NASCAR 2017 season review: Best driver, biggest storyline, best and worse races, unforgettable and surreal moments, and more

05 Dec 2017 18:46

A look back at the memorable, captivating, and sometimes strange moments that transpired during the course of NASCAR’s 2017 season.

Put on your tuxedo T-shirt, pour a glass of your favorite something as it is time for SB Nation’s annual year-end NASCAR awards ceremony that honors the best and worst of the 2017 Monster Energy Cup Series season.

Driver of the year

As easy and clear-cut a choice as there is, and not just because Martin Truex Jr. was holding the championship hardware when the season concluded. Shedding the label of a journeyman driver, he won more races (eight) than he had in his previous 11 years (seven) in addition to leading the series in top fives, top 10s, laps led, average start, and average finish.

Truex’s skill was best showcased over the final 30 laps in the championship finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Although Kyle Busch had the faster car, Truex masterfully held him off by adjusting his line and not overdriving in a situation where one bobble would’ve cost him the title. A gritty effort emblematic of the resolve Truex has exhibited fighting through a host of adversity before finally reaching NASCAR’s mountaintop.

Also deserving mention: Kyle Busch; Kyle Larson

Story of the year

In year where NASCAR introduced a radical new format that divided races into stages and awarded additional championship points all to entice drivers to race hard from green flag to checkered flag, this seemingly would be the predominated story.

Then Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR’s 15-time most popular driver, announced in April 2017 would be his last as a full-time competitor. A retirement mirroring recent decisions by Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards, and preceding Matt Kenseth and Danica Patrick each stating in November they would join Earnhardt in stepping away at the end of the current season.

That drain of star power comes at a precarious time amidst declining TV ratings and stagnant attendance. NASCAR is now not only without some of its most beloved personalities, but lacks a driver possessing crossover mainstream appeal like Earnhardt, Edwards, Gordon, or Patrick, all of whom were mainstays on daytime and late night television shows.

And while stage racing significantly bettered the on track product, by the end of the season this was not the prevalent storyline. Instead the focus was on the number of notables who had or were retiring, along with the veterans who were being squeezed out due to a dramatically changed economic structure that favors younger (i.e. cheaper) drivers.

Also deserving mention: Continued emergence of young drivers; sponsorship crunch facing teams; Busch’s war of words and increasingly public feud with Brad Keselowski; Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin wrecking one other in the playoffs; Monster Energy’s first year as Cup Series entitlement sponsor

Crew chief of the year

It is no coincidence that upon Cole Pearn taking over as crew chief of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing car in 2015 the team transformed from a mid-pack outfit into a dominant force. During this span only Busch has more wins (14) than Truex’s 13, and twice in four years the team went into the last race of the season with a shot at the championship.

And Truex winning his first-ever title last month had no bearing on the outcome of this award. Win or lose at Homestead, the No. 78 team was clearly head-and-shoulders above the competition for the entirety of the season with Pearn deserving a lion’s share of the credit.

Also deserving mention: Adam Stevens (Busch); Chad Johnston (Larson); Rodney Childers (Kevin Harvick); Alan Gustafson (Elliott)

Biggest Overachiever

For all intent purposes Wood Brothers Racing is an extension of Team Penske where the venerable family operation is a third Penske car. But while the relationship between the two teams is strong, the Wood Brothers are still technically a separate entity possessing neither the resources nor funding like many other organizations. All of which underscored the team’s best overall season in two decades, that included Ryan Blaney’s rousing first career win and surprise run into the semifinal round of the playoffs.

Also deserving mention: Larson; Michael McDowell and Leavine Family Racing

Biggest underachiever

Most teams would classify a season with four combined wins and three drivers making the playoffs as successful. That isn’t the case for Hendrick Motorsports where such a campaign is considered a down year. Especially so in light of the fact the team won just once over the final 23 races, Johnson never seriously challenged for the championship, and Earnhardt’s final season was remembered more for what happened off the track than on it.

Also deserving mention: Patrick; Joey Logano; JTG Daugherty Racing; Front Row Motorsports

Unforgettable moments

The bond between Truex and longtime girlfriend Sherry Pollex that was on display throughout the season. Specifically, Truex getting emotional following wins at Kentucky Speedway and Charlotte while Pollex was undergoing treatment for a re-occurrence of ovarian cancer, along with their embrace in victory lane after Truex won the championship.
Hamlin crashing Elliott on the final lap at Martinsville Speedway, costing Elliott a first-career win and a championship round berth. The incident instantly thrust Hamlin into the role of NASCAR’s No. 1 villain.
Earnhardt capping his Cup career by turning his car into a makeshift bar and drinking Budweisers with his crew guys for nearly an hour after the checkered flag waved at Homestead.

Also deserving mention: Busch throwing a haymaker at Logano after contact between them caused Busch to spin out on the final lap at Las Vegas Motor Speedway; Matt Kenseth in his (likely) second-to-last race winning at Phoenix Raceway; Elliott extracting revenge on Hamlin by nudging his rival into the wall at Phoenix, effectively knocking Hamlin out of the playoffs

Surreal moments

A wayward ambulance mistakenly stopping at the entrance to pit road while the leaders were pitting during a caution period in the regular-season finale at Richmond Raceway. This caused the field to stack up and in the aftermath Matt Kenseth suffered considerable frontend damage that sent him to the garage and almost cost him a playoff spot.
A drunk fan climbing the catchfence during the spring race at Dover International Speedway. Adding to the foolishness, NASCAR inexplicably did not place the race under caution while security attempted to detain the man.
In a fitting gesture Richard Petty was given the honor to lead the field prior to the Southern 500 behind the wheel of a 1967 Plymouth that he once drove to victory in the same race. One problem: Petty lost radio communication with officials and stayed on the track for an extended duration, forcing NASCAR to utilize the black flag so he would return to the pits.

Also deserving mention: Team owner Chip Ganassi enthusiastically celebrating Larson’s victory at Michigan International Speedway in August; Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s father being detained security after climbing a fence at Talladega Superspeedway following his son’s inaugural Cup win; Hamlin getting freaked by a live lobster in victory lane at New Hamphire; NASCAR officials clumsily explaining why Jimmie Johnson wasn’t called for a pit road penalty during the playoff race at Charlotte Motor Speedway

Best race

What you want in a best-finish-wins-the-championship finale is high drama with each of the four title contenders running in close proximity to one another. The Ford 400 checked all those boxes and more, as the final quarter of the race was tension filled culminating with a thrilling duel between Truex and Busch.

Also deserving mention: STP 500 (spring Martinsville); First Data 500 (fall Martinsville); Food City 500 (spring Bristol); Can-Am 500 (fall Phoenix); Toyota/Save Mart 350 (Sonoma)

Worst race

Between an ambulance parking on pit road and nearly impacting the playoff field to questionable officiating involving a controversial late caution, the regular season finale at Richmond was notable for all the wrong reasons.

Also deserving mention: ISM Connect 300 (fall New Hampshire); Quaker State 400 (Kentucky); Tales of the Turtles 400 (Chicagoland)

Memorable quotes

“I just wanted the opportunity to go out on my own terms. … I wanted to be able to make that decision myself on retiring and not really have it made for me. But I feel healthy.”

--Earnhardt announcing April 25 he would retire at the end of the season

“The 78 race team has carried the same motto throughout the season and that’s, ‘Never give up.’ No one has lived that out more than my life partner, Sherry. As we all know, Sherry was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2014. Today, she is still fighting her disease with tenacity and a never-give-up attitude that inspires millions of people to do the same. She is the true champion.

“Babe, I love you and thank you for the change you’ve caused in my life. You’re an inspiration to all of us in this room. And winning is a great feeling, but spending my life with you is the real victory.”

--Truex praising his girlfriend for her tenacity as she battles cancer during his champion’s speech

“He’s an idiot anyways, we all know that.”

--Busch calling out Keselowski for comments made about Toyota’s perceived advantage

“Each person had their own opinion of how they do things and it just proved to the people that thought I was a bad guy that he would do the exact same thing in the same circumstances. It’s just part of racing. I got into him and he chose to retaliate, so I’m in the garage and that’s the way it is.”

--Hamlin in response to Elliott forcing him into the wall at Phoenix, which occurred two weeks after Hamlin punted Elliott at Martinsville