NASCAR 2023: Highlights, Races, and Championship Standings

With a 36-race campaign that runs from February until November, the NASCAR Cup Series has one of the longest-running seasons in any of the major professional sports leagues in the United States.

For almost three-fourths of the year, you can catch the top names in stock car racing pursue championship success.

In the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season, the list of championship contenders includes several former champions. Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, and Martin Truex Jr. have already won races this season and

With so many talented drivers and competitive cars, there are many exciting NASCAR races to look forward to throughout the season, whether on ovals in Daytona, Talladega, or Charlotte or the road courses like Sonoma Raceway and Watkins Glen.

As a result, the Cup Series championship standings will see a lot of changes over the course of the year, down to the championship race in Phoenix on November 5.

At Betting News, we provide comprehensive NASCAR coverage every week, with predictions and picks for each race. You can stay updated on the current Cup Series standings in those pieces, as well as get race recaps and important news in addition to our betting breakdown.

Also, if you like to follow or bet on the Xfinity Series, we also provide coverage for a number of races for NASCAR’s second-tier series.

NASCAR Cup Series 2023 Highlights

This season includes a record six races on road courses, including the inaugural Chicago street race. Fittingly, history was made in the race with a victory by debutant Shane van Gisbergen. Van Gisbergen, a three-time series champion in Australia’s Supercars Championship became the first driver since 1963 to win in his NASCAR top-level series debut.

That has been just one of many highlights of the NASCAR Cup Series season to date, and there are many more to look forward to as the rest of the season unfolds.

SVG’s win was unexpected because he was a debutant, but it wasn’t a miraculous upset. After all, he races on road courses in the Supercars Championship in Australia.

Another unexpected result was Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s win in the season-opening Daytona 500. It was Stenhouse Jr.’s first win since 2017, and it has him in line for a place in the championship playoffs later this year.

In one of the other marquee races on the Cup Series calendar, Ryan Blaney won the Coca-Cola 600, his first win since August 2021.

Also, the annual NASCAR All-Star Race took place at North Wilkesboro Speedway, which was the first NASCAR race at the track since 1996. Larson claimed his third All-Star race win, adding to his wins in 2019 and 2021.

Arguably the biggest highlight of the season to date is the success of the Hendrick Motorsports #24. That is one of the numbers most synonymous with NASCAR due to Jeff Gordon’s success in the #24 throughout his legendary career.

Gordon retired in 2015, but he should have a lot of excitement about the season that William Byron is having. Will it end in a championship in November?

Key Races in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Season

Here are some of the most important races and results on this year’s Cup Series schedule:

• Daytona 500 (February 19 at Daytona – won by Ricky Stenhouse Jr.)
• NASCAR All-Star Race (May 21 at Charlotte Motor Speedway – won by Kyle Larson)
• GEICO 500 (April 23 at Talladega Superspeedway – won by Kyle Busch)
• Coca-Cola 600 (May 29 at Charlotte Motor Speedway – won by Ryan Blaney)
• Coke Zero Sugar 400 (August 26 at Daytona – final race of the regular season)
• Cook Out Southern 500 (September 3 at Darlington Raceway – first race of the NASCAR Playoffs)
• Xfinity 500 (October 29 at Martinsville Speedway – penultimate race of the season, which helps determine the Championship 4, the four drivers who will in the mix for the title in Phoenix)
• NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race (November 5 at Phoenix Raceway – final race of the season, where the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion will be crowned)

How to Bet on NASCAR in 2023

Many of the top sports betting sites offer a variety of NASCAR betting odds.

Along with being able to bet on the winner of each race, many online sportsbooks offer finishing position odds (top 3, top 5, and top 10).

Also, you can bet on who will finish atop the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series championship standings at all of the sports betting sites that we recommend.

Here are some of the sites that we recommend if you are interested in NASCAR betting:

• BetOnline
• BetUS
• Bovada
• Bookmaker
• Sportsbetting.ag