-
Home
- TV Shows
-
TV Schedule
-
SPEED Showcase
-
- NASCAR
-
Latest Headlines: NASCAR
-
-
Formula 1
- Auto Racing
- Moto Racing
- Cars
- Bikes
- Store
- Social
- Games
- Mobile
- Deals
- Videos
- Photos
- Home
- TV Shows
-
TV Schedule
-
SPEED Showcase
-
- NASCAR
- Formula 1
- Auto Racing
- Moto Racing
- Cars
- Bikes
- Store
- Social
- Mobile
- Deals
- Videos
- Photos
Sprint Cup
CUP: Thrilling Finishes And ‘Boys, Have At It’ Highlight Top Races
The 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup season produced its share of exciting finishes...
Jamie McMurray looks over the Harley J. Earl trophy after winning the Daytona 500. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Thanks to NASCAR’s no-holds-barred approach to racing and adjustments to the new Sprint Cup car, the 2010 season produced some of the most exciting racing fans have seen in years.
There was plenty of bumping and banging – on and off the track – along with thrilling finishes, controversy, surprising winners and the closest points race in Chase history.
The only thing that didn’t change was the champion.
Here’s a look at the top 10 races of the season:
1. Daytona 500
NASCAR’s biggest race had everything. Thrilling racing, a fantastic finish, controversy, emotion, a surprising winner and even a bit of irony.
Jamie McMurray won a two-lap shootout, beating Kevin Harvick and Greg Biffle after a second green-white-checkered restart, and then holding off a charging Dale Earnhardt Jr. in a mad dash to the checkered flag.
The emotional victory came in McMurray’s first race after being released from Roush Fenway Racing and reuniting with team owner Chip Ganassi at Earnhardt Ganassi Racing.
The ever-emotional McMurray opened the floodgates in victory lane and throughout his postrace celebration.
“Oh, I’m going to cry,” McMurray said as he started to talk in victory lane. “This is unreal. … It’s unbelievable. I can’t really put it into words the way it feels. … It’s like a dream come true.”
The race was one of the most competitive in Daytona 500 history with 52 lead changes and 21 different leaders, but it took more than six hours to complete because of two red flags to fix a mammoth pot hole in Turn 2.
2. AAA 500, Texas Motor Speedway
This was like a wild-west shootout, with two gunslingers fighting it out for the victory and two more just plain fighting.
There were angry outbursts, desperate measures and even some ugly words and an obscene gesture.
Locked in a tight Chase battle with four-time champion Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin needed to win. And he did, beating Matt Kenseth to the checkered flag in a thrilling three-lap dash to take the points lead with just two races remaining.
But even that was a bit anticlimactic after all the other drama.
Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton, two of the sport’s most mild-mannered drivers, got into a scuffle in Turn 2 after Burton accidentally wrecked Gordon under caution. A furious Gordon shoved Burton in the chest and took a swing at him before being held back by NASCAR officials.
“He deserved a lot more than that, I can tell you that,” Gordon said. “Sometimes I can’t hold my emotions back and believe it or not I was holding them back right there.”
Kyle Busch couldn’t hold his tongue or his fingers. After being nabbed for speeding on pit road, Busch ripped NASCAR officials over his radio and then gave one of them a double-fisted one-finger salute on pit road, drawing another two-lap penalty.
But wait, there was more.
After two slow pit stops, Johnson crew chief Chad Knaus benched his whole pit crew, replacing it with Gordon’s crew in the middle of the race.
The unusual move sparked a war of words between the Johnson and Hamlin teams, with Hamlin crew chief Mike Ford saying his team made Johnson’s crew “panic.”
“I think our race team is better than their race team,” he declared after the race.
3. Toyota/Save Mart 350, Infineon Raceway
Jimmie Johnson scored the first road-course victory of his career, but he wasn’t the big story.
Marcos Ambrose and Jeff Gordon were.
Ambrose led 35 laps and was in position to win his first Sprint Cup race when he shut off his engine to save fuel under caution and stalled his car, costing him the lead and track position.
The gaffe handed the lead back to Johnson and opened the door for his first road-course win.
“It was definitely a gift kind of handed to us,” Johnson said.
Gordon got no gifts, but made more than a few enemies after wrecking several drivers in the rough-and-tumble race. Among the victims were Martin Truex Jr., Elliott Sadler and Juan Pablo Montoya.
“We got taken out by [Jeff] Gordon,” Sadler said. “He was just kind of knocking everything out of his way.”
“It’s all right. We’ll get him,” Truex vowed.
4. Goody’s 500, Martinsville Speedway
This was what green-white-checkered finishes were made for.
After dominating most of the race, Denny Hamlin gave up the lead when he pitted under caution with just seven laps remaining in regulation.
Restarting seventh, Hamlin was muscling his way through the field when got a big break when a caution flag flew on lap 499, paving the way for him to bump and bang his way to a dramatic victory.
There was plenty of pushing and shoving in the final laps as Matt Kenseth bumped Jeff Gordon out of the lead, and then Gordon retaliated, knocking Kenseth into the wall. Hamlin then moved Ryan Newman out of his way as he took the lead for his third win at Martinsville.
There was plenty of bumping and banging – on and off the track – along with thrilling finishes, controversy, surprising winners and the closest points race in Chase history.
The only thing that didn’t change was the champion.
Here’s a look at the top 10 races of the season:
1. Daytona 500
NASCAR’s biggest race had everything. Thrilling racing, a fantastic finish, controversy, emotion, a surprising winner and even a bit of irony.
Jamie McMurray won a two-lap shootout, beating Kevin Harvick and Greg Biffle after a second green-white-checkered restart, and then holding off a charging Dale Earnhardt Jr. in a mad dash to the checkered flag.
The emotional victory came in McMurray’s first race after being released from Roush Fenway Racing and reuniting with team owner Chip Ganassi at Earnhardt Ganassi Racing.
The ever-emotional McMurray opened the floodgates in victory lane and throughout his postrace celebration.
“Oh, I’m going to cry,” McMurray said as he started to talk in victory lane. “This is unreal. … It’s unbelievable. I can’t really put it into words the way it feels. … It’s like a dream come true.”
The race was one of the most competitive in Daytona 500 history with 52 lead changes and 21 different leaders, but it took more than six hours to complete because of two red flags to fix a mammoth pot hole in Turn 2.
2. AAA 500, Texas Motor Speedway
This was like a wild-west shootout, with two gunslingers fighting it out for the victory and two more just plain fighting.
There were angry outbursts, desperate measures and even some ugly words and an obscene gesture.
Locked in a tight Chase battle with four-time champion Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin needed to win. And he did, beating Matt Kenseth to the checkered flag in a thrilling three-lap dash to take the points lead with just two races remaining.
But even that was a bit anticlimactic after all the other drama.
Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton, two of the sport’s most mild-mannered drivers, got into a scuffle in Turn 2 after Burton accidentally wrecked Gordon under caution. A furious Gordon shoved Burton in the chest and took a swing at him before being held back by NASCAR officials.
“He deserved a lot more than that, I can tell you that,” Gordon said. “Sometimes I can’t hold my emotions back and believe it or not I was holding them back right there.”
Kyle Busch couldn’t hold his tongue or his fingers. After being nabbed for speeding on pit road, Busch ripped NASCAR officials over his radio and then gave one of them a double-fisted one-finger salute on pit road, drawing another two-lap penalty.
But wait, there was more.
After two slow pit stops, Johnson crew chief Chad Knaus benched his whole pit crew, replacing it with Gordon’s crew in the middle of the race.
The unusual move sparked a war of words between the Johnson and Hamlin teams, with Hamlin crew chief Mike Ford saying his team made Johnson’s crew “panic.”
“I think our race team is better than their race team,” he declared after the race.
3. Toyota/Save Mart 350, Infineon Raceway
Jimmie Johnson scored the first road-course victory of his career, but he wasn’t the big story.
Marcos Ambrose and Jeff Gordon were.
Ambrose led 35 laps and was in position to win his first Sprint Cup race when he shut off his engine to save fuel under caution and stalled his car, costing him the lead and track position.
The gaffe handed the lead back to Johnson and opened the door for his first road-course win.
“It was definitely a gift kind of handed to us,” Johnson said.
Gordon got no gifts, but made more than a few enemies after wrecking several drivers in the rough-and-tumble race. Among the victims were Martin Truex Jr., Elliott Sadler and Juan Pablo Montoya.
“We got taken out by [Jeff] Gordon,” Sadler said. “He was just kind of knocking everything out of his way.”
“It’s all right. We’ll get him,” Truex vowed.
4. Goody’s 500, Martinsville Speedway
This was what green-white-checkered finishes were made for.
After dominating most of the race, Denny Hamlin gave up the lead when he pitted under caution with just seven laps remaining in regulation.
Restarting seventh, Hamlin was muscling his way through the field when got a big break when a caution flag flew on lap 499, paving the way for him to bump and bang his way to a dramatic victory.
There was plenty of pushing and shoving in the final laps as Matt Kenseth bumped Jeff Gordon out of the lead, and then Gordon retaliated, knocking Kenseth into the wall. Hamlin then moved Ryan Newman out of his way as he took the lead for his third win at Martinsville.
Shake and Bake: Recent Posts
-
Charlotte Motor Speedway President Marcus Smith Dishes Out the Goods »
-
NASCAR Teams Lend Helping Hand To Oklahoma Tornado Victims »
-
Singer Chelsea Bain's Dad Loves Her Music, Doesn't Love Her Choice Of Clothing »
-
Mr. E Would Rather Watch Soap Operas & Teletubbies Than 4 Hours Of Single-File Racing (Video) »
-
Krash Kab Invades Darlington With Jimmy Spencer And Monica Palumbo (Video) »
-
Sebastian Vettel's Monaco GP Helmet Has A Nearly Naked Pinup Girl »
-
Last Lap: Despite Struggles, Danica Patrick Unlikely To Return To IndyCar »
-
NHRA Champ Antron Brown Will Try A Stock Car »
2013 All Star Race
LATEST HEADLINES: NASCAR
-
NNS: Kyle Busch Scores Again
Kyle Busch registers his sixth Nationwide win of the season…… -
CUP: Saturday Charlotte Notebook (UPDATE 10)
Kyle Busch won the History 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway... -
CUP: France – Schedule Good As It Is
NASCAR chairman Brian France says he prefers fall race to stay in… -
CUP: Keselowski Still Confident Despite Slump
Brad Keselowski is seventh in points heading into the Coca-Cola 600…… -
HAMMOND: 600-Mile Race Will Tax Drivers, Equipment
I expect we will see a lot of green-flag runs Sunday, making for… -
CUP: Menards Signs Renewal With RCR
Multi-year partnership renewal was announced today... -
CUP: Man On A Mission
Denny Hamlin going all out in pursuit of a shot at the championship…… - More News
