Not Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin & Kevin Harvick: Kyle Petty Names 5 “Future Stars” of NASCAR

In a recent podcast, former NASCAR driver Kyle Petty spoke about the surge of young talent. According to him, they are pretty much taking the sport by storm and outperforming the veteran drivers. He also believes that a large part of their improved form is because of the Next-Gen car. It appears that the younger drivers have adapted better to the new car compared to their older contemporaries.

He said, “It’s been a great year for the sport. We’re not talking every week about Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick. We’re talking about Ross Chastain, we’re talking about Chase Briscoe, we’re talking about Ryan Blaney, we’re talking about Austin Cindric, we’re talking about Austin Dillon. I mean, we’re talking about names up front. Been running in the Top 5 or 10. They are the future stars of the sport, but they’re getting there a little bit quicker because of this car. So it’s pretty interesting to see.”

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What to expect from the current NASCAR youngsters?

Petty does have a point. The younger drivers have been very impressive. It all started off when Austin Cindric stunned everyone to win the Daytona 500. Then came Chase Briscoe, taking his first career win at Phoenix. After him was Alex Bowman with a win at Las Vegas. William Byron followed it up with a win at the Atlanta Motor Speedway and again at the Martinsville Speedway. Finally, Ross Chastain put his name on the board, with wins at Circuit of the Americas and at Talladega.

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In contrast to that, the only senior drivers to win were Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, and Kyle Busch. Defending champion Larson opened up his account at the Auto Club Speedway. Joe Gibbs Racing duo, Hamlin and Busch triumphed at the Richmond Raceway and at the Bristol Motor Speedway dirt race.

Now, the paddock is in Dover for the next Cup race. So one has to wonder who will be the next race winner. Will it be a veteran driver, or will one of the young whippersnappers snatch a win? Already, there are drivers like Tyler Reddick, Austin Dillon, Ryan Blaney and more, racing to go. However, anything can happen in a NASCAR race.