Back on December 13, Joe Gibbs Racing announced an expansion of its NASCAR Xfinity Series program from three entries in 2023 to four entries for the 2024 season. The addition of a new car meant that the team would either have to acquire an additional set of owner points for one of its cars, or roll the dice with one of its entries having no owner points to start the season.
At a Media event at Joe Gibbs Racing on Thursday, JGR’s EVP NASCAR Xfinity Series/Development Steve deSouza confirmed to TobyChristie.com that the team will not add an additional set of owner points to start the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.
JGR’s No. 18, 20, and 81 teams will carry the 2023 owner points from the organization while the No. 19 team will go into Daytona International Speedway without any owner points to fall back on in qualifying.
However, while the No. 19 team will have little to no safety net if qualifying takes place, the No. 19 car won a race during the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, which would lock the car into the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway by way of the Past Owner Winner Provisional if qualifying were to rain out, which has been known to happen quite often at Daytona International Speedway.
2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Rain Out Starting Lineup Procedure
- 31 highest teams entered from 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series owners points.
- Owner Winners from 2023
- Driver Winners from 2023
- Past Champion’s Provisional (if eligible)
- Any remaining positions would be filled by the next highest cars from 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series owner points.
If qualifying does take place, the easiest way that the No. 19 car could lock into the field is by being one of the 33 fastest in the session.
“I would say there is slim to no risk for us,” deSouza said. “We’re still working on the lineup, but we have three drivers that have wins last year. So if it rains, we’re in. And other than that, they have to qualify in the top 33, and if we don’t do that, we shouldn’t be racing in the first place.”
Depending on who Joe Gibbs Racing selects for the driver of the No. 19 car for the opening four races of the season, there could be additional paths for starting the race if they fall outside the top 33 in qualifying.
Ryan Truex, John Hunter Nemechek, and Aric Almirola all won a NASCAR Xfinity Series event in 2023, which would make them eligible for the Past Winner’s Provisional in this entry while the No. 19 team waits for 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Owner Points to kick in. But that option is only available if JGR puts one of those three drivers behind the wheel of the No. 19 Toyota Supra in the opening four races of the 2024 season.
2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Qualifying Procedure
- Top 33 fastest in the qualifying session.
- Four owner point provisionals.
- Past Champion’s Provisional or Past Winner’s Provisional or an additional owner point provisional if PCP/PWP not used.
As it stands, JGR has yet to announce the driver of the No. 19 Toyota for the season-opening event at Daytona, but deSouza says the team is going to do everything in its power to gain points over the opening four races of the season to position itself for the remainder of the year.
“The first four races obviously, we’re going to play our cards the right way to make sure we get the points we need, and then the fifth race, we’ll be off to the races type thing,” deSouza explained. “But I think the way we’re setting it up, and what we’re going to be doing, obviously, I try to review every option and figure out the right scenario.”
