It’s February, which means the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season is finally upon us. Cars will take to the track later this week at Daytona International Speedway for the 65th running of the Great American Race.
With a wide array of driver and team changes from Silly Season alongside more minor personnel tweaks — or even a few lineups that stayed exactly the same — there’s a lot to discuss as the Cup Series moves into the sophomore season of the Next Gen era.
For 2023, the Frontstretch staff each voted on a top-30 ranking, taking into account each driver’s 2022 season as well as their outlook for 2023.
Below is where we landed. Check back tomorrow (Feb. 14) for position Nos. 20-11, followed by the top 10 on Feb. 15.
30. Harrison Burton
Harrison Burton had an up-and-down rookie year in 2022, scoring only one top five and two top 10s along with an average finish of 22.8. However, his pace picked up toward the end of the season. Burton finished inside the top 20 eight times in the second half, including a career high third at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Overall, he ended up 27th in the final points standings.
Combining the full season of experience under his belt with his entire Wood Brothers Racing team returning around him, Burton has a solid foundation to build from heading into his sophomore Cup Series season. He’ll be one to watch on superspeedways, as he showed a prowess in that particular type of racing, most notably running up front at last year’s Daytona 500 before getting caught up in an incident at the end of stage one.
The problem is an evenly-matched Cup field in which over 30 drivers have legitimate playoff aspirations. Burton may be hard pressed to improve on last year’s performance with the Cup field so strong from top to bottom. –Josh Calloni
29. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
The pride of Olive Branch, Miss., Ricky Stenhouse Jr. hasn’t won a Cup Series race since his two superspeedway victories in 2017. But a trio of runner-up results in his three years at single-car underdog JTG Daugherty Racing has left some convinced that the 35-year-old could find himself back in victory lane. With just 11 top 10s across three seasons, however, many aren’t expecting Stenhouse to set the world on fire.
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