NASCAR headed down to Daytona International Speedway for the regular season finale of the 2023 season. Chris Buscher took home the checkered flag, collecting his third win of the season, and the fifth of his career. With Buescher’s win, Bubba Wallace clinched the final spot for the 2023 postseason.
The drama started on lap 46 when the diciness and edge that the Daytona regular season finale is known to bring struck once again. Strategy on track, and on pit road was the name of the game in order to be successful after the 160 laps under the lights.
Chris Buescher, and RFK co-owning teammate Brad Keselowski, ran methodical races to stay up front, by putting their collective best foot forward to clinch RFK Racing’s first points-paying superspeedway win since their rebrand. This win at Daytona was also Buescher’s first Cup Series win on a drafting track.
Also running a methodical race was Bubba Wallace, who finished 12th. In his sixth year, the 29-year-old joins teammate Tyler Reddick, as the third-year 23XI Racing organization gets both cars into the postseason for the first time.
Throughout the race, it looked like Saturday night at Daytona belonged to Stewart-Haas Racing. Pit cycles and wrecks derailed what truly looked like a conveyor belt of momentum for each cut line driver and team. Each driver got a chance to see the front of the field, but eventually only one earned the ticket to the playoffs.
At one point it looked like Chase Briscoe’s night, who led 67 laps. His teammate Aric Almirola who finished third, also looked capable of winning after spending most of the night up front. In terms of hope, you can through it over to the Hendrick Motorsports camp. Chase Elliott needed three more spots to clinch a walk off victory, and make the playoffs, to prevent missing it for the first time in seven years. Teammate Alex Bowman saw the same glimpse of hope, but his chance faded away to finish sixth. And for Daniel Suarez, after having a golden chance win at the Indy road course, Daytona gifted him a 20th place result in a inconsistency-filled season.
This was due in large part of avoiding wrecks. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs, who finished 35th was the biggest victim in wrecks to alter his playoff chances. With two laps remaining in stage 2, he was spun by teammate Christopher Bell, prompting a red flag and a ten-plus car pile-up.
Although that was the largest crash of the race, the scariest one came with Ryan Preece flipping ten times at 190 miles an hour.
Whenever coming to Daytona, everyone knows, “expect the unexpected.” Even with offseason adjustments to the next-gen car, fans, teams and drivers know the possibly of a scary, and fiery wreck isn’t out of the picture.
In terms for Preece he was nudged by Erik Jones, but with the sensitivities of getting hit in the wrong spot on track, he collected his teammate Chase Briscoe– who was in a must-win situation, aftering leading 67 laps.
But for the driver of the #41, he was able to get out under his own power, but was placed on a stretcher, and taken to a local hospital in the Daytona Beach area.
As controversy struck, the playoff field and 2023 NASCAR regular season is set.
- William Byron (+2,036), 2. Martin Truex Jr. (+2,036), 3. Denny Hamlin (+2,025), 4. Chris Buescher (+2,021), 5. Kyle Busch (+2,019), 6. Kyle Larson (2,017), 7. Christopher Bell (2,014), 8. Ross Chastain (2,011), 9. Brad Keselowski (2,010), 10. Tyler Reddick (2,009), 11. Joey Logano (2,008), 12. Ryan Blaney (2,008), 13. Michael McDowell (2,007) 14. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (2,005), 15. Kevin Harvick (2,004), 16. Bubba Wallace (2,000).
2023 in Review:
- No organization found a glaring edge over the rest of the field throughout the regular season.
- Each manufacturer flexed muscle periodically throughout the season.
- There is work still to be done on the Short track/Road Course package.
- Hendrick dominance wasn’t a factor after North Wilkesboro, save for the #24 team.
- Front Row Motorsports, and JTG Daughtery Racing made a statement in 2023.
- Both 23XI drivers fill Denny Hamlin’s preseason expectations of both entries making the playoffs.
- The next-gen car is still very much dangerous, despite a decrease in concussions.
- NASCAR proved new/revived venues are do-able, and are good for the sport.
- Ford is the class of the field on Superspeedways with the Next-gen car.
- Kaulig Racing regressed in year 2 of running a two-car Cup operation.
- NASCAR proved once again that Daytona as the Regular season finale will always be a success.
- Street Racing in NASCAR should ONLY be once a year.
- Trackhouse Racing’s execution was an issue in 2023, with only one win with Ross Chastain.
- Team Penske has questions to answer heading into the postseason.
- RFK proved that they’re a top-4 organization in the Cup Series over the course of the summer.
- There is no clear championship favorite for the first time in a while.
Saturday night in Daytona delivered once again. The Coke Zero 400 was a great sequel and a purely better race than this year’s Daytona 500. The build up for the postseason is real. Anyone can make a Cinderella run, as nothing is set in stone.
Labor Day is around the corner, as the fun is just beginning for the 2023 playoffs. The Southern 500 is here, with the first race of the Round of 16 beginning next Sunday night, under the lights in South Carolina.
The Slow Restart 