Official NASCAR Series News Thread

[BurghFan]

Yeah, especially since 2017 was to be the last year of his contract anyway. Sounds like maybe he was just burned out especially after being so close to winning a championship but coming up short for a second time.

[Thrash13]

Edwards has been one of my favorites to watch, and like someone else said, I'll miss seeing the victory back flips.

That being said, he definitely didn't say it was retirement for good unless I missed that part. I won't be totally surprised if he takes a year or two off and makes a return down the road.

[franko3219]

I am a little concerned for the sport. Within the next five years, my guess is that Jr, Johnson, Kenseth, and possibly a few others will retire. I believe that the Bush brothers will remain for a while yet, but I've not been able to connect with any of the younger drivers. I like Bowyer, but he's dropped off the face of the earth the last few years. I do like Hamlin as well, but as far as the new generation, aside from Elliot, who is going to drive the popularity? I'm sure that the generation before me thought the same thing about Sr, Petty, Jarrett, and drivers like that, but I guess only time will tell. As mentioned, aside from Elliot, there just doesn't seem to be a transcendent talent and/or personalities coming up.

[Thrash13]

I think Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, and the Dillon brothers are a pretty good place to start. Kyle Busch, Logano, and Keselowski will definitely be around for awhile too.

But you're right, there is going to be a definite changing of the guard 5 or so years from now. There a lot of big names in that 40-year old age range.

There's always Danica! Haha

[franko3219]

Quote: Originally Posted by Thrash13

I think Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, and the Dillon brothers are a pretty good place to start. Kyle Busch, Logano, and Keselowski will definitely be around for awhile too. But you're right, there is going to be a definite changing of the guard 5 or so years from now. There a lot of big names in that 40-year old age range. There's always Danica! Haha

Haha. I want to like Dillion, especially for the 3 connection (yes anyway to try and hold on to a Sr connection once Jr retires). My problem is that he hasn't done much in terms of consistency to this point. He started to have some good runs in the second half of the season, which was encouraging. Hopefully with more experience he can continue to improve and become a title contender. I do want to like Dillion.

[pk500]

Quote: Originally Posted by Thrash13

I think Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, and the Dillon brothers are a pretty good place to start. Kyle Busch, Logano, and Keselowski will definitely be around for awhile too.

None of those guys other than Kyle Busch resonates with NASCAR fans the way Smoke, Gordon, Jimmie, Junior, Harvick and Cousin Carl did early in their careers.

NASCAR is in trouble within five years, as nearly all of its bankable stars are heading for retirement. This reminds me of IndyCar racing in the early 1990s, when A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Rick Mears, Johnny Rutherford, Gordon Johncock, Al Unser and Danny Sullivan -- all American racing heroes and Indy 500 winners -- retired within a five-year span. Sure, the split hurt open-wheel badly. But so did the departure of all those stars in a short window just before the split.

[pk500]

Quote: Originally Posted by franko3219

Haha. I want to like Dillion, especially for the 3 connection (yes anyway to try and hold on to a Sr connection once Jr retires). My problem is that he hasn't done much in terms of consistency to this point. He started to have some good runs in the second half of the season, which was encouraging. Hopefully with more experience he can continue to improve and become a title contender. I do want to like Dillion.

Dillon always will be Richard Childress' grandson first and a talented driver second. Let's just say it would have taken him a bit longer to reach Cup if not for Grandpa. He's not that good.

Logano is good but boring as hell. Chase Elliott has promise. I fear Larson is this generation's Kasey Kahne, a guy who arrived from sprint cars and short track with a TON of hype and talent and never quite fulfilled it in stock cars.

[franko3219]

Quote: Originally Posted by pk500

None of those guys other than Kyle Busch resonates with NASCAR fans the way Smoke, Gordon, Jimmie, Junior, Harvick and Cousin Carl did early in their careers.

That's the way I feel. Like I said, maybe the generation before mine thought the same thing about the drivers you mentioned? My concern is more from a marketability/personality standpoint. None of these young guys have an opinion, none of them really have an attitude. My concern is that NASCAR has been and will continue to dull the sport by catering to the societal PC crowd. That's not how the sport was built, yet they think that's the way to grow the sport; even though the numbers say otherwise.