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PostPosted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 9:44 am 
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Sprint Cup

Most impressive driver: Jimmie Johnson. Managed to do something that had only been done once before, and that's win three straight Cup titles.

Biggest disappointment: Casey Mears. I mean, here he was with perhaps the most loaded NASCAR Cup team in recent memory and just taking an absolute backseat to his superstar teammates...I believe one of those was a three-time champion named Jimmie Johnson.

Most overrated driver: Dale Earnhardt, Jr. I thought he was going to tear shit up this year with his performance during Speedweeks at Daytona (winning the Bud Shootout and his Gatorade Duel race). But one win that really counted? On fuel mileage at Michigan? You gotta be kidding me...

Most improved driver: David Ragan. Look, a lot of you know I'm basically his only fan on this forum. But he's come a long way from being that "dart without feathers" to winning over the respect of his fellow competitors. He'll win a race in 2009 and might just make the Chase for the Cup.

Most improved team: Yates Racing. That team managed to hang on going through sponsor after sponsor with both of their teams. And those teams managed to run well throughout the balance of the season.

Biggest asshole: Kyle Busch. No question about it.

Biggest wreck: Michael McDowell's qualifying tumbler at Texas. I'm telling you, that was scary shit with that impact he took into the wall and the tumbles he took down the banking. Most important thing, he escaped without injury and really proved why the COT is built with safety in mind.

Most LOL wreck: Scott Speed piledriving David Gilliland at Phoenix.

Best race: AMP Energy 500, except controversy at race's end tainted it.

Driver of the year: Jimmie Johnson. See what I wrote about him earlier.

Nationwide Series

Most impressive driver: Morgan Shepherd. At 66 years of age, he can still muck it up with them young'ns.

Biggest dissapointment: Dario Franchitti. Just showed he wasn't ready to drive big stock cars.

Most improved driver: Bryan Clauson. Kid really drove his butt off this year.

Most improved team: CJM Racing. Jason Keller gave that team an identity in the Nationwide Series and it eventually landed them a sponsor for the rest of the season. Though Keller leaving CJM for Baker-Curb Racing set the team back a bit.

Biggest asshole: Denny Hamlin. His behavior at Charlotte towards Brad Keselowski was downright classless.

Biggest wreck: Talladega and Kevin Lepage's disobedience of the blend line.

Most LOL wreck: Steve Wallace wrecking his uncle Mike on the last lap at Daytona (July)...and Mike was pretty pissed about it.

Race of the year: Montreal. First NASCAR race contested in the rain, and a road ringer in Ron Fellows getting the win (as heavier rains shortened the race).

Driver of the year: Brad Keselowski. The only N'Wide regular to truly keep those Buschwhackers in check.

Craftsman Truck Series

Most impressive driver: Johnny Benson. Did a great job this season, especially during that stretch over the summer.

Biggest disappointment: Jack Sprague. Seriously, I though he was going to be a serious contender with Hornaday as his teammate. But it wasn't to be.

Most improved driver: Erik Darnell. Nothing beats beating the man that would eventually be the series champion in a photo finish. And doing it at the champion's home track to boot.

Most improved team: TRG Motorsports, in part because of Donny Lia's upset win at Mansfield.

Biggest asshole: David Starr. He sure acted like one at New Hampshire.

Biggest wreck: P.J. Jones at Daytona

Most LOL wreck: Bobby East climbing the wall at ORP...and he continued in the race!

Race of the year: Ohio 250. A very exciting race nonetheless.

Driver of the year: Johnny Benson. His great battle with Ron Hornaday down the stretch was worth watching.


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PostPosted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 10:38 am 
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This is from me watching it in England and not seeing a great deal of NASCAR races until Sky Sports had every race this year.

Sprint Cup Series

Driver that impressed you the most: Greg Biffle - Didn't really know much about him and then goes and wins early on in the Chase. Well done.

Biggest disappointment: Dale Earnhardt Jr - So much is always said about it, he is the one that gets all the air time. But as said above even this season he has just been medioca. OR Dario Franchitti.

Most overrated driver: Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Same reasons as above.

Most improved driver: David Ragan - Yep same for without a doubt. Really competitive and will go far.

Most improved team: Team Red Bull - Up's and down's but still pulled themselves through at the end. Althouhg I am concerned for Scott Speed after watching him in F1 then in Arca. I can't see NASCAR being good for him yet.

Biggest asshole: Clint Bowyer - Causes friggin crashes when people like Kasey Kahne are trying to get in to the Chase!

Biggest wreck: Michael McDowell at Texas - No question there.

Most LOL wreck: Same as above

Race of the year: The 500 at Talladega - Finish :P

Driver of the year: Kyle Busch - Can't fault him. Hated by many but is seriously quick. Got unlucky at the start of the chase. Will now miss out on his Toyota F1 test drive as well. But a very good driver on any form of track.


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PostPosted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 11:52 pm 
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Sprint Cup

Most impressive driver: Impressive? I've got to say Ragan.

Biggest dissapointment: The four new open wheelers that were supposed to be rookies this year. Villeneuve couldn't even make one race, and Dario had trouble making them. And when he did, he just ran towards the back or crashed. Carpentier was impressive in qualifying, but he always dropped like a rock and finished in the 30's or wrecked. Hornish wasn't horrible for most of the season, but he pretty much fucked everything up in the chase and is now out of the top 35.

Most overrated driver: Robby Gordon. I used to kind of like him, but his complete lack of competitiveness during every race this year was pretty bad. He wasn't even any good at the road courses, and he only had a couple top 10's because he surged late in a couple of the plate races. Why he gets a top 35 spot and some other guys that are way more competitive don't is beyond me.

Most improved driver: AJ Allmendinger and David Reutimann. They went from crashing their new Toyotas weekly to challenging for top 5's and top 10's weekly.

Most improved team: I've got to say either MWR or Yates. They went from complete laughing stocks to solid, (semi)competitive teams.

Biggest asshole: Kyle Busch was the obvious winner for the beginning of the year, but he wasn't that bad towards the end.

Biggest wreck: The huge crash at the Glen. I found myself to be more shocked by this than the McDowell incident.

Most LOL wreck: It's got to be the Talladega big one caused by Carl Edwards, which was made even more hilarious when Johnson made it through unscathed.

Best race: AMP Energy 500, kept my heart rate up all 188 laps.

Driver of the year:Three-way tie between Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards. Busch dominated the regular season, and Edwards wasn't too far behind. When the chase came, Edwards was very impressive, but Johnson's streak is what did it for him.

Nationwide Series

Most impressive driver: Brad Keselowksi, for having an amazing season among Cup regulars. I think he's gonna be big, but that's what everyone said about Reed Sorenson.

Biggest dissapointment: The lack of excitement in the majority of the races. It was consistently the most boring race of the weekend, and I fell asleep during many of the Nationwide races.

Most improved driver: Steve Wallace. He was a rolling spergfest last year, but he pulled through to have some very solid runs this year.

Most improved team: RWI, for sure. Steve was pretty good this year, and David proved that he should still be in a cup car.

Biggest asshole: Denny Hamlin at Lowe's. No doubt. Special callout to Kevin Lepage.

Biggest wreck: Big one at Tally.

Most LOL wreck: Kevin Lepage's honorable gester at Talladega kept me laughing for a while.

Race of the year: I really don't remember any above-average race this year.

Driver of the year: Brad Keselowski. He is a great driver that deserves a shot.

Craftsman Truck Series

Most impressive driver: TJ Bell for sure. He only ran about half the season, but he had a string of at least 5 consecutive top 10 finishes for an average team that he wasn't used to.

Biggest dissapointment: Jack Sprague. His win at Daytona last year was impressive, but this year he was pretty mediocre for a past champion.

Most improved driver: Matt Crafton. He went from barely getting top 10s to challenging for the championship at one point. He finally got his first win, and he's a great guy too.

Most improved team: I can't really think of one right now...

Biggest asshole: I'm sure there were plenty, but I can't seem to remember any outstanding ones at the moment.

Biggest wreck: There weren't really too many big wrecks this year, I'll just go with the Daytona big one.

Most LOL wreck: John Wes Townley. That's all I've got to say.

Race of the year: Many of the races were very good, but the last few laps at Mansfield were amazing.

Driver of the year: Johnny Benson. He closed his career (at least with BDR) by getting a well-deserevd championship.


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PostPosted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 12:29 am 
I only watched about 60% of the races this year, but here's my assessment of the Sprint Cup season (I didn't watch the other series):

Driver that impressed you the most: A.J. Allmendinger (David Ragan, Travis Kvapil, Kyle Busch)

Biggest disappointment: Reed Sorenson (Kasey Kahne, Dale Earnhardt Jr.)

Most overrated driver: Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Most improved driver: David Ragan (Kyle Busch, A.J. Allmendinger)

Most improved team: Team Red Bull (Yates Racing)

Biggest wreck: Michael McDowell in Texas Qualifying

Driver of the year: Jimmie Johnson


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PostPosted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 1:09 am 
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Sprint Cup

Most impressive driver: Kyle Busch - Despite not performing well in the Chase, they were the team to beat for the first 26 races of the year.

Biggest dissapointment: Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Didn't exactly improve his performance with Hendrick. His numbers were only better this year because of better car reliability.

Most overrated driver: Casey Mears - Worst performer at Hendrick for two straight years gets rewarded with a ride at RCR. His appeal to sponsors and team owners is absolutely puzzling.

Most improved driver: A.J. Allmendinger & David Ragan - Couldn't pick between the two so I'll give them both the nod. Completely different drivers than this time last season.

Most improved team: Michael Waltrip Racing - Only missed one race after missing a disturbing amount of races in 2007. Both Michael Waltrip and David Reutimann had race winning cars at times this year, something that couldn't be said at any point last year.

Biggest asshole: Carl Edwards - About as fake as they come.

Biggest wreck: Michael McDowell - Nothing's going to top that crash for a long, long time.

Most LOL wreck: Casey Mears at California - What happens when the two most worthless drivers on the circuit colide at 15 mph on the most worthless track on the circuit? FLIPPERZ!

Best race: AMP Energy 500 - Great race despite NASCAR dropping the ball on the finish.

Driver of the year: Jimmie Johnson - Jimmie and the #48 team know how to play the game when it comes to the Chase.

Nationwide Series

Most impressive driver: Brad Keselowski - Brad's come as far as a driver as anyone in the garage area over the last few years. He's gone from struggling to find rides in the Truck and Nationwide Series to a Cup ready prospect and the likely heir to the #5 car for Hendrick after Mark Martin finally retires.

Biggest dissapointment: David Ragan - Still hasn't won a Nationwide race and was never a legitimate threat to win a race this season and only led 38 laps despite running the full schedule in a Roush car.

Most improved driver: Steve Wallace - Always was a very fast driver, finally developing the race craft to go with his blistering speed.

Most improved team: Rusty Wallace, Inc. - The addition of David Stremme to the team and the stabilization at crew chief for Steve Wallace allowed the team to blossom after a tumultious 2007.

Biggest asshole: Denny Hamlin - He can still go fuck himself for Lowe's.

Biggest wreck: Jeff Green at Lowe's - Coolest looking wreck of the year.

Most LOL wreck: The Big One at Talladega - You know someone did something really dumb when you can't even vision Ernie Irvan trying that move.

Race of the year: Zippo at The Glen - Definitely the best road race I've seen for the Busch/Nationwide cars. The battle at the end between Burton and Busch was legendary, add in fuel mileage and a first time winner in Ambrose and you have the race of the year.

Driver of the year: Brad Keselowski - I'll give Brad the nod ahead of Joey Logano.

Craftsman Truck Series

Most impressive driver: Johnny Benson - Overcame NASCAR's decision to restrict the Toyota engines to win the title by 7 points.

Biggest dissapointment: Jack Sprague - Struggled to 0 wins with KHI in 20 races only to be replaced by Ryan Newman and Kevin Harvick for the final five races in which each driver won a race.

Most improved driver: T.J. Bell - T.J. looked absolutely hopeless at times with Roush last season and has finally shed his crash prone label. T.J.'s race craft and decision making are 100% better than this point one year ago. Brian Scott comes in a close second, however.

Most improved team: MRD Motorsports - Dave Malcolmson's team and driver Chad McCumbee came up just short of the top 10 in points and were formidable on the intermediate tracks despite having no sponsorship. A second place finish at Lowe's and a fifth at Atlanta in the spring coupled with 5 other top 10s was a marked improvement over the team's best finish of 10th last season.

Biggest asshole: Jon Wood - I can't think of anyone else who caused more accidents this year and Jon only ran 17 races.

Biggest wreck: David Starr's rampage at Loudon - Not exactly one wreck, but that culmination of wrecks and the fight at the end are the most memorable of the year.

Most LOL wreck: Any wreck with John Wes Townley - This kid sucks bad, real bad.

Race of the year: Ohio 250 at Mansfield - Amazing finish with a completely unpredictable winning driver and team.

Driver of the year: Johnny Benson and Ron Hornaday - No full-time competitor even came close to these two, clearly the class of the 2008 field along with Kyle Busch.


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PostPosted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 1:14 am 
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mdp4499 wrote:
Most improved team: Rusty Wallace, Inc. - The addition of David Stremme to the team and the stabilization at crew chief for Steve Wallace allowed the team to blossom after a tumultious 2007.


Any idea what the plans are for RWI with Stremme going to the 12 in Cup next year?


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PostPosted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 1:16 am 
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Chris A wrote:
mdp4499 wrote:
Most improved team: Rusty Wallace, Inc. - The addition of David Stremme to the team and the stabilization at crew chief for Steve Wallace allowed the team to blossom after a tumultious 2007.


Any idea what the plans are for RWI with Stremme going to the 12 in Cup next year?


Rusty wants to run the 64 full-time with Stremme in the car for all the companion races but they don't have sponsorship.


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PostPosted: Sat Nov 22, 2008 7:20 am 
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Sprint Cup Series

Driver that impressed you the most: David Reutimann - Seeming to come out of nowhere, he started to come up with some solid top 15 finishes. then they moved on to top tens, and at the end of the year he was fighting for the lead.

Most overrated driver: Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Come'on, people were saying that he and the entire Hendrick group would come out and win twenty-five races this year. While I know a win is a win, but Jr's only win was a fuel mileage race. I would not have a problem if he won other races besides fuel mileage races (see Carl Edawards), but i have to wonder if he is ,in fact, a championship caliber driver.

Most improved driver: David Ragan - From being invovled in the most wrecks in '07 to barely missing the chase, I can only see bright things in his future

Most improved team: Michael Waltrip Racing - I would not be surprised if David Ruetimann made the chase next year and Michael pulled of a win.

Biggest asshole: Denny Hamlin - For not wanting Nationwide Series drivers to race the cup guys so hard. It's not like it's their only shot of being known to the NASACR world, come'on!

Biggest wreck: Michael McDowell at Texas - That will be in NASCAR compilations until the end of time.

Most LOL wreck: Kyle Busch and Dale Jr. at Richmond - we could all see it happening, and I know I laughed when it did.

Race of the year: The AMP Energy 500 at Talladega - 65 lead changes with constant three-wide action and a little controversy at the end, I think this left no doubt that this race was a true classic.

Driver of the year: Carl Edwards - Subtract the ignition problem at Charlotte in October, and EARL is our champion. He won races at almost every kind of track: Bristol, Texas, Atlanta, Fontana, and a close second at Daytona.

Nationwide and Trucks Later


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