NASCAR Media taps Keselowski, Penske title as top moment of 2012

December 10, 2012 Greg Engle 2012 Chase, Main Page, NASCAR News Top Story, Top Stories 0

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion Brad Keselowski, driver of the #2 Miller Lite Dodge, poses with the Championship Trophy after the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 18, 2012 in Homestead, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion Brad Keselowski, driver of the #2 Miller Lite Dodge, poses with the Championship Trophy after the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 18, 2012 in Homestead, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

NASCAR allowed the members of the NASCAR media corps to vote for the top moments of the 2012 NASCAR season.  In a close finish, Brad Keselowski’s improbable championship won out over Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s win at Michigan; a win that broke a 143-race drought.

Here are the top 10 moments of the 2012 NASCAR season has voted on by the members of the NASCAR media corps.

1.-Brad Keselowski’s First Championship

Three races into the season and two finishes worse than 30th, Keselowski appeared a dark horse even to qualify for the postseason. But a second consecutive victory at Bristol Motor Speedway helped turn around the fortunes of the No. 2 Penske Racing Dodge team and by mid-September Keselowski was the No. 3 seed when the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup got underway. With two wins in the first three races, Keselowski went from underdog to favorite. He lost the points lead when five-time champion Jimmie Johnson won at Martinsville but refused to fade under pressure. A top-10 finish in the penultimate race at Phoenix coupled with Johnson’s accident and mechanical failure in the finale clinched the title for Keselowski, Penske and crew chief Paul Wolfe. MORE>>>

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About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.