| | | | | | SOME DRIVER AWARDS | Comeback of the year | |
| | From FOXSports.com Lee Spencer: Carl Edwards went from four wins and a two-way tie with Roush teammate Greg Biffle in 2005 to missing the Chase for the Nextel Cup last year. Reunited with crew chief Bob Osborne at the start of this season, the No. 99 Office Depot Ford team rallied to win three races and finish ninth in the standings while competing for the Busch Series title at the same time. Had Roush Fenway Racing not started the season at a deficit from the lack of COT testing, who knows what Car 99 might have accomplished?
Jeff Hammond: Based on what he did during the last few races of 2007, I'd have to say Matt Kenseth. They had an up-and-down year and were not in this thing as far as the Chase for the Nextel Cup is concerned. But in the final four races they made a whale of a comeback from 12th in the standings all the way back up to fourth. That performance swayed me.
Darrell Waltrip: I really can't think of somebody for this category that sticks out in my mind. I thought when crew chief Pat Tryson went over with Kurt Busch that it certainly revitalized the program for the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge team. They stepped it up heading into Pocono, where they won. From there, they had some pretty good performances through the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Larry McReynolds: Carl Edwards didn't win a race last season and missed the Chase for the Nextel Cup entirely, but this year he came back and won three Cup races and was in the thick of the Chase field when the postseason began.
As honorable mention, I would go with Martin Truex Jr. That response may sound a little off because he was just a rookie last year, but I think we started seeing his team's strength more during Truex's sophomore campaign. What a year that whole No. 1 Bass Pro Shop crew had this year vs. their rookie season. At one point, I thought they were really going to be the sleeper in this whole championship deal, but they just started off having rotten luck.
Steve Byrnes: Brett Favre and Jeff Burton were both written off last year ... amazing what a supporting cast can do.
Jorge A. Mondaca: My selection is a little out there, but I am going with Roush Fenway Racing rookie David Ragan.
Huh?
Yes, this may have been Ragan's first full season of Nextel Cup competition, but after a tumultuous entrance into the series in 2006, few expected that he would be running at all.
In his first ever Nextel Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway, Ragan was involved in several accidents, prompting NASCAR to re-evaluate him and take away his license to compete on tracks bigger than 1-mile — not the type of start the newly minted driver of the No. 6 AAA Ford wanted.
However, after much better performances in the Truck Series at the end of 2006, he was given the green light to run full-time in Cup this year. Ragan did not disappoint again, challenging Juan Pablo Montoya for Rookie of the Year honors and finishing the season with two top fives, three top 10s, and a top 25 finish in the championship standings.
| | Posted December 17, 2007 , 3:56 pm EST
Last Updated December 17, 2007 , 3:57 pm EST | | | | | | | | | | |
