Grading Every NASCAR Driver's First Half Performance - 2022
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- Опубліковано 15 чер 2022
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I think Todd Gilliland deserves more credit for not junking the car repeatedly. That 38 has been an incident magnet ever since Ragan retired.
Todd Gilliland should've jumped from trucks to cup he should have did 1 more year in trucks and 2 years in Xfinity and then go to cup
Aw man you're gonna hurt Nemechek's feelings, he raced that car pretty cleanly imo.
@@aaronkristofer18 He definitely showed flashes, but he actually led the cup series in cautions caused that year.
@@Crush1084 Did not now that. Thanks for the info
I've been pleasently suprised by Gilliland. Hes been decent. I think everybody had low expectations for him is wake of how poorly Alfredo performed. I still dont get why they canned JHM. He was good in his rookie year.
The fact that guys like Erik Jones Micheal mcdowell and daniel suarez have more top 10s and are higher in points than denny Hamlin is just wow
Tells you how disappointing Toyota as a manufacturer has been lately
Not to mention the rookies are ahead of brad in points but it’s not really his fault
Denny has 2 wins
@@SubToMasterJ I know but he's lower in points
@@hankhillofficialgaming2007 that doesn’t matter at all anymore with the “win and you’re in” system. Drivers and teams would play it a lot more differently if it always a whinston cup format, now it’s just about winning and people like Denny knows you don’t have to be consistent
Justin Haley also has the fewest amount of incidents of any of the full-time drivers. We gotta get the guy some more appreciation. Todd is also underrated he deserves a B or maybe even an A imo.
That fact that Gilliland isn't making a complete fool of himself every week unlike other inexperienced rookies like he is in the past says a lot about his ability imo. If he gets in better equipment with more experience, he could be a threat
Incorrect, almirola had had 0 DNFs this year, the ONLY full-time driver with that distinction.
@@timothylites3653 I know. I was talking about the driver with the FEWEST incidents. Not DNFs.
@@timothylites3653 Incidents doesn't equal dnfs. Almirola's been involved in incidents but wasn't damaged enough to dnf. Still a pretty impressive stat though
the fact that Denny Hamlin has two wins and yet is behind Michael McDowell in points…
That means they were flukes
jk lol
I mean, to be fair, McDowell is having probably the best season of his career
Stenhouse also has more Top 10's lmao
Don’t sleep on my man McDowell
@@donkjr 2021 was good too. He was on pace at Darlington before being wrecked and possibly would've made round of 12. (Not likely sadly)
I personally think McDowell should be given an A grade, perhaps an A- at least. The Daytona 500 win last year is something that you can't factor in too much because the only thing you can do better than that is by winning the championship, and he will never be able to do that. Most drivers this year have torn up cars, blew tires, spun out, you name it, but McDowell has kept his car extremely clean and avoided just about any major incident or wreckfest. His speed is decent given the equipment but speed isn't always everything. Keeping your car together at the end and running all the laps is also what matters, too. He's once again set a new career best of most top 10s in a single season with 6 so far, he's got a better average finish than drivers like Reddick, Jones, Suarez, Hamlin who all have way better equipment than him, and according to Racing Reference he actually has completed the 2nd most miles so far, only behind Almirola. I think McDowell is in his prime right now and I like what he's showing, hoping he continues this!
Almi has lowkey been going crazy so far this year. Especially with leading the points early on. Mans going out on a bang for sure and I’m all here for it.
I may be bias since he's my favorite driver, but I completely agree.
Who’s Almi?
@@BenMyattt Almirola
Cindric has done fine on the ovals, sure he has no top tens on them but he has finished 11th four times
11 top 20 finishes in 16 races so far
Looking at the Regular season standings and your grades, it becomes more and more clear that a win should not qualify a driver automatically into the Playoffs. A win should give you 5 bonus playoff points still, but only the top 16 drivers in points by the end of the regular season should qualify to the playoffs (the same with the Round of 16 and etc).
Chastain gets an A for aggressive and awesome
Assstain gets a D for excuses.
Yup
Haley went toe-to-toe with Chastain and Allmendinger at Kaulig. Very consistent, smart and sneaky confident.
I agree I hope he cna win again
Nice list of all the drivers you mentioned in this video along with the letter grades given for halfway into the NASCAR season! Hopefully we’ll see more drivers get a win soon this year or see drivers improve their finishes towards the end of the season!
Agreed about Daniel, however the 99 team has had a lot more bad luck goin their way than the 1 in multiple races. If it wasn’t for that I think he would be higher up in points.
The most savage thing my man has ever said about grading a driver with Brad K lmao needs to go to summer school or after school tutoring. I applaud you man
Always enjoyed this video at rhe end of the season ! Perfect opportunity to do it mid season as well
As a Bowman fan I agree. he was extremely inconsistent he was at the numbers that Larson is having this year on my grades I gave him a A but I can put it in the middle of A- and A he has done great this year and his average finish would be higher if he didn't have so many problems in the first 2 races where he finished 24th and 25th. And this weekend at Sonoma he was involved in the spin where Kyle Busch locked his tires up and spun. Nothing Bowman could do there. I think he could come back to being a championship threat like how he was in 2020.
Awessom ratings my friend, couldn't agreed more. A+ for you!
If Cole Custer doesn't find SOME lightning in a bottle by the end of next year, he's probably out of a ride.
yeah :(
Custer's father is like vice president of Stewart hass racing. will see how that plays a part in it. but if he dont get it together asap he needs to go point blank.
Ross Chastain definitely deserves an A+, I think he’ll make Final 4 this year as well
As a life long Jimmie Johnson fan (since 2003), I'm telling you.. I see the light on Ross Chastain. He's dominating in a Gen of car that is super parity focused and very difficult to drive. He's a top 3 performer at every track. He's only getting better. He's the sport's next GOAT.
Denny hamlin and chase elliott gonna make sure he doesnt
@@94nolo I wouldn't say he's the next goat, but I can see him being an elite driver.
Hey Eric big fan of your work. Particularly enjoy these videos. Not sure if feasible w/ your schedule but would love one of these on Xfinity and trucks as well
Glad to see this video! Hopefully Bell can get a win soon to make the playoffs
Fr
Well now he did
@@Handlesarestoopid ikr I'm so happy
Harrison Burton may not have any top fives or top 10s. But one thing you can never take away from that boy he's the first to flip the gen 7 car.
> “Not too worried with Logano dealing with payback in the playoffs”
> 2015 Martinsville
True, but I think he’s been a little bit wiser about who he pisses off this year, lol
@@jmiddlefinger A little wiser? Matt Kenseth was the guy NOBODY thought would retaliate. William Byron is the same category of laid back, no payback drivers. We'll see what happens, but I wouldn't be surprised in the least if Byron pulls a Kenseth this year.
GREAT episode, My scores were consistently a full grade below your scores, with both, Joey Logano (my driver) & Daniel Suarez getting well a received grade of A+!!!
Joey is a A+ all the way!!!
Great episode.
Excellent list.
Also I seen someone say a few days ago that Haley wasn’t ready for the cup series and bashing him lmao. He has been one of the drivers I’ve been most impressed with this season tbh, I think he has a bright future in the sport. Glad to see you give him some props for that
If Tyler Reddick was on a top tier team he would have 2-3 wins already this season.
Not really he is the main focus of his team and when he gets a rocket-ship he runs it too hard and ruins it.
I'll be the first to eat my words but I'm starting to think the kid's overrated
I no tyler Reddick good an great in 200 mile races 300 mile but beyond that idk. He over drives alot. He will have to learn to finish 500 mile races wk in wk out. Owe he will be a champion some day forsure
Best active drivers in the cup series:
1.) Kyle Larson
2.) Kyle Busch
3.) Tyler Reddick
4.) Ross Chastain
5.) Chase Elliot
Lmao Tyler Reddick is not top 5. I'm not even sure he's top 10 in raw talent.
Putting Reddick on this list feels wrong
41 team hasn’t had a top 10 in over a year. in SHR… let that sink in
You nailed on all of these, especially the 23 car, except I’d make a note to Fail (maybe… expell?) the pit crew…
I took my wife and daughter who are big Suarez fans to Sonoma last weekend. For my kid to see her favorite driver win his first race , at her first NASCAR race? it was Amazing!
100% agree with Hamlin as a B Eric. He has had speed almost every race, but unfortunately gets caught up in someone’s mess most of the time, so I definitely look forward to Hamlin improving when the playoffs come.
This was alot of fun to get us through a bye week....I may disagree on some grades (ie the Dillon Brothers get D in my book) but it's fun...Thanks!
Austin has been a top 15 car consistently and a top 10 car a handful of weeks. Hes ahead of Reddick in points. That's not a D.
@@stevena55 I disagree...but part of the fun.
if Austin wasn't in the 3 car that would not be your score lmao
With Chris Buescher Sonoma top 5 Sunday didn't surprise me because his 1st career Xfinity series win was on a road course mid Ohio.
This is cool, when end of season rolls around we can see how much they change compared to this video.
Yay nice video
I wanna see SHR really improve, I just don’t think it’s fair to Harvick who has almost 60 cup wins and a championship to get all this hate, he finished top 5 in points last season. And yes he hasn’t had the best season but he has 4 top 5s so far. I know he hasn’t won but his car is just not that good. If he was doing this with good equipment like SHR used to bring then yeah I’d understand a little bit of talk about him being disappointing. But he deserves respect and the be if it if the doubt imo. Fords in general has been decent in short tracks and road courses but on 1.5 mile tracks they just don’t have it. And Harvick shouldn’t be blamed for that.
Got your wish, LFG harvick
Very happy about that lol.
Honestly good idea
It's sad seeing Cole Custer. I agree SHR isn't at the best, but there's a point where you have to wonder what Reddick or Lajoie would do in that car. Pretty sure Stewart is asking that as well, but im not sure what Custer's contract looks like. It's also worth noting that when Harvick retires the veteran of the team is going to be Custer if they pick rookies to replace almirola and harvick
Should have extended Busch, should have extended Suarez…
Yes. Enjoyed 👌 😉 👌
The most comprehensive Asscar reports anywhere! Thank you, Eric.
I've been a fan of the 20 team for as long as I've been watching NASCAR and Christopher Bell is my favorite drive since Tony left the team.
Good video
Agreed
Wallace gets an F period, you sugar coated him!!
the team? defs, but not as a driver, hes shown speed and good execution on his part. the pit crew are useless
@@connordonnelly6094 Sorry, I could be wrong, but hasn't he sped on pit road like 2-3 times this year.
@@kadens okay that is true, forgot about those
Eric you should grade every guest commentator from this year at the end of the season
“Brad needs summer school” 🤣
Eric out here attracting more sponsors than Kyle Busch lately
Nice shirt.
I'm probably being biased, but Chase Elliott has had great speed/possible winning speed at multiple tracks this year;
Auto Club
Charlotte
Phoenix
Martinsville
Sonoma
But what then happens is either a pit crew issue, bad strategy or a mistake by Chase to take him out of it. If the mistakes clear up a bit, I don't see why he couldn't easily be in the conversation of making the final 4 and competing for a championship.
It's fair to grade Elliott with how his team has affected him since their actions affect how he finishes tbh. I wholeheartedly believe and hope he's fast enough to make the championship 4. Just hope his crew finally gets their stuff together.
I think Custer is gonna be a Ron Hornaday type driver he sucks in the Cup but he could make a great career by being a lower series driver like in the Xfinity
Honestly think NASCAR should give you a job on commentary or doing driver or team interviews. You do really good commentary and have really good insight on the sport and the drivers, the teams, Etc.
This is in my opinion one of the most unexpected Eric Estepp videos ever made
I thought we would see this type of video at the end of the year
Hopefully maybe we can get Eric to rate the worst and best NASCAR Paint Schemes next halfway through the season so far!
I agree with what ur saying bro it's just hard to watch Larson go from having the greatest season of his career to being mid pack in the playoff contention.
The 43 deserves an a-. That teams has done amazing this yr with their new crew chief and eric is driving his guts out. The 43 will win this yr.
Agreed. They have went from a team running around 20th to a car week to week threatening to finish in the top ten. With a little luck. They would have 2 wins and be setting in the top 5 right now.
Buescher outperforms the equipment he is in every race, every year. no matter who he drives for. front row, JTG, RFK. he always gets the most out of what he is given
I feel bad for Brad Keslowski, not gonna lie I kinda expected a bit more out of him for being a co owner. Im still hoping he can show more speed like he did at Daytona and Sonoma before the playoffs. I'm not losing hope for RFK just yet.
When I think of austin dillon In 2022 I of think of the 4 wide at Charlotte
Crazy how elliott is leading the points. He spins out just about every weekend.
I'm really surprised Gilliland only has one finish outside the top 30. It feel like every other race he's getting caught in someone else's mess and finishing with a tore up car.
Very fair assessment for Jones. However some of the finishes haven’t been his fault. If I remember correctly Vegas was either a tire or someone else’s fault
So close at Talladega! We win that race and we're an A+
@@ChampaBayBeast I mean to be fair, this whole season has been an overachievement lol
No worries in the playoffs for Chastain. Him and Denny actually hooked up for a tandem push at Nashville. Seems like that bad blood is over and done after Chastain’s private apology.
Things that are wild! Kevin Harvick has a better avg finish this year currently than Kyle Larson 😱
Rowdy Nation
1. BJ McLeod and Josh Bilicki are jokes to you. While Bilicki hasn't ran every race, he is the resident driver over in that camp.
2. Ware has 3 Top 20 finishes this season, including a career best 17th in the Daytona 500, an 18th, and a 19th.
3. I'd argue that Bubba's team has improved since last year. You have to remember that really besides that speedy run at Pocono, Bubba was only a threat to win at Superspeedways (which he did), and was largely a 19th-25th place car outside of that. This year, the results aren't reflective of the pace of the car, mainly because of shitty pit crews and unlucky involvement in incidents during the race.
Cody Ware 2023 Daytona 500 winner. I'm calling it. Fight me.
First semester complete
I think Reddick could have been a title contender if he consistently finished where he ran each race
So far my expectations for first time winners have been met: Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez.
Still yet to win: Tyler Reddick
Also expect Eric Jones to get a win.
Tbh a C is about right for Cody maybe even a B+ bc he got a top 20 at both Charlotte in the 600 nd Darlington 2 of the hardest races/tracks of the year
Cody Ware Should’ve gotten an A++
My guy BJ McLeod A+ 👍
I would love if the playoffs only consisted of drivers who won a race in regular season. Whether it's 6 winners or 16, playoff spots require a win.
Or go back to top 10 drivers in points and if someone is outside of top 10 but has a win expand the chase to 11 (or however many winners are 11th back)
I think that Busher will win this year The fact that he came back after his Covid break and finished second that’s quite impressive I think after last week’s week off I think he could win at Nashville
Larson I agree with. Can never back that season up and hes my favorite driver. I hope he gets another but the 4 race bs sucks
How Aric Almirola has the same Grade as Denny and Larson is beyond me.
What do you think Michael McDowell 's grade is right now? I would give him a C+. He has shown some speed at a few tracks. Led some laps at Gateway and had a great performance last week at Sonoma.
Custer and Wallace are flirting with the "bust" tag
*Waiting for the part timers to show up.* *Knowing full well Trevor Bane did exceptionally well in the few races he ran for cup this year.*
He probably won't get mentioned, I'm typing this at video start.
He ran in xfinity not cup
Up to now brad Keslowski has not out ran ryan newman in the same car newman got 2 top tens (bristol dirt and Darlington)and 1 top 5(darlington) were as Keslowski has 2 top tens (Daytona and Sonoma) so he is doing what I have expected (besides the 100 point penalty)
The record shows Brad Keselowskis a better driver than Newman he's got 38 wins Newman only has about Half as Many!
as much as i cant stand austin dillon, he has been doing a lot better than expected this year. i would have given him a C+ because he has had a lot more top 10s this year
Really Hope Bowman can win 2 More Races Before The Playoffs And Get Some More Top 5 And LED Laps
It breaks my heart to see my boy Brad get an F, but you’re right. It’s not even a question. I just wish we’d get a little something out of him and the team about the why, where they’re looking to go from here, and what steps it’s going to take to get there. It’s certainly not all the equipment. Is it the price tag? Is it the staff? Is it old Mr. Roush being stingy, or more likely, the Fenway group? I just wish we could see him back in the 2 again or even just see him be as aggressive as he was at Daytona, you know? It seems to me that there are just too many chefs in the RFK kitchen. He may not have been an owner at Penske, but at least there was only one boss there.
Thats crazy there is only 2 full time drivers that drive numbers above 50 thats an old school superstition that never died
Eric: Kyle Busch has been quietly consistent
Kyle Busch after this video: gets struck with the worst stretch of his career (what is his luck? )
If Cole Custer does not improve this year or next year, I hate to say it, but we may have to consider Cole Custer a bust.
Hes already there imo.
I agree. Worst of the "Big 3" rookie class by far
Can you give us an office tour?
Apparently Harvick is doing something right he’s been in the thumbnail for this video for the past 3 seasons.
You all have to admit that Ross Chastain is the best driver in Cup thus far. He's consistent. If he's not finishing near the front, it's because he wrecked near the front.
@Nick Spiker Perhaps not, but I think it’s safe to say that he may well have the greatest potential of the young drivers at the moment.
Grade the manufacturers? Chevy - A (showing consistency); Ford (second most wins) - C+ (they should be doing better); Toyota - C- (not doing well this year). B-FORDFAN-Gardner
Austin Cindric an A? he only has two top 10s this season. I’d put him down to C or even D
Three*. And hes a rookie you cant really expect him to perform that great
I'd say B- for Cindric
If Hamlin can get lucky when it comes to his car or team not failing him or a hack taking him out, we fine. Taking our spot back in the final four this year.
What software did you use to build you opening?
Byron is on a bad luck streak but he's gonna snap it soon
This has been the most frustrating season of Reddicks career by far. Has more speed and bigger flashes than any other year, yet is still out of the playoff picture and has a worse average finish. I think a move from RCR might not be a bad idea with all the mechanical failures he’s been a subject to
Man it feels weird watching Harvick win a lot in 2020 then in 2022 he is winless
The question is, when is Harvick going to "take his ball and go home" like he did with RCR?
17:49 You gave him an F on the same day he posted himself getting engaged lol. It was just a coincidence in my opinion
I'm very curious with what SHR will do with their lineup next season. Unless Harvick surprises everyone, the 4 and 14 remain the same. The 10 is open, but I wonder if the 41 will be too. How safe is Custer's seat, because this is his third season, and he hasn't showed anything. Rookie season is for development. Season 2 is for progression. Season 3 is for results, and Cole Custer has been such a disappointment, especially when being directly compared to Briscoe, a vastly better driver only in his second season.
If I was SHR I'd consider a change. You can get both Preece in the 10 car in addition to maybe an Erik Jones, JH Nemecheck, or Zane Smith in the 41. Heck, Riley Herbst would at least give the team loads of sponsorship. If Custer can't end the season on some sort of hot streak that gets him solidly into the top 25 in points, he absolutely should get dropped.
Right of the bat with Chastain you didn’t give him an A+ Bc of later playoff chances?? Thought this was a mid season grade shouldn’t have anything to do with the future just the 16 races that has happened
Stuff that happened in the mid season that might bite his playoff success