RELATED: Driver Tracker for 2017 | New season, new looks
Breakthrough victories in NASCAR’s top division are often career-altering, a boost that helps aspiring drivers shed the “contender” label by advancing to the “winner” echelon. Last season, two drivers — Chris Buescher and Kyle Larson — filled their void in the win column in a fanciful August stretch that saw both visit Victory Lane.
With the 2016 calendar out the window, the prospects for a new driver reaching the ranks of the first-timers are promising. As New Year’s resolutions still fresh on their minds, NASCAR.com’s George Winkler and Zack Albert size up their top candidates for new winners in 2017.
Winkler: Chase Elliott was close to winning on a number of occasions last season, as evidenced by 10 top-five finishes, including two second-place showings at Michigan. In the second of those Michigan races, he fell behind Larson on a late restart that led to the aforementioned breakthrough win for the Chip Ganassi Racing driver.
But Elliott is a hard worker and will learn from his close calls and eventually will get a breakthrough win of his own. The Hendrick Motorsports driver had top-10 finishes in 17 of 36 races last year, and out of those top 10s, five came on tracks two miles or longer like Michigan, five came on short tracks and seven were on intermediate tracks. That says he can get it done almost anywhere, and to have that kind of talent at 21 years old is impressive.
Plus, Elliott proved to be a worthy replacement in the No. 24 Chevrolet for legend Jeff Gordon, so although expectations will remain high, at least he he has that first year under his belt. And with the combination of Elliott’s talent and Hendrick’s top-notch personnel and equipment, it’s just a matter of time before he’s in Victory Lane.
Albert: Won’t disagree with a Chase Elliott pick at all. In many regards, it’s surprising he didn’t reach Victory Lane in his rookie year last season. Ditto Ryan Blaney and the Wood Brothers. But there’s one other driver new to the rookie ranks who bears watching.
Erik Jones may just have three Cup Series starts (and one long relief stint — see: Denny Hamlin, Bristol, April 2015) to his credit, but he’s stepping into a prime position for his Sunoco Rookie of the Year campaign this year. Jones will join Furniture Row Racing‘s just-born No. 77 Toyota team in 2017, drawing on the Joe Gibbs Racing resources that have aided his accelerated climb up the NASCAR ladder.
The 20-year-old driver already has plenty of prep at the XFINITY Series level, with six victories in his two full seasons. While growing pains for Jones and his newly expanding team are to be expected, a first-time triumph wouldn’t register as a total shock, either. Expect Elliott to break through, but leave room for Jones on the list, too.