The Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum starts the 2024 NASCAR season three weeks from today. Although not a Cup series points race, the Los Angeles event opens the curtains for the third consecutive season in the former Olympic stadium.
Kevin Harvick’s retirement following the 2023 concluding race at Phoenix Raceway is tops among numerous driver/team changes starting this year. Harvick competed in the three signature NASCAR series for 23 years. The winner of 60 Cup series races finished his career with a CIELO driver rating of 1842.
Ryan Blaney, the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion, currently holds a 2089 CIELO Rating (revision 3.0.5). The following tabular listing enumerates the ELO-based driver ratings of those reported to have rides on the NASCAR Cup Series:
| DRIVER | CIELO RATING |
| Ryan Blaney | 2089 |
| William Byron | 2036 |
| Chris Buescher | 1917 |
| Kyle Larson | 1904 |
| Bubba Wallace | 1888 |
| Ross Chastain | 1872 |
| Denny Hamlin | 1863 |
| Joey Logano | 1843 |
| Martin Truex, Jr. | 1832 |
| Shane van Gisbergen | 1820 |
| David Ragan | 1764 |
| Ryan Preece | 1749 |
| Austin Dillon | 1746 |
| Chase Elliot | 1742 |
| Michael McDowell | 1724 |
| Tyler Reddick | 1713 |
| Christopher Bell | 1712 |
| Chase Briscoe | 1688 |
| Ty Gibbs | 1683 |
| Daniel Suarez | 1682 |
| Brad Keselowski | 1641 |
| Erik Jones | 1630 |
| Kyle Busch | 1625 |
| Alex Bowman | 1603 |
| Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. | 1588 |
| Austin Cindric | 1583 |
| Todd Gilliland | 1578 |
| Brodie Kostecki | 1570 |
| Austin Hill | 1570 |
| A.J. Allmendinger | 1556 |
| Daniel Hemric | 1554 |
| Corey La Joie | 1550 |
| Harrison Burton | 1549 |
| Josh Berry | 1546 |
| Carson Hocevar | 1512 |
| Ty Dillon | 1507 |
| Justin Haley | 1501 |
| Noah Gregson | 1475 |
| Zane Smith | 1474 |
| John H. Nemechk | 1436 |
| Kimi Raikkonen | 1418 |
| Josh Bilicki | 1397 |
| Jimmie Johnson | 1379 |
| J. J. Yeley | 1351 |
| Anthony Alfredo | 1322 |
| B.J. McLeod | 1319 |
Apologies for any accidental omissions from the upcoming driver roster.
A notable driver-rating outlier is that of Jimmie Johnson. The 83-win Johnson only competed in 3 Cup races in 2023 and hasn’t won a series race since 2017. The current revision of CIELO ratings (3.0.5) only includes results from 2018 forward. The former seven-time Cup Series champion is likely a better driver than the ratings suggest even in his current form. NBC announced this week that Jimmie Johnson, who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this coming 19th, is planning on competing in at least six races in 2024. A drastic improvement of Johnson’s rating would be reasonably expected.
(sps – 2024-01-14)