The 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series was the 69th season of professional stock car racing in the United States, and the 46th modern-era Cup series season. The season began at Daytona International Speedway with the Advance Auto Parts Clash, the Can-Am Duel qualifying races and the 59th running of the Daytona 500. The season ended with the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead–Miami Speedway. Jimmie Johnson entered the season as the defending champion, having won his record-tying seventh Cup championship that he shares with Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt. Martin Truex Jr. of Furniture Row Racing won the championship, his first in the series. Toyota won the Manufacturers' Championship for the second year in a row.
This was the third season of a 10-year television contract with Fox Sports and NBC Sports and the second of a five-year race sanctioning agreement with all tracks.
Monster Energy became the entitlement sponsor for the series in 2017 after Sprint Corporation decided not to remain as the sponsor. Sprint had been the title sponsor since 2004 when their partner Nextel replaced Winston after the 2003 season, but Sprint became the official sponsor for the 2008 season after buying out Nextel in late 2005. Monster Energy became the third title sponsor for NASCAR's top series since it first established such a sponsorship in 1971.
The 2017 season marked the final year for three full-time Cup Series drivers: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth, and Danica Patrick. It was also the last season for Michael Waltrip. Additionally, Chevrolet retired the Chevrolet SS, replacing it with the Camaro ZL1 in 2018. It was announced that Target Corporation would end its NASCAR sponsorship with Chip Ganassi Racing following the 2017 season.
Teams and drivers All 36 full-time teams in 2017 were chartered teams.
Chartered teams ManufacturerTeamRace driverCrew chief Chevrolet Chip Ganassi Racing1Jamie McMurrayMatt McCall42Kyle Larson Chad Johnston Tony Lunders Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group33Jeffrey Earnhardt Pat Tryson Frank Stoddard Eddie Pardue Boris Said Germain Racing13Ty Dillon (R)Bootie BarkerHendrick Motorsports5Kasey KahneKeith Rodden Darian Grubb 24Chase ElliottAlan Gustafson Kenny Francis 48Jimmie JohnsonChad Knaus88Dale Earnhardt Jr.Greg Ives Travis Mack JTG Daugherty Racing37Chris BuescherTrent Owens47A. J. AllmendingerRandall Burnett Ernie Cope Tristan Smith Leavine Family Racing95Michael McDowellTodd Parrott Jon Leonard Richard Childress Racing3Austin DillonSlugger Labbe Sammy Johns Justin Alexander 27Paul MenardMatt Borland31Ryan NewmanLuke Lambert FordFront Row Motorsports34Landon CassillDonnie Wingo Seth Barbour 38David RaganDerrick FinleyGo Fas Racing32Matt DiBenedettoGene NeadRichard Petty Motorsports43Aric Almirola Drew Blickensderfer Scott McDougall Regan Smith Bubba Wallace Billy Johnson Roush Fenway Racing6Trevor BayneMatt Puccia17Ricky Stenhouse Jr.Brian PattieStewart–Haas Racing4Kevin HarvickRodney Childers Daniel Knost 10Danica PatrickBilly Scott14Clint BowyerMike Bugarewicz Richard Boswell 41Kurt BuschTony Gibson Johnny Klausmeier Team Penske2Brad KeselowskiPaul Wolfe Brian Wilson 22Joey LoganoTodd Gordon Miles Stanley Wood Brothers Racing21Ryan BlaneyJeremy Bullins ToyotaBK Racing 23Joey Gase Patrick Donahue Randy Cox Gray Gaulding (R) Ryan Sieg Alon Day Corey LaJoie (R) Furniture Row Racing77Erik Jones (R)Chris Gayle James Small 78Martin Truex Jr.Cole PearnJoe Gibbs Racing11Denny HamlinMike Wheeler Chris Gabehart 18Kyle BuschAdam Stevens Ben Beshore Jacob Canter 19 Daniel Suárez (R)Dave Rogers Scott Graves 20Matt KensethJason Ratcliff Chevrolet Ford TriStar Motorsports 72Cole Whitt Frank Kerr Chevrolet Toyota Premium Motorsports 15Michael Waltrip Mark Hillman Tommy Baldwin Jr. Reed Sorenson Joey Gase Ross Chastain Kevin O'Connell D. J. Kennington Gray Gaulding (R) Gary Klutt Derrike Cope Mark Thompson Source:
Non-chartered teams
Complete schedule No non-chartered teams ran full schedule in 2017. Originally, BK Racing's No. 83 Toyota, Rick Ware Racing's No. 51 Chevrolet, and Premium Motorsports' No. 55 Chevrolet/Toyota planned to run full schedule. However, they skipped occasional races.
Limited schedule ManufacturerTeamRace driverCrew chiefRound(s) ChevroletBeard Motorsports 75 Brendan Gaughan Darren Shaw Rick Ware Racing 51 Timmy Hill Carlos Contreras Joe Lax Jeff Spraker Tony Furr Jonas Bell Cody Ware Josh Bilicki B. J. McLeod Ray Black Jr. Kyle Weatherman Tommy Baldwin Racing 7 Elliott Sadler Kenneth Davis J. J. Yeley Premium Motorsports Justin Marks Hermie Sadler Joey Gase StarCom Racing 00 Derrike Cope Tony Furr ToyotaBK Racing83 Corey LaJoie (R) Doug Richert Ryan Dubois Randy Cox Doug George Ryan Sieg Stephen Leicht Brett Moffitt Gray Gaulding (R) Joey Gase Gaunt Brothers Racing 96 D. J. Kennington Keith Hinkein Mike Ford Chevrolet Toyota MBM Motorsports 66 Carl Long George Church Timmy Hill David Starr Chevrolet Toyota Premium Motorsports 55Reed Sorenson Wayne Carroll Pat Tryson Derrike Cope Tommy Regan Gray Gaulding (R) D. J. Kennington
Changes Teams Furniture Row Racing would expand to a two-car team with the addition of Erik Jones in the No. 77, who was previously with Joe Gibbs Racing in the No. 20 in the Xfinity Series in 2016. Sponsorship came from 5-Hour Energy. Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing split following the 2016 season, with Circle Sport taking the charter. Leavine Family Racing purchased the charter from the No. 7 Tommy Baldwin Racing team to continue running the full season in 2017. JTG Daugherty Racing expanded to a two-car operation, leasing the charter from the No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing team. Roush Fenway Racing downsized to a two-car team, shutting down the No. 16 team. HScott Motorsports would not run in 2017. The team's leased charter for 2016 returned to Premium Motorsports, who sold its charter to Furniture Row Racing. Premium would subsequently purchase the HScott No. 15 charter. Go Fas Racing leased their charter to Wood Brothers Racing in order for the former charter to not be revoked. Immediately after, Richard Petty Motorsports would lease their No. 44 team charter to Go Fas Racing for 2017. Richard Petty Motorsports announced on December 16 that they would downsize to only the No. 43 Ford for the 2017 season. Circle Sport and The Motorsports Group will merge in 2017 after splitting with Leavine Family Racing following the 2016 season. They will run the No. 33 car full-time, and may enter the No. 30 car in some races. Tommy Baldwin Racing will field a part-time schedule with Elliott Sadler for the Daytona 500. They also drove at Texas with J. J. Yeley and with Elliott Sadler again at Talladega and was going to in Charlotte in May, but gave the ride to J. J. Yeley for unknown reasons. On September 21, 2017, Premium Motorsports' owner, Jay Robinson announced that he has acquired all assets from Tommy Baldwin Racing. The acquisition includes Baldwin's entire cup series inventory including everything from the team's race vehicles to their equipment. It also includes the trucks that were leased by TBR to the No. 52 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Team but Baldwin says there remains a few obligations from his #7 team to be fulfilled in future races. Beard Motorsports will attempt to make the Daytona 500 with driver Brendan Gaughan. In late March, they announced they will run the other 3 plate races. Gaunt Brothers Racing will attempt to make their Cup Series debut with driver D. J. Kennington. They will also run the other 3 plate races in 2017. However, they were not entered in Daytona, possibly because D. J. Kennington is running for Premium Motorsports, and they didn't hire another driver. Rick Ware Racing announced that it would return to the Cup Series full-time in 2017 as an open team, with the No. 51 Chevrolet. TriStar Motorsports announced that it would return to the Cup Series full-time in 2017 after leasing a charter from Front Row Motorsports acquired from BK Racing, with the No. 72 Ford. Florida Lottery, RTIC Coolers, Rinnai and Carolina Skiff would be the sponsors of the team throughout the 2017 season. They also did get other sponsors for some races this season. MBM Motorsports announced that they would be running the No. 66 Chevrolet at Kansas. They also ran the Monster Energy Open and several other points-paying races. StarCom Racing announced that they would make their debut at the fall Dover race with Derrike Cope, but they withdrew. The team instead made their debut in the fall Kansas race.
Drivers Clint Bowyer will drive for Stewart–Haas Racing in the No. 14 car as Tony Stewart retired at the conclusion of the 2016 season. Bowyer drove for the now closed HScott Motorsports in 2016. Brian Scott, who drove the No. 44 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford in 2016, announced on November 10, 2016, that he was going to step away from NASCAR competition. Richard Petty Motorsports announced on December 16 that they will not hire a replacement driver. Greg Biffle, who had been with Roush since 1998, left Roush Fenway Racing at the end of 2016. Biffle ended up not getting a full-time ride for 2017 and instead became an analyst for NBC. Michael McDowell will run full-time in 2017 after sharing the car with Ty Dillon last year. Ty Dillon replaced Casey Mears in the No. 13 Germain Racing Chevrolet in 2017, competing for Rookie of the Year honors. Ty substituted and drove part-time for a couple teams last season. Chris Buescher will drive for JTG Daugherty Racing in the No. 37 car in 2017 on loan from Roush Fenway Racing. Buescher ran the No. 34 Ford Fusion for Front Row Motorsports in 2016. Matt DiBenedetto will drive the No. 32 Go FAS Racing Ford, replacing Jeffrey Earnhardt and various drivers. DiBenedetto drove multiple cars for BK Racing in 2016. On December 16, it was announced that David Ragan would return to Front Row Motorsports to drive the No. 38, for who he drove the No. 34 from 2012 to 2015. Ragan drove the No. 23 car for BK Racing in 2016. Landon Cassill will replace Chris Buescher in the No. 34. Cassill drove the No. 38 in 2016. Joey Gase drove the No. 23 for BK Racing for the Daytona 500, Kentucky in July, and Bristol in August and the No. 15 for Premium Motorsports at Talladega in April. Gase drove six races for Go FAS Racing in 2016. Elliott Sadler returned to the Cup series to drive for Tommy Baldwin Racing in the Daytona 500. In December 2016, NASCAR medically cleared Dale Earnhardt Jr. to compete in competition again for 2017 after missing the last 18 races in 2016. Alex Bowman drove in place of Earnhardt in the Advance Auto Parts Clash. On January 11, 2017, Carl Edwards, who finished fourth in the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, announced his immediate retirement from the sport. That same day, Joe Gibbs Racing announced that 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Daniel Suárez would replace Edwards in the No. 19 Toyota Camry beginning at Daytona and running for Rookie of the Year honors. Brendan Gaughan successfully attempted to qualify for the Daytona 500 for Beard Motorsports. Timmy Hill will drive for Rick Ware Racing in the Daytona 500. Cody Ware, Kevin O'Connell, Stanton Barrett, and Josh Bilicki will split the ride throughout the season. However, the team skipped Talladega in April for unknown reasons. They also skipped Michigan in June because Cody Ware suffered back issues and couldn't run the race. They didn't find a replacement driver in time. Reed Sorenson will drive for Premium Motorsports in the No. 55 Toyota in the Daytona 500. The team will drive Toyota in the restrictor plate races and Chevrolet in the remaining races. As of now, Sorenson will attempt to qualify for the 500 and Talladega in May in the No. 55 and in the No. 15 Toyota for probably the rest of the season. Although he surprisingly didn't run the 55 at Dover when Ross Chastain was in the 15.