If there is any overarching theme of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season so far, it's that this year encapsulates everything modernity in stock car racing entails. We've seen race teams receive record penalties for sticking to long-held ideas about "creative engineering" in the Next Gen era, star drivers get stiff penalties for putting others in the wall -- while admitting that they did so on a podcast -- and some international racing superstars come to the United States to try NASCAR for themselves, with more soon to come.
As much as this year has illustrated the way stock car racing has changed dramatically over the past decade, what hasn't changed is the high level of competition and close quarters racing that has made NASCAR the top form of motorsports in America. With 16 of 36 races now complete -- and 10 to go before the playoffs begin -- NASCAR takes its only break of the year with its lone off-weekend of the 2023 season.
With some of the major themes and trends of the season so far considered, let's examine some storylines to monitor into the second half of NASCAR's 75th Anniversary season.
Stability at Hendrick
Statistically, it's difficult to suggest that the first half of the 2023 season hasn't been successful for Hendrick Motorsports, with William Byron winning three times and emerging as a championship contender alongside Kyle Larson's pair of victories plus an All-Star Race win. That success, though, has come in spite of all Hendrick has faced this year.
Few things have been constant at Hendrick this year, as the company has been plagued by driver injuries and crew absences. Chase Elliott has missed seven races in total, six due to a leg injury suffered in a snowboarding accident and one due to a NASCAR-imposed suspension for intentionally wrecking another driver. Just when Hendrick got Elliott back, Alex Bowman was sidelined for three weeks after fracturing his back in a sprint car accident. And all four Hendrick crew chiefs have had to serve four-race suspensions stemming from massive penalties imposed on the organization for technical infractions discovered at Phoenix in March.
Byron and Larson are best equipped for the second half of the year thanks to their relative lack of disruptions, with Byron firmly in the mix for the regular season championship. Bowman is still in contention to make the playoffs on points, but not comfortably as he sits just three points above the cut line entering Nashville. But of all the Hendrick drivers, it is Elliott who faces the greatest burden. Sitting 27th in points, the 2020 Cup Series champion's only realistic chance of making the playoffs is to win a race, creating an urgent need for him and the No. 9 team to do whatever is necessary to make that happen.
No more beating around the Busch
It turns out that rumors of Kyle Busch's demise were, indeed, greatly exaggerated. After a few lean years in the win column and a split with Joe Gibbs Racing, Kyle Busch has looked rejuvenated and much like his old, dominant self again at Richard Childress Racing. After winning just four times from 2020-2022, Busch has already won three races this season at Fontana, Talladega and Gateway. And had it not been for a caution coming to two laps to go, he probably would've won the Daytona 500 as well.
Currently sixth in points and second on the playoff grid, Busch's performance in the first half of the year puts him firmly in the conversation among championship contenders come playoff time. And should those ambitions indeed materialize, there's a lot a third Cup championship can add to Busch's legacy as one of NASCAR's all-time greats.
Should Busch win a championship for Richard Childress Racing after winning two for Joe Gibbs Racing, he can join a select fraternity of drivers -- David Pearson, Dale Earnhardt, Terry Labonte and more among them -- who have won Cup championships for multiple car owners. Not only that, but he also stands to win RCR's first championship since 1994, when Earnhardt won his seventh and final Cup title -- and that feat would surely reverberate across NASCAR and solidify Busch as the great renegade driver of his era.
Harvick going out on top
With the second half of the season and many return trips to different racetracks at hand, you can expect an increase in the bouquets thrown and tributes given to Kevin Harvick in his final season. By no means, though, is the 2014 Cup champion going out quietly or coasting towards the end of his career.
At 47 years old, Harvick remains firmly in the mix for the Cup championship as he currently sits fifth in points, just 25 markers back of the points lead. Despite the struggles of Stewart-Haas Racing as a whole, Harvick and his Rodney Childers-led crew have remained a fixture at the front of the pack with four top fives and seven top 10s with a best finish of second at Darlington.
As things stand, Harvick is in position to easily make the playoffs on points, which would give him a chance to become the oldest driver to ever win a Cup championship (Bobby Allison, who was 45 when he won the title in 1983, currently holds the record). But even just winning a race in his final season -- something other all-time greats like Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart were able to do -- would go a long way toward making Harvick's future Hall of Fame career complete by the time he steps out of his car for the final time at Phoenix.
Battle for the regular season championship
Usually by this point in the season over the past couple of years, one driver has emerged as the clear favorite to win the regular season championship and the all-important 15 bonus playoff points it entails. That hasn't happened this year, as the top of the Cup Series standings remains very much disputed and hardly settled.
Entering Nashville, the top seven drivers in the Cup standings are separated by just 32 points from Martin Truex Jr. back to Christopher Bell. After taking the lead following his win at Sonoma, Truex became the sixth different driver to lead the points this season, a group that also includes Bell, Joey Logano, Ross Chastain, Alex Bowman and Ryan Blaney.
With 10 races left to go in the regular season, there's still plenty of time and opportunity for one driver to pull away at the top of the standings. However, there's even greater opportunity for the regular season championship to remain in doubt, which would add a significant element of drama to the final races leading up to the playoffs come August.
Battle for the playoffs
Through 16 races so far, 10 different drivers have won at least one race and secured their spot on the playoff grid. Six spots currently remain available for drivers to make the playoffs on points, which are currently held by Ross Chastain (+173), Kevin Harvick (+172), Chris Buescher (+102), Brad Keselowski (+96), Bubba Wallace (+26) and Alex Bowman (+3).
Just like at the very top of the standings, a potential dogfight is shaping up at the playoff cut line. Bowman currently has just a three-point edge on Daniel Suarez for the final playoff spot, while Ty Gibbs (-11) and Michael McDowell (-14) are well within striking distance of pointing their way in. That is, of course, if there are no new winners between now and the regular season finale in Daytona.
That's hardly likely, as the past several years have seen the summer months offer surprise winners like Cole Custer in 2020, Aric Almriola in 2021 and Austin Dillon in 2022. There is also the imminent threat of Chase Elliott winning from well below the cut line, which would dramatically squeeze the playoff bubble and raise the stakes for each driver trying to earn a chance to race for a championship late in the year.
