Top NASCAR stories and moments from 2017

From the crazy fuel-mileage finish to open the season in the Daytona 500 to the final heart-pounding laps with a championship on the line at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the 2017 season delivered in so many ways. The introduction of stage racing and playoff points added extra spice on track, and drivers added their own flavor as well. Plenty of moments captured the NASCAR.com editorial staff’s attention. With that in mind, we have rounded out the top story lines and moments from the year as we prepare to turn the calendar to 2018. – RJ Kraft

Honorable mention:
-- First-time winners in Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Austin Dillon and Ryan Blaney bring storied organizations back to Victory Lane. (Read more)
-- Chase Elliott's quest for first win gets really, really close multiple times. (Read more)
-- Wood Brothers returns to Victory Lane, closing in on 100 wins (Read more)

12. Kyle Larson's breakout season: The kid from California became a star in 2017 with four victories and 1,352 laps led in the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. In addition to the victories, Larson had eight second-place finishes as he consistently ran up front with other contenders. He fell short of winning a championship when mechanical problems cropped up in the playoffs, but the future is bright. – George Winkler

11. Darrell Wallace Jr. fills in on No. 43, earns full-time ride for 2018: After making 12 starts to open the 2017 Xfinity Series season, Darrell Wallace Jr. had an opportunity to move up to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series on a limited basis. His chance to prove himself as a racer came when he filled in for an injured Aric Almirola for four races in the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports ride, where he earned a career-best 11th-place finish in his final start. His solid work stuck in Petty's mind and on Oct. 25, RPM announced that Wallace would pilot the No. 43 full time in 2018. – Jessica Ruffin

10. Silly Season ramps up: This was one for the ages. When Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced his retirement, that left the No. 88 seat open for Alex Bowman. Ryan Blaney's move to Team Penske's new No. 12 provided a route for Paul Menard to move into the iconic No. 21 Wood Brothers ride. Kasey Kahne's departure from Hendrick Motorsports opened the door for William Byron to the No. 24, while Chase Elliott shifts to the No. 9 his father, Bill Elliott, made famous. [And exhale…] – Chase Wilhelm

9. Kyle Busch and Joey Logano come to blows at Las Vegas: It didn't take long for the first friction of the season to boil over into fisticuffs. The Team Penske and Joe Gibbs Racing drivers got into an altercation on pit road that left Kyle Busch bloodied and set the tone for the season. – Pat DeCola

8. Carl Edwards steps away, Daniel Suarez steps into No. 19 at JGR: Shock rippled through NASCAR when Carl Edwards, fresh off his best season in five years with three wins and fourth place in the final 2016 standings, announced he was stepping away from racing. The Jan. 11 announcement sent Joe Gibbs Racing into quick-change mode with up-and-comer Daniel Suarez moving up rapidly after his championship-winning season in the Xfinity Series. – Kathy Sheldon

7. Young stars rise up: With several veteran drivers hanging up their fire suits, the time is now for a handful of rising stars to cement their places in Victory Lane … and the history books. In 2017, we saw Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson wheel their way into the playoffs with wins. Chase Elliott became the 'People's Champ' after standing up for himself against Denny Hamlin at Martinsville. William Byron and Christopher Bell took home the Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series titles, respectively. Expect 2018 to be much of the same with an influx of new faces with opportunities to race into the record books. – Allie Davison

6. Denny Hamlin-Chase Elliott rivalry is born: Hamlin said it wasn't 'intentional.' Elliott said it was 'unnecessary and uncalled for.' Whatever the case, after Hamlin nudged Elliott aside as he was leading at Martinsville Speedway in October, NASCAR had a new rivalry. Hamlin promptly was booed by his homestate Virginia fans, and Elliott, who appeared headed toward his first career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory with three scheduled laps remaining, confronted Hamlin afterward. The hard racing carried over to the Round of 8 at Phoenix where Hamlin got a tire rub that led to a wreck (and elimination) following some tight racing with Elliott. – Jodie Valade

5. Danica Patrick announces end of full-time NASCAR career: Danica Patrick was the center of a few headlines in 2017, most of which centered around her future. By early fall, Patrick made it official that after five seasons with Stewart-Haas Racing, she would not return to the organization. Two days before the season finale in Miami, Patrick made the announcement that her full-time NASCAR career was over. She plans to run both the 2018 Daytona 500 and the 2018 Indianapolis 500. – Kelly Crandall

4. Matt Kenseth's final season with Joe Gibbs Racing: Following Carl Edwards' sudden departure, the wheels were set in motion on a series of events that eventually left Kenseth without a ride in 2018. Erik Jones will take over for the 2003 champion in the No. 20 next season, and a potential Hall of Fame career appears to have come to an end. He'll always have that emotional Phoenix win, however, which was one of the best moments of the season. – Pat DeCola

3. Stage racing debuts: The first year of stage racing did exactly what it was intended to do: Provide fans with more moments throughout the race (who can forget the Kyle Busch-Ricky Stenhouse Jr. battle at Martinsville in the spring, for example) and make every lap matter more. The added impact of playoff points awarded to stage winners only added more stakes. We can't wait for Year 2, now that teams have had a full season to digest its importance. – Brad Norman

2. Martin Truex Jr.'s caps off dominant season with 2017 championship: The 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season belonged to the New Jersey native. He compiled career highs in wins (eight), top fives (19), top 10s (26) and laps led (2253). Truex, crew chief Cole Pearn and the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing team also took full advantage of the new stage racing/playoff point format and fended off Kyle Busch at Miami for the championship. Longtime girlfriend Sherry Pollex, who has been fighting a battle with ovarian cancer, was by his side to celebrate the title. – RJ Kraft

1. Dale Jr.'s return and final full-time season: The news cycle for NASCAR's Most Popular Driver was a particularly active one in 2017. Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s return from injury to start the year, his decision in April to end his full-time driving days at season's end and the ensuing #Appreci88ion Tour to close out his career were monumental competition headlines. Off the track, Earnhardt began 2017 as a newlywed with New Year's Eve nuptials with the former Amy Reimann, followed by the announcement of his transition to the TV booth for NBC Sports and later the news that the couple is expecting their first child in the spring. – Zack Albert