The best gift exchanges of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season | RYAN PRITT

Starting on a sincere note, allow me to wish you all a Happy Holidays and to say thank you for accepting myself and my family into your community. It's been a whirlwind to say the least but we are happy to be here.

Trust me when I say I have no control of the weather, so giving you guys a taste of West Virginia winter on Christmas weekend was not my doing, though, I must say, watching long-time Floridians worrying about things like wind chill has been quite humorous. Don't worry, the last laugh will be yours when I'm melting in 100-plus heat indexes in a few months.

Anyhow, with NASCAR around the halfway point in its offseason hiatus, all parties are likely dispersed for the gift-giving season, but over the course of a wild and memorable — for reasons good and bad — year, there were plenty of presents given and received.

So, in the holiday spirit, here are the 10 most memorable exchanges during the 2022 season.

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A fast start — Daytona, Feb. 20

To: Roger Penske

From: Austin Cindric (with a push from Ryan Blaney)

There's nothing to this Cup Series thing, huh? That's how Cindric made it seem, powering the No. 2 Ford to Victory Lane in the Daytona 500, the sport's biggest race and Cindric's debut as a full-time Cup driver. Unlikely? Maybe. Unheard of? Hardly, not at a track and in a race that has seen it's fair share of surprises.

And certainly, Team Penske has fielded its share of powerhouses at Superspeedways in recent years. One of which, the No. 12 of Blaney, pushed Cindric until nearly the bitter end with the rookie throwing a key block on Blaney coming out of the last turn that set off a crash behind him. By then, Cindric was free and clear and into the winner's circle as well as the playoffs.

It was a good start for the organization with Joey Logano also having won the preseason Clash at the Coliseum. Needless to say, it would end even better for Logano and Team Penske come November.

A facelift — Atlanta, March 20

To: The fans

From: Atlanta Motor Speedway

OK, so it was more stressful for the drivers. But few could deny that racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway was a better product than in past years, thanks to a reconfiguration and a repave at the track that created Superspeedway-style packs and passing. William Byron survived the spring race to pick up the first victory on the new surface after 20 cars traded the lead 46 times. Chase Elliott completed a Hendrick Motorsports sweep at Atlanta later in the year.

But it was far from domination. Any number of drivers could've won either contest, including underdog Corey Lajoie, who held the lead late in the summer race. However, the real story was the racing itself. And the real winner? The fans.

A ‘dirty’ move — Bristol, April 17

To: Kyle Busch

From: Chase Briscoe (at the expense of Tyler Reddick)

To Chase Briscoe’s credit, he immediately walked down pit road and apologized to Tyler Reddick and to Reddick’s credit, he accepted, gracefully.

Meanwhile, Kyle Busch celebrated.

After Reddick led 99 laps, Busch needed to lead just one, but it was the right one thanks to a poorly-executed, last-turn, slide-job attempt from Briscoe, who’s No. 14 Ford pushed up the track and into Reddick, sending both drivers spinning just yards from the finish line. That was enough for Busch, who was running a distant third but had time to power through the dirt and the carnage to pick up his only win of the season.

Despite being innocent of any wrongdoing, this time, it was Busch and not Briscoe who was booed postrace, yet there were no apologies to be found during the winner’s interview.

“We got one. It doesn’t matter how you get them. It’s all about getting them,” Busch said. "I mean, man, I feel like Dale Earnhardt Sr. right now. This is awesome. I didn’t do anything."

A last hurrah? — Kansas, May 15

To: The fans

From: Kurt Busch

It would’ve been impossible to know at the time, but Busch’s dominant showing in the Sunflower State may well mark his last win as a full-time driver. Busch suffered a concussion during qualifying at Pocono in July and would miss the rest of the season. He later announced he would not return to full-time competition in 2023.

The Busch brothers' elder statesmen would not use the word "retirement" or any of its iterations, a point he stressed in a message to fans via Twitter. But if it is the end for Kurt, it marks the finish of an illustrious and unique career, one in which he drove for six different organizations, winning 34 times with a Daytona 500 (2017), Coca-Cola 600 (2010) and a Cup Series championship (2004) along the way.

Good things — Charlotte, May 29

To: Those who waited

From: Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Ross Chastain, Logano, Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch and others

At the beginning of the Coca-Cola 600, you may have been enjoying a Memorial Day Weekend cold one. By the end, it was nearly time for morning coffee. A wild race full of cautions and two overtimes pushed the marathon of stock-car racing even further and into Monday morning with 413 laps and 619.5 miles needed to determine a winner.

But what a finish it was. In the first overtime, Dillon pushed up just a bit after trying to pass three cars in one corner and it was just the hole Hamlin needed to make it four-wide. Dillon and Larson got together, and a melee ensued with Hamlin pulling away unscathed. Hamlin was able to get back by teammate Kyle Busch in the second overtime after Busch was the leader taking the white flag. As much as NASCAR’s short-track package left to be desired (more on that in a bit), there were some barnburners on 1.5-mile tracks and this was certainly one of them.

Just ask Larson, who started in the back after hitting the wall in practice, hit the wall again, spun and was involved in the crash in overtime, and collected three pit-road penalties before finishing ninth in one of the more eventful, non-winning runs in recent memory.

A hole — Daytona, Aug. 27

To: Dillon

From: God?

Divine intervention can be the only explanation, right? I’d guess many of you were there, but if you weren’t, or you just need reminded, Dillon’s ticket into the 2022 playoffs was punched after some Cole Trickle-like crash avoidance that needs to be seen to be believed.

With 23 laps to go, the rains began and the "big one" immediately followed, wiping out nearly the entire field but Dillon, who improbably had the seas open just wide enough to drive his No. 3 Chevrolet through. Then, as if the situation didn’t already seem heaven-sent, the weather got Biblical, with a three-hour and 19-minute delay before racing resumed.

But by then, it was little more than formality. Nearly every car but Dillon’s had significant damage and after coming through unscathed while 13 other competitors bowed out, the win seemed downright predestined.

No. 200 — Darlington, Sept. 4

To: Petty GMS Motorsports

From: Erik Jones

This one had to feel about as good for the giver as the receiver, but finally, Jones gave the No. 43 car its 200th victory in a thriller at the track too tough to tame. The iconic number, taken to Victory Lane 192 times by seven-time champion Richard Petty, had been shut out and stuck on 199 for eight years since Aric Almirola piloted the ship to a win at Daytona in 2014.

Certainly, the organization has fought through its share of adversity and underfunding, making Jones, a castoff of Joe Gibbs Racing after the 2020 season, perhaps the perfect driver to guide the 43 to the long-awaited milestone. Momentum is certainly headed the right way after Petty merged with GMS Racing to form Petty GMS Motorsports prior to the 2022 season and with another seven-time champ, Jimmie Johnson, purchasing an ownership stake in the company a little over a month ago.

Perhaps there are more milestones ahead.

A crow dinner — Kansas, Sept. 11

To: Haters

From: Bubba Wallace

“Thankful to shut the hell up, a lot of people.”

While muddied grammatically, the postrace message was as clear as Wallace’s windshield throughout most of the final run. Wallace, one of the sport’s most polarizing drivers, had just one prior win in the sport’s top series in a rain-shortened affair at Talladega in 2021, leaving plenty of ammunition for detractors.

But there was nothing to question after this performance in which Wallace led 58 laps in cruising to victory. The run was the highlight of a season that featured 10 top-10 finishes with eight coming in the final 17 races.

A broken right-front toe link — Las Vegas, Oct. 16

To: Logano

From: Blaney

Certainly, it was a gift Blaney would’ve never wanted to give, even to a teammate, but oh, how things may have ended differently if it wasn’t for some mechanical issues on the No. 12 at a most inopportune time — with 40 laps to go in Round-of-8 race at Las Vegas.

Blaney had led 39 laps, won the second stage and was in second place, one spot ahead of Logano and awaiting the cycle of fuel strategies that would've likely put him in a spot to win and lock himself into the championship race. But that's when the failure occurred, sending him up the track and into the wall before careening back down into the inside wall, ending his chances and going a long way toward ending his playoff pursuits.

With Blaney out, Logano picked up the win, passing Ross Chastain with three laps to go. But more importantly, he picked up the automatic berth into the final four. Had that toe link not broken, perhaps Blaney goes on to score the win and maybe Logano, the eventual series champion, doesn’t get there at all.

Making it all even more bitter for Blaney, he seemed to have the only car able to run with Logano in the finale at Phoenix, leading 109 laps and finishing second.

A jolt of life — Martinsville, Oct. 30

To: NASCAR

From: Chastain

It’s difficult to recall the last time NASCAR moved the needle nationally, especially in a positive way, but in pulling off one of the most death-defying, improbable, last-lap hail marys in history, Chastain became an overnight talking point and put the sport back in the national conscious.

His now infamous maneuver hit SportsCenter’s Top 10 and gave NASCAR some much-needed positive pub, especially after a season largely darkened by safety concerns, tire issues, spontaneous combustions and other problems with the new car.

In fact, Chastain’s wall-riding exploits largely overshadowed the fact that for the most part, the 2022 short-track package was a dud and almost certainly will be a point of emphasis in the offseason. But Chastain’s move surely gave everyone a positive jolt entering the sport’s down time.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR: The best gifts exchanged in the Cup Series during the 2022 season