NASCAR 2010 in Review

My lighthearted look back at 2010 skips right over January and kicks off in.....

February saw us cranking the season up in Daytona. Having our season begin with our biggest race, our Super Bowl, if you will. Does that make us more progressive than the other sports? The Daytona 500 saw a driver no one wanted, in a car no one wanted to drive, win the big one. Eventual winner, Jamie McMurray drove his swamp buggy over, around, and through the Sippy Hole that was between turns one and two. The, normally three hour, race had more restarts than Uncle Buck's charcoal grill on a rainy day, and went on longer than a Sally Field marathon weekend on Lifetime.

March came in like a lion at Atlanta when Carl Edwards gave Brad Keselowski an aerial view of track. Two bad guys 'having at it'. Meh, what's the worst that could happen? Through our first six races, Jimmie Johnson had three wins. Meh, what's the worst that could happen?

April began with Denny Hamlin refusing a relief driver in Phoenix after his knee surgery, then going on to win the very next race, in Texas. Hamlin had two wins to that point. Meanwhile, Kevin Harvick's win in Talladega solidified his points lead.

JGR began a dominant run in May as Kyle Busch and Hamlin won everything but the races at CMS. Understandable as they were trying to kill each other, instead. Big Bro, Kurt swept the two Cup events at Charlotte.

June looked a lot like May as Hamlin won the first two races of the month. The four-time champ won the last two races in June. Hmmm? Do I detect a pattern here?

Yes, I thought I did, Harvick continues plate track dominance by winning July's first race, at Daytona. Gotta love the TNT broadcast for that, one, virtually commercial-free, race. J Mac continued cherry picking as he won the Brickyard 400 at Indy. Dale Earnhardt Jr did something to get his fans buzzing, I'm sure... just can't remember what it was.

August saw Ford's first win of the year when Greg Biffle came through at Pocono. JPM won at the Glen. Harvick and Kyle each scored their third wins of the season. Kyle's Cup win at Bristol capped a perfect, 3-0 weekend. Kylefecta!

September began the Chase. No, it was actually watchable... although, millions didn't. Tony Stewart got his first W, and almost his second, two weeks later before running out of gas in the first Chase race. That race, at Loudon, was 'won' by Clint Bowyer. Everything, up to, and including his 'participant' trophy for his 4th grade spelling bee, was taken away from Bowyer over "Wreckergate"... except the win. Yeah, you can keep that, CB.

October gets underway with a very familiar name atop the points standings, and.... millions more not watching on TV. Five October races... five different winners.... five exciting finishes. The closest, (insert William Tell Overture here) most exciting Chase, (faint praise, I know) in the history of Chases is in full tilt.

Hamlin wins November's first race, at Texas... and vaults atop the points leader board. This brings on the lamest smack ever talked. Really, that 4th grade spelling bee had better woofing than JJ and Kev's limp attempt at trash talking. Carl Edwards ended a non-scoring streak longer than Mr Furley's as he won the final two races of 2010.

And, the greatest Chase ever? Hamlin staggered into Miami with a 15 point lead. The top three contenders, Hamlin, JJ, and Hap, led ONE lap between them, Hamlin and Harvick had troubles, and Johnson slipped away with his fifth consecutive championship!

thanks to Dave Barry