The 5 biggest storylines at the 2018 NASCAR All-Star break
By Nick Tylwalk
2. Youth has not been served
Prior to Daytona, the battle between the young guns and the old guard was the biggest narrative in the sport — one admittedly fueled by NASCAR itself, to the dismay of Kyle Busch. Preseason prognosticators, particularly in the Fox Sports booth, were bullish on the youth movement. Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney would continue to win and maybe become legit title challengers. Chase Elliott would take his elusive first checkered flag. Erik Jones, moving to Joe Gibbs Racing, probably would too.
Incredibly, none of those things has happened, as the 25 and under crowd is 0-for-2018. Larson and Blaney have led laps and looked the part at times, but that hasn’t translated into wins. Elliott has been stuck in the overall quagmires that are the Camaro and Hendrick Motorsports, where his young teammates Alex Bowman and William Byron have shown flashes but also been off the pace plenty of times. Meanwhile, the average age of a 2018 race winner at the NASCAR All-Star break is a nicely seasoned 36.5.
No one is second-guessing whether this batch of young drivers has the talent, but perhaps parading them in front of the world when the veterans are still plenty good was a small tactical error. It doesn’t look like there will be any torch-passing until at least 2019, and maybe not until the next decade arrives.