Parity Party: Record-Tying 19th Different Winner Could Come at ROVAL
For the second time in three seasons with the Next Gen car, the NASCAR Cup Series could tie the all-time NASCAR Cup Series record for most winners in a season. Heading into this weekend's Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, the series has seen 18 different winners in 2024, one shy of tying the all-time mark.
We come into Sunday's race with back-to-back first-time winners on the year, and we've had three of the last five races won by drivers, who hadn't won yet in 2024. Expand even further, and we've seen five of the last seven races won by drivers who were seeking their first win of the year.
It's been a truly remarkable run of parity in the NASCAR Cup Series.
The incredible thing about the return of parity this season is that early in the year, it looked like the cream had finally risen to the top, and that the days of parity-filled racing in the NASCAR Cup Series were nearing an end.
Through the opening 12 races of the season, seven different drivers had won races, but aside from Daniel Suarez breaking through in a three-wide photo finish to win at Atlanta Motor Speedway, there were no real surprises on the winner list, and two drivers (William Byron and Denny Hamlin) had amassed three victories in the opening 12 races, and another driver (Kyle Larson) had recorded two wins.
The next race, which took place at Darlington Raceway, signaled the beginning of the parity as Brad Keselowski pulled through for his first win in an RFK Racing car, and his first win since the 2021 season, and it was the first win for the new Ford Mustang Dark Horse, which had struggled mightily out of the gates.
Things continued a couple of races later at Gateway as Austin Cindric found himself in the runner-up spot heading toward the finish line to take the white flag when all of a sudden his teammate and race leader Ryan Blaney ran out of fuel. Cindric picked up his first win since the 2022 Daytona 500 as a result.
After another Larson win at Sonoma Raceway, Blaney, the defending series champion, finally snapped his winless drought as well and took his first win of the year at Iowa Speedway.
Two races later, Joey Logano pulled off an improbable win in a quintuple overtime finish at Nashville Superspeedway, and that was followed by Alex Bowman reaching victory lane at the Chicago Street Course of all places.
It was at this point that it felt like on any given Sunday, any driver could win a race at any race track.
Austin Dillon would win at Richmond, sure in controversial fashion which led to NASCAR stripping the Playoff benefits attached to the win, but he had the dominant car prior to a caution in the closing laps which sent the race to overtime, and forced Dillon to do whatever needed to be done to win the race.
Then, the regular season finished with back-to-back first time winners as Harrison Burton scored his first-career NASCAR Cup Series win in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway and Chase Briscoe captured the win in the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway to tally his second career win.
But now, it was the Playoffs, where the Playoff drivers historically find another gear. But through the opening five races of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, that simply hasn't been the case. As Playoff contender after Playoff contender has stubbed their toe, non-Playoff drivers are seizing the moment and have taken three wins in the opening five races of the Playoffs.
That begs the question, who's next?
With this weekend being at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, which has a newly tweaked track layout, who the heck knows. But with several highly skilled road racers in the field, there's a very real chance that we see the 19th winner of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season crowned this weekend.
AJ Allmendinger won last fall's NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at the Charlotte ROVAL, and he's one of the best road racers in the history of the NASCAR National Series. Allmendinger will pilot the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet Camaro, the same car he won this race with a year ago.
Allmendinger will be joined by Shane van Gisbergen in the Kaulig Racing stable, and SVG has been a threat at the front of the field in just about every NASCAR Cup and Xfinity race that he's contested in his short stock car racing career. And the Cup Series stage isn't too big for SVG as he won in his series debut at the Chicago Street Course last season, and he finished runner-up at Watkins Glen International to Chris Buescher a few weeks ago. The New Zealander will be a force on Sunday.
Don't discount other drivers like Michael McDowell, who won at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course last season, and is always near the front on road courses, and the pair of Spire Motorsports rookies Carson Hocevar and Zane Smith, who each finished inside the top-five at Watkins Glen, the last road race in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Additionally, Ty Gibbs has been poised for a breakthrough win all season long, and he is a skilled road racer, evidenced by his win in his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course, and Martin Truex Jr., if he can avoid mistakes, could find himself in the mix as well.
We're truly in the 'Any Given Sunday' days of the NASCAR Cup Series, which truly makes things very fun. You never know which driver or team could show up with a rocketship and surprise with a win. Will we see a record-tying 19th different winner this weekend at the ROVAL? We'll have to wait and see, but there's a legitimate chance.
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.