This article is part of our NASCAR Barometer series.
Joey Logano had the most time to prepare for Sunday's championship finale at Phoenix after winning at Las Vegas to earn the first of the four spots available. Last weekend, he put that preparation to use, qualifying best among the four playoff contenders on the front row for Sunday's title deciding race. When the race started, he immediately jumped into the lead to kick off a confident afternoon, too. He won the race's first stage and finished third in the second before grabbing the lead for the final time with 53 laps remaining. As teammate Ryan Blaney charged to his rear bumper in the final laps, Logano held his car on the perfect line to ensure he would be the one to cross the finish line first to claim his third series championship. Logano led a total of 107 laps to win, second only to Christopher Bell's laps led total of 147. It was a dominant day among the four championship contenders, earning Logano the right to call himself a three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and becoming just the 10th driver to win three or more championships in their career.
With Logano's triumph complete, the work to win in 2025 is set to get underway with the competition growing ever tighter. No driver swept races at a track in 2024 nor was any driver able to win races back to back. Three of the four championship contenders finished first through third at Phoenix, and the four finalists combined to win 13 of the 36 races run. With 18 different winners, the cream definitely rose to the top as NASCAR continues to get even more competitive. The coming year will offer more opportunities for drivers and teams to make their mark on the sport, too. Martin Truex Jr. will retire from full-time competition while Stewart Haas Racing will close its operations as well. Those vacancies offer new chances for teams and drivers alike as they all work to catch Logano and Team Penske when the 2025 season gets underway just three months from now.
UPGRADE
Joey Logano - Logano capped his 2024 season in style, dominating the championship race to secure his third series title and the third in a row for Team Penske. The No. 22 team got the season off to a relatively slow start with several near misses at wins, including a second-place finish at Richmond. The first stop he made in Victory Lane was the All-Star Race, and his first points victory of the year only came in June. Despite consistently being in contention for victories, June's Nashville win was his only victory until the playoffs. However, when it mattered most the wins started coming as he added two in the playoff races to get to the finale. Sunday's win at Phoenix added a fourth to his season total, second only to Kyle Larson's six. By all accounts, even without the title, it would have been a successful year for the No. 22 team. Logano also signed a long-term extension in August and could be winning championships with Penske for many seasons to come.
Ryan Blaney - For the second year in a row, Blaney finished second, first, and second in the final three races of the season. This time, it wasn't enough to win the championship, though. Through the closing stint of Sunday's race, it was clear that Blaney would catch Logano, but getting past proved to be too much for the defending champion. Once behind the No. 22, Blaney was balked and unable to get by, missing out on a fourth season victory and the championship with it. Still, Blaney put together compelling season. Only four drivers each year get a chance to race for the title and Blaney did that two years in a row despite not experiencing the domination of some other drivers. This team gets the job done, though. The top four is the aim, and that is what they achieved. With three wins, 12 top-fives, 18 top-10s, and a runner-up finish in the finale perhaps Blaney will justifiably be one of the early championship favorites in 2025.
Kyle Larson - The most successful driver of 2024 not to have a shot at the title in Phoenix was Larson. The Hendrick Motorsport driver led the pack with six race wins and tied Christopher Bell with 15 top-fives atop the standings. Perhaps one reason Larson was unable to race for the biggest prize was his inconsistency, though. Despite his successes, Larson also had six finishes of 30th or worse. His third-place finish at Martinsville was also not enough to overcome two finishes outside of the top 10 in the final round of playoff eliminations. That is where the No. 5 team will work to improve for 2025. If they can maintain their speed and increase their top-10 finishes, they will undoubtedly be in the championship mix again next year. The team has a lot to celebrate from 2024, but they also have work to do to achieve their expectations.
Christopher Bell - Bell's fifth-place finish Sunday at Phoenix was his 15th top-five and season-leading 23rd top-10 of the season. He may not have made it all the way to the finale, but Bell was a standout performer in 2024. In total, Bell won three races and closed out the season standings as one of the top five drivers for the third year in a row. While missing a chance to run for the title at Phoenix stings, Bell and his No. 20 crew have a lot to be proud of. That near miss could also be fuel for them to come back stronger and smarter in 2025. The team's consistency throughout the year suggests a potential to deliver another superlative season with just a few tweaks. There isn't much to criticize, and that will probably be the team's toughest task through the winter. Minor changes are all that should be necessary and Bell is likely to begin next year as one of the top championship choices.
Chris Buescher - Despite missing the playoffs, Buescher should still be proud of his 2024 accomplishments. He beat one of the best road racers in the world to win at Watkins Glen and finished atop the standings among non-playoff drivers by 52-point margin. If anything, the team will be working over the winter to ensure their race wins come soon enough in the season to earn a playoff spot. As it was, Buescher clocked his win, two other top-10s, and three other top-15s in the 10-race run to the season's finish. That may not have been enough to see him all the way through to Phoenix had he been in the playoffs, but the victory alone would have assured him of at least a 12th-place finish in the standings. Seventeenth is still the third best of his nine-season career, though. RFK Racing has taken a turn for the better since Brad Keselowski joined as part owner, and Buescher should be optimistic that forward trajectory will continue in 2025.
DOWNGRADE
Ty Gibbs - Gibbs had been used to winning quickly as he moved up the ladder to the Cup Series. It was logical that he would win quickly in Cup as well, driving for one of the best teams on the grid. However, two years on, that promise has yet to be fulfilled. Gibbs did make the playoffs in 2024, one of just two drivers to do so without winning a race, and he improved over his 2023 rookie season with two poles, eight top-fives, and 12 top-10s. This is a team that expects to win, though. The year ended with a terrible run of form, including an early crash at Phoenix that netted Gibbs his fifth consecutive finish of 30th or worse to close out the year. Signing off with a career-worst stretch is not the ideal way to head into the winter, but it also marks the opportunity to turn things around. Gibbs and the No. 54 team will expect to win in 2025 and their work to get there starts now.
Kyle Busch - Busch hasn't finished 20th in the standings since his first full-time season in the series back in 2005. However, that is exactly where he finished for 2024. It was also the first season Busch went winless since becoming a full-time Cup Series driver. It wasn't for lack of trying, though. Busch had five top-fives with back-to-back runner-up finishes at Daytona and Darlington. However, luck was largely absent for him, and he tallied the fewest top-fives and top-10s of any of his 20 seasons in the series. There were five races where he led 20 laps or more, but the pieces just didn't come together. By all accounts, it was Busch's worst Cup season to date, and there is nothing left to do but assess what went wrong and attempt to fix it. He and the team do have some positives to build from, but they have their work cut out for them before hitting the track again at Daytona.
Harrison Burton - Despite winning at Daytona in July and making the playoffs, the results weren't enough to keep Burton with Wood Brothers Racing for 2025. In fact, the announcement that Burton would not be returning to the team came just a few weeks before his Daytona win. Instead of kicking off his fourth full-time start in the Cup Series in 2025, Burton will join AM Racing in the Xfinity Series. After three seasons at NASCAR's top level, his 16th-place finish in the standings was his highest. In total, he scored two top-fives and six top-10s. In the cut-throat garage, those stats are not enough, though. Next year, Burton will be looking to land on his feet in Xfinity. In 61 prior races there, he scored four wins, 26 top-fives, and 47 top-10s. Having to take step back in competition will not feel great, but if Burton sees it as an opportunity to seize, we may see him return to Cup in the near future with the chance to live up to his potential.
Ryan Preece - Sunday's 37th-place finish at Phoenix was representative of Preece's underwhelming season. It was his second full season since returning to the series in 2023, and he failed to crack the top 25 in the standings. He scored just one top-five and six top-10s, but more tellingly, Preece only led two laps all season, including exhibition races like the Clash and All-Star Open. To cap things off, Stewart Haas Racing also announced it would cease operations at the end of the year and Preece would have to find another ride to stay in the sport. While nothing is official, rumors suggest Preece will join RFK Racing next year in a third entry from the organization. That is great news for Preece, but after several years of underperforming in Cup, he needs to make an impact. If the move comes to fruition, fantasy players may still want to wait to see how he adapts to the change and if he can improve with it.
BIGGEST SURPRISE
Carson Hocevar - One year after finishing third in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series, Hocevar made the step up to race full time in the Cup Series with Spire Motorsports. The move paid off with a top-five, six top-10s, and 13 top-15 finishes with a best finish of the year of third-place at Watkins Glen. All of that was enough to earn him Rookie of the Year honors, clearing his nearest rookie in the final points by 107 points. After closing out the successful season with an 18th-place finish at Phoenix, Hocevar indicated that his goal for 2025 would be to win a race and make the playoffs. Achieving that would be a boost to Spire Motorsports, one of the smaller teams in the series. Hocevar will be joined at Spire by Justin Haley and Michael McDowell in 2025, too. Those are two race-winning drivers that will help the team continue its climb up the order and will push Hocevar to reach his stated goals next season.
