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 2023 NASCAR Mid-Season Report By Brian H Cotnoir With the 2023 NASCAR Season a little more than half-way through, there is so much to talk about during NASCAR History 75th season.   We've seen some surprising winners, some career comebacks, and a return to Victory Lane for some drivers. CUP SERIES Biggest Surprise I know a lot of people are assuming I'm going to name Shane Van Gisbergen's debut win at the Chicago Street Course as the biggest surprise of the season, but I actually think so far the biggest surprise is Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s win at the Daytona 500.   All three of Stenhouse's Cup Series win have come at Superspeedway races, but it was most surprising is how little of a factor Stenhouse has still played in the season.  Other than the win at Daytona Stenhouse's only other Top 5 this season was a fourth place at the Bristol Dirt Race.  Stenhouse is still presently locked into the playoffs, but I don't expect him to make it out of the Round of 16 th

 5 More Auto Racing Facts that sound made up (but are true) By Brian H Cotnoir 1.)  Carl Edwards 1st two wins in NASCAR happened the same weekend Carl Edwards had a fantastic start to his 2005 NASCAR Cup Season.   He made his full-time debut in the NASCAR Busch and Cup Series for Roush Fenway Weekend and did something that no other driver in the Series has done scored his first two wins in the same weekend.   Edwards won the Busch Series race at Atlanta and then the next afternoon beating Jimmie Johnson by 0.02 seconds. 2.)  Dick Hagey drove a Volkswagen Beetle in a NASCAR race What if I told you that one race some driver decided to enter a Volkswagen Beetle, and no I'm not talkinga bout the Disney film "Herbie: Fully Loaded".   In 1953, Philadelphia native Dick Hagy entered a Volkswagen Beetle in a race at the infamous Langhorne Speedway in Pennsylvania.  Hagey qualified 32nd out of 38 entrants in the race and scored a surprising 19th place finish!   The only drivers nam