Toby's Take: Seven Bold Predictions for the 2024 NASCAR Season

It seems like just yesterday that Ryan Blaney became the new NASCAR Cup Series champion at Phoenix Raceway, but a new season and a new pile of storylines await as we barrel toward the season-opening points race at Daytona International Speedway, which just so happens to be the biggest race in the world of NASCAR -- the Daytona 500.

Just like with every passing season anymore, it feels like there is so much that is new in the NASCAR Cup Series. New faces in new places. New sponsorships and paint schemes. New everything.

With that being said, it's time for me to make my predictions for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season. Will they age like wine or milk? That remains to be seen, but I have seven bold predictions that I feel will come to fruition this season.

Brad Keselowski will win multiple races this season, including the Daytona 500

At first, I was going to say Brad Keselowski would win a race this season, but that wouldn't be a super bold prediction. I think he wins at least two races this year.

The 39-year-old racer was knocking on the door of victory lane for essentially the duration of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season, and he was especially strong in the superspeedway-style races.

Keselowski led 42 laps in the Daytona 500 but came up empty in the Great American Race yet again after a crash ended his race. He then led 47 laps and finished second at Atlanta, was fifth at Talladega in the spring, sixth at Atlanta in the summer, and second at Daytona in the summer.

While he couldn't quite find the key to victory lane in 2023, Keselowski will flat-out break the door down this season as he will score multiple wins, the first being a win in the Daytona 500 in his 15th attempt.

Chase Elliott returns to form

It was a rough 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season for Chase Elliott, the sport's most popular driver. Elliott missed a total of seven races, six due to injury and one due to suspension, and failed to make it into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs for the first time in his career.

Elliott also failed to win a race for the first time since 2017.

While Elliott had the odds stacked very high against him in 2023, he still performed admirably and found a way to finish 17th in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings.

Elliott will win multiple races and will have a sustained Playoff run in 2024.

Stewart-Haas Racing gets two drivers in the Playoffs

Sure, Stewart-Haas Racing changed its branding and team logos following a dismal 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season, but there is a lot more going on at the shop in Kannapolis, North Carolina than putting lipstick on a pig. The frustrating 2023 campaign and the social media backlash that came with it caused the team to look good, and hard at itself in the mirror.

Every bit of social media messaging this offseason has been Stewart-Haas Racing saying that they will not give up, that they are a team filled with true racers, and that they will stop at nothing to get back to the mountaintop.

I believe them. Will they win a championship this year? No. But I do believe Stewart-Haas Racing locks two drivers into the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs in the first season of the post-Kevin Harvick era.

Which two? While Josh Berry is a rookie in the NASCAR Cup Series, having Rodney Childers on the pit box could serve as a cheat code for the rookie, and I believe he makes the Playoffs alongside Chase Briscoe.