NASCAR Season Review: Chris Buescher

Chris Buescher was one of two Sunoco Rookie of the Year contenders to qualify for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup in 2016 -- a first in the sport’s history -- and made some significant steps forward in his young career. The 2015 XFINITY Series champion had some high-water marks to hang his helmet on as he moves into 2017 with a new team.

After a slow start to the season, Buescher landed his first top 20 of the year at Dover International Speedway in May, finishing 18th after starting 30th. The above-average result at the "Monster Mile" was his first finish in the top 20 since his first career Sprint Cup Series start at Auto Club Speedway in 2015.

The landscape of Buescher’s season changed dramatically when the then-Front Row Motorsports driver fortuitously won at Pocono Raceway after the race was called due to wet, foggy conditions. Thirty-first in points at the time, the next several races became a "Will he or won’t he" of making it into the top 30 in points, one of the requirements to make the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Heading into the regular season finale and cutoff before the Chase, Buescher was still on the line at 30th overall, before a 24th-place finish at the Virginia track helped the rookie officially clinch a berth into NASCAR’s postseason.

The Round of 16 was hard on Buescher, as he failed to finish higher than 23rd in any race and was one of the first four drivers eliminated from the Chase. He did manage to finish 16th at Charlotte the following week, however, his best result the rest of the way.

After the conclusion of the 2016 season, JTG Daugherty Racing announced that it would be expanding to two full-time teams in 2017, leasing Buescher and the Charter from Roush Fenway Racing’s No. 16 car for the upcoming season.

Info taken from NASCAR.com.

NASCAR Season Review: Tony Stewart

Tony Stewart started 2016 sidelined by a serious back injury, but was back at the track to give his Stewart-Haas Racing team some guidance for several races including the Duck Commander 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Tony Stewart returned to the No. 14 Chevrolet after missing the first eight races of the 2016 season, starting in the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway on April 24.

Always a threat at road courses, Stewart reached Victory Lane at Sonoma Raceway on June 26 with a thrilling final turn pass of Denny Hamlin for the win. After receiving a waiver from NASCAR, he was eligible for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup provided he scored a win and reached the top 30 in points.

Tony Stewart clinched a spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs with two races left in the regular season. His final race at Richmond -- site of the regular-season finale -- ended in a crash after contact with former teammate Ryan Newman.

Stewart joined two Stewart-Haas Racing teammates competing for the championship: Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Chevrolet and Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Chevrolet.

After Jimmie Johnson won at Homestead to claim his record-tying seventh Sprint Cup championship, Johnson gave his helmet from the race to Stewart.

Info taken from NASCAR.com.

NASCAR Season Review: Austin Dillon

Austin Dillon entered his third full-time season in NASCAR's premier series with two top-fives and nine top-10s to his young name. During his impressive junior year in the big leagues, Dillon more than doubled his top-10 total, earning 13 top-10 finishes with four of those landing in the top five.

While Dillon wasn't able to notch his first premier series win in 2016, he did earn two XFINITY Series victories. The first came in March at Auto Club Speedway, when he infamously "dabbed" following his last-lap pass for the win after Kyle Busch and Daniel Suarez's fuel cells dwindled. The second win came at Bristol in August, when he led four laps en route to his eighth XFINITY Series victory.

One of Dillon's most notable races of the season came in May's GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. After starting the race second, Dillon drove his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet to a third-place result, the best finish of his premier series career.

So much for an off weekend: Dillon certainly kept busy in series' final in-season off weekend when he proposed to girlfriend and former NFL cheerleader Whitney Ward during a vacation to the Bahamas. Dillon tweeted out a photo of the engagement on Aug. 10 with the caption "That's gold."

Backed by his consistency in the regular season, Dillon made NASCAR's 16-team Chase for the first time in his career. Dillon, who would finish 14th in the final premier series standings, never dropped below 14th in the standings for the entire season.

As the field dwindled from 16 to 12 drivers, Dillon came on strong and squeezed into the Round of 12. An eighth-place showing at the elimination race at Dover allowed the RCR driver to advance past Tony Stewart, Jamie McMurray, Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher. Dillon didn't advance to the Round of 8 based on losing a tiebreaker to Denny Hamlin.

Dillon's two premier series poles in 2016 surpassed his entire career total, as he had only earned one (2014 at Daytona) prior to this season. The 26-year-old posted a 188.482 mph lap to notch the top position at Auto Club Speedway in March, powering his No. 3 Chevrolet 192.301 mph lap to earn his second at Texas Motor Speedway shortly after he was eliminated from the Chase. The Texas race also sparked some tensions between Dillon and former RCR driver Kevin Harvick.

Info taken from NASCAR.com.

NASCAR Season Review: Jamie McMurray

The goal for Jamie McMurray was simple in 2016: Make the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Again. The 2015 trip to the postseason was the first of McMurray's career, and the Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates driver got on track early in 2016 with some impressive speed. His second-place start at Atlanta, the second race of the year, would be his best of the season.

Although McMurray would ultimately succeed in making the Chase, his numbers dipped a bit from 2015 -- that includes his number of top-five finishes for the season. After notching four in 2015, he had two in '16. His best finish, fourth, came at Talladega, which is also the site of McMurray's most recent win in 2013.

One of the more memorable wrecks of the year occurred in the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway in July, and McMurray was at the front end of it. A restart past the midway point saw McMurray and Jimmie Johnson collide and trigger an 18-car incident. The two had a private conversation about it in the garage, and came to one conclusion -- just hard racing on a restrictor-plate track.

McMurray had been around 13th or 14th in the standings for most of the regular season, and entered Richmond as a heavy favorite to advance to the postseason. He cruised to a seventh-place finish after starting fourth to enter the playoffs with momentum.

Three races into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, McMurray had his title hopes evaporate, along with his opportunity to advance from the Round of 16 to the Round of 12. Ten spots were available to 14 drivers heading into the round's finale at Dover. McMurray entered the race five points behind teammate Kyle Larson for the final transfer spot, but a blown engine relegated the No. 1 team to a last-place finish.

Info taken from NASCAR.com.

NASCAR Season Review: Brad Keselowski

Brad Keselowski punched his ticket to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup early in the season, leading 24 laps to win the third race of 2016 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The Talladega Superspeedway ace picked up his fourth win at the Alabama track at the series' first visit to the venue in 2016, leading 46 laps to outlast rival Kyle Busch.

A solid early season run continued at Pocono Raceway, where the Team Penske driver earned one of his two Coors Light Pole Awards on the season en route to a third-place finish. He was second in the other trip to the "Tricky Triangle" later in the season.

A few weeks later, Keselowski won at Daytona International Speedway for the first time in his career, cementing his status as the series' current master of restrictor-plate racing. Team Penske teammate Joey Logano came to Victory Lane to congratulate him.

Keselowski put together his only back-to-back wins of the year, victorious at Kentucky Speedway the following week. Plus, he managed to not cut his hand opening the Victory Lane champagne -- unlike his last Kentucky win.

The series' second stop at Michigan International Speedway marked the beginning of a seven-race top-10 streak for Keselowski. The third-place finisher showed good sportsmanship as well, congratulating race winner Kyle Larson on his first career victory.

After smooth sailing in the Chase's Round of 16, Keselowski ran into major trouble in the Round of 12 at Kansas Speedway. The No. 2 Ford Fusion mixed it up with Denny Hamlin's No. 11 Toyota, and this was the end result after a wild ride through the grass. He finished 38th.

The Talladega luck ran dry the following weekend for Keselowski, who despite leading a race-high 90 laps, was eliminated after an engine issue relegated him to a second-straight 38th-place finish. He was runner-up the following week at Martinsville Speedway in the Round of 8 opener.

The Team Penske driver popped the question to longtime girlfriend Paige White in December, capping off a nice 2016 year. The pair have a daughter, Scarlett, who is 18 months old.

Info taken from NASCAR.com.

NASCAR Season Review: Martin Truex, Jr.

Martin Truex Jr. nearly opened the season with the biggest win of his career -- in the closest finish in Daytona 500 history. Denny Hamlin edged Truex by 0.010 seconds to the line for the victory. The strong performance in a crown jewel event of the sport would be a notable theme throughout the year for Truex.

With the spring came several more near misses for Truex and the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing team. Bad luck and being snakebit -- another theme that would be constant in 2016 -- hit Truex at Texas and Kansas, two races where he led the most laps. However, Truex was about to cash in very big around the Memorial Day holiday weekend.

Truex had a performance for the ages in the Coca-Cola 600 over Memorial Day weekend. Truex led all but eight laps -- 392 out of 400 -- as he won one of the biggest races on the NASCAR calendar. Truex led 588 miles -- the most ever in a single race in the sport's history. The driver also showed plenty of emotion in Victory Lane when talking about the importance of girlfriend Sherry Pollex in his life.

In the midst of his strong year, Truex inked a two-year contract extension with Furniture Row Racing that runs through the 2018 season. In addition, Truex will be welcoming a teammate into the fold with Erik Jones set to drive the No. 77 Toyota. The technical alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing has had a big impact for the organization.

September was the Triumph of Truex and he kicked it off with a late surge at Darlington for the victory -- leading 28 of the final 29 laps. The win marked the second-straight year that the Coca-Cola 600 and Bojangles' Southern 500 were won by the same driver. Carl Edwards accomplished that in 2015.

Truex struck gold early in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup by winning the opening race of the Round of 16 at Chicagoland. Just like at Darlington, Truex and the 78 team came to life late, nailed a late pit stop and he bested Ryan Blaney on a NASCAR overtime finish for the win and a locked-in spot in the Round of 12.

Truex was already locked into the Round of 12, but padded his win total at Dover. The victory was a career-best fourth of the season for Truex -- giving him seven for his career and boosting Furniture Row's total to six wins. The Dover race saw Truex win at what is essentially the New Jersey native's home track for the second time in his Sprint Cup career.

Truex's championship dreams went sour due to an engine failure 41 laps into the Round of 12 finale at Talladega. The 40th-place finish took Truex out of the elimination-style Chase format, despite being one of the top drivers all season long. As it was said earlier, the 78 team's bad luck seemed to come and go all season and this was just the worst time for it to happen.

While Truex didn't make it back to the Championship 4 as he had in 2015, the 2016 season was still a big one for the veteran driver. He nabbed his career-best fifth pole award of the season in October at Martinsville. Truex's other top accomplishments in 2016 include winning four races, leading 1809 laps and making his 400th premier series start (at Kansas in October).

Info taken from NASCAR.com.

NASCAR Season Review: Kyle Larson

Returning to the track after a disappointing 2015 season, Kyle Larson started off 2016 strong with a seventh-place finish in the Daytona 500.

Larson locked in his fourth XFINITY Series career win at Pocono, which was also the first XFINITY event at the 2.5-mile track. His son, Owen, joined him in Victory Lane.

The 24-year-old wheelman visited Victory Lane one month later but this time at Eldora Speedway for the Camping World Truck Series event. This marked Larson's second win in the series and first at the Tony Stewart-owned track.

It wasn't until August, however, that the Chip Ganassi Racing driver picked up his first win in the Sprint Cup Series after several close calls throughout his three full-time seasons in NASCAR's premier series. The Michigan victory secured him a Chase berth for the first time in his career.

Larson geared up for his first Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup appearance at the Chicago opener and entered the postseason with three straight top-three finishes. Despite qualifying 10th, he had to start from the rear due to a transmission change and finished in 18th.

The 2014 Sunoco Rookie of the Year winner's Chase hopes ended due to a variety of issues in the Round of 16 elimination race at Dover. Tony Stewart, Chris Buescher and teammate Jamie McMurray failed to advance to the Round of 12 as well.

Larson went to Victory Lane for the fourth time in a NASCAR national series race in 2016 at Texas Motor Speedway for the XFINITY Series 200-lapper. His girlfriend, Katelyn Sweet, and son, Owen, joined him in postrace celebrations.

In the final race of the season, Larson proved a real threat to the Championship 4 drivers as he led at Miami for a race-high 132 laps. However, he was unable to lock in win No. 2 and walked away runner-up to 2016's champion, Jimmie Johnson.

Info taken from NASCAR.com.

NASCAR Season Review: Jimmie Johnson

The 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season ended on a high note for everyone at Hendrick Motorsports as Jimmie Johnson and the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet SS team claimed their seventh series championship.

After qualifying 14th for the finale at Homestead, and having to start in the rear, Johnson took advantage of late-race pit stops and cautions to work his way up to the top spot to win yet another Sprint Cup title, tying him with Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt for the most in a career.

"I had this crazy weird calmness through the last couple of weeks and then even through the race amongst all the chaos we dealt with," Johnson said. "The fact that we ran behind those guys all night long -- fifth, sixth, wherever we ran -- there was just some calmness that was in me."

The No. 48 Lowe's team aided Johnson in claiming five wins, 11 top-five finishes, 16 top-10s and one pole award throughout the 36-race season. Johnson won at Atlanta, Fontana, Charlotte (in October), Martinsville (in October) and the season finale at Homestead.

"I don't know where that calmness came from," Johnson acknowledged. "I mean, I want to say that the dedication of the #se7en to (Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick's late son) little Ricky, there's something in all of that. But there was just something really interesting and different about my calmness and the relaxed nature that I had in the car. I didn't know what the outcome would be, but I was very content and peaceful with whatever was coming my way, and then it ended up being the greatest thing in the world. So it's just wild."

Johnson's Oct. 9 win at Charlotte Motor Speedway propelled him into the Round of 8 while his Oct. 30 win solidified his berth in the Championship 4 at Homestead. Then finally, Sunday's win at Homestead added a seventh championship trophy to the driver's collection.

NASCAR Season Review: Chase Elliott

Chase Elliott put on what could be called the best Sprint Cup Series rookie season since Denny Hamlin in 2006.

Chase Elliott started the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season by winning the Daytona 500 pole, and ended it with a Rookie of the Year title.

Just days after celebrating his 21st birthday, Elliott was awarded the Sunoco Rookie of the Year title at the NASCAR NMPA Myers Brothers 2016 Awards Luncheon.

"I'm just so proud of everyone at Hendrick Motorsports for everything they do," Elliott said. "The Nos. 5 and 24 shops, those guys worked so hard throughout this season to give us the best race cars they could give so very proud of that. I truthfully feel at home after we have a year under our belts and racing with these guys, racing in the Cup Series, racing with the No. 24 team, I feel at home, which I think goes a long way."

Elliott, with crew chief Alan Gustafson and the rest of the No. 24 Chevrolet SS team, led an impressive rookie campaign that resulted in a 10th-place finish in the season standings.

The driver logged 10 top-five finishes, 17 top-10s and led a total of 358 laps throughout the 36-race season.

The 21-year-old also claimed two pole positions at Daytona International Speedway in February and Talladega Superspeedway in May.

Elliott also became the second driver to make the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup as a rookie (Denny Hamlin did it first in 2006.