NASCAR HISTORY HIGHLIGHTS BY YEAR - 2010's
2010 - NASCAR announced in January they "boys have at it" rule (or 'no' rule). NASCAR turned the racers loose to be more physical on the race track to produce more excitement and try to increase fan viewership. After race run-in were also allowed 'to an extent'. The general rule was we don't have a line in the sand; but when someone steps over it - we'll know it and react". This was the first year that the green-white-checkered finish was limited to just three attempts. Also due to so many start-n-park teams the previous season, NASCAR added the first car out of the race to it's post-race inspection list. On May 11th the new NASCAR Hall of Fame opened in Charlotte NC. Jimmie Johnson, the 2009 Champion started the season strong winning three of the first five events. Then went into a funk, and was mediocre at best up until he managed to put together two good weeks in June and win at Sonoma, and New Hampshire. Denny Hamlin had a great year putting together six wins before the Chase started. Harvick and Kyle Busch posted three wins. When the Chase kicked off Johnson still wasn't strong, but he was consistent. Clint Bowyer posted the first win in the Chase, while Johnson did manage to grab a win week #2. Six different drivers claimed wins the first six weeks with Greg Biffle, Tony Stewart, Jamie McMurray and Hamlin also posting wins. Bowyer posted a second win to stay in contention week 7 and Hamlin got a second win in week 8. With two weeks to go Hamlin led Johnson by 33 points. Johnson finished a little better in week number nine and cut into Hamlin's lead whittling it down to just 15 markers with Kevin Harvick a long-shot in third. The final race would determine the Champ. Johnson ran a good race and kept the pressure on Hamlin. Hamlin got into a dust-up on lap #25 with Greg Biffle when it seemed he was just racing too hard too soon in the race. Hamlin got some damage to his front splitter, and he struggled the rest of the day. Johnson played it conservative since he saw Hamlin had his early issues, and didn't push the car until late in the race. In the end Johnson captured CUP Championship number five; a truly amazing feat and one that has little chance of ever being broken. The inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame – Bill France Sr., Bill France Jr., Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Junior Johnson – is inducted in Charlotte, N.C. at the newly constructed Hall of Fame complex
2011 - The biggest surprise happened right at the start of the season. Wheeling the Wood Brothers Ford painted in a throw-back paint scheme David Pearson drove to many victories; Trevor Bayne captured lightning in a bottle and won the 2011 Daytona 500. For this unheralded upstart it was only his second ever CUP start. Bayne became the first driver to win the Daytona 500 in his first attempt since Lee Petty won the inaugural event in 1959. By winning in his second start in the Sprint Cup Series, Bayne tied Jamie McMurray for quickest victory at the start of a career. 2011 saw a few changes to the schedule. Atlanta lost it's Spring event, while that slot ended up at Fontana CA. The Chase schedule also saw a tweak as ChicagoLand became the first race in the Chase; while New Hampshire was moved to the second. The number of men allowed over the wall on a pit stop was reduced by one; NASCAR went to a new 'vented' fuel can which did away with the need for a catch-can man. NASCAR also announced that drivers can only be able to compete for the championship in one of NASCAR's three national racing series, which means the drivers who race in multiple series, most notably in the Cup and Nationwide Series, are able to compete in the races, but not for the championship. The way points were awarded were also adjusted. An announcement came on January 26, 2011, when Brian France announced that the winner of the race, excluding bonus points would receive 43 points, and each position lost one point from the position before, so that the first position would receive 43 points, while second would receive 42 and so on. Any driver leading a lap would get one bonus point and the driver leading the most laps got an additional point. 2011 also saw a modification to the race cars front nose. The change removed the splitter braces, and made it a single molded piece. Turns out this was a much sturdier piece, and sustained less damage. Finally the fuel for all major series in NASCAR changed from Sunoco unleaded to an ethanol blend called 'Sunoco Green E15. The season saw Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch nab six checkered flags. Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski and Jeff Gordon all visited the winner circle on three occasions. While this was going on Tony Stewart was win-less and actually apologized for making it into the Chase field. Stewart stated at one point "We are just terrible right now; and I feel bad for even being in the Chase because we are taking up a spot from a team who actually HAS a shot to win the title". Carl Edwards had been the class of the field all season, and held the points lead for 21 races. However, when the final 10 race Chase started somehow Stewart managed to get up off the mat and make a strong showing. SO strong in fact he grabbed the win in the first race of the Chase. From there the fight was on. Edwards and Stewart waged war each week and heading into the final race of the year Edwards held the lead by just three points as the final race started. To this point Stewart had won four of the nine Chase races. Stewart ran into adversity and had to rally from the back of the field - TWICE!! For the record he passed 118 cars in this race. Stewart got a hole in his grille. He had to pit for repairs and started at the rear when the green flew again. Shortly there after, the yellow waved again, and it was back into the pits for more work on the grille. Then the rains came, and the red flag was out for over an hour. When racing resumed, Stewart continued to slice through the field and used several spectacular three- and four-wide passes to close in on Edwards. Rains came once again, and more waiting, But Stewart was fourth on the final restart, Edwards was sixth, and Stewart used a three-wide pass over Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski and AJ Allmendinger to reclaim the lead. Although Edwards quickly moved into second, he couldn't catch Stewart as he sailed to his fifth Chase victory. The points battle ended up in a flat-footed tie. The first tie-breaker was 'most wins' and Stewart have grabbed five wins in the final ten events, and held the advantage there so Stewart was the Champ. The championship completes a total turnaround for co-owner Gene Haas, who sold half his slumping organization to Stewart in 2008 in a hope the driver could bring a spark to a team that struggled to stay inside the top-35 in points. The second class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame is – David Pearson, Bobby Allison, Lee Petty, Ned Jarrett, and Bud Moore.
2012 - The 2012 season saw the Sprint Cup Series change to electronic fuel injection from carburetors, which had been used since 1949. Also, NASCAR banned communication between the driver and spotter to other drivers. The change was initially made to break up two-car racing at restrictor plate tracks, which had received criticism from spectators, but was later announced that it would be banned at all the races. Red Bull racing was missing from this list of owners as they shut the doors and closed down in December of 2011. In what was probably his last CUP start, Bill Elliott wheeled the car #50 in the Daytona race in July. The car was sponsored by Wal-Mart and the number in honor of it's 50th anniversary. Three drivers showed strength all season Jimmie Johnson wheeled his Chevy to five wins, as did Brad Keselowski in his Ford and Denny Hamlin in his Toyota. Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart and Clint Bowler all garnered three wins, and all six made the Chase. Brad Keselowski won the first race of the Chase while Johnson seemed to never get in step the entire 10 race set. He did manage to finish third in the points; while a surprising Clint Bowyer finished; but when the curtain came down on the 2012 season it was Brad Keselowski holding the hardware for the Drivers' Championship at the final race of the season. It was also car owner Roger Penske's first Owners Championship Chevrolet won the Manufacturers' Championship with 249 points. Despite starting his season late, Stephen Leicht was the 2012 NASCAR Rookie of the Year after beating Josh Wise. The 2012 class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame is – Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, Dale Inman, Richie Evans, and Glen Wood.
2013 - The new "Generation 6" car was the car used for the 2013 season. NASCAR changed the car inspection process as well. The new process involves a laser mechanism which scans different parts of the car. Tolerances sudden got much tighter for race teams. The testing ban NASCAR had implemented in 2008 was relaxed so that each organization would be allowed to test up to four times, and all must be at different tracks. NASCAR also made a step back and reverted to a process used for many years prior to 2005. The top 36 qualifiers were locked in based on qualifying speed, with owners points making up the remainder of the 43 car field. NASCAR also developed a new track drying system. Instead of using jet dryers as had been done in the past; NASCAR developed a system that was basically large vacumes that sucked water off the track surface and pumped it into containers driving alongside on the track apron. It quickened drying time by at least 60%. NASCAR used group "European Style" qualifying at the road courses or Sonoma and Watkins Glen - with rumors it may be used full time in 2014; In the Championship battle, Jimmie Johnson led going into the final race and second place Matt Kenseth won the pole, and led a race high 144 laps. Team-mate Denny Hamlin won the race while Kenseth finished second. Johnson drove to a ninth place finish netted him his record sixth NASCAR Championship Title. The fourth class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame is – Buck Baker, Cotton Owens, Herb Thomas, Rusty Wallace, and Leonard Wood.
2014 - 2014 seemed to have 'change' as it's main theme. This was the first year for another new Chase format; qualifying procedures were also changed to be done in a Formula One-style knockout qualifying; We also saw the Chase field expanded for 12 to 16 teams. Any driver that won a race would automatically qualify for the Chase, with the remainder of the 16 driver Chase field determined by the highest drivers in points without a win; We saw the final year of broadcasting for both the ESPN family of networks and Turner Sports. ESPN had covered the second half of the Sprint Cup season since 2007 while Turner Sports ended a thirty-one year relationship with NASCAR on TBS and later TNT. For 2015, their portions of the season were divided up between Fox Sports and NBC. When the dust had settled the record books will show that Kevin Harvick and Stewart-Haas Racing claimed the drivers' championship and owners' championship, while Chevrolet won the manufacturer's championship. The new 'elimination style" Chase format saw four drivers advance to the final race - has all their points reset to 'zero', no points rewarded for laps led or most laps led; and it was a basic "whoever crosses the finish line first is the Champion" format, Ryan Newman, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, and Kevin Harvick went mano-a-mano is the heads-up shootout with Harvick claiming the race win with Newman second. Just a few laps from the end Newman were leading, but a very late race yellow flew and gave Harvick the opportunity he needed. In one of the largest rookie classes in recent history, Kyle Larson was named Rookie of the Year. 2015 could be a break-out year for Larson as the rookie showed talent beyond his years. The 2014 class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame is – Tim Flock, Jack Ingram, Dale Jarrett, Maurice Petty and Fireball Roberts.
2015 - Rarely does a victory in an individual race take a back seat in the battle for most important storyline of a NASCAR showdown, but that is exactly what happened when Kyle Busch took home the checkered flag at the Ford EcoBoost 400 in Miami. The victory clinched Busch's first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship in the same season that he missed the first 11 points races because of a broken foot and leg following a crash in an early Xfinity Series competition at Daytona International Speedway. Busch was in the chase for a championship because NASCAR granted him a waiver following the injury if he could climb into the top 30 in points before the end of the 26-race regular season. Other than the final race being for all the marbles; the biggest story was Jeff Gordon. He is one of the biggest legends in the history of the sport, and Sunday was his final race and an opportunity to go out on top. Gordon had won three weeks earlier at Martinsville to punch his ticket to race for the Championship at Homestead. Gordon and Busch were joined in the battle for the Championship by Martin Truex and Kevin Harvick. All the contenders found themselves at the front at various points of the race. Gordon struggled late in the event with rear grip issues knocking him out of contention. Late in the race Harvick lost the handle on his car leaving the battle between Truex and Busch. A late race yellow let Harvick make some adjustments and become a player again; but when the final green flew; Busch jumped to the lead and cruised to the win. When the final curtain fell the stats showed that Joey Logano would win the season opening Daytona 500; while Carl Edwards grabbed the World 600 victory. Edwards would also visit victory lane at Darlington with a Southern 500 victory. Logano won a season high six events; with Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth claiming five each. Dale Earnhardt Jr and Kevin Harvick added three each. Unknown at the time; Earnhardt's win at Phoenix would be the final of his career. Brett Moffitt would claim Rookie of the Year honors besting Matt DiBenedetto, Jeb Burton, Alex Kennedy, and Tanner Berryhill. The 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame class included Bill Elliott, Fred Lorenzen, Wendell Scott, Joe Weatherly and Rex White.
2016 - The season kicked off at Daytona with Denny Hamlin making a pass on the final corner and beating out Martin Truex by mere inches to win the Daytona 500. Prior to the start of the season Tony Stewart over-turned a dune buggy and suffered a burst fracture in his lumbar vertebra. He missed the first eight races of the season; and before returning to the driver's seat, he announced that 2016 would be his final season behind the wheel. Stewart muscled past Hamlin on the final lap at the road course of Sonoma and went on to claim the final win of his career. Numerous side by side finishes and last lap passes marked the season. Martin Truex would claim the win in the Coke 600 and also the Southern 500. Kyle Larson's first career win would come at Michigan. Rookie Chris Buescher would also get his first career win in an unusual way. As he was off sequence in his pit stops; he found himself leading past the midpoint of the race. As large thick fog bank rolled in and settled over the speedway. It was so bad, the race was eventually called official and Buescher went to victory lane. Jimmie Johnson would visit victory circle on five occasions while Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex, Kevin Harvick and Kevin Harvick won four times. Carl Edwards, Joey Logano and Hamlin won three times in a competitive season that saw 13 different winners. Logano also would claim the big prize in the 2016 edition of the All-Star race. The final race in the Chase came down to a battle between Jimmie Johnson, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards. On a restart with less than tens laps to go Edwards controlled the start. As the green flew; he pulled low to block Joey Logano. Logano never lifted and Edwards took a hard crash first into the inside wall; then back into the outside one. Meanwhile this was the break Jimmie Johnson had been looking for. His car had been horrible the whole race and they took a gamble and stayed out when many others pitted. He restarted at the front and fended off Kyle Larson and to grab the win and join Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty as seven-time NASCAR Cup Champions. After the season concluded as teams were looking forward to 2017; Joe Gibbs driver Carl Edwards unexpectedly announced he was retiring from NASCAR racing. Daniel Suarez was brought up from the Joe Gibbs Xfinity series to replace Edwards. In the Rookie of the Year battle, Chase Elliott would beat out Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher, and Brain Scott to claim the honor. The 2016 NASCAR Hall of Fame class included Bobby Isaac, Terry Labonte, Curtis Turner, Jerry Cook (Modified Series) and Bruton Smith (promoter / CEO of Speedway Motorsports Inc.
2017 - The Daytona 500 was a highly competitive event that saw the race go caution free the final 47 laps. Kurt Busch would pull of the upset as he passed Kyle Larson on the final lap to get the win; the only lap Busch would lead. Ricky Stenhouse would get his first Cup win at Talladega and follow that with a second win at Daytona in July. Martin Truex was a monster on the 1 1/2 mile circuits. He claimed eight wins on the season; and all but one win would be on the 1 1/2 mile tracks Kyle Busch started the season slow; but came on strong in the end. He posted five wins in the season, three of those in the final nine races. Those two made the final race to run for the championship, along with Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski. At Homestead, Truex and Busch battled hammer and tong before Truex's crew was able to improve his car's handling just about the time Busch's car faltered. Truex led the final 51 laps and beat Busch by 1/2 second to claim the win and the Championship. His first and the first for Furniture Row owner Barney Visser. The other major events saw Austin Dillon use fuel strategy to grab the win in the Coke 600; his first win. The Southern 500 saw Denny Hamlin run down Truex in the waning laps of that race to claim that title. Kasey Kahne would win the BrickYard 400, and as history would show, it would be his final career Cup win. Along with Stenhouse and Dillon, Ryan Blaney would grab his first Cup win. It would be win #99 for the Wood Brothers. Dale Earnhardt Jr won first ever pole at Talladega in last career start there. Earnhardt would retire at the end of the 2017 and join NBC as a NASCAR sports announcer in 2018. The season saw 15 different driver visit victory circle. Matt Kenseth would win at Phoenix; the last of his career. About mid-point of this year Joe Gibbs would announce that they would not renew Kenseth's contract for 2018. He won at Phoenix in a popular win. The 2017 NASCAR Hall of Fame class included Mark Martin, Benny Parsons, Raymond Parks (owner), Richard Childress (driver / owner), Rick Hendrick (owner). Erik Jones, Daniel Suarez and Ty Dillon battled for Rookie of the Year honors. Jones came out on top as he posted five Top 5 and 14 Top 10 finishes. Danica Patrick would retire from full time driving at the end of the season.
2018 - The 2018 season will be known as the season of "the big three". Kyle Busch; Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex claimed 20 of the seasons 36 wins. The year kicked off at Daytona and Austin Dillon found victory lane after he punted Aric Almirola out of the way on the final corner of the race. For the second year in a row the winner of the 500 lead only the final lap. The Coke 600 would see Kyle Busch grab the win. Brad Keselowski got on a hot streak and won the Southern 500 and followed it up the next week with in win in the BrickYard 400. He won again the following week at Las vegas in the first round of the Chase. Speaking of Chase... Chase Elliott would finally get the monkey off his back and get his first career Cup win. Like his father before him; Chase finished second eight times before getting his first win. Chase also got his first win on a road course like his dad. Before the season was over Elliott would visit victory lane three times. At Charlotte in the All Star race Kevin Harvick would win. But the big news from this race was a totally new aero package. The package had increased drag and more aero opening to make the cars race more in a pack. It was a success and that same package will be used at most tracks in 2019. With the big three hogging all the wins; we still had Eric Jones win the race at Daytona in July for his first career win. After a successful season in 2017; Kyle Larson had a disappointing season getting shut out of the win column. NASCAR debuted a new circuit in 2018. Charlotte Speedway incorporated a road course into the speedway. Cars ran most of the normal oval track; and dove down into the infield to run a road course section. The ROVAL saw it's first action as the final race of round one of the Chase. After Jimmie Johnson and Martin Truex tangled in the final turn, Ryan Blaney got the win. As expected Busch; Truex, and Harvick advanced to the final race to vie for the Championship. They were joined by Joey Logano. All through the race Logano struggled and was only fast on a short run. Logano fell out of contention wil over 100 laps to go; but a late race yellow set up a short run to the checkers. The short race to the end proved to be just what the doctor ordered as Logano drove his car to the front and claimed the win and the Championship. Some of the biggest news unfolded after the season was over. Barney Visser; owner of Firniture Row Racing and Martin Truex's car, announced that due to a lack of full time funding for 2019, he was going to cease operations. This left Truex without a ride, but as highly suspected he was hired by Joe Gibbs racing to wheel the #19 car for 2019. Daniel Suarez moved to Stewart-Haas Racing. The other major news was the split of driver Jimmie Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus. After 16 seasons together the pair went winless, and owner Rick Hendrick decided a change was in order. Knaus will be the new crew chief for William Byron and Johnson will be led by Kevin Meendering. Another driver that had a disappointing season was Denny Hamlin. After 12 consecutive season with at least one win; Hamlin was shut out. The 2018 NASCAR Hall of Fame class included Red Byron, Ron Hornaday, Ray Evernham (crew chief), Ken Squier (announcer) and Robert Yates (owner & engine builder). In sad news; we lost drivers David Pearson, James Hylton and Dan Gurney.
2019 - 2019 was a great year for Joe Gibbs Racing but it started off on a sad note. In January, Joe Gibbs son, JD Gibbs died following a long battle with a degenerative neurological disease. JD was Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of JGR. The teams put an emphasis on racing this season to honor JD. Hamlin kicked off the season with a win in the Daytona 500. Hamlin held off his teammate Kyle Busch to get the win and Erik Jones finished third giving JGR the first three spots. Penske drivers claimed the next two wins as Brad Keselowski visited victory lane at Atlanta and Logano in Las Vegas. Joe Gibbs drivers would claim wins in five of the next six races. Kyle Busch would get three of those wins. Chase Elliott broke through to claim the win at Talladega. In all Gibbs drivers won nine of the first 14 races. The only non Joe Gibbs driver to win in that span was Keselowski. In the second major event of the season Gibbs driver Martin Truex would 116 laps to win the Coke 600. Kevin Harvick started to show some strength as did Chase Elliott. Like the season before; Elliott and Truex battled for the win at Watkins Glen. The two were by far the class of the field as they drove away from everyone else. Once again Elliott would claim the win. Truex had won the other road course race earlier at Sonoma. Justin Haley won the July Daytona race in a huge upset. In the race, with around 30 laps to go, Austin Dillon and Clint Bowyer tangled, causing "The Big One". Haley narrowly avoided it and sneaked into 3rd. Weather had been an issue all weekend and rain was in the area. NASCAR announced that they would go green next time by; so leaders Kurt Busch and Landon Cassill peeled off and headed for the pits leaving Haley on the point. Before the field got back around a lightning strike occurred. For the 2019 season most major sports (including NASCAR) had implemented a rule that if lightning struck, things stopped and went into a 30 minute delay. SO instead of coming to the green flag; the pace car pulled the entire field down pit road and things halted to wait out the 30 minute delay. Before the 30 minutes was over it lightning struck again and the 30 minute clock started over. During that time heavy rains came and as dark was closing in NASCAR pulled the plug and called the race official, leaving Haley as the winner. This gave Haley his first career Cup win in only his third start, and Spire Motorsports their first win in their maiden season. Erik Jones would give Gibbs his third major win of the season when he claimed the checkers in the Southern 500 at Darlington. His win saw that all four of Gibbs drivers claimed a win in 2019. Kevin Harvick claimed the other major race win when he won at Indianapolis. In the Chase Truex started off winning the first two races. Elliott won at the Roval in Charlotte after a major blunder. On a restart he was leading and went into turn one too fast and completely blew the corner. He piled head first into a thick tire barrier and it cushioned his car so well it only suffered minor damage. He got going again and came storming through the field to regain the lead and get the win. When the season wound down to Homestead to decide the Championship it saw Gibbs drivers Hamlin, Truex, and Kyle Busch as three of the four finalist. Kevin Harvick was the fourth. In the race Truex ran well early and won the first stage. He was still leading going into green flag pit stops at the midpoint of stage two. However, the race and championship hopes unraveled due to a miscue during the pit stop, in which the left and right side tires were switched around, and installed to the incorrect sides. The pit road error forced an unscheduled stop and rendered Truex a lap down for much of the second stage. He recovered and began to rally back through the field. He regained the lead on lap 210 of the 267 lap event. He ran well the entire race, but as the sun went down and the track changed the car lost speed. The race ran the last 100 laps under green and as the track gained more grip Kyle Busch moved into the lead with 45 laps to go. Busch went on to beat Truex by 4 1/2 seconds to claim the win and the Championship. Erik Jones finished third. For the season Joe Gibbs drivers claimed 19 of the 36 races.
In the Xfinity Series Michael Annett won the season opening race at Daytona. As the season played out it saw 'the big three' come to the forefront. Christopher Bell, Cole Custer and Tyler Reddick was the class of the series. They dominated the series as Reddick got six wins; Custer had seven and Bell claimed eight. Austin Cindric would claim his first NASCAR Xfinity win as he won at Watkins Glen and Mid-Ohio. Brandon Jones would also get his first Xfinity win. The final race of the season came down to a battle of the big three and Justin Allgaier. Like in 2018 Tyler Reddick had the best car all night and led 84 of 200 laps. He claimed his second Xfinity Championship in a row. In an interesting side note Bell; Reddick and Custer all will move to the Cup series full time in 2020 to run for Rookie of the Year.
The Truck series saw Austin Hill win the race at Daytona. Kyle Busch raced five times in the series and won all five times. Greg Biffle came out of retirement to run one race in KBM equipment and won even though he hadn't raced in three years. Meanwhile Ross Chastain started the season racing for the Xfinity Championship; but mid-way through decided he wanted to drive the Al Niece owned truck and run for the Truck Championship. He won twice and made it to the final race at Miami with a shot to win it. However Matt Crafton had the best truck of the four drivers that advanced to the finals. Even though he finished second in the race he would claim the Championship for the third time.