Chevrolet Is Clearly the Class of Early 2024 NASCAR Season

• Okay… so the gap from Chevrolet’s tried-and-true Camaro back to Ford’s new Mustang Darkhorse and Toyota’s new Camry XSE might be tighter than it looks on paper.

• On the race tracks, though, it’s a different matter.
  

• The victory for Kyle Larson on Sunday was his 18th since joining Hendrick’s organization in 2021 and his 24th overall following six with Chip Ganassi between 2014 and 2020.

He’s kidding, right? Surely, crew chief Cliff Daniels didn’t say Chevrolet’s early-season advantage over Ford and Toyota isn’t really what it seems?

Huh?

He actually said that after watching eight Chevy drivers lead 237 of 267 laps in the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway?

“I think the gap is actually tighter than it may look like on paper,” said Daniels, who led Kyle Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet team to an overpowering victory in the Cup Series race. “One advantage we probably have right now is the continuity of what we know of our car. Knowing their (new) cars are different, I imagine the balance and some of the handling characteristics are different.

“The continuity of our stuff and the depth of our notes were really helpful. But we’ll have to keep evolving pretty quickly because the more Ford and Toyota start to get their stuff figured out, the gap is going to get closed. When I write my post-race notes it’ll be that the gap is tighter across the field than when we won here last fall.”

Not surprisingly, Hendrick Motorsports general manager Jeff Andrews echoed that after watching HMS get its insurmountable 303rd Cup victory