Unofficial RN season 09 review.

[greg]

Unofficial RN season 09 review.


That's right you are on the panel to grade the 2009 season, drivers, announcers, and any other significant individuals associated with Nascar.


I have a lot of questions or topics, just pick the ones you like, and write and tell us what you think, some are silly but this is supposed to be fun.

Feel free to add your questions or topics from 2009 to be reviewed


The Drivers


-Who was the best driver in 2009.

-Who was the sorriest most worthless driver this year.

- Which driver on a single particular day performed the best, or drove the best race of the year.


- Which driver on a single particular day performed the worst, or drove the worst race of the year.


-Which driver improved most, or had the best comeback season(can be a rookie, or veteran, improvement is the key word).


Which driver for a multi car team was clearly better than his teammates, or outperformed the rest of his team.


-Which driver needs the ever living doo doo beat out of him. In other words who was the biggest idiot.


Which driver was the bad butt driver of the year (or the one that wouldn't take any junk from anyone else).


-which driver was the biggest cry baby this year.


The hottest babe (can be a drivers wife, or a team members wife, just so long as she connected to racing).


-Person with the most class.(can be anyone involved in sport)

Who was the most interesting person of the season(can be anyone involved in sport).
.


Which big team owner picked his driver line up the best.


Which one picked the worst line up of divers.


Who was the was the best voice of the year(can be a TV, radio person or a writer).

Who was the worst voice of the year(can be a TV, radio person or a writer).
.

-The best race of the year

-the worst race of the year.


-what was the best decision or call made by Nascar this year.


-what was the worst decision or call made by Nascar this year.


-

[Blakr]

Holy crap, greg. This looks like a damn job application. lol
I'll give it my best shot, but I may have to tackle it in several parts.


-Who was the best driver in 2009. That's a tough question because any driver is only as good as the team and equipment, but I'd have to go with JJ. He had the best team, and he has very good stuff under him, but he's the one that got the job done.

-Who was the sorriest most worthless driver this year. The first one that comes to mind would be Jr. He's got unquestionably some of the best equipment under him, but doesn't seem to be able to get a decent finish even when he starts out running good. He had more than a usual amount of mechanical problems like blown motors, and transmissions, but sometimes the driver is at fault when things like that happen.
Considering the fact that no other HMS cars had any of those problems makes me think a lot of those things were due to the driver.

- Which driver on a single particular day performed the best, or drove the best race of the year. Two come to mind here. The first would be Pablo at Indi. He dominated that race. I know, he blew it speeding on pit road, but he kicked everyone's ass that day hands down.
The second would be JJ at Charlotte. The late race restart where he was racing hard with Gordon.


- Which driver on a single particular day performed the worst, or drove the worst race of the year. Jr again. Pick any race.


-Which driver improved most, or had the best comeback season(can be a rookie, or veteran, improvement is the key word). Stewart. Although he had everything HMS, including all the R&D HMS has to offer, he still surprised me at how good that team was by mid season. Unfortunately for the Stewart lovers, just after the Glen, the team took a serious nose dive in performance.


Which driver for a multi car team was clearly better than his teammates, or outperformed the rest of his team. No brainer here. JJ and the 48 team.
Beyond that, I'd say Bowyer over the rest of the RCR stable.


-Which driver needs the ever living doo doo beat out of him. In other words who was the biggest idiot. Denny for acting like the savior to the Cup series or wrecking Brad at Homestead. Also for running his mouth and crying about Brad for most of the year.


Which driver was the bad butt driver of the year (or the one that wouldn't take any junk from anyone else). Brad Keselowski


-which driver was the biggest cry baby this year. Denny for the reasons I already stated.



I'll get back to the rest of this later. My fingers are starting to hurt.

[Blakr]

The hottest babe (can be a drivers wife, or a team members wife, just so long as she connected to racing). I have to give this one to Kyle's girlfriend. It's amazing to me that a dork like Kyle can pull in a hottie like that.
I know it has nothing to do with the fact that he's a millionaire.







-Person with the most class.(can be anyone involved in sport) Mark Martin. He's always been very humble, and never been one to cry about much. Also Jeff Gordon. He's been a gracious loser to the 48 team over the last 4 years. Much more than Jimmie himself has said he would be able to do.

Who was the most interesting person of the season(can be anyone involved in sport). I nominate Ray Evernham for this one. His analyses of the race for the networks is always interesting and insightful. I never get tired of hearing him talk.


Which big team owner picked his driver line up the best. How can you dispute an owner that had the top 3 positions in the final season standings? Rick Hendrick. He has the 3 best teams in the Cup series, and his 4th team is a cash cow team that brings in millions in merchandise sales.


Which one picked the worst line up of divers. I'm drawing a blank on this one.


Who was the was the best voice of the year(can be a TV, radio person or a writer). Andy Petree. Like Ray, he's always very interesting and insightful. And also like Ray, he seems very unbiased about his race coverage, unlike Rusty.

Who was the worst voice of the year(can be a TV, radio person or a writer). Mikey. I just can't stand to listen to that guy talk. He talks so fast you'd think he was getting paid by the word.

-The best race of the year The fall race at Cali was shockingly good. The fall Charlotte race as well. Hard to say which race was the best of the year.

-the worst race of the year. Again, too hard to call. Though I liked some more than others, I enjoyed them all.


-what was the best decision or call made by Nascar this year. I like the lead lap cars double file restarts. It really made the restarts interesting and exciting.


-what was the worst decision or call made by Nascar this year. Allowing the field to race back to the start finish line with a car sitting in the racing groove for the sake of a good finish.

[Schwartz Fan]

-Who was the best driver in 2009.

Gotta go with Johnson on this one. Always in the hunt and doesn't crack under pressure

-Who was the sorriest most worthless driver this year.


Michael Waltrip- did he ever finish on the lead lap? Spends all his time on tv shows telling us how it should be done yet can't get it done himself.

- Which driver on a single particular day performed the best, or drove the best race of the year.

Pretty hard to pick just one, but Juan Pablo at Indy was one of the most dominating performances I've seen in awhile.


- Which driver on a single particular day performed the worst, or drove the worst race of the year.

Can't think of any particular race, but Michael Waltrip would be my guess


-Which driver improved most, or had the best comeback season(can be a rookie, or veteran, improvement is the key word).

Juan Pablo Montoya


Which driver for a multi car team was clearly better than his teammates, or outperformed the rest of his team.

Tony Stewart & Brian Vickers


-Which driver needs the ever living doo doo beat out of him. In other words who was the biggest idiot.


Brad Keselowski

Which driver was the bad butt driver of the year (or the one that wouldn't take any junk from anyone else).

Juan Pablo Montoya, showed he wasn't afraid to rub fenders with anyone. no matter how many cups they have won.


-which driver was the biggest cry baby this year.

Denny Hamlin & Kyle Busch are a tie in my book. Denny whines about everything and Kyle pouts and stomps off like a three year old everytime he doesn't win. (That's not passion that's immaturity.)


The hottest babe (can be a drivers wife, or a team members wife, just so long as she connected to racing).

This is a good question as there are quite a few. Three stand out to me more than others Kim Burton, Krissy Newman and Connie Montoya these ladies can pull it off without all the make up and fancy attire and they aren't so scrawny that you can trace a skeleton like you can on Johnson's wife.


-Person with the most class.(can be anyone involved in sport)

It's impossible to pick one person on this one, there are so many things that driver's do away from the track that show class in my book......But I'll give you three examples of what I consider to be very classy gestures....Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick making it possble for Morgan Shepherd to to what he loves to do...Kyle Busch helping out the Ard's.....Jeff Gordon, Children's Hospital.. the list goes on and on. There are so many other driver's that do things, not just the ones I listed....it's impossible to pick just one person.

Who was the most interesting person of the season(can be anyone involved in sport).

I'm drawing a blank on this one, there a lot of interesting people in the sport.

Which big team owner picked his driver line up the best.

Rick Hendrick it's hard to ignore 1-2-3 in points


Which one picked the worst line up of divers.

Red Bull Racing- Vickers is average at best and Speed, hasn't impressed me in anything he's ever driven


Who was the best voice of the year(can be a TV, radio person or a writer).

Barney Hall

Who was the worst voice of the year(can be a TV, radio person or a writer).
.


We don't have enough space on the web to list them all....but I'll name a few that I really think should be released from their contracts...

Tim Brewer...useless
Bob Dilner...Dumb as a post.
Rusty Wallace....just sucks with a microphone
Brad Daughtry....Tries waaaayyyy too hard to sound excited over nothing, just gets on my last nerve.
Andy Petree...repeats everything the other announcers say like he has nothing to add....speaks just to be heard half the time.
Rutledge Wood.....Does nascar really think this moron sheds a good light on the sport?
Michael and Darrell Waltrip............Darrell has a lot to add to a broadcast, if he would just talk about racing without bias and Mickey is just an idiot.
Kenny Wallace and Jimmy Spencer......Another driver "trying" to be funny and a "never was" with nothing to add to any broadcast.
Dr. Jerry Punch....1st he needs to learn the difference between a backflip and a somersault and he rambles on and on and on about stuff we don't need to here. Needs to be put back as a pit reporter.


Any play by play announcer gets on my nerves...I'm watching the race that's on now, I don't give a damn what happened here 10 years ago. Leave that for the weekly show on monday.

This is just my short list.....


-The best race of the year

Sonoma and the Glen

-the worst race of the year.


Any race that requires a restrictor plate

-what was the best decision or call made by Nascar this year.

Double file restarts


-what was the worst decision or call made by Nascar this year.


Letting the field race back to line while a car was in harms way....no once, but twice!

[revvinjim]

I'll try this Monday when I might have more time. I have only 12 minutes on the timer right now. Interesting thread!

[greg]

-Who was the best driver in 2009.
Jimmy Johnson. Just too good in the chase to deny

-Who was the sorriest most worthless driver this year.
Michael Waltrip with an honorable mention to Junior and Scott Speed .I go with MW because he was showed up even by Ambrose who deserves respect, but still was a rookie.

- Which driver on a single particular day performed the best, or drove the best race of the year.
Kyle Busch for the restarts during the Winston or whatever they call the all star race now.
-Honorable mentions to: - JPM at Indy, but still he got the speeding penalty which I hated to see.
-Jimmy Johnson at the first Dover race, where he ran down Stewart late in the race to win. He had dominated all day, but the thing that impressed me was the way he changed his line and hustled the car.
-Brad Crasha at Talladega, for picking Edwards to get to the front, and then out juking his blocks, he correctly anticipated Edwards blocks in advance.

- Which driver on a single particular day performed the worst, or drove the worst race of the year.
not sure, either Waltrip for being slow, or Junior screwing up a pit road entry.

-Which driver improved most, or had the best comeback season(can be a rookie, or veteran, improvement is the key word).
Montoya for truly being so fast and formidable in a Gannasi Earnhardt car. There is probably no way to say how valuable that had to be for that organization, at a minimum he proved they have the tools to compete every week, which could be a catalyst for better things. Honorable mentions to Martin and Stewart. Not that I think Martin was any better this year , but with Hendrick wheels his finishes definitely improved.


-Which driver for a multi car team was clearly better than his teammates, or outperformed the rest of his team.
Kahne, nonone else came close to him on his team. AJ started out with a lot of promise, but Kahne was the only one with a satisfactory year.
Honorable mention to Vickers because Speed sucks.

-Which driver needs the ever living doo doo beat out of him. In other words who was the biggest idiot.
Waltrip needs many, he is loaded and would need many to purge himself. I just hate hearing his voice. At one time I liked him during the Wood brother days, but now he is overexposed.

Which driver was the bad butt driver of the year (or the one that wouldn't take any junk from anyone else).
Montoya, he does it and gets it out if system, without press conferences or a weekly soap opera

-which driver was the biggest cry baby this year.
Probably Kyle, I like him but he needs a little more maturity.

The hottest babe (can be a drivers wife, or a team members wife, just so long as she connected to racing).
Normally I don't think about such shallow juvenile thoughts, nor would I sit around and meditate any more than 23.5 hours a day on it, it just wouldn't be Christian. But since the OP asked I will try real hard to provide a thoughtful answer.


Jimmy Johnson's wife, I like her being skinny, and I like Kyle's girl too, but she is top heavy in my book. I like to concentrate on the bottom of the chassis, which is also good on her.

I like Montoya’s wife and Kim Burton as well. Kim looked sweet in that car at the pit competition. She has that sweetheart look that has remained after her children and a few years. She has taken a knocking and still looks great.
I have actually found myself rooting for Jeff, because Kim was so adorable and tense over the outcome, I just wanted to see her happy which would mean Jeff is winning.
The way she puts her heart into it makes me believe that Jeff enjoys the sweetest sweetheart babe in racing.


Did I mention Jimmy Johnson's skinny wife.
Ok enough with that because it is all about the racing anyway

-Person with the most class.(can be anyone involved in sport)
I will go with Kyle B for helping out Sam Ard and for the intensity he brings to sport. It is hard to hate a guy that will slap a nickname on a truck and drive it for almost nothing. In addition he tried to get the displaced champion Benson back in a truck as well, a little rough on the edges but a lot to like as well

-Who was the most interesting person of the season(can be anyone involved in sport).
Kyle B, follow the ink and the reporters

-Which big team owner picked his driver line up the best.
Hendrick

- Which one picked the worst line up of divers.
Red Bull for Scott Speed, they would have been better with AJ.
Considered Petty as well

-Who was the was the best voice of the year(can be a TV, radio person or a writer).
Barney Hall, I grew up hearing him, it sounds right and down home like. Not a Nascar guy but I like Robin Miller for being a fun but cranky grouch.

-Who was the worst voice of the year(can be a TV, radio person or a writer).
Michael Waltrip

-The best race of the year
The all star race, Kyle hustling his car, and then him Gordon, and Newman roaring out of turn four at an impossible 190 mph three wide into an impossible dog leg. Nothing but passion and guts and I salute them, when Gordon with an old back injury stepped out of that car, he had lost the race but he still was no less of an warrior imho.

-the worst race of the year.
Talladega, no bump me fiasco

-what was the best decision or call made by Nascar this year.
Double file restarts

-what was the worst decision or call made by Nascar this year.
about a 100 phantom cautions, and for trying to drown out criticism after the Talladega race


Edited after first original post to reduce some duplication and format better ( I type and posted on my old mobile phone which has some limitations), and eliminate some comments that may have offended a few.


-

[Scooters]

-Who was the best driver in 2009.
Even though Johnson won the title, the driver with the most flair and ability to do just about anything with a race car has to be Kyle Busch

-Who was the sorriest most worthless driver this year.
Toss up between the annual winner of this award - Michael Waltrip, and David Stremme

- Which driver on a single particular day performed the best, or drove the best race of the year.
The one that stands out for me the most was the way Montoya performed at the Brickyard. I remember thinking "ahhhh, he gets it, he finally gets it"


- Which driver on a single particular day performed the worst, or drove the worst race of the year.
Junior, most races


-Which driver improved most, or had the best comeback season(can be a rookie, or veteran, improvement is the key word).
Montoya, hands down.

Which driver for a multi car team was clearly better than his teammates, or outperformed the rest of his team.
RCR: Burton. Bowyer started strong but faded as the season wound down.
HMS: Johnson (duh)

-Which driver needs the ever living doo doo beat out of him. In other words who was the biggest idiot.
This award goes to two candidates: Keselowski and Hamlin

Which driver was the bad butt driver of the year (or the one that wouldn't take any junk from anyone else).
Montoya again

-which driver was the biggest cry baby this year.
Jr, but he had a lot to cry about

The hottest babe (can be a drivers wife, or a team members wife, just so long as she connected to racing).
I think I'll just opt out of this question since - although my connection to racing is tenuous at best - I think I'm the hottest babe.

-Person with the most class.(can be anyone involved in sport)
Most would think Martin off the bat but its the sidelines that impress me more. Any of the people who provide support to critters and kids through their foundations or charities (Kyle Petty, Kurt Busch, Greg Biffle to name just a few) and Tony Stewart for what he does for up and coming drivers and Kyle Busch for so many 'behind the scenes' generosities. He's more like Sr than a lot of folks realize - on and off the track.

Who was the most interesting person of the season(can be anyone involved in sport).
Jeremy Mayfield - I mean, c'mon - the gossip abounds!

Which big team owner picked his driver line up the best.
No doubt about it, Richard Petty. OK OK, it was really Rick Hendrick.


Which one picked the worst line up of divers.
This is the one for Richard Petty.. sorry about that

Who was the was the best voice of the year(can be a TV, radio person or a writer).
Alan Bestwick. Knows a TON of stuff but doesn't try to be a know it all

Who was the worst voice of the year(can be a TV, radio person or a writer).
Toss up - Michael Waltrip, Rusty Wallace.
.

-The best race of the year
Sonoma, exciting as all get out

-the worst race of the year.
Fall Talladega. I'm still pissed about the 'tude of the drivers.

-what was the best decision or call made by Nascar this year.
Double file restarts. Sure, the drivers (up front) don't like them, but gee golly its called 'racing'


-what was the worst decision or call made by Nascar this year.
To not call cautions on the last lap when there were cars actually immobile in the racing area and not safely out of the way.

[Blakr]

After further consideration, I'd like to change a couple of my answers.

-Which driver improved most, or had the best comeback season Pablo. He made a believer out of me by the time the chase started. If I had only seen it sooner perhaps I could have picked up a few more points in the top 5 game :(


-the worst race of the year. Without a doubt, the fall Talladega race. I had forgotten about this fiasco when I was going through this the first time.

[revvinjim]

-Who was the best driver in 2009.
Jimmie Johnson, no elaboration needed

-Who was the sorriest most worthless driver this year.
Jeremy Mayfield. You can't get much sorrier or more worthless than that. It's really depressing.

- Which driver on a single particular day performed the best, or drove the best race of the year.

I will have to go with the majority and say Juan Montoya. He is also very exciting to watch race.


- Which driver on a single particular day performed the worst, or drove the worst race of the year.
Michael Waltrip


-Which driver improved most, or had the best comeback season(can be a rookie, or veteran, improvement is the key word).

Mark Martin


Which driver for a multi car team was clearly better than his teammates, or outperformed the rest of his team.
This is a tough one, because every multi car team had someone like that. I will go with Jimmie Johnson.


-Which driver needs the ever living doo doo beat out of him. In other words who was the biggest idiot.
Jeremy Mayfield


Which driver was the bad butt driver of the year (or the one that wouldn't take any junk from anyone else).
Toss up between Montoya and Stewart. I will take Stewart only on the basis that he is my favorite driver.


-which driver was the biggest cry baby this year.
Junior


The hottest babe (can be a drivers wife, or a team members wife, just so long as she connected to racing).
Chandra


-Person with the most class.(can be anyone involved in sport)
Joe Gibbs

Who was the most interesting person of the season(can be anyone involved in sport).
Marcus Ambrose
.


Which big team owner picked his driver line up the best.
Tony Stewart. Both drivers made it to the Chase. Newman wasn't doing that well with Penske, but he had some good finishes with SHR. With a little more work, he could look even better.


Which one picked the worst line up of divers.
Richard Petty. Kasey Kahne is the only real talent he has. I will have to say, though Allmendinger does have some potential. But, as it is, there is no help from any driver on that team for any other driver on that team.


Who was the was the best voice of the year(can be a TV, radio person or a writer).
Marc Boland

Who was the worst voice of the year(can be a TV, radio person or a writer).
.
Robin Miller

-The best race of the year

For pure entertainment, I will say Homestead. There was racing for position all around the track for the entire race, and guess what? No restrictor plates. The tiff between Stewart and Montoya, both of whom are cut, as racers, from the same cloth, made my day. Sonoma was very exciting this year, and gets honorable mention.

-the worst race of the year.
The Fall Talladega race.



-what was the best decision or call made by Nascar this year.
Double file restarts


-what was the worst decision or call made by Nascar this year.
Not moving the Spring California race to somewhere else.