Five thought starters that prove the 2024 NASCAR Playoffs will be a rare breed

There never will be another championship run like the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

That definitively can be said even with the likelihood the final 10 races of the season will produce the typically indelible moments that have come to define the crowning of a champion in NASCAR‘s premier series. Controversy, drama and pressure have been hallmarks of the Cup playoffs for 20 years, and this year probably will be remembered for the same.

RELATED: Playoff standings | Playoff schedule

But before the green flag falls at Atlanta Motor Speedway, these playoffs already are one of a kind.

They will feature a unique mix of drivers, races and tracks that are highly unlikely ever to be assembled in this manner and order again. A curious blend of impending departures (Martin Truex Jr., Stewart-Haas Racing), intriguing debuts (Harrison Burton, Ty Gibbs) and riveting one-offs (Atlanta Motor Speedway, Watkins Glen International) that will add an unpredictable sheen to the championship fight.

Here’s a look at some spicy ingredients that set the table for the 2024 playoffs being such a rare breed:

First-round mayhem

For 10 years, the opening three races of the playoffs mostly have been a straightforward affair of intermediate tracks that seem built for weeding out lesser teams. Darlington Raceway and Kansas Speedway are known for rewarding drivers and teams with few weaknesses.

But Darlington and Kansas are absent in 2024, as the first round is transformed into an underdog‘s paradise with a drafting track and road course for the first time.

Start with the Sept. 8 opener at Atlanta Motor Speedway, whose 2022 reconfiguration into a miniaturized version of Daytona or Talladega has produced razor-thin margins (the Feb. 25 race was the closest three-way finish in NASCAR history) and upset bids.

Then it‘s the first playoff race ever at Watkins Glen, another haven of surprising outcomes that also has featured its share of first-time winners (Steve Park, Marcos Ambrose, AJ Allmendinger, Chase Elliott). The Sept. 15 event also will mark the first time its race falls outside of its traditional early to mid-August weekend since 1986 (when the 2.45-mile road course returned to the Cup schedule after a long layoff).

And of course the Sept. 21 elimination race at Bristol Motor Speedway is a high-banked short track always capable of delivering fireworks.

This year‘s first round is an X-factor delight but with a quick expiration date.

Atlanta and Watkins Glen are in the playoffs together this year, but both already have been returned to the regular season next year in the recently announced 2025 schedule.

Goodbye to all that

Chase Briscoe‘s stirring win in the Southern 500 ensured that Stewart-Haas Racing will get at least one more shot at a title in its final season before shutting its doors. It‘s the last playoff ride for a team that once was a perennial contender: two championships in the past 15 years and five Championship 4 appearances with Kevin Harvick.

Also a championship-race stalwart (five appearances between 2015-21), Martin Truex Jr. will cap his Hall of Fame-worthy career with a final run at a second Cup title that has been elusive (with three-runner-up finishes since the 2017 championship).

Upset upstarts

It would be hard to find a more inconceivable playoff debut than for Harrison Burton, who went from outside the top 30 in points to championship contender in the course of two magical laps at Daytona International Speedway. But what makes it even more astounding is that the first playoff appearance for Burton comes with little assurance he will have a chance to repeat. Wood Brothers Racing has already moved on with its No. 21 ride next season, and Burton has no confirmed 2025 plans, which will make the 2024 playoffs a major audition for the next ride.

The 2024 playoffs also will be the first for Ty Gibbs, and after a season that was an improvement in virtually every category over his 2023 rookie year, the first career Cup win for the 21-year-old could happen over the final 10 races.

Perfect attendance

They are the best teams in the Cup Series, but it still means something when Team Penske, Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports can qualify for the playoffs at a 100 percent rate. Since Penske‘s expansion to a third car in 2018, this will mark only the second time that the 11 cars from those three powerhouse organizations all have made the championship field.

Missing but still present

It seems safe to say that these will be the last playoffs in a long while (let‘s say at least the next decade) that won‘t include at least one of these names: Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain, Chris Buescher and Bubba Wallace.

But in the uniquely inclusive manner of the NASCAR postseason, there‘s a solid chance at least one will leave their mark in Victory Lane this year. The last three Cup seasons each have featured at least one non-playoff driver winning during the final 10 races. With Busch on a recent surge, and Buescher and Wallace achingly close to wins and devastated at missing the playoffs while their teammates qualified, expect one of the final 10 checkered flags to fall their way.

MORE: Playoffs Grid Challenge | Shop for playoff gear

Nate Ryan has written about NASCAR since 1996 while working at the San Bernardino Sun, Richmond Times-Dispatch, USA TODAY and for the past 10 years at NBC Sports Digital. He is the host of the NASCAR on NBC Podcast and has covered various other motorsports, including the IndyCar and IMSA series.