Brad Keselowski driver of the #22 Discount Tire Dodge wrecks on the final lap of the NASCAR Nationwide Series Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 at Gateway International Raceway on July 17, 2010. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

3. Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250, Gateway International Raceway — During the 2010 season, no two boys had at it more than Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards. And it all came to a head on the final restart at Gateway, when Keselowski nudged leader Edwards in Turn 1. The nudge was enough to move Edwards out of the preferred line, which allowed Keselowski to take the lead.

Coming to the checkered flag, Edwards turned left, never lifted and basically ran over Keselowski, who went hard, driver’s-side first into the outside wall, then bounced across the track, where he was rammed at full speed by Shelby Howard. The accident destroyed Keselowski’s car and ultimately involved eight other cars.

Afterwards, Edwards said he was completely justified. “That’s my job – to win that race and to make sure that I don’t get walked on or get something taken away from me that’s mine.”

Keselowski's father, former racer Bob Keselowski, uttered one of the most memorable quotes of the year afterwards. “I'm sick and tired of this,” the elder Keselowski said. “I'll get my own damn uniform back on and take care of this. He ain't going to kill my boy.”

4. DRIVE4COPD 300, Daytona International Speedway — Two factors were indisputable when the NASCAR Nationwide Series season opened in February with the DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday: Tony Stewart is almost impossible to beat in a Nationwide car at Daytona, and Danica Patrick draws a staggering amount of attention.

Stewart prevailed at Daytona in the thrilling season opener, dodging a plethora of wrecks, including one that sent fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. on a barrel roll, to win his fifth Daytona NNS race in his last six attempts. The race ended with Stewart scoring his ninth career NNS victory ahead of 2008 series champion Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, Justin Allgaier and Brian Vickers.

In her NASCAR debut, Patrick crashed on Lap 68 and finished 35th. “I don’t doubt there are going to be hard days, just like in IndyCar, where you just want to park it,” said Patrick. “You’re just saving your life every corner. But, all in all, these are really fun cars to drive. I love the racing. I love there’s passing. I love there’s side-by-side. Not only is it fun for the drivers, but it’s fun for the fans, too.”

5. Aaron’s 312, Talladega Superspeedway — Brad Keselowski barely even made it into the Aaron’s 312, which was delayed by rain for one day and run the same day as the Aaron’s 499 Sprint Cup race. In the Cup race, Keselowski was involved in a crash. Worse yet, when the crush panels on his Penske Racing Dodge were damaged in the crash, Keselowski suffered carbon monoxide intake and wasn’t cleared by doctors to compete until just before the start of the NASCAR Nationwide event. He had to take massive quantities of oxygen to get his carbon monoxide level down below allowable thresholds and then had to run down pit road to make it to his car for the command to start engines. Had the race begun five minutes earlier, Keselowski would not have been in it.

The race was scheduled to go 117 laps, but a late-race crash on the frontstretch set up a green-white-checkered finish. Kevin Harvick took the white flag ahead of the field on Lap 120 and appeared as if he might be able to complete the double.

Dennis Setzer on fire after the big crash/wreck in April, 2010 at Talladega Superspeedway. (Photo LAT Photographic)

As they headed down the backstretch, Joey Logano locked onto Keselowski’s rear bumper and pushed him into the lead in Turn 3. Just behind Harvick, Jamie McMurray tried to drop down from the middle lane and cut between Harvick and Clint Bowyer.

Bad move.

Bowyer turned McMurray sideways in Turn 4, and with the field charging behind them, The Big One ensued. Dennis Setzer’s K-Automotive Dodge — a car owned by the Keselowski family — flew into the catchfence and exploded in a spectacular ball of flames, as 10 cars crashed. Fortunately, Setzer was uninjured. Keselowski took the victory under caution with Logano second and Harvick third. Then came Jason Keller and Johnny Bornemann III.

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100 and e-mail him at Jensen is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of Speed,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association and an NMPA Writer of the Year.