2023 is the sophomore year for NASCAR’s Next Gen Car to be hitting the tracks, and with a year to compare the cars performance to, it gets the predictions in the fanbase boiling. We are only six races into the season and Chevrolet has shown early signs of speed with a streak of 4 races having a Chevy bowtie in Victory Lane. Until Joey Logano in his #22 Ford Mustang won in Atlanta and the following week Tyler Reddick won his first race with new team 23XI in COTA.
Danny B’s part 1 in this series covers the first 6 points races in the 2023 season, as well as the L.A. Clash at the Colosseum.
Some of Danny B’s predictions are ridiculously close to what actually happened in these races this year. He predicted that Kyle Busch would finally get his Daytona 500 victory and on the 500-mile mark in the 2023 Daytona 500 Kyle Busch was in P1. Due to the overtime rule the race had resumed, and Kyle wasn’t able to hang onto the lead for the win. He also predicts that Chevy drivers Ross Chastain & Busch would have multiple victories by now. There is a Chevy driver showing dominance this season early, but it’s William Byron in the Hendrick #24 Chevy. Part 2 covers race 7 at Richmond to Kansas that will be in the first weekend of May.
To start this list out at Richmond, Danny B predicts that Virginia native driver Denny Hamlin will get his first victory of the 2023 season. Hamlin & Toyota has shown tremendous success at Richmond and was able to capture the win last season in the spring race.
Next comes up Dirt Bristol where last year we saw Tyler Reddick almost claim his first Cup Series win driving the #8 Chevrolet for RCR. On the last lap he and driver of the #14, Chase Briscoe, made contact and both spun, and Kyle Busch squeaked by to get the win. Danny B thinks that the guy with the most success on dirt currently in the Cup Series, Kyle Larson, will get his first dirt victory in a Cup car.
NASCAR heads to Martinsville after Dirt Bristol where last year’s spring race didn’t show a lot of action, but in the fall, we saw a spectacular moment that made history in the sport. Danny B makes note of the many attractions that Martinsville offers with the train track next to the back stretch, famous hotdogs, and the location of the famous Watermelon Wallride. Danny predicts that Martinsville will see a back-to-back winner in Christopher Bell getting his first win of 2023.
Going from one of NASCAR’s smallest tracks to their biggest high-banked oval, Talladega, last season’s spring Talladega race showed an exciting finish. Erik Jones threw a block coming to the checkered flag that let Ross Chastain sneak to the bottom lane and got his second win of 2022. This year Danny B thinks that Ryan Blaney will have a resurgence compared to a winless season last year, excluding his All-Star victory that was an exhibition race. Ryan Blaney has shown he is one to watch on the Superspeedways and Danny thinks no different this season.
Next on the schedule is the concrete oval of Dover where the Hendrick cars have shown dominance in the last couple of seasons. Alex Bowman won the spring race in 2021 and Chase Elliott won in 2022. Danny B predicts the Hendrick dominance to continue with Kyle Larson getting the Miles Monster trophy to have his second victory in 2023. Currently the 2021 Cup Champion is winless, but his teammate William Byron has 2 victories on the season.
The last race Danny covers in part 2 in his prediction series is race 12 at Kansas Speedway. The No. 45 car won both races last year with 2 different drivers, Kurt Busch & Bubba Wallace. Danny thinks that 23XI will get three in a row at Kansas, but not with the No. 45 car. He predicts that Bubba Wallace will get his third career victory in the No. 23 Toyota.
As we are getting ready for the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond, we’ll see if some of the predictions that Danny B made came true or were far off. We don’t have as many multiple winners in the 2023 season at this point as what Danny thought, but he’s not far off on who has shown speed. Tomorrow we will see if his prediction that Denny Hamlin will get his first victory of 2023.
Here is Part 3 of Danny B’s 2023 Prediction Series where he covers race 13 at Darlington to race 17 at Sonoma.
This is Part 1 of the 2023 predictions from Danny B Talks that shows his race predictions for the first 7 events.
NASCAR President Steve O’Donnell claims that he feels NASCAR “got a little lazy” in its attempts to keep growing the sport during a recent interview.
NASCAR’s Steve O’Donnell is entering his first full season as NASCAR President, after taking over the post from former President Steve Phelps in March 2025.
O’Donnell took over his post during a turbulent time in sports history, as schedule changes and car generations compounded fans’ growing issues with things such as the 2014 playoff system.
To add to his troubles, NASCAR was in the midst of a heated antitrust lawsuit with two of its teams, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, that was bound for court in late 2025.
Ultimately, NASCAR would manage to put a bow on most of its troubles before the start of the 2026 season, settling the lawsuit with the two teams, changing its points format, and expressing an openness to explore changes to its NASCAR Next Gen car, such as increased horsepower on short tracks and road courses.
This whirlwind of change is turning gears in the NASCAR fanbase, with many fans saying a lot of the reshuffling is just as good for the sport as putting things such as the lawsuit and playoffs in the rear-view mirror, a sentiment shared by O’Donnell.
During an interview with Sports Business Journal on Monday, the long-time NASCAR executive said, “This is the first year I can remember where we’re going into the season, just talking about racing and what’s great about NASCAR.”
This isn’t the only shared feeling between O’Donnell and NASCAR fans, as prior to that, he said he felt NASCAR had grown “a little lazy” after overtaking IndyCar as the top motorsport in America, something he has even told NASCAR employees.
“When I started at NASCAR, we were chasing IndyCar, and the goal was, if we can just kind of surpass IndyCar, and we did that, and, you know, I’ve told our employees, I think we all got a little lazy.” — Steve O’Donnell
While many fans would agree that NASCAR has turned around for the better, there is still work to be done, and in O’Donnell’s eyes, the sport is in a prime spot to grow.
“My job and all of our jobs is to bring the industry together and talk about, we got a pretty cool thing going here, and we can really grow it,” O’Donnell said.
NASCAR isn’t exactly setting lofty goals for itself in 2026, at least in public, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have the attention of its fanbase.
While the revived Chase format has drawn back some eyes, things like NASCAR’s “Hell Yeah” advertising campaign were the talk of the NASCAR community entering the 2026 Daytona 500.
That race also produced a finish that saw NBA legend, team owner, and former NASCAR lawsuit plaintiff, Michael Jordan, bring home another major race win on National TV with driver Tyler Reddick.
This race also saw a slight increase in viewership from the 2025 Daytona 500, one hurt by a major rain storm that blew in early in the race’s running.
Though TV ratings may not be skyrocketing, NASCAR has early momentum to make 2026 good enough to set a firm foundation for O’Donnell’s goals of growth, but maintaining that momentum will be another challenge in and of itself.
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The NASCAR Truck Series breaks off from the main touring series schedule this weekend, but that doesn’t mean the O’Reilly Auto Parts and Cup Series aren’t racing. So, whether you are going to be at the track or home, what does the forecast look like for the race weekend in Austin, Texas?
Before the OAP Series Race (11:00 AM – 2:00 PM)
During the OAP Series Race (2:00 PM – 5:00 PM)
After the OAP Series Race (5:00 PM – 8:00 PM)
Before the Cup Series Race (11:00 AM – 2:00 PM)
During the Cup Series Race (2:00 PM – 5:00 PM)
After the Cup Series Race (5:00 PM – 8:00 PM)
When the three NASCAR National Series rolled into Austin for COTA’s first NASCAR race weekend in 2021, no one could have guessed the chaos that lay in wait. A major rain shower did not prevent the series from racing that day, as, though it was still somewhat foreign at the time, NASCAR sent the Cup Series out in the rain for a chaotic race, ultimately won by Chase Elliott.
Note: This article will be updated with a more accurate and detailed forecast as the race weekend nears.
After back-to-back drafting tracks, NASCAR’s three National Series split ways as the O’Reilly Auto Parts and Cup Series head for Circuit of the Americas, and the Truck Series makes its debut at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
This information will be available when NASCAR releases it on Monday afternoon.
Note: This article will be updated as more information about the weekend comes out.
