Good news, bad news for NASCAR Cup teams during the 2024 season

Before the focus turns to the 2025 season, which begins with the Feb. 2 Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium and the Feb. 16 Daytona 500, here is a look at the good news and bad news for Cup teams during the 2024 campaign.

23XI Racing —Good news: Tyler Reddick finished fourth in the points, marking the first time the organization had a car in the Championship 4. … Reddick had a career high in top fives (12) and top 10s (21), along with his three victories. … Reddick won the regular season championship. … Bubba Wallace finished with a career high in top fives (six) and top 10s (14). Bad news: Wallace did not make the playoffs. … Questions remain about the organization's plans for 2025 with its lawsuit against NASCAR ongoing. When asked at Phoenix if its cars would be at the Clash and the Daytona 500 next year, co-owner Denny Hamlin said "TBD" as in to be determined. He also added: "There's certain things that we're going to have to navigate so I hope so."

Front Row Motorsports — Good news: Michael McDowell won a career-high six poles this season after not having won a Cup pole before this year. … McDowell led a career-high 256 laps this year. … Todd Gilliland led a career-high 130 laps this season. Bad news: Questions remain about the organization's plans for 2025 with its lawsuit against NASCAR ongoing. … Organization did not win a race after having one victory in 2023.

Hendrick Motorsports — Good news: William Byron won the Daytona 500. … Byron led a 1-2-3 Hendrick finish at Martinsville in the spring. … Kyle Larson won a series-high six races, 12 stages and led a series-best 1,700 laps. … Larson won the spring Kansas race by the closest margin in series history (.001 seconds). … Alex Bowman's win on the streets of Chicago snapped an 80-race winless streak. … Chase Elliott's victory at Texas ended a 42-race winless streak. … Hendrick Motorsports won the most races this season (11). This marks the fourth year in a row that Hendrick has won the most races in a season, the first time a team has done so since Hendrick did it from 1995-98. Bad news: Rain thwarted Larson's bid to compete in the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day (he'll attempt it in 2025). … Alex Bowman was disqualified at the Charlotte Roval in the playoffs when his car did not meet minimum weight, costing him a spot in the Round of 8.

Joe Gibbs Racing — Good news: Christopher Bell won the Coca-Cola 600. … Bell finished with 11 stage wins, second only to Kyle Larson's 12. … Denny Hamlin won three races this season, marking the sixth consecutive year he's had multiple wins in a season. … Martin Truex Jr. led 555 laps this season, marking the 10th consecutive season he's led 500 or more laps. He became just the sixth driver in series history to accomplish that feat. Bad news: The organization failed to have a car in the Championship 4 for the first time since 2014. … The organization went winless in the final 18 races of the season. … Truex failed to win a race in his final full-time Cup season. … Ty Gibbs ended the season with five consecutive finishes of 30th or worse.

JTG Daugherty Racing — Good news: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won at Talladega for his fourth career series win. .… Stenhouse has scored wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time in his career. Bad news: Stenhouse finished 25th in the points, marking the second time in the last three years he's placed 25th or worse in the points.

Kaulig Racing — Good news: Shane van Gisbergen scored the team's first career Cup pole this season at the Charlotte Roval. … AJ Allmendinger led the team with five top-10 finishes this season. … Daniel Hemric ranked first in the series in laps completed this season, running 99.4% of the 9,744 laps run this this year. Bad news: Kaulig Racing's cars ranked 28th and 30th in owner points after finishing 21st and 25th in car owner points in 2023.

Legacy Motor Club — Good news: Jimmie Johnson says he'll be back behind the wheel in some races next season but how many remains to be seen. … Erik Jones recorded the team's best finish this season, a fifth-place result at Talladega in the playoffs. … John Hunter Nemechek finished a season-best sixth at Bristol in the spring. … Bad news: Jones and Nemechek combined to finish 25th or worse 41 times this season. … Nemechek ranked 34th in driver points, lowest among drivers who ran every race this season.

Richard Childress Racing — Good news: Austin Dillon's win at Richmond in August gives the organization at least one win in each of the past three seasons. The last time RCR had at least a win in three seasons in a row was 2011-13. … Kyle Busch had back-to-back runner-ups at Daytona and Darlington late in the regal season. Bad news: Kyle Busch went winless, ending his NASCAR record streak of 19 consecutive seasons with at least one victory. … Busch failed to make the playoffs. … Dillon's win did not count toward playoff eligibility. NASCAR penalized him for contact with Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin on the last lap on the way to winning at Richmond.

Rick Ware Racing — Good news: Scored its second career top-five finish with Cody Ware's fourth-place result at Daytona in August. … Corey LaJoie ran the final seven races of the season with the team. His best finish with the team was 14th at Las Vegas. Bad news: Organization's cars ranked 34th and 36th in owner points this season.

RFK Racing — Good news: Brad Keselowski won his first race since joining RFK Racing ahead of the 2022 season, taking the checkered flag at Darlington in May. That ended a 110-race winless streak. … Chris Buescher won at Watkins Glen, giving him at least one win three consecutive Cup seasons. Bad news: Buescher failed to make the playoffs. … Buescher lost the Kansas spring race to Kyle Larson by a NASCAR record .001 seconds.

Spire Motorsports — Good news: Carson Hocevar is the rookie of the year. He finished with six top 10s. … Justin Haley ranked second in laps completed this year, running 99.3% of the laps this year. … Zane Smith finished a career-best second at Nashville. … Organization had a career-best 14 top 10s in 2024. The team had three such finishes in 2023. Bad news: While Hocevar's car finished 21st in owner points, the team's other two cars finished 31st and 32nd in owner points.

Stewart-Haas Racing — Good news: Chase Briscoe scored one final win for the organization, taking the checkered flag in the regular-season finale at the Southern 500. That ended a 93-race winless streak for Briscoe. … Noah Gragson finished a season-best third at Talladega in the spring. … Josh Berry finished a season-best third at Darlington in the spring and New Hampshire. … Ryan Preece placed a season-best fourth at Nashville. Bad news: The team closes shop with the end of the season.

Team Penske — Good news: Car owner Roger Penske's team has won the past three Cup championships. … Joey Logano claimed his third Cup title at Phoenix and second in the past three years. … Logano scored three of his four wins this season in the playoffs, including the season finale at Phoenix. … That Phoenix win was the 150th Cup victory for Team Penske. … Ryan Blaney finished second in the points a year after winning the championship. … Austin Cindric snapped an 85-race winless streak with his victory at Gateway in June. Bad news: Is there really any when one wins the championship?

Trackhouse Racing — Good news: Daniel Suarez ended a 57-race winless streak beating Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch at the line at Atlanta in February. It was the closest 1-2-3 finish in series history. … Ross Chastain won the fall Kansas race, giving him at least one win in three consecutive seasons. Bad news: Chastain failed to make the playoffs.

Wood Brothers Racing — Good news: Harrison Burton scored a dramatic win at Daytona in August to earn his first playoff spot. Bad news: Burton finished 30th or worse in 16 of 36 points races this season.