Here's some late Thanksgiving dessert for NASCAR fans needing a post-season snack
From Tyler Reddick winning his first race with 23XI Racing at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, with a dominant win to returning to an old track, a first-time champion, an Aussie winning in his debut, and many more, the 2023 NASCAR season was one highlight reel after another.
For those of you who are still looking for a little NASCAR dessert to go with what you had for Thanksgiving dinner -- and just in time for this Thursday's NASCAR Awards Banquet -- we take a look back at some of the sport's best moments of the year (in no particular order), as well of some ... maybe not so fortunate moments:
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Shane Van Gisbergen celebrates after winning his NASCAR Cup debut in the inaugural Chicago street race. Photo courtesy NASCAR.
Shane Van Gisbergen Wins His NASCAR Debut
The best moment of the year for many was this inspiring and emotional story!
Coming out of nowhere was this Aussie sports car driver taking on a Cup ride for the first time ever. He looked solid in qualifying, but when it came down to the race, his team had the best strategy, and SVG was just doing things differently than other drivers.
He wasn't the first to driver in NASCAR history win in his Cup debut, but he WAS THE FIRST TO DO SO IN 60 YEARS! But in a way, it wasn't a total surprise as Van Gisbergen is a three-time Australian SuperCars champ.
What's more, let's not forget the fact it was NASCAR's first-ever race on a street circuit, and for him the driver from down under to win, shined such a large light on NASCAR and its possibilities.
Also, let's not forget that SVG came back a few races later for a successful top-10 finish as an encore in the Brickyard 400.
Although the Windy City race wasn't all that great in and of itself, SVG won over the likes of many with his one-race performance ... with the promise of many more appearances to come, as he has already signed with Trackhouse Racing to compete in several races across the Cup, Xfinity and Trucks platforms in 2024.
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Tyler Reddick was all smiles after earning his first win for his new team, 23XI Racing, at Circuit of the Americas earlier this year. Photo: Getty Images.
Tyler Reddick Winning His First Race at 23XI in Dominant Fashion
With Kurt Busch on the headset, giving him tips and pointers, Reddick earned his first of two wins (and the fourth and fifth wins of his Cup career) with his new team, 23XI Racing. He would also win again during the playoff race at Kansas Speedway.
It only took until the first road course of the season and the sixth race of the season. Reddick was the fastest all race, and it took five ... yes five green-white-checkereds to win. He had led at every moment a yellow came out. A great win for his first with his new team!
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Ryan Blaney celebrates his first NASCAR Cup championship at Phoenix Raceway. Can he make it two in a row in 2024? (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Ryan Blaney Wins His First Title
It was back-to-back for Roger Penske and Ford as Ryan Blaney grabbed his first NASCAR Cup championship, following teammate Joey Logano's second career Cup crown in 2022.
It didn't seem like throughout the first half of the year Blaney would even be in the playoff conversation, but the High Point, North Carolina native turned up the heat when it mattered the most, especially his Hail Mary win at Martinsville in the final qualifying race for the Championship 4 winner-take-all round.
Blaney picked up two wins in the playoffs (Talladega and Martinsville, to go along with an early-season home win at Charlotte) and almost won at Phoenix before yielding for a second-place finish.
Still, he earned enough points in the season finale to earn him the championship, the first driver to win the championship without winning the final race of the playoffs since the new format began in 2008.
Blaney proved he is a great driver -- and a great clutch driver at that -- which many already knew. But now he has the hardware to prove it.
It was a fan-favorite win and a title that many of Blaney's peers rightfully congratulated him on in victory lane and the championship podium.
Blaney will now get his full due in this Thursday's NASCAR Cup Champion's Banquet in Nashville. Bravo, champ. Now, what do you do for an encore in 2024?
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Ryan Preece's car goes airborne and begins the vicious barrel roll that saw his car flip 10 times before coming to a rest. Thankfully, he climbed out of his car and was transported to a local Daytona hospital for treatment and observation. Photo courtesy NBC Sports.
Ryan Preece's Downright Scary Crash
Arguably the absolute scariest moment of the year happened in the regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway.
A wreck that caused an eye injury and scars to Ryan Preece was the most troubling yet also one of the most-watched wrecks not just of 2023, but of the last few seasons, to say the least.
Different angles and speeds, slow-motion, no matter how you viewed it, anyone who has ever watched NASCAR and who watched that race had to hold their collective breath for several seconds at the very least, hoping and praying Preece would emerge unscathed.
And, for the most part, that's how Preece wound up. He was fine despite some bumps and bruises and went on to race in Darlington the following week.
While we use this word loosely, it was not only the most cinematic moment of the year, it also was definitely one of the scariest moments of the year coming from the same driver in the same race.
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Daniel Suarez, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin race during qualifying heat race #1 for the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
A Big Welcome Back to North Wilkesboro
Although the actual All-Star race left much to be desired, the return to North Wilkesboro Speedway was one of the best moments of the year.
After much hard work getting the track into raceable condition, as well as cleaning and replacing most of the seating areas and track infrastructure, along with a list of all-star activities, many fans around the US traveled to see the next-gen cars on the old surface.
This immediately led to talks of a return in the future -- and that's exactly what happened, as the 2024 NASCAR All-Star Race returns to North Wilkesboro -- or just Wilkesboro for short. Or Wilks for even shorter.
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Christopher Bell, 2023 Daytona 500 winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Joey Logano, Alex Bowman and Chris Buescher lead the field in a five-wide salute to the fans prior to the Pala Casino 400 at Auto Club Speedway. (Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images)
Five-Wide One Last Time in California
With the news of Auto Club Speedway being renovated to a short track -- essentially shortened from a two-mile superspeedway to a high-banked half-mile bullring -- this past season's spring race would be the final race at the "old" ACS.
To show the dedicated and traveling fans their gratitude, NASCAR put together a five-wide parade lap to send the track off!
Although there are still many questions as to how long the actual construction will take -- it could be 14 months, 18 months or perhaps as much as 24 months (extra time is built into the rehab plans if there are significant construction or weather delays) -- having a five-wide parade lap was a nice gesture for the fans who went to Fontana for the final time with that track layout.
Oh, and for the record, one driver left Fontana with one of the biggest accomplishments of his storied racing career, being the last driver to ever win on the two-mile track at Fontana (and don't be surprised if he's the first winner on the new short track once it finally opens).
That driver? Kyle Busch.
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Denny Hamlin celebrates with a burnout in front of fans after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
Denny Hamlin vs The World
After winning the Bristol Night Race, Hamlin made it known to the crowd that was full of boos how he felt. After a controversial finish, and a not-so-popular winner, in the post-race interview, Hamlin said his most famous words of the season: "I beat your favorite driver -- all of them!"
Denny might not be a fan-favorite but the moment along with the pressure of the crowd led to one of the most favorite quips and moments from Hamlin this year.
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Ricky Stenhouse Jr. celebrates with his crew after winning the 65th annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
And One More For Good Measure!
An honorable mention would be Ricky Stenhouse winning the Daytona 500.
That win put the Mississippi native into the playoffs right from the get-go. For a one-car team to win the biggest race of the year should motivate any team and driver.
Admittedly, Stenhouse's win was somewhat of a one-and-done performance, as he failed to win another race in the remaining 35, and managed just one other top-five finish (fourth in the Bristol dirt race).
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So where do we go from here? Daytona, of course!
Who will win the 66th edition of the 500 next year? Can Stenhouse make it two-in-a-row? Or will it be another rookie, one-car team or one of the biggest multi-team outfits?
We don't know about you, but we can hardly wait.
And for those of you checking your watches and calendars, as of Midnight, Nov. 27, it's now only 83 more days to the start of the Great American Race.
But then, who's counting?
We are, darn it! We hope to see many of you in Daytona!