Best Of... 2011 NASCAR Season

With the 2011 Season over, which is one of my favorite seasons in quite a while, I thought I might go over some of the best/worst moments of the 2011 Season. This is opinion based, others will have different opinions.

Favorite Quote of 2011:
- "God Bless America" Johnny Sauter, Winstar World Casino 400k after being black flagged for switching lanes before crossing the finish line coming to the green on the last restart of the evening.

Favorite Race of 2011:
- Ford 400, mainly because it would make history (a tie for 1st in the points and Stewart being the first owner/driver to win a Championship since 1992 when Alan Kulwicki won the Winston Cup Series Championship) and Tony Stewart making a charge from the back to the front, twice.

Best Save of 2011:
- Ryan Newman and Juan Pablo Montoya at Talladega for the Aaron's 499. When being drafted by Denny Hamlin, Newman got a bit loose and started to come straight down the track that looked like he was going to spin. Montoya was in his path of the car, when Newman hit the 42 with his car, he (and Montoya) were both able to save it and they kept going (despite both getting quite a bit of damage from the incident).

Worst Wreck of 2011:
- Would say Brad Keselowski's testing crash at Road Atlanta, but NASCAR weekend standards, it will go to David Reutimann and David Ragan on the last lap of the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen.

Not So Smart Moment of 2011:
Alex Kennedy  at the 5-Hour Energy 200. After the caution came out for Kennedy spinning in the backstretch, he came up in traffic in front of Kevin Swindell, leaving Swindell with no where to go, destroying both cars.

Favorite Paint Scheme of 2011:

Robby Gordon's "Mapei / Speed Energy" Dodge.
Driven at Napa Auto Parts 200

Least Favorite Paint Scheme of 2011:

Tony Stewart's "El Monterey" Chevy.  Driven at Good Sam Club 500

Trevor Bayne vs. Jeff Gordon Fans

(NOTE: This is an opinion article)

Coming to the last restart, the plan was for Trevor Bayne and Jeff Gordon to draft together to the finish. However, when the restart happened and into Turn 1, Matt Kenseth abandoned his drafting partner, David Ragan, and went behind Bayne. So Bayne had a decision to make while in the backstretch: Stay with his plan and continue drafting his childhood hero, or help his teammate gain some points in the Championship. His decision, however, didn't make many Jeff Gordon fans happy. Bayne and Kenseth ducked low and passed Gordon, making him a sitting duck. What could possibly been a Top 10 finish for Gordon came out to be a 27th place finish.

Bayne went on his Twitter account and tweeted that he was not happy with his decision he made. He felt sick about it, this alone didn't help the Jeff Gordon fans on their views on him now.

My view, I'm a fan of both drivers. And after what I heard what Ford's orders were before this race, I don't blame Bayne making his decision. Before this race, Ford gave the order to all Ford drivers that they have to pretty much draft only Ford drivers. This order is the reason why David Gilliland and Tony Stewart drafting together (which was planned during Friday practice). In this race, Trevor Bayne was driving a Ford and Jeff Gordon was in a Chevy. Matt Kenseth was driving a Ford, so Bayne pretty much came down with Kenseth to make Ford 'happy'.

If Ford never gave that order (which was not a smart order to begin with), I'm sure Bayne would've continued drafting with Gordon. Or if Kenseth didn't bail out Ragan, I'm pretty sure Bayne would continue drafting Gordon.

Another thing, what if Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson caught up to them? What will Jeff Gordon do? For all we know, Jeff could've done the same thing that Bayne did.

Remember folks, this is Talladega, drivers have to take risks during the last laps. What Bayne took was a huge risk to take. Is it something to be disappointed by if you are a Gordon fan? Yes. But is it something that fans should bash him for? No. Its just part of plate racing.

Is Jimmie Johnson Out of the Championship Hunt? Just Wait 'Til Martinsville

After Talladega, many NASCAR fans are saying Jimmie will not win this season. After 6 races from the Chase, Johnson is 50 points away from points leader, Carl Edwards.

Before the Talladega race, there was going to be two tracks that Johnson could make up ground after the Charlotte race. First race was going to be Talladega. He was only 35 points behind Edwards. Jimmie Johnson remained in the back of the field with his teammate, Dale Earnhardt Jr., for most of the day. However, by the time it was time to "Let's go to the front"; late cautions came, and both Dale Jr. and Johnson struggled to make it up to the front on the last caution. Johnson came in 26th, while Edwards came in 11th. Johnson lost 15 points from the points leader, making it 50 now (which is now more than one race behind).

The next race for him to make ground in is Martinsville. Now, it is impossible for Jimmie to get the points lead after Martinsville, but he can gain a lot of ground on Edwards and the other Chase drivers. Jimmie Johnson has 19 starts at Martinsville, and it is perhaps his best track. Of all the races here, he failed to finish in the Top 10 twice (2002 and 2011 (both in the Spring races). He has an average finish of 5.6, and has led 1616 laps at this track, and has won 6 races here.

How about the other drivers?:

Carl Edwards: Carl Edwards at this track is not so good. Edwards has 14 starts at this track, only 4 of those where he finished in the Top 10. Best finish being 3rd in the 2008 fall race. Edwards has only led 3 laps here, all coming from the spring race earlier this season. Average finish at this track is 16.9.

Matt Kenseth: Like Edwards, Matt Kenseth hasn't really that much success at this track. Kenseth has 23 starts here, and he has finished in the Top 10 in 7 of those events. Best finish being 2nd in the 2002 spring race. He has only led 68 laps at this track, last time leading in the 2008 fall race (led 8 laps). Average finish at this track is 15.8.

Brad Keselowski: Brad Keselowski has only been here 3 times, so his stats don't tell that much. He has finished in the Top 10 only once, coming last year's fall race here. He has led 0 laps. He has an average finish at this track of 13.7.

Tony Stewart: Tony Stewart has 25 starts at this track. He has 2 wins at this track, and has 13 Top 10's here too. Stewart has led 1194, last coming last year's fall race were he led only one lap. Average finish at this  track is 13.9. HOWEVER, his last three starts here have not been so good. Best finish being 24th in the fall race last year, and he hasn't finished on the led lap at this track since the 2009 fall race here, which was also his last Top 10 at this track.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin Harvick has 20 starts here. The thing about Harvick at this track, however, is that he is one of those drivers that is mixed at this track. He will have a great race one time, and have a streak of bad races at this track. He has one win here, of course coming from the spring race here earlier this year. He has 9 Top 10 finishes here, and has led 307 laps at this track. Average finish here is 16.5.

Kyle Busch: Kyle Busch has 13 starts here, and he finished in the Top 10 in seven of them (six of which were Top 5's). Kyle Busch has yet to get a win at this track. He has led 271 laps at this track. Average finish for Busch is 15.6.

Of the drivers in the Top 7 in points, Jimmie has the best records in this list of drivers. Where Edwards has the worst average finish and Brad Keselowski has the lowest laps led. If Jimmie has a bad race here, it could be a great chance that we will have a new Champion this year.