

Every Formula One team is making noise in the offseason. We know just as much about Haas and Sauber at the back of the grid as we do Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari at the front. 

This might be the Coyne business model that has kept the team on the grid for 40 years, but there is a middle ground between this and being McLaren, Penske, Ganassi and Andretti. Coyne doesn't have to be over the top and flamboyant. It just needs to show some kind of pulse and not slide into hibernation. 

Dale Coyne's participation has been greatly appreciated, and he has made it through many different eras, some tougher to navigate than others, but IndyCar needs more active team owners. It needs organizations expanding the profile of the series and bringing new people into the tent. 

Plenty of teams bring new partners to the series. Ganassi brought NTT Data to IndyCar a decade ago. Then-Schmidt Peterson Motorsports brought Arrow, which is a prominent name with McLaren today. DHL has been around for over a decade thanks to Andretti. Verizon has been around for over a decade thanks to Penske. Meyer Shank Racing got SiriusXM on its cars. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing introduced Hy-Vee, which now supports an entire race weekend at Iowa. 

Coyne has never been in that group, but IndyCar needs all of its teams to be in the group. The Coyne model worked, but on a selfish level. It is time for fresh minds and fresh ideas and sees the team as a part of a greater collective. A team should no longer be around just to see what driver or drivers bring a large enough check to break even. IndyCar needs teams that openly seek partners for the greater benefit of the team and series as a whole. 

When you consider what Trackhouse is doing in NASCAR, and it is expanding to MotoGP, that organization purchasing Dale Coyne Racing would be a substantial boost to IndyCar. It doesn't have to be Trackhouse. VasserSullivan and HMD Motorsports are two established organizations that would also be beneficial for IndyCar to have take over this outfit, and both would increase competition on and off the track. 

IndyCar needs its teams to be fully present 365 days a year. One team clinging to its old ways is not going to help the series. There are others out there that can provide more than Dale Coyne Racing at this moment, and the sooner they come in the better.

Possible Drivers

Since the end of the 2023 IndyCar season, Dale Coyne Racing has tested Jacob Abel, Jack Harvey and Nolan Siegel. Abel tested at Sebring on November 6 while Harvey and Siegel drove for the team at the Homestead road course over January 22-24. 

Abel and Siegel are both planning to run full-time in Indy Lights, Abel with his family's team and Siegel with HMD Motorsports, which has a partnership with the Coyne operation. Harvey has no announced plans for next season. 

Harvey has made 79 starts in his IndyCar career and spent the better of the previous two seasons driving for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. All 79 of his starts have come for Honda-powered teams. After a promising period with Meyer Shank Racing, which included him finishing on the poidum for the Grand Prix of Indianapolis in 2019 and having ten top ten finishes over 24 starts between 2019 and 2020, Harvey has had only seven top ten finishes in his last 46 starts. He did not finish in the top ten in any of his 13 starts during the 2023 season, and he had one top ten finish in his 29 starts with RLLR. 

There are not many other IndyCar-experienced drivers on the sidelines. The likes of Conor Daly and Ryan Hunter-Reay have Indianapolis 500 rides but generally do not have the funding for more races. Considering the lack of drivers DCR has tested, it makes sense Harvey will be one of the team's drivers come the St. Petersburg season opener. How many races Harvey runs in 2024 remains unknown. 

However, there is a good chance Coyne will enter a driver, or possibly multiple drivers this season, without any experience in a DW12 chassis prior to their first appearance, and that isn't without race experience, that is without testing experience. We could see a few cold turkey drivers this season coming from unexpected corners of the world. IndyCar is not a series with abundant testing, but every other driver on the grid has at least tested an IndyCar prior, and most of the drivers on the grid have spent multiple years with this chassis. There will be a significant uphill battle for any driver coming in blind with Coyne. 

Abel and Siegel have each tested for the team, but interloping regularly in IndyCar seems unlikely for either driver. Nobody has seriously attempted a full-time Indy Lights and IndyCar efforts. The money doesn't really exist to allow it. Either or both drivers could run a one-off. There are three IndyCar race weekends without Indy Lights competition, Long Beach, Indianapolis and Toronto. 

All we can say, it is Dale Coyne Racing. Any and all names are equally likely candidates to end up in one of its cars. Keep an open mind. 

The first round of the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series season will be the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 10. Coverage will begin at noon on NBC and Peacock.

2024 NASCAR Cup Series Preview

NASCAR's age of change continues. While there is a new champion, a past champion has left the series. Ford and Toyota have updated their bodywork. Most of the events look the same, but there have been a few date changes, one track is gone, and there is a new circuit on the 36-race Cup schedule. Heck, the season already started with something unprecedented. The Clash at the Coliseum was moved up an entire day due to weather. If that was the prologue to the 2024 season, who knows what else we could see over the next ten months?

Unchanged is the Daytona 500 as the season opener but Atlanta returns to the second race of the season. The Western swing is only a two-week affair this year. Las Vegas begins the month of March with its race on the third with Phoenix following on the tenth.

The dirt is gone from Bristol Motor Speedway, and the half-mile oval will host two races on its concrete surface, the first of which will be March 17. Austin remains the first road course on the schedule the week after Bristol, and Richmond moves to the Easter night date on March 31, the first of six night races in the regular season. 

Martinsville makes it two consecutive Virginia races before a return to Texas Motor Speedway on April 14. Talladega and Dover close to the month of April while Kansas and Darlington bring the season to the all-star break. 

North Wilkesboro remains the host of the All-Star Race on May 19, a week prior to the Coca-Cola 600 from Charlotte Motor Speedway. Gateway hosts the first race of June on the second, a week before Sonoma. Spring ends with the Cup Series first visit to Iowa Speedway on June 16, a night race. The 7/8-mile oval in Newton, Iowa has hosted 20 NASCAR Grand National Series races and 13 Truck races over its history. 

Loudon moves to the first weekend of summer on June 23, a week ahead of Nashville. The Chicago street race remains the first Sunday in July, and Pocono moves up to July 14. The Brickyard 400 returns after a three-year stint running on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. The Brickyard 400 on July 21 will mark the field race before a two-week Olympic break.

NASCAR returns to competition on August 11 with a night race at Richmond. Michigan will take place on August 18 with Daytona the week after that, and the Southern 500 on September 1 will mark the final race of the regular season. 

The first round of the playoffs see a massive shakeup. Atlanta will leadoff on September 8 with Watkins Glen moving to September 15. Bristol closes out the first round on September 21. Kansas slips into the second round with Talladega marking the midway point in the postseason on October 6. The Charlotte roval rounds out round two on October 13. 

The semifinal round remains unchanged. Las Vegas, Homestead and Martinsville remains the three races, while Phoenix will host the finale for the fifth consecutive season on November 10.

Twenty-seven of the 36 Chartered teams see unchanged driver lineups from the 2023 season. There will be four rookies on this year's grid. Fifteen drivers won a race last season, but a few notable names came up winless and will look to fix that in 2024. Thirteen drivers made the playoffs last season with a victory. Only one of those winners was ranked outside the top 16 in points at the end of the regular season.

Chartered Teams

Ross Chastain - #1 Busch Beer/Moose Fraternity/Worldwide Express/Kubota/Jockey Chevrolet

Team: Trackhouse
2023 Championship Finish: 9th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 7th (2021)

2024 Playoff Prospects: Pretty good. Chastain has won two races in each of the last two seasons, and he has done a great job with starts to his seasons. The problem is in each of the last two seasons, Chastain has had a midseason slump. Last year's slump was worse than 2022. In the final 14 races before the playoffs, he won at Nashville, but he had had only three top ten finishes and seven finishes outside the top twenty during that span. If he has the same slump and doesn't win, he could find himself in a nervy predicament as the regular season winds down. 

Most Likely Place for a Victory: Chastain has won at Austin, Talladega, Nashville and Phoenix in his Cup career. He has had strong runs at Darlington and Dover as well.

Possible Milestone: Chastain is 13 starts away from become the 148th driver to reach the 200-start milestone. 

Austin Cindric - #2 Discount Tires/Freightliner Ford

Team: Team Penske
2023 Championship Finish: 24th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 1st (2022)

2024 Playoff Prospects: The lone Penske driver to miss the playoffs in 2023, Cindric had a woeful sophomore season, and despite being known for his road course prowess, he did not have a top five finish on a road course last season, and he had only two the season before that. He had five top ten finishes all of last season. That will require a notable uptick if he hopes to contend for the playoffs this year. While Penske has produced the last two champions, the team has not been dominating races. This will be an uphill battle for Cindric, until he rediscovers his form on the twisty circuits.

Most Likely Place for a Victory: Though the results are lacking, it is still the road courses. Although, he does have a Daytona 500 victory.

Austin Dillon - #3 Bass Pro Shops/BetMGM Chevrolet

Team: Richard Childress Racing
2023 Championship Finish: 29th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 1st (2018)

2024 Playoff Prospects: A 60-point penalty set Dillon back from making the playoffs in 2023, but his results weren't doing him any favors either. Give those 60 points back and Dillon still would have only been 25th in the championship last year. Dillon had ten retirements last year and finished outside the top 30 in 12 races. He was expected to be a fringe player for making the playoff on points. Richard Childress Racing showed good speed last year with Kyle Busch. Dillon will not be as far off this year, but the playoffs will require some work.

Most Likely Place for a Victory: Dillon's only top five finish last year was the Bristol dirt race, so that isn't a great sign. He had three top ten finishes on 1.5-mile ovals, a top ten finish at New Hampshire and Richmond, and he was ninth at Fontana. 

Possible Milestone: Dillon must complete 98 laps to reach the 100,000 laps milestone. Sixty-nine drivers have completed 100,000 laps in a Cup career.

Josh Berry - #4 SunnyD/Harrison's Ford

Team: Stewart-Haas Racing
2023 Championship Finish: Ineligible (11th in NASCAR's Grand National Series)
Best Daytona 500 Finish: This will be his Daytona 500 debut.

2024 Playoff Prospects: With Kevin Harvick retiring, Berry steps into the #4 Ford after a moderately successful stint in NASCAR's second division. At 33 years old, Berry is older than your contemporary rookie, but he had good runs with JR Motorsports. Stewart-Haas Racing is not the same Stewart-Haas Racing as five years ago. Harvick was the only SHR car to make the playoffs last year and no other SHR car cracked the top twenty in 2023. Berry had a few good races last season running in place of an injured Chase Elliott, but Berry will been experiencing a learning curve this season. It will be a struggle to crack the top twenty in points.

Most Likely Place for a Victory: Berry was second at Richmond last year in the spring race driving in place of Elliott. Berry was also tenth at Dover. If he is going to win anywhere, it is either going to be Martinsville, Richmond, Las Vegas or Dover.

Kyle Larson - #5 HendrickCars.com/Valvoline Chevrolet

Team: Hendrick Motorsports
2023 Championship Finish: 2nd
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 7th (2016, 2019)

2024 Playoff Prospects: Larson will make it but it is a case of how far he can go. On talent alone, he should be in the final four. It is not always that simple. Larson is going to win three to seven races this season. If he times them right, it could end in a second championship.

Most Likely Place for a Victory: Anywhere. It is Kyle Larson.

Possible Milestone: Larson is two victories away from becoming the 36th driver with at least 25 Cup victories. He is seven victories away from becoming the 30th driver with at least 30 Cup victories.

Brad Keselowski - #6 Castrol/BuildSubmarines.com/Fastenal Body Guard/Consumer Cellular/Solomon Plumbing/King's Hawaiian/Esperion Therapeutics Ford

Team: Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing
2023 Championship Finish: 8th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 3rd (2014)

2024 Playoff Prospects: Year two driving for his own team saw a big upswing for Keselowski. The lone thing that was missing was a victory. It feels like a victory is coming for Keselowski. He is approaching three years since his most recent victory. He is due. One win and he is in the playoffs. Even if he doesn't win, he should be in a spot to make it on points. 

Most Likely Place for a Victory: RFK Racing swept the Daytona 500 qualifying races last year and won the summer Daytona race last year. It is setup for a Daytona 500 victory. Either that or Talladega.

Possible Milestone: Keselowski is five victories away from becoming the 21st driver with at least 40 Cup victories. 

Corey LaJoie - #7 Celsius/Gainbridge/Chili's Grill & Bar Chevrolet

Team: Spire Motorsports
2023 Championship Finish: 25th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 8th (2020)

2024 Playoff Prospects: In what was a career year for LaJoie in 2023, he had two top five finishes and three top ten finishes. He also led 66 laps and had his best average finish in a season at 20.8. However, there is much more work to do to make the playoffs on points. He is in a win-or-bust situation. 

Most Likely Place for a Victory: All eight of his Cup top ten finishes have come at Daytona, Talladega or Atlanta. 

Kyle Busch - #8 3CHI/Cheddars/Lcuas Oil/Morgan & Morgan/BetMGM/Rebel Bourbon/Global Industrial/Zone Premium Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet

Team: Richard Childress Racing
2023 Championship Finish: 14th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 2nd (2019)

2024 Playoff Prospects: Busch should be safe, but he had a tale of two seasons in 2023. In the first 18 races, he won three times with six top five finishes, 11 top ten finishes and had an average finish of 11.555. In the final 18 races, Busch had zero victories, four top five finishes, six top ten finishes and an average finish of 18.444. One half is good enough for the playoffs. The other half likely is not. What Busch and RCR will we see? Busch should make it, but this is setting up for a potential nail-bitter coming August.

Most Likely Place for a Victory: Busch is able to win anywhere. He was leading at the 500-mile mark at last year's Daytona 500, but it was extended due to cautions. He won at Talladega for the first time in 15 years. His other victories were at Fontana and Gateway. He had four top five finishes on road courses last year, and he hasn't won on a road course since Sonoma in 2015. Let's pencil in a road course victory for Busch.

Possible Milestone: Busch is four top five finishes away from becoming the tenth driver to have at least 250 top five finishes in a Cup career. Busch is also 22 starts away from becoming the 20th driver to reach 700 career Cup starts.

Chase Elliott - #9 NAPA Auto Parts/Hooters/Llumar/Kelley Blue Book/UniFirst Chevrolet

Team: Hendrick Motorsports
2023 Championship Finish: 17th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 2nd (2021)

2024 Playoff Prospects: If Elliott doesn't break any bones doing extracurricular activities, he will make it. At the end of last regular season, he was averaging 27.684 points per start. That would have been good enough to make it on points in 2023. It was a winless season, and a year where he rarely factored for a victory. That isn't going to be the same. Elliott should win at least once in the regular season.

Most Likely Place for a Victory: Road courses obviously, but Elliott's best race last year was the penultimate race at Martinsville. 

Possible Milestone: Elliott is seven top five finishes away from becoming the 45th driver to have at least 100 top five finishes in a Cup career.

Noah Gragson - #10 Black Rifle Coffee/Ranger Boats/Rush Truck Centers Ford

Team: Stewart-Haas Racing
2023 Championship Finish: 33rd
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 24th (2023)

2024 Playoff Prospects: Even before NASCAR suspended Gragson for improper conduct, 2023 was a terrible season. He had no top ten finishes and one top fifteen finish in 21 starts. He had eight finishes outside the top 30 and 15 finishes outside the top 25. Gragson got into a number of accident, infamously causing a pair of cautions at Chicago. Stewart-Haas Racing is a step up from Legacy Motor Club on paper, but many of those results last year weren't because of the team. With SHR in a rut, this is ripe for Gragson to continue to drive beyond the limit, which could spell more trouble. Playoff hopes are bleak, but all it takes to make it is one timely rainstorm.

Most Likely Place for a Victory: Gragson's best finish last season was 12th at Atlanta.

Denny Hamlin - #11 FedEx/Mavis Tire & Brakes/Sport Clips/Interstate Batteries Toyota

Team: Joe Gibbs Racing
2023 Championship Finish: 5th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 1st (2016, 2019, 2020)

2024 Playoff Prospects: Hamlin is going to make it. It is a matter of claiming that elusive championship. Everything sounds like he is more focused than ever to push for the title this year, and he is talking about maximizing the regular season to set himself up nicely in the playoff. However, a championship in this format all comes down to one race. If Hamlin makes it to Phoenix, can he have a flawless 500-kilometers?

Most Likely Place for a Victory: Hamlin has his tracks: Pocono, Martinsville, Richmond, Darlington, heck even Daytona. 

Possible Milestone: Hamlin is four victories away from surpassing Lee Petty for 12th all-time. Hamlin is five victories away from surpassing Rusty Wallace for 11th all-time.

Ryan Blaney - #12 Menards/Advance Auto Parts/BodyArmor/Wurth/Discount Tire/Dent Wizard/Wabash Ford

Team: Team Penske
2023 Championship Finish: 1st
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 2nd (2017, 2020)

2024 Playoff Prospects: The reigning champion should be back in the playoffs to defend his title, though 2023 was not a banner season for Blaney despite taking home the championship. He didn't have a top five finish from Memorial Day to October 1. Most drivers that go the entire summer without a top five finish do not win the championship. His season shouldn't be that poor, but it will take some convincing we could see successful title defense.

Most Likely Place for a Victory: Blaney could not finish in the top five for 17 races and then he ended the season with finishes of first, 12th, sixths second, first and second. He was second and first at Talladega. He was second in both Phoenix races. 

Chase Briscoe - #14 Mahindra Ag North America/High Point/Rush Truck Centers Ford

Team: Stewart-Haas Racing
2023 Championship Finish: 30th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 3rd (2022)

2024 Playoff Prospects: Like Austin Dillon, Briscoe was setback with a points penalty. For Briscoe, it was a 120-point penalty. Give it back to him, and he is still only 23rd, smack-dab between teammates Aric Almirola and Ryan Preece. If any SHR driver is going to make the playoffs, Briscoe is the guy, but it will require his best results by far. For a team that was bunched just outside the top twenty, this is lining up for Briscoe to be short. 

Most Likely Place for a Victory: Briscoe was in the top five of both Martinsville races last season.

Riley Herbst - #15 N29 Capital Partners Ford

Team: Rick Ware Racing
2023 Championship Finish: Ineligible (13th in the NASCAR Grand National Series)
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 10th (2023)

2024 Playoff Prospects: Herbst is only doing the Daytona 500 in the #15 Ford as Kaz Grala will run 25 races in the this car and Cody Ware will run the remaining ten. Herbst will be full-time in NASCAR's second series with Stewart-Haas Racing.

Most Likely Place for a Victory: The division below this one.

A.J. Allmendinger - #16 Celsius/Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet

Team: Kaulig Racing
2023 Championship Finish: 21st
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 3rd (2009, 2017)

2024 Playoff Prospects: Allmendinger will not be full-time in the #16 Chevrolet as he returns to the second division to run full-time for the championship. This entry will have Shane van Gisbergen contest seven races (Austin, both Talladega races, the Coca-Cola 600, Chicago, Watkins Glen and Las Vegas in October), while Josh Williams will also run a few races. Other drivers are still to be announced. 

Most Likely Place for a Victory: With Allmendinger and van Gisbergen splitting this car, the #16 Chevrolet has a good shot at winning on the road courses. 

Chris Buescher - #17 Fastenal/Fifth Third Bank/Castrol Edge/BuildSubmarines.com/Esperion Therapeutics Ford

Team: Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing
2023 Championship Finish: 7th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 3rd (2020)

2024 Playoff Prospects: With a summer splash of three victories heading into the playoffs, Buescher is a bit of the popular sleeper entering the 2024 season. Buescher should make it back. A regular season victory feels highly likely. He did nearly double his career top five finish total in one season, and his 17 top ten finishes in 2023 were seven more than his previous high. Buescher should be back in the playoffs.

Most Likely Place for a Victory: Buescher was fourth, third and first in the Daytona/Talladega regular season races. 

Possible Milestone: Buescher is seven starts away from become the 101st driver to reach the 300-start milestone. 

Martin Truex, Jr. - #19 Bass Pro Shops/Auto Owners Insurance/Interstate Batteries Toyota

Team: Joe Gibbs Racing
2023 Championship Finish: 11th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 2nd (2016)

2024 Playoff Prospects: If it was a tale of two seasons for Kyle Busch, Truex, Jr. fell off the face of the planet when the playoffs approached last year. Truex, Jr. went from a 10.88 average finish in the first 25 races to a 18.909 average finish in the final 11 races. He had seven finishes of 15th or worse in the first 25 races. He had eight finishes of 15th or worse in the final 11 races. Eleven races is not an insignificant sample size, especially after being the top driver in the regular season. You would think Truex, Jr. will correct the ship, but even if he makes it to the playoffs, what damage could he do?

Most Likely Place for a Victory: Darlington or Loudon. He has been outstandingly strong at those places in recent years.

Possible Milestone: Truex, Jr. is six victories away from becoming the 21st driver with at least 40 Cup victories. 

Christopher Bell - #20 DeWalt/Rheem/Mobil 1/Interstate Batteries Toyota

Team: Joe Gibbs Racing
2023 Championship Finish: 4th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 3rd (2023)

2024 Playoff Prospects: For two consecutive seasons, Bell has made an unthinkable run to the championship race. Last year should have been less of a surprise considering he spent majority of the season in the top four of the championship. Bell will make it back to the playoffs. The tracks are still lined up for him to make a run to the championship race. If the brakes hold, he could win the title.

Most Likely Place for a Victory: Bell has yet to win on the same track twice in his Cup career, but he excels on worn out pavement. Give him Darlington, Homestead, heck now that both Bristol races will be on concrete, that only increases Bell's chances of winning there.

Harrison Burton - #21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane/Draiver Ford

Team: Wood Brothers Racing
2023 Championship Finish: 31st
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 26th (2023)

2024 Playoff Prospects: In 73 Cup races, Burton has more lapped finishes than lead lap finishes in his career, 37 to 36. He didn't improve from year one to year two. His average starting position dropped by 3.2 positions from 22.1 to 25.3 and his average finish dropped almost two spots from 22.8 to 24.7. To make the playoffs, he will need the planets aligning at Daytona, Talladega or Atlanta, or Burton needs a thunderstorm to come at the right time during a pit cycle.

Most Likely Place for a Victory: See above.

Joey Logano - #22 Shell/Pennzoil/Hunt Brother's Pizza Ford

Team: Team Penske
2023 Championship Finish: 12th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 1st (2015)

2024 Playoff Prospects: Logano will make it. There are some concerns as Penske didn't look great last year, but Logano will win somewhere in the regular season, even if it is his only victory in the regular season and secure a playoff spot where he will either work his magic and somehow make the semifinal round and slip into the Phoenix finale, or he will repeat 2023 and not really come close to achieving a third title.

Most Likely Place for a Victory: The answer is anywhere, but it will either be early in the season or late in the season. Logano has not won one of the races between the 16th race in the season and the 30th race of the season since he won the 30th race of the 2015 season at Charlotte. 

Bubba Wallace - #23 Door Dash/McDonald's/Columbia/U.S. Air Force/MoneyLion/Dr. Pepper/Mobil 1 Toyota

Team: 23XI Racing
2023 Championship Finish: 10th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 2nd (2018, 2022)

2024 Playoff Prospects: Wallace was the final driver to make it on points last year, and he drove even better in the playoffs than the regular season. Wallace can be spotty. He probably should have won at least once last year. His 1.5-mile form is favorable. A regular season victory would not stun anyone, but a slow start could put him on shaky ground. If Chase Elliott doesn't miss seven races, Elliott is making it on points easily over Wallace. A victory would go a long way toward Wallace's hopes. 

Most Likely Place for a Victory: Texas, which is now a regular season race. Although Kansas deserves a mention, and Wallace does run well at Daytona and Talladega. He did lead 80 laps in the summer race at Richmond last year.

William Byron - #24 Axalta/Valvoline/Liberty University/RaptorTough.com/HP Chevrolet

Team: Hendrick Motorsports
2023 Championship Finish: 3rd
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 21st (2019)

2024 Playoff Prospects: Byron won the most races last year, but maybe we should take that with a grain of salt. Byron won three races last year where he led fewer than 20 laps. It was only the fourth time in Cup Series history a driver has won at least three races in a season with fewer than 20 laps led. The other were Rex White in 1961, Joe Weatherly in 1962 and Kevin Harvick in 2011. Two of those races Byron won were because the leaders took each other out (Darlington spring and Texas), and the other was a rain-shortened race where everyone was racing the weather (Atlanta). 

Even if you flip Darlington and Texas, Byron still wins four times. He still has 15 top five finishes, tied for most in the series, and 21 top ten finishes, most in the series. Byron will make the playoffs, but with a healthy Elliott, a title push becomes increasingly difficult.

Most Likely Place for a Victory: Byron had strong runs at Las Vegas, Dover and Richmond last year. He also had three finishes in the top-two on road courses.

Daniel Hemric - #31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection/Cirkul Chevrolet

Team: Kaulig Racing
2023 Championship Finish: N/A (8th in NASCAR Grand National Series)
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 13th (2020)

2024 Playoff Prospects: Slim-to-none. Kaulig Racing is a good team, but Hemric has one victory in NASCAR national series competition, and that is increasingly looking more and more fluky (even worse it won him a championship). After having 15 top five finishes in his 2021 Grand National Series season, Hemric had a combined nine top five finishes over the last two seasons. After leading 663 laps in 2021, he led a combined 124 laps in the last two season. This doesn't scream a driver than can make waves in the Cup Series.

Most Likely Place for a Victory: In 47 Cup starts, Hemric's three top ten finishes have come at Talladega, Pocono and Fontana. Of his nine top five finishes in the last two seasons, three of those were at Atlanta. 

Michael McDowell - #34 Love's Travel Stops/Horizon Hobby/Margaritaville at Sea/Benebone/B'laster Ford

Team: Front Row Motorsports
2023 Championship Finish: 15th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 1st (2021)

2024 Playoff Prospects: McDowell found a higher level in the regular season and took an emphatic victory at Indianapolis. However, McDowell's results nose-dived after that, and his average finish in 2023 was actually 2.3 spots worse than 2022 (19.0 to 16.7) and he had four fewer top ten finishes than in 2022 (eight down from 12). Even without the victory, McDowell would have been in the playoffs on points. That will be difficult to duplicate. Another road course victory sounds more likely. 

Most Likely Place for a Victory: I guess we have to say road courses after Indianapolis.

Possible Milestone: McDowell must complete 149 laps to reach the 100,000 laps milestone. Sixty-nine drivers have completed 100,000 laps in a Cup career.

Todd Gilliland - #38 Ruedebusch Development and Construction/gener8tor/Frontline Enterprises/Georgia Peanut Commission Ford

Team: Front Row Motorsports
2023 Championship Finish: 28th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 27th (2023)

2024 Playoff Prospects: It will be an uphill battle for Gilliland. He had a few good performances early in 2023, but the results petered out as the season went along. Playoffs will likely require a Daytona/Talladega/Atlanta victory.

Most Likely Place for a Victory: See above.

Ryan Preece - #41 Haas Automation/United Rentals Ford

Team: Stewart-Haas Racing
2023 Championship Finish: 23rd 
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 6th (2021)

2024 Playoff Prospects: Preece will need to be a more prolific driver if he wants to make the playoffs. He had only two top ten finishes in 2023. He has never had more than four top ten finishes in a season. He has never had more than one top five finish in a season, and he has alternated years in which he gets his one top five finish. Based on that pattern, Preece will not get a top five finish in 2024. You cannot make the playoffs without a top five finish.

Most Likely Place for a Victory: Preece was one botched pit stop at Martinsville in the spring from possibly winning that race and stealing a playoff spot early. Martinsville, Richmond, Bristol and Loudon and favorable for Preece.

John Hunter Nemechek - #42 Dollar Tree/Family Dollar/Mobil 1 Toyota

Team: Legacy Motor Club
2023 Championship Finish: Ineligible (4th in NASCAR Grand National Series)
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 11th (2020)

2024 Playoff Prospects: With Legacy Motor Club moving to Toyota, it has moved from being the fifth team (at best) in the pecking order at Chevrolet to third at Toyota. Nemechek redefined his career moving down from the Cup Series after being full-time with Front Row Motorsports in 2020, and Toyota has him back. There will still be trying races. This is still a smaller team in comparison. Nemechek likely will not be pushing for the top fifteen in points. His playoff hopes will depend on a victory.

Most Likely Place for a Victory: The only tracks Nemechek won at multiple times in his Grand National Series career were Kansas and Texas. 

Erik Jones - #43 AdventHealth/Dollar Tree/FamilyDollar/Allegiant Toyota

Team: Legacy Motor Club
2023 Championship Finish: 27th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 3rd (2019)

2024 Playoff Prospects: Toyota power could rejuvenate Jones' career. He had some impressive performances last year in bad equipment. Seven top ten finishes is respectable. He did win in 2022 at Darlington with three top five finishes and 13 top ten finishes. If he repeats 2022, Jones could be sniffing for a playoff spot. He is always a threat at Darlington. He could be a sleeper.

Most Likely Place for a Victory: Darlington. Need I say more?

Tyler Reddick - #45 Monster Energy/McDonald's/SiriusXM/MoneyLion/Mobil 1 /Jordan Brand Toyota

Team: 23XI Racing
2023 Championship Finish: 6th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 27th (2019, 2021)

2024 Playoff Prospects: Reddick should be in the playoffs, but his 2023 season was sink or swim. He won twice and had ten top five finishes, but he had 11 finishes outside the top twenty, including a five-consecutive race run from Gateway through Atlanta in the summer. And yet, he was still contending for a final four spot. Year two with 23XI should see things clean up and he should be a greater force in the regular season. 

Most Likely Place for a Victory: A worn out racetrack. Darlington, Homestead, or a road course. Over half his Cup victories have been on road courses.

Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. - #47 Kroger Chevrolet

Team: JTG Daugherty Racing
2023 Championship Finish: 16th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 1st (2023)

2024 Playoff Prospects: Stenhouse, Jr. won the Daytona 500 and punched the first playoff ticket. However, 2023 was arguably his best regular season, and he would have been in contention on points even without the victory. Results did taper off in the second half of the season. Stenhouse, Jr. had 11 top fifteen finishes in the first half of the season. He had five top fifteen finishes in the second half of the season. A return to the playoffs will likely require another unlikely victory.

Most Likely Place for a Victory: He has only ever won at Daytona and Talladega. 

Alex Bowman - #48 Ally Chevrolet

Team: Hendrick Motorsports
2023 Championship Finish: 20th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 5th (2023)

2024 Playoff Prospects: Bowman was the second of two Hendrick drivers to be injured during the 2023 season doing something other than Cup racing and miss time, and ultimately miss the playoffs. Bowman broke his back in a sprint car accident, and it derailed a good start to the season. He opened with four consecutive top ten finishes and six top ten finish in the first seven races. He had nine top fifteen finishes in the first ten races. He was tenth in the championship at the time of his injury and missed three races. In the final 23 races, Bowman had only four top ten finishes and nine top fifteen finishes. At the time of his injury, he was averaging 27 points per start.

Bowman returning to form should put him a playoff position. However, Bowman is the shakiest of the four Hendrick drivers. In four of his seven career victories, Bowman has led 16 laps or fewer. He could be flirting with the bubble for most of this season. 

Most Likely Place for a Victory: Bowman has a good record at Dover, Las Vegas and his road course performances are sneaky good.

Possible Milestone: If Bowman wins pole position for the Daytona 500, he would become the fourth driver with four Daytona 500 pole positions joining Buddy Baker, Cale Yarborough and Bill Elliott.

Justin Haley - #51 Walmart Health & Wellness Ford

Team: Rick Ware Racing
2023 Championship Finish: 26th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 13th (2020)

2024 Playoff Prospects: Haley was good in his first full-time stint in the Cup series with Kaulig Racing, but far from great. Rick Ware Racing has never been close to putting a driver in the playoffs on points. Haley's best bet is stealing a victory at a plate track with a lot of accidents.

Most Likely Place for a Victory: Daytona, Talladega or Atlanta.

Ty Gibbs - #54 Interstate Batteries/Monster Energy/SiriusXM Toyota

Team: Joe Gibbs Racing
2023 Championship Finish: 18th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 25th (2023)

2024 Playoff Prospects: Gibbs should make the playoffs this year. His form improved greatly over the second half of the season. He was pushing for victory at Bristol in the playoff race. Even if he doesn't win, Gibbs should be in a spot to make it on points. Everyone has money on him winning sooner rather than later.

Most Likely Place for a Victory: Two of Gibbs' four top five finishes last year were on road courses. Four of his top ten finishes last year were on road courses. 

Zane Smith - #71 WeatherTech/Focused Health Chevrolet

Team: Spire Motorsports
2023 Championship Finish: Ineligible (7th in the NASCAR Truck Series)
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 13th (2023)

2024 Playoff Prospects: Spire has expanded to three cars, this one run in partnership with Kaulig Racing. It is difficult to tell whether this car will race more like a Spire car or a Kaulig car. Either way, both are grasping for the top twenty in points. Smith didn't really shine last year in his cameo appearances with Front Row Motorsports. In eight races, he had four finishes outside the top 30 and six finishes outside the top twenty. The playoffs should not be the expectation. 

Most Likely Place for a Victory: Smith has won the last two Truck races at Daytona and the last two Truck races at Austin

Carson Hocevar - #77 Zeigler Auto Group/Delaware Life Chevrolet

Team: Spire Motorsports
2023 Championship Finish: Ineligible (3rd in the NASCAR Truck Series)
Best Daytona 500 Finish: This will be his Daytona 500 debut.

2024 Playoff Prospects: Like Smith, Hocevar is making the leap from Trucks to Cup. Unlike Smith, Hocevar turned some heads in his handful of Cup races last year. Hocevar does have a reputation of making boneheaded mistakes. That will not take you far in the Cup Series. It almost certainly will not get you into the playoffs.

Most Likely Place for a Victory: In all likelihood, his best hopes are at Daytona, Talladega or Atlanta. 

Daniel Suárez - #99 Freeway Insurance/Worldwide Express/Quaker State//Kubota/Choice Privileges Chevrolet

Team: Trackhouse
2023 Championship Finish: 19th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 7th (2023)

2024 Playoff Prospects: Suárez should be in the playoff discussion, but he is coming off a disappointing season where he didn't really factor for a playoff spot, especially as the regular season wound down. In seven Cup seasons, Suárez has made the playoffs only once despite driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing and Trackhouse for six of those years. Based on track record alone, you have to believe he will fall short again. 

Most Likely Place for a Victory: Four of his last seven top five finishes have been on road courses.

Non-Chartered Teams

Kaz Grala - #36 Ruedebusch Development and Construction Ford

Team: Front Row Motorsports
2023 Championship Finish: N/A (17th in NASCAR Grand National Series)
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 26th (2022)

2024 Playoff Prospects: Grala is in a one-off entry for Front Row Motorsports before running most of the season in Rick Ware Racing's #15 Ford. Grala will not be playoff eligible, but he will be contesting rookie of the year honors... against three drivers who will be full-time..

Most Likely Place for a Victory: Most likely at Rick Ware Racing considering he will race 25 times for that team versus once for Front Row.

David Ragan - #60 BuildSubmarines.com Ford

Team: Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing
2023 Championship Finish: N/A
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 4th (2020)

2024 Playoff Prospects: Ragan looks to make his first Cup start since the August 2022 Daytona race. This will come in a third entry for RFK Racing. It could be his first start for the team since 2011 after spending five seasons with the organization. 

Most Likely Place for a Victory: It is Daytona 500 or bust for Ragan.

Anthony Alfredo - #62 Death Wish Coffee Chevrolet

Team: Beard Motorsports
2023 Championship Finish: Ineligible (20th in NASCAR Grand National Series)
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 32nd (2021)

2024 Playoff Prospects: Alfredo is attempting Daytona and the spring Talladega race with Beard Motorsports.

Most Likely Place for a Victory: In NASCAR's second division where he will drive the #5 Our Motorsports Chevrolet full-time. 

B.J. McLeod - #78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet

Team: Live Fast Motorsports
2023 Championship Finish: Ineligible (68th in NASCAR Grand National Series)
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 19th (2019)

2024 Playoff Prospects: Live Fast Motorsports sold its Charter to Spire Motorsports, which has become Zane Smith's #71 Chevrolet entry. McLeod and Live Fast Motorsports will continue as a part-time Cup operation. Other 2024 races have yet to be determined. 

Most Likely Place for a Victory: McLeod will continue to run in NASCAR's second division.

Jimmie Johnson - #84 AdventHealth/DollarTree/Family Dollar/ Carvana Toyota

Team: Legacy Motor Club
2023 Championship Finish: 39th
Best Daytona 500 Finish: 1st (2006, 2013)

2024 Playoff Prospects: Johnson will not make the playoffs, but he has announced a nine-race calendar that will see him run Daytona, Texas, both Kansas races, the spring Darlington race, the Coca-Cola 600, the Brickyard 400, Las Vegas and the Phoenix finale.

Most Likely Place for a Victory: Of the nine races on his schedule, let's go with the Brickyard 400. He has already won in five times. I am surprised Dover was not included on his schedule. 

Possible Milestone: Johnson is 11 starts away from 700-start milestone. 

Playoff Driver Predictions

1. Denny Hamlin

2. Kyle Larson

3. Tyler Reddick

4. Christopher Bell

5. Chase Elliott 

6. Chris Buescher

7. Joey Logano

8. William Byron

9. Ryan Blaney

10. Martin Truex, Jr.

11. Kyle Busch

12. Ty Gibbs

13. Bubba Wallace

14. Brad Keselowski

15. Ross Chastain

16. Alex Bowman

Daytona 500 qualifying takes place tonight at 8:15 p.m. ET. The front row for the Daytona 500 will be decided while the fastest two non-chartered entries will lock-in their spots for Sunday's race. The first Daytona 500 qualifying race will be run at 7:00 p.m. ET on Thursday February 15 with the second race following at 8:45 p.m. ET. There will be one 50-minute practice for the Cup teams at 5:35 p.m. ET on Friday February 16 before a final 50-minute practice at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday February 17.

The 66th running of the Daytona 500 is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday February 18.

Musings From the Weekend: Let's Talk Television

Here is a rundown of what got me thinking....

The Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl for a second consecutive year. More Formula One liveries were revealed, many in the United States, one in Las Vegas. Silverstone signed an extension to retain the British Grand Prix through 2034. Ducati remains quick. There was bickering over an exhibition race. A championship leader had to withdraw due to illness, and it didn't even matter because his team didn't close out the championship. Iowa announced a few more musical acts. There was some discussions over future Indianapolis 500 participation, but we will save that for a later date. One other IndyCar topic is on my mind.

Let's Talk Television

This will be a busy year for IndyCar. Besides having an actual season to run, which begins in less than a month, IndyCar has some off-track business to handle. The next television contract will be agreed upon at some point during this year, likely in time for a month of May announcement. 

The television deal is a significant source of revenue for the series, and it is the platform in which the series is brought to the masses. 

How television shows, movies and sports are consumed is constantly changing during this period. There are many more avenues for distribution than there were ten years ago, and in 2024 there is a difficult balance in sticking with what is known while venturing into uncharted waters. 

There is money in desperate hands. In the ever expanding digital and streaming worlds, these platforms need properties. They need reasons for subscribers. If they can buy a property with a dedicated audience it could mean a big swoon for that outlet. However, for the series, it might be a short-term gain but long-term loss. It could be a big payday upfront, but a decline in total viewership could mean less sponsorship interest and make it challenging for teams to fund their programs while being exposed to less eyeballs. 

The paved roads of linear television are comforting. Everyone knows what they are getting, but no one is shelling out more than the market price for a property. There is no desire to spend haphazardly. It is also an older part of town, some would even say outdated, and younger generations are looking elsewhere. The series will not end up with a king's ransom, but it knows what audience it will draw and it is still draws the most people, which makes sponsors more willing to spend if they know who and how many are watching. 

IndyCar's next deal must balance the linear and streaming worlds. We are no longer in a time of one or the other. There must be a way to engage with both. Many have a thought on what IndyCar should do, but there are clearly things that are and are not realistic.

The series needs exposure. It will have some linear portion of its contract. The Indianapolis 500 is going to remain on a known network television channel. That narrows the options significantly. 

NBC is the current broadcast partner, and remains in negotiation, while Fox, The CW and Apple reportedly have also had discussions with the series. 

No matter what is decided, it is important to remember one thing: You are likely not going to get exactly what you want. 

The selected option will not be the perfect option that makes everyone happy. For starters, it likely will not be on the streaming service you desire. If NBC retains the rights, that means Peacock is here to stay. If Apple is involved, that means a different platform all together, and likely at a different price point, which will likely be an increased cost to you the viewer. With NBC and Fox, that means a few races (or most races) could end up on one of the cable platforms, whether that be USA or FS1. If it is The CW, you will likely have to figure out where The CW is on your television dial.

IndyCar also isn't going to abandon selling broadcast rights. IndyCar isn't going to start its own streaming platform as its only option to watch races. Companies still want to broadcast the Indianapolis 500. If someone is offering money, you take the money. There is also a limitation to a streaming service. A full season streaming package wouldn't cost only $50.

F1TV costs $80 for the season. MotoGP's VideoPass is over $150 for the season. It would cost a pretty penny to begin with. For years, people said they wanted a one-stop shop where they could stream all the IndyCar sessions, and we have that now. Peacock offers that. If you subscribe to Peacock, you get every practice session, qualifying session and race, and it only costs about $6 a month and, in addition to IndyCar, that $6 a month also gets you movies, television shows and other sports if you so desire. 

It might not be commercial-free during the races, but commercials are expensive, and the network isn't going to recuperate millions in ad revenue through $6-per-month subscriptions. Commercial-free races will likely mean a substantial increase in subscription fee. That is the nature of the business. How much does not seeing commercials mean to you?

Expectations should be set accordingly when it comes to the next television contract. Be realistic. This contract will likely look like something we have in every IndyCar television contract look like before. There is going to be a network television partner that will show a race with commercial breaks. Practice and qualifying sessions will likely be only available streaming. A few races might be on cable. A few races might be streaming only. That is the way of the world in 2024. 

It all comes down to money, and what IndyCar decides is the best deal for the series. Whether that means more money coming out of your pocket, the answer is probably yes. Someone has to pay for it.

Champions From the Weekend

You know about the Kansas City Chiefs, but did you know...

The #4 CrowdStrike Racing by APR Oreca-Gibson of Colin Braun, George Kurtz and Malthe Jakobsen clinched the Asian Le Mans Series LMP2 championship with finishes of first and fifth in Abu Dhabi..

The #17 Cool Racing Ligier-Nissan of Alexander Bukhantsov and James Winslow clinched the ALMS LMP3 championship with a pair of runner-up finishes in Abu Dhabi.

The #91 Pure Rxcing Porsche of Klaus Bachler, Alex Malykhin and Joel Sturm clinched the ALMS GT championship with a third in the second Abu Dhabi race despite retiring from the first race of the weekend.

Winners From the Weekend

You know about CrowdStrike Racing by APR, but did you know...

In the first 4 Hours of Abu Dhabi, the #2 CD Sport Ligier-Nissan of Nick Adcock, Michael Jensen and Fabien Lavergne won in the LMP3 class. The #88 Triple Eight JMR Mercedes-AMG of Prince Jefri, Luca Stolz and Jordan Love won in the GT class.

The #25 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca-Gibson of Chris McMurry, Toby Sowery and Freddie Tomlinson won the second 4 Hours of Abu Dhabi. The #26 Bretton Racing Ligier-Nissan of Julien Gerbi, Dan Skočdopole and Mihnea Stefan won in the LMP3 class. The #88 Triple Eight JMR Mercedes-AMG of Prince Jefri, Luca Stolz and Jordan Love won in GT after the #19 Leipert Motorsport Lamborghini was issued a minute and 43-second penalty due Gabriel Rindone exceeding maximum drive time.

Ken Roczen won the Supercross race from Glendale. R.J. Hampshire won the 250cc class, his second victory of the season.

Coming Up This Weekend

The 66th Daytona 500.

The 22nd Bathurst 12 Hour.

The 71st Rally Sweden.

2024 IndyCar Team Preview: Team Penske

And then there were 30 days until the 2024 IndyCar season opener. Only a month remains until the teams unload in St. Petersburg and the first race of 17 commences. Normally when IndyCar is in St. Petersburg, Team Penske comes out on top. Eleven times Penske has won on the Albert Whitted Airport runway, more than any other team, just over half of all editions of the race. It is another season, and for Team Penske expectations remain unchanged.

At First Glance... It's Team Penske

We know the drill. It is Team Penske.

It is either going to either win four races, including the Indianapolis 500, and it will be a disappointing season, or it will win 12 races, not win the Indianapolis 500, finish one-two-five in the championship, and it will be a disappointing season. There is a narrow window for euphoric celebration on the Captain's ship. 

By Penske standards, 2023 was only a good season for the team. It won the Indianapolis 500. For Team Penske, that is the number one goal of the season. It accomplished that, but the IndyCar season is more than one race. When Chip Ganassi Racing wins more races and wins the championship, the season cannot be considered a success. However, winning five races is still a pipe dream for 75% of the other teams in the series. 

For all that Penske should celebrate, there were plenty of reasons to be concerned. Josef Newgarden won the Indianapolis 500, he won four oval races... but he only had one podium finish on the road/street courses. He had six finishes outside the top ten, three outside the top twenty, his most finishes outside the top ten since 2015 and his most finishes outside the top twenty since 2016. 

Scott McLaughlin won at Barber Motorsports Park, he was third in the championship with 11 consecutive top ten finishes to close the season... but he only led 117 laps, down from 433 laps led the year before and he only led two laps on ovals!

Will Power did not win a race for the first time since his rookie season in Champ Car in 2006. Power was on the podium four times, a good season; he won two pole positions, a fair total; but he only had one race where it felt like he should win, and Newgarden still dominated that first race from Iowa. 

Penske can afford a season like this. It cannot afford a second season like this, however. 

There wasn't a reason to change the lineup, but Team Penske will not take too long refresh the lineup if results are not up to snuff. It also does not take much of a reason for Penske to move on from a driver, even if he is running as one of the best in IndyCar. 

Power has achieved a lot for Team Penske, but the leash is short if he has another winless season. It doesn't necessarily spell the end of his time with the team, but 2025 will be a pivotal year before the final act of his career. 

Newgarden succeeded and failed in 2023. He conquered the last quest in an IndyCar driver's career, but his results were all over the board and he was never pressuring for the championship despite winning four races. He has not expressed any joy in the season he had, and with him stepping away from some of the off-track extracurriculars (Bus Bros), it signals a re-focus on his craft. 

Considering McLaughlin has only completed three IndyCar seasons, going from 14th to fourth to third is as good as you could expect from a driver moving from tin-top touring cars. We know he can run at the top level in IndyCar. It is no longer a pleasant surprise when he finishes in the top five and is competitive. That is the expectation now, and it is actually a little underwhelming just to finish in the top five. Winning is what matters.

It is Team Penske. It is going to win races and be a force in IndyCar. It is a matter of its level of dominance. Can it dethrone Chip Ganassi Racing with all three drivers winning on a regular basis? Will one Penske driver carry the team while areas for improvement remain? Is there anyway Penske declines and we are left scratching our heads and wondering what it does next? 

All of these drivers can secure their rides for the next five years this season, and yet, with stagnation, all three could find themselves on the chopping block.

2023 Team Penske Review

Wins: 5 (Texas, Barber, Indianapolis 500, Iowa 1, Iowa 2)

Poles: 4 (Iowa 1, Iowa 2, Nashville, Gateway)

Championship Finishes: 3rd (Scott McLaughlin), 5th (Josef Newgarden), 7th (Will Power)

Josef Newgarden - #2 Hitachi/PPG Chevrolet

Numbers to Remember:

6: Newgarden's last six victories have been on ovals.

2: Podium finishes in the last two seasons that were not victories.

1: Top five finish on a permanent road course in 2023 (fifth at Portland).

What does a championship season look like for him?

Newgarden has already done it twice, and he has come close a few more times. Each season he has won a championship, Newgarden has won four races. In each season he won multiple times on road/street courses and ovals. In two of the three seasons he has finished runner-up in the championship, he has done the same. 

In his two championship seasons, he has won one of the first three races and had multiple podium finishes in the first four events. In two of the three seasons he was runner-up, he did not win any of the first five races, but in one of those seasons he did win two of the first three events. 

The key things is Newgarden limits his bad days. In each of his championship seasons, he never finished outside the top twenty. In two of the three seasons he has finished runner-up, he has at least two finishes outside the top twenty. 

What does a realistic season look like for him?

Anything is realistic for Newgarden. He could bounce back from his underwhelming road/street course numbers and win four times with six podium finishes on the twisty circuits. He could also go winless again and only win two oval races. 

The addition of a Milwaukee doubleheader should be favorable for him, as it also adds an oval races to the schedule. He was fifth in each of his last two Milwaukee starts and led 109 laps from pole position in the most recent visit to the one-mile oval. 

His consistency should level out. If that happens, Newgarden will be a greater threat for the championship. A more balanced season should make him dangerous. However, if he keeps having one or two stray results, it could cost him.

Scott McLaughlin - #3 DEX Imaging/XPEL/Snap-On/Pennzoil/Good Ranchers/Sonsio Chevrolet

Numbers to Remember:

8.928: Average finish in 14 oval starts.

2,258: Laps completed in 2023, tied for the most in IndyCar with Álex Palou.

28: Consecutive races finished.

What does a championship season look like for him?

Continuing on the top ten form from the end of last season, except McLaughlin takes it up a notch, and opens with a run of five straight top five finishes, including podium finishes on the first two street courses and his first top five result in the Indianapolis 500. 

He will get bucked from the horse at Detroit but bounce back with a win at Road America before another top five finish at Laguna Seca. A top ten will follow at Mid-Ohio, but he will win one of the two Iowa races and then head into the Olympic break with a Toronto victory. 

Back from break, McLaughlin wins at Gateway, finishes on the podium at Portland and then has a victory and another top five at Milwaukee, setting him up in the championship lead for Nashville. A podium in the finale seals the championship for the New Zealander in his fourth full season.

What does a realistic season look like for him?

McLaughlin has the consistency Newgarden needs, but McLaughlin is a tad off the championship level. That final step is not impractical for this season. It is plausible McLaughlin could win four or five times and win at least once on each track discipline. His teammate Newgarden could be his greatest hurdle to a championship. If Newgarden regains his form, he could be the one thing in McLaughlin's way and cancel out whatever improved results McLaughlin has. 

In the last two seasons, McLaughlin has settled into being a sure pair of hands. In the last 26 races, he has 22 top ten finishes. However, ten of those results have been in the back half of the top ten. Those are fine results, but they need to be just a little better to win a championship. A title isn't out of the question. But will a two-victory, six-podium season be enough if he has ten results between sixth and tenth?

Will Power - #12 Verizon Chevrolet

Numbers to Remember:

10: Podium finishes in his last 27 races.

0: Victories in the last 27 races.

40: Consecutive races finished, 11 finishes away from breaking Danica Patrick's record. 

What does a championship season look like for him?

A championship season for Power at this point in his career will likely follow the blueprint of 2022. He might win only once or twice, but he will suffocate the championship by consistently finishing on the podium and in the top five. 

The season will begin with five consecutive top five finishes, three of which are podium finishes. He will have another run of six top five finishes over the next eight races, and he will close the season with at least two podium results in the final four events. 

It will also likely require the rest of the field not being dominant with every driver having the off-day on a semi-regular basis. There might be a few drivers that win more, but they will have a handful of bad results that keep Power out of touching distance as Power finishes no worse than 15th all season.

What does a realistic season look like for him?

Power turns 43 years old on March 1. Though winless, 2023 was not a bad season for him. With the strength of IndyCar at the moment, it is not guaranteed we see Power return to his past form. We haven't seen him win multiple races in a season since 2020, he has't won on an oval since 2019 and he hasn't won at least three races in a season since 2018. In two of the last three seasons, he has finished outside the top five in the championship after 11 consecutive seasons finishing in the championship top five. 

We are seeing a regression. 

Power could find a spark and win a race or two in 2024, but still end up sixth or seventh in the championship. He is the third-best Penske driver at the moment. Álex Palou is the best driver in the series. Scott Dixon is still performing at an incredible level. Then you have Patricio O'Ward, Colton Herta and Alexander Rossi, all three who went winless last season but hungry to correct that, Marcus Ericsson is quietly consistent, and there is a sleeper in Christian Lundgaard. That is what Power is up against entering his 20th season in IndyCar. 

Power isn't going to fall off the cliff. He will be on the podium a handful of times and have plenty of top ten finishes, but we are not going to see the Will Power of old with four or five victories and three victories from pole position.

The first round of the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series season will be the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 10. Coverage will begin at noon on NBC and Peacock.

2024 IndyCar Team Preview: A.J. Foyt Racing

Thirty-two days remain between us and the 2024 IndyCar Series season opener from St. Petersburg. Things were better for A.J. Foyt Racing in 2023. Not great, but better, especially considering the team was third in the Indianapolis 500 and showed legitimate pace that could have won the race. However, the season is more than the Indianapolis 500. One great day in May can do a lot for an organization, but 16 uncompetitive days are a more accurate sign of where this team stands.

At First Glance... This is a test for the drivers

Late last season, it was announced A.J. Foyt Racing and Team Penske had agreed to a technical partnership supplying the Foyt team with dampers and providing engineering support. For a team that has long been in the cellar and behind the rest of the teams in the series, this is a shot in the arm for the Foyt organization. 

Now, it is on the drivers.

These new parts and support will lift the team up to a certain level. It isn't going to take Foyt from 22nd to second on the grid, but it should be a boost. It should help the drivers. It is on the drivers to perform. 

Last year, neither Foyt driver averaged a top 18 finish. There is very little room to go down, but there is a great amount to room to move up into. Can either of its drivers make that move?

Santino Ferrucci stood out as Indianapolis, as he has been accustomed to do on a yearly basis. His results elsewhere were reasonable for Foyt. He did have a few events where he did much better than expected, 11th at Long Beach and 16th at Road America after qualifying 11th are two examples, but he couldn't crack the top twenty at Iowa. He was outside the top twenty at eight races. 

Sting Ray Robb did not impress anyone during his rookie season driving for Dale Coyne Racing. Robb had 12 finishes outside the top twenty last season. He didn't have a lead lap finish until the 13th race of the season. He didn't have a top fifteen finish until the final race of the season at Laguna Seca, where he was 12th. 

Robb is here mostly because of money, but Benjamin Pedersen had worse results than Robb driving this second Foyt entry last year. There were three drivers between them in the championship. Any change from Pedersen was likely going to be an improvement. 

Expectations must be properly set for the Foyt organization. The team isn't going to go from 22nd to second, but this is a team that has had only two driver finish in the top fifteen in the championship since the introduction of the DW12 chassis in 2012. The team hasn't had a top ten championship finisher since 2002. 

For Ferrucci, fighting for the top fifteen feels practical. In the Road to Indy, Robb improved in each year he returned to a series. We know he can grow. Growing a significant amount in IndyCar will be his greatest challenge yet. 

The equipment will be there. These will not be Penske cars outright, but they should be better than what the team had in previous seasons. If the results are stagnant from 2023, it will say more about the drivers, and it will likely lead to some changes come 2025.

2023 A.J. Foyt Racing Review

Wins: 0

Best Finish: 3rd (Indianapolis 500)

Poles: 0

Best Start: 4th (Indianapolis 500)

Championship Finishes: 19th (Santino Ferrucci), 27th (Benjamin Pedersen)

Santino Ferrucci - #14 Sexton Properties Chevrolet

Numbers to Remember:

17: Average finish on ovals in 2023

18.2: Average finish on street courses in 2023

19.857: Average finish on road courses in 2023

What does a championship season look like for him?

The Penske parts works wonders from the start and Ferrucci starts with a surprising top ten run in St. Petersburg. Another top ten follows at Long Beach. There is a dip at Barber Motorsports Park, but he is back in the top ten on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. 

In the Indianapolis 500, this time Ferrucci wins the late battle and comes out ahead of the rest of the field in a somewhat surprising victory. There will be a hangover at Detroit, and Road America will only be a little better, but he is back with a top five at Laguna Seca. A victory in a wet Mid-Ohio race bolsters his confidence before he finishes on the podium and in the top five in the two Iowa race. He closes his pre-Olympic break run with a top ten at Toronto. 

Returning from the Olympic break, Ferrucci wins Gateway, he is top ten in Portland, one Milwaukee race he is just outside the top ten, but he cracks the top five in the other. At Nashville, he needs to come up big and he finishes second, but trouble for others means Ferrucci comes from behind and takes a stunning championship by a few points.

What does a realistic season look like for him?

Better but still not extravagant. This could be a season where Ferrucci has three or four top ten finishes. His average finish gets a two or three position bump, and he could get into the top fifteen in the championship. That will be tough. His season lives and dies with the Indianapolis 500. It seems like A.J. Foyt Racing has it set up that way. Ferrucci has five top ten finishes in five Indianapolis 500 starts. Nobody has ever started an Indianapolis 500 career with six consecutive top ten finishes. History is not on his side. Though, a great Indianapolis 500 might not matter.

He was third in last season's Indianapolis 500, with a handful of qualifying points to boot, and he was still only 19th in the championship. Give him 15 more points, the difference between a victory and third, and he would have still only finished 18th in the championship. Even if he had three more top ten finishes, netting him another extra 15-25 points, that still might not be better than 16th or 17th. 

Sting Ray Robb - #41 A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet

Numbers to Remember:

0: Races started in the top 20 last season

24.235: Average starting position in 2023, the worst in IndyCar

22.176: Average finish in 2023, the second worst in IndyCar

What does a championship season look like for him?

A flu-bug runs rampant through the IndyCar paddock for the entire season. It is a bug that keeps a driver out for two months at a time. Once one guy gets it, it spreads through a team. It affects everyone but Robb. He is the only driver not to catch it. With every other driver missing anywhere from six to ten races at a time, and with it hitting drivers right as race weekends start, Robb is competing in depleted fields and allows he to amass more points than if the entire grid had been healthy. Due to Robb being the only driver to complete all 17 races and no other driver completing more than 11 races, Robb takes the championship despite not winning a race nor finishing on the podium all season.

What does a realistic season look like for him?

Top twenty feels like a stretch. Robb was 23rd last year and 30 points behind Devlin DeFrancesco in 22nd. Robb was 67 points short of 20th last year. Moving from Dale Coyne Racing to A.J. Foyt Racing might be a marginal improvement, especially with the Penske alliance, but it isn't necessarily a 67-point improvement. The IndyCar grid is tough and at least six full-time drivers are going to finish outside the top twenty. 

Nineteen of the 22 drivers that finished ahead of Robb last year are returning, but Linus Lundqvist will now be full-time and driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, Pietro Fittipaldi is in the third Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing entry, and Christian Rasmussen might be only competing in 12 of 17 races, and Robb has already finished behind a driver that competed in only 12 of 17 races last year, so absenteeism isn't in Robb's favor either. 

If Robb can crack the top twenty in the championship, it is great season. At best, we are looking at four or five top fifteen finishes, maybe one goes his way and is a top ten result.

The first round of the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series season will be the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 10. Coverage will begin at noon on NBC and Peacock.

Musings From the Weekend: Boycotting Will Change Nothing

Here is a rundown of what got me thinking..

Lewis Hamilton will join Ferrari for the 2025 season. The Japanese Grand Prix has a contract through 2029. NASCAR made the last minute decision to move the Clash up an entire day, and actually drew a respectable crowd on such late notice. Denny Hamlin won the race on a weekend when he became NASCAR's Netflix star, akin to Daniel Ricciardo. The Charter system is up in the air, and that will likely drag into the summer. There has been some two-wheel testing. Williams will be unveiling its 2024 car in New York City today, however, it is something else American-related to Formula One that is on my mind.

Boycotting Will Change Nothing

It was not surprising when the announcement was made that Andretti Global's Formula One bid, in partnership with General Motors, was rejected. For two years, the Andretti organization has been exploring entry into the Formula One grid. What first started as an investigation into purchase Sauber turned into a pursuit to become the 11th team.

For two years, the bid was met regularly with opposition. Current teams dismissed the effort due to its lack of value and potentially watering down the competitiveness of the series. These weren't comments coming from the shadows. You could put faces to the words. Mercedes' Toto Wolff, then-Alfa Romeo's Frédéric Vasseur, Red Bull's Christian Horner, these weren't nobodies, but the spine of the grid, and if they were already saying no, the entry's hope was dead on arrival. 

Yet, Andretti persisted, and it answered all the qualms. Lack of value was erased when General Motors was added to the project just over a year ago. One of the biggest automobile companies in the world, GM made $169.73 billion in revenue in 2023 alone, more than Renault, Honda and Mercedes, three companies all currently on the Formula One grid.

When it came to participation, Andretti had outlined its plans to be based out of its global headquarters, a new shop being constructed in Fishers, Indiana, while using GM support from Charlotte, North Carolina and having the race team and design departments in Silverstone, England with use of Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. Andretti had even rolled out a prototype of its car within the week prior to Formula One's rejection. Andretti was committed to running teams in Formula Two and Formula Three as well, a full endeavor into the FIA ladder system, something no other team on the grid does. 

The truth is this wasn't about what the report said. This wasn't about value to the grid or competitiveness. It wasn't about Formula One making the Andretti name bigger and not Andretti making the Formula One name bigger. It wasn't about if the circuits could safely accommodate an 11th team, nor was it about power unit supplier. 

It was about money. 

The anti-dilution fee for a new team was set at $200 million when the current Concorde Agreement was signed in August 2020. Little did the current teams and FIA expect the series to boom as much as it did in the wake of the pandemic. The value of each team has soared, and the $200 million price tag quickly became a bargain. 

Enter Andretti, or at least attempt to enter. Ready to pay $20 million to each existing team, the ten current competitors realized $20 million would not offset the revenue lost from splitting the pie an 11th way. Last year, word was the teams were attempting to triple the fee to $600 million, still well short of what they would have liked but still significantly more than what was already set as the price. 

If the teams got the price they wanted, Andretti would have been welcomed with open arms. Forget General Motors. Forget competitive relevance. If the buy-in was $2 billion, Andretti would be on the grid this March with a current IndyCar if it wanted. That price was never realistic, nor would it ever happen considering it was already set at $200 million. 

In the wake of Andretti's rejection, there has been a vocal push to boycott Formula One from this side of Atlantic, especially from those who consider themselves as more seasoned race fans. 

Go ahead. It isn't going to change anything. 

For starters, you know you aren't going to be able to look away. We are all masochists. We cannot afford to not be informed, and as much as we say otherwise, we know Formula One is the pinnacle of motorsports. That is why all the money and all the glamour is there. Lie all we want, we are going to continue to watch. There will be a tribal instinct to do so. In the polarization of the viewership, it is viewed as ours, even as a new batch of viewers come in, something we always wished for. Be careful of what you wish for. 

Formula One isn't going to see a sharp reaction from the United States viewers and realize it made a mistake and walk back on its decision. There is the harsh truth that a growing number of viewers in this country do not care that Andretti was rejected from joining the grid. That segment of the audience probably didn't even know there was a bid for another American team to join the series. Because of that segment of the audience, Formula One is not going to lose anything.

Formula One is here and it knows there are plenty of people willing to pay $800 for an obstructed view and a half-eaten ham sandwich in a Miami parking lot. There are even more that will pay $2,000 for no view of the track in Las Vegas. There aren't enough wallets to walkaway for the damage to be noticeable. 

It is upsetting a good-natured attempt to enter the world championship has been thwarted from those already participating, and it is an objection of the series we have know for nearly 75 years. But this is the 21st century, and capitalism is king. These teams know their worth and they know what they would lose with an additional team. These aren't the days of the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s when no one truly realized how much money was coming into Formula One... except for Bernie Ecclestone. 

This isn't the Formula One of racing dreams who believe the right combination of engineering can lead to a grand prix winning entry that no one sees coming. We had the teams of 16 teams and pre-qualifying and teams eight seconds off the pace. It was the best of times. It was the worst of time.

What we have now is teams that know their worth and know how far the dollar goes. They aren't giving up a cent. Gone are the old days. These teams are highly sought organizations. Sponsors want to be in the series. With the budget caps, these teams no longer can go hog wild spending. More money in and less money out makes these possibly money-making endeavors. The landscape of the sport has changed, and everyone in now is going to protect what it has. 

It is a creul reality, and it isn't going to change anytime soon. Go ahead of boycott. When has that ever stopped a series dead in its tracks? There is nothing you could have done to changed it. Unless you had a spare billion dollar to loan Andretti. 

Winners From the Weekend

You know about Denny Hamlin, but did you know...

Jett Lawrence won the Supercross race from Detroit. Austin Forkner won in the 250cc class.

The #99 99 Racing Oreca-Gibson of Louis Delétraz, Ahmad Al Harty and Nikita Mazepin won the 4 Hours of Dubai. The #17 Cool Racing Ligier-Nissan of James Winslow and Alexander Buknatsov won the LMP3 class. The #91 Pure Rxcing Porsche of Klaus Bachler, Alex Malykhin and Joel Sturm won the GT class.

Coming Up This Weekend

The Asian Le Mans Series closes out its season with a doubleheader in Abu Dhabi. 

Supercross is in Glendale.