NASCAR: The road course ringer is making a comeback in 2023

The term “road course ringer” in NASCAR had seemingly gone extinct in recent years. It seems to be making a comeback.

To many, the term “road course ringer” may sound silly, but in the NASCAR industry, it’s a real thing and is a positive label to have tied to your name.

On the yearly NASCAR schedule, there are multiple road courses, where drivers turn left and right instead of driving on a traditional oval. In the past, there were typically many drivers who would show up specifically for these races due to their successes in non-NASCAR sports at tracks like this.

On the full-time driver roster, there were drivers like A.J. Allmendinger, Patrick Carpentier, Max Papis, Juan Pablo Montoya, Marcos Ambrose, and Robby Gordon who were always locks to perform well at these tracks. Then there’s legends like Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon who were seemingly always at the front of the pack at the tracks.

But then there are guys like Boris Said, Ron Fellows, Scott Pruett, Andy Lally, Tony Ave, Brian Simo, PJ Jones and Andrew Ranger who would only show up for these two races a year and typically performed well, too.

In the cases of Said and Fellows, each of them actually won races in NASCAR at these tracks in the Xfinity Series and Truck Series, while always running up front in Cup as well.

Over the years, these drivers began to fade out of the sport and lose their relevance, largely in part to the full-time Cup Series drivers becoming more dominant and presenting less of an opportunity for road course ringers to contend. In 2023, the ringers are coming back into the action.

NASCAR: COTA race will mark the return of the road course ringers

On the 2023 Cup Series schedule, there are more road courses than ever, meaning there are going to be many more opportunities to see some new faces around the garage. However, none of these guys are new to racing, having already established themselves as legends in other auto racing leagues.

Multiple drivers have already been confirmed to be making one-off appearances in the NASCAR Cup Series this season at the Circuit of the Americas (or COTA) race later in March.

Kimi Räikkönen, the 2007 F1 world champion, will be joining Trackhouse Racing for the event after finding success at last year’s Watkins Glen race.

Jordan Taylor, a sports car ace, will be filling in for Chase Elliott at COTA to make his NASCAR debut.

Most recently, Jensen Button, the 2009 F1 world champion, was confirmed to drive the No. 15 Ford for Rick Ware Racing. The car will have technical support from Stewart-Haas Racing and could be a legitimate contender in the event. He is also going to compete in the Chicago Street Course race and the Indy road course later this season.

In modern day NASCAR, the field has been leveled more than ever before. Last year, a record-tying 19 different drivers win a race. To begin 2023, three different drivers have won in three races.

Räikkönen in particular showed last year that the adjustment to a Cup Series car can be made relatively quickly. He had never driven in NASCAR’s top series before last year’s race at the Glen and was running in the top-10 before being taken out in a wreck.

Standing in these guys’ way this year will be road course aces like Allmendinger, who is making his return to a full-time schedule in the Cup Series after a multi-year break. He is nearly guaranteed to win at least one of the five road courses on this year’s schedule, making him an underdog playoff candidate once the end of the season rolls around.