Keselowski, Penske Championships Voted Best Moments of 2012
December, 2012
Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Winless Streak Tallies Close Second In Media Poll
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Dec. 10, 2012) – Score one more for the underdog.
Brad
Keselowski, no one’s pre-season choice to win the 2012 NASCAR Sprint
Cup Series championship, stumped the experts. Media members, in turn,
have voted Keselowski’s title run for owner Roger Penske as NASCAR’s top
story of the past season.
Keselowski’s
first championship prevailed in the voting over Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s
drought-busting victory in June at Michigan International Speedway.
Now
that media members have had their say, it’s the fans’ turn. Beginning
at 5:30 p.m. ET this evening, fans can vote for their favorite
competition stories of 2012 on the NASCAR Facebook page, www.facebook.com/nascar.
1.-Brad Keselowski’s First Championship
Three
races into the season and two finishes worse than 30th, Keselowski
appeared a dark horse even to qualify for the postseason. But a second
consecutive victory at Bristol Motor Speedway helped turn around the
fortunes of the No. 2 Penske Racing Dodge team and by mid-September
Keselowski was the No. 3 seed when the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup
got underway. With two wins in the first three races, Keselowski went
from underdog to favorite. He lost the points lead when five-time
champion Jimmie Johnson won at Martinsville but refused to fade under
pressure. A top-10 finish in the penultimate race at Phoenix coupled
with Johnson’s accident and mechanical failure in the finale clinched
the title for Keselowski, Penske and crew chief Paul Wolfe.
2.-Dale Earnhardt Jr. Breaks 143-Race Winless Streak
Entering
the 2012 season it had been nearly four years and more than 125 races
since Earnhardt had won a NASCAR Sprint Cup race. Even some among his
legions of fans openly wondered if Junior would ever grab another
checkered flag. But this season the Hendrick Motorsports driver brought
his “A” game, posting two seconds and a pair of thirds over the
schedule’s first nine races. The breakthrough victory came at Michigan
International Speedway virtually to the day and at the site of
Earnhardt’s last win in June 2008. The 143-race drought was cleansed
June 17 in a race on a brand-new track surface over which Junior led 95
laps and beat reigning champion Tony Stewart by more than five seconds.
3.-Matt Kenseth Wins Explosive Daytona 500
No
Daytona 500 is ever quite like any other and this year’s Great American
Race was no exception. Rain postponed the race for the first time in
history dating to the inaugural race in 1959. And – again a first – the
Daytona 500 became a Monday night affair. Matt Kenseth proved to have
the winning hand as his No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford led the most
laps and held off Earnhardt in a green-white-checker finish to record
his second Daytona 500 victory in four years. What many will most
remember about 54th annual event was the Turn 3 fireball resulting from
Juan Pablo Montoya’s Chevrolet, which suffered a mechanical failure,
slamming into a jet dryer.
4.-Michael Waltrip Racing Makes Chase In Style
Since
becoming a fulltime NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team in 2007, Michael
Waltrip Racing had experienced the joys of winning but never the fruits
of a post-season run. David Reutimann had come closest to qualifying for
the Chase – 16th in 2009. Five seasons of frustration ended in 2012 as
not one but two of MWR’s drivers – Clint Bowyer and Martin Truex Jr. –
made the Chase. Bowyer, the organization’s first-year driver, made the
most of his opportunity winning twice including Charlotte’s Chase race.
Bowyer finished a career-high second in final standings. Truex ranked
11th.
5.-Hendrick Motorsports Records Milestone 200th Victory
Leave it to Jimmie Johnson to register Hendrick Motorsports’ milestone 200th
victory. The organization’s driver with the most championships – five –
ended a 16-race, two-season count-down for win No. 200 on May 12 at
Darlington Raceway. Johnson had won No. 199 at Kansas Speedway in
October 2011, drew blanks ever since. Reaching the milestone seemingly
ignited the fuse for HMS, which won three consecutive races including
Kasey Kahne’s Coca-Cola 600 victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Each of
Hendrick’s drivers – Johnson, Kahne, Earnhardt and Gordon – won in 2012
as well as qualified for the Chase.
6.-Classic Rockingham Raceway Returns To NASCAR In 2012
Rockingham
Raceway, in North Carolina’s sand hills, has provided many thrills
during its five decades as a part of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The
track’s run ended after the 2004 season. Rockingham, under ownership of
Andy Hillenburg, roared back to life in 2012 when the NASCAR Camping
World Truck Series debuted under sunny skies and before full grandstands
on April 15. Kasey Kahne, who finished second to Matt Kenseth in the
track’s final NASCAR Sprint Cup race, drove his Chevrolet Silverado to
Victory Circle posting the first series victory for Turner Motorsports.
7.-Stenhouse Goes Back To Back In The NASCAR Nationwide Series
Since
the NASCAR Nationwide Series was created in 1982 only five drivers had
won consecutive championships. In 2012, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. became the
sixth member of the series elite. Stenhouse battled Elliott Sadler – his
chief rival in 2011 as well – throughout the season. The points lead
changed hands five times with Stenhouse and his No. 6 Roush Fenway
Racing Ford forging ahead for the final time after a fourth-place finish
at Texas Motor Speedway in November. Stenhouse moves to RFR’s No. 17
Ford for a NASCAR Sprint Cup rookie campaign in 2013.
8.-Patrick Makes History With Top-10 Championship Finish
Danica
Patrick became a full-time NASCAR driver for the first time in 2012 and
she made the most of her opportunity with JR Motorsports. Patrick, who
would become the highest-finishing female driver (fourth) in a NASCAR
national series a year ago, made history again. Her 10th-place NASCAR
Nationwide Series championship finish set a new standard for female
competitors erasing Sara Christian’s previous record of 13th in 1949
NASCAR Sprint Cup standings. Patrick finished four times in the top 10
and won the Coors Light Pole for the season opening race at Daytona.
She’ll move to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series fulltime in 2013 with
Stewart-Haas Racing.
9.-Ambrose Wins Second At The Glen In Wild Finish
You
couldn’t have scripted a wilder finish than that of August’s Finger
Lakes 366 at the Glen. Take three hungry hounds – Kyle Busch, Brad
Keselowski and Marcos Ambrose – mix in the drama of a final lap and stir
with the possibility of making or missing the Chase and you’ve got a
recipe for one of the year’s wildest conclusions. The final laps saw
leader Busch and Keselowski collide and Keselowski on and off the track
and running side-by-side with Ambrose, who finally pulled out a
half-second victory off the final turn. Busch’s loss was the difference
between making the Chase as a Wild Card and being a spectator in the
postseason.
10.-Jeff Gordon Claims Final Wild Card Spot At Richmond
Nail-biting
intrigue sits atop the menu whenever the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rolls
to race No. 26 – the Chase cut-off race at Richmond International
Raceway. And the 2012 edition ranks among the best versions since its
inception in 2004. For the first time since 2009, a driver outside the
Chase bubble raced his way in after the 400-lapper. That driver –
four-time series champion Jeff Gordon, who leap-frogged past Kyle Busch
to earn the second Wild Card spot by three points. Gordon finished
second in the race. Busch, thanks in part to a lug nut problem on pit
road, finished 16th, missing the Chase for the first time since 2009.
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