If the Round of 8 ends up being chalk Sunday in Martinsville, then we could be facing a new look and new era Championship 4. Just 1 of the drivers in the final round would have been a past champion (Kyle Larson). Just 1 of the 4 even made the final round last year (Christopher Bell).

Combined, there’d have been 2 Championship 4 appearances with Larson and Bell having 1 apiece. William Byron and Ryan Blaney would be newcomers to the mix.

It would mark the least experienced final round but could it be a sign of the future?

Larson is only 31. Blaney is 29, Bell is 28 and Byron is 25.

Last year, Joey Logano was 32 (5th final round), Ross Chastain (1st final round) was 29, Bell (1st final round) 27 and Chase Elliott (3rd final round) 26.

Prior to that, it was Martin Truex Jr. (41), Denny Hamlin (40), Larson (29) and Elliott (25).

In 2020, it was Hamlin (39), Brad Keselowski (36), Logano (30) and Elliott (24).

In 2019, it was Kevin Harvick (43), Truex Jr. (39), Hamlin (38) and Kyle Busch (34).

In 2018, it was Harvick (42), Truex Jr. (38), Busch (33) and Logano (28).

In 2017, Harvick (41), Truex Jr. (37), Keselowski (34) and Busch (32).

As you can see, the final round has gotten progressively a lot younger and lot more inexperienced. This is a byproduct of the nature of racing with not only this style of racing but with the NextGen too.

Just look at if these 4 drivers advance.

Larson has 13 finishes outside the top 20.

Bell has 2 wins and Sunday’s win in Homestead was his first on pavement this season. In fact, Bell went 16 races without a top 5 finish at one point this season. He had 1 in 20 races.

Blaney won the Coke 600 but that was his lone top 5 finish in a span of 19 races. He’s finished 20th or worse 12 times.

Then you have Byron. He too has been up and down with more finishes outside the top 23 (7) than he has wins (6).

But, in the playoffs, these 4 have turned it around.

Larson has finished 1st, 4th, 2nd, 31st, 15th, 13th, 1st, 34th.

Bell went from 1 top 5 in 20 races to 4 in the last 6.

Blaney had 2 top 6’s in 20 races to 3 in the last 4.

Byron has 9 top 10’s and 6 top 5’s over the last 10 weeks. In the 10 weeks prior, he had 3 top 10’s and 1 top 5.