Transition from old to new will continue
Drivers to watch in 2023 include retiring Harvick
This 75th season of NASCAR begins Sunday with the Daytona 500 and it comes after what has been a long exodus of sorts.
Since 2016, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Danica Patrick and Jimmie Johnson have all retired (though Johnson is back). They all followed Mark Martin and the Labonte brothers, Dale Jarrett and Rusty Wallace.
As Kevin Harvick prepares to depart, the stage is open to be seized by the likes of Noah Gragson, watermelon farmer Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez, the only Mexicanborn winner in NASCAR history. There is also Austin Cindric, a Team Penske fixture who won last year's Daytona 500 as a rookie, and Bubba Wallace, the only Black driver competing at NASCAR's top level.
NASCAR's trick is to get America to care about these new drivers.
“Lack of Stars,” Denny Hamlin, a three-time Daytona 500 winner, cited that as NASCAR's biggest challenge in a poll conducted by The Associated Press ahead of NASCAR's 75th year. Hamlin enters the season needing two wins to reach 50 for his career, which would tie him with Hall of Famers Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson for 13th on the all-time list.
“No one even knows who the stars of our sport are now,” Hamlin wrote. “They only know the old names (from NASCAR's heyday). This comes from a list of issues, but until we actually
Kyle Busch will drive for Richard Childress Racing this season after 15 campaigns with Joe Gibbs Racing.
have `superstars' our sport will always be niche.”
Joey Logano is a star and he just won a second Cup Series title for Team Penske last season. Others hoping to be in the mix include Tyler Reddick, who moves from Richard Childress Racing to 23XI to drive alongside new teammate Bubba Wallace.
J.J. Allmendinger returns to the Cup Series after a brief retirement followed by competing in the Xfinity Series for Kaulig Racing. And Ty Gibbs will make his debut driving for his grandfather's team just three months after his father, Coy Gibbs, passed away in his sleep following his son's Xfinity Series championship.
Harvick was thrust into the spotlight as Dale Earnhardt's replacement just five days after the NASCAR hero was killed on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. Harvick is making this season his farewell. He will move into
the Fox broadcast booth next year for an unknown length of time: NASCAR is currently negotiating its television package for 2025 and beyond.
Harvick is just 10 Cup Series starts away from 800, which would make him just the 10th driver in history to hit that milestone. But his move off the track completes an exodus of star power that brought NASCAR into living rooms across America during the healthiest days of the sport.
The twotime Daytona 500 winner returns after two years in IndyCar and he turns 48 in September. He counts the 24 Hours of Le Mans among the handful of races he plans to run, and his involvement is primarily in making Legacy Motor Club, which he co-owns and was once Richard Petty's storied team, a contender again.
Driving for Legacy this year are Erik Jones, a promising young Michigan
Kevin Harvick, who replaced the late Dale Earnhardt in 2001, is making the 2023 season his final one.
driver who had been run out at Joe Gibbs Racing after the 2020 season, and the feisty Gragson, a White Claw-swilling kid from Las Vegas with a big personality off the track and few cares on it.
Chastain grabbed global attention for a wall-riding gamble last October, a video gamestyle move now dubbed the “Hail Melon” that snagged him the final spot in last year's championship race. The tactic he used — deliberately crashing into the wall for momentum — has since been banned by NASCAR.
“That was the longest wreck of my life. It was successful, but I have no desire to ever do that again,” Chastain said after the ban was announced. “Selfishly, I'm glad I get to be the only one that goes down in history as the only driver to successfully do it. It really mattered and it really paid off.”
Chastain was the championship
runner-up to Logano, the father of three who celebrated by purchasing himself a new head of full hair.
All eyes will be on Kyle Busch, who left Joe Gibbs Racing after 15 seasons in a sponsorship snag.
He made his debut for Richard Childress Racing at last week's Clash and finished third. Days later, Busch revealed he'd been detained in Mexico during an offseason vacation for having a handgun in his luggage. He then unretired from Xfinity Series competition.
Busch and Logano are the only active drivers with multiple Cup championships, and a change of scenery has Busch poised for a very big year. One Cup victory this season would give Busch at least one win in 19 consecutive seasons, breaking a tie with Richard Petty.
Ty Gibbs replaces Busch at Joe Gibbs Racing.
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK
College Basketball
Favorite
at Seton Hall Vanderbilt at Ohio Illinois at UMass Kent State at Syracuse Creighton
So. Illinois at Auburn at Duke at Pittsburgh
NBA
Favorite
at Clippers at Milwaukee at Toronto at Phoenix at Portland
NHL
Favorite
Carolina at Montreal at N.Y Islanders New Jersey Florida at Winnipeg Boston
Tampa Bay Pittsburgh
MEN
AP TOP 25
22-3 1,523 3 23-2 1,503 2 23-3 1,408 1 21-4 1,302 7 20-5 1,283 9 20-5 1,214 5 19-4 1,212 8 22-4 1,139 4 19-6 1,072 14 19-6 896 6 20-6 815 10 19-6 790 12 21-5 761 16 18-7 717 18 20-5 693 19 19-6 642 13 22-5 567 15 17-8 517 23 16-8 401 11 19-7 358 21 20-5 271 25 17-8 204 17 20-6 140 22 18-7 136 20 24-2 117 - Missouri 114, Northwestern 96, Illinois 84, Pittsburgh 82, Nevada 36, Oklahoma State 23, Texas A&M 16, Oral Roberts 9, Arkansas 4, Rutgers 2, Charleston 1, Boise State 1, Maryland 1.
Alabama (38) Houston (22)
Purdue (2)
UCLA
Kansas
Texas
Virginia
Arizona
Baylor
Tennessee Marquette
Kansas State Gonzaga
Indiana
Miami (Fla.)
Xavier
Saint Mary's Creighton
Iowa State
UConn
San Diego State
TCU
North Carolina State Providence
Florida Atlantic
Monday's results
Texas Tech 75, No. 6 Texas 64
No. 9 Baylor 79, West Virginia 67 No. 15 Miami 80, North Carolina 72
Today's games
No. 5 Kansas at Oklahoma St., 6 p.m. No. 12 Kansas St. at Oklahoma, 6 p.m. No. 18 Creighton at No. 24 Providence, 4 p.m.
No. 23 N.C. State at Syracuse, 4 p.m.
WOMEN
AP TOP 25
25-0 700 23-1 670 24-3 627 22-2 574 23-1 562 22-4 561 20-5 552
21-5 513
22-3 478 20-4 447 20-4 427 20-5 386
21-4 354 22-4 313 20-4 288 20-6 256 20-6 243 19-6 215
18-7 212
23-3 187 20-5 175 15-7 58 24-2 52 20-7 51 19-6 31 North Carolina State 30, Illinois 30, Middle Tennessee 23, South Florida 19, Oklahoma State 17, Creighton 17, Louisville 11, Rhode Island 6, Florida Gulf Coast 6, Marquette 5, Cleveland State 2, South Dakota State 1, Tennessee 1.
South Carolina (28) Indiana
Stanford
Utah
LSU
UConn
Iowa
Maryland
Duke
Notre Dame Virginia Tech Michigan
Ohio State Villanova Oklahoma
UCLA
Texas
Arizona
North Carolina Gonzaga
Colorado
Iowa State
UNLV
Florida State
USC
Monday's results
No. 2 Indiana 83, No. 13 Ohio St. 59 No. 22 Iowa St. 66, No. 17 Texas 61
BASEBALL
Houston Astros:
Claimed LHP Matt Gage off waivers from Toronto.
Tampa Bay Rays: Agreed to terms with RHP Kyle Crick and 2B Daniel Robertson on minor league contracts.
BASKETBALL
National Basketball Association
NBA: Fined Washington G Bradley Beal an undisclosed amount for making contact with a game official during a Feb. 11 game against Indiana.
Signed F James Johnson to a rest-of-season contract.
Indiana Pacers:
Chicago Sky:
Signed G Rebekah Gardner to a regular contract.
Connecticut Sun: Signed F Brionna Jones to a core contract.
Signed G Moriah Jefferson to a regular contract.
Phoenix Mercury:
FOOTBALL
Cager.
New York Jets:
HOCKEY
Kings:
on waivers.
St. Louis Blues:
Line
121/2 41/2 51/2 11/2 31/2 121/2 1/2 21/2 31/2 51/2 121/2 81/2
Baltimore Ravens:
Indianapolis Colts:
Kansas City Chiefs:
New York Giants:
Carolina Panthers:
Colorado Avalanche:
Nashville Predators:
New York Islanders:
Toronto Maple Leafs:
Vegas Golden Knights:
Georgetown at So. Carolina
Buffalo at Penn State Loyola Chicago at W. Michigan
NC State at Providence at Valparaiso
Missouri Notre Dame Boston College
Line (O/U)
OFF Off 4 (2271/2) 6 Off 3 (234) OFF Off
Line
Record
Record
Major League Baseball American League
National Football League
National Hockey League
Underdog
Underdog
Golden State Boston Orlando Sacramento Washington
Underdog
-152/+126at Washington -152/+126 Chicago -192/+158 Ottawa -205/+168 at Columbus -125/+104 at St. Louis -142/+118 Seattle -120/+100 at Dallas -111/-108 at Colorado -164/+136 at San Jose
Pts Women's National Basketball Association
Pvs
Pts Pvs
Loaned C Pontus Holmberg and G Joseph Woll to Toronto (AHL). Assigned LW Alex Steeves to Toronto. Recalled G Erik Kallgren from Toronto. 1 2 6 7 3 4 5 8 9 10 11 12 13 15 16 18 20 17 14 23 25 21
- 19
Claimed DB Trayvon Mullen off waivers from Dallas. Cincinnati Bengals: Claimed CB Chris Lammons off waivers from Kansas City.
Claimed C Dakoda Shepley off waivers from Dallas.
Announced the retirement of QB Chad Henne.
Re-signed TE Lawrence
Claimed DT Isaiah Mack off waivers from Seattle.
Ducks: Recalled G Lukas Dostal from San Diego (AHL).
Recalled D Tobie Bisson and D Jacob Moverare from Ontario (AHL).
Reassigned RW Tuukka Tieksola from Chicago (AHL) to Karpat (Liiga).
Placed D Brad Hunt
Recalled F Philip Tomasino from Milwaukee (AHL).
Recalled LW Otto Koivula from Bridgeport (AHL). Loaned D Samuel Bolduc to Bridgeport.
Assigned D Scott Perunovich to Springfield (AHL) on a conditioning loan.
Recalled G Laurent Brossoit from Henderson (AHL).