Quick Hits: End of Season Recap

by Chris Leone, Special To NASCAR commentary and driver pictures, 2011 NASCAR schedule, video, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

I do weekly Fantasy Pick'Em columns here at OPR, as well as the occasional opinion and analysis piece. I also provide the IZOD IndyCar Series coverage. For more on that, head to my site, OpenWheelAmerica.com. My Twitter handle is @christopherlion.

November 19, 2008 9:43 pm CST 3 Comments

Well, everybody, the 2008 NASCAR season is finally over. After ten grueling months of hard-fought racing, drivers and teams have earned the right to two months’ rest and relaxation in preparation for 2009.

Except, of course, it’s not going to be all relaxation for anyone by any means, as personnel cuts in the Sprint Cup garages have reached the triple digits, dozens of drivers are looking for work, team owners can’t find sponsorship to save their life, the Nationwide Series only has about 20 full-time cars right now, the Camping World Truck Series doesn’t have manufacturer support in some cases anymore…

…like I said, two months’ worth of well-deserved R&R. We saw Jimmie Johnson win an incredible third consecutive Sprint Cup, becoming only the second driver to ever do so. Clint Bowyer won his first Nationwide championship after battling Carl Edwards to the final race at Homestead. And of course, Johnny Benson won his first Truck Series championship after coming into the season finale with a single-digit point lead over Ron Hornaday. This was one of the most exciting years in NASCAR championship history, to say the least.

Then again, Johnson took all the fun out of this championship by making a mockery of the Chase format. Bowyer, Edwards, and the lot proved yet again that the Nationwide Series is Cup Lite, as six out of every seven races were won by Cup drivers. Even the Truck Series finale featured Benson’s teammate Scott Speed mixing it up with Hornaday in the final laps, all but handing the championship to Benson…

…like I said, one of NASCAR’s most exciting years ever. We also saw over 43 full-time cars in the Sprint Cup Series for much of the season, with teams like Richard Childress Racing and Germain Racing (with newcomer Max Papis) adding still more to the car count for 2009.

Oh, but did I mention the fact that many Truck races didn’t have enough trucks to fill the field? That MSRP Motorsports start-and-parked a grand total of 61 times in 70 attempts this season in Nationwide? That only about 30 Sprint Cup, 20 Nationwide, and a handful of Truck Series programs have set their driver and sponsorship programs for 2009?

Oh, and did I mention that Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Chip Ganassi Racing were forced into a shotgun marriage by virtue of lack of sponsorship and performance, which helped lead to the elimination of nearly 200 jobs?

I’ll take my two months’ rest and relaxation, thanks.

For the time being, I’m working on a modest proposal on how to fix NASCAR. Yes, single-handedly. You’ll see that on here in… I don’t know, I’d like it to be a quality project, so bi-weekly installments? I have a life, you know, applying to colleges and whatnot.

In the mean time, thanks for reading and putting up with my Jekyll-and-Hyde optimistic pessimism, and see you in February.

Filed under: Carl Edwards, Chip Ganassi Racing, Craftsman Truck Series, Dale Earnhardt, Inc., Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, Germain Racing, Jimmy Johnson, Max Papis, NASCAR, Nationwide Series, Richard Childress Racing, Sprint Cup Series

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Comments

3 Responses to “Quick Hits: End of Season Recap”

Scott Hall on November 20th, 2008 4:17 pm

MSRP 4 LIFE
Steve Wronkowicz on November 21st, 2008 9:46 am

Chris–

Whats with this “Have a Life” business? I thought everybody was like Charlie and me with no apparent life.

Your contributions this season have been terrific and we look forward to reuniting again in 2009.

Everyone needs to remember that ON PIT ROW–the radio show and the website, goes fifty weeks a year and is heard at http://www.onpitrow.com . worldwide. We do take the two weeks of Christmas and New Years off.
Charlie Turner on November 22nd, 2008 3:23 pm

We do?

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