The next stars of NASCAR

SpeedPagan

SpeedPagan

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With so many of fan's favorite drivers retiring over the past couple of years, who do y'all think will be the next stars of NASCAR?

I think Chase Elliot is already starting to be a star in his own right, just by the way people talk about him on this forum and everywhere else in the NASCAR-sphere.

I'm def. going to be rooting for William Byron in 2018, for no other reason than the fact that he came from iRacing. If he can string together a couple of good top 5 finishes and wins, then he may get some decent following.

What do y'all think?
 
ladyspartan16 said:
I'm excited about no one. I'll probably be watching more F1
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We need to get you as manager of some of these young drivers so they can get marketed properly to a younger audience. You had some great ideas and I don't know why Nascar doesn't do anything like you suggested.
 
If you mean stars in terms of who is successful I think it will be the young bucks from HMS and JGR with Blaney as good possibility too but the stars of the show are really the cars and which manufacturer as made the last change. Good drivers will languish and average drivers will succeed depending on what side of the coin they occupy.

If you mean who will be the next Dale, Jeff or Dale Jr and transcend the series I don't think anyone will.
 
Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Erik Jones, Bubba Wallace, Will Byron, Christopher Bell are going to carry this sport for the next 10-15-20 years, a new generation.
 
Christopher Bell and Todd Gilliland for me. I will throw Ty Majeski in there as well.
 
Byron, Elliott, and Larson will be the elite drivers of this next generation. Also toss in Ryan Blaney and Bubba Wallace - if he ever gets a quality Cup ride.

Bowman is promising, and Erik Jones is still one to look out for. He has a lot of room for improvement.
 
> Elliot is the heir to Dale Jr and a total star in the making.
> Larson has arrived but the jury is out on how well he will turn out fans (dry and squeaky little dude) or as a closer.
> Blaney Is the blend of old school and new age racer. Talented and matched with a top team.

TBD: Jones, Byron, Bubba, Bowman

Still many established guys who are proven and relatively young. Plenty of talent to carry on.
 
Snappy D said:
Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Erik Jones, Bubba Wallace, Will Byron, Christopher Bell are going to carry this sport for the next 10-15-20 years, a new generation.
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I totally forgot Larson, totally forgot how young he is. Add in Logano as well he’s not even 30 yet.
 
Despite all of the issues I have with NASCAR, I am REALLY excited about the crop of new talent the sport has. I see TONS of potential there. I've said it before and I'll say it again. If you can't find SOMEBODY out of this bunch to support, there isn't ANY hope for you as a NASCAR fan going forward. My only issue with this group is that they can't all drive for "my team". :partytime
 
Talent pool seems like it gets deeper every year . There's some in inferior rides who might be really good in better stuff
 
Absolutely not knocking Truex with this, but I think that team has been the recipe. Just the way he and Cole, the car cheif (Jazzy?) his spotter all of them work together.


As for new talent Elliot, C Bell, Bowman, Byron, Blaney, Daniel Hemrick, not sure on Bubba. Like the guy but others took the equipment he was in and one at RFR when he did not.

Hope this deal at Petty/Childress works for him.
 
Larson, Blaney, and Elliott are my guys. I figure between the three of them, I'll finally have one of my favorite drivers win a championship. Christopher Bell will be a favorite of mine as will Chase Briscoe if he ever makes it to Cup.
 
Elliott, Blaney, Larson, Byron, possibly Jones. Bowman & Bell as well.

Bubba will be a fan favorite I think, but the reality of the situation is the 43 team is a 15th-25th place car depending on the year and what track. He would have to luck into a fuel mileage win, or win at a plate race or road course.
 
Out of the guys under 25 right now, Bell, Byron, Elliott and Larson will have the most successful careers.
 
The last time I had a favorite driver it was Ward Burton. There are a surprising amount of talented, young drivers out there. I think Elliot will be the most popular, because he will get many of the fans that liked his dad. The same way Dale Jr. inherited many fans of Dale Sr. Larson, and Blaney have started to establish themselves as winners. Elliot is also establishing himself, even though he has not won yet, it will come soon. Myself, I have to admit I am a fan of Byron. When Kyle Bush put the pressure on him by chasing him down for the win in the truck series. He didn't buckle under the pressure of seeing Kyle in the mirror. Instead, he put his head down, and started pulling away from bush, and won the race. He had more wins in trucks than any other truck regular, in his rookie year. He did the same thing this year in the Xfinity series, and won the championship. To expect that he could do that in cup next year would be foolish. He has proven to me he has the skills, like the others mentioned in this post. Watching how their careers unfold, will be the exciting part. I just hope none of them get hurt, or anything that would shorten their careers. I do believe these four drivers will be the standard by which this generation is measured.
 
Snappy D said:
Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Erik Jones, Bubba Wallace, Will Byron, Christopher Bell are going to carry this sport for the next 10-15-20 years, a new generation.
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Nice choices, but as far as carrying the sport....no way. The sport needs better racing, new talent alone isn't going to baill it out.
 
The new crop of young racers is exciting and a joy to watch. I doubt any driver is going to be dominent for the simple reason it is more a team sport than ever before and as we have seen lately, the fastest car doesn't always win. 1 mistake by a crew member near the end of a race will change who wins. I also think points racing is going to become more important than wins unless changes are made. I also think top 15 cars will be pretty equal and there won't be much difference to the next 15. A field of 30 cars running great means Nascar will be able to relax the caution control.
I am excited about the next 5 yrs. Hope I am around to see it.
 
Given Blaney's mix of old school/new school I think he is the best one to bridge the generation gaps. At times he has shown remarkable driving skills and patience. I would put him down as "need improvement" in the area of providing feedback to improve the car. I can see where he and Bullins could become one of those iconic driver/crew chief combinations over the next several years.

It's interesting to me how many of the youngsters I really like. Bubba Wallace and Chase seem like great guys. Christoper Bell has a ton of talent. Heck, I have even started to like Erik Jones, who I first put in the same mold as KDB. But for driving on the wild side I got to go with Larson. Sometimes I think he forgets he is driving a cup car and thinks he is still running at Eldora in a sprint.

If NASCAR can get these new drivers to connect with the younger generation, which they can, perhaps we will see a revitalization over the next several years.
 
I believe Elliott will be the next Dale Jr and probably more ways than just being most popular driver. I believe he'll be lucky to reach the same amount of wins. Think Byron will be the future at HMS. Blaney is right there behind him bit I believe he'll be more successful on the track.
 
Simple Fan said:
I believe Elliott will be the next Dale Jr and probably more ways than just being most popular driver. I believe he'll be lucky to reach the same amount of wins. Think Byron will be the future at HMS. Blaney is right there behind him bit I believe he'll be more successful on the track.
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You don’t think Chase will win more than Jr’s 26 career wins?
 
Most of the new group of young drivers will need that come to Jesus moment with some of the veterans, that they will not be pushed around. It will be interesting to see how they will handle it.
 
Taco said:
Most of the new group of young drivers will need that come to Jesus moment with some of the veterans, that they will not be pushed around. It will be interesting to see how they will handle it.
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If the veterans keep retiring at the fast pace they have been for the past few years they won't have many to deal with.
 
Simple Fan said:
I believe Elliott will be the next Dale Jr and probably more ways than just being most popular driver. I believe he'll be lucky to reach the same amount of wins.
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That's kind of where I see him, I think he'll be more a Dale Jr than a Jeff or Jimmie. He'll probably eclipse Dale Jr's win total though because he's still a few years younger than Jr was when he came to Cup. I'd say he'll finish somewhere between Dale Jr and his dad Bill (26-44) in win total.
 
ToyYoda said:
That's kind of where I see him, I think he'll be more a Dale Jr than a Jeff or Jimmie. He'll probably eclipse Dale Jr's win total though because he's still a few years younger than Jr was when he came to Cup. I'd say he'll finish somewhere between Dale Jr and his dad Bill (26-44) in win total.
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Yea, a driver like Dale Sr., Richard Petty, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are pretty rare.
 
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