NASCAR: 5 drivers set for bounce-back seasons in 2024
By Asher Fair
Several NASCAR Cup Series drivers did not have the seasons they would have liked to have in 2023, and all will be hungrier than ever throughout the upcoming 36-race campaign.
Some of those drivers will probably be in for more disappointment, but quite a few are poised to right the ship.
Here are five prime candidates to bounce back in 2024.
1. Chase Elliott
Chase Elliott's season was derailed early on when he missed six races with an injury he suffered in a snowboarding accident, and it never really got on the right track after that. Later on in the year, he received a one-race suspension for intentionally wrecking Denny Hamlin at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Elliott still finished the season with one of the top 10 averages in points per race, but it was a far cry from his success in recent seasons.
In addition to missing the playoffs for the first time in his career, Elliott saw series-best streaks of five straight multi-win seasons, seven straight round of 12 appearances, six straight round of 8 appearances, three straight Championship 4 appearances, seven straight top 10 points finishes, and 134 straight races as a championship-eligible driver come to an end.
Elliott's No. 9 team still made the owner playoffs, and he guided it to a seventh straight round of 8. A former series champion, one who led the series in wins, laps led, average finish, and total points scored in the Next Gen car's first season in 2022, didn't forget how to drive overnight. Hendrick Motorsports are still arguably the top team in the sport, so it will be hard to keep him down again.