For more than 65 years, Nascar has been America’s definition of auto racing. And it has been made of eras. The first was Lee Petty’s era. He won 50 races and 3 championships. Then his son Richard joined the show, and became ‘The King’.

Years later, as Richard began to lose his speed, a kid from Kannapolis, Nc took over, wheeling the no. 3 Chevrolet. You guessed it: Dale Earnhardt Sr. a.k.a ‘The Intimidater’.

Then, during Richard Petty’s final race, another star made his first appearance. Driving the rainbow colored no. 24,  Jeff Gordon made his debut. For the past 20 years Gordon has helped guide Nascar.

Then, in 1999, another driver entered the fray. He was one of the best all around racers in history, with multiple championships, including an Indy car one, already under his belt. Tony ‘Smoke’ Stewart, was now here. Stewart became the only driver to win both an Indy Car and Nascar Sprint Cup Series championship.

After Stewart entered, it seemed Nascar was in it’s golden age. It had Gordon to pave the way for new young drivers, it had Stewart to encourage talented open wheel drivers to try Nascar, and it had Earnhardt Sr. to keep the old school fans happy.

But then the 2000s. It began with the 2001 Daytona 500. As the drivers approached the checkered flag, a crash happened in turn four. In the midst of the crash, Dale Earnhardt Sr. was killed. Nascar had for the first time lost a major star.

You may have noticed a pattern over my past few paragraphs. As each star begins to fade, a new one takes his place. Well, someone did appear in Earnhardt’s place. But he was not a fan favorite.

In 2002, Jeff Gordon convinced his team owner Rick Hendrick to hire a young driver named Jimmie Johnson. Well, it was a blessing for Hendrick, but for Gordon, Stewart, and Nascar itself, it became a problem.

Johnson quickly showed speed, and won the 2006 championship. But then he won another. And another. And another. Jimmie won every championship from 2006 to 2010.

Johnson was a friendly driver, but he was so dominate, and he wasn’t like original drivers. In the past drivers raced differently. They battled side by side in epic duels for wins. And while there were drivers who dominated for a time, it wasn’t for 5 straight years. Johnson’s dominance drove fans away from the sport. Fans from older era’s found his constant winning boring, and new fans didn’t appear. Said driver Denny Hamlin, “You aren’t going to tune in every Sunday if all you here is: Jimmie Johnson’s going to win. Jimmie Johnson’s going to win. Our sport needs a knew champion.”

So in 2011 fans and drivers came in desperate for a show. And Tony Stewart gave them what they wanted. Stewart the Chase, Nascar’s version of the playoffs, ranked amoung the lowest in it. He said he didn’t belonhg there. Well, he proved himself wrong. Stewart won five out of ten Chase races, and in waged an epic war with Carl Edwards for the championship, eventually winning through a tie breaker. And in the process, he finally left became the first person in 5 years to beat Johnson.

It seemed Nascar was on the rise, with young Brad Keslowski winning in 2012. But then Johnson dominated 2013, and won again. The sport was left wondering if they would have another winning spree from Jimmie. So Nascar made a change.

They intorduced a new elimination style Chase, where winning races becomes more important. Sure enough, the drivers put on a show. Desperate battles for wins, post race brawls in the garage area, and moments were drivers did what they ‘had’ to do to advance in the new chase format. When the final four drivers had been decided, Johnson wasn’t one of them.

It seemed that a new era was beginning, without a star leaving. Until the 2014 off season. Jeff Gordon, who had gone from the ‘Wonder Boy’ to the legend driver, announced that 2015 was his last season. Suddenly, fans realized that they would have to go into race day knowing that Gordon was no longer in his no. 24 car.

Gordon was honored at every race of the 2015 season, and with a dramatic win in the Fall Martinsville race, he clinched a spot amoung the final four drivers who would go to the final race with a chance for a championship. While Gordon didn’t end up winning, he wnet out with a bang, battling hard for a championship.

With Gordon no longer in the mix, Nascar had lost on of it’s final connections to it’s older era. The only remaining connection was Stewart. And in the Fall of 2015, the inevitable happened.

Tony, who turned 44 in May of 2015, announced that the 2016 season would be his last. Nascar was losing it’s final connection to it’s old era. A new age was beginning.

Thing is, Johnson is now 40. He is most likely nearing retirement. And the fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr., son of Dale Sr., announced that retirement for him is “on The horizon”. So who will carry Nascar into the new age approaching. It seems that every time that a legend leaves, a new one appears. And we may actually know who those new legends are.

Leading the new wave of drivers is Chase Elliot, the son of former Nascar champ Bill Elliot. Elliot has been signed to take over the no. 24 Chevy for Gordon. Chase won the Nascar Xfinity Series Championship in just his first year, something no one has ever accomplished.

Young Eric Jones is at least Chase’s equal, if not better. He has won the 2015 Truck Series title, and his team owner Joe Gibbs says that Jones “has a future” in the Cup Series.

Making this pair a trio is Ryan Blaney, son of driver Dave Blaney. Ryan has had starts in all of the top-three series of Nascar, and has won multiple races in two of them. And he now has full-time ride in the Cup Series with the legendary Wood Brothers Racing team no. 21 Ford.

The last on this list, and to make this trio a quartet, is Chris Buescher. While Chris wasn’t as explosively amazing a s the other three, he just won the 2015 Xfininty Series championship. So he seems like a good pick. He may not be a superstar, but he is defindently good enough to win a few races.

Everything in this world has different eras with different highlights. For a company, it’s how there received by the public that  says when an era begins or ends. For a person, it’s when they go from child to adult, adult to parent, and parent to grandparent.

Nascar is no different. With each era comes new drivers, new cars, new fans, new highlight reels, and new sponsors. And now an era is ending. Gordon has said goodbye. And Stewart is in his final lap. Change is a part of people, sports, and almost everything in the world. And now it’s happening. Will it be a success? Will it be a major failure? Will Chase, Eric, Ryan, and Chris carry Nascar into the future? Or will someone else rise to the occasion? It is to soon to tell. But one thing is for certain. We can’t stop change, but we can help shape it so it becomes the best change for our family, our world, or our sport.