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The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series grid will have no shortage of fresh faces and reshuffling among the top teams.
Coming off a 2023 campaign filled with first-time winners and controversy, even more change is in store for the upcoming year.
From young rookies to seasoned international champions pursuing their first Cup title, expect the unexpected when the green flag waves at Daytona next month.
#1. Stewart-Haas Racing pins hopes on Josh Berry and Noah Gragson
Headlining the saga of team tweaks is Stewart-Haas Racing. The departure of Kevin Harvick, who claimed the 2014 championship in his first year with the outfit, leaves them lacking in veteran leadership. Though Chase Briscoe and Josh Berry have shown potential, they fall on the younger side for NASCAR. Noah Gragson and Josh Berry also have checkered disciplinary pasts that raise some uncertainty about their readiness to spearhead a top ride.
Noah Gragson, in particular, has a lot of people talking about him. He faces close scrutiny after an ugly social media mishap cut short his not-so-memorable rookie campaign with Legacy Motor Club. His raw talent is unquestioned, with 15 combined Xfinity and Truck Series victories underscoring his potential. But with just 39 Cup starts under his belt, it remains to be seen whether the 25-year-old can match his success at NASCAR's pinnacle.
As for Berry, he drove admirably while filling in for an injured Chase Elliott last season, even notching a runner-up outing at Richmond. Yet that 12-race audition hardly guarantees success over a 36-race title bout.
#2. Spire Motorsports goes all-in on high-upside youth
Spire Motorsports likewise followed the trend of signing youngsters by inking two young bright-eyed rookies to accompany Corey LaJoie. Carson Hocevar's aggressive and incident-prone driving style has grated some fellow competitors, though the 20-year-old maintains ardent defenders as well.
His ability to wheel a stock car is undisputed; he impressed mightily while making nine Cup cameos in 2023 for Legacy Motor Club. Zane Smith snagged a Truck Series championship in 2022, augmenting his budding resume.
But with only three years of national series racing to his name, Smith remains wet behind the ears. At least he can lean on guidance from championship-winning crew chief Phil Surgen during this foray into NASCAR's foremost ranks.
#3. Hemric, Nemechek out to prove themselves; Van Gisbergen preps for American ovals
The theme of former full-timers angling for Cup redemption also features prominently across the 2024 grid. Daniel Hemric earns another crack in elite equipment after capturing the 2021 Xfinity title with Joe Gibbs Racing.
His ascension complies with a planned youth movement at Kaulig Racing, which boasts one of NASCAR's youngest driver lineups. John Hunter Nemechek likewise gets a mulligan after underwhelming two years ago as a Cup freshman with Front Row Motorsports.
Nemechek's statistics hardly popped during that campaign, though many peg the 26-year-old as bound for success if furnished with proper funding and equipment. We'll discover whether that hypothesis proves true as Nemechek slides into retired star Jimmie Johnson's rebranded Legacy Motor Club operation.
Speaking of Johnson, the 7-time champion returns for a second season as both co-owner of said team and part-time driver. However, conversations in the NASCAR world revolve around another unexpected wheelman - three-time Australian Supercars title winner Shane Van Gisbergen.
His gear-shifting talents rank among the best globally across a range of vehicles, though his oval track acumen lags far behind. Just how quickly can the New Zealander adapt to heavy sedans roaring around American banks at 200 miles per hour? We'll gather hints when Van Gisbergen tackles both the Xfinity and Cup schedules concurrently in 2024, perhaps the most daring double-duty driving demonstration since NASCAR's regulation-skirting early days.
