NASCAR CUP FINAL 2009 DRIVER RATINGS

RANK	CAR	DRIVER	PTS. STANDING POS.	HIGH RATING	DRIVER RATING
1	48	Jimmie Johnson	1	150.0	112.2
2	11	Denny Hamlin	5	150.0	102.4
3	24	Jeff Gordon	3	134.0	101.8
4	2	Kurt Busch	4	150.0	101.2
5	5	Mark Martin	2	145.6	100.3
6	14	Tony Stewart	6	141.5	99.4
7	18	Kyle Busch	13	149.2	97.8
8	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	8	134.6	92.9
9	16	Greg Biffle	7	128.5	88.3
10	9	Kasey Kahne	10	132.4	87.5
11	99	Carl Edwards	11	138.5	87.3
12	33	Clint Bowyer	15	112.7	83.5
13	17	Matt Kenseth	14	131.4	83.2
14	83	Brian Vickers	12	126.8	82.3
15	39	Ryan Newman	9	115.3	82.1
16	00	David Reutimann	16	107.9	81.6
17	31	Jeff Burton	17	121.8	76.8
18	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	25	117.2	76.3
19	1	Martin Truex Jr.	23	122.4	76.3
20	29	Kevin Harvick	19	126.7	75.7
21	47	Marcos Ambrose	18	119.2	70.9
22	26	Jamie McMurray	22	99.4	70.3
23	20	Joey Logano	20	106.0	67.7
24	44	AJ Allmendinger	24	102.2	66.6
25	07	Casey Mears	21	94.2	65.6
26	77	Sam Hornish Jr.	28	94.0	63.7
27	6	David Ragan	27	96.0	63.0
28	12	David Stremme	32	83.6	63.0
29	43	Reed Sorenson	29	85.1	56.7
30	71	Bobby Labonte	30	103.7	55.8
31	19	Elliott Sadler	26	94.7	55.5
32	7	Robby Gordon	34	72.1	51.5
33	98	Paul Menard	31	84.7	50.6
34	55	Michael Waltrip	33	81.2	49.7
35	82	Scott Speed	35	69.5	47.1
36	02	David Gilliland	37	67.4	45.0
37	34	John Andretti	36	53.2	39.6
38	87	Joe Nemechek	40	74.3	32.4
39	66	Dave Blaney	41	54.6	30.8

Overview

Formula combining the following categories: Wins, Finishes, Top-15 Finishes, Average Running Position While on Lead Lap, Average Speed Under Green, Fastest Lap, Led Most Laps, Lead-Lap Finish. Maximum: 150 points per race. Must have raced in 75 percent of scheduled point-paying races.

NASCAR:Best of the decade

Best of the decade: The top 10 NASCAR stories of the 2000s

By Jay BusbeeWe’re at the end of the 2000s, and we’re taking a look back at the top stories, events, drivers and moments of the last decade. It was a time of change in NASCAR, a time when the regional sport blew up nationally, but change always comes with a price. Today, the top stories of the decade.

1. Death of Dale Earnhardt. It was almost Shakespearean in its drama and tragedy. On the very day NASCAR began its major new television deal, its most famous star died in the final lap of the Daytona 500, blocking for his son and teammate. Earnhardt’s death and resultant outpouring of grief instantly transformed the sport, vaulting it to untouched heights of popularity and awareness. Sadly, you can now divide NASCAR into pre- and post-Daytona 2001.

2. The introduction of the Chase. Looking for a way to maximize end-of-season excitement, NASCAR rolled out the Chase for the Cup in 2004. And initially, it seemed brilliant; the Chase was in doubt until the final turn of the 2004 race in Homestead. But the points reset has caused controversy, as has the fact that one guy has been more successful at it than anyone else.

3. Jimmie Johnson’s four-peat. Nobody in NASCAR history has ever won four titles in a row, and Johnson has done so in dominant fashion. Love him, hate him or disregard him, but Johnson is one of the most successful drivers in NASCAR history, and he’s at the top of his game right now.

4. Dale Earnhardt Jr. leaves DEI. The other shoe dropping from the passing of the Intimidator came six years later, when Dale Earnhardt Jr. packed up and left the company that bore his name following an ugly, protracted fight with his stepmother Theresa. Going to Hendrick was supposed to mean Earnhardt would become a worldwide superstar with the best equipment in the sport. So far it hasn’t worked out that way.

5. The debut of the Car of Tomorrow. Earnhardt’s death spurred a raft of safety improvements, including track barriers and in-car head restraint devices, but the most significant was the Car of Tomorrow. Rolled out as a safer alternative to previous vehicles, as well as a more cost-effective approach that narrowed the range of engineering tinkering, the Car debuted in 2007 and was formally introduced in 2008. Its blocky structure and narrow engineering possibilities led to complaints from both fans and drivers.

6. The arrival of Toyota in NASCAR. NASCAR has always been a uniquely American sport, so when Toyota entered the sport in the mid-2000s, starting with lower-level series, the howls of protest started. Never mind that much of Toyota’s work is done in the United States, or that many “American” manufacturers do work overseas, or that other foreign manufacturers have been in NASCAR before; the perceived “invasion” of Toyota set many fans on edge. And when Joe Gibbs Racing switched from Chevy to Toyota and kept winning, that seemed both an assault and a betrayal. The foreign-car issue seems to be fading with all but the hardcores, but it’s still out there. 

7. The cresting of NASCAR’s popularity? NASCAR exploded so quickly in popularity — you’ve heard the “second most popular sport in America” factoid a thousand times — that there had to be a pullback. The combination of a bad economy and gripes about the on-track product led to declining attendance at races, and thousands of “the sky is falling” articles. Is the worst over?

8. NASCAR’s landmark television deal. Just two weeks before the turn of the millennium, NASCAR struck a six-year, $2.4 billion deal to put the sport on three separate networks. The centralized television deal brought the sport to more viewers than ever before, but also — say it with me — spurred controversy among longtime fans. 

9. The debut of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. NASCAR’s Hall of Fame, to open in Charlotte in 2010, will be a landmark for the sport, a place where the history and grandeur of NASCAR can be formally celebrated. And naturally, its opening will come with controversy — two Frances and no David Pearson in the inaugural class? Really? — but if it didn’t have people griping, it wouldn’t be NASCAR.

10. Death of Adam Petty. At 19 years old, Adam Petty was NASCAR’s next young hope, the fourth generation of Pettys to race in NASCAR. He was slated to run in the Winston Cup series in 2001. But in May 2000 during a practice session for the Busch series in New Hampshire, his throttle stuck and Petty hit the wall, dying instantly. It was a wrenching tragedy for the whole sport, and in Adam’s honor his father Kyle has begun the Victory Junction Gang charity, one of NASCAR’s best-known charities.

NASCAR CUP COMPARISON 2008/2009 FINAL

STATISTICS

2009/2008 DRIVER RANK/POINTS COMPARISON

As of Race # 36

DRIVER	2009 RANK	2008 RANK	+/-	2009 POINTS	2008 POINTS	+/-
Mark Martin	2	28	26	6511	3022	3489
Juan Montoya	8	25	17	6252	3329	2923
Kurt Busch	4	18	14	6446	3635	2811
A.J. Allmendinger	24	36	12	3476	2436	1040
Ryan Newman	9	17	8	6175	3735	2440
Brian Vickers	12	19	7	5929	3580	2349
Sam Hornish Jr.	28	35	7	3203	2523	680
David Reutimann	16	22	6	4221	3397	824
Jeff Gordon	3	7	4	6473	6316	157
Kasey Kahne	10	14	4	6128	4085	2043
Denny Hamlin	5	8	3	6335	6214	121
Tony Stewart	6	9	3	6309	6202	107
Reed Sorenson	29	32	3	3147	2795	352
Jimmie Johnson	1	1	-	6652	6684	-32
Casey Mears	21	20	-1	3759	3527	232
Robby Gordon	34	33	-1	2699	2770	-71
Elliott Sadler	26	24	-2	3350	3364	-14
Kyle Busch	13	10	-3	4457	6186	-1729
Matt Kenseth	14	11	-3	4389	6184	-1795
Joe Nemechek	40	37	-3	1342	1989	-647
Greg Biffle	7	3	-4	6292	6467	-175
Michael Waltrip	33	29	-4	2839	2889	-50
Paul Menard	31	26	-5	2979	3151	-172
Regan Smith	39	34	-5	1440	2672	-1232
Jamie McMurray	22	16	-6	3604	3809	-205
Martin Truex Jr.	23	15	-8	3503	3839	-336
Carl Edwards	11	2	-9	6118	6615	-497
Bobby Labonte	30	21	-9	3128	3448	-320
Clint Bowyer	15	5	-10	4359	6381	-2022
David Gilliland	37	27	-10	1928	3064	-1136
Jeff Burton	17	6	-11	4022	6335	-2313
Dave Blaney	41	30	-11	1204	2851	-1647
Dale Earnhardt Jr.	25	12	-13	3422	6127	-2705
David Ragan	27	13	-14	3252	4299	-1047
Kevin Harvick	19	4	-15	3796	6408	-2612

Overview

This is a comparison of how drivers are performing in 2009 compared to 2008 after race No. 36. To be eligible a driver must have raced in 50 percent of the races this year and last as of race No. 36.

NASCAR NOTEBOOK

By Bill Marx
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

Kyle Busch finished second 11 times this year on his way to the Nationwide Series championship. The runner-up finishes rocketed Busch up the all-time list for second-place finishes in the series.
 

				2nd-place
Rk.	Driver	Starts	Wins	finishes
1	Jack Ingram	275	31	33
2	Kevin Harvick	236	34	30
3	Greg Biffle	234	20	29
4	Matt Kenseth	244	25	28
5	Kyle Busch	173	30	25
	Dale Jarrett	329	11	25
7	Tommy Houston	417	24	24
8	Mark Martin	231	48	23
	Larry Pearson	259	15	23
10	Jeff Burton	306	27	20
	Jeff Green	263	16	20
	Michael Waltrip	277	11	20

SPRINT CUP 2009 BEST FINISHES

2009 BEST FINISHES

AFTER: Ford 400

DRIVER	FINISH	TRACK	DATE
A.J. Allmendinger	3	Daytona International Speedway	02/15/09
Aric Almirola	21	Atlanta Motor Speedway	03/08/09
Marcos Ambrose	2	Watkins Glen International	08/10/09
John Andretti	16	New Hampshire Motor Speedway	06/28/09
Brandon Ash	41	Infineon Raceway	06/21/09
Tony Ave	43	Watkins Glen International	08/10/09
Dexter Bean	36	Pocono Raceway	06/07/09
Greg Biffle	3	Texas Motor Speedway Dover International Speedway Kansas Speedway	04/05/09 05/31/09 10/04/09
Dave Blaney	28	Lowe’s Motor Speedway	05/25/09
Mike Bliss	24	Lowe’s Motor Speedway	10/17/09
Todd Bodine	37	Las Vegas Motor Speedway	03/01/09
Clint Bowyer	2	Las Vegas Motor Speedway	03/01/09
Jeff Burton	2	Phoenix International Raceway Homestead-Miami Speedway	11/15/09 11/22/09
Kyle Busch	1	Las Vegas Motor Speedway	03/01/09
Kurt Busch	1	Atlanta Motor Speedway	03/08/09
Kyle Busch	1	Bristol Motor Speedway Richmond International Raceway Bristol Motor Speedway	03/22/09 05/02/09 08/22/09
Kurt Busch	1	Texas Motor Speedway	11/08/09
Patrick Carpentier	11	Infineon Raceway	06/21/09
Kevin Conway	45	Phoenix International Raceway	11/15/09
Derrike Cope	42	Martinsville Speedway	10/25/09
Erik Darnell	29	Kansas Speedway	10/04/09
Dale Earnhardt Jr.	2	Talladega Superspeedway	04/26/09
Carl Edwards	2	Pocono Raceway	06/07/09
Bill Elliott	15	Lowe’s Motor Speedway	05/25/09
Ron Fellows	27	Infineon Raceway	06/21/09
David Gilliland	14	Las Vegas Motor Speedway	03/01/09
Jeff Gordon	1	Texas Motor Speedway	04/05/09
Robby Gordon	3	Lowe’s Motor Speedway	05/25/09
Denny Hamlin	1	Pocono Raceway Richmond International Raceway Martinsville Speedway Homestead-Miami Speedway	08/03/09 09/12/09 10/25/09 11/22/09
Kevin Harvick	2	Daytona International Speedway Atlanta Motor Speedway	02/15/09 09/06/09
Sam Hornish Jr.	4	Pocono Raceway	08/03/09
Jimmie Johnson	1	Martinsville Speedway Dover International Speedway Indianapolis Motor Speedway Dover International Speedway Auto Club Speedway Lowe’s Motor Speedway Phoenix International Raceway	03/29/09 05/31/09 07/26/09 09/27/09 10/11/09 10/17/09 11/15/09
P.J. Jones	41	Watkins Glen International	08/10/09
Kasey Kahne	1	Infineon Raceway Atlanta Motor Speedway	06/21/09 09/06/09
Matt Kenseth	1	Daytona International Speedway Auto Club Speedway	02/15/09 02/22/09
Brad Keselowski	1	Talladega Superspeedway	04/26/09
Travis Kvapil	18	Auto Club Speedway Bristol Motor Speedway	02/22/09 03/22/09
Terry Labonte	24	Daytona International Speedway	02/15/09
Bobby Labonte	5	Las Vegas Motor Speedway	03/01/09
Andy Lally	27	Watkins Glen International	08/10/09
Joey Logano	1	New Hampshire Motor Speedway	06/28/09
Sterling Marlin	35	Martinsville Speedway	10/25/09
Mark Martin	1	Phoenix International Raceway Darlington Raceway Michigan International Speedway Chicagoland Speedway New Hampshire Motor Speedway	04/18/09 05/09/09 06/14/09 07/11/09 09/20/09
Jeremy Mayfield	32	Talladega Superspeedway	04/26/09
Michael McDowell	38	Dover International Speedway	09/27/09
Jamie McMurray	1	Talladega Superspeedway	11/01/09
Casey Mears	6	Michigan International Speedway	08/16/09
Paul Menard	13	Texas Motor Speedway Talladega Superspeedway	04/05/09 04/26/09
Juan Montoya	2	Pocono Raceway	08/03/09
Joe Nemechek	14	Talladega Superspeedway	04/26/09
Ryan Newman	2	Lowe’s Motor Speedway	05/25/09
Max Papis	8	Watkins Glen International	08/10/09
David Ragan	6	Daytona International Speedway	02/15/09
Tony Raines	25	Darlington Raceway	05/09/09
David Reutimann	1	Lowe’s Motor Speedway	05/25/09
Robert Richardson Jr.	18	Talladega Superspeedway	11/01/09
Scott Riggs	25	Daytona International Speedway	02/15/09
Elliott Sadler	5	Daytona International Speedway	02/15/09
Boris Said	24	Infineon Raceway	06/21/09
Mike Skinner	39	Chicagoland Speedway	07/11/09
Regan Smith	12	Daytona International Speedway	07/04/09
Reed Sorenson	9	Daytona International Speedway	02/15/09
Scott Speed	5	Talladega Superspeedway	04/26/09
Tony Stewart	1	Pocono Raceway Daytona International Speedway Watkins Glen International Kansas Speedway	06/07/09 07/04/09 08/10/09 10/04/09
David Stremme	13	Auto Club Speedway Michigan International Speedway	02/22/09 08/16/09
Martin Truex Jr.	5	Phoenix International Raceway	11/15/09
Brian Vickers	1	Michigan International Speedway	08/16/09
Mike Wallace	39	New Hampshire Motor Speedway	09/20/09
Michael Waltrip	7	Daytona International Speedway Talladega Superspeedway	02/15/09 11/01/09
Scott Wimmer	29	Bristol Motor Speedway	08/22/09

Overview

Each driver’s best finishing position of the season is listed, along with where and when they accomplished the feat.

NASCAR SPRINTCUP FINAL 2009 BOX SCORES

DRIVER	CAR	MAKE	AVG. ST.	AVG. FIN.	AVG. POS.	LAPS	LED	RATING	PTS.
Jimmie Johnson	48	Chevrolet	8.3	11.1	8.7	10298	2238	112.2	6652
Mark Martin	5	Chevrolet	9.8	13.7	11.4	9979	805	100.3	6511
Jeff Gordon	24	Chevrolet	10.9	10.2	10.6	10398	827	101.8	6473
Kurt Busch	2	Dodge	13.4	12.8	10.5	10334	738	101.2	6446
Denny Hamlin	11	Toyota	14.4	13.2	11.5	10031	1380	102.4	6335
Tony Stewart	14	Chevrolet	12.3	10.4	11.7	10468	414	99.4	6309
Greg Biffle	16	Ford	13.9	14.0	14.7	10241	551	88.3	6292
Juan Pablo Montoya	42	Chevrolet	12.8	14.3	13.9	10336	388	92.9	6252
Ryan Newman	39	Chevrolet	14.3	14.7	16.5	10468	214	82.1	6175
Kasey Kahne	9	Dodge	11.8	15.3	15.0	10180	248	87.5	6128
Carl Edwards	99	Ford	19.7	15.1	15.5	10218	164	87.3	6118
Brian Vickers	83	Toyota	14.8	17.3	16.8	10135	101	82.3	5929
Kyle Busch	18	Toyota	12.3	15.4	12.4	10272	1157	97.8	4457
Matt Kenseth	17	Ford	21.4	15.4	16.4	10070	245	83.2	4389
Clint Bowyer	33	Chevrolet	16.6	14.9	16.2	10157	41	83.5	4359
David Reutimann	00	Toyota	15.9	16.4	15.7	10408	101	81.6	4221
Jeff Burton	31	Chevrolet	24.8	18.0	18.2	10382	96	76.8	4022
Marcos Ambrose	47	Toyota	19.3	19.6	20.8	10130	19	70.9	3830
Kevin Harvick	29	Chevrolet	20.9	19.9	18.9	10237	159	75.7	3796
Joey Logano	20	Toyota	20.5	20.0	22.2	9997	36	67.7	3791
Casey Mears	07	Chevrolet	26.1	19.8	22.8	10323	24	65.6	3759
Jamie McMurray	26	Ford	22.6	21.4	21.9	10077	33	70.3	3604
Martin Truex Jr.	1	Chevrolet	16.4	21.9	17.8	10133	184	76.3	3503
AJ Allmendinger	44	Ford	22.8	22.4	23.2	10208	0	66.6	3476
Dale Earnhardt Jr.	88	Chevrolet	22.2	23.3	18.4	10141	146	76.3	3422
Elliott Sadler	19	Dodge	28.7	23.9	26.5	10122	49	55.5	3350
David Ragan	6	Ford	26.9	24.4	22.9	9919	4	63.0	3252
Sam Hornish Jr.	77	Dodge	23.4	25.0	24.1	9322	3	63.7	3203
Reed Sorenson	43	Dodge	26.3	25.3	26.1	9823	5	56.7	3147
Bobby Labonte	71	Chevrolet	26.4	25.7	26.8	9481	15	55.8	3128
Paul Menard	98	Ford	31.0	26.9	27.7	10113	7	50.6	2979
David Stremme	12	Dodge	24.7	25.0	23.0	9281	14	63.0	2919
Michael Waltrip	55	Toyota	30.5	27.1	29.6	9233	23	49.7	2839
Robby Gordon	7	Toyota	30.1	28.5	29.0	8714	10	51.5	2699
Scott Speed	82	Toyota	23.7	29.0	29.4	9439	19	47.1	2690
John Andretti	34	Chevrolet	36.5	29.3	32.8	9630	9	39.6	2597
David Gilliland	02	Toyota	29.0	33.9	32.8	6011	5	45.0	1928
Brad Keselowski	12	Dodge	23.3	21.5	23.3	3942	9	64.1	1528
Regan Smith	78	Chevrolet	30.4	27.7	29.2	4720	0	48.5	1440
Joe Nemechek	87	Toyota	30.5	39.5	39.1	2093	2	32.4	1342
Dave Blaney	66	Toyota	31.6	41.1	40.6	1130	3	30.8	1204
Bill Elliott	21	Ford	21.8	23.9	25.8	2911	0	56.6	1095
Max Papis	13	Toyota	33.3	31.1	33.3	3470	0	39.9	1047
Mike Bliss	71	Chevrolet	25.2	39.5	38.5	1183	0	33.4	577
Tony Raines	37	Chevrolet	41.0	39.8	40.7	1037	0	28.2	528
Aric Almirola	09	Dodge	30.1	32.4	32.5	2473	0	43.6	527
Erik Darnell	96	Ford	37.0	31.9	33.5	1936	0	40.4	472
Scott Riggs	36	Toyota	33.8	35.9	35.9	1582	3	39.7	448
Travis Kvapil	37	Chevrolet	28.3	33.3	33.3	1146	0	47.0	378
Patrick Carpentier	55	Toyota	36.3	34.8	35.2	293	0	41.0	351
Terry Labonte	08	Toyota	39.5	35.8	37.2	1115	1	32.5	338
Michael McDowell	36	Toyota	38.1	40.8	40.3	375	0	29.8	326
Sterling Marlin	09	Dodge	39.6	39.3	38.9	716	0	30.8	316
Jeremy Mayfield	41	Toyota	32.8	35.8	35.3	1362	2	37.8	288
Mike Skinner	70	Chevrolet	35.6	41.0	40.5	185	0	27.5	200
Ron Fellows	09	Chevrolet	33.0	28.0	27.8	197	0	51.2	158
Boris Said	08	Ford	9.0	29.0	16.1	187	0	83.6	152
Todd Bodine	64	Toyota	34.0	40.7	38.4	288	0	34.7	123
Robert Richardson Jr.	36	Toyota	41.0	18.0	30.7	191	0	48.7	109
Andy Lally	71	Chevrolet	15.0	27.0	24.4	90	0	54.0	82
Mike Wallace	64	Toyota	36.0	41.0	40.9	61	0	29.7	80
Scott Wimmer	4	Chevrolet	26.0	29.0	32.9	496	0	40.6	76
Dexter Bean	51	Dodge	43.0	36.0	37.0	196	0	29.1	55
P.J. Jones	04	Toyota	38.0	42.0	41.9	15	0	29.9	40
Brandon Ash	02	Dodge	43.0	41.0	34.9	94	0	28.0	40
Derrike Cope	64	Toyota	43.0	42.0	42.0	31	0	26.4	37
Tony Ave	37	Dodge	43.0	43.0	42.9	8	0	27.8	34

Overview

Driver Rating: Formula combining the following categories: Win, Finish, Top-15 Finish, Average Running Position while on Lead Lap, Average Speed Under Green, Fastest Lap, Led Most Laps, Lead-Lap Finish. Maximum: 150 points per race.