My nominations for the following categories:
Unluckiest Driver of the Year: Awarded to the driver that exhibits the worst luck, through no fault of his own, over the course of the season.
Last Season's winner: Mudd
Nominations:
TomMcD for ISP issues in Chase
Mule_9242 for always seeming to find the wreck
JoeOfTheFire for losing the championship by a single point after a lag bump separated him from the runaway lead 3-car pack in the final race
Rivalry of the Year: Awarded to the group that has the best rivalry for the season. A good rivalry should involve consistently battling each other for poles, wins, finishing positions, laps led, or team owner/manufacturer points.
Last Season's winner: Crazy_Bassist83 vs Hendrick Motorsports (RFLX/ACDC/Droptop)
Nominations:
SGR vs the field: Taking a 2-car team first in the draft, and daring everyone else to beat them. Frequently employed creative pit strategies, yielding mostly positive results.
Race Battle of the Year: Awarded to the two (or more) drivers that put on the best battle for a position (not necessarily the lead) in a single race. The longer and cleaner the battle, the better.
Last Season's winner: JoeOfTheFire vs Homeslice47 at the Brickyard 500
Nominations:
JGR + HMS vs the field at SSRX in the Coca Cola 600
Joe vs Mule at Monza
Joe vs RFLX at HSR
Mule vs Joe at Suzuka East
Furi vs Knelly at Suzuka East
The last 10 laps at the Daytona 200
The last 20 laps at the Indy 200
The last 3 miles at Indy - RFLX vs Drop - the lead changed 7 times in the last 5 turns, including 3 times on the final straightaway. The win gave Drop the record 5th win in a season, the record for most laps led in a season by a single lap, and proved to be the winning margin in the team owner's championship.
Race Comeback of the Year: Awarded to the driver that overcomes the most difficult setback to post a great finish in a single race. The driver doesn't necessarily have to win the race to be nominated for this award.
Last Season's winner: RFLX_Niop at Monza
Nominations:
GTP_Litchi at Suzuka East - Litchi showed up to the race just 5 minutes before the green flag, with just enough time to put down a single qualifying lap. Litchi worked his way up to 2nd place before having three separate incidents from laps 8-10 that dropped him 20-25 seconds back, and from 2nd place to 12th place. From there, Litchi drove back up through the field, constantly passing in heavy traffic, getting back up as high as 3rd place on lap 42. After his final pit stop, Litchi came back out in 4th place, right behind Mule and Joe. Litchi might have been able to secure second place if not for another off-track excursion that occurred on lap 56 of 61. Considering the circumstances, 4th was still a great finish.
Rookie of the Year: Awarded to the best driver for this season that participated in no more than 4 races last season.
Last Season's winner: M-Stall41
Nominations:
Mule - Almost seems unfair to classify as a rookie, as he started 4 races last season. However, if this is the category he is in, he's the clear winner. He won at Monza, beating Joe. He finished second in the Daytona 500 and at Suzuka East, won the Nationwide Daytona 300, and has been anywhere from 1st through 5th in points the entire season.
Most Improved Driver of the Year: Awarded to the most improved driver for this season that participated in at least 5 races last season.
Last Season's winner: RFLX_Niop
Nominations:
Dowhat - He was having a breakthrough season with four top-6 oval finishes, before he quit.
Furinkazen - Furi is enjoying a personal renaissance. He had just one podium (Sarthe) and two total top-5 finishes (Sarthe, HSR) in all 12 races last season. This year, he's up to 3 top-5s (Indy, Daytona, Suzuka) and a podium (daytona) in just 9 starts. With two of his three top-5s coming at an oval, Furi is showing great improvement in his oval driving.
Droptop2001gt - Went from 1 win in all of season 2 to 5 wins in season 3.
Most feared driver: The driver that, with one lap to go, you absolutely do not want to see in your rear view mirror.
Last Season's winner: This is the first year of this award category
Nominations:
ACDC, RFLX, Joe
Most respected driver: The driver that everyone most respects for their calm demeanor, steady driving, and clean driving habits.
Last Season's winner: This is the first year of this award category
Nominations:
TomMcD, RFLX, Joe, Knelly
Best Road Course driver: The driver that you think is the best all-around driver at Monza, High Speed Ring, and Suzuka East.
Last Season's winner: This is the first year of this award category
Nominations:
RFLX_Niop - 2 wins in 2 starts
MULE - 1 win and 1 other podium in 3 starts; finished ahead of Joe twice.
Joe - 3 podiums in 3 starts
Best Oval driver: The driver that you think is the best all-around driver at Daytona, Indy, and SSRX this season.
Last Season's winner: This is the first year of this award category
Nominations:
Droptop2001gt - 5 wins, 8 podiums, 8 Top-5 finishes, 3.0 average finish in 10 oval starts. Won Coca Cola 600.
ACDCROCKS123 - Won Daytona 500. 2 podiums, 3 Top-5 finishes, 2.67 average finish in 3 oval starts.
RFLX_Niop - 1 win (SSRX), 5 podiums, 6 Top-5 finishes, 3.5 average finish in 8 oval starts.
JoeOfTheFire - Won Brickyard 400. 6 podiums, 8 Top-5 finishes, 4.5 average finish in 10 oval starts.
Knelly - 2 wins (Indy, SSRX), 2 podiums, 6 Top-5 finishes, 4.9 average finish in 10 oval starts.
Best Overall driver: The driver that you think is the best all-around driver in the GTP NASCAR Sprint Cup, regardless of track type. This doesn't necessarily have to be the overall points champion.
Last Season's winner: This is the first year of this award category
Nominations:
RFLX, S3 avg finish 3.0 - 3 wins (2 road, 1 oval)
Joe, S3 avg finish 4.0- 1 win (Brickyard 400)
Drop, S3 avg finish 4.6 - 5 wins (5 oval)
Knelly S3 avg finish 5.1 - 2 wins (2 oval)
Mule, S3 avg finish 5.9 - 1 win (1 road)