2023 NASCAR Season Superlatives: Checkers or Wreckers, Monday Delay, Paint Scheme King

It is the end of 2023 and there are awards to hand out for the NASCAR season. Next up are the Checkers or Wreckers, Monday Delay, and Paint Scheme King awards. This season, there were some drivers that couldn’t stay clean on the track, a lot of weather-related issues, and tons of great paint schemes.

When it comes to the Checkers or Wreckers award, there really is only one answer. While some drivers had issues during the year with wrecks and mechanical failures, one stood out. He stands out because of his success on the track despite his numerous wrecks and problems.

With four wins on the year and the All-Star victory to go with a Championship 4 appearance and eight DNFs? There’s only one driver who deserves this award for the 2023 NASCAR season.

Checkers or Wreckers: Kyle Larson
Poles: 2
Stage Wins: 8
Wins: 4, plus All-Star Race
DNFs: 8
Laps Led: 1127

Kyle Larson in the 2023 NASCAR season was his usual self. He showed off unreal speed. He outperformed his teammates and competitors most weekends. Even when he wasn’t winning races, he was leading laps. However, eight DNFs kept Larson from being truly dominant like he was in 2021.

For next year, Larson has to clean things up. Keep DNFs to five or fewer and he likely goes on to win the regular season championship and another Championship 4 appearance.

Monday Delay Award

If you kept up with the 2023 NASCAR season you noticed how much rain played a factor. Not just for the Cup Series, but for all three national series. It was a wild year and no matter where they went, bad weather followed.

Red flags, postponed starts, and even Monday races plagued the season. Hell, it snowed in California for the Fontana weekend!

With that said, there is just one driver worthy of the Monday Delay Award. In four races that were pushed back to Monday, this driver won two of them and finished P3 and P2 in the other two events.

Monday Delay Award: Martin Truex Jr.
– P1 Wurth 400 at Dover
– P3 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte
– P1 Crayon 301 at New Hampshire
– P2 FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan

For those who aren’t math majors at home, that is an average finish of 1.75 in four races that either started on Monday or concluded on Monday. Ryan Blaney won the Coke 600 while Chris Buescher was the big winner in Michigan.

Four times in his career, Truex Jr. has found Victory Lane on a Monday. Martin Mondays have just become a thing now. Denny Hamlin is the only other driver who has four Monday wins to his name.

2023 NASCAR Paint Scheme King(s)

As I was deciding on how to hand out the paint scheme award, there were a few options. You can go with top design of the year, best overall organization, best sponsor, or take the schemes in as a whole and make a decision on that.

For this award, I am torn. And since there are no rules besides the ones I make, I’m going to make this a co-champion award. There were two drivers that brought the heat week in and week out.

Throughout the season, as we put together our top paint schemes of the week time and time again, two names popped up more often than not. An old veteran and a driver still making a name for himself in the Cup Series.

Paint Scheme King(s): Kevin Harvick/Tyler Reddick
– Kevin Harvick: Busch Light/Budweiser/Mobil 1/Hunt Bros. Pizza/RealTree
– Tyler Reddick: MoneyLion/Monster Energy/Xfinity 10G/McDonald’s/Jordan Brand/Rocket League

When it comes down to it, the Paint Scheme Kings were Harvick and Reddick. Each week, regardless of sponsor, it felt like these drivers were wheeling some great-looking cars.

Harvick was best in his Mobil 1 designs as well as the No. 29 throwback for the All-Star Race. The Budweiser design for Homestead-Miami capped off a stellar season of great schemes for the No. 4 team at Stewart-Haas Racing.

The reason why Reddick gets to share this award with The Closer is due to the diversity and creativity of his schemes. Finishing the season with a furry of Jordan Brand schemes as well as the Hamburglar look at Miami and the Star Wars/Toyota design to end the year – perfection.

I can’t wait to see what schemes we see next year from Reddick. Unforutnately, Harvick is retired following the 2023 NASCAR season.