2017 NASCAR Cup Series (Simpsonverse)

The 2017 NASCAR Cup Series was the 69th season of professional stock car racing in the United States, and the 46th modern-era Cup series season. The season began at Daytona International Speedway with the Busch Clash, the Gatorade Duel qualifying races and the 59th running of the Daytona 500. The season ended with the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The 2017 season was the final season of several full time Cup Series drivers; Danica Patrick announced that 2017 would be the end of her career in motorsports, which included a seven year stint in NASCAR. During the off-season, it was announced that Patrick would compete in the 2018 Daytona 500 and the 2018 Indianapolis 500 in a pair of final races dubbed the "Danica Double" to finish off her career.

It also marked the last season for 19-time race winner Greg Biffle, road-course ringer Boris Said and two-time Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip. It was also the last season Chevrolet fielded the Chevrolet SS, replacing it with the Camaro ZL1 starting in 2018.

Technical changes

 * Teams must start a race using the same tires that were used during qualifying.
 * Based on usage research by NASCAR and several tire manufacturers (these being Goodyear, Hoosier, Michelen, Firestone, and General Tire), tire allocations have changed for some races. Teams will have one fewer set of tires for Daytona (500), Phoenix, Fontana, Martinsville (Spring), Bristol, Kansas, Kentucky, and Chicagoland. Homestead will have two fewer sets allocated, down from twelve. Talladega, Sonoma, Daytona (400), New Hampshire, Watkins Glen, and Darlington will have an additional tire set allocated.
 * In response to increasing speeds at Daytona and Talladega, a side-effect of what is known as the "Second Aero War", restrictor plate sizes were reduced from 57/64 of an inch to 7/8 of an inch.

Safety
Several vehicle safety changes are mandatory on all races, including revised steering column mounting, and garage-only fuel couplers. Anti-intrusion plating, escape hatches and toeboard foam are also required on all restrictor plate races, but are optional on all other races.

NASCAR partnered with American Medical Response to form a traveling medical team for the series, officially known as the NASCAR Rescue Squad. Additionally, NASCAR has expanded the concussion protocol which will see drivers involved in accidents undergo additional concussion testing before being allowed to return to the race track.

New race format
The 2017 season introduced major changes to the format of races and the points system in all three of NASCAR's national series, announced during a press conference on January 23, 2017. Most races would be divided into three stages, with most races seeing the first two segments consisting of roughly a quarter distance with the third stage being half distance. The only points race exception would be the Coca-Cola 600, which would be split into 4 100-lap stages. In case of inclement weather, curfew, or darkness, the third segment could have been cancelled and the race be complete after the first two segments. The top 10 drivers at the end of the first and second stages would receive championship points, awarded on a descending scale from 10 to 1. The overall winner of each race following the final stage would receive 40 points, and the remaining drivers would be awarded points on a descending scale from 35 for a 2nd-place finish, to 2 for 35th, and 1 for 36th through 46th. The winner of each stage would also receive a "playoff point", and the overall winner would receive five.

Schedule
The final calendar – comprising 39 races, as well as exhibition races, which are the Busch Clash, Gatorade Duel qualifying duel races for the Daytona 500 and the All-Star Race – was released on May 5, 2016.