Three of the drivers from last year's list moved on to the Cup Series. Two of them made the Chase. One of them won a race. One of them won Rookie of the Year. This year's list has six returning from 2016, three making their first appearance, and one who made the inaugural list, but was (mistakenly) left off of last year's. Let's get started, shall we?
(Drivers listed in alphabetical order)
Christopher Bell
Age: 23
Hometown: Norman, Oklahoma
2016 Ride(s): Full-time Truck Series for Kyle Busch Motorsports; part-time ARCA for Venturini Motorsports.
Christopher's rookie season in the Truck Series got off to a rocky start as he finished 16th or worse in each of the first three races. Back to back Top 5's in the next two races set him up for a ten race run with a win, five Top 5's, and nine Top 10's, shooting him from 21st to 5th in points. During the seven race Chase, Bell accumulated six Top 10's and two Top 5's and finished 3rd in points. In his five ARCA starts he finished in the Top 10 in each race and picked up two wins. Christopher is expected to return to full-time Truck racing with KBM in 2017.
Kyle Benjamin
Age: 19
Hometown: Easley, South Carolina
2016 Ride(s): Full-time K&N Pro Series East and part-time ARCA for Ranier Racing with MDM.
Through much of 2016 if it weren't for bad luck, Kyle would have had no luck at all. Benjamin led the most laps in three of the first 11 races in the East Series, but only had three 2nd place finishes to show for it. Whether it was being passed within the final ten laps or wrecked while leading and then being parked for retaliating, things just weren't going Kyle's way. He even led laps in all four of his ARCA starts, but still could not finish better than 2nd. Fortune finally found Benjamin in early September when he led all 140 laps at Greenville-Pickens to get his first win of the year in the East Series. Two races later he would do it again, leading 84 of 126 laps at Dover to grab the victory. Kyle would finish the East Series season with two wins, nine Top 5's, 11 Top 10's, and leading 35% of the laps run. No word yet on Kyle's 2017 plans.
William Byron
Age: 19
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
2016 Ride(s): Full-time Truck Series for Kyle Busch Motorsports; part-time ARCA for Venturini Motorsports.
It didn't take long for William Byron to make his presence known in the Camping World Truck Series. After a rough first two races he picked up his first Top 5 by finishing 3rd at Martinsville. The following race, after being near the front all race, he was in the right place at the right time when Johnny Sauter and Ben Rhodes wrecked fighting for the lead and Byron took away his first victory in just the 4th race of the season. That would be the first of many to come for the rookie. By the time the Chase started, William had already won five races and led the standings. To show that he wasn't going to back down in the Chase he won the opener at Loudon and followed it up with four more Top 10's. Misfortune finally caught up with Byron at Phoenix and an engine failure eliminated him from Championship contention. While disappointed, yes, it did not bring William down as he won the pole for the season finale at Homestead and the race, too. Byron finished the 23 race season with seven wins, 11 Top 5's, 16 Top 10's, and 5th in points. He will drive full-time in the Xfinity Series for JR Motorsports in 2017.
Todd Gilliland
Age: 16
Hometown: Sherrils Ford, North Carolina
2016 Ride(s): Full-time K&N Pro Series West and part-time K&N Pro Series East for Bill McAnally Racing.
Todd Gilliland has racing in his blood. He is the son of former Cup Series driver David Gilliland and grandson of former West Series legend Butch Gilliland. He got off to a roaring start in 2016 by winning the first three races he entered (Two in the West Series and the East Series opener). He was labeled the driver to beat in just about every race this season. In the five East Series races he ran, he had a win, three Top 5's, and never finished worse than 9th. In 14 West Series races he had six wins (tied the record for the most in a season), 11 Top 5's, 13 Top 10's, led laps in 11 races, and led 30% of the laps run the entire season. Those feats of course led him to winning both the Rookie of the Year and the Championship. The future is bright for young Gilliland. He will race part-time for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Truck Series in 2017.
Noah Gragson
Age: 18
Hometown: Las Vegas, Nevada
2016 Ride(s): Full-time K&N Pro Series East and West for Jefferson-Pitts Racing; part-time Truck Series for Kyle Busch Motorsports; Part-Time ARCA for Mason Mitchell and Venturini Motorsports.
Justin Haley
Age: 17
Hometown: Winamac, Indiana
2016 Ride(s): Full-time K&N Pro Series East for HScott Motorsports; part-time Truck Series for Todd Braun; part-time ARCA for Todd Braun and Mason Mitchell.
Justin Haley is another driver who grew up around racing. His uncle, Todd Braun, owned an Xfinity Series team from 2003-2010 amassing 4 wins with Jamie McMurray, Dave Blaney, Jason Leffler, and Kyle Busch. Perhaps the biggest change Justin had to get used to this year was being called "Justin". Prior to this season Haley had always gone by J.J., but decided to go by Justin this year to avoid being confused with J.J. Yeley. The change seemed to work for Justin. In 14 East Series starts he had two wins, four 2nd place finishes, 13 Top 5's, and 14 Top 10's leading him to a championship. He finished 2nd to Christopher Bell in his first ARCA start of the season driving for Braun and later in the year won the ARCA race at Illinois State Speedway, a one mile dirt track, driving for Mason Mitchell and beat out Ken Schrader and 2016 ARCA champ Chase Briscoe. Haley will drive full-time (starting with the 3rd race of the season. He will not meet the minimum age for the first two races.) for GMS racing in the Truck Series in 2017.
Erik Jones
Age: 20
Hometown: Byron, Michigan
2016 Ride(s): Full-time Xfinity Series for Joe Gibbs Racing; part-time Truck Series for Kyle Busch Motorsports.
If you don't know who Erik Jones is yet, you've been living under a rock. His quick rise to prominence has been absolutely incredible. Four years ago Jones was an unknown teenager who beat Kyle Busch in one of the biggest Late Model races in the country. Next thing you know he's winning races in Busch's truck, then winning a championship, and now driving an Xfinity car for a legendary NASCAR owner. It wasn't really a surprise at all that the rookie was favored to win the championship at the start of the season. After finishing in the Top 5 in four of the first six races of the season, Erik finally went to victory lane at Bristol. He would win again at Dover, Iowa, and Chicago making him the point leader for the first time all season entering the Chase. He got off to a rough start in the Chase with a 28th place finish at Kentucky and never really recovered, picking up only two Top 5 finishes in the final seven races. Erik finished the season with four wins, 15 Top 5's, and 20 Top 10's in 33 starts and finished 4th in points. Jones is the only driver to be on this list all three years of it's existence, but this will be his final time. Erik will drive full-time for Furniture Row Racing in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2017.
John Hunter Nemechek
Age: 19
Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina
2016 Ride(s): Full-time Truck Series for NEMCO Motorsports.
John Hunter Nemechek's first full season in the Truck Series got off to a great start after he took the lead from Christopher Bell with eight laps to go to win the season's 2nd event at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He came up just short in the next race at Martinsville, pressuring Kyle Busch for the lead in the closing laps, but coming up just a hair short. His season was up and down from that point, but with another shot to win at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, he wasn't going to let anyone get in his way. After making contact multiple times on the final lap, Nemechek and Cole Custer drag raced through the grass to the finish line with John Hunter coming out on top. It was a controversial finish that ended with Custer tackling John Hunter beneath the flag stand. Nemechek would finish the season with two wins, five Top 5's, 11 Top 10's and finish 8th in points. No word yet on his 2017 plans, although it is rumored he will be racing in the Xfinity Series.
Tyler Reddick
Age: 20
Hometown: Corning, California
2016 Ride(s): Full-time Truck Series for Brad Keselowski Racing.
There were a lot of eyes on Tyler Reddick going into 2016. He had finished 2nd in points the previous year and the defending champ had moved on to another series, making Reddick one of the championship favorites. Like many other drivers on this list, Tyler got off to a rough start with a best finish of 13th after four races. The next four races proved to be better, finishing in the Top 10 in all four, the Top 5 in three of them, and leading a considerable amount of laps in two of them. Reddick was unable to fully recover, though. With only four Top 10's in the next eight races, he failed to make the Chase. With nothing left to run for except wins, Tyler finished the year off on a high note with a win at Las Vegas and a 2nd place finish at Homestead. He ended the season with a win, eight Top 5's, 12 Top 10's, and 9th in points. Reddick will race part-time for Chip Ganassi Racing in the Xfinity Series in 2017.
Daniel Suarez
Age: 24
Hometown: Monterrey, Mexico
2016 Ride(s): Full-time Xfinity Series for Joe Gibbs Racing; part-time Truck Series for Kyle Busch Motorsports.
Daniel Suarez made my inaugural list after an impressive rookie season in the 2014 K&N East Series and was an honorable mention in last year's list as he transitioned to the bigger cars. He got off to a roaring start in 2016 with ten Top 10's in the first 12 races of the Xfinity season and led the points. Going into Michigan, the 13th race of the Xfinity season, Suarez had finished 2nd six times in 64 races across the Xfinity and Truck Series'. Daniel would be a bridesmaid no more when he passed Kyle Busch with two laps to go to claim his first NASCAR national touring series win. He would win again at the Xfnity race in Dover and later pick up his first Truck Series win in the penultimate race at Phoenix. Suarez was also part of the Xfinity Series final four at Homestead battling it out for the championship. He would win the race in dominating fashion, leading 133 of the 200 laps and become the first foreign born driver to win a championship in one of NASCAR's top three divisions. In 33 Xfinity starts he had three wins, 19 Top 5's (including eight straight to finish the season), and 27 Top 10's. In 13 Truck starts he had a win, three Top 5's, and six Top 10's. Although nothing is official yet, it is speculated Daniel will return to JGR full-time in the Xfinity Series in 2017.
2017 should definitely be another exciting season with all of this young talent trying to make their way to NASCAR's top level. I'll be back in a few weeks to preview the upcoming NASCAR season. Until then, happy racin' y'all!
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