Grading Every NASCAR Driver's 2023 Season 

Corey LaJoie BTW, 36 races, 0 DNFs. That deserves mention. Taking care of your equipment will only help Spire’s growth. It certainly won’t hurt it!

Now that we’ve had 10 seasons with the playoff format, I think it would be really cool if you did a video ranking the playoff seasons so far

I would have given Todd a B just because he had to play musical chairs to drive full time since Zane Smith took some of his rides at Frontrow

Giving Ty Dillon a D+ is generous

A team as a whole RFK deserves an A easily.

BJ McLeod: A+++ (For OOTG sponsorship at Darlington) This grade we can all agree, am I right?

With harvick retired, it's sadly time to say goodbye to the amazing class of the early 2000s 😢😢

How does Buescher not get an A+ 💀 Dude won 3 races in a car that hasn’t been anywhere near consistent results in years

As an Elliott fan, that D was generous. That right hook of Hamlin was just plain stupid, especially after missing 6 races for a snowboarding injury. The 9 car made top 10 in owner points partly because Berry got a 2nd in one of his fill in races. I'm thrilled for Blaney, but this season couldn't end fast enough for a 9 fan. They really need to get it together over the off season.

Stenhouse gets a solid A- in my honest opinion. He gave JTG Daugherty Racing a career year in Top 10's, more than what Allmendinger got them back in 2014. Praying that he can use that momentum for more success next year!🤞🙏

One thing with LaJoie is he finished the season without a DNF. That's really impressive with him being in an smaller team.

Kyle Busch really had an under the radar collapse. After gateway people were genuinely saying he was the championship favorite. Then between driver errors, team errors, and the car just not being there he was pretty much an afterthought for a majority of the second half. Still better then his last few seasons at Gibbs though

SHR in 2023 = Roush-Fenway in the mid-to-late 2010s. In the Cup Series, anyway. Cole Custer's demotion to the Xfinity Series ended up working out pretty well for him.

There's something that some people didn't know about LaJoie. Dispite being involved in wrecks, he was able to finish all 36 races, and think he was the only one to do that this season. Major probs to him.

I think what Erik managed to do in that 43 car in quite a few races was great. Some races they just weren't competitive but he got up there running in the top 10 quite a few times

Austin’s new crew chief used to be Kasey Kahne’s in 2015-2017. And the results dropped dramatically.

Personally I would have given Harvick a B based on how off SHR has been yet he was the one driver in that bunch to be consistent enough to point his way into the playoffs

Will you ever do another "reacting to your guy's stop motion "stream again, it was a lot of fun the first time, and the community has changed a lot since than. Keep up the good work!

On Austin Dillon’s situation, you can ABSOLUTELY blame it on one guy. I don’t know how Keith Rodden keeps getting crew chief jobs. He killed Kasey Kahne’s competitive career at Hendrick and didn’t do Jack for McMurray in 2014. He should have stayed on as Kahne’s car chief instead of trying to play crew chief after 2013. He was actually decent at his job back then.

B+ is criminal when Hamlin ran great and get equipment failure in the round of 8. Put him anywhere in the top 20 that day instead of a dnf and he makes the championship 4

Doesn't help that Austin Dillon was involved in almost every incident whether it was his fault or not. He had a ton of bad luck and lots of things happened that were out of his control.

Ty Gibbs lost his father a year ago and I think that affected his racing this past year.

Suarez has been in 3 championship contending teams (Gibbs, Stewart-Haas, and Trackhouse)... he has 1 win to show for it...the Gibbs car he was in was in the championship 4 the year before... his teammate made it to the championship 4 last year...like no offense to the guy, be his seat should be hot

I think your grades were accurate. I may have tweeked a couple but overall, you were spot on.

In terms of teams, I think each team should get a grade: Hendrick Motorports: C Two drivers missing the playoffs is a bad year for them, but then two did end up in the championship 4, so average year Joe Gibbs Racing: B- It was a down year for them. They had 3 cars in the round of 8, only one made it into the champ 4 and he had a mechanical failure. Denny Hamlin was also out for a mechanical failure at homestead. Truex’s collapse started with the mechanical failure at Kansas, it’s been a trend. They need to work on that Penske: B Obviously winning the championship is great, but the 22 team was struggling the second half of the year and the 2 team was dead. Plus Blaney was doing terrible mid season, there was a stretch where he had zero top 15s like Truex Trackhouse: B- Chastain’s win really saved their score, but their performance was just very down from last year. I can’t forget about SVG’s win though, they have very good teams, just need consistency Kaulig: C- AJ’s win stops it from going any lower but they really under performed expectations this year SHR: F First winless season in years. Abysmal performance all around Legacy MC: F Gragson got suspended, JJ crashed out at every race he entered, Eric Jones wasn’t even a factor in all but 3 races. Atrocious RFK: A+ No competition, this team did what Trackhouse did last year. They outperformed every expectation, they carried Ford for a good portion of the year. Both cars are making a deep playoff run next season Spire: B+ The 77 was miserable but that was because of Ty Dillon, when the 77 was with Hocevar it was actually fast. That team has speed. The 7 has been good too. Next year will be exciting JTG: A Daytona 500 win, it was a good year for them FRM: A- Despite losing Blake Harris, the 34 team was very good this year and the 38 is showing improvement. RWR: F Having a driver suspended is almost a sure fire way to torpedo your season, but they haven’t been remotely competitive even when everything was right. It’s been terrible 23XI: A If Bubba Wallace had a win, this would be an A+, but still a fantastic year. MJ shows up every week, and both cars are extremely competitive. They’re both making deep playoff runs next year and Reddick might make champ 4 Wood Brothers: F I forgot they existed for most of the year I think that’s all of them. Overall the big teams regressed and the small teams improved. Parity is stronger than ever. Say what you want about the Next Gen, but it’s brought parity back. It’s super fun seeing small teams win

I think ty Gibbs did really good he was quite he put his head down and just got work done.

Denny Hamlin is like the Dallas Cowboys. Everyone that’s a fan of him always says this is our year, then blows it

JJ Yeley and RickWareRacing deserves a shoutout for 5 Top20 finishes with a 7th Place Best Finish deserves a B+ given the circumstances.

Eric gives Chase Elliot a D ....exits his studio to enter witness protection!

So Richard Childress get's mad at Sheldon for racing for a win and a chance at a title. And the spoiled grandson who can't perform in tier equipment has 10 DNFs. Where is his tongue lashing.

8:47 I was at the track at phoenix, and Hemrick was interviewed and said that he can't wait to race with his teammate Aj Allmendinger next year, so maybe it's not up in the air about what he's doing next year?

C- is a pretty good grade as an Almirola fan. Aric will always be my favorite driver. Same with smoke. He showed he had talent in 2014. 2018 was a great year. Almirola definitely had his bright spots this year like New Hampshire and Talledega. Thank you Aric. I will always remember you: great video Eric!

Noah Gragson: Summer School Cody Ware: EXPELLED

Great season Eric, thank u for all the info and coverage!

The 3 team was definitely dragged back hard by Keith Rodden's inability as a CC. While I think it isn't entirely on Keith, the last time Keitg was even a half decent crew chief was 2013, over a decade ago

You're not going to get much pushback on giving an F to Austin Dillon. He def deserves it.

As a chase Elliott fan, I feel a D is generous (comparing to last year and the expectations)

Noah gragson should have been mentioned, and graded F. Josh Betty deserves a mention too and I’d say an A for Berry

I give Chris Buscher an A+. I'd also throw Noah in here and give him an F.... Just so Dillion doesn't feel lonely...

Truex fan, I'm pretty sure he was affected after Sherry passed late in the season.

My Grades for Every Driver's 2023 Season. Ty Gibbs: B Austin Cindric: D- Harrison Burton: D- (Almost F) Todd Gilliland: C Justin Haley: C- Kevin Harvick: B- Aric Almirola: C- Kyle Busch: B Brad Keselowski: A- AJ Allmendinger: B- Denny Hamlin: A- Martin Truex Jr.: B Christopher Bell: A Tyler Reddick: A- Bubba Wallace: A Erik Jones: C+ Ryan Blaney: A+ Joey Logano: C Chris Buescher: A Ryan Preece: C+ Chase Briscoe: D+ Michael McDowell: B+ Ricky Stenhouse Jr: B+ Kyle Larson: B+ William Byron: A+ Chase Elliott: C- Alex Bowman: D+ Corey LaJoie: B Ty Dillon: D- Austin Dillon: F Daniel Suárez: C- Ross Chastain: B-

Y is it nobody can take into account the fact Bowman has the best start to the season than anyone, he took the points the lead and if not for the injury who knows how long he actually would hold on bc he had great speed good enough to keep it at the time

Best NASCAR show on social media,thank you E

Kevin Harvick is the last current full-time driver that raced in the Winston Cup Series. End of an era. 😢 4EVER

Really dissapointed you didn't grade people like JJ Yeley, Ryan Newman, BJ McLeod and Josh Biliki. I know they're not full time but they shared those full time rides and I feel that some of them did really well!

Gonna get myself and Out of the grove T-shirt Thanks Eric!

Ross Chastain: B- Austin Cindric: F Austin Dillon: D- Kevin Harvick: B Kyle Larson: A- Brad Keselowski: A- Corey Lajoie: B Kyle Busch: B+ Chase Elliott: F Aric Almirola: C- Denny Hamlin: A- Ryan Blaney: A+ Chase Briscoe: D AJ Allmendinger: B Chris(topher) Buescher: A Martin Truex Jr: B- Christopher Bell: A Harrison Burton: D Joey Logano: C Bubba Wallace: A- William Byron: A+ Justin Haley: C Michael McDowell: A- Todd Gilliland: B Ryan Preece: D- Noah Gragson: F Erik Jones: C+ Tyler Reddick: A- Ricky Stenhouse Jr: B+ Alex Bowman: D- Ty Gibbs: B+ Ty Dillon: F BJ McLeod: C Daniel Suarez: C Cody Ware: I for incarcerated

Drivers, Professor Eric has arrived with your season grades!

Being a Cuban American myself, it was fun to see a fellow asere like Almirola each and every race weekend. Liked his reserved but well calculated attitude, had times where he reached great speeds, got top tens and even won a few big ones. (2018 Talladega Fall Race) Despite not being consistent throughout his entire career, Aric still had plenty to show for in his final seasons and always put a smile on my face regardless through his very positive and optimistic attitudes. Something could go wrong and he still did his best to keep his composure. Despite my Hendrick / Chevy ways he was a favorite, always surprising me on a season to season basis as he worked his way up. Long live the Cuban Rocket!

I have to agree with the f for Dillon. He’s my fav driver, but yikes… this year was bad. Between his penalty and insane number of dnf’s (most of which were not his fault) it was rough to watch. I think that’s there’s lots of room to be optimistic about the 3 going into next year tho!!

If it said anything else about how bad Austin Dillon (and others) finished, Chase Elliott missed 7 races, and still finished 50+ points ahead of the next closest driver. He could've most likely missed an 8th and STILL stayed in 17th lol

Your correct on Alex Bowman...I think he was not healed and came back to early

Ross Chastain probably made the biggest turnaround in how he was seen during a season. The start of the year he was the guy who was at fault for everything that went wrong for people, then he took it down a notch, kept his nose clean, and kept steady up until the last race. I think it took him that long to figure out how to race real clean and still get to the front. Blaney was pissed with him at Phoenix, but in no way did him dirty. Who ever has been working with Ross to be more controlled should get a A+.

Im a McDowell fan. THANKS FOR THE LOVE!!! one point to consider.... His age n racing history!! Imagine he could've done so much more with the right team in the past. Still, hes focused and improving with age.

Something just isn’t right with that #9 team. They’ve essentially had no speed since the end of last year. Think it’s time they revamped that team and gave Chase a new CC.

SVG should take the 99.

Eric: In a happy mood *austin dillon appears* Eric: becomes very sad for austin dillon

Contracts can be bought out , I could see Bowman out of the 48 if he has another lackluster year.

I’d actually give Bowman a higher grade because with lower back injuries like that he has to refind his feeling of the balance of the car in his butt. I’m pretty sure Denny said that.

Your grades were mostly on point in my opinion. But man, you were very generous with Briscoe and Almirola. They were invisible all year. I don't get why sponsors put money on cars that are never on camera.

As an Elliott fan I would grade him at least a C- he had that injury+suspension and it also seemed like he lacked speed even at some his stronger tracks

A+ for Both Ryan Blaney & William Byron

The fact that he posted this the day my actual school report card is due 😂😂

I would rate your grading as generally fair.

We know who done really well with not only their equipment and also surpassing the expectations of many; JJ Yeley A+, top ten at Atlanta sealed it.

They need to change the round of 4, if you are the regular season champ you get a bye until the round of 4. Make the points championships worth something

Ty Gibbs was was long better behaved in Cup versus last year. Truex looked like a rookie on a number of road/street courses...

I feel like Harvick was a solid B/B-. The only reason is considering the equipment he was running with. I feel that he and the 4 team were pushing to the limits of what they could achieve. Their speed was absent all season, and he still pushed his car further than any of his teammates in most races. I think had SHR had something competitive to put their drivers in he'd have won at least 1-2 races.

Ty Dillon may have been bad, but he showed what he could do in the regular season finale. He's definitely a good plate racer. This last stretch of this season saw some good top 25 runs under green for Ty. He just needs a competitive ride.

You're right about William Byron he did amazing this season 6 wins I was at 1 of the races that he won wow

I give Eric an A-. He still needs to buy a pair of glasses that fits.

Well, that would be Austin, Dillon's problem, Keith Rodden 😂😂 he failed Kasey Kahne multiple times. He failed Jamie McMurray if anybody expected more that's on them.

I could also see Cindic climbing out of the 2 if another lackluster year happens. He is going on one year deals now.

One driver you didn’t mention (grade), was Noah Gragson. This is understandable, because all the drivers you mentioned, drove a full season (Chase Elliot and Alex Bowman being exceptions). If we go by the time Noah was on track, I think he gets a D-. If we look at his season as a whole, I unfortunately have to give Noah Gragson a failing grade. He gets an “F.”

My grades: Noah Gragson: F- Ty Dillon: D+ Harrison Burton: C- Chase Briscoe: C Austin Dillon: D Todd Gilliland: C Erik Jones: C- Justin Haley: C+ Corey LaJoie: A- Austin Cindric: D+ Ryan Preece: B+ Aric Almirola: B A.J. Allmendinger: B Alex Bowman: C- Daniel Suarez: C Ty Gibbs: A Chase Elliott: C- Ricky Stenhouse Jr: A Michael McDowell: A- Kyle Busch: A Kevin Harvick: B+ Joey Logano: C- Martin Truex Jr: B+ Bubba Wallace: A Ross Chastain: B Brad Keselowski: A Chris Buescher: A+ Tyler Reddick: A Denny Hamlin: A Christopher Bell: A William Byron: A+ Kyle Larson: A+ Ryan Blaney: A (Yeah, he won the shampionship, but he was kinda bad like half of the season, so I can't give him A+) And some extra drivers: J.J. Yeley: C B.J. McLeod: C+ Josh Berry: A- Josh Bilicki: C+ Carson Hocevar: A Riley Herbst: A+ Jimmie Johnson: F Shane Van Gisbergen: A+++++++++++

MTJ lost Sherry late in the season, and has a terrible crew chief. Hamlin is without excuse. Bell is the future for JGR.

Cody Ware: F-------------

Ty Dillion a D+ but Chase and Bowman a straight D? I dunno about that one Eric lol Ty Dillion was and is an absolute dumpster fire

I feel like Im one of the only people excited to see what RWR and Haley have planned next season. They finally arent being restricted by Cody, and theres a wealth of Xfinity guys either on the verge of, or are ready for a shot at Cup. RWR just needs a season to find their footing and establish the direction they wanna go. The RFK partnership bodes really well, especially seeing the speed both Keselowski and Buescher have had. Hell both RFK drivers could have a win if Chris opted to give Brad the Daytona win (iirc, there wouldve been time for Chris to pull off and lift if he wanted, possibly even early enough for them to drag race for the win), and a few coulda, woulda, shoulda moments gone his way. RWR is positioned to become a really strong team if Rick plays his cards right, and his drivers perform. Its not just on Rick and his equipment

10:13 I think we were quick to forget his ex wife’s death. That shouldn’t be discounted in his late season collapse.

Was Joey Logano the quietest defending champion? I felt like all season there was no talk about him being the defending series champion.

I would like to see you do the truck and xfinity grades too

As a Bowman fan, I agree with the ranking. The year of what could have been, had it not been for penalties and injuries. I also meant to comment the other day on Phoenix as the finale. I think the race is boring, and not a good, exciting ending to our season, but my biggest problem with it is that if your favorite driver does not excel there what chance do they ever have to win a championship? Thats why I feel there should be some sort of rotation of tracks. Kevin Harvick in his prime would have been a lock each year for the championship, but it should not just benefit a few drivers in my opinion.

Clearly, it didn't hurt to be in a factory backed Chevrolet.....

My thoughts with Truex are that he parted ways with his longtime partner Sherry Pollex in January and she passed away in September 2023 after a long battle with ovarian cancer. I feel that this was a large and unavoidable distraction.

My grades: 1-Chastain B 2-Cindric D+ 3-Dillon D 4-Harvick C+ 5-Larson A 6-Keselowski B- 7-LaJoie D 8-Busch B 9-Elliott C- 10-Almirola D+ 11-Hamlin B- 12-Blaney A 14-Briscoe C+ 16-Allmendinger B- 17-Buescher B+ 19-Truex B+ 20-Bell A- 21-Burton D- 22-Logano C+ 23-Wallace C+ 24-Byron A 31-Haley D+ 34-McDowell C+ 38-Gilliland C- 41-Preece D+ 42-Hochevar C- 43-Jones C+ 45-Reddick B 48-Bowman D 54-Gibbs C+ 77-Dillon F 99-Suarez C-

Larson has the most DNFs out of all of them and still made Champ 4. He’s the GOAT

Truex Jr. just discovered what athletes is other sports have known for a long time. Once the playoffs start, regular season performance doesn't mean squat. It is all about who can get the hottest at the right time

Eric, I am definitely expecting you to predict McDowell to make the 2024 playoffs next year.

Think you were a little harsh on some of the younger Ford driver's considering the struggles SHR/Penske/Wood Brothers had as a whole this year. Blaney got on a heater in the playoffs, outside of that, he wasn't much better than Lagano. You weren't harsh enough on Suarez, he regressed year over year and finished behind Elliott(who missed 7 races) in the driver's standings. Easily an F.

Part time drivers SVG: A, won in his debut at Chicago and finished 10th at Indy. Jimmie: Unfortunately F or D-, did good in the 500 until caught up in the 2nd to last big one and then the bad finishes at CoTA and Charlotte. BJ McLeod, Josh Blicki, and Anthony Alfredo: D, I wouldn’t say they did bad, they drive for a back marker team, but I was very impressed at Chicago when Josh ran in the top 5 cuz he didn’t pit yet so he was up there with Ty Gibbs and SVG. Josh Berry: C-, finished 2nd at Richmond when he was filling in for Chase Elliott. Zane Smith: D+, made multiple starts in the 38 and one in the 51, I gave him a D+ cuz I can’t think of much of what he did in cup this year. Cody Ware: F-, cuz of what he did, good job on finishing 14th in the 500, tho. Jensen Button: D+, same with Zane. Austin Hill: C+, not much memorable stuff, but he gets a C+ for how well he did in Xfinity. Chandler Smith: C+, same with Austin. JJ Yeley: D+, one top 10 thanks to the summer Atlanta race, but he performs the same as he does post 2007. I’d give Carl Edwards a B+ or A- if he came back.

RFK and 23XI have to get a special A+ for what they achieved this year. If you told me 23XI would have both cars end the year in the top 10 in points, I would say you must be smoking something. Especially for such a new team. And what Brad K has done to turn RFK around is just AMAZING!!!! I don't think one person here thought Brad could get that organization turned around so quickly. A+ to both of those teams this year!

These grade videos have to be my favorite you make! Love watching these each year!!

Cannot wait for this time next year when the Legacy cars are BALLING! Dillon Bros and Noah are the only truly deserving "F" this year IMO

I think Byron had the best season

Blaney and Chastain made a hell of a grading curve.

Noah Gragson: I know he got concussed at Gateway, but only one top 20? Hitting the same tire barrier 4 times in Chicago? That ‘Dumb and Dumber’ haircut? Definite F. Cody Ware: Wife-beater. Expulsion.

Yeah, you were pretty much spot on with all of them enclosing my driver -#9/sucking pond water.

A championship race at Talladega or Bristol Dirt would be AWESOME

Awesome video, I love it, you plan to do the worst and best 2023 paint schemes?