5 Things I'm looking most forward to in the 2023 NASCAR Season

 5 Things I'm looking forward to in the 2023 NASCAR season.

By Brian H Cotnoir

We are Officially one month away from the start of the 2023 NASCAR Season!  Thank God!  I feel like it's been 10 years since the Championship Weekend in Phoenix, and honestly this season is the most I've looked forward to in a long time.  I'm still riding the high of watching my favorite driver, Christopher Bell, get two walk-off wins in the Playoffs and make the Championship 4, and I believe there will be plenty more to look forward to this season.  So here are 5 Things I'm looking forward to in the 2023 NASCAR Season

1.)  Kyle Busch (and KBM's) switch to Chevy

I believe Kyle Busch will do great things at Richard Childress Racing and his return to GM, but I don't think I'll be the only one who will take some getting used to driving anything other than a Toyota.   I mean, Kyle Busch made Toyota what it is today in NASCAR.   He won everything (minus a Daytona 500) in a Toyota.  He got Toyota their first NASCAR Cup Series Win.  He won two Championships in Toyota, his Truck Series Team dominated for over a decade in the Toyota Camp.  It's mind boggling that they let him go.  This would be like Max Verstappen leaving Red Bull go to McLaren or Scott Dixon leaving Chip Ganassi to drive for Roger Penske in IndyCar.  I do believe Kyle Busch will win this season at RCR, but as for his Truck Series team, I think they're going to struggle this season.

Still going to take some getting used to

2.)  The North Wilkesboro All-Star Race

I never thought I'd see the day when North Wilkesboro re-open, and if it did I didn't expect them to run anything higher than the weekly racing series, Tour Mods, or maybe the Truck Series, but the fans have proven to NASCAR that they were serious about returning to it's roots and NASCAR has put a lot of effort and invested time and money into revitalizing North Wilkesboro Speedway.

If you rebuild it...they will come.

This year the All-Star Race will be held at the Track, and if it's a success, I think it's only a matter of time before we see it back on the Cup Schedule for a Points Race.   I haven't been this excited about the All-Star Race since it was held at Bristol.

3.)  The Return of Jimmie Johnson to NASCAR

During the "Open Wheel Invasion" of the early 2000's we saw several drivers make the jump to NASCAR from Formula One and IndyCar.   In some cases they barely lasted a full season before heading back to IndyCar.   Sam Hornish Jr. and Danica Patrick were the only ones who really stuck it out in NASCAR for the long haul.  You could argue that Juan Pablo Montoya did too, but did return to IndyCar, as did Dario Franchitti.   After retiring for NASCAR Jimmie Johnson decided to give IndyCar a try and honestly his time in IndyCar was highly disappointing.  His best finish in IndyCar was a 5th last year at Iowa, but for the most part he struggled to finish inside the Top 20.  I wasn't expecting him to be competing for Championships, but I thought he would have at least been competitive at Indianapolis, Texas, and Sonoma; tracks he dominated in NASCAR.

14 Drivers Championship's between them!

I'm glad to see him returning to NASCAR Part-time as co-owner of the newly rebranded Legacy Motorsports Group.  I'll be honest, I don't think he'll win in any of his starts, but I do believe he will be a great mentor to Erik Jones and Noah Gragson, and if he finishes any of those races in the Top 10 it'll feel like a win.

4.)  Kevin Harvick's final season 

Another era comes to an end.   Kevin Harvick will be retiring from Full-Time Cup Series Competiton at the end of the 2023 season.   After going winless in 2021, he didn't get off to a much better start in 2022.  After his win at Michigan, I openly remarked that I thought that would be the last time we'd see Kevin Harvick in Victory Lane...and then he won the following weekend at Richmond and shut me the hell up (hey, I haven't had an accurate NASCAR prediction come true since 2017).   I think Harvick will have a little magic left in the tank and if he could win at one of the Phoenix races of Atlanta this year, I think it would put a nice cap on his Cup Series Career.

#4ever

I'm sure we'll still see Harvick make occasional starts on the CARS Tour (now that he's part-owner) and in the SRX Series, and maybe even a Cup or Xfinity Series Race.   But I also think he's going to want to help develop his own children's racing careers, and who knows maybe (hopefully) somewhere down the road we could see the return of Kevin Harvick Incorporated.

5.)  Kyle Larson attempting the Memorial Day Double

I was thought the Memorial Day Double was one of the coolest things a driver can do, and this year 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Champion got the blessing of his team owner to attempt to qualify for the Indy 500.  If Larson qualifies for the Indy 500 this year he'll be the first NASCAR driver to attempt the double since Kurt Busch in 2014.  He'll also join drivers like Robby Gordon, Tony Stewart, and the Late John Andretti to attempt both races in the same day.  So far Tony Stewart is the only one to complete all 1,100 miles in one day.

I know Kyle Larson has had a successful open wheel career, but that was dirt racing on short tracks, and this is the Indy 500.  I hope he makes the race and doesn't falter there like that whiny piss-ant Fernando Alonso did.