Some NASCAR drivers have struggled immensely this season. Which drivers have struggled the most, however, according to NASCAR Reddit? Let’s take a look.
In his first full-time season in NASCAR, Noah Gragson has been nothing short of a massive disappointment. It’s strange considering that coming into this season, Gragson seemed to be entering into a good situation. He was entering an up-and-coming race team with a new owner that had just won a race the season prior.
This season, Gragson has not had a single top-10 finish. He also has six DNFs and only two top-20 finishes. Obviously, it’s not all Gragson’s fault given the transitional phase that Legacy Motor Club is in and the multiple parts failures, but he is not completely absolved of blame either.
I mean, it’s hard to argue with Gragson being the 33rd ranked driver out of 33 full-time drivers in the Cup Series.
Everyday_Struggle compares the Gragson situation to Clint Bowyer with H-Scott Motorsports in 2016.
Strict_Zebra_3585 says that Gragson’s struggles can be chalked up to the equipment that he is stuck running in.
While teammate Kyle Busch is winning races and looks like a potential Championship threat, Austin Dillon is having the worst statistical season of his career so far. His average finish (21.3), average starting position (21.7), and points position (29th) are all the worst of his career. In fairness, a large chunk of that is due to a penalty sustained at Martinsville in the spring, but, even without the penalty, he would still be 25th in points.
What makes this season so disappointing is that his teammate is having a great year to this point. Why is Busch winning races, but Dillon is struggling to run in the top-20?
HurricanesnHendrick points out the current points gap, and, YIKES.
Legacy_600 is giving Austin Dillon a participation trophy.
Zestyclose_Worth_232 feels that Austin Dillon needs to make a crew chief change.
Austin Cindric won the Daytona 500 last season, and he followed that up with an inconsistent but respectable rookie season. This year has been bad from start to finish. He crashed out of the Daytona 500, and he has only three top-10 finshes with no top-5s.
Something just is not working for Cindric. Maybe it’s the classic “sophomore slump.” However, with his teammates each winning races, equipment cannot be blamed on what is making Cindric struggle so much.
Up front, Cindric has absolutely not been ChaseTheFalcon.
hoppybear21222 says that Cindric has “fallen off a cliff.”
clayfus_doofus says Cindric has been invisible.
Last season, Chase Briscoe was in the Round of Eight with a race win. This season, he has struggled. Since his three consecutive top-5s at Bristol Dirt, Martinsville, and Talladega, Briscoe has only found the top-10 one time.
He also was on the wrong end of a 100 point penalty due to the 14 team counterfeiting a single source Next-Gen part. That’s a big no-no, and it has dropped Briscoe to 31st in points. Obviously, given the struggles of Ryan Preece and Aric Almirola, these struggles are not isolated to just one driver at Stewart-Haas Racing.
Briscoe was just a few laps away from making the Championship 4 last season before being passed late at Martinsville.
QC_1999 points out that it’s been a tough season to be named Chase in NASCAR.
AgentofChaos17 also points out the other Chase, but he notes that Briscoe has likely not been helped out by equipment.
Daniel Suarez seemed to finally be settled in the NASCAR Cup Series after winning his first race with Trackhouse Racing in 2022. This season, he has struggled. After three consecutive top-10 finishes in the first three races of the season, Suarez’s average finish the last 19 races has been 21.8.
Trackhouse as a race team has also been hot and cold this season. Teammate Ross Chastain was the points leader at one point, and he has fallen to seventh despite winning at Nashville. It’s just been a disappointing season for Suarez.
If this becomes the most memorable moment of the season for Suarez at the end of the year, that’s not good.
jtw_07 puts Trackhouse as a whole in this bin of disappointment.
Lee-Key-Bottoms adds a frowny face to Suarez
There is still time for some of these disappointing drivers to find a way into the Playoffs. Time is ticking, however, with only four races left until the Postseason.
