NASCAR: 2016 Will Feature Battle Of Young Stars In Cup Series

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

When the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup series gets  underway in Daytona on February 21, both legacy and younger fans will have two compelling young stars to support, as each appeals to both types of an audience.

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Ryan Blaney will be behind the wheel of the No. 21 Ford fielded by Wood Brothers Racing.  For legacy fans, this marks the return of NASCAR’s oldest active team to full-time competition.  he team was founded in the 1950’s, and co-founder Leonard Wood can still be found in the team’s pit and garage areas on many race weekends yet today.  Younger fans identify well with Blaney too. He is a third-generation racer and the son of Sprint Cup driver Dave Blaney.

Chase Elliott is the son of 1988 Winston Cup champion, Bill Elliott. Elliott will have a big seat to fill, as he takes over the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet vacated by the retiring Jeff Gordon. Elliott got his feet wet in the Sprint Cup series in 2015, competing as a 5th HMS entry at the Sprint Cup events at Martinsville (March,) Richmond (April,) Charlotte (May,) Indianapolis and Darlington.

Sadly, while both drivers promise to be exciting, competitive and fast, they will not be engaged in a Rookie-Of-The-Year battle. Because Blaney competed in more than seven Sprint Cup races in 2015, he is ineligible for ROTY honors. Nonetheless, having two promising young stars who will be in “A” list equipment in 2016 should give fans reason to smile.  Let’s examine each driver in greater detail.

Ryan Blaney

Blaney started racing quarter-midgets at the age of 9 and had moved through Bandolero cars and into Legends cars by the age of 12.  He began racing Late Models at the age of 14 at Orange County Speedway and was praised by Sprint Cup champions Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick for his driving skills.

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His first two championships of any type came in 2010, as he was crowned the champion of the Championship Racing Association (CRA) Southern Six-Pack series and in 2011 when he won the Pro All Star Series (PASS) South Super Late Model championship.  This success opened the door to both ARCA and NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and West opportunities also in 2011, where he had top-10 finishes in every race he entered.

Fo4 2012, Blaney signed with Tommy Baldwin Racing to compete in six NASCAR Nationwide Series events.  His talents were noticed by Roger Penske, and Blaney was signed for three additional Nationwide Series races in 2012 for Penske Racing.

In 2013, Blaney got his first full-time NASCAR ride with Brad Keselowski Racing in the Camping World Truck Series, where he won the Rookie-Of-The-Year crown. He returned to the series with BKR in 2014, being named the series’ Most Popular driver.

The 2015 season saw Blaney compete in the Xfinity Series, as well as make 16 of 19 scheduled starts in the Sprint Cup Series for Wood Brothers Racing.  With the announcement (via press release from the Wood Brothers) of his full-time Cup ride in 2016, team co-owner Eddie Wood said:

"We are beyond excited to make this announcement about going back to full time competition,” said Eddie Wood, team co-owner, at a press conference at Homestead-Miami Speedway during Ford Championship Weekend. “It has been something we’ve worked toward since 2009 when we started running limited schedules."

Blaney added vi the same press release:

"This is every driver’s dream come true,” Blaney said, “Getting a chance to run for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. I’m really looking forward to running a full schedule with this historic Wood Brothers team and hopefully get them their 99th and 100th wins sooner rather than later."

Chase Elliott

Chase Elliott will enter 2016 with a tall task – replace Jeff Gordon in the iconic No. 24 Chevrolet fielded by Hendrick Motorsports.  Sure, why not aim high? After all, Chase did compete in five Sprint-Cup races for HMS in 2015, with his best finish being a 16th at the Richmond spring event. Chase also assumes the added pressure of carrying NAPA sponsorship back into the Cup series on a full-time basis, after the auto parts distributor left in 2014 after the improprieties afoot at Michael Waltrip Racing.

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Elliott’s professional driving career began in 2010, with his participation in the CARS X-1R Pro Cup Series for Ford Racing. He was quickly signed away into a three-year driver development contract with Hendrick Motorsports in 2011, where he also competed in the CARS X-1R Pro Cup Series for the season, in addition to NASCAR’s K&N Pro Series East and West schedules.

2012 saw Elliott continue with the K&N Pro Series East and West series while adding ARCA to the mix. This led to a Camping World Truck Series contract (in addition to keeping ARCA) in 2013 for Hendrick Motorsports. 2014 involved the ARCA series for HMS and the Nationwide series full-time for JR Motorsports. In 2015, Elliott again competed in the Xfinity Series for JR Motorsports and the aforementioned five Cup series starts for HMS.

Team owner Rick Hendrick had this to say on Chase’s promotion for 2016 via a Team Hendrick press release after the announcement:

"Chase brings the kind of intangibles that make him the total package as a driver. Not only is he a special talent inside the race car, but there’s a natural combination of competitiveness, work ethic and smarts that you rarely see. Chase’s personality and demeanor make him popular with fans, teammates and sponsors. He’s a great fit for our organization on many levels, and we feel he and Alan will be a successful combination. There’s a lot to be excited about."

Elliott might have huge shoes to fill in 2016 but he should be more than ready to do so. An opportunity like the one that Elliott is receiving is literally a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Blaney is fortunate to get a ride with a historic team like The Wood Brothers, Elliott is joining one of the best teams in the sport and replacing one of the greatest drivers of all-time.

Next: No Easy Solution for RPM And The No. 9 Machine

Hopefully the kid doesn’t buckle under the pressure.