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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
SPENCER: Wrapping Up 2011
Joe Gibbs Racing is at the top of the list of teams looking for improvement in 2012...
Jimmy Spencer  |  Posted December 30, 2011   Charlotte, NC
Jimmy Spencer calls it like he sees it on SPEED. (Photo: SPEED)
The 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season had it all, from huge, unbelievable moments to unprecedented competition to a spellbinding, nail-biting championship battle. But it also exposed some problems among certain teams and even the sanctioning body itself.

On the positive side, the memorable moments were plentiful.

It all started with Trevor Bayne and the Wood Brothers winning the Daytona 500 to open the season. How fitting that Glen Wood, who raced on the beach at Daytona and will be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in January, was rewarded with a Daytona 500 victory. Glen, his brother, Leonard, and that entire organization really needed that win. You can’t find anyone who wasn’t happy to see them back in Victory Lane.

But Bayne’s victory was just the beginning of a year of surprises and of a trend of nice guys finishing first for a change.

Who would have banked on Regan Smith and the single-car team of Furniture Row Racing winning one of the most prestigious races on the schedule, the Southern 500 at Darlington? I was so glad to see that because of everything Barney Visser has put into this sport. Plus, Regan is a good kid who hasn’t always gotten the best breaks (remember Talladega in 2008 with Tony Stewart?), so it was nice to see something go his way.

Out of all these “feel good” stories in 2011, probably my favorite moment was watching Paul Menard win the Brickyard 400 to finally take his father, John Menard, to Victory Lane at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. John has been trying to win at Indy for so many years and had come up short every time. He’s a great guy who has put a lot into auto racing, and he has raised one hell of a respectful kid.

However, these accomplishments probably were overshadowed by one of the greatest, if not the greatest, races for the championship of all time. The Homestead race certainly rivaled the 1992 Atlanta season finale in which Alan Kulwicki and Bill Elliott battled it out. I don’t think in their wildest dreams that NASCAR could have envisioned the ending they had at Homestead in November. With all the economic and other troubles in the world, the sponsorship problems in NASCAR, and other negative circumstances, a successful, competitive season and spectacular championship battle was the perfect remedy. You couldn’t have asked for more.

But there are some teams who do need to ask for and look for more between now and Daytona. Some badly needed the time during the off-season to regroup and figure out where they went wrong last season.

Joe Gibbs Racing is at the top of that list. I’ve been wondering for a long time why they didn’t either pull Joey Logano out of the No. 20 Toyota or give him a new crew chief, which he now has since Greg Zipadelli resigned to move over to Stewart-Haas Racing. Something just wasn’t working with Logano and Zippy. It’s not that Zippy doesn’t know what he’s doing. Heck, he took a rambunctious, brash Tony Stewart, who wrecked a lot of cars and lost his head a lot, and led him to two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championships.

Joey Logano struggled mightily in the 2011 season. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Joe Gibbs Racing underwent a lot of change in leadership over the last month. Zippy left, Denny Hamlin got a new crew chief in Darian Grubb, who just won the championship with Stewart and the No. 14 team, and Kurt Busch’s crew chief, Steve Addington, moved over to Stewart’s team. Whether Gibbs wanted to shake things up or not, they’re turned upside down. Hopefully, that will be a good thing for that team. They struggled as a group in 2011 and were a big disappointment.

Richard Childress Racing also needs a lot of work in the off-season. They came on strong earlier in the year but seemed to peter out once the Chase got going. Kevin Harvick has been very close to winning the championship a couple of times but they’re still lacking something there. They just haven’t been good enough to push themselves over the hump. At last year’s Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour, Childress predicted that one of his teams would be the one to knock five-time champion Jimmie Johnson off his perch. RCR obviously didn’t do that, but maybe they’ll find something in the coming weeks to help them fulfill their boss’ promise a year late.

I also think the sanctioning body needs to work on its consistency for next season. They looked like geniuses with the championship battle, but they appeared confused on some of their calls throughout the season. I realize they have to enforce the law and keep some order in the sport, but they really need to work on following the same pattern on a consistent basis instead of seeming to pick and choose when to enforce what.

Drivers like Kurt Busch and Kyle Busch certainly kept NASCAR busy in the enforcement department, and I think it goes without saying that those two got the award for biggest disappointment in the behavior category. They’ve both said they’re working on these issues, so we’ll see how well they learned their lessons in the coming months.

Jimmy Spencer calls it like he sees it on NASCAR Race Hub on SPEED. He retired from driving with two NASCAR Sprint Cup, 12 NASCAR Nationwide and one NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory, putting him in an elite group of drivers who have logged wins in all three of NASCAR’s premier divisions. In 478 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts, Spencer amassed 28 top-five and 80 top-10 finishes. He won back-to-back NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championships in 1986 and 1987 on the heels of 15 victories, becoming the first driver ever to earn consecutive titles in the series. He earned the nickname “Mr. Excitement” for his flamboyant and aggressive driving style early in his racing career.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED
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