Special Performances Recognised In NASCARs Top Series
Welcome to the Second Annual SPRINTS. Now that Season 3 is over and we have our Champion (congratulations to Niop - just copied from last season
), we now look to celebrate those parts of the Season that really stood out, became talking points, and just basically impressed. We will honour those drivers who have accomplished greatness in Season 3, through a number of categories that we all have the opportunity to vote for. There are more categories in this years SPRINTS as the racing has become closer, harder and faster. So, this Seasons SPRINTS and Nominations are:
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
Current Nominations:
Knelly at SSRX following a non fault spin racing out the last corner for the win
Tom who generally had a Jeff Gordon year with an array of different issues (spins / non fault wrecks / ISP issues)
Drop in the Daytona 500 - 3 non fault spins and a drivethrough
Crazy in most races getting caught, having to change strategy and fall back to help team mates
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, although it is felt this is cancelled out by the lag bump he received the week before to give him second place over Niop.
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)
Current 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.
Niop v Joe at the very end of the Season for the Title
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
Current Nominations:
SGR v Gibbs at Daytona 500. Battle of the pit strategies with Gibbs having the extra car, prevailing.
Joe v Mule at Monza. Again differing pit strategies didn't decide this one till late in the race.
Joe v Niop at HSR. Battle pursued from start to (almost) finish, after Joe scraped a couple of walls in the closing laps.
JGR + HMS vs the field at SSRX in the Coca Cola 600
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.
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
Current Nominations:
Knelly at Indy 125. Falling back six seconds from the pack on first lap, working back to lead the most laps and a win
Drop at Daytona 500. 12 seconds back got with a group back up to the leaders, taking the race lead for a few laps before my first pit stop. Then lost a lap. 100 laps later, and was back running in 3rd place.
GTP_Litchi at Suzuka East - From 12 place he 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.
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
Current Nominations:
Mule
Tom
RPH
Matty
Nater
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
Current Nominations:
Drop - 5 Oval Wins
Niop - 3rd straight Title
Joe - 6 straight podiums
Knelly - Road course improvement
ACDC
Mudd
Crazy
Dowhat
Furi - Latter half of season under Drops guidance
Homeslice
MStall
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
Current Nominations:
Joe
Niop
ACDC
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
Current Nominations:
Joe
Niop
Knelly
Drop
TomMcD
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
Current 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
Current 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
Current 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)
Please note that all the Nominees above, have been based on those advised by drivers througout the season, and are not my personal choices. If there are any that you feel are missing then I apologise but we will not be adding any more in as there has been ample opportunity to do so. These prestigious SPRINTS will be awarded in one weeks time over the next Sunday Evening. Voting for all categories will start now and will cease Midnight 4 August EST before the Ceremony on 5 August 2012.
Please remember that all votes are to be by PM to myself, by anyone who has raced even one event in the Sprint Cup this season. I will be sending my votes to Drop shortly, so as I am not left with potential decision swaying choices to make.
Good luck to all the Nominees.
Knelly