What to Watch: NASCAR 2023

The NASCAR off-season has always been rather short compared to other sports’ off-seasons. Yet, for the sport’s biggest fans, it always seems to last forever.  Finally, we are approaching the beginning of the NASCAR 2023 season.  Whether you consider the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum exhibition race or the Daytona 500 to be the beginning of the season, the upcoming season is now almost here.

I, for one, could not be happier to get this season started.  I say this for a good reason. There are many things to look forward to this season. In this article, I will go over the things I most look forward to watching play out over the course of the NASCAR 2023 season.

Next-Gen Performance at Short Tracks:

The 2022 Cup series season saw the introduction of the next gen car.  While it produced 19 different winners and plenty of parity, the next gen car had a rough year.  While it brought about some exciting and aggressive racing, it actually failed to produce excitement at the short tracks.  If you take away Ross Chastain’s “hail melon” at the Martinsville playoff race, the next gen car only created short track excitement in the form of random parts and tire failures.

The Bristol Night Race was particularly sub-par when it came to the standard set for exciting racing in previous years.  The cars were too fast in the turns to allow for much passing.  The tires didn’t seem to fall off until they failed.  In most seasons, the night race at Bristol stands out as one of the most exciting of the year.  This was not the case in 2022.

For me, this is one of the biggest situations to watch in the 2023 Cup series season. NASCAR will undoubtedly attempt to fix this in some manner.  While the Busch Light Clash is a short track, I’m not sure it is going to be a good measure with which to judge how short track racing will go this season.  This will be something to watch all season.  I am very hopeful that the next gen short track performance will improve this year.  Yet, at the same time, I will have to see it to believe it.

Kyle Busch’s First Season at RCR:

Kyle Busch didn’t have the greatest of seasons in his final year at Joe Gibbs Racing.  In many ways, his exit from JGR was a more difficult situation than Kevin Harvick’s last season with RCR in 2013. While Harvick had some run-ins with the Dillon brothers, Harvick and Childress knew that 2013 would be the last season they worked together.  Kyle Busch didn’t have any run-ins with Ty Gibbs, but there are definitely questions revolving around whether or not JGR was fully committed to the 18 car in 2022.

Kevin Harvick won his first championship in his first year with SHR.  I fully expect Kyle Busch to have a chance to do the same thing in his first year with RCR.  Richard Childress Racing has a history of doing well with drivers who could be called ultra-competitive or even aggressive.  Dale Earnhardt and Kevin Harvick certainly come to mind.  I believe it is fair to place Kyle Busch in that same category of driver.

Kyle Busch will lift up RCR, and RCR will support Kyle Busch. This could be very bad news for the rest of the field.  RCR won multiple races in 2022 with good drivers, imagine what they’ll do with Kyle Busch.  I expect to see Kyle Busch win multiple races in 2023. Furthermore, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him make the championship four.

Kevin Harvick’s final season:

While I’m on the topic of more experienced drivers experiencing a rebound year in 2023, it makes a lot of sense to look at Kevin Harvick.  Harvick knows that this is his final year.  Rodney Childers, the 4 team, and SHR all know as well.  While Stewart-Haas as an organization had rough years in 2021 and 2022, they certainly looked a lot better in the second half of last season.

The big story of 2022 was the parity seemingly brought about by the next gen car.  Younger drivers seemed to fare better than older drivers.  When switching to a totally new car, this should be expected. Drivers who have more years of experience could have difficulty adjusting to such a sudden change. I would not expect, however, that advantage for less experienced drivers to continue in 2023. After all, as of now, Kevin Harvick is the only driver to win back-to-back races in this car.  The most experienced driver in the championship 4 in 2022, Joey Logano ended up winning the championship last year.

In 2023, I expect to see more experienced drivers to be more prominent. In addition to Kyle Busch, I expect Kevin Harvick to have a much better season in 2023.  I don’t think this farewell season will resemble Jimmie Johnson’s final full time cup series year at all.  Of course, this goes against the “washed up” narrative that many Harvick haters have enjoyed pushing these past two seasons.  Still, the blank slate advantage to younger drivers seen in 2022 will be gone in 2023.  Harvick knows that each race will be his last performance in said race. The 4 team is certainly going to give it their all this final season.  I expect that we will see Harvick win multiple races and have a great chance at making the championship four.

Cole Custer’s Return to Xfinity and Brandon Jones at JR Motorsports:

In the Xfinity series, I will be watching Cole Custer’s return to the series.  Custer was a dominant force in the series prior to moving to the Cup series in 2020.  It would not be surprising to see him pick up where he left off.  Regardless, the 2023 season will be an important one in Custer’s career.  It will definitely be interesting to watch.

Another situation that I will be watching in the Xfinity series is Brandon Jones driving the 9 car for JR Motorsports. This is the same team that won eight races with Noah Gragson in 2022.  Jason Burdett will be the new crew chief for this team.  While Brandon Jones did well in the 2022 season with JGR, everyone remembers how that ended with his own teammate knocking him out of the way (and out of the final four.)  Ultimately, I believe that this move will prove to be a good one for Brandon Jones.

Hailie Deegan Driving ThorSport Racing Fords:

When it comes to the truck series, I am most looking forward to seeing how Hailie Deegan performs with a top tier team like ThorSport Racing.  First, and foremost, this is obviously a good move for Deegan.  I believe there will be a definite improvement in performance compared to her two seasons with DGR.  The question is how much of an improvement will we see.  It will be interesting to watch Deegan improve with a top tier team with top tier teammates.  Finally, and related to this topic, ThorSport Racing is back with the blue ovals in 2023.

Conclusions and More:

The NASCAR 2023 season is going to be a very interesting one.  I, for one, cannot wait to get the season started.  These are just a few of the exciting situations to watch develop over the 2023 season.

In 2023, we will also see the return of Jimmie Johnson, who has teamed up with what was Petty-GMS.  Yes, the new name for Petty-GMS isn’t very exciting. At least the 7-time champion’s return to the sport in an ownership role (while racing a part-time schedule) will be exciting.  Also, when will we find out who will be taking over the 4 car in 2024?  This is another situation to pay attention to during the 2023 season.

Now that you’ve read what I look forward to watching in the NASCAR 2023 season, let us know what you look forward to in the NASCAR 2023 season in the comments section below.