Danica Patrick

It’s finally here. Sunday’s Daytona 500 begins another 36-race NASCAR odyssey, the second with Monster Energy as primary sponsor. The energy drink stepped up to back the sport after Sprint bailed on their deal following the 2016 season.

We’ve seen plenty of sports deal with the fallout from athlete retirements. The NBA struggled after losing Michael Jordan and golf has seen interest wane with Tiger Woods on the sidelines. But all those moments pale with the changing of the guard we’re seeing in NASCAR.

It was only a matter of minutes at Martinsville Speedway. But as the laps clicked down, Chase Elliott’s career timeline hit a roller-coaster ride from dream to disaster. For a split second, he was Chase-ing his first Cup Series win, a Championship 4 appearance and a surge in national attention and popularity.

New Kyle. Old Kyle. Brash Kyle. Blue Kyle. There are enough descriptions of Kyle Busch’s off-track temperament these past few years to write a Dr. Seuss book.

But it’s the next adjective we attach to his name that could determine whether that book becomes a best seller.