Sunday’s Southern 500 in Darlington effectively concluded the 2024 Cup Series regular season. This is a crucial juncture in the season with the playoff drivers gearing up for the postseason. It is also a good spot to sit back and compare how far ahead teams have come from their performances in 2023 or how far back they’ve fallen behind.
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A few stark results appear when the 2023 and 2024 regular season average finishes of teams are put against each other. The most surprising and upsetting of them all is the downfall of Joe Gibbs Racing and Richard Childress Racing. 2023 was a huge year for the former with Martin Truex Jr. winning the regular season championship. He had also secured three victories by this point of the season.
Comparing the average finish of each team in the 2023 and 2024 Regular Seasons pic.twitter.com/usvGUtuQOb
— Trey Ryan (@TreyRyan99) September 3, 2024
In 2024, however, he largely struggled and made it through to the playoffs only on points. Additionally, his teammate Ty Gibbs failed to secure a victory and qualified similarly. These results have rendered the average finish of the team to fall from 13.86 in 2023 to 15.42 in 2024. Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell stopped a further drop by winning three races each this year.
Richard Childress Racing’s average has dropped from 18.06 last year to 21.12 now. The better number in 2023 was fueled by Kyle Busch’s masterclass in his maiden season behind the No. 8 car. He won three races in the regular season and looked poised to do even better in 2024. Unfortunately, that has been far from reality and he pulled the team back with multiple DNFs and crestfallen performances.
The teams with the biggest positive difference between 2023 and 2024
Tyler Reddick expertly pulled 23XI Racing’s engine all through the 2024 regular season. He was crowned the regular season champion courtesy of his impressive consistency. As a result, the team had its average finish jump from 17.06 in 2023 to 14.30 now. Although Bubba Wallace couldn’t make it into the playoffs this time, he played a crucial role in this betterment as well.
Hendrick Motorsports was already at the top of the class with an average finish rate of 14.97 in 2023. Thanks to Chase Elliott’s comeback and Kyle Larson’s dominance, the number has further jumped up this year. The team has an average finish rate of 13.79 after the Southern 500.
Ten more races are left to decide who the Cup Series champion will be. But climbing the owner’s standings will be as important as winning the title. This is why teams in the green will be looking to make their years even better and those in red will strive to make amends for the damage that’s already been done.
