Bonehead of the Year: 2023

[HoneyBadger]

I know there are still 10 races left but I don't think it's too soon to nominate the entire #9 team.

 

[JJ_14]

SHR for putting junk @ the track on a weekly basis.

 

[cheesepuffs]

I know there are still 10 races left but I don't think it's too soon to nominate the entire #9 team.

I do have to wonder if this will make owners more keen to restrict what drivers do outside of the racetrack more again. We've seen things get looser lately, which makes for happier drivers when nothing goes wrong, but now if you're HMS having to let down NAPA and the rest of their partners that their star driver didn't make the top 16, that's a difficult position to be in I would imagine. They may not have won a race still even if Chase didn't miss those races, but they would have pointed their way in still.

 

[HoneyBadger]

I do have to wonder if this will make owners more keen to restrict what drivers do outside of the racetrack more again. We've seen things get looser lately, which makes for happier drivers when nothing goes wrong, but now if you're HMS having to let down NAPA and the rest of their partners that their star driver didn't make the top 16, that's a difficult position to be in I would imagine. They may not have won a race still even if Chase didn't miss those races, but they would have pointed their way in still.

I'm glad he didn't make it in myself, mainly because I felt like Charlotte deserved to be a disqualifier.

He was already in a deep hole, one he had a chance of climbing out of, and then basically gave up two more races (Charlotte DNF, then suspended for St. Louis race).

 

[acmerocket]

dont forget the dumbass with the funny haircut

 

[cheesepuffs]

I think the bonehead of the year is Fox Sports. This year especially just cemented it for me, the stark contrast between how they present our sport versus NBC, and I feel that the Fox broadcast takes our sport down a notch to the general public.

NBC takes the sport seriously and has great figures like Dale Jr and Kyle Petty that get to act as themselves on television and provide meaningful insights. Fox is a clown show with zany slapstick antics that I wouldn't even want to introduce a prospective new fan to, because if I weren't already into this stuff then Fox being my first dose of the sport would probably put me off for good. Harvick next year will be an improvement but he isn't enough by himself to balance out the rest.

 

[Naitch]

I know there are still 10 races left but I don't think it's too soon to nominate the entire #9 team.

I nominate Rick Hendrick for not being a responsible sports team owner and restricting the ability of his drivers to do unnecessarily risky outside activities. He’s lucky Larson hasn’t gotten hurt yet.

The team suffers when the drivers get hurt and miss the playoffs.

 

[Dr_B_UNC]

I'm glad he didn't make it in myself, mainly because I felt like Charlotte deserved to be a disqualifier.

He was already in a deep hole, one he had a chance of climbing out of, and then basically gave up two more races (Charlotte DNF, then suspended for St. Louis race).

Agreed if you ban the 11 and 5 as well as they had blatant retaliations too, just not catastrophic results.

That said, I truly think they win if he isn’t injured and the Charlotte deal would have never happened as his head would have been cooler. But I recall a saying about “ifs and buts”

 

[Greg]

There are still 10 races to go.
But I would give the preliminary lead to Chase Elliott. That is a championship caliber team that self destructed this year. They may have not won it all but being at least a final 4 team was very likely.
Gragson screwed up but I dont think he was ever going to go much further and he was headed for a demotion without any social media screwups

 

[Lyra’sDad]

the driver caricatures are the worst.