2022 NASCAR Season Report Card

 2022 NASCAR Season Report Card

By Brian H Cotnoir

CUP SERIES

BEST RACE(s)

There were a number of good races during the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season.  In my opinion the best races this season were all during the playoffs.  Erik Jones won his second career Southern 500 and brought Petty GMS Racing back to Victory Lane.  Chris Buescher helped RFK Racing get back to Victory Lane to the following weekend.  Hands down the best race was Martinsville, Christopher Bell and Ross Chastain snuck their way into the NASCAR Playoffs in the penultimate race of the season.

WORST RACE(s)

The Worst Race of the season was hands down the final race of the Regular Season finale at Daytona.  Now, I was skeptical about moving the race from its traditional 4th of July weekend from the start, but between the frequent Red Flags for rain, the race was an absolute sh!t show.  Austin Dillon pulled off the upset victory, but other than that it was a terrible race.

BIGGEST SURPRISES

Without a doubt it was Ross Chastain's wall ride to beat Denny Hamlin to the line at Martinsville was the biggest surprise of the season.   Chastain's "video game move" not only got him into the Championship 4 and knocked his championship rival Denny Hamlin out of the playoffs.

A close second would be Tyler Reddick winning three races for Richard Childress Racing.  Reddick's victories and consistency on track landed him a ride with 23XI Racing for the 2023 season.   Even just as surprising was that Reddick's replacement at Richard Childress, Kyle Busch left Joe Gibbs Racing AND Toyota.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

Martin Truex Jr. not only failed to make the playoffs for the 2022 season but failed to win a single race this season.  Ryan Blaney also failed to win a race this past season, but still managed to finish 8th in the playoffs.

XFINITY SERIES

BEST RACE(s)

We had a couple of good races in the Xfinity Series, but the majority were dominated by JR Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, and Kaulig Racing.  The Road Course Races were all pretty good, but my favorite race that I can recall was Alsco Uniforms 250 at Atlanta, where Georgia driver Austin Hill won.   The new Atlanta repave did do wonders for the racing.  I was also a huge fan of the Crayon 200 at my home track of New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

WORST RACE(s) 

I'm going to have to give the Championship race at Phoenix. the worst race of the season.  Ty Gibbs pretty much ran away with the race and it was competitive or interesting at all.

BIGGEST SURPRISES

Jeremy Clements won his second career wins at Daytona.   The small family run team survived to the end to win at Daytona in the Wawa 250.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

Daniel Hemric.   The 2021 Xfinity Champion, who was notorious for his runner-up finishes, finally won a race last season, but this year he was absolutely terrible.   He made the switch to Kaulig Racing this year--a team of proven winners a Championship contender--and the best finish he could muster was a 3rd place?!  Hemric finished a disappointing 9th place in this year's drivers' standings.

TRUCK SERIES

BEST RACE(s)

I would have to say the Best Races this season were the North Carolina Education Lottery 200.  Carson Hocevar had Victory snatched by an aggressive blocking move into Ryan Preece and cost them both the win, and handed the victory over to his teammate, Ross Chastain.

I would also say Mid-Ohio was a great race too.  Parker Kligerman held off Zane Smith to take the part-time Henderson Motorsports back to Victory Lane.

And of course, let's not us forget the exciting finish to the Talladega Truck Race that saw Matt DiBenedetto finally get some redemption when he scored his first career NASCAR Victory. 

WORST RACE(s)

The Truck Race at Sonoma was the Most Boring.  If anyone, but Kyle Busch won that race then it might have been exciting, but it was an absolute snooze fest.

BIGGEST SURPRISES

Ty Majeski scored the first two wins of his NASCAR Truck Series career in the round of 8 to lock himself into the Championship 4 at Phoenix, and although he finished an abysmal 20th place in the race and lost the Championship, he showed that during the Playoffs, other teams besides Kyle Busch Motorsports, Front Row, and DGR-Crosley were capable of competing.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

John Hunter Nemechek.   For the second year in a row, he was easily the Championship favorite and squandered a way another opportunity.  He wasn't even the winningest driver at KBM this year.  Chandler Smith won 3 races for the team, and Corey Heim equaled his win total running part-time!  Worst of all, Nemechek didn't even make the Championship Four, what a lackluster season.