Grading Every NASCAR Driver's 2022 Season

[@EricEstepp]

I've noticed a ton of scammers in the comments lately, pretending to be me. Please do not reply to them, text them, or send them any of your information. I'll do my best to keep blocking and reporting them as much as I can.

[@supertornadogun1690]

Gotta look for that checkmark and grey around the name

[@OldsmobileCutlass1969Va]

Sadly... The spammers are on every channel!!! When I see one... I report them.

[@PokeMasterChris]

I thought Kurt retired Eric or is that after next season?

[@jordh24able]

Wait, it wasn't you when you said that I can earn $10,000 a week doing nothing?

[@GrandpaShark]

@@PokeMasterChris He retired from full time. Sounds like he may drive in a few races.

[@AshtonG2022]

The paint scheme videos and the Grades are my favorites during the off-season.

[@thatpaintschemeguy8]

Same

[@samtheram714]

Professor Estepp is back

[@670HP-Package-NOW]

The groovy grader

[@corduroycal]

That’s doctor estepp to you

[@NASCARorbascarpeople]

Ross Chastain 1:02 Martin Truex Jr 1:39 Austin Cindric 2:33 Harrison Burton 3:05 Todd Gilliland 3:36 Kevin Harvick 4:13 Denny Hamlin 5:12 Brad Keselowski 6:08 Chris Buescher 7:11 Joey Logano 8:09 Daniel Suarez 8:50 William Byron 9:30 Kyle Larson 10:22 Alex Bowman 11:14 Ty Dillon 11:58 Eric Jones 12:35 Aric Almirola 13:17 Cole Custer 13:50 Chase Brisco 14:43 Tyler Reddick 15:25 Austin Dillon 16:32 Bubba Wallace 17:25 Kurt Busch 18:15 Corey Lajoie 19:06 Micheal McDowell 20:00 Ryan Blaney 20:35 Cody Ware 21:29 Christopher Bell 21:49 Justin Hailey 22:18 Ricky Stenhouse Jr 23:01 Chase Elliott 23:38 Kyle Busch 24:37

[@cyprusgaming.]

Mans doing god's work

[@mrbadguy5040]

Would have been funny if he did BJ McLeod

[@memepauschale476]

What’s the rule for the positioning?

[@jeremyjensen6154]

Hey Eric I just wanted to say Hello and thanks for the awesome videos! Ive been a diehard NASCAR fan my entire life. Your knowledge of the sport makes me proud to know Im not the only one that loves NASCAR.

[@jeremyjensen6154]

If you ever want to talk racing give me a shout out.

[@vailex_]

Cole Pearn leaving has hurt Truex badly. Those two were amazing together

[@jturner0901]

the thing is is he ran decently this season but poor pit crew performance, mistakes from martin himself, and james small as well. But there were several races he could have won this season, Richmond 1, New Hampshire, and Darlington, (technically texas too but that was only because the leader spun, he didn’t have winning pace)

[@nathanakers45]

With how much praise you (rightfully) gave Justin Haley I'm surprised you only gave him a B. A young driver driving that consistently fast AND clean, on a new-ish team in its first full season, was A-/A worthy to me. Very curious what he and AJ can do in '23.

[@Zaporb123]

And let's not forget Haley only wrecked out at summer Daytona when it rained and nascar didn't throw a caution

[@jhood33]

Erik Jones could have an argument for an A grade. Tied his most top tens in a season at 13( which is more than double from last season), 3top 5s, gets the 43 back to victory lane and has an average finish of 16.25 which is 3 spots better than last year and qualified on average in the top 20. Given expectations, that could be a solid case for at least an A-.

[@kinesisboomer]

Absolutely agreed, though the B+ is fair. It only means there's next year to look forward to. Eric is right though, without that win at Darlington, would Petty GMS even have gotten Jimmie or Noah? Erik's win and performance this year certainly seem to bring Petty GMS back into the spotlight. With hope, next year we may even see both the 42 & 43 in the Championship. (I can dream.)

[@jjy4824]

I think just missing the playoffs makes it not an A.

[@ephraimvorzman9786]

Your resident Willy B defender is back. William subverted expectations this season. Going into this year I had two goal I wanted him to achieve: win multiple races and make it to the round of 8. He did both. Granted, he did have a summer slump, but the finishes don’t tell the full story. He’s had terrible luck (Darlington 1, Atlanta 2, Daytona 2, Indy Road) and Rudy made some truly baffling strategy calls (Watkins Glen comes to mind). I also think that it’s not out of the question that Hendrick were using the 24 and 48 as R&D cars during the summer, given the similarity of William’s results to Bowman’s. Overall, two wins, 6th in points on the year, made the round of 8. I think Byron did enough to prove that he deserves his Hendrick ride.

[@81casperflip]

I'd put Aric Almirola in the Aric Almirola tier yet again this year

[@KFB4LIFE8]

I've been watching old Eric videos all day waiting for something new lol. Eric is a god

[@samueltschida7402]

I always look forward to the grades. I think grading, or ranking the teams would be cool as well. Put them in tiers or something. Great stuff Eric!

[@Rand0mContnt]

Chris Buescher showed this year that, with a decent car under him, he can perform. I think he and Brad turn some heads next year, and god RFK needs it.

[@mt.nichols9349]

I feel like McDowell earned an A just purely based on the significance of this season in terms of his team’s future. It’s invaluable to be off to a solid start in a new car and have all that data to review. It’s tough to build success when neither car is performing well. With one performing above where it’s expected to, that’s an excellent starting point for the Next Gen era.

[@evannuh-koo-la4054]

At the beginning Eric was opened up at pages 346 and 347. The photo briefly shown was Neil Bonnett crashing the back of his 75 Pontiac into the wall at the 1987 Coca Cola 600

[@gz_splash]

Hopefully we get another top 10 best and worst schemes

[@Scotty2303]

As a huge Kyle Busch fan, I must say he had one of the craziest seasons I can remember, started off the season with a win at Bristol Dirt, could've easily rattled off 2 or 3 more and looked like a real championship contender around Charlotte/Gateway time, then Truex signed an extension around Nashville time and I think now in hindsight that's probably when it became clear to Kyle and to Joe Gibbs that they weren't gonna continue in 2023, glad he got outta there though and into a team on the rise again like RCR, it was quite clear JGR became a bit of a toxic environment for him near the end, meanwhile at RCR he'll be their star driver, hopefully 2-3 wins and a Round of 8 apperance is possible.

[@Thegreatdeer53]

Love these! Keep up the awesome work Eric

[@ahawks4820]

Haley and McDowell definitely deserved at least an A-, both had great seasons and McDowell was a contender at every road course. Haley was a contender at all Super Speedways as expected. Both of which were also able to run well at intermediate tracks, McDowell especially, but Haley got 3rd at Darlington, 3rd at Texas, and got quite a few top-10’s. And as you mentioned only wrecked out of 1 race and that was due to something he had 0 control over (rain)

[@alpha24_9]

Hey! Had a good time meeting you at Phoenix and talking some nascar! Again good job by the Astros but hopefully the Rangers can find some post season luck soon.

[@JLOCLamborghiniFan88]

2022 as a Truex fan was ABSOLUTE HELL! I look forward to 2023 because I believe the 19 team will get things together and will return to their winning, playoff, championship 4 qualifying form now with the first full year of the Next Gen car under their belt, and with the changes being made to the car itself heading into next season!

[@gswizzy17]

You mean Joe Gibbs Racing. The “19 team” doesn’t build cars. Sorry if Im being rude I just don’t like the saying “(number) team”

[@lukaslang5772]

I absolutely love these end of season videos. The grade video and the paint scheme ranking video are always my favorites each year!

[@craigstephenson7676]

I actually think Chase had the best car at Phoenix right before that stupid block on Chastain. If he didn’t make that block it would’ve been a great race. A great strategy call gets him back to the top right next to Logano, I wanted to see them race each other. It looked like their cars were about the same in dirty air

[@toxicbanana9923]

Ah the video I’ve been waiting for

[@ProxxRoxx]

Awesome, was looking forward to this! Great Job as always 👍

[@WhatsUpKarlSmithKyle]

Always happy to see and hear alot of love for my man Erik Jones!! Petty gms looking up and Jones is the face of that team. Can't wait till next season.

[@81casperflip]

The car numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 all won in the same season for the first time in maybe ever?

[@wade_says]

Wish Bell would have won it all. That pit stop ruined it. I think he will be a force in the next few years.

[@rocksreviewsreactions337]

As Truex fans, we agree with that grade. He was so close a lot this year.😔

[@nicholasvassey9799]

Team Trackhouse is going to crush this coming season. Also Ross Chastain as Batman and Daniel Suarez as Robin is Funny but Awesome at the same time!

[@DennyDeliversYT]

Brad Keselowski this season is that one that seemed to be doing well… only to realize that he was actually cheating a lot lol

[@irvingboy1122]

Considering all the bad luck Blaney has had this season I hope he finally breaks through next season and gets some win going coming from an Elliott fan

[@prairiefarmer5994]

I think the most frustrating part being an Elliott fan this year is that, like we say a lot about other drivers and missing rings, if this was Winston cup points Elliott would’ve won by simply starting the final race at Phoenix. Oh well, there’s always next year.

[@griffinfuller2567]

Barring Ty Dillon winning races, he was fired before the season started. Petty didn’t want Dillon but the merger with GMS forced him into that ride

[@number40Fan]

0:26 No "E" grades given? 😀

[@pyroishere]

Another great video Professor Estepp, your videos are always great quality and you do a fair, non-bias breakdown, amongst the drivers. I'm I'm patiently, yet anxiously, waiting for my dicast to arrive, I think the site said 2023, so I'll try to be more patient. Thanks for all you do bro, and congrats to you and the Astros!

[@kyleisrowdy4901]

Love these videos every year and looking forward to the worst and best paint scheme vid

[@TheMrFishnDucks]

Very nice video. Keep up the good work.

[@SlickBillByron24]

I get Byron wasn’t consistent this year but, it was his first season with multiple wins in cup, most laps led in his career, first time making the round of 8, and highest points finish of his career in 6th and only lost to Denny for “the best of the rest” by 1 point. I think that’s better than a B+ to me

[@SteveLaneGalway]

Thanks Eric. Your videos are a large part of the reason why Nascar is enjoyable.

[@brewsnoop]

Finally I get to hear the pronunciation of Estepp! I’ve actually been wondering all year long, thanks Eric.

[@jmreeves89]

Good vid as usual, only I do think some organization to the order may improve it in the future. Maybe by car number? Or alphabetical or by team, some (more obvious, I'm sure there was a plan) rhyme or reason to the order would be cool. Congrats on a great season, Eric!

[@resyrum5301]

All three rookies this year not only drove for Ford teams, but all also finished top 5 at the Indy Road Course

[@freddiekeith9534]

Brad finished off the year running as well as most that sooner than I thought he would start running well, next year he will be better

[@Abram_DFWplanespotter2010]

From Tood Gilliland, he did run top 10 all day at the fall Tallageta race and starting to be like Michael McDowell at road courses and super speedways

[@andrewmarsey1859]

Pretty much on par with your grades. Christopher Bell gets the A++ this year. Newer subscriber, I really enjoy your commentary. Great season 👏🎉

[@braedonshelton2305]

Bubba come a long way this year. The first half of the season was brutal. I think Brad K. Will be a top 20 driver next year. Hopefully he gets a win.

[@2448_aviation]

You forgot McDowell was fast at gateway. A- IMO

[@fordenginebuildersv8power184]

Harrison will get some coaching before Daytona! We have offered the Wood Brothers to send him and a car here Arizona and work with him!

[@tylercochran902]

Love the AD praise. Thanks!!

[@intensehumanbox9662]

I really don't like Denny but getting denied by the single greatest move in Nascar history is just a sad state of affairs

[@nascarguy2003]

21:46 You're really sleeping on Cody Ware here. He finished ahead of RWR's #15 car 19-16, which was driven by both a 15-year Cup vet (Yeley), and a road course ringer with factory support (Hand). He also did not finish in last place a single time this season, and at one point had one of the lowest incident counts of any full time driver. I think Cody had at least an A season for his expectations.

[@JustAndEE_]

The homie is back, giving grades!

[@David_Bell3939]

I believe Christopher Bell should get an A+ Eric!! Lol

[@baileyreichert6138]

I look forward to this every year along with the paint scheme videos.

[@iceeblueburst03]

Nice list of all the full time drivers and their letter grades! Can't wait to see how next year will go! I also can't wait for your paint schemes video to come out soon!

[@RobDTom]

I think you really nailed the grades! I agree with almost all of them.

[@gatling216]

Regarding Austin Dillon: mediocre driver, excellent businessman. Since pretty much all involved said he was responsible for Busch's move to RCR, I'm inclined to think that he'll do better as the head of the company than he ever did as their star driver, and waaaay better than he did as a reality TV star.

[@andyharman3022]

Richard Childress did not have a great driving career. But he's been an awesome team owner.

[@CMP_18]

0:00 HEY! I have that book got it like 10 years ago 😂

[@bigrooster6893]

Eric is very smart he waited to almost the end to talk about Chase Elliott because he wants us Chase Elliott fans to watch the entire video and not turn it off after he talks about Chase Elliott but I watch all of them anyway.

[@Nascar4Life]

Day 2 of asking Eric to bring back Groovy Gulch with next gens

[@andred7415]

Note* keselowskis dq at Martinsville put Ross in regardless of the hail melon. Moved him up 1 pt in each stage and tied with denny and tie breaker went to ross.

[@derekbrummett9239]

Great video! Your videos make our day! We agree with your grading.

[@jameshunt649]

Yo big fan of your videos Eric ! Hope to hear from you in the off season !

[@briangriffinfamilyguyfan81]

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. actually had his best season with the team in my opinion He also led laps every few races so I would give him a B or B-

[@wxcellstormchasing7619]

With everyone graded on their own expectations I only have 1 slight gripe. Give Michael McDowell his due I think he earned an A but perhaps not giving him that is respectful that he has increased his expectations so but a very hard to argue with any of your opinions.

[@t8r-8]

Look at that teacher's outfit lol

[@jeffcheshier3537]

Elliott getting an A is like Notre Dame being ranked top 10. With the dismal playoff run, A- at best, B+ more realistic, considering all the HMS resources that were increasingly focused on him in later playoff rounds.

[@jeffcheshier3537]

That being said, excellent analysis and a lot of work obviously went into prepping it. Thanks Eric, my son and I have really enjoyed watching your videos this season...added another layer of texture to our NASCAR experience!

[@User_of_randomness]

Thank you for this video! Just about half a day ago, my sister had a child for only 15 minutes. I have been sad about it for a while and this helped a lot! ♥️

[@grand_master_of_izalith7186]

Ngl, that opening with Nascar: The Complete History had me dying

[@DavidJohnson-rj2zz]

What book was that in your hand at the start of the video

[@gregcalnan8394]

Excellent Michael Scott moment at the 10:20 mark :D

[@chardab8824]

I swear every once in a while I’ll just look up and suddenly Todd Gilliland is in the top 20 really did better then I expected this year

[@kg0173]

That 38 is not a bad car.

[@randomvideosandno3]

“Class is in session”. -Eric 2022

[@danielchai6145]

I'd also give elliott an A. He wasn't clutch this year in the playoffs but he didn't have to be until Phoenix. And of course right when he gets his car where he wanted it, and was right next to logano for the championship lead, he spins off of chastain.

[@hypgar8678]

I will always say that Austin Dillon is criminally overshadowed and underrated, but he's just gotta break through and take those next steps.

[@motorosso3349]

Good analysis of the Cup driver's 2022 season.

[@cameronchiesa1031]

I was really frustrated with Blaney not winning this season. Needs 2-3 wins next year, at least.

[@chaos1203]

Bro I’ve been watching you since the nascar paradys nice job

[@CriticalNuance]

The B+ on Larson is perfect. If he made the final 4 I would go A-. Three wins is beyond solid. Double digit win seasons are a CAREER highlights.

[@mustanglover06]

I think blaney deserves a higher grade. He was in position to win several races this season, but issues out of his control took him out of contention- gateway, where his pit crew lost him spots every time down pit road - auto club, same issue- Vegas 1, where brad K spun in front of him and he had nowhere to go. Blaney was at least an A- driver this year in my opinion, just needs a more finely tuned team underneath him to get the wins.

[@officialjfendi]

breaking news: florida man at last receives an A+ in something and has impressed people all across the land

[@white_nissan_skyline_r3360]

I wish C. Bell would have had a bit better of a finish for the Championship 4 race. I think the problem is that he needs to maybe get a bit more practice at Phoenix.

[@lukaslang5772]

I love these videos. You should do them for xfinity and trucks too!

[@michaeljessupracing8454]

Hey , really like the channel. Lots of hard work. Just wondering if you’ve heard any inside scoop on how NASCAR intends to penalize Austin Hill after that brutal assault on Myatt Snider recently? Thx

[@kylelarsonin-car2810]

When are your paint scheme videos coming out

[@logdrive3929]

HE'S BACK (ALSO AUSTIN CINDRIC = THE 🐐)

[@jjy4824]

5:23 his team did everything right except the last pit stop which threw away the win and put hamlin like way down in 11th or something

[@johndornoff]

Last year I kind of questioned some of your grades but this year I think you were pretty spot on. Kyle Busch was the hard one. It was a bad season by Busch standards but so have the past two seasons and this year especially after it was clear he was not coming back it seemed like JGR just started giving him the junk to drive. There were points in this season when Busch did not act like Busch but in a good way showing much more maturity than we have ever seen from him, especially during the breakup. The grade was probably fair from a finishing point of view but probably not if you look at the big picture.

[@trendkill7781]

adam stevens certainly played a huge role in bell's A .. how long before he's moved to the gibbs car ?

[@andyharman3022]

I agree: Bravo to Eric Jones for putting Petty back on the map. I hope he keeps getting better next year. How are things going to work out at JGR? Will Gibbs lose his motivation to stay in the sport? And what would that mean to the 23X1 satellite team?

[@samuelstewart495]

If it was not for bowman getting injured he could’ve had a decent chance to get to the round of 8. Was running really well in those first few races of the playoffs.

[@noahcoleman5556]

Ross Chastain: A+ Austin Cindric: A- Austin Dillon: B Kevin Harvick: B Kyle Larson: B+ Brad Keselowski: D Corey Lajoie: C+ Tyler Reddick: A- Chase Elliott: A Aric Almirola: C+ Denny Hamlin: B Ryan Blaney: B+ Chase Briscoe: B Chris(topher) Buescher: B+ Kyle Busch: D Martin Truex Jr: D+ Christopher Bell: A Harrison Burton: C Joey Logano; A+ Bubba Wallace: B William Byron: B Justin Haley: B+ Michael McDowell: A Todd Gilliland: B- Cole Custer: F Ty Dillon: C- Erik Jones: A- Greg Biffle: F Kurt Busch: C- Ricky Stenhouse Jr: D- Alex Bowman: C Cody Ware: D+ BJ McLeod: D Daniel Suarez: A-

[@GodzillaLegendary-kf8vn]

Let’s wait for 2023 Burton is prob gonna have a big improvement I’d say for a rookie not on a team that’s exactly op like others he did good being able to even run up near the front

[@kbd777]

Another great video idea

[@kevantecaldwell4035]

My only issue with this is Kyle Larson stats would’ve gotten him an A not a B+

[@dennisbessey5161]

I actually agree with most of your grades i think you did a good job grading them

[@mattr.8470]

Kyle Busch’s season was so painful because he probably should’ve won both Vegas races, Darlington, and Dover but people forget those and only remember his one win where he got extremely lucky

[@fallenfetus]

Disagree with the second Vegas race, but don’t forget he lost both Charlotte and Gateway within the last two laps of the race. Might have been able to beat Elliott at Nashville on the green white checkered if it weren’t for the four tire call. He really could have had 5-7 wins this year if he had the luck he had from 2017 and 2018

[@BHV0810]

Crazy season. I hope NASCAR makes some changes to the NextGen car to make it safer for drivers. 2023 should be amazing!

[@whalesequence]

That Elliot block on Lajoie is the same crap he tried to pull on Chastain, good thing it didn't work that time, he also did that at daytona to dibenedetto, good riddance that he didn't win the championship