Just as NASCAR annually stages its own year-end awards ceremony, SB Nation traditionally wraps ups up the just-completed season by handing out its hardware in a variety of categories. Without further ado, here’s a look back at what went down in 2015 from the good to the bad and everything in between.
Driver of the Year
A championship alone is an accomplishment in and of itself, which is significantly magnified when you consider Kyle Busch’s season began with a jarring crash that broke his right leg and left foot. The injuries were expected to sideline the 30-year-old until late summer, but he was back driving by mid-May and celebrating in Victory Lane five weeks later — the first of four wins over a five-race span.
That he would return so soon, let alone competitively, was remarkable. Some may take exception with a champion missing 30 percent of the season, but to put together a campaign where he would record five victories, the sixth-most laps led and the third-best average finish — albeit in 11 fewer starts — is a testament to Busch’s talent and resolve.
Others deserving mention: Kevin Harvick; Joey Logano.
Story of the Year
From spectacular crashes that forced the sport to re-examine its safety measures to an ever-changing set of rules to an all-time legend saying goodbye, there were no shortage of multi-layered storylines throughout the course of 2015. But no topic was as controversial nor contentious as Matt Kenseth’s calculated deliberate takeout of Logano, an incident that ignited intense debate regarding NASCAR’s elimination playoff format and how drivers should conduct themselves when they feel wronged.
Others deserving mention: Jeff Gordon’s farewell; Kyle Busch overcomes serious injury to win championship; Paramount of safety and how drivers — and fans — can be better protected; Lackluster on-track product generated from a detested aerodynamic rules package; Kurt Busch’s indefinite suspension following allegations of domestic abuse; Tony Stewart announces in September he will retire at the conclusion of the 2016 season.
Surreal moments
1. Kenseth, multiple laps behind, intentionally wrecking race-leader Logano at Martinsville.
2. Gordon’s retirement tour, which included receiving a wide spectrum of tributes and gifts, qualifying for the championship race via an emotional win, and cameos by Mario Andretti, two-time reigning Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton and Tom Cruise.
3. Kurt Busch’s testimony in Delaware Family Court stating his ex-girlfriend was a trained assassin who performed government-sanctioned hits around the globe.
4. Tony Stewart’s Halloween costume where he dressed as Carmen Miranda. Some things you just cannot un-see.
5. Darlington’s throwback weekend that harkened back to NASCAR’s roots and featured the majority of the field running retro paint schemes.
Yep!!! I lost… @TonyStewart wins pic.twitter.com/HqmkGpukRH
— Tony Gibson (@TonyOldman41) October 28, 2015
Best race
While it included a nefarious act that made one feel as if they watching professional wrestling, the drama, the outcome and the emotion the fall Martinsville race elicited superseded the unseemliness that occurred. Because when Gordon sped underneath the checkered flag for the 93rd in his career, it instantly became one of the more popular victories in NASCAR history. Adding to the grandeur was that it earned him an unlikely spot in the championship finale added, which wasn’t lost on the winner, who celebrated by jumping up and down like a child on Christmas morning and repeatedly exhibiting uninhibited emotion. If there was an indelible image of 2015 it was this.
Others deserving mention: Daytona 500; STP 500 (Martinsville); Food City 500 (Bristol); Quaker State 400 (Kentucky); Southern 500 (Darlington); CampingWorld.com 500 (Talladega).
Worst race
Due to a rules package that largely stymied side-by-side racing, there is, unfortunately, no shortage of candidates for this category. Nonetheless, amongst the wrench of uninspiring events, the stink of transpired during Michigan’s August race cannot be topped.
Hoping the introduction of a high-drag rules package would inject excitement and create additional passing opportunities, NASCAR officials decided to use Michigan’s second race as a glorified 400-mile test. It failed. Badly. Drivers struggled to pass, the field quickly became strung out following restarts and the winner (Kenseth) led 73 percent of the laps.
If there was a positive, it’s that the idea the action associated with Daytona and Talladega could be replicated elsewhere was categorically proved false.
Others deserving mention: Too long a list to cite.
Biggest overachiever
A single-car team located in Colorado and lacking big dollar sponsorship is supposed to have a definitive performance cap. And yet, Furniture Row Racing continually defied expectations not only by emerging as a consistent weekly challenger — Martin Truex Jr. finished 10th or better in 14 of the first 15 races — but by also advancing to the final round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup playoff.
Others deserving mention: Paul Menard; Aric Almirola; Casey Mears.
Biggest underachiever
As a follow-up to a sensational rookie season that saw him close to victory several times and where his prodigious talent drew comparisons to Gordon and Stewart, Kyle Larson seemed readily poised to breakthrough and emerge as NASCAR’s next superstar. That didn’t happen.
Although there were flashes, Larson more often than not struggled. Hamstrung by a rules package not conducive to his driving style — he prefers a loose handling car emphasizing a drivers’ feel — he suffered a considerable drop in top-five and top-10s, lead lap finishes and average finish.
Others deserving mention: Stewart; Kasey Kahne; Roush Fenway Racing; AJ Allmendinger; Michael Waltrip Racing.
Crew Chief of the Year
Not only was Adam Stevens a first-year crew chief, Joe Gibbs Racing paired him with Kyle Busch, who owned a deserved reputation for his mercurial nature. And an already demanding set of circumstances became more so following Busch’s Daytona crash, requiring the use of three different substitutes to fill the seat of the No. 18 car.
Through all the adversity and JGR’s early season slump, Stevens never was overmatched and navigated each sizable hurdle successfully. His team remained competitive in its driver’s absence and upon Busch’s return, ascended to even greater heights culminating with a decisive first-ever championship.
Others deserving mention: Rodney Childers (Harvick); Todd Gordon (Logano); Tony Gibson (Kurt Busch); Cole Pearn (Truex).
Unforgettable quotes
“That’s quintessential NASCAR. Late in the race, I think that’s a great example of everybody doing probably exactly what they should be doing. You had Matt Kenseth trying to block and hold his position. He had a faster car behind him, and when you block, you risk that somebody is going to be in that position.”
– NASCAR CEO and chairman Brian France defending Logano spinning Kenseth to win at Kansas.
“First of all, (Logano) should have stopped running his mouth and No. 2, he’s lying when he said he didn’t do it on purpose because he lifted [my] tires off the ground offset to the left and he’s too good a race car driver to do that by accident.”
– Kenseth not accepting Logano’s explanation that he didn’t mean to turn him.
“I thought long and hard about my future this past year and during the offseason, and I’ve decided 2015 will be the last time I compete for a championship.”
– Gordon’s retirement statement.
“I was really worried. I was like, ‘Man, I don’t know if I’m ever going to be able to get back in a car again.'”
– Kyle Busch sharing what he thought immediately after being seriously injured in a savage crash.
“I love when we go to victory lane because I feel like I add to his legacy here. All I ever want to do is make him proud. I feel like when we win at those tracks where he was successful, that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
– Dale Earnhardt Jr. explaining the significance of winning at Talladega Superspeedway, the track where his late father won a record 10 times.
“Everyone on the outside can tell me I’m crazy, but I lived it on the inside. Sorry I’m the last one to the party.”
– Kurt Busch’s testimony regarding his ex-girlfriend who was an alleged assassin.
Top paint schemes
1. Gordon’s iconic rainbow design he raced one last time at the August Bristol race.
2. Every Darlington throwback.
3. As evident in nearly every scheme utilized by Logano and Brad Keselowski, Team Penske prefers its liveries to be sleek and clean.