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NASCAR America: Final takeaways from the 2017 season

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. retiring and young guns like Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott making names for themselves highlighted the 2017 NASCAR season.

The 2017 NASCAR season is quickly growing small in the rear-view mirror.

Three days after the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, NASCAR America analysts Parker Kligerman and Kyle Petty discussed their final observation and takeaways from a season that saw the introduction of the stage format, the rise of young drivers and the departure of beloved veterans.

“I think we’re going to look back on this season and see a sport in transition,” Petty said. “This was the beginning or middle-phase of that transition for me.”

Said Kligerman: “Although all the talk was, could it be a changing of the guard, and we do have some retiring, it’s those veterans that hung on to be fighting for the (Cup) championship.”

Petty later addressed how different the driver field will look next year after the departures of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Matt Kenseth.

“Fifty or 60 wins, if Matt doesn’t come back, just walked out of this sport,” Petty said, going on to praise William Byron and other young start in the making. “We can continue to throw people into that mix and think ... the future is bright. We’re just in a transition period in the sport. But I don’t think in talking to Roger Penske the other day, I don’t think I’ve ever seen this much talent making that transition from Xfinity into the Cup level so fast as what they’re doing right now.”

Watch the below video for the full discussion.