William Byron made his biggest leap forward during the 2023 season. He led the Cup Series with six wins..
Byron tops the list of five drivers who have posted career numbers in multiple statistical categories while reaching at least the Round 12 of the playoffs. A driver made it to the playoffs for the first time in his career.
NASCAR drivers who made the biggest leap forward in 2023
1. William Byron — He parked the No. 24 car in Victory Lane six times, tripling his career high for wins in a single season. Byron reached Championship 4 for the first time in his career, improved his career-best average finish from his 13.6 to 11.0, and led more than 1,000 laps for the first time.
A great example of this breakthrough season is the spring race in Phoenix. Byron started second and swept the first two stages. Kyle Larson was in the lead in the final stages, but Byron got it back Final pit stop of the race. He won in overtime, with Larson and Alex Bowman rounding out the top three.
2. Ryan Blaney — He won three races, bringing his total to 10 Cup wins. Although Blaney fell short of his career-best numbers of top-10 finishes, top-5 finishes, and laps led, he raced to advance to Championship 4 for the first time. He then competed and won the Cup title on his first attempt.
Blaney saved his best performance for the final four races of the playoffs. He finished 6th, 2nd, 1st, and 2nd while leading 200 laps. It was the opposite of Round of 8. in Las Vegas in 2022 when he hit the wall and spun after a mistake on the Homestead pit access road.
3. Chris Buescher — He has 38 career top-10 finishes, 10 top-fives and two wins this season. His highest average finish was 17.3 in 2021. Buescher made his breakthrough this season by winning three races and recording 17 top-10 finishes and nine top-five finishes. He improved his finishing average to his 12.1 and topped the round of 16 for the first time.
Buescher’s first win of the season was at Richmond. It was his 22nd regular season game. At this point, Ford drivers had only won two races. Buescher added two more wins before the playoffs began.
4. Tyler Reddick — Redick only won two races. First season with 23XI Racing, falling short of his three-win season in 2022 with Richard Childress Racing. He grew in more important categories and made it past the round of 16 for the first time. Reddick advanced to Round 8 and finished the season in 6th place in points. His best finish to date was 13th in 2021.
Redick enjoyed some great moments early in the season. He led 41 of 75 laps at the Circuit of the Americas, becoming the third driver to win in the No. 45 Toyota.
5. Bubba Wallace —Wallace went winless for the first time since 2020, his final season with Richard Petty Motorsports, but reached the playoffs for the first time in his career. He then advanced to the round of 12. Wallace matched career highs with 10 top-10 finishes and five top-five finishes with an average finish of 15.9. He finished the season in 10th place in points.
A key moment in Wallace’s season was the race at Watkins Glen. After Indianapolis, he entered the road course race 28 points above the cut line. Wallace ran in the top 10 for much of the afternoon at Watkins Glen, scoring points in the first two stages and finishing 12th. This puts Wallace ahead by 32 points. Playoff cut line for the final regular season game at Daytona.