In his first time competing in the Chase for the Sprint Cup Juan Pablo Montoya finished eighth in the 2009 NASCAR points. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

4. JUAN PABLO MONTOYA STEPS UP — Juan Pablo Montoya in 2009 became the exception that proves the rule, the lone open-wheel racer to move into NASCAR this decade and achieve any appreciable success. Montoya made the Chase for the Sprint Cup for the first time and the first time for his team co-owner, Chip Ganassi.

Montoya’s passion, aggression and take-no-prisoners attitude were a breath of fresh air and earned him favorable comparisons to the late Dale Earnhardt.

5. HENDRICK DOMINATES — The silver anniversary season for Hendrick Motorsports was the best in team history, and one of the best for any Sprint Cup team. Hendrick drivers Johnson, Martin and Jeff Gordon finished 1-2-3 in points, the first time that’s ever happened.

It was fitting that Hendrick’s 25th anniversary season was such a success; five years earlier, the team’s 20th anniversary season was one of tragedy, with the loss of team founder Rick Hendrick’s father, Papa Joe Hendrick, followed by the plane crash in Martinsville that killed 10 family members, friends and co-workers.

6. THE DAYTONA 500 — While this year’s rain-shortened Daytona 500 was hardly the best ever, it made for a lot of interesting sub-plots. Race-winner Matt Kenseth led just half a lap of green-flag racing before the rains came out.

In addition, Kenseth, Kevin Harvick (second), AJ Allmendinger (third), Elliott Sadler (fifth), David Ragan (sixth), Michael Waltrip (seventh) and Reed Sorenson (ninth), all had their best finishes of the year in this race, the first of 36 on the schedule.

7. DENNY HAMLIN GROWS UP — With Tony Stewart gone, Denny Hamlin grabbed the bull by the horns and established himself as the leader at Joe Gibbs Racing. In addition, he was the only driver capable of keeping pace with Johnson during the Chase. Hamlin was victorious in four races this season, a personal best, and had six top-five finishes in the Chase.

8. RED BULL GETS RACY — No team in NASCAR made bigger progress between 2007 and ’09 than Red Bull, which was awful starting out but got downright good this season. Brian Vickers gave Red Bull its first victory and its first Chase spot this season. More will doubtless follow.

9. A TASTE OF SPECIAL K — Brad Keselowski was always in the headlines, which is pretty remarkable given that he only raced part-time in the Sprint Cup Series. Keselowski scored a thrilling Talladega victory, feuded publicly with Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin, and signed with Penske Racing for 2010. He will be fun to watch again this year.

10. DANICA PATRICK — Love her or hate her, the IndyCar driver dominated publicity with will-she-or-won’t-she flirtation with NASCAR. Ultimately, she inked a part-time deal with Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s JR Motorsports team for 2010-11. She will draw a huge following everywhere she goes in NASCAR.

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of "Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED," and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to