Thats not true Larson didn't help with the rebuilding of HMS, Larson openly admitted he knows nothing about the cars. He only knows how to make the car go fast once its on the track.
They do deserve it. How horrible they were especially custer and aric almirola without the win aric almirola in the Winston Cup Series standings gets beaten by rookie Chase Briscoe
Harvick was definitely the biggest disappointment this season especially after last year but the fact that he finished 5th in the standings (same position he finished last year with 9 wins) after being the 16th seed in the playoffs deserves recognition
So doesn't that tell ya how the playoff system doesn't really work? I still say the winner of the most races during the regular season should get a bye to the final round. Hear me out though. If they win there way into the final four keep it at 4. If they don't expand the final 4 to 5. I don't care what anyone says, that would push drivers to be on top with wins during the regular season. That way they won't have to worry about someone else mistake ending your season. By the way in support of Matty D "Let's go Brandon"
As a Harvick fan, the season was disappointing. But credit is due for maximizing what you have - I was proud to watch them grind it out and be fifth. Higher than all the other Fords. That's better than last year. No way it's a D.
RWR had an underrated year they had some decent results and all drivers didn’t disappoint, even Davidson but here’s how I rate the season: Bilicki: 10/10, had a great year give this dude the Todd Bodine Award for best underdog, NASCAR please make the results count along with Bailey Currey in the Xfinity series Cody Ware: 7/10, I think this is his best season yet, Cody does know how to handle the car but there are some problems to be solved James Davidson: 6/10, just not that bad but hey, one day he would win a road course race someday Joey Gase:4/10, just a normal Joey Gase year for Joey Gase Garrett Smithley: 6/10 , Just use him in the 53 car more than Gase And here are the part time (inc 2020) Derick Cope: 1/10, normally crashes out more than Houff David Ragan: 7/10, nabbed a top 5 last year and might do even better for 2022
@Ross Murog I agree, I just personally think Davidson and Bilicki should get full time ride next season, but having his dad own a team, he will most likely get a ride.
Personally I would say Cody Ware and Bilicki in the full time cars. Davison probably still needs more experience so I think he should stay part-time next season, and split a 3rd RWR car with other drivers (if they run a 3rd car). Ware is sorta underrated imo, he's gaining experience and slowly improving, just needs to iron out the silly mistakes now. I'd say he deserves the ride
Stewart haas went from having one of the most veteran driving teams to one of the youngest teams in 2 years. And on top of that lost practice and qualifying. THATS a TERRIBLE combination. No experience in cup AND no practice/qualifying? It affected harvick too IMO because he didnt have teammates to bounce ideas off of or to share information about the cars.
20:21 The whole team fell off once Good Sam became the primary sponsor. They were plagued by mechanical issues or had bad speed. They were great for their expectations in the first half of the year, but fell back to the mean in the second half. I'll chalk it up to first year team growing pains
Matty D, Buescher and Chastain finished in front of Wallace in points and all had a better average finish also. With the 23 having TRD support and a gob of other sponsorship money they underperformed significantly in comparison
@GN the Bob Whitcomb Team with Derick Cope driving won the Daytona 500 in 1988 in it's first year of Winston Cup Competition. There may be others but that is the first one that comes to mind. Regardless, a single win at a Superspeedway does not indicate the level of performance for a race team at any track on the rest of the schedule. That fact was obvious after the Talladega win. Was there a significant increase in performance going forward from that win? It wasn't because one has almost nothing to do with the other
I think Harvick deserves better. He did finish 5th in points, and to be the best of the worst per se says something about his ability to finish strong. The closer managed to get the best he could out of the worst year
As self-proclaimed #1 Bilicki fan, I had no idea what to expect for his grade but was genuinely surprised/happy with his B+. He made me proud this season!
The ones I was most impressed with was Byron- Top 10ed the field to death Briscoe- For a rookie, he had some breakout performances just didn’t get the finish for it. Bell- This one is more personal as I didn’t think he would get off to as good of as he did. I love how these videos examine every drivers season and we can summarize everyone’s season
I really don’t think wood brothers I would consider up to the same par as Penske. I can’t count the amount of times the team brings him a car and it always has problems. And there crew can never fix it. I would shift the blame more towards wood brothers. Yes I’m a Matt fan but it’s kind of cut and dry
I agree. Matt was the least of WBR's problems. Erwin was holding the team back in the first half of the year. Once Hassler came aboard, they ran better, but the damage was done. Plus, they never once unloaded with race winning speed, and only a few times had race contending speed (like Kansas 1, Nashville until a cylinder failed, Road America, & Michigan) He had a good streak of finishes in the late Summer stretch, but I just don't think teams see him as a valuable asset, except for maybe Denny Hamlin, but 23XI isn't in a position to hire him
I've said it multiple times, and I'll say it again: Dibby's average finish in the #21 was better than Ryan Blaney's during his time in the #21. Not a huge difference, but the fact that he's able to keep up with his stats shows that he really does have the speed.
Matty D regressed from last year and can’t bring in any sponsorships. He’s really lucky Paul Menard talked his dad into continuing to sponsor the 21 after Paul left otherwise the car would’ve suffered more issues. If you want to stay in B tier equipment like Wood Brothers equipment you can’t be a C tier driver and especially a C tier driver who can’t pick up sponsorship.
I agree with a C score. The 95 team had TRD support last year with Bell and didn't win any races. Even though their performance lagged behind most of the season, a win is a win. I think most were skeptical that Bubba would win at all this year.
I agree, Bubba always gets a pass for underperforming. It is true that a win is a win, but with a 19th average finish and at the beginning of the video E said he was taking expectations into account as well.. Every one knew RFR has been struggling for a while now and Ford all together wasn’t very good this year and the 17 car with a 2 position average finish higher than Bubba gets the same grade..Don’t make much sense but that’s just my opinion.
Wait…fun and trendy to boo Hamlin at the end of this season? Hell, every race I have been to that he was racing in, he was booed. Some years he gave Kyle a run for his money in received boos.
My only gripe is with DiBenedetto, the fact that he held the same average finish with dealing with a crew chief swap, knowing he’s jobless next year regardless of what he does, and also that the Fords overall were down on performance compared to last year. I get it, he’s been lack luster for being in a Penske car, but to say he has been a complete failure is wrong. He’s consistently up front on road courses, and short tracks. D+/C- IMO
Bingo, His spat with Elliot definitely has jaded many people, but how many drivers in the cup series take a team that maybe had 10-13 place car and run 5-10 all year then during the playoffs run as well as he did to finish 5th. Heck he had a car that could of won Phoenix, id he was in the finals, he and Truex had the best cars just circumstances went the 5 way. You cant drive fast in a slow car, yet he found a way.
4th in Average position, 4th in average running position, 2nd in average mid race position, 10th in final points standings, for the expectations of a 12th-ish place driver or so going into the season, I’d say so. (As a Byron fan I very much cherry-picked these stats, but still)
The only Ford driver that improved was Blaney. I really think the step back for Logano, Keselowski, Matty D, and the SHR team was a Ford problem rather than the drivers'. Also I think you were too harsh on Matty D considering that. The 21 is not a great car unlike the actual Penskes, and a he improved a lot after his CC swap. He did a perfectly fine job in the car.
How did Bubba get a B- for having only 3 top 10’s in a JGR affiliated car? And Harvick got a D for having a 10th place average finish in a SHR car. 🤦♂️
@@robertvandermeer4320 not really a 5th car, it is like wood brothers and penske, wood brothers is slightly slower. This applies to 23XI and JGR. And plus it is a new team.
you lost me at the matty d and bubba ratings. the fact that matty d had a better avg finish and points finish compared to bubba while bubba is in superior equipment compared to him and bubba gets a b-, i don’t agree w that. yeah, bubba had a win, but it was a lucky win. matty d should’ve at least gotten a c- or c and bubba should’ve gotten a d+ or c-
Austin Dillon would have finished 12th in the Winston Cup format finished in front of Tyler Reddick, Alex Bowman, Christopher Bell, and obviously Almirola and McDowell. Don't think it's fair at all for him to be critiqued for McDowell and Almirola winning a race and getting in.
@@mlwilliam213 no one said he was better than Reddick. Reddick is a really solid driver, we're just saying that we thing Estepp's ranking was a little lower than it maybe should've been
That Daytona wreck took a toll in Newman personally ofc and his career he just fell off completely after leading the 500 off turn 4 in the last lap and getting turned to a potential career ending wreck just like Jimmies Wreck in 2017 pocono which after that he just completely fell off
Great video, you've become one of my favorite youtubers this year ever since my nascar itch came back, hope to see more downhill diecast races during the off season. Keep it up Eric!
I feel like if Bubba Wallace and Daniel Suarez never had their issues, they would have more Top 5’s and Top 10. Hell, maybe Suarez could have won a race as well! (Bristol Dirt). I hope those Bubba and Daniel and the new teams do learn from 2021 and will improve in 2022, with new teammates!
The pit crew has got to drastically improve if Bubba is going to get better results. You can't give up 3 or 4 spots on almost every pit stop and be consistent contender.
@@stevehesseltine1898 exactly. He can get Top 10 runs or better. But when there’s always issues on pit road, he never comes back to the Top 10. I know he can bring back good results
Bubba is running as good as he did with Petty. Difference is he got a win. The team needs to get better but its hard to just blame pit crew when your always running low teens and high 20s every race except at Superspeedways.
@@down-n-outinNC he’s actually been in the Top 15s-Top 20s most of the season. I know, the reason why there were races he did not finish were because of pit crew, other issues from someone else, and even himself. I did not expect a lot, tbh. Just have good or decent results and bring the car back in 1 piece was my expectations since it was 23Xi’s first year in Cup. For the people that expect him or the team to win races left and right and all that stuff, they don’t know crap…. I love Bubba, and I wanted to be realistic about his year in the 23. Hopefully they all improve next year. Now that they have Kurt. And I agree, his average finish is way better than his RPM days. I hope he continues to improve moving forward!
@@IanTheMotorsportsMan_YT if he can't drive up through the field even after losing spots on pit lane then he will always be mediocre. And sorry but to me super speedways are outlier races. The winners of these races this season should say enough considering how many ended up come the end of the year. Those teams have to perform at other tracks and they don't. If that is how they set the bar for all other drivers then they have to be rated the same. It's clear they are not competitive all around and until that changes driver's Bubba, Bell and McDowell will always be middle of the pack talent. Not necessarily "field fillers" but definitely nothing to write home about.
Here are some more stats I think you'll like. Denny Hamlin only missed 4 laps of the entire season, totaling 9.31 miles. The next best in completed miles were Keselowski (-106.33) and Reddick (-145.83). Only 5 drivers completed 100% of the laps they attempted: Ben Rhodes, Joey Hand, Harrison Burton, Jamie McMurray, and Scott Heckert. All of those finishes come exclusively from superspeedways and road courses. After that, the best percentages of laps completed went to Hamlin (94.44), Harvick (88.89), Elliott (86.11), Larson (86.11), Blaney (83.33), and Allmendinger (80.00). Hamlin and McDowell are the only drivers who, at any point in this year, had the best average finish of all the drivers. McDowell had the best average in weeks 1 and 3, Hamlin had it every week past that. Under Winston Cup (1975-2003) points, Hamlin would have dominated most of the year, with Larson being his only real threat. Hamlin would have been the points leader for 29 of the 36 races. He and Larson would have traded the lead back and forth a few times between the Indy RC race and the Las Vegas playoff race. After the Martinsville playoff race, Larson would have taken a 4-point lead over Hamlin, making Phoenix a race for the ages, comparable to the final race of 2011. Also under that system, Derrike Cope would not have spent a single week outside of the bottom spot in points, his position only decreasing as each new driver made their first start of the year. This still makes him less of an active menace on the track than Cody Ware and Quin Houff (if I can interject my own opinion in my otherwise statistical and factual comment). Kevin Harvick is now 85 consecutive starts away from reaching Jeff Gordon's Iron Man record of 797. If 2023 is a 36-race season, then Harvick will reach this number at the 13th race of 2024, making it easy to set his own record from there, and break 800. Martin Truex Jr. can reach 797 in the fifth race of 2028; Logano can do it in the fifth race of 2031, Keselowski can do it in the first race of 2032, and Hamlin can do it in the 10th race of 2036, when he's 55.
Mcdowell’s second half of the season brought him from an A down to an A-. But dang baby move that man up to an A after full sending his car at the brickyard off the curb haha! He will need some stage wins next year.
I wonder how much with the 38 team wrecking, affected the 34 team. With the smaller size of Front Row, they probably pulled resources away to fix the cars, and I doubt they were spending extra money to build new cars for just the second half of the season. Hopefully the NextGen car will allow they to get a better baseline to the larger teams
Harvick overcame such terrible circumstances, beat half of JGR and HMS, because he's just that good . Finished 2nd twice. Not to mention getting a win stolen from him. You think that's a D?
Austin Dillon finished 12th in Winston Cup format he had a super underrated season. He would have finished in front of his teammate Reddick and also Alex Bowman and Christopher Bell.
I have to agree with Earnhardt Sr., Earnhardt Jr., Jimmy Johnson, Jeff Gordon, and more drivers than I can count are of the mind set that if you aren't trying to push the line you don't have vision to be a winner
@@larryjellison3301 when? Why did nascar let the driver that said the N-Word and cheated have 10 wins and a championship? Stop making shit up and stay mad
@@larryjellison3301 can you fill me in on how many times he got busted for cheating? I must have missed that. If you count the All-star race he would’ve had 11 wins and if he didn’t get a flat tire on the last lap one race he would’ve had 12 all together. I would say that’s an A+ performance
Yeah and Ryan Preece is a short track and Road course guy and he really showed that at road courses but he couldn't do to much on short tracks. TBH Preece would dominate short tracks if he had JGR or Hendrick equipment you saw it in JGR xfinity equipment and in the Whelen Modified Series. He's won every Whelen Mod race he's entered this year and it was like 5-6 races.
Big 23 racing fan I see. Kurt bush was similar to the 10 car meh all season and had 1 good race. Kurt should be B- and Hamlin was just as good as harvick last year his team had all 4 cars on the playoffs and he only won twice. As you said SHR was trash this year yet harvick was 3rd in overall points. He gets D and Hamlin gets A
I would Grade Bubba's season a D because he really didn't do anything other then that rained out win Yes I know that this is the first year for 23XI Racing but I've had more expectations and I believe Kurt Busch will outperform Wallace next year
Don't feel bad about giving Ryan Newman an F. I'm a 43 fan since 1970 and to this day. Even Richard Petty, yes the king of NASCAR, deserved Fs from about 1988 to 1992. You can still root for them but you can tell that it's just not there any more
I have to disagree with just a couple.... I'd give Almirola a B- because he got SHR their only win this year. Hamlin would get a B+ for a lot less wins compared to last year.
Matty D would bring in more money for NASCAR if he had better equipment and a little more talent to go along with along with his blue collar/conservative values. If you don’t think fans support Matty D and share his views, you don’t really know NASCAR and it’s fans. Hell, the infamous slogan “Let’s go Brandon” was created by them!! NASCAR should try to consider its fan base more if it wants to survive/grow.
I objectively would give Brad Keselowski an A- . Simply because he was in a lame duck year, typically when most drivers leave a team, the driver suffers a subpar season. Brad Keselowski proved virtually everyone wrong, especially Eric who eventually admitted he was wrong. His grade was close ( B+) but not as well thought out as it could have been. I don't think he considered the history of what I mentioned above. Brad clearly exceeded all expectations and Eric clearly shorted him at least a little.
Eric is probably truthfully more biased on the Chevy / Toyota side of things ; I’ve watched several episodes this season of him taking sides of Chevy and Toyota side of things , that’s why I don’t watch as much any more . I look for people who call it straight down the middle of fair .
@@matthewthompson89 I agree. Sometimes Eric doesn't think things out carefully nor objectively enough. I've been following/involved with NASCAR for 50 years. Eric is still a kid. He's okay but he's got a way to go and needs to know the history of NASCAR and where it's going much better. I remember his podcast when he was all aboard with The Busch Light Clash Race at the Los Angeles Coliseum February 6th 2022, the week before the Super Bowl in Inglewood CA. Apparently, it's the reasoning of NASCAR that they'll get many of the early Super Bowl fans to a little 1/4 mile dirt track which are going to have Clash feature races before the main event! What is this a flat version of Slinger Speedway Wisconsin on a Saturday night! This is definitely a gimmick race. No wonder NASCAR has steadily been going downhill. This is similar to selling S*** on a Stick outside a state fair. If you put a nice fancy wrap and a bow tie on it, some if not quite a few people are going to buy it!
You know I was looking back at some old NASCAR seasons and 2011 really was a crazy year. Everyone knows that under the old full year points system Carl Edwards would’ve won the championship in the Cup Series as is. But what really blew my mind was that he also only missed a single Nationwide Series race that year and drove every race he made for the 99 which won the Owners Championship. I did the math and if NASCAR hadn’t implemented the rule that a driver could only run for points in one series, Carl Edwards would’ve won the Cup and Nationwide Series championships in the same year and would be the only driver to do so thus far.
Kevin harvick should've had a super A+++++. He was driving a pile of hot dog sh*t. Probably a top 30 car and had the balls to drive that to the playoffs and be competitive. Absolute unit, Haas should get an absolute F. Took the biggest L in years.
Dead on, I don't think it was a top 30 but not a top 10 in all honesty, the rules/inspection changes really killed the fords this year and helped Chevy big time. Also Chevy lobbying with Nascar to change their car how many times in the past few years didnt hurt when Ford has had the same body for a few years now.
I turned it off when you gave Harvick a D lol he finished 5th in points had one of the best avg finishes and with mediocre equipment. Lost some credibility with that take
Thank you Eric for another awesome video and also it's pretty cool you've been doing this episode for as long as I've been watching your channel cuz I started watching in 2018.
For the issue with SHR, I think they should bring their Xfinity driver Riley Herbst to Cup. He's been showing real promise and deserves to be where he is and above that. Plus, with his sponsorship it'll probably happen. I really hope they give him the promotion. I also hope people can tell I was joking
Oof. Complete disagreement on an A for Denny. Nearly as severe a drop off in the wins column as Harvick. Ruffled a lot of feathers and did some damage to the public perception of the 11 team. And yet again, maintained his status as the only veteran Gibbs driver to not bring home a cup. You've been unusually supportive of a driver that has such a poor public perception right now.
For Denny to have finished 2nd in the championship by the regular season points or winston points formats by a good margin, he had an A+ year. It's better to be consistent than get 5 wins and drop off.
I don’t understand why everyone is hating on Matty D for the online incidents. They’re not even that bad, it’s mainly just people on Twitter hating him for having an opinion. I agree with him though, he’s not wrong when he says that everything and everyone is too sensitive nowadays. I don’t see an issue with him voicing his opinion when Bubba Wallace voices his opinion and nascar or anyone doesn’t get mad at him
I personally can’t stand Bubba, but I would’ve given him a B, B+. The Talladega win was huge. Don’t care what anyone says, they all knew the rain was coming and Bubba put himself in position to get the win. Every other driver had the opportunity to get to the lead, the rain wasn’t a surprise and Bubba took care of his stuff and was in the right spot. Rest of the year was rough though for sure.
Would you ever consider doing some F1 content after the NASCAR season ends since the seasons don't overlap the full year? As someone who loves your content and also loves F1. It would be really cool to see your takes and watch you learn more about the series would be really cool
Harvick hater but he should get a little higher, he didn’t win and he didn’t make it far into the playoffs, but he was sooooo consistent, and in the old format he woulda been a pretty solid 3rd. By his standards, sure it was bad, but what he did with what he had, it was decent
What's your thoughts on that next year (as far as I can tell) there will be more 1 time champions racing full time in nascars modern era then ever before.
Kyle Larson should have the grade you gave him. This is the best season in Larson’s Cup Series career. 10 wins, won the Championship, led the most laps, and was dominate.
RU F***ing kidding a B for Flubba Wallbash????? At best he gets a D in my book, he lucked into 1 win and other than that he was just a menace on the track. And in no way does Harvick not deserve at least a B for being a very consistent driver.
Misspoke on Kurt Busch. He was eliminated in the Round of 16, not 12. He did finish 11th in the final standings however.
Just more evidence of the flaws in the playoff system
Can you rank every track again?
Great job at grading. Most people will give out to high of grades. You were fair and balanced.
Thats not true Larson didn't help with the rebuilding of HMS, Larson openly admitted he knows nothing about the cars. He only knows how to make the car go fast once its on the track.
@@N45C4R24 how? He should only be able to finish 12-16 in points or what
Kyle Larson: A+++++
Stewart Haas Racing: F
Eric: _here’s the 2021 season grades…_
Stewart Haas Racing: *_fails so badly that they get a grade worse than an F_*
Yes they get an I, or Incomplete lol....
You might want to change your name….
@@truckercowboyed2638 That's an NC lol
They do deserve it. How horrible they were especially custer and aric almirola without the win aric almirola in the Winston Cup Series standings gets beaten by rookie Chase Briscoe
@@nascaralert4504 You also don’t realize the standings Harvick finished 5th in standings
Harvick was definitely the biggest disappointment this season especially after last year but the fact that he finished 5th in the standings (same position he finished last year with 9 wins) after being the 16th seed in the playoffs deserves recognition
3rd best average finish will help for sure lol
So doesn't that tell ya how the playoff system doesn't really work? I still say the winner of the most races during the regular season should get a bye to the final round. Hear me out though. If they win there way into the final four keep it at 4. If they don't expand the final 4 to 5. I don't care what anyone says, that would push drivers to be on top with wins during the regular season. That way they won't have to worry about someone else mistake ending your season.
By the way in support of Matty D "Let's go Brandon"
As a Harvick fan, the season was disappointing. But credit is due for maximizing what you have - I was proud to watch them grind it out and be fifth. Higher than all the other Fords. That's better than last year. No way it's a D.
@@markmidkiff7048 "Please go away Brandon"
Harvick was probably the 3rd best driver. He did insane for his equipment
I’ve been waiting for this since after the championship race
My Favorite video of the year hands down
So glad I wasn’t alone!
Bilicki was very underrated in 2021. If Rick Ware has 2 full time cars as they plan to then I expect Bilicki to be in one of them not gonna lie
It should be Bilicki and Davidson, but we know Cody is going to get a ride.
@@BeastRoverOfficial cody isn’t bad
RWR had an underrated year they had some decent results and all drivers didn’t disappoint, even Davidson but here’s how I rate the season:
Bilicki: 10/10, had a great year give this dude the Todd Bodine Award for best underdog, NASCAR please make the results count along with Bailey Currey in the Xfinity series
Cody Ware: 7/10, I think this is his best season yet, Cody does know how to handle the car but there are some problems to be solved
James Davidson: 6/10, just not that bad but hey, one day he would win a road course race someday
Joey Gase:4/10, just a normal Joey Gase year for Joey Gase
Garrett Smithley: 6/10 , Just use him in the 53 car more than Gase
And here are the part time (inc 2020)
Derick Cope: 1/10, normally crashes out more than Houff
David Ragan: 7/10, nabbed a top 5 last year and might do even better for 2022
@Ross Murog I agree, I just personally think Davidson and Bilicki should get full time ride next season, but having his dad own a team, he will most likely get a ride.
Personally I would say Cody Ware and Bilicki in the full time cars. Davison probably still needs more experience so I think he should stay part-time next season, and split a 3rd RWR car with other drivers (if they run a 3rd car). Ware is sorta underrated imo, he's gaining experience and slowly improving, just needs to iron out the silly mistakes now. I'd say he deserves the ride
Honestly I forgot Custer was in the cup series this season.
Kinda same 😂
He was?
Cold custard will have that ride for far too long
Stewart haas went from having one of the most veteran driving teams to one of the youngest teams in 2 years. And on top of that lost practice and qualifying. THATS a TERRIBLE combination. No experience in cup AND no practice/qualifying? It affected harvick too IMO because he didnt have teammates to bounce ideas off of or to share information about the cars.
@@wysmn yeah they went the way Hendrick did until their young drivers finally learned the car.
We need a video on what Cup rides are still open and who could/should fill them.
I agree.
Ryan Newman deserves better
I hope he dose this
I agree
There arent many openings
20:21 The whole team fell off once Good Sam became the primary sponsor. They were plagued by mechanical issues or had bad speed. They were great for their expectations in the first half of the year, but fell back to the mean in the second half. I'll chalk it up to first year team growing pains
*_E V I L S A M_*
Bring back iFly or Camping World
Suarez didn't end up with great counting stats. The team would run well and then something would happen and he wouldn't get the finish to show for it.
Yes Suarez ran up front a lot. Just never finished there and seemed to have bad luck
@@seancool75 it felt like he'd either top ten in both stages and finish 15th or else run 30th.
geez Larson dodged a bullet this year that Ford wouldn't let him sign with SHR. Probably would have rn 12th all season
Matty D, Buescher and Chastain finished in front of Wallace in points and all had a better average finish also. With the 23 having TRD support and a gob of other sponsorship money they underperformed significantly in comparison
@GN Spire Motorsports
23’s driver always gets a pass for underperforming it seems like
@GN the Bob Whitcomb Team with Derick Cope driving won the Daytona 500 in 1988 in it's first year of Winston Cup Competition. There may be others but that is the first one that comes to mind. Regardless, a single win at a Superspeedway does not indicate the level of performance for a race team at any track on the rest of the schedule. That fact was obvious after the Talladega win. Was there a significant increase in performance going forward from that win? It wasn't because one has almost nothing to do with the other
@@rodneyperry3124 The Derrike Cope win with Bob Whitcomb was in 1990, not 1988.
@GN name another first year team that came in with this type of funding and backing
YES FINALLY. This along with the paint scheme videos are my favorite videos of the year.
Biliki had an amazing year for RWR and he’s INCREDIBLY reliable
Hoping for him to win the Daytona 500 next year
Deserves a better ride, man’s underrated.
@@panozboi8133 after a Top 10 he got at Daytona in the Summer, it's possible that could happen with the Next Gen car
I think Harvick deserves better. He did finish 5th in points, and to be the best of the worst per se says something about his ability to finish strong. The closer managed to get the best he could out of the worst year
As self-proclaimed #1 Bilicki fan, I had no idea what to expect for his grade but was genuinely surprised/happy with his B+. He made me proud this season!
The ones I was most impressed with was
Byron- Top 10ed the field to death
Briscoe- For a rookie, he had some breakout performances just didn’t get the finish for it.
Bell- This one is more personal as I didn’t think he would get off to as good of as he did.
I love how these videos examine every drivers season and we can summarize everyone’s season
I really don’t think wood brothers I would consider up to the same par as Penske. I can’t count the amount of times the team brings him a car and it always has problems. And there crew can never fix it. I would shift the blame more towards wood brothers. Yes I’m a Matt fan but it’s kind of cut and dry
I agree. Matt was the least of WBR's problems. Erwin was holding the team back in the first half of the year. Once Hassler came aboard, they ran better, but the damage was done. Plus, they never once unloaded with race winning speed, and only a few times had race contending speed (like Kansas 1, Nashville until a cylinder failed, Road America, & Michigan) He had a good streak of finishes in the late Summer stretch, but I just don't think teams see him as a valuable asset, except for maybe Denny Hamlin, but 23XI isn't in a position to hire him
@@DepravedCoTApologist yeah. Hate these people saying he can’t win or he isn’t good but if he had a good car he probably could
I've said it multiple times, and I'll say it again: Dibby's average finish in the #21 was better than Ryan Blaney's during his time in the #21. Not a huge difference, but the fact that he's able to keep up with his stats shows that he really does have the speed.
Matty D regressed from last year and can’t bring in any sponsorships. He’s really lucky Paul Menard talked his dad into continuing to sponsor the 21 after Paul left otherwise the car would’ve suffered more issues. If you want to stay in B tier equipment like Wood Brothers equipment you can’t be a C tier driver and especially a C tier driver who can’t pick up sponsorship.
@@Big73Red you missed the point
Eric's man-crush for Bubba probably skewed the grade a full point. A "C-" would be a very generous grade.
I agree with a C score. The 95 team had TRD support last year with Bell and didn't win any races. Even though their performance lagged behind most of the season, a win is a win. I think most were skeptical that Bubba would win at all this year.
I agree, Bubba always gets a pass for underperforming. It is true that a win is a win, but with a 19th average finish and at the beginning of the video E said he was taking expectations into account as well.. Every one knew RFR has been struggling for a while now and Ford all together wasn’t very good this year and the 17 car with a 2 position average finish higher than Bubba gets the same grade..Don’t make much sense but that’s just my opinion.
Wait…fun and trendy to boo Hamlin at the end of this season? Hell, every race I have been to that he was racing in, he was booed. Some years he gave Kyle a run for his money in received boos.
Not really, when Denny won there was a lot of people cheering.
My only gripe is with DiBenedetto, the fact that he held the same average finish with dealing with a crew chief swap, knowing he’s jobless next year regardless of what he does, and also that the Fords overall were down on performance compared to last year. I get it, he’s been lack luster for being in a Penske car, but to say he has been a complete failure is wrong. He’s consistently up front on road courses, and short tracks. D+/C- IMO
Road courses weren’t great.Penske has been lack luster at road courses the past couple years
agree
Off track was main reason for his F. No reason to involve himself in any political issues while searching for a ride
@@seancool75 I can't handle his pity party interviews.
@@seancool75 honestly him doing that probably screwed him badly in finding one
Harvick may be unpopular right now, but he gave a master class in racing this year considering his equipment.
Bingo, His spat with Elliot definitely has jaded many people, but how many drivers in the cup series take a team that maybe had 10-13 place car and run 5-10 all year then during the playoffs run as well as he did to finish 5th. Heck he had a car that could of won Phoenix, id he was in the finals, he and Truex had the best cars just circumstances went the 5 way. You cant drive fast in a slow car, yet he found a way.
Kevin Harvick a D? He managed 24 top tens with garbage cars. Underwhelming by his standards, but my dude, A- at worst.
2:23
Pretty sure his 63 year old boss would have had a better avg finish if he ran the whole season in that car
I'd like to see this sort of thing for major part timers. Like the rest of Rick Ware, Gaunt, MBM, etc
Harvick was eliminated from the Round of 12, but he finished 5th in the standings winless
Or 3rd under the winston cup points format
Appreciating the new energy found in the intros! Let’s Go Eric!!!
Byron should’ve gotten an a minus or a considering how consistent he was
4th in Average position, 4th in average running position, 2nd in average mid race position, 10th in final points standings, for the expectations of a 12th-ish place driver or so going into the season, I’d say so. (As a Byron fan I very much cherry-picked these stats, but still)
Honestly if his pit crew was anything like his teammates he would've had an a plus
Nah we good. It gives him room to improve next year. He’s got the best crew chief at Hendrick so he’ll be just fine
Byron way outperformed bowman. Bowman just got lucky and fell in to victory lane while lacking the speed his teammates had
Willy B earned that B+
The only Ford driver that improved was Blaney. I really think the step back for Logano, Keselowski, Matty D, and the SHR team was a Ford problem rather than the drivers'.
Also I think you were too harsh on Matty D considering that. The 21 is not a great car unlike the actual Penskes, and a he improved a lot after his CC swap. He did a perfectly fine job in the car.
He got a bad grade for not landing sponsorship or a ride. As a driver ur job is to do more then be fast on the racetrack.
How did Bubba get a B- for having only 3 top 10’s in a JGR affiliated car? And Harvick got a D for having a 10th place average finish in a SHR car. 🤦♂️
Cause Harvick had 9 wins last year none this year
He explained it
@@yuh3485 okay and SHR was way worse this year too. Bubba was basically in a 5th JGR car and ran 15th-20th every week
@@robertvandermeer4320 not really a 5th car, it is like wood brothers and penske, wood brothers is slightly slower. This applies to 23XI and JGR. And plus it is a new team.
Bubba sucks. He didn't live up to all the hype. He's being pushed to be the poster driver for NASCAR. He sucks.
13:08 Denny Hamlin had lower performance because he kept sleeping in his PJs
you lost me at the matty d and bubba ratings. the fact that matty d had a better avg finish and points finish compared to bubba while bubba is in superior equipment compared to him and bubba gets a b-, i don’t agree w that. yeah, bubba had a win, but it was a lucky win. matty d should’ve at least gotten a c- or c and bubba should’ve gotten a d+ or c-
Cmon Austin got unlucky this year, got the best average finish of his career and should of made the playoffs
Austin Dillon would have finished 12th in the Winston Cup format finished in front of Tyler Reddick, Alex Bowman, Christopher Bell, and obviously Almirola and McDowell. Don't think it's fair at all for him to be critiqued for McDowell and Almirola winning a race and getting in.
Exactly
He should be better than his second year teammate. Dude is just not a very good driver.
Agreed
@@mlwilliam213 no one said he was better than Reddick. Reddick is a really solid driver, we're just saying that we thing Estepp's ranking was a little lower than it maybe should've been
Was waiting for a “uhhh…. Cody Ware…”
A+ for Ware. Cool, calm and consistent.
I don't see Harrison Burton doing anything special for Wood Brothers next year tbh
You may never know, hey he might be good
Agreed.
@@panozboi8133um........
Bubba a B-?? D+ at best
Yeah he won a race but thats the only thing saving him from an F
He received that b cause he not a white male but in reality he a joke only there cause all the liberal sponsorship he unfairly receives
Regarding Newman, I'm hoping he pulls a Sadler move and gets a good Xfinity or trucks ride for full season
How can u rate kevin a D he finished 5th in the end of the year standings atleast a c+
That Daytona wreck took a toll in Newman personally ofc and his career he just fell off completely after leading the 500 off turn 4 in the last lap and getting turned to a potential career ending wreck just like Jimmies Wreck in 2017 pocono which after that he just completely fell off
Great video, you've become one of my favorite youtubers this year ever since my nascar itch came back, hope to see more downhill diecast races during the off season. Keep it up Eric!
Also thought Eric Jones had a strong finish to the yr.
I feel like if Bubba Wallace and Daniel Suarez never had their issues, they would have more Top 5’s and Top 10. Hell, maybe Suarez could have won a race as well! (Bristol Dirt).
I hope those Bubba and Daniel and the new teams do learn from 2021 and will improve in 2022, with new teammates!
The pit crew has got to drastically improve if Bubba is going to get better results. You can't give up 3 or 4 spots on almost every pit stop and be consistent contender.
@@stevehesseltine1898 exactly. He can get Top 10 runs or better. But when there’s always issues on pit road, he never comes back to the Top 10. I know he can bring back good results
Bubba is running as good as he did with Petty. Difference is he got a win. The team needs to get better but its hard to just blame pit crew when your always running low teens and high 20s every race except at Superspeedways.
@@down-n-outinNC he’s actually been in the Top 15s-Top 20s most of the season. I know, the reason why there were races he did not finish were because of pit crew, other issues from someone else, and even himself. I did not expect a lot, tbh. Just have good or decent results and bring the car back in 1 piece was my expectations since it was 23Xi’s first year in Cup.
For the people that expect him or the team to win races left and right and all that stuff, they don’t know crap…. I love Bubba, and I wanted to be realistic about his year in the 23. Hopefully they all improve next year. Now that they have Kurt. And I agree, his average finish is way better than his RPM days. I hope he continues to improve moving forward!
@@IanTheMotorsportsMan_YT if he can't drive up through the field even after losing spots on pit lane then he will always be mediocre.
And sorry but to me super speedways are outlier races. The winners of these races this season should say enough considering how many ended up come the end of the year.
Those teams have to perform at other tracks and they don't. If that is how they set the bar for all other drivers then they have to be rated the same. It's clear they are not competitive all around and until that changes driver's Bubba, Bell and McDowell will always be middle of the pack talent. Not necessarily "field fillers" but definitely nothing to write home about.
Here are some more stats I think you'll like.
Denny Hamlin only missed 4 laps of the entire season, totaling 9.31 miles. The next best in completed miles were Keselowski (-106.33) and Reddick (-145.83).
Only 5 drivers completed 100% of the laps they attempted: Ben Rhodes, Joey Hand, Harrison Burton, Jamie McMurray, and Scott Heckert. All of those finishes come exclusively from superspeedways and road courses. After that, the best percentages of laps completed went to Hamlin (94.44), Harvick (88.89), Elliott (86.11), Larson (86.11), Blaney (83.33), and Allmendinger (80.00).
Hamlin and McDowell are the only drivers who, at any point in this year, had the best average finish of all the drivers. McDowell had the best average in weeks 1 and 3, Hamlin had it every week past that.
Under Winston Cup (1975-2003) points, Hamlin would have dominated most of the year, with Larson being his only real threat. Hamlin would have been the points leader for 29 of the 36 races. He and Larson would have traded the lead back and forth a few times between the Indy RC race and the Las Vegas playoff race. After the Martinsville playoff race, Larson would have taken a 4-point lead over Hamlin, making Phoenix a race for the ages, comparable to the final race of 2011.
Also under that system, Derrike Cope would not have spent a single week outside of the bottom spot in points, his position only decreasing as each new driver made their first start of the year. This still makes him less of an active menace on the track than Cody Ware and Quin Houff (if I can interject my own opinion in my otherwise statistical and factual comment).
Kevin Harvick is now 85 consecutive starts away from reaching Jeff Gordon's Iron Man record of 797. If 2023 is a 36-race season, then Harvick will reach this number at the 13th race of 2024, making it easy to set his own record from there, and break 800. Martin Truex Jr. can reach 797 in the fifth race of 2028; Logano can do it in the fifth race of 2031, Keselowski can do it in the first race of 2032, and Hamlin can do it in the 10th race of 2036, when he's 55.
You need a TV show. You’re good on camera and very knowledgeable!
Mcdowell’s second half of the season brought him from an A down to an A-. But dang baby move that man up to an A after full sending his car at the brickyard off the curb haha! He will need some stage wins next year.
I wonder how much with the 38 team wrecking, affected the 34 team. With the smaller size of Front Row, they probably pulled resources away to fix the cars, and I doubt they were spending extra money to build new cars for just the second half of the season.
Hopefully the NextGen car will allow they to get a better baseline to the larger teams
Honestly I think Newman’s flip at Daytona kinda screwed his career
The move to Roush.
@@kg0173 his first year there he made the playoffs and almost won at talladega and should have won the 500 last year
@@cadynliedke6095 Forgot about that, things were looking up. To bad he can't stay there with Keslowski, who pushed him out from Penske as well.
@@kg0173 yeah sucks that roush couldn’t have added a 3rd car or maybe even a part time car
@@cadynliedke6095 Roush has said that offered Newman a part time ride, but no mention of how many races it was for
Imo: for his antics on and off the track, Denny drops to a C+ at best.
Kurt made it to the the round of 16….
Harvick overcame such terrible circumstances, beat half of JGR and HMS, because he's just that good . Finished 2nd twice. Not to mention getting a win stolen from him. You think that's a D?
Eric: Gives Matt DiBenedetto an F
Me: *Dude Perfect rage monster moment*
Austin Dillon finished 12th in Winston Cup format he had a super underrated season. He would have finished in front of his teammate Reddick and also Alex Bowman and Christopher Bell.
Agree, Dillion was consistent.
Overall, pretty solid scores for these drivers! Especially for Kyle Larson getting an A+ for his most dominant season this year!
Kyle Larson was busted for cheating so many times it was pitiful
I have to agree with Earnhardt Sr., Earnhardt Jr., Jimmy Johnson, Jeff Gordon, and more drivers than I can count are of the mind set that if you aren't trying to push the line you don't have vision to be a winner
@@larryjellison3301 when? Why did nascar let the driver that said the N-Word and cheated have 10 wins and a championship? Stop making shit up and stay mad
@@larryjellison3301 can you fill me in on how many times he got busted for cheating? I must have missed that. If you count the All-star race he would’ve had 11 wins and if he didn’t get a flat tire on the last lap one race he would’ve had 12 all together. I would say that’s an A+ performance
@@lalex3431 I believe they are referring to the car not passing inspection and getting sent to the rear before a lot of races
Yeah and Ryan Preece is a short track and Road course guy and he really showed that at road courses but he couldn't do to much on short tracks.
TBH Preece would dominate short tracks if he had JGR or Hendrick equipment you saw it in JGR xfinity equipment and in the Whelen Modified Series.
He's won every Whelen Mod race he's entered this year and it was like 5-6 races.
and preece ran the entire year w/out a charter. with 8 dnf's he did really well
Big 23 racing fan I see. Kurt bush was similar to the 10 car meh all season and had 1 good race. Kurt should be B- and Hamlin was just as good as harvick last year his team had all 4 cars on the playoffs and he only won twice. As you said SHR was trash this year yet harvick was 3rd in overall points. He gets D and Hamlin gets A
I would Grade Bubba's season a D because he really didn't do anything other then that rained out win
Yes I know that this is the first year for 23XI Racing but I've had more expectations and I believe Kurt Busch will outperform Wallace next year
6:11 nope,kurt busch was Eliminated in the round of 16
Correct, I misspoke
@@EricEstepp no problem every body makes mistakes,and thanks for this funny video keep up the good work 👍
Austin A "C" Bubba a "B-" did you hit your head on the way into the room They should have a "D" at best.
Don't feel bad about giving Ryan Newman an F.
I'm a 43 fan since 1970 and to this day. Even Richard Petty, yes the king of NASCAR, deserved Fs from about 1988 to 1992.
You can still root for them but you can tell that it's just not there any more
True
I have to disagree with just a couple....
I'd give Almirola a B- because he got SHR their only win this year.
Hamlin would get a B+ for a lot less wins compared to last year.
A win that took out 3 of the top contenders lap 1 and then got shortened by the night as someone was about to pass him
Larson: A+
Elliott: A
Byron: A-
Bowman: A
Matty D would bring in more money for NASCAR if he had better equipment and a little more talent to go along with along with his blue collar/conservative values. If you don’t think fans support Matty D and share his views, you don’t really know NASCAR and it’s fans. Hell, the infamous slogan “Let’s go Brandon” was created by them!! NASCAR should try to consider its fan base more if it wants to survive/grow.
I objectively would give Brad Keselowski an A- . Simply because he was in a lame duck year, typically when most drivers leave a team, the driver suffers a subpar season. Brad Keselowski proved virtually everyone wrong, especially Eric who eventually admitted he was wrong. His grade was close ( B+) but not as well thought out as it could have been. I don't think he considered the history of what I mentioned above. Brad clearly exceeded all expectations and Eric clearly shorted him at least a little.
Eric is probably truthfully more biased on the Chevy / Toyota side of things ; I’ve watched several episodes this season of him taking sides of Chevy and Toyota side of things , that’s why I don’t watch as much any more . I look for people who call it straight down the middle of fair .
@@matthewthompson89 I agree. Sometimes Eric doesn't think things out carefully nor objectively enough. I've been following/involved with NASCAR for 50 years. Eric is still a kid. He's okay but he's got a way to go and needs to know the history of NASCAR and where it's going much better. I remember his podcast when he was all aboard with The Busch Light Clash Race at the Los Angeles Coliseum February 6th 2022, the week before the Super Bowl in Inglewood CA. Apparently, it's the reasoning of NASCAR that they'll get many of the early Super Bowl fans to a little 1/4 mile dirt track which are going to have Clash feature races before the main event! What is this a flat version of Slinger Speedway Wisconsin on a Saturday night! This is definitely a gimmick race. No wonder NASCAR has steadily been going downhill. This is similar to selling S*** on a Stick outside a state fair. If you put a nice fancy wrap and a bow tie on it, some if not quite a few people are going to buy it!
How about your grade for the year ? I'd give you an A+. Fantastic content again and I look forward to your videos for my Nascar news.
You know I was looking back at some old NASCAR seasons and 2011 really was a crazy year. Everyone knows that under the old full year points system Carl Edwards would’ve won the championship in the Cup Series as is. But what really blew my mind was that he also only missed a single Nationwide Series race that year and drove every race he made for the 99 which won the Owners Championship. I did the math and if NASCAR hadn’t implemented the rule that a driver could only run for points in one series, Carl Edwards would’ve won the Cup and Nationwide Series championships in the same year and would be the only driver to do so thus far.
Eric suffers a quick shot of spine degeneration on the Bubba grade. If it didn't rain at Talladega then most likely Bubba would still be winless.
It’s my bar mitzvah today!!!!!
Buy a case of Rowdy Energy and get krunked up foo.
Congrats
William Byron's picture gets an A+ for sure though
didn’t agree with all the scores but really enjoyed this video. awesome content!
TBF, Kevin Harvick went from 16th to finishing 5th in points soooooooo yeah.
Kevin harvick should've had a super A+++++. He was driving a pile of hot dog sh*t. Probably a top 30 car and had the balls to drive that to the playoffs and be competitive. Absolute unit, Haas should get an absolute F. Took the biggest L in years.
Dead on, I don't think it was a top 30 but not a top 10 in all honesty, the rules/inspection changes really killed the fords this year and helped Chevy big time. Also Chevy lobbying with Nascar to change their car how many times in the past few years didnt hurt when Ford has had the same body for a few years now.
Too harsh on Harvick. He deserved a B. He had a very good year. Not fair to compare to last year.
Agreed. 24 top 10s and finished 5th in points…a D is not accurate considering the rest of SHR was awful
Chastian deserves a bump for his 3 top 5's and only 3 DNFs. Those impressed me
Chastain impressed me a lot this year. He was one of the ones I looked for down in the field.
YESSIR! LOVE THIS SERIES AND THIS VIDEO! Nice job Eric and keep up the good work!
I turned it off when you gave Harvick a D lol he finished 5th in points had one of the best avg finishes and with mediocre equipment. Lost some credibility with that take
Me still waiting for the best and worst paint schemes videos but this will do
Yeah
Josh Bilicki had a surprisingly good run this year for being in a Rick Ware car. He was practically their best driver.
Spot on Eric. Good job!!
Thank you Eric for another awesome video and also it's pretty cool you've been doing this episode for as long as I've been watching your channel cuz I started watching in 2018.
I know Kyle Larson got an A+ because he really mowed the field and had a positive attitude the whole season.
For the issue with SHR, I think they should bring their Xfinity driver Riley Herbst to Cup. He's been showing real promise and deserves to be where he is and above that. Plus, with his sponsorship it'll probably happen. I really hope they give him the promotion.
I also hope people can tell I was joking
I must have missed when Riley Herbst has shown any talent. I’m not seeing what you are.
Yeah how do you think he’s a good driver ? I’m sure you think bubba and hailee deegan are Great drivers 🤣 lmao
Denny Hamlin....Always the bridesmaid. Give him a B-.
Be cool to grade every big name nascar cup series driver during the whole gen 6 era.
Yes, a summary video tribute to the Gen 6 car and the best drivers of the era. It was a lot better than the Gen 5 crapwagon.
Oof. Complete disagreement on an A for Denny.
Nearly as severe a drop off in the wins column as Harvick. Ruffled a lot of feathers and did some damage to the public perception of the 11 team. And yet again, maintained his status as the only veteran Gibbs driver to not bring home a cup. You've been unusually supportive of a driver that has such a poor public perception right now.
For Denny to have finished 2nd in the championship by the regular season points or winston points formats by a good margin, he had an A+ year. It's better to be consistent than get 5 wins and drop off.
I don’t understand why everyone is hating on Matty D for the online incidents. They’re not even that bad, it’s mainly just people on Twitter hating him for having an opinion. I agree with him though, he’s not wrong when he says that everything and everyone is too sensitive nowadays. I don’t see an issue with him voicing his opinion when Bubba Wallace voices his opinion and nascar or anyone doesn’t get mad at him
You give harvick a d based on his team but he finished 5 in the standings
12:51 I don't like how that picture of Denny Hamlin is staring into my soul.
I personally can’t stand Bubba, but I would’ve given him a B, B+. The Talladega win was huge. Don’t care what anyone says, they all knew the rain was coming and Bubba put himself in position to get the win. Every other driver had the opportunity to get to the lead, the rain wasn’t a surprise and Bubba took care of his stuff and was in the right spot. Rest of the year was rough though for sure.
I was waiting for some of this binged it while I was making my Bristol track
Would you ever consider doing some F1 content after the NASCAR season ends since the seasons don't overlap the full year? As someone who loves your content and also loves F1. It would be really cool to see your takes and watch you learn more about the series would be really cool
I feel like truex has had some humble pie and doesn’t act so entitled as he arguably used to I’m starting to like him again
Glad to see that it came out over the weekend
okay but why would you be such a good teacher LOL
Harvick hater but he should get a little higher, he didn’t win and he didn’t make it far into the playoffs, but he was sooooo consistent, and in the old format he woulda been a pretty solid 3rd. By his standards, sure it was bad, but what he did with what he had, it was decent
24 top 10s in that car this season was really good imo.
THE BEST EPISODE OF THE YEAR
Great grading! Great analysis!
What's your thoughts on that next year (as far as I can tell) there will be more 1 time champions racing full time in nascars modern era then ever before.
YAY My favorite Out of the Groove Video! ❤️
This Eric Fellow,,, Is Just Getting Better,,, Day by Day... This Was Good,,, Even,,, I Watched The "Whole Thing",,,
Kyle Larson should have the grade you gave him. This is the best season in Larson’s Cup Series career. 10 wins, won the Championship, led the most laps, and was dominate.
RU F***ing kidding a B for Flubba Wallbash????? At best he gets a D in my book, he lucked into 1 win and other than that he was just a menace on the track. And in no way does Harvick not deserve at least a B for being a very consistent driver.
Team grades Team!!!! 23 team did great at landing sponsors and preparing for next year