A new NASCAR season officially began on Wednesday night with qualifying for the Daytona 500, as Joey Logano secured the pole position and Michael McDowell locked in a front-row spot. Cars will return to the track on Thursday night for the Duels, where the remainder of the starting positions will be determined for Sunday’s must-watch race.
We’re 36 races away from crowning a champion in Phoenix, but Dale Earnhardt Jr. shared his early playoff predictions on his podcast, the Dale Jr. Download. Dale Jr. has a shocker among his predictions, as a three-time race winner in 2023 is not in his top 16.
So who did Dale Jr. pick? He’s backing Ryan Blaney to win back-to-back titles – something that has never occurred in the era of the championship four – but also believes Christopher Bell has a good chance to win his first title. Dale Jr. explained that either Blaney or Bell will win the championship, but that he expects Bell could have some bad luck that keeps him out of the championship race.
Dale Jr. also expects Corey LaJoie to win a regular-season race in 2024, locking himself into the playoffs, which will knock Chris Buescher out of the top 16.
Dale Jr’s championship four:
1. Ryan Blaney
2. Denny Hamlin
3. Kyle Larson
4. Joey Logano
Round of 8
5. William Byron
6. Martin Truex Jr.
7. Tyler Reddick
8. Chase Elliott
Round of 12
9. Ty Gibbs
10. Alex Bowman
11. Ross Chastain
12. Christopher Bell
Round of 16
13. Brad Keselowski
14. Kyle Busch
15. Bubba Wallace
16. Corey LaJoie