What Were The Biggest NASCAR Surprises in 2017

[Tumbleweed]

The biggest for me were the following (ranked from biggest first):

1- Carl Edwards Retirement

2- The 22 not making the chase

3- Matt Kenseth not having a ride for 2018

4- The falloff of the 48 team

 

[racingfan7]

I think the 48's struggles have to be the biggest surprise. 4 top 5's and 11 top 10's all season is pretty low.

 

[CodeMan125]

The 22's struggles and not making the Chase

 

[Formerjackman]

The biggest for me were the following (ranked from biggest first):

1- Carl Edwards Retirement

2- The 22 not making the chase

3- Matt Kenseth not having a ride for 2018

4- The falloff of the 48 team

Pretty hard for me to argue with any of those.

 

[kyle18fan]

Martin Truex Junior

 

[LJ7201]

-Ricky Stenhouse establishing himself as a premier plate driver

-Two RCR cars got to victory lane

-FRR's program taking another big step (going from "in the mix" to the ones to beat)

-Daniel Hemric and Cole Custer showing steady improvement in the NXS

 

[Hotrod]

Larsons late season falloff still has me scratching my head.

 

[Taco]

Kyle B not getting it done, after I was told he was the Wheel-man.

 

[ReturnTrip]

1 top 5 for Suarez.

Not a shocker, but I thought he'd do more. Another season like that and Coach Joe might get antsy.

 

[Team Penske]

Suarez.

I thought he did fairly well considering the rush to Cup, change of cars and a new team.
Lets face it he did Ok if you compare him to Jones.

 

[Jorge De Guzman]

I’d say the biggest surprise to me was how out to lunch Chevy and especially HMS were all season. Hopefully the ZL1 will be a pick em up for the manufacturer

 

[ToyYoda]

Logano not making the playoffs was the biggest surprise IMO.

 

[DIDIT]

I will go with Earnhardt's retirement.

 

[Taco]

1 top 5 for Suarez.

Not a shocker, but I thought he'd do more. Another season like that and Coach Joe might get antsy.

20th in points with the best equipment money can buy is pretty bad, same for Jones.

 

[Team Penske]

I was shocked how far Ford fell off the pace after they encumbered Joey. That and a new nose looked like Nascar was choosing the winner/manufactuer as they had been known to do in the past.

 

[Towmater]

To me it is that Elliott is as popular as he is. I'd have thought that more people would have shifted to Larsen.

 

[Bobw]

Jr's retirement is my big one. But after sitting out half of last year due to concussion issues and then getting married I can understand why he decided to step away.
Very surprised Chase didn't get a win.

 

[ToyYoda]

20th in points with the best equipment money can buy is pretty bad, same for Jones.

You do have a valid point about Suarez, considering Carl was one BS caution away from winning the championship in that car last year.

As for Jones, I think he'll be better in the 20 car next year. The 77 was never really anything but a temporary placeholder team for Jones until something at JGR opened up.

 

[Formerjackman]

To me it is that Elliott is as popular as he is. I'd have thought that more people would have shifted to Larsen.

That doesn't surprise me at all. As far as popularity goes, Chase has a lot more things going for him than Larson does. That says nothing about which one will be a bigger success on the track.

 

[AdoubleU24]

Logano easily

 

[Jorge De Guzman]

Others for me besides Chevy but not as big would be: Logano’s rough season, Chase Elliott not winning a race, Edwards not coming back, Kenseth retiring, Stenhouse winning not one but two races, and MTJ winning the Cup

 

[SlicedBread22]

Joey's (lack of) performance.

With an honorable mention to all the first time winners.

 

[Mispeedway15]

Joey's (lack of) performance.

With an honorable mention to all the first time winners.

I said Joey and Kyle would each win at least four races, totally shocked how bad the 22 team was this season.

But Truex had to be the biggest shock, guy had one of the best seasons I've ever seen

 

[Jorge De Guzman]

Oh I forgot to mention...Austin Dillon winning the World 600 was a huge surprise to me

 

[TexasRaceLady]

For me, how poorly the Chevy teams performed.

 

[Charlie Spencer]

I thought he did fairly well considering the rush to Cup, change of cars and a new team.
Lets face it he did Ok if you compare him to Jones.

Most of the time, his performance improved when he ran on a track for the second time.

 

[Charlie Spencer]

Bubba Wallace getting a full-time ride in the #43. I don't think anyone benefited more from Silly Season this year.

 

[StewartHaas-Gibbs Racing]

Jr's retirement is my big one. But after sitting out half of last year due to concussion issues and then getting married I can understand why he decided to step away.
Very surprised Chase didn't get a win.

The concussion stuff is exactly why I'm not surprised, especially with the knowledge of how bad some of this stuff can get plus you add the fact that he's not even leaving the sport completely with broadcasting and running his xfinity team. It made sense to walk away from driving.

 

[MRM]

Kenseth not having a ride for 2018.

 

[Towmater]

That doesn't surprise me at all. As far as popularity goes, Chase has a lot more things going for him than Larson does. That says nothing about which one will be a bigger success on the track.

I guess you don't root for the guy who is the underdog. The guy who didn't have it all handed to him due to his father's legacy. Base it on wins. Oh, that's right, we are NASCAR.

 

[Nitro Dude]

Kyle B not getting it done, after I was told he was the Wheel-man.

We know that both cars were running good, and we know that Kyle Busch can definitely drive a race car...so maybe Truex is just a lot better driver then a lot of us realized.

 

[dpkimmel2001]

We know that both cars were running good, and we know that Kyle Busch can definitely drive a race car...so maybe Truex is just a lot better driver then a lot of us realized.

The numbers don't lie.

And then there's this too.....

 

[Kiante]

1 top 5 for Suarez.

Not a shocker, but I thought he'd do more. Another season like that and Coach Joe might get antsy.

He looked better than Jones to me, but Jones did have more top five finishes and had a great string of top 10 finishes.

Those two were neck-to-neck throughout the season.

I think this bodes well for Daniel as many expected Jones to run away with the head to head between them both.

 

[ToyYoda]

We know that both cars were running good, and we know that Kyle Busch can definitely drive a race car...so maybe Truex is just a lot better driver then a lot of us realized.

I think Truex definitely silenced the "it's just the car" crowd yesterday.

 

[Kiante]

I think Truex definitely silenced the "it's just the car" crowd yesterday.

Man, he was under pressure for 30+ laps straight yesterday.

He defended well and he drove the wheels off of the 78.

I just hope FRR keeps this up and not fall off a cliff come next season.

 

[Reck]

The numbers don't lie.


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And then there's this too.....

Man I love that site.

Didn't even know you can pit drivers head to head. Makes it so much easier. Thanks for the future point of reference.

 

[StandOnIt]

I guess you don't root for the guy who is the underdog. The guy who didn't have it all handed to him due to his father's legacy. Base it on wins. Oh, that's right, we are NASCAR.

Drivers are around easily for 20 years this IS Nascar. Fans like certain drivers personality's and winning isn't everything.

 

[StandOnIt]

I think Truex definitely silenced the "it's just the car" crowd yesterday.

not really. The manufacturer won 16 of 36 events during the season, including eight of the final ten.

 

[ToyYoda]

not really. The manufacturer won 16 of 36 events during the season, including eight of the final ten.

Does that disqualify all of Jimmie's championships the years that Chevy won most of the races?

 

[Kiante]

not really. The manufacturer won 16 of 36 events during the season, including eight of the final ten.

Yeah he did, he out drove Kyle Busch at the most important time.

Game, set, match, championship.

Not to mention Truex is responsible for 8 of those wins, the right guy won the 'ship.