When the green flag drops this weekend at Martinsville Speedway, we will officially be a quarter of the way through the NASCAR season.
How can that be? The season seems so young!
That may be because there has been plenty to talk about, from a superstar’s injury to TV ratings, the parity of seven winners in eight races and the appeals panel, of all things. So, here is a brief roundup of the biggest 2023 storylines so far.
There has been plenty to watch as NASCAR not only entered its second season with the new Next Gen racecar, but also its 75th season of competition. Yet there may be no bigger storyline than NASCAR’s most popular driver being sidelined for the majority of the season so far.
Chase Elliott is expected to return to the seat of his familiar No. 9 Chevrolet after being out of the car for six weeks. Elliott broke his leg in a snowboarding accident shortly before the third race of the season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Josh Berry and road racing ace Jordan Taylor drove Elliott’s Hendrick Motorsports entry in his place.
On the subject of Hendrick, let’s talk about all the controversy surrounding that organization this season.
At Phoenix Raceway, all four HMS entries each had their hood louvers confiscated, as well as one from Justin Haley‘s Kaulig Racing machine. All five drivers and teams were docked 100 points each along with hefty monetary fines.
In an utterly stunning move, the National Motorsports Appeals Panel elected to uphold the penalty but reinstate the points to the Hendrick team, but not the Kaulig team. Ironically, Hendrick teammates William Byron and Alex Bowman were hit with 60-point penalties for similar infractions following the Richmond Raceway contest.
The appeals panel also voted to keep a penalty against Denny Hamlin, after he admitted to intentionally wrecking Ross Chastain on the final lap at Phoenix, a feud that has been brewing since last season.
Christopher Bell has also had an encounter with Chastain this season, after falsely accusing him of contact at Phoenix. Bell, who is the current points leader, has had a strong season and won for the first time in 2023 last weekend on the Bristol Motor Speedway dirt track.
With the victory, he’ll join Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in the postseason. Stenhouse broke a losing streak that dated back to 2017 by winning the 65th Daytona 500. It was the first win for JTG Daugherty Racing since 2014.
It was a…
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