Kyle Busch cruised to his first NASCAR national touring series championship in 2009, winning the Nationwide Series title by 210 points over 2007 series champion Carl Edwards. Busch won a series-high nine races to go along with 25 top-5s and 30 top-10s -- an average finish of 6.4.
Busch finished second 11 times on the season -- which might've annoyed him, but certainly helped propel the Las Vegas native to the championship in a year that saw his Sprint Cup operation stumble and miss the Chase.
Busch took the points lead after the first Phoenix race, where he finished 10th. He finished outside the Top 10 just four times after taking the points lead, logging seven of his nine wins and 10 of his second-place finishes in that span. Try as he might, Edwards -- who won five races to go along with 23 top-5s and 30 top-10s -- simply couldn't catch up.
Busch won his first race of the season at Fontana in February, and when he took the checkered flag at Nashville in June, it kicked off a streak in which Busch finished first or second in 10 straight races.
Full-time Cup Series drivers won 30 of the 35 races on the schedule last season; Nationwide Series regulars who weren't also full-time Cup drivers didn't reach Victory Lane until Mike Bliss won a rain-shortened race at Charlotte back in May. Brad Keselowski, driving for Hendrick Motorsports-affiliated JR Motorsports, won the other four races en route to logging 22 Top-5s and 28 Top-10s, finishing third in the season standings for the second straight year.
Keselowski might've been more of a factor in the title race had it not been for early-season disappointments. He opened the season with finishes of 22nd, 27th, 27th and 12th, falling victim to incidents not of his doing before finally logging his first top-5 -- a third-place finish at Texas. Keselowski then went through a stretch where his worst finish was 11th (Darlington) and he picked up his first win of the season at Dover.
After finishing 18th at Chicago, Keselowski finished in the top 10 the rest of the way -- until he finished 12th in the season finale at Homestead-Miami. Along the way, Keselowski also won the inaugural race at Iowa, before taking checkered flags at Michigan and Memphis.
Bliss went on to finish fifth in the point standings, despite losing his full-time ride with James Finch during the season. Bliss put together a patchwork of rides to finish the season -- ending the year with four top-10s in the last five races. Bliss had seven top-5s and 15 top-10s on the season.
2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series Winners
Daytona -- Tony Stewart
Fontana -- Kyle Busch
Las Vegas -- Greg Biffle
Bristol -- Kevin Harvick
Texas -- Kyle Busch
Nashville -- Joey Logano
Phoenix -- Greg Biffle
Talladega -- David Ragan
Richmond -- Kyle Busch
Darlington -- Matt Kenseth
Charlotte -- Mike Bliss
Dover -- Brad Keselowski
Nashville -- Kyle Busch
Kentucky -- Joey Logano
Milwaukee -- Carl Edwards
Loudon -- Kyle Busch
Daytona -- Clint Bowyer
Chicago -- Joey Logano
Gateway -- Kyle Busch
ORP -- Carl Edwards
Iowa -- Brad Keselowski
Watkins Glen -- Marcos Ambrose
Michigan -- Brad Keselowski
Bristol -- David Ragan
Montreal -- Carl Edwards
Atlanta -- Kevin Harvick
Richmond -- Carl Edwards
Dover -- Clint Bowyer
Kansas -- Joey Logano
Fontana -- Joey Logano
Charlotte -- Kyle Busch
Memphis -- Brad Keselowski
Texas -- Kyle Busch
Phoenix -- Carl Edwards
Homestead -- Kyle Busch
Coming Next Week: 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Year in Review
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
2009 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Year in Review
Ron Hornaday was the story of the year for the Camping World Truck Series in 2009, and it wasn't even close -- even as a series champion lost his ride and the economy turned a very competitive series on its ear.
Why Hornaday, you ask? He won his fourth series championship, becoming the first driver to ever to win four Truck Series titles. At 51 years old, Hornaday became the oldest driver to ever win a NASCAR national touring series title. Hornaday also cruised to his title after a summer stretch that saw him win five straight races.
Hornaday won six races in 2009 -- just as he did in 2008. He also had 15 top-5s and 20 top-10s ... in 25 races. With an average start of 4.0 and an average finish of 6.4, Hornaday had the consistency to go along with his dominance in cruising to the title.
Matt Crafton finished second in the standings, 187 points behind Hornaday, despite not winning a race all season. Crafton recorded 11 top-5s and 21 top-10s, finishing second five times. Crafton's season-worst finish was 16th, which he did twice. Were it not for Hornaday's summer dominance, Crafton might've made the championship battle more of a fight, even if he never saw the checkered flag.
Kyle Busch won a season-high seven races, going back-to-back three times (Fontana-Atlanta, Bristol-Chicagoland and Talladega-Texas); had Busch run the full schedule -- he only made 15 starts -- he would've given Hornaday a run for his money.
Four drivers picked up their first career Camping World Truck Series wins in 2009; Brian Scott stretched his tires to pick up his first checkered flag at Dover, while Colin Braun edged Busch to win his first race at Michigan. Johnny Sauter won at Las Vegas, and Timothy Peters picked up his first checkered flag at Martinsville in October.
Sauter earned Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors, finishing sixth in the points with one win, seven top-5s and 13 top-10s, to go along with two poles.
Johnny Benson, who won the 2008 series title -- when it was still known as the Craftsman Truck Series -- lost his ride in June, a victim of the struggling economy. Benson was then injured in a wreck during a modified race the following week, thus ending his hopes of defending the title he won narrowly over Hornaday in 2008.
While the 2009 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series was light on financially-stable teams and competition atop the point standings, there was plenty of history to make up for it. Hornaday solidified himself as one of the series' all-time greats -- if not the all-time great -- and there's no reason to think he won't be a factor in 2010, even without crew chief Rick Ren.
2009 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Winners
Daytona -- Todd Bodine
Fontana -- Kyle Busch
Atlanta -- Kyle Busch
Martinsville -- Kevin Harvick
Kansas -- Mike Skinner
Charlotte -- Ron Hornaday
Dover -- Brian Scott
Texas -- Todd Bodine
Michigan -- Colin Braun
Milwaukee -- Ron Hornaday
Memphis -- Ron Hornaday
Kentucky -- Ron Hornaday
ORP -- Ron Hornaday
Nashville -- Ron Hornaday
Bristol -- Kyle Busch
Chicagoland -- Kyle Busch
Iowa -- Mike Skinner
Gateway -- Mike Skinner
Loudon -- Kyle Busch
Las Vegas -- Johnny Sauter
Martinsville -- Timothy Peters
Talladega -- Kyle Busch
Texas -- Kyle Busch
Phoenix -- Kevin Harvick
Homestead -- Kevin Harvick
Coming Next Week: 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series Year in Review
Why Hornaday, you ask? He won his fourth series championship, becoming the first driver to ever to win four Truck Series titles. At 51 years old, Hornaday became the oldest driver to ever win a NASCAR national touring series title. Hornaday also cruised to his title after a summer stretch that saw him win five straight races.
Hornaday won six races in 2009 -- just as he did in 2008. He also had 15 top-5s and 20 top-10s ... in 25 races. With an average start of 4.0 and an average finish of 6.4, Hornaday had the consistency to go along with his dominance in cruising to the title.
Matt Crafton finished second in the standings, 187 points behind Hornaday, despite not winning a race all season. Crafton recorded 11 top-5s and 21 top-10s, finishing second five times. Crafton's season-worst finish was 16th, which he did twice. Were it not for Hornaday's summer dominance, Crafton might've made the championship battle more of a fight, even if he never saw the checkered flag.
Kyle Busch won a season-high seven races, going back-to-back three times (Fontana-Atlanta, Bristol-Chicagoland and Talladega-Texas); had Busch run the full schedule -- he only made 15 starts -- he would've given Hornaday a run for his money.
Four drivers picked up their first career Camping World Truck Series wins in 2009; Brian Scott stretched his tires to pick up his first checkered flag at Dover, while Colin Braun edged Busch to win his first race at Michigan. Johnny Sauter won at Las Vegas, and Timothy Peters picked up his first checkered flag at Martinsville in October.
Sauter earned Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors, finishing sixth in the points with one win, seven top-5s and 13 top-10s, to go along with two poles.
Johnny Benson, who won the 2008 series title -- when it was still known as the Craftsman Truck Series -- lost his ride in June, a victim of the struggling economy. Benson was then injured in a wreck during a modified race the following week, thus ending his hopes of defending the title he won narrowly over Hornaday in 2008.
While the 2009 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series was light on financially-stable teams and competition atop the point standings, there was plenty of history to make up for it. Hornaday solidified himself as one of the series' all-time greats -- if not the all-time great -- and there's no reason to think he won't be a factor in 2010, even without crew chief Rick Ren.
2009 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Winners
Daytona -- Todd Bodine
Fontana -- Kyle Busch
Atlanta -- Kyle Busch
Martinsville -- Kevin Harvick
Kansas -- Mike Skinner
Charlotte -- Ron Hornaday
Dover -- Brian Scott
Texas -- Todd Bodine
Michigan -- Colin Braun
Milwaukee -- Ron Hornaday
Memphis -- Ron Hornaday
Kentucky -- Ron Hornaday
ORP -- Ron Hornaday
Nashville -- Ron Hornaday
Bristol -- Kyle Busch
Chicagoland -- Kyle Busch
Iowa -- Mike Skinner
Gateway -- Mike Skinner
Loudon -- Kyle Busch
Las Vegas -- Johnny Sauter
Martinsville -- Timothy Peters
Talladega -- Kyle Busch
Texas -- Kyle Busch
Phoenix -- Kevin Harvick
Homestead -- Kevin Harvick
Coming Next Week: 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series Year in Review
Monday, December 21, 2009
Danica Mania!
I've written here before about my opinion regarding Danica Patrick coming over to NASCAR. For those too lazy to click the link -- or have already read that piece -- the gist is thus: IndyCar needs Patrick, and her transition to stock cars would probably take a lot longer than her higher-ups might want.
In short, she was better off staying where she was.
But Patrick made the move anyway, announcing she would be running a partial schedule in the NASCAR Nationwide Series this coming season for JR Motorsports. While her debut is expected to come in the season's second race at Auto Club Speedway, there's a chance she could make her debut at the season opener at Daytona.
Patrick will also run the ARCA race at Daytona on Feb. 6.
Patrick will run in the Nationwide Series on top of her IndyCar schedule; she renewed with Andretti Motorsport for three more years during the offseason. The IndyCar schedule is nowhere near as long as NASCAR's, and the open-wheel series doesn't run every week, so from a time and logistics standpoint, she could make it work.
Patrick will run some Nationwide races before the start of the IndyCar season in March, skip NASCAR in May while she gears up for the Indianapolis 500, run a few races during IndyCar off weeks, and round out her NASCAR schedule after IndyCar wraps up in October. She'll be a busy driver, but it's really not all that different from Sprint Cup drivers who hop on private jets to run Nationwide or Camping World Truck Series races at other venues.
My biggest concern regarding this move is this: if Patrick spends the year jumping back and forth between her IndyCar and her stock car, there's a chance she could struggle in both. Patrick has progressively improved each year she's been in IndyCar, even though she's only won one race in her career (Twin Ring Motegi in Japan in 2008). She finished a career-best fifth in the standings last season and came in a career-best third in the Indy 500.
And let's face it: if you didn't drive for Chip Ganassi or Roger Penske last year, you probably weren't going to win.
But each car requires a different feel, because they're so different aerodynamically and in terms of raw speed. IndyCars are much faster and lighter, while the heavier stock cars rely more on mechanical handling because of their relative areodynamic deficiencies. Patrick already has a learning curve coming up in getting herself acclimated to a stock car; how will she balance that with her IndyCar ride?
Maybe that's where scheduling comes in, with the bulk of her NASCAR races coming before and after the IndyCar season.
A lot of pundits will compare Patrick to the likes of Sam Hornish Jr., Juan Pablo Montoya and Dario Franchitti -- saying she's doomed to fail in NASCAR because the other three haven't exactly set the stock-car world on fire after putting together far better open-wheel resumes than hers. On the surface, it's a fair argument, but it is, in fact, misguided.
Hornish never cut his teeth in the Nationwide Series before hopping into a Cup car. The same could be said of Franchitti and Montoya; sure, they ran Nationwide races, but it was while they were also learning Cup cars. Franchitti was also sidelined by a broken ankle at Talladega and a loss of sponsorship dollars.
Look at Hornish and Montoya; they've been driving stock cars for three years. Hornish is starting to come into his own, with several strong runs this past season, while Montoya made the Chase in seemingly inferior equipment and easily could've won a few races.
Patrick is not jumping into a Cup car; she's biding her time with ARCA and the Nationwide Series, aware that she needs to learn how to handle a stock car and how to run a stock car race (which in the Sprint Cup Series is far longer than the vast majority of IndyCar races). There's a learning curve to running stock cars, and it appears she understands that. It says a lot that someone of her star power is willing to climb up through the minor leagues.
What I'd be interested to see is how Patrick can manage her personality; she's a fierce competitor who doesn't take any crap from other drivers, and she comes from a series where you don't really see a lot of beating and banging. The first time someone leans on her or crumples one of her fenders, how does Patrick handle that?
I'd love to make a prediction regarding Patrick's performance this year, but there's really no telling. She's aligned herself with one of the better teams in the series; JR Motorsports is affiliated with Hendrick Motorsports, and the team finished third in the Nationwide Series point standings this past season with the No. 88 car.
If nothing else, it should be entertaining; this could be the shot in the arm the series needs. But I want Patrick to be careful, and I want her not to get ahead of herself. She's got the right mindset right now, but I want her to keep that mindset once the season starts and she struggles -- which I think she will initially.
After that? There's no telling.
In short, she was better off staying where she was.
But Patrick made the move anyway, announcing she would be running a partial schedule in the NASCAR Nationwide Series this coming season for JR Motorsports. While her debut is expected to come in the season's second race at Auto Club Speedway, there's a chance she could make her debut at the season opener at Daytona.
Patrick will also run the ARCA race at Daytona on Feb. 6.
Patrick will run in the Nationwide Series on top of her IndyCar schedule; she renewed with Andretti Motorsport for three more years during the offseason. The IndyCar schedule is nowhere near as long as NASCAR's, and the open-wheel series doesn't run every week, so from a time and logistics standpoint, she could make it work.
Patrick will run some Nationwide races before the start of the IndyCar season in March, skip NASCAR in May while she gears up for the Indianapolis 500, run a few races during IndyCar off weeks, and round out her NASCAR schedule after IndyCar wraps up in October. She'll be a busy driver, but it's really not all that different from Sprint Cup drivers who hop on private jets to run Nationwide or Camping World Truck Series races at other venues.
My biggest concern regarding this move is this: if Patrick spends the year jumping back and forth between her IndyCar and her stock car, there's a chance she could struggle in both. Patrick has progressively improved each year she's been in IndyCar, even though she's only won one race in her career (Twin Ring Motegi in Japan in 2008). She finished a career-best fifth in the standings last season and came in a career-best third in the Indy 500.
And let's face it: if you didn't drive for Chip Ganassi or Roger Penske last year, you probably weren't going to win.
But each car requires a different feel, because they're so different aerodynamically and in terms of raw speed. IndyCars are much faster and lighter, while the heavier stock cars rely more on mechanical handling because of their relative areodynamic deficiencies. Patrick already has a learning curve coming up in getting herself acclimated to a stock car; how will she balance that with her IndyCar ride?
Maybe that's where scheduling comes in, with the bulk of her NASCAR races coming before and after the IndyCar season.
A lot of pundits will compare Patrick to the likes of Sam Hornish Jr., Juan Pablo Montoya and Dario Franchitti -- saying she's doomed to fail in NASCAR because the other three haven't exactly set the stock-car world on fire after putting together far better open-wheel resumes than hers. On the surface, it's a fair argument, but it is, in fact, misguided.
Hornish never cut his teeth in the Nationwide Series before hopping into a Cup car. The same could be said of Franchitti and Montoya; sure, they ran Nationwide races, but it was while they were also learning Cup cars. Franchitti was also sidelined by a broken ankle at Talladega and a loss of sponsorship dollars.
Look at Hornish and Montoya; they've been driving stock cars for three years. Hornish is starting to come into his own, with several strong runs this past season, while Montoya made the Chase in seemingly inferior equipment and easily could've won a few races.
Patrick is not jumping into a Cup car; she's biding her time with ARCA and the Nationwide Series, aware that she needs to learn how to handle a stock car and how to run a stock car race (which in the Sprint Cup Series is far longer than the vast majority of IndyCar races). There's a learning curve to running stock cars, and it appears she understands that. It says a lot that someone of her star power is willing to climb up through the minor leagues.
What I'd be interested to see is how Patrick can manage her personality; she's a fierce competitor who doesn't take any crap from other drivers, and she comes from a series where you don't really see a lot of beating and banging. The first time someone leans on her or crumples one of her fenders, how does Patrick handle that?
I'd love to make a prediction regarding Patrick's performance this year, but there's really no telling. She's aligned herself with one of the better teams in the series; JR Motorsports is affiliated with Hendrick Motorsports, and the team finished third in the Nationwide Series point standings this past season with the No. 88 car.
If nothing else, it should be entertaining; this could be the shot in the arm the series needs. But I want Patrick to be careful, and I want her not to get ahead of herself. She's got the right mindset right now, but I want her to keep that mindset once the season starts and she struggles -- which I think she will initially.
After that? There's no telling.
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