One of the favorite pastimes of any sports fan is to talk about the greatest athletes of any generation, and NASCAR is no different. Certain drivers defined their era by incredible performances, but, when we look back on this generation of NASCAR drivers, who will be the best Today, we look at 5 drivers with a case for that argument.
In terms of overall talent, it’s hard to find a better race car driver than Kyle Larson. He will race anywhere at any time, and he usually finishes at or near the front. In terms of his NASCAR success, already locking up 24 wins and a Championship while still only 31 years old is a feat. He has plenty of runway to add to those numbers.
Larson’s aggressive racing style on track and his love of other racing series could hold him back. Larson is known for pushing the envelope with his race car, which leads to overaggressive mistakes such as his pit road crash at Homestead in 2023. Larson has also publicly talked about his love of dirt racing, and how that will impact his NASCAR commitment as he creeps up in age remains to be seen. Still, Larson is an incredible talent who will be in NASCAR for the foreseeable future.
Kyle Busch has the best overall resume of any Cup Series driver currently with 63 wins and 2 Championships. While his prime was before the turn of the decade, he remains a threat every week and will likely be known as the best driver of the 2010s. There is just one last thing that eludes him on his resume.
Busch is without a Daytona 500 win despite close calls in 2007, 2019, and 2023. While it won’t knock him down too far, it will always be an asterisk on his racing career. Kyle Busch has set the current standard for other drivers to beat.
Sure, Elliott has struggled recently, but, he’s still an 18-time winner and Cup Series Champion. He also drives for the top team in the sport, Hendrick Motorsports. He’s already built a Hall of Fame-caliber career, and he still has at least a decade if not more left in the tank.
Elliott’s biggest hurdle will be his teammates. Kyle Larson is already staking his claims in both NASCAR and motorsports history, and Elliott is no longer the undisputed number 1 driver at HMS. If he’s not tops on his team, then how can he be tops in this era?
Denny Hamlin has the second most wins of any driver currently with 52, and he has bagged 3 Daytona 500 wins. Even without a Championship, that’s more than enough to lock him into the Hall of Fame.
However, he remains without a Championship trophy. As long as his career continues without it, it will keep Hamlin from ascending further up the ladder. He’s a great race car driver, but, without a Championship, is he an “All-Time Great”?
William Byron is still very young, but, the incredible 2023 season he put together drew the eyes of many. After years of being solid but not quite breaking out, he finally showed everyone what he was capable of. He currently has 11 wins including a Daytona 500 triumph on his mantle.
Still, it’s too early for Byron to be included in this conversation definitively. He still has not quite reached the heights of teammates Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson, but, the potential is absolutely there.
Joey Logano is the only driver aside from Kyle Busch to have captured multiple Championships in the modern Playoff era (since 2014). That’s a feat, especially with how close the fields are today. A total of 32 wins is nothing to sneeze at either.
However, Logano may be too inconsistent to be considered for this honor. While he has Championship seasons, he also missed the Playoffs entirely in 2017, and he was bounced in the Round of 16 in 2023. For every great year, it seems there’s a tough year right around the corner.
Like Byron, this is another potential pick. Blaney has a Championship, and he has the runway left on his career to compile even more impressive numbers. Still, it’s going to be an uphill battle for Blaney.
The Championship he won in 2023 was primarily due to a ferocious Playoff run. If he can compete better in the regular season and compile some wins, he will build a better argument. However, with a Championship in hand, the potential is there.
Which of these drivers will be considered the best of their generation? Time will ultimately tell.
Two NASCAR Cup Series crew members for Ross Chastain’s No. 1 team were suspended following the race at Circuit of the Americas
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On February 17, Ubisoft released a trailer that confirmed that NASCAR would be included in The Crew Motorfest’s next season update. Details were limited at the time, but in a press release issued today, Ubisoft revealed the full details of the update ahead of its March 4 launch.
Ubisoft says drafting will affect car speed and help save fuel, implying that drafting will be a huge factor in the game, at least with these cars. You can check out this and much more on Ubisoft’s official post linked below
Earlier this Tuesday, the official The Crew Motorfest account clarified confusion around the NASCAR bundles. The Crew Credit (CC) bundles only include cosmetic team liveries, not additional cars. The 3 base Next Gen cars (Ford Mustang Dark Horse, Toyota Camry XSE, and Chevrolet ZL1) are part of the free Season 9 update and can be purchased separately.
Mitch Rasmussen, NASCAR’s Senior Director of Interactive, said in the press release:
We’re excited to bring our iconic brand to life in The Crew Motorfest. This collaboration represents another important step in our strategy to bring NASCAR into the digital spaces and places where next generation fans spend their time, giving players new ways to interact with the culture and communities they love.
The content arrives as part of Year 3 Season 9 and is officially licensed by NASCAR. You can watch the first trailer and learn more in the article linked below
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Four road courses on the schedule, and somehow that’s enough to spark one of the biggest debates in the garage. After recent comments from Brad Keselowski questioning the business value of road racing, the conversation has picked up serious steam. Is NASCAR leaning too far into it, or is the current balance about right?
There are valid points on both sides, from sponsorship realities to fan traditions to competitive diversity. Some tracks have gained traction. Others have struggled. The question isn’t just whether road courses belong, but how many make sense within a 36-race season. It’s less about extremes and more about direction. And with future schedule changes always looming, this debate probably isn’t settled anytime soon.
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