So far, at least on the track, so good.

Kyle Larson, 24, will take the Cup series points lead into Sunday’s race at Richmond International Raceway, with 21-year-old Chase Elliott hot on his heels. Joey Logano, 26, is fourth, sandwiched by the old men at the top in 36-year-old Martin Truex Jr., who is third, and 33-year-old Brad Keselowski, the 2012 series champion, who is fifth.

The alarm bells some are sounding after the retirements of three-time champion Tony Stewart, four-time champion Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards and, at season’s end, Dale Earnhardt Jr., are ringing a bit hollow to Larson.

Larson, Elliott and Ryan Blaney are the three most often looked at as the future, perhaps because Logano is already in his ninth year as a full-time competitor. Others include rookie Daniel Suarez, who replaced Edwards for Joe Gibbs Racing, and Xfinity Series rookie William Byron. The 19-year-old who signed with Hendrick Motorsports won seven of 23 truck series starts last year and is driving for Earnhardt’s Xfinity team.

After seven races, Byron is second in the points race behind teammate Elliott Sadler. While Byron mostly deflected talk of replacing his boss in the No. 88 car, saying he wants to focus on learning as much as he can this year, Sadler has no doubt that Byron’s future is very bright.

”He’s one of these kids that’s got it, that’s going to Cup and understands it,” he said. ”Once he learns these tracks and these races and setting your car up for the longevity of them and making adjustments and stuff like that, once he gets all that nailed, he’s going to win a bunch of races not only in Xfinity, but also in the Cup series.”

The impending loss of Earnhardt, though, comes at a difficult time for NASCAR as it fights to win back fans, or develop new ones less enamored with the sport’s deep history than by watching fellow millennials take it over.

The driver known simply as ”Junior” has been the series’ most popular driver 14 years running, and Blaney said he can still use that popularity to have a huge influence in a new role as an ambassador and developer of up-and-coming racers.

”He has a very big impact on what people think, whether it is fans or in the garage area,” Blaney said. ”Him talking up younger drivers or the sport in general is going to get his fans excited about the future of going forward even though he won’t be driving next year. What he says will be very important.”

So, too, will be the development of some new personalities that connect with fans, and Truex said that while he’s fine with being left out of the young guns conversation, he’s not handing a mantle over any time soon.

”There’s definitely a lot of young guys coming up, but I feel like I’ve got my best years ahead of me,” the 12-year veteran said. ”They can keep talking about who’s retiring and who’s going to fill their shoes and hopefully I’ll be here to take a bunch of checkered flags home.”

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Hours after saying he hoped qualifying for Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race would be rained out, he got his wish, giving him the pole position on a track where he has struggled.

”I think it will be a good advantage to start on the pole, get the jump and hopefully take care of my stuff early,” said Larson, the early season points leader.

With the lineup set by owner points because of the rain, Chase Elliott will start on the outside of the front row, with Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski in the second row. The rest of the top 10 includes Joey Logano, Jamie McMurray, Ryan Blaney, Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch.

”The braking was a little sketchy,” he said.

Since the series switched to stage racing this season, with points awarded to the front runners at the end of two predetermined distances during the race and then at the end, Larson has consistently earned points in every race, but he joked that he will need every advantage possible on the 0.526-mile oval.

”You never know. Our cars are so good right now, maybe we could contend for a win,” he said. ”But I’d like for it to continue to rain today so I can start on the pole. But, we’ll see. Yeah, it’s a tough place and tough to complete 500 good laps here.”

Larson did finish third in this race a year ago, but said it was at least in part because the race was run in cold temperatures, which minimized tire wear during the race. Tire wear, brake preservation and patience are typically the three elements that make many drivers consider the oldest and shortest track also the trickiest.

He has company in his appreciation for the rain, too. It put Elliott, another driver who is still learning, on the front row as well.

”Any time I can do anything good at Martinsville, it’s great for me,” the Hendrick Motorsports driver said. ”It’s been a bit of a struggle here.”

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More AP racing: http://racing.ap.org

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Larson turned a lap in 38.493 seconds Friday in his Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, hitting 187.047 mph to claim the pole for Sunday’s race.

Denny Hamlin clocked in at 38.507 seconds to earn the fifth front-row start of his career at Auto Club Speedway. Brad Keselowski was third, and Martin Truex Jr. was fourth.

”I haven’t gotten a pole since my rookie season, so this is awesome,” Larson said. ”It was a great day.”

Larson has finished second in three consecutive races, and he kept up his early-season surge with an impressive qualifying performance in his home state. The Sacramento-area native finished second at Fontana in 2014 in just his ninth career Cup race.

”Tire management is always really important here,” Larson said. ”It seems to be more important each and every year as the track wears out some. It makes it a lot of fun. All of us driving enjoy going to tracks like here, Chicago, Charlotte, Atlanta, places like that. Fontana is also a tricky one because you have the seams to work with, so that makes it even trickier in how you position your cars over the seams. To find the right balance for that is tricky.”

Jimmie Johnson will start 37th after deciding not to participate in qualifying. The defending Fontana champion and six-time winner on his home track didn’t have enough time to prepare his backup car after crashing in practice.

Joey Logano, Trevor Bayne, Gray Gaulding and Matt DiBenedetto also didn’t make it out for qualifying.

While Larson would love to get his first win in California, this race also looms large for Hamlin, who has never won at Fontana – and nearly lost much more than a race.

He broke his back on the track in 2013 in a huge last-lap crash with Joey Logano, who sent him into the inside wall.

”It’s been at the top of my list, really since 2013, of tracks that you want to win at,” Hamlin said.

Hamlin was airlifted to the hospital and eventually missed four races. He returned in 2014, but a sinus infection forced him out of his car at the last minute.

He rallied to finish third at Fontana last year, but won’t be satisfied until he wins in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

”I like the racetrack,” Hamlin said. ”It’s been a great one for us. We’ve come very close. It’s been tough for me physically and mentally. You kind of want to overcome and get a win on a track like this.”

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With a shot at grabbing his first Nationwide Series win Saturday, he wasn’t going to make that same mistake again.

Especially not against Kyle Busch.

Larson stalked Busch over the closing laps around Bristol Motor Speedway waiting to make a move. It came as they closed in on the finish line, and Larson made a last-gasp push on the high side that fell just short as Busch held on for his second win of the season.

But in chasing the win the right way, the 20-year-old Larson cleaned up some of the criticism that had followed him from Daytona last month after spinning C.E. Falk III on the final lap of the “Battle at the Beach” late model race.

“You certainly want to try to win races the right way,” Busch said. “He played it smart today. That was good on his end. I think a lot of people have been looking at him to try to see if he’s going to be to a wrecker or a checker. Today he didn’t get the checkers, but that’s how you get them. You drive into the corner, or drive into the back of me, I’m going to be here for a while and if he keeps coming up through the ranks, he’s not going to have fun dealing with me every week.

“But right now? I’m going to race him as hard as he raced me, but just as clean as he raced me because he didn’t put a fender on me all day.”

Larson had his win over Falk in the back of his head during the closing laps at Bristol as he looked for a place to try to grab the win. Although he has received high praise from Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne as NASCAR’s next big star, his move in the “Battle of the Beach” caused many top Sprint Cup drivers to openly criticize Larson.

“I was pretty aggressive at the ‘Battle of the Beach’ and I didn’t want to have anything like that happen again and have more people look at me,” Larson said. “I don’t race that way and didn’t want to move (Busch). I wanted to outrace him. I’d gain a little more respect that way, and it made for a better finish, I think.”

Indeed it did, as both drivers closed in on lapped cars as they neared the finish line. Busch chose the low line and Larson went high, then tried to squeeze his way past Busch. Larson’s car bounced off of both the wall and Busch’s car, but he was nipped at the finish line by Busch by .023 seconds.

“He’s got a lot of talent,” Busch said. “Obviously, he’s already made a name for himself and he’s got a lot going for him. I’m 27 and I feel like I’m getting old. Every time I looked in the rear view mirror he caught me, so I stopped looking. I didn’t want to know where he was at.”

It was Busch’s fifth career Nationwide victory at Bristol, tying him with Kevin Harvick for the most in the series. Busch has a series-record 53 wins, and two in the last four weeks after going winless last season.

Brian Vickers was third and was followed by Nationwide Series points leader Sam Hornish Jr. and Harvick.

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Annett will undergo immediate surgery in Charlotte and will be out of the No. 43 Ford indefinitely. Cup driver Aric Almirola will replace Annett in the Nationwide race this weekend at Phoenix.

Annett, 26, was involved in an 11-car crash near the end of the event that caused a red flag, halting the race for 20 minutes. It was not the final-lap crash that caused parts of Kyle Larson’s airborne car to enter the grandstands and injure spectators.

The crash involving Annett happened with three laps to go. Annett’s car was hit and turned to the right, slamming head-on into the SAFER barrier. Annett was taken to a Daytona hospital and kept overnight, but released the next morning.

He was re-evaluated by doctors in North Carolina on Tuesday when the sternum fracture was discovered.

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Attorney Matt Morgan of Morgan & Morgan announced the hiring on Twitter Monday night. The tweet read:

“BREAKING: My firm has been retained by three individuals who were injured at the NASCAR race this past weekend.

Morgan told ESPN.com on Tuesday that no lawsuits have been filed, but he is gathering information for the individuals to “pursue their claim for damages against the entities responsible for the injuries.”

The entities could include Daytona International Speedway, the company that designed the catch fence, NASCAR, the car owner and others.

“At this time, we have no knowledge that any lawsuits have been filed. As per company policy, we do not comment on pending litigation.” DIS spokesman Andrew Booth said Tuesday afternoon.

“We’re in very preliminary stages to see what was done wrong and what could have been done to prevent this type of injury,” Morgan said. “I’ve done a preliminary investigation to see what has been done with the fencing in the past and the fencing now. As time goes on, I’ll have a better understanding of liability.”

NASCAR itself has begun to look into the crash.

Tom Gideon, the director for safety at NASCAR’s Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C., will head up the crash investigation for the governing body.

Robin Pemberton, NASCAR’s vice president for competition, said Kyle Larson’s car has been impounded, though he noted, “We haven’t begun to look at it.”

Pemberton said there is no timetable for when the investigation might be completed. He said it was too early to determine if the crossover gate played a role in how the accident unfolded or if the tire that injured fans went through or over the catch fence.

That the front of Larson’s car was sheared off didn’t seem to surprise Pemberton.

“You can saw a steamship in half with those cables,” he said.

At least 28 spectators were injured by debris from Larson’s car, owned by Turner Scott Motorsports, that went airborne into the frontstretch catch fence on the last lap. Two spectators initially were listed in critical condition, one life-threatening, at Halifax Health in Daytona Beach.

Those two are believed to have been struck by a tire that detached from the car when the front end was ripped from the rest of the body, something Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick said he’s never seen happen.

Those two have since been upgraded to stable condition. All seven spectators taken to Halifax Health remain hospitalized, a hospital spokesman said on Tuesday.

Morgan said two of his clients were near the fence and were hit by debris. He said another suffered a significant fracture to the fibula, as well as other injuries.

He declined to release the names of those injured.

That a firm has been hired in this matter shouldn’t come as a surprise. Fifty lawsuits were filed in 1999 after a tire went over the catch fence at Charlotte Motor Speedway and killed three spectators during an IRL race.

Former CMS president H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler told ESPN.com the track settled for “somewhere between $10 [million] and $15 million” before the cases went to trial.

He expects similar personal injury suits from the Daytona crash.

“Oh, Lord, if 20 people were injured they’ll have 25 lawsuits,” Wheeler said of the Daytona incident. “That’s just the way it is. There’s already lawyers sitting around preparing for this.”

Track president Joie Chitwood sat in Section H of the Campbell Grandstand, where most of the injuries occurred, for the first 30 laps of Sunday’s Daytona 500 to assure fans they are safe.

Chitwood said the track is working with NASCAR on a report to determine just what happened after Larson’s car was launched into the fence, ripping a hole in the catch fence where a crossover gate was located on the frontstretch.

The fence was repaired without a new crossover gate in time for Sunday’s race.

There is a waiver on the back of tickets for NASCAR races which states that fans assume all risks. The waiver on the back of the Daytona Nationwide ticket read: “The holder of the ticket expressly assumes all risk incident of the event, whether occurring prior to, during or subsequently to the actual event, and agrees that all participants, sanctioning bodies and employees, agents, officers and directors of Daytona International Speedway, its affiliates and subsidiaries, are hereby released from any and all claims arriving from the event, including claims of negligence.”

Wheeler said from his experience that does not prevent fans from seeking damages.

“The competitor signs a release sheet and you’re competing, the track is protected,” Wheeler said. “When a spectator goes in he is not protected. All you have to do at that point is prove negligence.

“The truth of the matter is, there are potential problems that can literally [allow fans] to walk away with the speedway. You’ve got insurance, but if you have, say $10 million worth of insurance per person, and the court awards the plaintiff $15 million … at that point you’re $5 million in the hole.”

Wheeler said it is beneficial in most situations for the track to settle with the individuals.

“These things can get catastrophic in the fact if you have 30 people and you’ve got an excess declared toward judgment, say $5 million, then you may be staring down the guns of $50 or $60 million,” he said. “I don’t care who you are.”

Morgan said he has not contacted DIS at this point, but plans to do so as soon as he gathers more information.

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