Sports Illustrated's Year - End Awards

Sports Illustrated.com has recently given out year � end awards to the recently concluded Nextel Cup series. Among the categories for the awards included: Best Driver, Best Crew Chief, Comeback Driver, Best Feud, Best Rookie, Biggest Surprise, Biggest Disappointment, Best Race, Biggest Mystery, Classiest Act, and Wildest Finish.

Nextel Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson is �Best Driver�. Johnson has managed to wow every NASCAR spectator with his impressive skill and outstanding crew team. Chad Knaus, Johnson�s crew chief is named �Best Crew Chief�. Knaus was the epitome of what every intelligent crew chief should be, his strategies were so excellent that his team won the Cup. Carl Edwards is �Comeback Driver�, after a one year hiatus, he comes back with a bang at the 2007 Nextel Cup with finishing ninth in the standings and winning three times. Edwards merits yet another award which he shares with Matt Kenseth - the ironic �Best� Feud award. The spat between the two racers was very well � publicized and spectators saw Edwards charging towards Kenseth and faking a punch at Kenseth�s head while Kenseth was being interviewed. The �Best Rookie� award went to Juan Pablo Montoya who finished 20^th in the standings. Montoya has brought his winning streak from the Indy 500 and Formula One to NASCAR. He is a strong contender for the Chase in �08. Clint Bowyer won the �Biggest Surprise� award. After two years of not winning anything higher than the third place in a race, Bowyer finished with a win and two second place runs in this year�s Nextel cup. Kasey Kahne gets the �Biggest Disappointment� award. Kahne had been a very promising race car driver after winning six races in the previous year but his chances at the championship fell as he plummeted to 19^th in the 2007 race standings. The �Best Race� award goes to the race at Watkins Glen which featured a near fight between Kevin Harvick and Juan Pablo Montoya, Jeff Gordon�s unexpected spinout and more racing accidents than the season has ever seen. Michael Waltrip gets the �Biggest Mystery� award, despite being embroiled in cheating at the Daytona 500 and finishing in 44^th place, Waltrip seems to still be appearing on one too many television commercials. Mark Martin receives the �Classiest Act� award. Despite having lead points, Martin decided to cut back his time on track to spend more time with his family. The �Wildest Finish� award goes to Clint Bowyer. Bowyer crossed or rather skidded through the finish line with his vehicle in flames at the Daytona 500. When interviewed regarding the incident, Bowyer said that he felt like his race was �Pretty Uneventful�.

The awards given by SportsIllustrated.com pretty much sums up the tumultuous season that this year�s Nextel Cup was.

Source: Year-End Awards