NASCAR Cup Manufacturer Title and ROTY Award Could be Clinched at Martinsville
With two races left in the NASCAR Cup Series season, it's looking as though two season-long championship races will be locked up a week before the series heads to Phoenix Raceway for the season finale.
Chevrolet, which has amassed a staggering 15 wins this season in the NASCAR Cup Series, carries a 45-point advantage over each Ford and Toyota in the Manufacturer Standings. Without "Open" entries being accounted for, the maximum points Chevrolet, which fields 14 chartered entries in the series, can lose to either manufacturer per race would be 27 points.
Accounting for the potential of a full 40-car field at Phoenix Raceway, and also accounting for none of the four "Open" entries in the event being Chevrolets, Chevrolet needs to leave Martinsville with at least a 31-point lead in order to lock up the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series manufacturer title a week early. If there is a full field for the Championship Race at Phoenix, and some of those "Open" entries are Chevrolets, that will help the bowtie brigade's chances of clinching prior to the start of the race in Phoenix Raceway.
2024 NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer Standings (two races remaining)
Rank | Manufacturer | Points | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Chevrolet | 1240 | 15 |
2 | Ford | -45 | 10 |
3 | Toyota | -45 | 9 |
Carson Hocevar, who was the highest-finishing NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year contender at Homestead-Miami Speedway in ninth which marked the 14th time he's achieved that distinction in 2024, carries a massive 110-point advantage over Stewart-Haas Racing's Josh Berry heading into the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville.
What's the magic number for Hocevar? The driver of the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 needs to leave Sunday's race at Martinsville Speedway with at least a 60-point advantage over Berry to clinch the Rookie of the Year Award a week early as the maximum number of points that Berry can gain on Hocevar in the final race of the season would be 59.
If Berry scores maximum points (60) this weekend at Martinsville Speedway, Hocevar can still clinch the ROTY Award without collecting any Stage Points as long as he gains 10 points, which can be done with a 27th-place finish.
2024 NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year Standings (two races remaining)
Rank | Driver | Points | Rookie of the Race |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Carson Hocevar | 655 | 14 |
2 | Josh Berry | -110 | 9 |
3 | Zane Smith | -167 | 10 |
4 | Kaz Grala | -462 | 1 |
The Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway, which will serve as the penultimate race of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season is set for Sunday, November 3. That race, which will decide the Championship 4 field will be televised on NBC with coverage beginning at 2:00 PM ET. The Motor Racing Network (MRN) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will provide live radio coverage of the event as well.
Toby Christie is the Editor-in-Chief of Racing America. He has 15 years of experience as a motorsports journalist and has been with Racing America since 2023.