Ranking the top five moments of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season
The checkered flag on the NASCAR Cup Series season has flown, and race fans must now wait until February of 2024 before the cars hit the track again. So from Daytona to Phoenix, let's take a look at some of the most memorable moments that 2023 gave us.
5. Stenhouse puts reputation to rest with Daytona 500 win
Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. has garnered himself a bit of a bum rap over the years with his tendency to cause accidents in superspeedway races. In 2023, though, he began the year by making a statement.
Stenhouse won the season-opening Daytona 500 by holding off Joey Logano and others on a late restart, and was declared the leader when a last-lap accident brought out the yellow flag and ended the race. So you can say what you will, but he'll always be a champion of NASCAR's most prestigious event.
4. Reddick earns first 23XI win with emotional Busch on the call
In July of 2022, Kurt Busch's NASCAR career came to an abrupt end when he suffered a head injury during qualifying for a race at Pocono. Tyler Reddick, initially slated to move to 23XI Racing beginning in 2024, came over a year early to replace him.
Then, as Reddick completed a dominant performance at Circuit of the Americas in March, Busch happened to be watching from the broadcast booth.
It was a fitting moment for both the current driver of the No. 45 and the former one, who was once one of the sport's most prominent villains but has morphed into a widely respected figure around the garage.
3. Against all odds, NASCAR returns to North Wilkesboro
Only a handful of years ago, North Wilkesboro Speedway was all but dead. Then, thanks to the Herculean efforts of NASCAR, Speedway Motorsports, Inc. and the state of North Carolina, one of the sport's most historic venues was brought back to life.
The revived speedway played host to the 2023 All-Star Race, as well as a Truck Series event. Kyle Larson won both races and put on an absolute show during the All-Star Race, going from last to first in one green-flag run and then leaving the field in the dust.
2. Ryan Blaney captures first Cup Series championship, Ross Chastain spoils the party
There's nothing like a first-time champion. Ryan Blaney, criticized by many for his struggles to climb over the hump into NASCAR's elite tier, upped his game to a new level this fall by winning a photo finish at Talladega and then driving through the field late at Martinsville to earn his way into the title race.
Then at Phoenix, he beat Larson in a thrilling late-race battle to win the championship.
It's also notable that Blaney won the championship despite Ross Chastain winning the race. In the first nine years of NASCAR's winner-take-all title format, the race winner of the season finale had been the champion every time. Thanks to Chastain, that streak is now over.
1. NASCAR and Shane van Gisbergen make history in inaugural Chicago Street Course race
What could possibly be a bigger highlight than crowning a champion? Well, let's suppose you go to a completely new type of track for the first time ever, and then a guy who'd never run a race in NASCAR wins in his series debut.
That's what happened on the streets of Chicago on July 4th weekend.
The highly-anticipated event looked like it was going to disappoint when rain interfered with both the Xfinity Series and Cup Series races, but then Shane van Gisbergen came to the rescue. A legend of Australia's Supercars Tour, van Gisbergen wanted to give NASCAR a try and was entered in Trackhouse Racing's part-time No. 91 machine.
He charged from deep in the field in the late going and passed Justin Haley for the win with eight laps to go, making history as the first driver to win his Cup Series debut since Johnny Rutherford in 1963. Van Gisbergen enjoyed the experience so much that he'll be coming over to the U.S. full-time in 2024, running select races in all three NASCAR series.
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