2009 Sprint Cup: The Bottom Line

The 2009 Sprint Cup season is over and seasons greetings to all the fans, teams, and drivers that participated in bringing us a year of entertainment we won’t forget soon. We had to wait for the last race of the year to finalize the standings and make sure that nobody could catch Jimmie Johnson and his No. 48, and it turned out as expected. Now that Jimmie is a four time Sprint Cup Series winner, the only question is can he do it again, and the answer is obviously, yes he can. It won’t be as easy next year, and he’ll have a bull-eye on his car as always, but with a little luck and his normal driving skill, anything is possible for Jimmie. We got to witness NASCAR and racing history being written every time Jimmie stepped on the track and I can’t wait to see how Jimmie does it again.

Denny Hamlin is expecting to have a better year in 2010

Every body is feeling sorry for Mark Martin, but they should be praising him for being able to keep his mental focus and not to take the second place finishes in the Sprint Cup Series as a personal thing. He finished his first full year in the Sprint Cup Series a shade behind one of the greatest Sprint Cup racers ever to slip behind the wheel and he has lots to be proud of. He finished the year with five wins and seven pole position starts, which in itself is an amazing feat when you think about the level of competition on the track.

Is it possible to finish third in the Sprint Cup Series and still feel like you left lots on the track and didn’t meet your own and team expectations for the season. This is probably how Jeff Gordon feels after a less than stellar year that has left him wondering what could have been. Jeff was expected to win more than once in 2009 and 2010 is going to be a watershed year for him and he needs to rise to the occasion and give Jimmie another challenger to the title. Jeff Gordon will also be seeking his fifth Sprint Cup Series title in 2010 and he’s probably tired on running second to Jimmie, which is going to make the 2010 Sprint Cup season a real barn burner.

“Image: Zuma Press”