Pit Pass Network Midseason Awards

As NASCAR (sans ARCA) wrapped up the final weekend of the Olympic break, the crew at Pit Pass Network wanted to hand out some Midseason Awards. While it is a bit past the halfway point in the season, the Olympic break was a sensible spot for this article. These Midseason Awards were decided by everyone in the Pit Pass Network crew. First, there was a nomination process. The top nominees were then voted upon by the 13 members of the team.

For the Midseason Awards, these will serve as a precursor for the End of Year Awards that Pit Pass Network will also hold at year’s end. Unlike the End of Year Awards, the Midseason version will only be awards that cover all series together. There are no awards specifically for an individual racing series. For example, Driver of the First Half could have been any driver from NASCAR, IndyCar, and IMSA. Meanwhile, the End of Year Awards will additionally feature series specific awards, such as Driver of the Year for the Cup Series.

For the Midseason Awards, these are the categories:

• Driver of the Midseason
• Disappointment of the Midseason
• Surprise of the Midseason
• Crew Chief of the Midseason
• TV/Media Personality of the Midseason
• Organization of the Midseason
• Best Paint Scheme
• Race of the Midseason
• Most Disappointing Race
• Most Surprising Race
• Best Move/Moment
• Worst Officiating Call
• Funniest Moment

Without further housekeeping to take care of, Pit Pass Network presents the Midseason Awards.

Driver of the Midseason

Winner: Kyle Larson

A winner that will likely surprise no one, Kyle Larson is the Driver of the Year thus far in 2024. Through the first 7 months of the year, Larson leads the Cup Series in wins, Top-5s, poles, and the points. Not only is Larson leading the points in NASCAR’s top series, he is doing so after missing a race due to the Indy 500. Speaking of the Indy 500, Larson managed to impress during his short time in IndyCar. He qualified inside the Top-5 and led laps around the historic oval. If not for a speeding penalty, Larson had the chance to be the best finishing NASCAR driver in the Indy 500.

All of those accolades does not include his successes competing around the country on dirt tracks. An argument could be emerging that Larson is in position to topple Chase Elliott as NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver. He certainly is becoming a household name across racing due to his achievement.

Here is what a Pit Pass Network team member said as to why Kyle Larson got the vote:

Kyle Larson is a race down from everyone and still the points leader. If he isn’t the best driver in the field, I have a hard time believing someone else is.

Other Nominees: Christopher Bell & Corey Heim

PPN Member on their vote for Bell:

I chose [Christopher Bell] for Driver of the First Half because of his impressive stats so far (3 wins, 7 Top 5s, 12 Top 10s). I also chose him because he spilled the beans on Chase Briscoe joining JGR in spectacular fashion. Driver personality is almost as important as their performance.

Disappointment of the First Half

Winner: Kyle Busch

If someone told you that Kyle Busch would be in a must-win situation to make the playoffs with 4 races to go at the start of the season, they would have had major doubts. While Busch’s 2023 season ended on a bit of whimper, the first half of last year saw Busch return to form a bit. He racked up 3 wins through June and looked to be a formidable contender for the Championship Four. Then the wheels started to fall off and the team never recovered.

The bleed over into the 2024 season has been bleak. Although the start of the year was fine enough, Busch has struggled entering the Olympic break. Busch has not gone back-to-back races with a Top-10 since Dover and Kansas. Since those Top-10s, Busch has a single Top-10. In fact, Busch has more DNFs (5) than finishes inside the Top-20 during this stretch. The performance is poor enough where people pondered if Busch would attempt to return to Joe Gibbs Racing to replace Martin Truex Jr. Now, Spire Motorsports seems to be a legitimate option for the former 2-time NASCAR Cup Series champion. 6 Top-10s through 22 races is not up to Kyle Busch standards. Hence why Busch receives Disappointment of the Midseason.

Other Nominees: Hailie Deegan & Corey LaJoie

Surprise of the First Half

Winner: Ty Gibbs

While most expected improvement from Ty Gibbs this season, the sophomore surge that he has showcased was a bit surprising. Yes, Gibbs is driving in top equipment while running in his third straight season of Cup races. However, who would have tabbed Gibbs to be leading the Cup Series in average finish early in the season? Until a recent run of sour results, Gibbs was comfortably sitting in the Top-10 of points. While his first career win has escaped him thus far, his 349 laps led ranks him seventh (and second among drivers to yet win).

As NASCAR returns from the break, Gibbs will be battling for a spot in the playoffs. Currently, he is second among the drivers without a win. He sits 42 points above the cutline, which should keep him relatively safe through the next 4 races. While other young drivers have dipped in their sophomore season, Gibbs has surged and is turning heads. His first career win is likely not too far off in the distance.

Other Nominees: Riley Herbst & Connor Zilisch

Crew Chief of the First Half

Winner: Rodney Childers

An argument could be made that this should go to Cliff Daniels. He did receive plenty of votes, but Rodney Childers barely nipped him. Although Childers does not have the stat line that Daniels does, what he has done with a rookie this season has demonstrating why Spire Motorsports obtained him for next year. Not only is he helping guide a rookie in Josh Berry, but also the driver who replaced a future first ballot Hall of Famer.

Josh Berry has collected 2 Top-5s and 4 Top-10s. However, the 4 team has been better than their numbers suggest. Especially early this season, Berry barely missed out on a Top-10 on numerous occasions. That is in large part thanks to Childers. 5 times this season Berry has made the second round of qualifying. Plus, the 4 car’s speed has not been limited to short tracks, Berry’s specialty. Berry has run well at short tracks and intermediates. Many Berry fans are sad to see the duo split, especially since there was interest on both sides to keep the tandem together. Still, what Childers has done with Berry warrants this midseason award.

Other Nominees: Cliff Daniels & Matt McCall

PPN Member on their vote for Matt McCall:

Matt McCall is Crew Chief of First Half because he has made tough calls that have put the 6 team in position to win multiple races so far this year. You have to be willing to go off script sometimes.

TV/Media Personality of the First Half

Winner: Kevin Harvick

For all the complaints about FOX’s coverage this year, few were about the announcing booth. Mike Joy is a professional and Clint Bowyer might be an acquired taste, but the addition of Kevin Harvick was the right choice for the booth. While some might say it was an obvious choice, sometimes a superstar driver can struggle as an announcer. Who remembers Jeff Gordon in the booth? Meanwhile, Harvick seamlessly transitioned into the role and immediately improved the broadcast. FOX hit a home run with this decision.

More so than being a great analyst, Harvick is the perfect third member for Joy and Bowyer. Bowyer is a loud personality while Joy plays the straight man. Sometimes, Boywer’s antics carry the broadcast array. With Harvick though, it is the right blend of “entertainment” and analysis. Harvick helps reign Bowyer in while serving as lead analyst for Joy to bounce off of. Plus, the numerous quips and shots that Bowyer and Harvick take at each other are glorious. The only bummer about Harvick is that he only gets to do the job for half the season.

Other Nominees: Mike Bagley, Bob Pockrass, & Michael Waltrip

Organization of the First Half

Winner: Hendrick Motorsports

Hard to argue with this one. Hendrick Motorsports leads the Cup Series in wins with 9. All four of their drivers are locked into the playoffs via a win. Kyle Larson leads the points while Chase Elliott sits in second. William Byron looked to be a championship favorite at the start of the season. Based on last year, Byron will surely surge again once the playoffs hit. Meanwhile, Alex Bowman won the Chicago Street Race and looks to be rounding back into his early 2023 form. Plus, the team has won 2 Xfinity Series races.

Other Nominees: Team Penske & Bill McAnally Racing

Race of the First Half

Winner: AdventHealth 400 (Kansas)

This category saw the closest voting results. Out of the three top nominees, the winning race only beat out the competition by a single vote. In the end, the AdventHealth 400 received the nod.

While many will point to the closest finish in NASCAR’s history, this race was solid from start to finish. In the NextGen era, Kansas Speedway has turned into the must see track on the schedule. Every NextGen race at Kansas has been very good, with the recent ones turning into real barn burners. This past spring was no exception.

Starting off with a great battle for the lead between Ross Chastain and Christopher Bell, the action remained throughout. For the strategy folks, pit strategy played a factor, especially in the final stage. Martin Truex Jr was tracking down the leaders as they were saving fuel and tires. As usual, Truex’s final charge was undone by an untimely caution. However, that led way to the photo finish between Chris Buescher and Kyle Larson. The scoring monitor said Buescher won, but the photo showed that Larson barely got him at the (crooked) line.

Other Nominees: Ambetter Health 400, The Loop 110, & USA Today 301

PPN Member on their vote for The Loop 110:

Most Disappointing Race of the First Half

Winner: Coca-Cola 600

Man, this did not have to be this way. Prior to the red flag, the Coca-Cola 600 was shaping up to be another solid outing for the NextGen on an intermediate. There was action out front while comers and goers were frequent all race long. Although Christopher Bell led the most laps, there were a handful of drivers that were in the conversation for best car. Then Kyle Larson arrived to finish his attempt at “the double”. After that, lightning struck (literally). Following that lightning was rain.

Surprisingly to most, NASCAR did not immediately call the race. Obviously, the Kyle Larson factor was there. Surely, NASCAR desperately wanted to get Larson out on the track. Plus, ending a crown jewel event under red would be less than desirable. However, the rain passed and NASCAR started drying the track. Everything seemed to working toward the race resuming. All the journalists there were reporting that drying was progressing well and then the race was called. The jet dryers were turned off and NASCAR told everyone to go home to a chorus of boos.

Due to the humidity, NASCAR deemed the track unsalvageable to go back green at a reasonable hour. However, NASCAR kept fans there for hours to pull the rug out from under them. A lack of transparency again bites NASCAR in the rear as the Coca-Cola 600 disappointed everyone.

Other Nominees: Brickyard 400, GEICO 500, & Grant Park 165

Most Surprising Race of the First Half

Winner: Food City 500

How did this race happen? It has been a much maligned point that the NextGen car has sucked all the fun out of short track racing. While the decision to remove the dirt from Bristol’s spring date was well received, there were still doubts whether the spring race would be good. To the shock of everyone, the Food City 500 turned into one of the best races of the season. Why? Tires, that’s why. How? Who knows!

Still a mystery to Goodyear, the unexpected extreme tire falloff turned Bristol into your local short track. Managing the tires became the name of the game. Drivers who could save tires were able to navigate the treacherous waters. Those who did not suffered tire failures throughout the race. Moreso than any other race on the Cup calendar, the Food City 500 was decided by the driver skill rather than equipment. For example, Ty Gibbs might have been the fastest car that day. However, he was unable to manage his tires as well as Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. Hamlin won the race with Truex in second. Meanwhile, Gibbs finished ninth.

Other Nominees: Ambetter 400 & Enjoy Illinois 300

Best Move/Moment of the First Half

Winner: Shane van Gisbergen’s Sonoma Celebration

Winning is always sweet, but to do so by beating your rival makes it sweeter. Back at COTA, Shane van Gisbergen and Austin Hill traded paint going for the win. Ultimately, their hard racing handed the win to Kyle Larson. Both drivers clearly still had ill feelings about that moment when heading to wine country. At Sonoma, the final restart saw Hill and Gisbergen line up on the front row. Entering Turn 2, Gisbergen used his door to shove Hill out of the way to grab the lead. That ended up being the winning move.

Now, Shane van Gisbergen’s burnout celebration around the track does date back to his days in Supercars. However, Sonoma’s celebration had a bit of extra spice for the non-Austin Hill fans. Gisbergen intentionally did his burnouts around the 21. This drew a one-fingered salute from Hill. In response, Shane van Gisbergen continued his burnouts around the 21 for the remainder of the cooldown lap.

Here is what a PPN member had to say about this moment:

Worst Officiating Call of First Half

Winner: Delayed Caution to end Brickyard 400

What a way to head into the Olympic break. NASCAR has been spotty with their caution calls this season. Seemingly, NASCAR has been looking to avoid the quick trigger in most circumstances. For example, see the ending of the Daytona 500. While the quick trigger still pops up (Kyle Busch at Richmond), the patience has been welcomed by NASCAR fans. However, there is a difference between patience and incompetence.

During the final overtime, Ryan Preece spun coming out of Turn 2. NASCAR waited to see if Preece could get going. After attempting to get rolling, Preece stalled out on the backstretch on the racing surface. Not only was he stalled, the 41 car had a flat tire that would keep him there as well. Once Preece was firmly stopped on the track, the leaders were coming out of Turn 4. From Turn 4 to the line is about 9 seconds. Preece is stuck near the exit of Turn 2 with no hope of rolling again. If the leaders take the white flag, there is no chance NASCAR lets them race through Turns 1 and 2. So why did NASCAR not throw a yellow during the 8-10 seconds they should have?

Here is what a PPN member (and Kyle Larson fan) had to say about this horrendous call:

As a Kyle Larson fan, I picked the caution at Indy being the worst call because it clearly should have come out before the white flag. Also, it took away from a huge win that Larson likely gets anyway.

Other Nominees: Delayed yellow in Daytona 500 & Corey LaJoie Not Receiving Discipline after wrecking Kyle Busch at Pocono

Funniest Moment of the First Half

Winner: Marco Andretti Loses Rear Axle

Words cannot do more than what the above image demonstrates. Somehow, Marco Andretti’s truck lost the entire rear axle while driving at COTA.

Other Nominees: Kyle Busch/Ricky Stenhouse Jr Altercation, Austin Hill Gives SVG the Bird, & Christopher Bell’s “Chase” Moment

PPN member on their vote for the Kyle Busch/Ricky Stenhouse Jr altercation:

I picked the Kyle Busch/Ricky Stenhouse fight for a couple reasons. One, we don’t have footage of the Almirola/Wallace incident. Two, everything about it was funny, from Stenhouse’s shorts, to Kyle Busch’s self-deprecating remarks, to the team member who thought he was in the WWE Royal Rumble.

Paint Scheme of the First Half

Winner: Kyle Larson’s Throwback at Darlington

Other Nominees: Shane van Gisbergen (Talladega), Brad Keselowski (Sonoma), & Chase Briscoe (Chicago)