(By Greg Engle CupScene.com Editor,NASCAR Examiner)
Posted: Monday,December 19th, 2011
Few can argue that the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup season was one of the best in recent history. With a record number of green flag passes, first time winners and a new champion for the first time in five years, one who won the title during the last race of the season, 2011 was a season to remember.
There was some uncertainty prior to the season. NASCAR would be using ethanol for the first full season, the Chase was tweaked, again, and the points system was completely revamped. The highlights though started with the first points paying race as Trevor Bayne won a thrilling Daytona 500 in the final moments. It was an uncertain outcome until the very end and put the legendary Wood Brothers back in victory lane for the first time in decades. The 2011 Daytona 500 put NASCAR farther into the mainstream then the sport had been in years grabbing the top story in sports headlines around the world.
In April when the series headed to Talladega for the second superspeedway race of the season, the ending proved to be another thriller as Dale Earnhardt Jr., pushed Jimmie Johnson past the duo of Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick at the line to tie a record for the closest finish in NASCAR history. MORE>>>
Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 Pepsi Max Chevrolet and Mark Martin, driver of the #5 Carquest/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, bump draft as they race during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coke ZERO 400 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway on July 2, 2011 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images for NASCAR)
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