Maybe the easiest pick for this season's end-of-year awards was for the Driver of the Year. Jimmie Johnson dominated the 2007 NEXTEL Cup Series season like no driver in recent history, winning 10 times on his way to a second-straight series championship. The Hendrick Motorsports pilot became the first driver to win back-to-back championships since his teammate Jeff Gordon turned the trick a decade ago. The No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet team also led the way with four poles, 20 top-fives and 24 top-10s. It was the most wins in a season since Gordon's 1998 championship season, when he made 13 trips to Victory Lane. Johnson also won four consecutive races in the "Chase," tying a record that has stood since the "Modern Era" began in 1972. "Every year it gets tougher and tougher," Johnson said of his second title. "Teams are getting stronger every year. And you've got guys with more experience. I think we have a great crop of talented drivers that are now years two and three in their Cup careers. It's only getting more and more difficult as every year goes on." "I think it's a great time to be part of our sport and, hopefully, we bring the action to the fans and everybody. I, in my heart, know it's only going to get more difficult as time goes on." It may become more difficult next season, but in 2007 Jimmie Johnson made it look pretty easy. There are two options to vote:1. Post your response by logging into the RacingOne Community by clicking Hereor 2. Email your selection to press@racingone.comPlease limit choices to just the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, Busch and Craftsman Truck Series.
The 2007 NASCAR Owner of the Year may go on to be the best-ever in the sport's history.
Rick Hendrick oversaw a dominating season by his Hendrick Motorsports squad in 2007, culminating in Jimmie Johnson's second straight NEXTEL Cup title.
It was the seventh championship in NASCAR's top division for Hendrick.
The 2007 season saw Hendrick cars win half of the season's 36 races, led by Johnson's 10 victories.
And with the introduction of the Car of Tomorrow, the Hendrick stable proved to be the best with the new vehicle as well, winning nine of the 16 COT races in 2007.
But Hendrick wasn't content to let his dynasty run rampant on the NASCAR season. He made maybe an even bigger splash off the track when he signed Dale Earnhardt Jr. to join Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Casey Mears beginning next season, putting together what some are already calling the greatest team in NASCAR history.
The runner-up award goes to DeLana Harvick, who oversaw the Kevin Harvick Inc. team's rise in 2007 that ended with a Craftsman Truck Series title for Ron Hornaday.
The tireless Harvick not only kept the day-to-day business of KHI moving forward, which included a Busch Series effort as well as the team's participation in the truck series, she was a very visible member of her husband Kevin's NEXTEL Cup team.
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"The World Center of Racing" lived up to its place as one of auto racing's shrines by delivering not one, but two fantastic finishes in 2007.
The 49th running of the Daytona 500 produced one of the wildest and most exciting endings in history.
With a multi-car crash taking place behind the leaders, Kevin Harvick passed Mark Martin on the final lap of a green-white-checkered finish to win his first career Daytona 500.
"My go-kart experience over the winter paid off, because I didn't let off the floor and we just kept hitting things and the wall and bouncing off everything," Harvick said. "But man, this is the Daytona 500. Can you believe it?"
Harvick seemed mired back in the pack but was able to work his way up toward the front and was in the top five when NASCAR threw the red flag after the final caution of the day for a multi car accident.
On the overtime restart, it was Martin leading the field with his former Roush Racing teammates Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth behind. But the veteran kept his Ginn Racing U.S. Army Chevy in front and looked headed to his first career Daytona 500 win.
Until the wild dash off turn four on the final lap which saw NASCAR not throw the caution flag as the melee erupted in turn four and Harvick somehow shot around to the outside and nipped Martin at the line.
Fast forward to July and the annual mid-summer stop at Daytona.
In the final restrictor plate race using the current car, Jamie McMurray got a nose past Kyle Busch to win the Pepsi 400 by a margin of .005 seconds.
Bouncing back from a penalty that dropped him to 35th-place on Lap 30, McMurray powered his way to the front and had a side-by-side battle with Busch following the final restart with six laps remaining.
As the two raced to the checkered flag, the driver of the No. 26 Irwin Tools Ford Fusion got a late push from Roush Fenway Racing teammate Carl Edwards to squeak by Busch, this morning’s winner of the rain-delayed NASCAR Busch Series race.
"Carl helped me win the race," McMurray said. "He shoved me in and probably could have made it three wide but he pushed me to the win. So huge thanks to Carl Edwards."
It was the second-closest finish in NASCAR history since the inception of electronic scoring.
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There is a wealth of NASCAR-related television programming on the airwaves this year ranging from pre-race shows to post-race programs and everything in-between.
But the show that has become "must see TV' for every NASCAR fan is SPEED's "NASCAR Raceday" preview show which gives viewers the definitive prep for that week's race.
SPEED has assembled a solid and amiable team of reporters and personalities that make this countdown program the best of the bunch, a far better effort than ABC/ESPN's pale "Countdown to Green" show or the FOX pre-race program.
With host John Roberts in place running the show, viewers are given the latest and most up-to-the-minute news directly from the garage area by two of the most talented reporters in the sport today; Bob Dillner and Wendy Venturini.
Each brings in-depth knowledge and a nice rapport with the personalities in the garage to the telecast. And while the news is delivered in a straight-forward manner, there is still enough lightheartedness - without stooping to silly or stupid - to make things fun.
Jimmy Spencer and Kenny Wallace join Roberts on set and do their best to keep things controversial and jovial at the same time, although the act becomes a bit forced from time-to-time.
And the presence of the irritating tandem of Rutledge and Rikki Rachman brings the show down every week, but at least they are short segments.
Overall "NASCAR Raceday" has everything a fan would need to prepare for the race right before the drop of the green flag.
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Michael Waltrip had the kind of year you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy.
But that didn't stop the non-stop pitchman to keep cranking out the television appearances and commercials that have made him famous nearly as much as his racing career.
Waltrip turned in one stellar effort in a spot for his beloved sponsor NAPA, playing off the horrible season he was experiencing and the lack of races he actually made in his No. 55 Toyota.
Waltrip read several letters in a cheery tone, not realizing all were bashing his incompetence as a driver and pointing out the failure of a season he was in the middle of enduring.
Some of the quotes from the commericals included:
"Thanks for asking, but I'm not pitting during my qualifying lap."
"Yes, I do know I have to yank it back into fourth gear."
"Yes, I'm going slower, but you will not believe the fuel mileage I'm getting."
The commericals were humrous and topical and proved that Waltrip - love him or hate him - is still one of NASCAR's best commercial performers.
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Today's world of motorsports television provides fans with literally thousands of hours of programming and coverage on a variety of networks and outlets.
It's a far cry from when the only racing found on the tube was a two week tape-delayed race on ABC's "Wide World of Sports."
With all the extended coverage comes a myriad of announcers and reporters trying to convey the information and action to viewers at home.
Whether it's ABC, ESPN, FOX, SPEED or TNT, there are probably close to 100 television personalities working in motorsports today.
One who has been a vital part of the racing scene for many years and has settled into one of the steadiest and professional broadcasters of our time is Mike Joy of FOX, our choise for 2007 Television Announcer of the Year.
Joy has been reporting on NASCAR for more than three decades and has anchored FOX on NASCAR since the network first began airing races in 2001.
He is the perfect play-by-play announcer, surely decribing the action on track to viewers at home while deftly involving his supporting cast, which includes Darrell Waltrip, Larry McReynolds, Jeff Hammond and the rest of the stellar FOX pit road reporting team.
Joy turned in another solid season in 2007 and was the becnhmark for his colleagues.
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- Biggest Surprise Driver
- Comeback Driver
- Most Embarrassing Moment
- Funniest Moment
- Best Confrontation
- Biggest Disappointment
There was no doubt that Clint Bowyer would be a star in the NASCAR world at some point in his career.
But few predicted his meteoric rise in the sport would come as quickly as it did.
In only his second full season as a NEXTEL Cup regular, Bowyer turned in an impressive year to say the least.
Bowyer and his Richard Childress racing Jack Daniel's Chevy team notched their first win, two poles, five top-five and 17 top-10 finishes, establishing themselves as one of the elite teams on NASCAR’s senior circuit.
His third-place finish in the final standings was the best of the three-car RCR team, with teammates Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick finishing the season eighth and 10th in points, respectively.
"It was a good year for the Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet," said the Emporia, Kansas native. "It was a successful year for us. We had a lot of fun and learned a lot and it was definitely a season we can build on."
Among the highlights of Bowyer's early career will be his first NEXTEL Cup win, which came in dramatic fashion in the Chase opener at New Hampshire International Speedway.
Bowyer credits that win with helping his team move into the upper echelon of the sport.
"I think our season was solid week in and week out but I think it really did change and turn for the better when we got our first win," Bowyer said. "That was the confidence booster that we needed and that propelled us to the next level."
The young driver reflected on his career year and his optimism for the future.
"Really satisfied," he said. "We did a good job. We really did. We came a long ways but we've got some more learning to do. We've got to be a better team to win a championship. You've always got to be better the next year and we're going to have to be better next year."
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Biggest Surprise Driver
Most Embarrassing Moment
Funniest Moment
Best Confrontation
Biggest Disappointment
Naming Bobby Hamilton, Jr. the 2007 Comeback Driver of the Year may seem strange to some.
But considering the year the second generation driver put together in wake of some trying personal issues, Hamilton, Jr. is a worthy recipient.
After losing his father Bobby Sr. to a battle with cancer, Hamilton, Jr. was determined to make his return to Team Rensi Motorsports as a full-time Busch Series regular a successful one.
Going up against the powerhouse NEXTEL Cup teams and drivers who have dominated the Busch circuit the last several seasons, Hamilton, Jr. and TRM were able to finish sixth in the final standings.
He posted three top ten finishes including an eighth in the season's final race at Homestead-Miami Speedway to close out a difficult - and satisfying - year.
"It was tough to say the least," Hamilton, Jr. said. "But my family's strength and the team friendships I have at Team Rensi got us through and we're proud of where we finished and it will only get better for us in 2008."
Honorable mention goes to Carl Edwards, who after winning five Cup races in 2005, disappeared last season in a season full of struggles.
But Edwards bounced back in a big way in 2007, not only winning the Busch Series championship, but winning three times in the NEXTEL Cup Series and finishing ninth in the final standings.
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Please limit choices to just the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, Busch and Craftsman Truck SeriesVoting continues for previous awards
Most Embarrassing Moment
Funniest Moment
Best Confrontation
Biggest Disappointment
Michael Waltrip came into the 2007 season on top of the world.
His fledgling Michael Waltrip Racing NEXTEL Cup operation was entering its inaugural season as the flagship team for Toyota's debut in NASCAR's top division.
But when the opening bell rang at Daytona, things fell apart for Waltrip and the entire MWR team.
Waltrip's NAPA Camry was caught using an illegal jet fuel substance in qualifying at the season-opening Daytona 500.
But in an Emmy award-winning performance in the DIS media center later that week, a teary-eyed Waltrip claimed no knowledge of what happened.
"I am ready to bear all responsibility for what happened," Waltrip said in a whispered tone. "You can't hurt me any worse than I am right now."
"A beautiful nine-year-old asked her mom on Monday why Daddy cheated the rules," Waltrip said, referring to his daughter. "That will hurt you pretty bad."
And with that, Waltrip locked up the award for the season.
What's your pick?
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Funniest Moment
Best Confrontation
Biggest Disappointment
Kasey Kahne literally went from the penthouse to the outhouse in 2007.
The Gillett-Evernham Motorsports driver was a pre-season pick by many to win the 2007 Nextel Cup title.
He certainly earned it.
After a series-leading six victories in 2006 and an eighth place finish in the Chase, Kahne seemed poised to have a breakthrough season and continue his ascent up the NASCAR ladder.
But instead Kahne suffered through a frustrating and dismal season.
He struggled all season and didn’t make one visit to victory lane. After posting 12 top five finishes in 2006, he cracked the first five only once all season and tumbled down the standings to finish 19th in the final rundown.
The runner-up award goes to Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who like Kahne, was plagued by problems all year long.
Junior's farewell season with DEI was nothing but trouble with the No. 8 Chevrolet blowing engines in what seemed like a weekly basis.
Earnhardt, Jr. failed to finish nine races in 2007 and for the second time in three seasons missed the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup.
What is your choice for the biggest disappointment of 2007?
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- Funniest Moment
- Best Confrontation
The 2007 was full of humorous moments, but none was funnier than what happened during the inaugural Busch Series race in Montreal.
Robby Gordon and Marcos Ambrose tangled while racing for position on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve road course, which Gordon believed was for the lead.
After they made contact and spun, Gordon maintained he was the leader despite NASCAR sending him back to 13th-place in the field.
When the race went back to green, Gordon punted Ambrose into the infield.
Gordon then ignored NASCAR's black flags and when the checkered flag flew for Kevin Harvick, Gordon crossed the finish line and then went into a series of celebratory burnouts, claiming he had won the race.
"In my opinion, I won the race," Gordon said. "I completed all the laps. We've seen this happen before - guys get spun when they slow down. That's exactly what happened with Marcos. He spun me when I slowed down, and NASCAR told me I'm going to go back to 17th.
"That's not the way it is. It's happened many times, they've set precedents before. We'll appeal this - we won this race."
Needless to say Gordon's appeal went nowhere and NASCAR sat him for the next day's NEXTEL Cup race at Pocono.
But the sight of his "victory" celebration while the real race winner Harvick was doing his was priceless.
To make up for it Gordon did a nice gesture by offering Ambrose a competitive Cup car for the Watkins Glen race.
What's your funniest moment of the season?
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1. Best Confrontation
RacingOne kicks off our annual NASCAR Fan Awards for 2007 with the first of 12 categories with a look back at the best confrontation from the past season.
The two annual road course races for the Cup circuit are usually loaded with rough driving and high emotions and that was certainly the case during last August's Centurion Boats at The Glen at the famed Watkins Glen International Raceway.
Road racing specialist Juan Pablo Montoya and Kevin Harvick were involved in a tangle that began on track and soon wound up off.
Montoya was trying to block Martin Truex Jr. entering Turn 1 and the two touched, sending Montoya into Harvick. Jeff Burton then came by and was swept up in the incident.
Harvick and Montoya then began an angry exchange with both drivers grabbing the other until they were separated by officials.
"We got tapped from behind, and we got run over by the 42," Harvick said. "But it seems the 42 runs over someone every week. I'm frustrated with that particular car. We thought we had a chance to win there."
That commented didn't sit well with Montoya.
"I don't appreciate that," Montoya said. "I have no respect for the guy. I used to have respect for the guy."
The incident is our choice for the Best Confrontation of the season, what's yours?
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After 26 years, what was known as the Busch Series will cease.
Anheuser-Busch decided to end its long-time sponsorship of NASCAR's number two division after the 2007 season opening the door for Nationwide to take over as the title sponsor.
It's fitting that a new company and name will come on board for the series in 2008, which many believe will be the first in a long series of changes for the venerable circuit.
What was once a place for young talent to hone their skills before having a chance to move into the premier NASCAR Cup Series, the Nationwide Series has evolved into "Cup Lite" the last several years.
The last two seasons in particular have seen tremendous dominance by Cup regulars on the series, with Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards winning the 2006 and 2007 championships by huge margins.
Among the ideas being floated around to help differentiate the series from its Cup big brother is the introduction of a new car in 2009, perhaps a "pony car" model allowing manufacturers to employ and market a different car in the two circuits.
Limiting Cup drivers' participation has been a source of conversation for several years and NASCAR is reportedly considering a system that would not award Nationwide Series points to any driver holding a Top 35 spot in the Cup Series standings.
Some have suggested creating a schedule that isn't as dependant on Nationwide-Cup Series doubleheaders would be a better way to separate the two divisions, holding more stand-alone NW events away from the Cup Series.
ABC/ESPN's exclusive contract to televise the series was supposed to help build a new identity, but the network's debut season didn't really look much different from Cup telecasts.
A new on-air look with different announcers and talent would seem to be a good way to create a differentiation between the two.
In short, the Nationwide Series is at a crossroads and it will be interesting to see what moves are made to help rebuild what was once a much stronger circuit than it is today.
What do you think?
Those who believe NASCAR caters more to sponsors and its business partners rather than the fans need to look no further than the controversial Top 35 rule, which was implemented last season.
Drivers who held a spot within the first 35 of the NEXTEL Cup Series standings are granted an automatic starting spot in that week's race, regardless of where they qualified in the weekend's time trial session.
With sometimes more than 50 teams showing up on a weekly basis, NASCAR decided to try and protect sponsors who supported teams on a full-time basis by guaranteeing those drivers a starting position.
The move destroyed the old spirit the sport was built upon when if a driver showed up with a car that was fast enough in qualifying, he could race on Sunday.
The Top 35 rule created numerous embarrassing scenarios last season when several cars made fields despite being drastically slower in qualifying than drivers who were sent home simply because of where they stood in the series standings.
It also put several of the now-dubbed "go or go home" teams at a disadvantage when they were forced to qualify earlier or later in the sessions and confront changing conditions that effected speeds.
NASCAR will reportedly change that in 2008, allowing all the teams outside the Top 35 to qualify in one group.
But the rule itself looks like it's here to stay and has caused many long-time fans to become outraged.
"NASCAR is all about dollars and cents and not about the actual competition," one fan wrote. "This rule brings NASCAR closer to Formula One-type policies with the mega rich teams being protected, virtually eliminating any small or low-budget operations from competing."
What do you think about the Top 35 rule?
Of the thousands of e-mails and comments we receive at the RacingOne editorial offices, television coverage is by far the most popular topic.
Fans are passionate about the way the sport is covered and judging by what we saw, and heard in 2007, it wasn't a great year for the networks that bring NASCAR coverage to viewers.
The biggest complaint from fans is the amount of commercials that are jammed into a telecast and just when those ads are aired.
With FOX as well as ABC/ESPN paying hundreds of millions of dollars each for the rights to televise NASCAR events, the number of commercials are a necessary evil. It's the only way the networks can recover and make a profit on those heavy rights fees.
But it's another story when those spots ruin the flow of a race and networks miss important action or developments while away on a commercial break.
Rather than embrace the popular "side-by-side' concept used by ABC/ESPN in its IndyCar Series coverage - running commercial breaks in a split screen format while the race runs on the other half of the picture - NASCAR and its partners have chosen to continue the traditional format of commercial breaks.
Incorporating the split screen coverage would be another of those giant positive PR steps taken by NASCAR, and its television partners, that would no doubt make a great impact with fans.
Dwindling television ratings were another big story of 2007 and while NASCAR CEO Brian France as well as the heads of networks publicly stated they weren't worried about the trend, it still has to be somewhat alarming to see audience numbers shrinking week-after-week.
The truth is numbers for all television, not just sports, have been on a steady decline for the last two or three years. Consumers now receive TV content in a variety of ways including through DVRs, the Internet and cell phones, which has no doubt made a dent in the actual number of people sitting in front of their sets watching events live.
But in NASCAR's case, the oversaturation of content available and the presentation of that content may be a bigger reason for the decline.
Which brings us to the final point and that is the presentation of telecasts. The return of ABC/ESPN to the NASCAR fold this year was hoped by millions of fans as a cure for the poor product delivered by FOX and previous partner NBC/TNT.
With ESPN's glorious past history of NASCAR telecasts fresh in long-time fans' minds, the return was one of the most anticipated developments in recent NASCAR history.
But the reviews were anything but glowing.
The chief complaint from fans was ABC/ESPN's decision to bring "non-NASCAR" people into their living rooms, with the likes of Brent Musberger, Suzy Kolber and former NBA star Brad Daugherty featured each week.
With the credibility factor already hurt by those moves, the network compounded the problem by using the same logic in its ancillary programming brining in people like Erik Kuselias and Doug Banks - neither with any connection to NASCAR let alone auto racing - to the daily "NASCAR Now" program.
The end result was, as one fan wrote, "one of the biggest disappointments in the history of my following NASCAR. After the days of Bob Jenkins, Benny Parsons and Ned Jarrett set the bar so high in the sport's formative years on ESPN, the network tarnished that legacy with the assembled 'talent' in its return to the sport. Shame on you ESPN."
A reconfigured line-up of talent would seem to be in order based on fan's reaction, which could help ratings make a march forward in 2008 rather than a continued decline.
What do you think about NASCAR's television coverage and what should be done?
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