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NASCAR: The changing of the guard has not happened just yet

By Asher Fair

AVONDALE, AZ - NOVEMBER 12: Ryan Blaney, driver of the #21 SKF/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, leads a pack of cars during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Can-Am 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on November 12, 2017 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)
AVONDALE, AZ - NOVEMBER 12: Ryan Blaney, driver of the #21 SKF/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, leads a pack of cars during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Can-Am 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on November 12, 2017 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images) /
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While may people believe that it has already happened, it is clear that the changing of the guard in the NASCAR Cup Series has really not happened yet.

The 2017 NASCAR Cup Series season was said to be the season of change in the sport. That change was said to be younger drivers dethroning some of the series veterans, including former champions, as the top drivers in the sport.

For a while, it looked like that may just happen. Erik Jones, 21, looked like he was going to qualify for the playoffs several times. Chase Elliott, 21, looked poised to advance to the Championship 4. Ryan Blaney, 23, was in a similar position. Kyle Larson, 25, was a season-long championship favorite.

But the Can-Am 500 at Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Arizona, the final race before the Championship 4 in the Round of 8, showed clearly that the changing of the guard just has not happened yet. Make no mistake about it; these young drivers are still the future stars of the sport. But the young guns of the sport were simply outdone by the sport’s veterans when it mattered most in 2017.

How? Just look at who the four Championship 4 drivers are.

Kevin Harvick

  • Age: 41
  • Full-Time Season: 17th
  • Best Career Cup Series Finish: 2014 champion

Martin Truex Jr.

  • Age: 37
  • Full-Time Season: 12th
  • Best Career Cup Series Finish: 4th place in 2015

Brad Keselowski

  • Age: 33
  • Full-Time Season: 8th
  • Best Career Cup Series Finish: 2012 champion

Kyle Busch

  • Age: 32
  • Full-Time Season: 13th
  • Best Career Cup Series Finish: 2015 champion

The average age of those four drivers is 35.75, and they have been full-time drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series for an average of 12.5 seasons.

And who was it that prevented Chase Elliott from getting into the Championship 4 by taking the lead away from him late at Phoenix? Matt Kenseth, 45, the oldest full-time driver in the NASCAR Cup Series who is in his 18th full-time season in the sport.

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Yes, rookie Erik Jones at just 21 years old looks like he could start reeling off victories at any time, which he may very well do at Joe Gibbs Racing next season.

Yes, second-year driver Chase Elliott at just 21 years old is probably the greatest driver in NASCAR Cup Series history who has never won a race.

Yes, second-year driver Ryan Blaney at just 23 years old has a boatload of potential that he has already been able to tap into even driving for just a one-car Wood Brothers Racing team.

Yes, fourth-year driver Kyle Larson at just 25 years old is probably the greatest driver in the playoff era who has never been to the Round of 8, much less the Championship 4.

But without a doubt, the NASCAR Cup Series still belongs to the sport’s veterans, and that was made clearer than it has ever been in Sunday’s Can-Am 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

Next: NASCAR Stage Racing: Pros and Cons

The only question now is when will some of these young drivers truly take over as NASCAR Cup Series championship contenders? It could happen as early as next season given how well they performed this season and just how close most of them came this year.

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