Ryan: Choosing the best NASCAR moment of 2024

Choosing the best NASCAR moment of 2024?

Naturally, the decision is a nail-biter.

That‘s the razor-thin byproduct of a season that produced the closest margin of victory in series history and also its narrowest three-way battle for a win.

Three of the eight tightest endings in Cup history happened this year, marking the finish line as the starting point for any discussion of the best memories in ‘24.

MORE: Closest finishes in Cup Series history

When he finished 0.006 seconds ahead of Brad Keselowski in an Oct. 5 victory at Talladega Superspeedway, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. paused before joining his team in jubilation because he was thinking about the two closer finishes from earlier in the season.

“Obviously like with the Atlanta race earlier in the year, the Kansas race, I’m just sitting there waiting to celebrate and make sure,” Stenhouse said. “It was way too close for me to call from the seat.”

Five other drivers knew that feeling well this season.

Daniel Suárez outdueled Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where 500 miles ended Feb. 25 with 0.003 seconds separating the top three cars.

“I hope that fans enjoyed it; that was a hell of a damn race,” Blaney said while gleefully watching a replay. “That‘s so close!”

But the May 5 finish at Kansas Speedway was the closest recorded outcome of a series with nearly 3,000 races over 76 years. Kyle Larson nipped Chris Buescher by 0.001 seconds but was more awed at being a part of history than getting the victory by inches.

“I got to the start/finish line, had no clue if I won or not,” Larson said. “I guess I cared but really didn’t honestly care because I was just like, ‘Man, that was freaking awesome.‘ ”

Other stirring finishes were more impressive for their timing than the amount of time they took (though all were narrow).

The 2024 season delivered a record six last-lap passes for wins, and three were as captivating as the three closest:

— Harrison Burton‘s out-of-nowhere surge past Kyle Busch for his first career victory Aug. 24 at Daytona International Speedway.
— Chris Buescher‘s bruising duel with Shane van Gisbergen through the final corners Sept. 15 at Watkins Glen International.
— Tyler Reddick‘s third-to-first charge past Blaney and Denny Hamlin in the last mile and a half at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Reddick’s win was the race of the year given the stakes (a Championship 4 berth) and the mesmerizing way in which the climactic moves unfolded (as Reddick bravely seized the win, Blaney and Hamlin choked away their opportunities).

Courtesy of Racing Insights‘ statistical wrap-up of the season, here are a few more of our favorite feel-good things about NASCAR in 2024:

— New (but many old) faces in Victory Lane: A record nine drivers ended winless streaks of at least 42 races during the past season. Burton was the only first-time winner, so Victory Lane turned into a regular welcome-back committee.

Celebrating wins again after absences of more than a full season of races were Stenhouse, Chase Briscoe, Austin Dillon, Alex Bowman, Austin Cindric, Keselowski, Chase Elliott and Suárez. And long winless droughts also ended for Ross Chastain (29 races) and Buescher (37 races).

But those lists stunningly were missing Kyle Busch (who failed to extend his streak of winning seasons to 20 and now is 58 races since his last victory) and Ty Gibbs (still hunting his first win after 87 races).

—Veteran mettle: Michael McDowell and Front Row Motorsports made their seventh and final season together a memorable one.

Having gone without a pole position in the first 466 career starts, McDowell led the series by qualifying first six times this season. The 39-year-old won poles for five consecutive races at drafting tracks (Atlanta, Talladega and Daytona) in a testament to the team‘s car preparation.

Between McDowell and teammate Todd Gilliland, Front Row led 386 laps in 2024 (from 2005-23, the team‘s drivers had combined to lead 493 laps).

–A new sheen: McDowell will join Spire Motorsports next season (with teammate Justin Haley and crew chief Rodney Childers), and the organization laid a solid foundation in its first year as a three-car team.

Rookie Carson Hocevar, who will be Spire‘s only driver holdover next year, led the way by finishing 21st in the points standings while often getting sideways of fellow drivers and series officials — encouraging signs of upsetting the establishment in testing its boundaries. The 21-year-old finished in the top 20 seven times in the playoff (including a career-high third at Watkins Glen).

–Solidly riding into the sunset: Though he went winless in his final full-time season, Martin Truex Jr. said goodbye to Cup by winning the pole for his last two races — the first time in his 19 seasons he qualified first in consecutive races.

Truex also stayed up front during races and led 555 laps, his 10th consecutive season of leading at least 500 laps (which only six drivers have done).

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–Uplifting tire tales: Goodyear quietly made strides in trying to enhance the racing. Bristol Motor Speedway‘s return to the concrete in its spring race delivered an unexpectedly captivating tire management epic. Though those dynamics were unable to be replicated, a softer tire in the Round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway offered hope for the future of short-track racing for four lead changes in the last 100 laps.

Other brights spots: The debut of option tires in a points race at Richmond Raceway and a dramatic closing stint with wet weather tires at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Nate Ryan has written about NASCAR since 1996 while working at the San Bernardino Sun, Richmond Times-Dispatch, USA TODAY and for the past 10 years at NBC Sports Digital. He is the host of the NASCAR on NBC Podcast and also has covered various other motorsports, including the IndyCar and IMSA series.