2023 NASCAR Mid-Season Report

 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 this season


Biggest Comeback

Last year, I dubbed Martin Truex Jr. the Biggest Disappointment of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season, and I had good reason to:  the 2017 Cup Series champion failed to win a race last year, and missed the playoffs.   This season, he' starting to look like the old Martin Truex Jr.   He scored a win at his home track, Dover International, and is currently 2nd in the drivers' standings.   Here's hoping that Truex can keep up the good work this season and carry that success into the playoffs in a few weeks.


Biggest Disappointment

Chase Briscoe.   Man, what has happened to him this season.   He had a string of three straight Top 5 finishes this season, but other than that's he's struggled to finish in the Top 20.   Chase Elliott has missed seven races this season due to injury and suspension and he's ranked 23rd in the drivers' standings.   Briscoe is presently 31st int he drivers standings.  His only shot at making the playoffs this year is to score a win (but even that may not be enough to get him to the playoffs.


Xfinity Series

Biggest Surprise

Aric Almirola helped take RSS Racing to Victory Lane at Sonoma Raceway this year.  The team has been competing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series full-time since 2014, predominantly with Rod Sieg's son's Ryan, Shane, and Kyle Sieg racing for the team.   The teams previous best finish in the Xfinity Series was a pair of runner-up finishes by Ryan Sieg.    Almirola in a one-race deal with the team took them to Victory Lane at Sonoma, it is a shame though that Sieg's first win as an owner didn't come with one of his sons driving for the team.


Biggest Comeback

Cole Custer lost his Cup Series ride to Ryan Preece this season and returned to the Xfinity Series (where he had finished runner-up in the drivers championship in 2018 and 2019) for Stewart-Haas Racing.   So far Custer has scored two wins--both on road courses--at Portland International Raceway and the rain shorted Chicago Street Course race.   Hopefully is the career rejuvenation that Custer needs to return to the Cup Series, and maybe he'll finally capture that Xfinity Title this season.


Biggest Disappointment

Ryan Sieg is definitely having a terrible season.  Last year, he finished 11th in the final drivers standings and this year he presently sits in the 18th position in the drivers' standings.   He's only scored two Top 10 finishes this year (with a best finish of 7th at Richmond this season).   So far he has an average finish of 20.6 season.   I think the only shot he has to make the playoffs this year is to score his first win in the Xfinity Series.

TRUCK SERIES

Biggest Suprise

Corey Heim is presently the points leader for the NASCAR Truck Series.  He departed Kyle Busch Motorsports this season after he signed with Richard Childress Racing and switched his team to Chevy to continue with the Tricon Motorsports team.   He has picked up two victories this season (matching his total from last season).  He had to miss the race at Gateway due to illness but has been so consistent this season he still is leading the championship.   We'll see if Heim will play a factor in this years Truck Series Championship.

Biggest Comeback

Carson Hocevar has scored not one, but two wins this season!   Last year, he finished runner-up three times and was consistently competing for wins, but was never able to be the first to the checkered flag.  Now that he has finally won a couple of races for Niece Motorsports, we'll see if he can continue to be successful in the Truck Series this season come the playoffs.


Biggest Disappointment

Hailie Deegan moved to the powerhouse ThorSport Racing for the 2023 season.  ThorSport has won four Truck Series titles in the past ten years so it appeared to be a good move for Deegan.  Unfortunately, Deegan hasn't found much success at her new team.  Deegan has struggled to break the Top 20 this season, and her best finish this season so far is a 6th place at Texas Motor Speedway.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Top 10 Most Iconic Paint Schemes in NASCAR Cup History

Image
The Top 10 Most Iconic Paint Schemes in NASCAR Cup History An Article by Brian Cotnoir I’ve talked about the Best Paint Schemes in Cup History, I’ve talked about the Best Paint Schemes in Xfinity History, and now today I’d like to present you the 10 Most Iconic Paint Schemes in NASCAR Cup History. 10.) Citgo, Wood Brothers Racing The Wood Brothers are one of the oldest teams in NASCAR, and in the late 80’s early 90’s they left quite the impression on NASCAR fans with the Citgo Paint Scheme which was piloted by drivers Dale Jarret, Morgan Shepherd, and Michael Waltrip.   Citgo eventually left the wood brothers and sponsored Jeff Burton at Roush Racing, but it was a truly iconic sponsor with that famous number twenty-one 9.)    Skoal Bandit, Harry Gant Harry Gant earned the nickname “Mr. September” when he won 4 straight Winston Cup Races (and two Busch Series) races in September of 1991, and he did it all behind the wheel of the Iconic Skoal Bandit race car.
Read more

Top 10 Ugliest Paint Schemes in NASCAR History

Image
Top 10 Ugliest Paint Schemes in NASCAR History By: Brian Cotnoir I’ve talked about the Best Paint Schemes in NASCAR, and now I’m here to talk about the Ugliest.   Sometimes a paint scheme looks bad because of whose sponsoring the car, and other times it’s a real bad color combination, but whatever the reason these are some of the most hideous Paint Schemes to have ever graced a NASCAR track. 10.)   Dave Marcis, Prodigy paint scheme This one is so ugly, that it’s kind of cool.   For me the big issue is the combination of Purple & Green, and the Neon Orange numbers make it a little better, but this car is still looks like a disaster. 9.)     Joey Logano, AAA Insurance paint scheme Joey Logano has had a number of awesome paint schemes while driving for Roger Penske, however this red, white, and blue monstrosity is not one of them.    I think Logano and Penske should call AAA Insurance and see if they can use their policy to give this paint scheme a complete
Read more

Another 10 Awesome NASCAR Paint Scheme's that you (may have) forgot about

Image
Another 10 Awesome NASCAR Paint Scheme’s that you (may have) forgot about By: Brian Cotnoir 1.)   Kevin Lepage, Hype Energy I still have never had a can of Hype Energy, but I do I remember this paint scheme driven by Kevin Lepage in the Busch Series in the 1990s.   Lepage would score his 1 st career win in the Busch Series with this paint scheme at the 1996 finale at Homestead. 2.) Stanley Smith, Interstate Batteries Long before Interstate Batteries became a mainstay at Joe Gibbs Racing, they sponsored another driver, Stanley Smith.   I honestly wish Gibbs would have kept this scheme over the one he had with Dale Jarrett, Bobby Labonte, JJ Yeley and Kyle Busch 3.)   Bill Elliott, Burger King Despite having a long-time sponsorship with McDonald’s that lasted several seasons, Bill Elliott drove the #00 car for Michael Waltrip Racing with sponsorship from rival Burger King at the 2006 Brickyard 400.   This is one of the better Burger King designs I’ve seen in NASCAR.   4.
Read more