Bubba Wallace and the 4 Non-Playoff NASCAR Drivers Who Made Notable Strides in 2022
For a driver to have what they and others think about a “profitable” season within the NASCAR Cup Series, qualifying for the playoffs is commonly the minimal benchmark they need to attain.
Then there are those that don’t make the playoffs however make important strides from one yr to the subsequent, however.
Up subsequent, we’ll check out 4 drivers who didn’t attain the playoffs however nonetheless took a notable step forward in 2022.
Bubba Wallace
When Bubba Wallace recorded his first profession Cup Series victory within the fall of 2021 at Talladega, it got here with an asterisk because the race was lower brief by rain. A a lot totally different state of affairs unfolded within the fall of 2022 at Kansas, nevertheless, when Wallace not solely scored his first victory in a race run at its marketed distance but in addition led 58 of 267 laps, together with the ultimate 43.
Wallace took the checkered flag a full second forward of his second-place-finishing workforce proprietor, Denny Hamlin, who earlier within the season awarded Wallace a multi-year contract extension with 23XI Racing.
Wallace was certainly well-deserving of his extension, as he bested his numbers from 2021 in nearly each main class, together with top-fives, top-10s, laps led, poles, factors end, common begin, and common end.
Chris Buescher
Typically, when a driver earns his maiden profession Cup Collection win, a second victory follows briefly order. That’s not the way it labored for Chris Buescher, nevertheless.
After going to Victory Lane in 2016 for the primary time, Buescher wanted over six years to return to the Winner’s Circle — and he made it there with a special workforce, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing. Buescher’s 2022 win got here within the Bristol evening race, an occasion he captured in convincing fashion by main 169 of 500 laps.
Together with ending his prolonged drought in 2022, Buescher recorded three top-five finishes in comparison with only one the earlier yr. He additionally posted 10 top-10s — two greater than the eight he had in 2021.
Buescher really dropped two positions within the standings year-over-year, slipping from 19th to twenty first, however that was largely a results of lacking a race in 2022 on account of a constructive COVID check. On a brighter word, he received a pole this previous season after being unable to qualify P1 a yr earlier.
Erik Jones
After a tough first season at Petty GMS in 2021, Erik Jones made a major leap in 2022 each by way of factors end and the general pace he carried in his No. 43 automotive. And in contrast to in 2021, he received a race, too.
Leaping from 24th to 18th in factors year-over-year, Jones made it occur on the power of three top-five finishes in comparison with none in 2021. He additionally rang up 13 top-10s — 10 greater than the yr earlier than — as his common ending place jumped from 19.7 to 16.3, and he led 147 laps after pacing the sector for simply 9 laps in 2021.
The spotlight of Jones’ season got here on Labor Day weekend when he prevailed in the Southern 500 at Darlington for the second time in his profession and received for the primary time since triumphing within the 2019 version of this race as part of Joe Gibbs Racing.
Not surprisingly, Jones earned a multi-year contract extension with Petty GMS late within the 2022 season, setting the stage for a presumably even higher 2023 when seven-time Cup Collection champion Jimmie Johnson will compete part-time for Petty GMS and in addition function a co-owner of the group.
Michael McDowell
In contrast to the drivers listed above, Michael McDowell by no means made it to Victory Lane in 2022. In truth, the veteran driver for Front Row Motorsports really went from profitable a race — the Daytona 500, no less — in 2021 to being denied a victory within the subsequent Cup Collection marketing campaign.
However McDowell’s absence from the Winner’s Circle doesn’t paint a real image of his 2022 season. Removed from it, in truth. That’s as a result of McDowell’s outcomes had been total far superior to those he registered a yr earlier.
How superior? Nicely, think about that McDowell greater than doubled his variety of top-10s from 2021 and almost tripled the variety of laps he spent atop the leaderboard. Primarily based on these good points, it is smart that McDowell’s common end of 20.5 from the prior season improved to 16.7 in 2022.
