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. Carl Edwards entered the season as the defending champion, but he was unable to defend his title due to retiring before the 2017 season started. Kurt Busch of Furniture Row Racing won the championship, his first in the series. Toyota won the Manufacturers' Championship for the second year in a row.
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 Malibu starting in 2018. BMW also entered NASCAR, supporting Germain Racing with the M3.
Teams and drivers
Complete schedule
Manufacturer | Team | No. | Race driver | Crew chief | Model |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
BMW | Germain Racing | 13 | Casey Mears | Bootie Barker | M3 |
Chevrolet | Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group | 03 | Jeff Green (32) | Pat Tryson 15 Frank Stoddard2 Eddie Pardue 19 |
SS |
Boris Said (7) | |||||
Dale Earnhardt, Inc. | 01 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Dan Stillman | Camaro | |
1 | Martin Truex Jr. | Matt McCall | |||
8 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Tony Eury Jr. | |||
15 | Alex Bowman | Bruce Cook | |||
81 | Matt Kenseth | Kevin Hamlin | |||
Hendrick Motorsports | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Keith Rodden 27 Darian Grubb 9 |
Camaro | |
24 | Chase Elliott | Alan Gustafson 35 Kenny Francis 1 | |||
25 | Brad Keselowski | Greg Ives 35 Travis Mack 1 | |||
48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chad Knaus | |||
84 | Landon Cassill | Lance McGrew | |||
HScott Motorsports | 09 | Justin Allgaier | Jay Guy | SS | |
52 | Michael Annett | Jimmy Elledge | |||
JTG Daugherty Racing | 47 | A. J. Allmendinger | Randall Burnett 8 Ernie Cope 10 Tristan Smith 18 |
SS | |
59 | Chris Buescher | Trent Owens | |||
Leavine Family Racing | 95 | Michael McDowell | Todd Parrott 31 Jon Leonard 5 |
SS | |
Earnhardt-Childress Racing (Start Your Engines!) | 3 | Austin Dillon | Slugger Labbe 10 Sammy Johns 1 Justin Alexander 25 |
Camaro | |
30 | Ryan Newman | Matt Borland | |||
31 | Paul Menard | Luke Lambert | |||
33 | Ty Dillon | Gil Martin | |||
Dodge | Chip Ganassi Racing | 40 | Bryan Clauson | Jeff Vandermoss | Challenger |
41 | Brennan Poole | Mike Shiplett | |||
42 | Kyle Larson | Chris Heroy | |||
Petty Enterprises | 9 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Drew Blickensderfer | ||
43 | Aric Almirola 29 | Kevin Manion | |||
Regan Smith 2 | |||||
Darrell Wallace Jr. 4 | |||||
Billy Johnson 1 | |||||
44 | Chad McCumbee | Mark Tudor | |||
45 | Adam Petty | Billy Wilburn | |||
46 | Austin Petty | Chris Hussey | |||
Ford | Brett Favre Racing | 16 | Parker Kligerman | Chad Johnston 33 Tony Lunders 3 |
Mustang |
61 | Jeb Burton | Tim Steele | |||
90 | Johanna Robbins | Darrell Bryant | |||
Front Row Motorsports | 34 | Greg Biffle | Donnie Wingo 17 Seth Barbour 19 |
Fusion | |
38 | David Ragan | Derrick Finley | |||
Go Fas Racing | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Gene Nead | Fusion | |
Orr Motorsports | 37 | Regan Smith | John Page | Fusion | |
Robert Yates Racing | 28 | Jamie McMurray | Todd Parrott | Fusion | |
88 | Ryan Reed (R) | Scott McDougall | |||
96 | Jason Leffler | Larry Carter | |||
Roush Fenway Racing | 6 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Matt Puccia | Roush Mustang | |
17 | Trevor Bayne | Brian Pattie | |||
Stewart-Haas Racing | 00 | Brian Vickers | Tony Gibson 35 Johnny Klausmeier 1 |
Mustang | |
4 | Kevin Harvick | Rodney Childers 35 Daniel Knost 1 | |||
10 | Danica Patrick | Billy Scott | |||
14 | Tony Stewart | Greg Zipadelli | |||
Team Penske | 2 | Blaise Alexander | Paul Wolfe 32 Brian Wilson 4 |
Mustang | |
22 | Joey Logano | Todd Gordon 33 Miles Stanley 3 | |||
Wood Brothers Racing | 21 | Ryan Blaney | Jeremy Bullins | Shelby GT500 | |
Toyota | BK Racing | 23 | Joey Gase 4 | Patrick Donahue 14 Randy Cox 22 |
Camry |
Gray Gaulding (R) 14 | |||||
Ryan Sieg 1 | |||||
Alon Day 1 | |||||
Corey LaJoie (R) 16 | |||||
Furniture Row Racing | 77 | Erik Jones (R) | Chris Gayle 34 James Small 2 | ||
78 | Kurt Busch | Cole Pearn | |||
Joe Gibbs Racing | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Mike Wheeler 34 Chris Gabehart 2 | ||
18 | Kyle Busch | Adam Stevens 32 Ben Beshore 3 Jacob Canter 1 | |||
19 | Daniel Suárez | Dave Rogers 5 Scott Graves 31 | |||
20 | Elliott Sadler | Jason Ratcliff | |||
Michael Waltrip Racing | 51 | Clint Bowyer | Dax Gerringer | ||
55 | Brett Moffitt | Chad Walter | |||
Chevrolet (Start Your Engines!) 35 Ford 1 |
TriStar Motorsports | 72 | Cole Whitt | Frank Kerr | Camaro
Mustang |
Chevrolet (Start Your Engines!) 28 Toyota 8 |
Premium Motorsports | 98 | Reed Sorenson 23 | Mark Hillman 24 Tommy Baldwin Jr. 12 |
SS
Camry |
Joey Gase 2 | |||||
Ross Chastain 2 | |||||
Kevin O'Connell 1 | |||||
D. J. Kennington 2 | |||||
Gray Gaulding (R) 1 | |||||
Gary Klutt 1 | |||||
Derrike Cope 2 | |||||
Mark Thompson 1 |
Limited schedule
Local Leasing entries
Manufacturer | Team | No. | Race Driver | Crew Chief | Round(s) | Model and year |
---|
Changes
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, Michelin, 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.
Manufacturers
After failing to meet expectations, Toyota pulled factory support for the Avalon. The only full-time team running the model, BK Racing, switched to the Camry.
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.
No | Race Title | Track | Date | Time | TV |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Busch Clash | Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida | February 19 | 11:35 a.m. | CBS | |
Gatorade Duels | February 23 | 7:00 p.m. | CBS | ||
1 | Daytona 500 | February 26 | 2:30 p.m. | CBS | |
2 | Subway 400 | Rockingham Speedway, Rockingham, North Carolina | March 5 | 2:30 p.m. | Fox |
3 | Kobalt 400 | Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, Nevada | March 12 | 3:30 p.m. | Fox |
4 | Camping World 500 | Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin | March 19 | 3:30 p.m. | Fox |
5 | Auto Club 400 | Riverside Speedway, Moreno Valley, California | March 26 | 3:30 p.m. | Fox |
6 | STP 500 | Martinsville Speedway, Ridgeway, Virginia | April 2 | 2:00 p.m. | FS1 |
7 | O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 | Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, Texas | April 9 | 1:30 p.m. | Fox |
8 | Jacob's Grand Prix | Brands Hatch, West Kingsdown, Kent, England | April 16 | 2:00 p.m. | FS1 |
9 | Welcome to the Wayne 400 | Nazareth Speedway, Nazareth, Pennsylvania | April 24 | 1:00 p.m. | Fox
Nickelodeon |
10 | Old Spice 400 | Gateway Motorsports Park, Madison, Illinois | April 30 | 2:00 p.m. | Fox |
11 | GEICO 500 | Talladega Superspeedway, Lincoln, Alabama | May 7 | 2:00 p.m. | Fox |
12 | Go Bowling 400 | Kansas Speedway, Kansas City, Kansas | May 13 | 7:30 p.m. | FS1 |
NASCAR Open | Metrolina Speedway, Charlotte, North Carolina | May 20 | 6:00 p.m. | FS1 | |
NASCAR All-Star Race | May 20 | 8:00 p.m. | FS1 | ||
13 | Coca-Cola 600 | Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, North Carolina | May 28 | 6:00 p.m. | Fox |
14 | McDonald's 400 | Chicago Motor Speedway, Cicero, Illinois | June 4 | 1:00 p.m. | FS1 |
15 | Tales of the Turtles 400 | Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet, Illinois | June 11 | 3:00 p.m. | FS1 |
16 | Howard Johnson's 400 | Pikes Peak International Raceway, Fountain, Colorado | June 18 | 3:00 p.m. | FS1 |
17 | U.S. Cellular 400 | Iowa Speedway, Newton, Iowa | June 25 | 3:00 p.m. | FS1 |
18 | Coke Zero 400 | Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida | July 1 | 7:30 p.m. | MGM |
19 | Quaker State 400 | Kentucky Speedway, Sparta, Kentucky | July 8 | 7:30 p.m. | MGM |
20 | Overton's 301 | New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, New Hampshire | July 16 | 3:00 p.m. | MGM |
21 | Brantley Gilbert Big Machine Brickyard 400 | Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway, Indiana | July 23 | 2:30 p.m. | NBC |
22 | Overton's 400 | Pocono Raceway, Long Pond, Pennsylvania | July 30 | 3:00 p.m. | TBS |
23 | I Love New York 355 at The Glen | Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, New York | August 6 | 3:00 p.m. | TBS |
24 | Pure Michigan 400 | Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Michigan | August 13 | 3:00 p.m. | TBS |
25 | Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race | Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, Tennessee | August 19 | 7:30 p.m. | NBC |
26 | Southern 500 | Darlington Raceway, Darlington, South Carolina | September 3 | 6:00 p.m. | MGM |
27 | Federated Auto Parts 400 | Richmond Raceway, Richmond, Virginia | September 9 | 7:30 p.m. | MGM |
28 | TNN 420 | Fairgrounds Speedway, Nashville, Tennessee | September 17 | 3:00 p.m. | TNN |
29 | Tyson Holly Farms 400 | North Wilkesboro Speedway, North Wilkesboro, North Carolina | September 24 | 2:00 p.m. | MGM |
30 | Apache Warrior 400 | Dover International Speedway, Dover, Delaware | October 1 | 2:00 p.m. | MGM |
31 | Auto Club 400 | Auto Club Speedway, Auto Club, California | October 8 | 2:00 p.m. | NBC |
32 | Bank of America Roval 500 | Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, North Carolina (Roval) | October 15 | 1:00 p.m. | NBC |
33 | Alabama 500 | Talladega Superspeedway, Lincoln, Alabama | October 22 | 2:00 p.m. | NBC |
34 | Keystone Light 400 | Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, Wisconsin | October 29 | 3:00 p.m. | MGM |
35 | Toyota/Save Mart 350 | Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma, California | November 5 | 3:00 p.m. | TBS |
36 | Ford EcoBoost 400 | Homestead-Miami Speedway, Homestead, Florida | November 12 | 2:00 p.m. | TBS |
37 | Can-Am 500 | Phoenix International Raceway, Avondale, Arizona | November 19 | 2:30 p.m. | NBC |
38 | Sega 350 | Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka, Japan | November 26 | 2:30 p.m. | TBS |
39 | Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 | Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton, Georgia | December 3 | 3:00 p.m. | MGM |
Season summary
Race reports
Results and standings
Race results
No. | Race | Pole position | Most laps led | Winning driver | Model |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Busch Clash | Tony Stewart | Ford Mustang | |||
Gatorade Duel #1 | |||||
Gatorade Duel #2 | |||||
1 | Daytona 500 | Adam Petty | Dodge Challenger | ||
2 | Subway 400 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Chevrolet Camaro | ||
3 | Kobalt 400 | ||||
4 | Camping World 500 | ||||
5 | Auto Club 400 | ||||
6 | STP 500 | ||||
7 | O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 | ||||
8 | Jacob's Grand Prix | ||||
9 | Welcome to the Wayne 400 | Kurt Busch | Toyota Camry | ||
10 | Old Spice 400 | Chase Elliott | |||
11 | |||||
12 | |||||