ThatsRacin.com: NASCAR News

Hendrick: Don't punish Big 3, assist them

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 15:15 EST

NASCAR team boss and veteran car dealer Rick Hendrick believes domestic automakers are making big strides in building better and more fuel-efficient products and have done so the past seven or eight years.

Hendrick, owner of multichampionship-winning Hendrick Motorsports and the Hendrick Automotive Group, which sells American-made vehicles and Toyota and BMW products, is disturbed with some lawmakers in Washington he thinks are ignorant of the quality and safety features of cars, trucks and sport-utility vehicles being produced by the Detroit Three.

As CEOs of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler presented second-round business plans Tuesday to Congress in their case for $25 billion in loans, Hendrick urged a civil exchange of facts and figures and not the stinging barbs aimed at Rick Wagoner (GM), Alan Mulally (Ford) and Bob Nardelli (Chrysler) by several senators last month during the House Financial Services Committee meeting.

''I was embarrassed ... ashamed at their treatment," said Hendrick, whose driver, Jimmie Johnson, won his third consecutive Sprint Cup title in the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet this season. "They (the lawmakers) wanted to unload on them. They wanted to grandstand, smack them around. They didn't want the facts. They didn't give credit for the better quality and reliability already being built into American-made cars and substantiated by Consumer Reports and J.D. Power."

Hendrick has been in touch with lawmakers in Washington, he says, and is confident there are people there who are aware of the economic impact the Detroit Three has on America and who are prepared to work on a bailout. He also e-mailed Wagoner, whom he has known for many years, after the automakers' first trip to D.C. and the hostile reception they received.

''I said to Rick, 'You're a better man than me,' " Hendrick recalled. "I would have told the committee, 'Kiss my butt,' and walked out."

Hendrick wants plans "discussed with an open mind" this time, he says. He also hopes the Detroit Three executives will present time lines for getting the job done in restructuring the industry and lay down concessions and cost cuts that are attainable.

''Both sides have to work out what is good for the country," said Hendrick. "Not what's good just for the state ... the party ... the company."

Hendrick also has discussed the industry crisis with fellow Cup team owners Jack Roush (Roush Fenway Racing) and Joe Gibbs (Joe Gibbs Racing), among other NASCAR leaders. Hendrick said all are willing to help manufacturers continue to participate in the sport by conducting testing on race weekends instead of at non-sanctioned tracks, and by shortening race weekends.

''When you figure in travel, accommodations, parts, tires, track rental -- you could save the (NASCAR) garage area $30 million a year," Hendrick said.

In defending the Detroit Three and urging a commonsense approach to working through the problems in Washington this week, Hendrick concluded:

''If Congress can give AIG and Citigroup $150 billion in the middle of the night, how can we not work on giving the Detroit automakers a bridge loan? Instead of trying to punish them, assist them. It's in our fabric: the American people -- you and me -- we need the auto industry and its manufacturing base."

Mike Brudenell is a sports writer for the Detroit Free Press.

To see more of the Detroit Free Press, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.freep.com

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Philly race car museum is pit stop for auto fans

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 05:10 EST

PHILADELPHIA -- For more than 20 years, Fred Simeone kept his priceless collection of vintage racing cars in a nondescript garage downtown. He'd give private tours to other car collectors and enthusiasts, but the automotive gems remained largely hidden from public view.

Not any more. Simeone now has a museum for his more than 60 rare racers, which span the 20th century and include models by Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Bugatti, Stutz and Hudson.

The cars run from big, boxy antiques to sexy, streamlined sportsters and include winners of prestigious races at Nurburgring, Le Mans and Sebring.

"We have a few real Mona Lisas in here," Simeone said.

Tucked away in a former engine manufacturing plant in an industrial corner of Philadelphia, the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum opened in June and had its formal dedication in November.

The cavernous facility showcases cars in huge dioramas, from a three-dimensional Italian village to a tableau of the Bonneville Salt Flats. Within each setting, the cars are arranged in chronological order to convey what Simeone said is the message behind the metal: how vehicles are improved by the spirit of competition.

An exhibit on Le Mans, a 24-hour endurance race, starts with the 1933 Alfa Romeo 8C2300 Le Mans — a high-riding, rectangular vehicle that to the modern eye looks more lumbering than aerodynamic. It ends with the 1970 Porsche 917LH, a low-slung, sleek and curvy racer with a bubble-like cockpit.

"It's designed to show how we are all compelled to compete and, in the process of competing, we evolve," Simeone said.

Simeone, 72, got the car collecting bug from his dad. It has taken him to places like Argentina, where in the 1970s he tracked down a 1937 Alfa Romeo 2900A that had placed second in the 1937 Mille Miglia, an Italian road race. It was sitting in a shed owned by the son of a man who had raced it in the 1950s.

Simeone's collection had been garaged in the residential Washington Square West section of the city since 1982. It was publicized in car club journals, but Simeone had limited spare time to give private tours because of his job as chief of neurosurgery at Pennsylvania Hospital. He retired in April.

Simeone had always planned on a public display when he had the time and when he felt the collection was "complete." Now, he compares his museum with the nearby Barnes Foundation in that both represent the singular vision of a collector.

Albert Barnes was an eccentric pharmaceutical magnate who collected a trove of work by artists including Matisse, Renoir and Cezanne that is now worth billions. He hung the paintings in an unorthodox way — close together and grouped with objects like metal hinges and wrought ironwork to illustrate common aesthetic themes.

Similarly, Simeone tells the story of auto racing his way, from the 1909 American Underslung to the 2002 NASCAR Dyno Mule. He groups most cars by race course and year to show the evolution of the winning vehicle. He designed the dioramas himself.

And, like Barnes, who bought art when it was affordable, Simeone said his collection was only possible because he started early.

Buying these cars in today's market "would be totally out of my league," Simeone said. "But if you purchased them 30 years ago, it was doable."

Kirk F. White, a race car enthusiast and former dealer, said Simeone's collection is special because of its integrity.

"He has impeccable taste and he will only buy the very best cars with the purist pedigrees," said White, who has known Simeone for about 40 years. "He really, by and large, likes them to be original, just the way they ran in the day."

Buz McKim, the historian at the NASCAR Hall of Fame under construction in Charlotte, N.C., has not seen Simeone's cars in person but was impressed by what he saw on the museum's Web site. He said it's not hard to understand the attraction of such a collection.

"Everybody, way down deep inside — whether they want to admit it or not — thinks that they can drive race cars," McKim said.

At the museum's dedication a few weeks ago, Simeone gave retired auto racing champion Mario Andretti a guided tour before honoring him with the first "Spirit of Competition" award.

The tour included a sporty, bright red 1975 Alfa Romeo 33-TT-12 parked next to a black 1926 Bugatti Type 35, which comparatively looks like a glorified buggy. Both had raced in the Targa Florio, a course through the hills of Sicily.

When asked if he had any favorites, Andretti noted the Alfa Romeo, which he had once driven to victory in the Monza race. But then he reconsidered.

"Any of the cars that I ever won with are my favorite," Andretti said.

If You Go ...

SIMEONE FOUNDATION AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM: 6825-31 Norwitch Drive, Philadelphia; http://www.simeonemuseum.org or 215-365-7233. Adults, $12; seniors, $10; students, $8; children 8 and under, free. Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; weekends, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

TMS trades backstretch seating for luxury RV parking

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 05:06 EST

Give Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage props for understanding supply and demand.

TMS is decreasing its seating capacity for 2009 from 159,000 seats to 138,000 by removing 21,000 seats in the backstretch. Those seats will be replaced by 74 luxury spots for motor coaches.

The move helps the track in two ways. The backstretch seats weren’t a hot commodity, but the need for recreational vehicle spots is on the upswing.

"We weren’t selling these seats anyway," Gossage said. "What we’re doing is finding a way to use that space to serve fans that have been demanding motor coach space in the back straightaway. A lot of tracks offer them, but they don’t offer them like this."

The $2 million project — dubbed Burnout Alley — will offer luxuries not often associated with racetracks. The gated spots will allow the motor coaches to pull up to the backstretch. There will be full-service hookups for water and electricity and live television race feeds. Concierge service will be offered along with free wireless access. The package also includes 10 VIP passes for Burnout Alley, 10 pre-race passes for each Sprint Cup Series race as well as 10 pit passes.

The RV spots sell for $15,000 for a race season.

"We wanted to do something to show we’re bullish on our sport," Gossage said. "We’re just shifting from one focus — a huge seating capacity — to another area that’s been in demand."

Gossage also announced that the track was reducing its ticket prices in the backstretch. Just over 1,000 seats for the first two rows on the backstretch will go on sale this morning for $20. Customers will be limited to four tickets in this section. The $20 seats are for the Samsung 500 and the Dickies 500. The other 8,750 seats are $40 for both Sprint Cup dates. Ticket prices were $42 to $78 in that section.

Gossage said the reduced seating capacity will put a premium on race tickets. He said the April race would have sold out in February with the new seating configuration. The fall race would have sold out in September.

Counting the infield crowd, Gossage estimates attendance at TMS will top out between 185,000 and 190,000.

TMS announces reduction in ticket prices, seats

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:00 EST

Backstretch ticket prices for the Spint Cup races at Texas Motor Speedway will be reduced to $20 and $40, officials announced today.

The track also announced that it will remove 21,000 seats in the backstretch and spend $2 million to create 74 luxury spots for recreation vechicles.

The seat removals will bring the track’s seating capacity to 21,000.

Tickets for the Sprint Cup races will go on sale Saturday.

Dropping the checkered flag on the season

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:05 EST

It's just like the Oscars, only fewer gowns, fewer tuxes and fewer waifish entertainment reporters giggling at clever quips on the red carpet.

There will be no giggling here. Or red carpets, for that matter.

These are the Auto Racing Confidential season-ending awards, and they're a very serious matter. We'll break down this year's best, worst and most amusing.

Best Actor: Jack Roush for his vehement defense of the No. 99 team after Toyota Racing Development President Lee White accused the team of knowingly cheating. He hijacked a press conference about Aflac's sponsorship of the No. 99 with oil-tank lid in hand to tell everyone that his team members were not cheaters. This came the week after Carl Edwards was docked 150 points and 10 Chase bonus points for having a loose oil-tank lid during his win in Las Vegas.

Best Actress: Danica Patrick for acting like . . . well, like she always does when things go wrong. Ryan Briscoe knocked her out of the Indy 500, causing her to DNF for the first time in four Indy 500s, and Patrick was not happy. Still wearing her helmet, she stormed over toward Briscoe's pit, threw off her gloves and was stopped by security. Still fuming after the race, Patrick said, "It's probably best I didn't get down there anyway, isn't it?"

Best Writing: Carl Edwards for the note he left Kevin Harvick after Harvick called him out on television for causing The Big One at Talladega. "Kevin, Thanks for (expletive) me on TV. I was really trying to screw up everyone's day. Love, Carl."

Best Debut: Rick Hendrick sat next to Dale Earnhardt Jr. after the season-opening exhibition Bud Shootout, which Earnhardt won. "I don't know what took him so long to win a race for us," Hendrick said with a smile. It was Earnhardt's first real race in the No. 88 and his first win for the team — even though it didn't really count. The rest of the season wasn't quite so peachy for NASCAR's favorite son, but he had a great week in February.

Best New Artist: Time will tell how Joey Logano deals with fame and fortune, but right now he's an absolute delight for everyone who deals with him. The learning curve in the Sprint Cup Series is steep, so Logano will both have to learn fast and need his bosses to be a little patient. But he's already shown signs of brilliance in the Nationwide Series, finishing sixth in his first race and winning his third in Kentucky.

Best Picture(s): The Associated Press unearthed photos of Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards fighting in the Nationwide garages two days after the fight happened and Lowe's Motor Speedway refused to release them. You can see Edwards with his hands around Harvick's neck, Edwards with his fingers in Harvick's eye, Harvick pushing Edwards. Good stuff. The joke around the track was that if Humpy Wheeler were still in charge at Lowe's, he would've driven the photos down to the local paper's office and showed the editors where to print them.

Best Disaster Scene: The Allstate 400 at the Brickyard is a historic race at a historic track, but in July the Brickyard became a Goodyear graveyard. The tires were so soft and the track's surface so coarse that 10 or 15 laps in they'd turn to dust and explode. NASCAR called competition cautions every 10 to 12 laps to preserve the drivers' safety, and it made for a totally unwatchable race. Jimmie Johnson's win that day was a bit tainted but the beginning of his incredible season-ending run.

Best Picture: The No. 48's entire season. They played it flawlessly to win their third consecutive championship. Chad Knaus and Jimmie Johnson don't always get along, but I believe Johnson when he says they complement each other well. Knaus's meticulous attention to detail coupled with Johnson's patience, control and ability to run well when it counted won them that championship. The turning point in the season may have been Talladega, where Carl Edwards wrecked a third of the field while Johnson, caught in the middle of the wreck, escaped unscathed. Edwards lost the championship by a slim enough margin that had he finished well at Talladega, Homestead week wouldn't have been so comfortable for Johnson.

Visit the Sentinel on the World Wide Web at http://www.orlandosentinel.com/.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Red Bull announces 2009 lineup

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 09:49 EST

Brian Vickers will have Ryan Pemberton as his crew chief and Scott Speed will race with Jimmy Elledge working on his Toyotas in 2009, Red Bull Racing announced Monday.

Pemberton comes to the team from Michael Waltrip Racing, where he worked with driver David Reutimann in 2008. Elledge joined Red Bull in 2008 and worked with Speed as he closed out the 2008 season in the No. 84 Toyotas.

Speed's car in 2009 will use the No. 82. Vickers will stay with the No. 83.

"We're entering our third Sprint Cup season with driver and crew chief pairings that have what it takes to consistently compete at a high level," said Jay Frye, the team's vice president and general manager.

"Brian and Ryan are each at a point in their respective careers where they can bring home wins and make a run for the championship. Scott earned his Sprint Cup ride by exceeding our expectations in ARCA and trucks. He has a great asset in Jimmy, who has experience working with both rookies and open-wheel drivers."

Speed also will run a partial Nationwide Series schedule in the No. 99 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota.

Numbers that would make even Carl Sagan blush

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 09:48 EST

I am as suspicious as the next guy when it comes to the way numbers can be played with in assessing things like economic impact a Sprint Cup race has on a community or what value a sponsor gets out of backing a race team.

Such things are an inexact science, at best. But some numbers came out last week that are too staggering not to look at.

Joyce Julius & Associates monitors sports sponsorships, but it is best known for measuring exposure given to sponsors during televised sports coverage.

In NASCAR, for instance, Joyce Julius looks at telecasts of races in NASCAR's three top series and clocks how long a sponsor's logo can be seen clearly. It counts each second and then multiplies that by what it would cost to buy a second of advertising on that telecast.

According to this year's research, Jimmie Johnson's sponsors had their respective logos shown for 59hours, 28minutes, 39seconds. By the Joyce Julius formula, that means Johnson's sponsors got $510,161,750 worth of exposure.

Carl Edwards, who finished second in the standings to Johnson, had his sponsors shown for 58:50:11. That equates to $495,908,515 in exposure.

Add those numbers and you're talking about north of $1billion (that's with a b) in exposure for the top two cars.

OK, you're thinking, there's no way that's right. A billion dollars?

I'm with you.

But for the sake of argument let's say the Joyce Julius formula gives 10 times the actual value to each second of logo exposure a sponsor gets. In other words, it's 90percent inflated.

Even at that, we'd be talking about $100million in exposure for sponsors of Johnson and Edwards. All of a sudden sponsorships costing $20million or $25million don't seem terribly absurd.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch got the next best numbers this year in Cup. The top 10 Cup teams got more than $4.3billion in exposure for sponsors.

Johnson's primary sponsor got $200million in exposure. Chevrolet got $67.8million. Edwards actually got more exposure during the Chase, Joyce Julius' report said, $225million to $201million.

Nationwide Series champion Clint Bowyer got $76.8million of exposure to lead that series. Ron Hornaday, who was second to Johnny Benson in the battle for the Truck Series title, led that series at $24.4million to $19.2million for Benson.

* * *

Stocks for Tots will mark its 20th anniversary Dec.9 at the Charles Mack Citizens Center in downtown Mooresville.

The event allows fans to get autographs from drivers and celebrities from several forms of motorsports. The admission fee will be $10 plus an unwrapped toy that has a value of $10 or more. Proceeds will go to Stop Child Abuse Now of Iredell County.

The event will begin at 5:30p.m. Doors will open for autographs at 7p.m. Fans must have a wristband to get autographs. Wristband distribution will be at The Pit go-kart racing facility in Mooresville from 9a.m. until 3p.m. on the day of the event, then will move to the Citizens Center.

For more information, including a continuously updated list of people scheduled to be at the event, go to stocksfortots.com.

* * *

BRIEFLY NOTED: Edwards is the fourth quarter winner in the Driver of the Year voting, getting 10 first-place votes. Johnson finished second. He got seven first-place votes. … Cup team co-owner Ray Evernham has completed his deal to purchase East Lincoln Speedway and said that might not be the last track he buys. “I will try to save race tracks to keep them from becoming shopping malls,” Evernham said on Sirius NASCAR Radio. … Motorsports engineers will gather Tuesday through Thursday at the Embassy Suites in Concord for the Society of Automotive Engineers annual conference. Peter Wright, a technical consultant for the FIA, the governing body of FormulaOne racing, will be the keynote speaker. … Lowe's Motor Speedway will hold its Christmas tree lighting ceremony Monday. Refreshments will be served beginning at 5p.m. with the formal program starting at 6. … Highlights from the Nationwide Series banquet can be seen at noon today on ESPN2. Live coverage of Friday's Cup Series banquet from New York will begin at 9p.m. on ESPN Classic.

Hospital confession makes dream come true

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 09:30 EST

Matt Krueger, 19, was recovering from his first colon cancer surgery on the day he confessed his dream to a hospital nurse.

He wanted to get his 1999 Camaro Z28 out onto one of NASCAR's big tracks, to see if it would actually go the 155 mph promised on the speedometer.

What Krueger didn't realize, was that his nurse knew somebody at a tire store, who knew somebody at the Carquest Corp., who knew somebody at Lowe's Motor Speedway, who could make his dream come true.

And so it did.

On Friday, the Wisconsin teen and his blue Camaro had an uninterrupted half-hour together on the track. Speedway officials offered the chance after hearing of Krueger's story, including his diagnosis last month with a rare and aggressive cancer known as mucinous adenocarcinoma.

“Nervous? Yeah, I'm nervous,” said Krueger, as he waited for the flag. “We got here about 3 a.m. and I didn't sleep more than a half hour.”

Equally nervous were the dozen family and friends who watched nervously from the infield, including his parents, siblings, fiancee, best friend and a truck driver, Mel Simonds, who agreed to skip Thanksgiving and haul the Camaro on a trailer. All spent Thanksgiving Day on the interstate, making the 16-hour drive to Lowe's from their hometown of Ixonia, Wis.

“When we first found out about Matt's diagnosis,” said his mother Kitty Krueger, “the doctor said: ‘Now is the time to take a trip. Go to Europe, and do something you've always wanted to do.' Matt could have gone anywhere, done anything, but he kept saying ‘no' until this came up. It took him less than two minutes to think it over.”

Clearly, cancer was the last thing on Matt Krueger's mind as he climbed into his Camaro at 8:30 a.m., fired up an engine with 82,000 miles on it and set off a pair of rumbling mufflers. Krueger eased onto the track, barely visible through tinted windows, as he cautiously followed a pace car for three practice laps.

That done, he had his big chance to take off solo and go as fast as 350 horsepower would allow. But something different happened.

Over the next half hour, he pulled into the infield every few laps, to pick up his best friend, his father, his fiancee, his brother, his sister and even his reluctant mother.

All had their turn in the car, moaning and grabbing at the dashboard as he topped 100 mph. “I feel like I've been on a roller coaster,” said his mother, holding her forehead. “All I kept thinking was ‘don't hit the wall, don't hit the wall, don't hit the wall.'”

Matt Krueger and his Camaro never made it to 155 mph. The fastest he got was 135, before the car skidded toward the wall. It didn't matter.

“My having cancer has brought everyone closer together, and I thank God for that,” Krueger said. “He has a plan for me, and I intend to be here for a while.”

Besides, he has a new dream.

“I didn't get to pass anybody.”

Nationwide awards show highlights to air on ESPN2

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 09:45 EST

NASCAR fans eager for an offseason fix can watch highlights of the Nationwide Series awards banquet from Orlando, Fla., at noon Sunday on ESPN2.

Series champion Clint Bowyer, runner-up Carl Edwards and rookie of the year Landon Cassill are among the drivers honored during the black-tie ceremony. Other drivers in the top 10 of the series standings recognized include Brad Keselowski, David Ragan, Mike Bliss, Kyle Busch, David Reutimann, Mike Wallace and Jason Leffler.

NASCAR on ESPN announcers Allen Bestwick and Shannon Spake co-host the one-hour program, which also features a performance by recording artist O.A.R.

-- ESPN Classic will air live coverage of the Sprint Cup Series awards banquet at 9 p.m. ET on Dec. 5.

Season Superlatives

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 09:23 EST

DAVID POOLE

Driver of the year

Boy, is it hard not to pick Jimmie Johnson after he wins a third straight Cup championship to match the record held by Cale Yarborough. It's almost as tough not to pick Carl Edwards, who finished second in the sport's top two series and went down fighting with late-season surges in both divisions.

But it's impossible for me not to go with Kyle Busch. He won 21 times in the Cup, Nationwide and Truck series. Nobody has won 21 times in one season in NASCAR national touring competition since Richard Petty won 21 Cup races in 1971. Yes, Busch didn't win in Cup after a victory at Watkins Glen, N.Y., on Aug.10, but his overall versatility is too much to overlook.

Crew chief of the year

Just after Johnson clinched his championship, Sprint Cup Series director John Darby radioed Chad Knaus and jokingly congratulated Knaus for completing his first full championship season. The reference was to the fact that Knaus had served suspensions for rules infractions in 2006 and 2007 but stayed out of NASCAR jail this year.

Johnson and Knaus lead a great team at Hendrick Motorsports. Knaus gets serious credit this year for not only becoming the first crew chief to win three straight titles, but for marshaling his team's forces through a remarkably ambitious testing effort after a slow start. As long as the sport's best team keeps working at getting better, it's going to be hard to catch.

Most improved driver

David Ragan is the obvious choice here. If he improves as much next year as he did after his rookie season, he'll be a threat to make the 2009 Chase.

Track of the year

The year's best race might have been the Sept.21 race at Dover, Del., and the Chase turned when Edwards bumped teammate Greg Biffle at Talladega, Ala. But when you consider both races, my track of the year is Richmond, Va.

The May3 race produced the most talked-about moment – Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. wrecking while battlng door-to-door – and a Clint Bowyer victory in a race that seemed like Denny Hamlin's all night long. The Sept.7 race, delayed by rain until Sunday, propelled Johnson into the Chase with a victory with Tony Stewart going down fighting.

The most important offseason questions

1. Will teams get better with the Car of Tomorrow to the degree that the racing improves? You can talk about racing back in the pack until you turn blue in the face, but if the leader can't be passed because the clean air makes him bullet-proof on the larger tracks then no other problem will matter. As big a deal as No.2 is, until you fix No.1, fixing No.2 won't matter.

2. How will NASCAR endure the economic issues that face the sport – and the nation? People who keep obsessing about the top 35 might not have anything to gripe about next year. There might not be 35 teams beginning 2009 with enough funding to attempt a full schedule. And the Cup series is in much better shape competitively and financially than the Nationwide and Truck series teams.

JIM UTTER

Driver of the year

I can't say enough about Johnson's accomplishments in the Sprint Cup Series, but when it comes to the whole season, Kyle Busch was the clear favorite. Eight wins in Cup, 10 wins in Nationwide (tying Sam Ard's record for most in a season) and three in Trucks. He won 21 of the 84 NASCAR events he entered – an astounding 25percent.

Team of the year

Hendrick Motorsports put three drivers in the Chase and produced the series champion for the third consecutive season. It even got Earnhardt Jr. back in the Chase and he got wins in the Budweiser Shootout and June15 at Michigan in his first year with the organization.

Best race

The May3 race at Richmond, Va., produced so many wild storylines, many of which continued throughout the year. Hamlin completely dominated a race that he didn't win. Bowyer won a race that hardly anyone but him remembers. And Earnhardt Jr. and Busch tangled on the track, starting a feud among fans that still have them talking.

Worst NASCAR decision

Not allowing Regan Smith's pass of Stewart under the yellow line for the win at Talladega, Ala., to stand after NASCAR had allowed the very same thing to occur during a Truck race at Daytona. Days later they “clarified” their rule – which they first denied existed – and said no passes would be allowed “going forward.” How about backward?

Bonehead move of the year award

ABC's decision to cut away from the final 30 minutes or so of the season's next-to-last Cup race at Phoenix in favor of showing America's Funniest Home Videos. It should never have happened. Period.

Most overplayed story

Who will or will not be locked in the top 35 to start the 2009 season. Most races will not have anywhere near 43 fully funded, competitive teams entered.

Next season's champion

I picked Busch this year and looked good for 26 races. I'm staying with that in 2009 in the belief Busch and his No.18 Toyota team will have learned from this year how to carry that stellar performance through to season's end.