Ch-ch-changes: Here's Who's Who and Where They'll be at in NASCAR in 2024
It's almost the start of the 2024 NASCAR season with its three major series kicking off in Daytona with Speedweeks, Feb. 14-18. With the season fast approaching, we thought it would be a good time to catch everyone up on the driver moves for full-time rides across all three series.
It was a busy off-season for all series, indeed. Here's the drivers who moved from one series to another in the offseason, as well as drivers who made lateral moves in their respective series.
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2024 Craftsman Truck Series
* In terms of teams changing in the Truck Series, the biggest here is that GMS is off the grid. After shutting down in 2023, the following cars are no longer in the series: #23,#24, and #43.
However, things aren't necessarily over for GMS in NASCAR.
"While the ending of an era with the closing of the race team is undeniably a difficult circumstance, bright futures lie ahead. Heading into 2024, Legacy Motor Club co-owners Maury Gallagher and Jimmie Johnson look to strengthen the team on all fronts with their NASCAR Cup Series efforts to become a force to be reckoned with for years to come." -- From a GMS press release on August 23rd.
* Grant Enfinger makes a lateral move to stay with Chevy and his long-term sponsor "Champion." Enfinger signed a multi-year deal with CR7 Motorsports to drive the No. 9 truck.
* Jake Garcia will take the vacated spot of Hailie Deegan in the No. 13 ThorSport truck. After a very solid rookie season, a championship-caliber truck ride for Garcia makes him one to watch in 2024. Due to this, Tyler Ankrum takes the open spot at McAnally-Hilgemann Racing in the No. 18 truck.
* One of the biggest off-season moves was Cup Series driver Ty Dillon taking over Matt DiBenedetto's ride. In a not-so-great season for Matty D, Rackley W.A.R. had the following to say about Dillon joining the team: "We are excited to announce Ty Dillon as the driver for Rackley W.A.R. in the NASCAR Truck Series. Ty's exceptional talent is a perfect fit for our team as we elevate our engineering and technological capabilities to new heights." High expectations will be coming from the No. 25 camp.
* With Zane Smith jumping to the Cup Series, Layne Riggs -- son of former NASCAR driver Scott Riggs -- gets his big break by piloting the No. 38 Ford full-time for Front Row Motorsports. After making appearances in the Truck Series and Xfinity Series, a full-time truck ride -- and one that has championship potential -- was the next logical step for the younger Riggs.
* With another driver moving up to Cup, that driver being Carson Hocevar, Matt Mills takes over the open Niece Motorsports ride. A lateral move into top-tier equipment means that this is a great opportunity for the 27-year-old.
Niece Motorsports also lost young driver Lawless Alan to Reaume brothers this offseason.
* Floridian Daniel Dye joins McAnally Hilgemann Racing for 2024. With both driver and organization on the rise, this partnership could be one to watch out for.
* Thad Moffit joins a new team, Faction 46, which has an alliance with Niece Motorsports. This is a new challenge for Moffit, and a new team can either come out hot or cold. We'll see what happens here, but the grandson of Richard Petty has put all his poker chips into one hand here.
* After the folding of GMS, Spencer Boyd carried over some of that legacy by forming Freedom Racing Enterprises, which uses GMS equipment. We'll have to see if the solid equipment can help this new team hit the ground running.
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2024 Xfinity Series
The Xfinity series probably was the quietest in terms of offseason moves, but the moves that did happen were big ones. Let's break them down:
* Blaine Perkins joins RSS Racing for 2024. He takes over the No.29 Ford ride after racing for Chevy last year.
* After a rough breakup, Sheldon Creed no longer races for RCR. He is replaced by Jesse Love, who is someone to definitely keep your eyes on. One of the youngest drivers in NASCAR this season, the 18-year-old ARCA champion jumps straight to a top team.
* As for Creed, he jumps ship to Toyota and will race for Joe Gibbs in the No. 18 car. He stays at a relatively equal-performing car so we expect much of the same for Creed. He'll have to try to put a rough ending to 2023 behind him and hit the ground running with both his new team and new manufacturer.
* The new driver for JD Motorsports is a touching tale. Dawson Cram will drive the No. 4 car going forward, Cram used to work for the team as a mechanic three years ago. He has plenty of starts in various series and with that mechanic's background, he may be able to diagnose issues with the car easier and quicker than fellow drivers who may not have such a mechanical background. We're very interested to watch this partnership.
* Sammy Smith takes over the No. 8 JR Motorsports car after Josh Berry moved to Cup. Smith is obviously a rising talent and this move should further help his chances of joining a Cup team in just a few years. The 19-year-old has a very bright future and we think JR Motorsports hit the nail on the head here with this signing.
* Another replacement for a newly promoted Cup Series driver goes to Josh Williams, who takes over the No. 11 Kaulig Chevrolet after Daniel Hemric moved to Cup. Williams has raced with various teams throughout his career, but this has to be his best opportunity for him to really take things to the next level.
* One of the more questionable yet understandable moves belongs to Haillie Deegan, who moves to the No. 15 AM Racing Ford Mustang in 2024 in the Xfinity Series. After racing in the Truck Series with ThorSport, a lackluster season means she got promoted? Sort of. We all know results aren't everything in the Truck Series.
Performing better in Xfinity is more of a judge of how well you'll do in a Cup car rather than the truck series. So this move makes sense. Deegan will be out of the Truck Series and jumps into a series that is cleaner and overall has a better talent pool. This will be the judging factor on whether or not she'll be in the Cup Series in the future.
* A new team will hit the grid in 2024 with Leland Honeyman Jr. racing in the No. 42 for Young's Motorsports, which expands to the Xfinity Series. Honeyman and Young's Motorsports had a previous partnership in ARCA in the past so reuniting makes sense for this season.
* Brennen Poole joins Alpha Prime Racing and will pilot the No. 44 Chevy.
* After a fantastic 2023 season at Kaulig Racing, Chandler Smith transitioned to Joe Gibbs Racing to drive the No. 81 Toyota. Smith has gotten better every year and is no stranger to the Toyota family, harkening back to his previous time in the Truck Series. Expectations are high for the former Kyle Busch Motorsports driver.
* Finally, Shane Van Gisbergen will run a full season in the No. 97 car for Kaulig Racing in 2024. After winning his debut Cup Series race in Chicago last summer, SVG's move to a full-time ride was not a surprise for the former Australian Super Cars champion. It ends up being in the Xfinity Series with a top-tier team. SVG will be expected to win road course races and improve on the ovals. If all this happens, you can probably pin him in a Kaulig Cup ride for 2025. SVG will also run road course races for the Kaulig Cup Series team in 2024.
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2024 NASCAR CUP SERIES
Stewart-Haas Racing made the most changes to their 2024 roster so let's dive into that lineup first.
* Josh Berry takes over the ride Kevin Harvick retired from. Berry has big shoes to fill, but his long career in Xfinity plus the select Cup races he ran for the injured Chase Elliott last year, means Berry joins SHR with all the experience he would need. Some questioned the move, but after a solid Xfinity career, while filling those large shoes may not necessarily come easy for Berry, he still was one of the best picks for the job.
* Noah Gragson also joins SHR, taking over for another retired racer, Aric Almirola. After being released last year, and now back in NASCAR, Gragson joins a strong team at SHR. Even though SHR hasn't been the same for a few years, Almirola still managed victories before retiring. Gragson will need to perform better than last year at Legacy if he wants to keep his stake in the Cup Series.
* Speaking of Legacy, John Hunter Nemechek was brought up from the Xfinity Series to potentially be the face of Legacy now that they are partnered with Toyota. After a fantastic 2023 Xfinity season for Nemechek, he joins a Legacy team that might not have the highest expectations, but with their new partnership could be a sneaky team. We don't think expectations will be too high for JHN, but we could easily see him achieve more than a few top 10s.
* At 20 years old, Carson Hocevar will stay in the Cup Series and will race for Spire Motorsports in the No.77 car, while teammate Zane Smith will pilot the No. 71 car. It's about time Smith got a full-time ride.
* Justin Haley joins Rick-Ware Racing in 2024. After being forced out of Kaulig, this move is a bit questionable. Could it be a project for Haley?
* Finally, Daniel Hemric will return to the Cup Series and race for Kaulig Racing in the No. 30 car formally occupied by Haley. It's another opportunity for Hemric and he'll need to take advantage of this chance, unlike his last attempt in the Cup Series. Hemric will have chances at good race results if we base it off of Haley's performances last year.
So that wraps up everything, a lot to unpack. All three NASCAR series look to be exciting this year and you can stay in the loop on Autoracingdigest.com.