Clint Bowyer does a burnout after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway last October. (Photo: Getty Images)

5. Lenox Tools 301, New Hampshire Motor Speedway

This was a classic case of tit for tat, or one good nudge deserves another.

When Kurt Busch bumped Jimmie Johnson out of the way to take the lead with less than 10 laps remaining, Johnson wasted no time getting even, chasing down Busch and returning the favor to win the race.

“I have to say, I was a little shocked,” Johnson said of the bump from Busch.

“I hate that he felt that I wasn’t going to wreck him because that was my goal was to wreck him. I knew what my thought process was, ‘Wreck his ass.’”

Busch chalked it up to just hard racing.

“I thought it was a great short-track battle,” he said.

6. Amp Energy 500, Talladega Superspeedway

This one ended with Clint Bowyer doing celebratory burnout on the frontstretch – before he even knew if he had won the race.

Bowyer won a photo finish over teammate Kevin Harvick in a race that ended with AJ Allmendinger’s car flipping and crashing down the frontstretch.

Harvick nudged just ahead of Bowyer when they took the white flag, but Bowyer had pulled ahead by inches when NASCAR waved the yellow flag for Allmendinger’s crash, ending the race.

The win was a bit of redemption for Bowyer and his Richard Childress Racing team, which was penalized 150 points for an illegal car after Bowyer won the first Chase race at New Hampshire.

It took NASCAR several minutes to review video and determine the winner. Bowyer, though, wasted no time celebrating his second victory in the Chase, doing burnouts while Harvick sat quietly in his car.

“Hell yeah,” Bowyer said of the celebration afterward. “Claim that baby before somebody else does.”

7. Aaron’s 499, Talladega Superspeedway

This one couldn’t have been any closer, or wilder.

Harvick avenged his loss in the Daytona 500 by inching past McMurray coming to the checkered flag to win by 0.011 of a second.

And it took a few extra laps and some wild racing to get to that point. The race featured 88 lead changes among 29 drivers, both series records.

And it took three green-white-checkered restarts to settle it after three multicar wrecks in the final nine laps. It was the first time NASCAR had used three additional restarts after implementing the rule in February.

8. Ford 400, Homestead-Miami Speedway

The season finale might not have been the most thrilling race of the season, but it had the most drama.

With three drivers within 46 points of the lead going into the final Chase race, it was expected to be a dramatic conclusion to the closest championship race in Chase history.

And when points leader Denny Hamlin wrecked on lap 24, opening the door for Johnson and Harvick, it set up a nail-biting finish.

As Hamlin tried desperately to get back into the race, Johnson and Harvick both charged to the front. They wound up finishing second and third, respectively, with Johnson winning his fifth consecutive Sprint Cup championship by 39 points over Hamlin and 41 over Harvick.

Oh yeah, Carl Edwards won the race, scoring his second consecutive victory at the end of the season.

9. Subway Fresh Fit 600, Phoenix International Raceway

When Ryan Newman snaps a winless streak, he snaps it in dramatic fashion.

Newman used a gutsy two-tire pit stop to climb into contention and charged past Jeff Gordon, who spun his tires on the green-white-checkered restart, for the win.

It was Newman’s first victory in 78 races, or since winning the 2008 Daytona 500, which snapped another long, winless steak. It was also his first win for Stewart-Haas Racing.

“It was a long time coming for me,” Newman said.

10. Brickyard 500, Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Jamie McMurray (Center) and teammates kiss the bricks at Indianapolis. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

To some, McMurray’s thrilling upset in the Daytona 500 might have seemed like a fluke. But he validated it in a big way by winning NASCAR’s second-biggest race.

McMurray helped team owner Chip Ganassi make history when he outran Harvick over the final 10 laps to win the Brickyard 400 at Indy.

McMurray became just the third driver to win the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 in the same year, but it was Ganassi who made the biggest mark – he became the first team owner to win the Daytona 500, Indy 500 and Brickyard 400 all in the same year.

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