NASCAR Roots Rankings: Busy 2023 season nearing its conclusion

Teams and drivers who compete in the ARCA Menards Series, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series make up the backbone of NASCAR. Here are the top-10 NASCAR Roots level competitors as chosen by the NASCAR.com Roots Editorial team.

It was a banner season for Connor Hall, who claimed the 2023 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division I national championship in addition to the Langley Speedway Late Model track championship. He had 18 victories in Weekly Series competition this year as well as one CARS Tour win. He also claimed the Southeast Region Division I title.

While it wasn’t the best of days, Carson Kvapil still had plenty of reason to celebrate Saturday afternoon. The JR Motorsports driver finished 11^th at Caraway Speedway to lock up his second straight CARS Late Model Stock Tour championship during a season that saw him win five times.

Despite falling short of his fourth NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship, it was still a solid season for Justin Bonsignore. His five victories were tied with series champion Ron Silk for most this season. He also moved into fourth place on the all-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour win list and is only two wins behind Ted Christopher for third all-time.

A strong year for Sean Hingorani came to a close on Friday afternoon with a third-place finish at Phoenix Raceway, which was more than enough for him to secure the 2023 ARCA Menards Series West championship. The Venturini Motorsports driver won four times on his way to the championship.

He may not have run every NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race this year, but Matt Hirschman made every one of his starts count. He won three times this year, which included a victory during the Tour’s debut at North Wilkesboro Speedway. He also continued his winning ways away from the Tour with multiple victories elsewhere, which included a win in the Modified portion of the North-South Shootout on Saturday at Caraway Speedway.

No one in racing had a busier weekend than Kaden Honeycutt. The Texas native began his weekend at Phoenix Raceway on Friday by helping Steve McGowan claimed the ARCA Menards Series West owner championship with a ninth-place finish, which he followed with an eighth-place finish in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series finale. He then made the trip back to North Carolina to race at Caraway Speedway, where he won the CARS Pro Late Model feature and finished sixth in the CARS Late Model Stock Tour feature. His season included two West Series wins.

He didn’t win the ARCA Menards Series finale at Toledo Speedway, but a runner-up finish was still a great end to a fantastic season for Jesse Love. He closed the year with 10 victories and a 50 percent winning percentage. The runner-up finish also helped Venturini Motorsports clinch the ARCA Menards Series owner championship. He also finished fourth in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series finale at Phoenix Raceway and will join Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2024.

It took him more than a decade, but Ron Silk finally is a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion again. Silk rarely faltered during the 2023 season, finishing inside the top 10 in all but once of the 18 series races. His five wins were also a career-high for Silk, who now has 22 career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victories.

He may have ended the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series season ranked second, but Matt Sheppard is still a champion after locking up his 10^th Super DIRTcar Series championship with a pair of wins during the World of Outlaws World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte last weekend. Sheppard’s season included 13 wins in 21 Weekly Series starts as well as the track title at Utica-Rome Speedway and the Division I Northeast Region championship.

Talk about ending on a high note. William Sawalich won the season finales for the ARCA Menards Series at Toledo Speedway, the ARCA Menards Series East at Bristol Motor Speedway and the ARCA Menards Series West on Friday at Phoenix Raceway. He also added a marquee victory in the ASA STARS National Tour All American 400 at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway on Saturday.