Top 10 NASACR Surprises in 2005
Plenty of things left us in amazement during historic '05 season
By Ryan Smithson, NASCAR.COM
December 27, 200501:35 PM EST (18:35 GMT)
In this age of instant news and even more instantaneous rumors, it's not often that something will catch you by surprise.
Still, plenty of things left us with our mouths gaping open in 2005. What's more, many of the those things changed the landscape of NASCAR forever.
10. Dale Jarrett's win at Talladega
Admit it. It didn't look like Dale Jarrett was going to win a race in 2005. He hadn't won in nearly three years and in 2005, he led fewer laps than Mike Wallace.
Robert Yates Racing quietly arrived at Talladega with their best restrictor-plate package in years. It allowed Elliott Sadler to take the pole and while Jarrett qualified second, no one really expected him to hang around for 188 laps.
Jarrett avoided the usual wrecks that happen at Talladega and on the final lap, he motored past a dominant Tony Stewart on the backstretch. When the caution flew a few seconds later, Jarrett had scored the victory.
It was Robert Yates Racing's only win of the year.
9. Ricky Rudd's sudden scale-back
Ricky Rudd has been hinting at retirement, but he surprisingly said on Nov. 8 that he would not run a full-time schedule in 2006.
Rudd always said he would cut back if he struggled on the track, and while his luck was bad in 2005, he ran well, scoring nine top-10 finishes. The team started to come together in the second half, but Rudd decided he'd had enough of the 36-race schedule.
8. Rusty Wallace makes the Chase in his final season
Virtually no one gave Rusty Wallace much of a chance to make NASCAR's playoffs and frankly, the new Dodge Charger didn't make his chances any easier.
Wallace didn't win a race, but he started finding ways to finish on the lead lap, and his 17 top 10s and eight top-fives were his most since 2002.
When Wallace finished third at Dover in the fall, he was only seven points out of the championship lead.
7. NASCAR places four-car limit on teams
In November, NASCAR announced it would phase in a plan to limit teams to four cars. It was hard to decipher if the teams were surprised, but Roush Racing quickly fired back, saying that they felt the order was directed their five-car operation. NASCAR made the announcement shortly after Roush Racing's five cars took half the spots in the season-ending Chase for the Nextel Cup. NASCAR denied that it made the ruling as a direct result of Roush Racing's success.
NASCAR had long hinted at their desire to limit ownership, but the announcement appeared to catch team owner Jack Roush by surprise.
6. Roush Racing's dominance
Roush Racing has fielded five cars for nearly 10 years, but they have never been able to get all five cars in Victory Lane in the same season.
That changed in 2005. NASCAR drastically changed the rules governing car bodies before the season and Roush Racing immediately benefited from shorter spoilers and softer tires.
The team won eight of the first 15 races and placed all five of its cars in the Chase for the Nextel Cup.
5. Jamie McMurray gets released from Chip Ganassi Racing
Jamie McMurray's decision to leave Ganassi Racing for Roush wasn't much of a shocker, but owner Chip Ganassi steadfastly maintained that McMurray would be required to drive for him in 2006.
Ganassi announced in August that his team would expand to a four-car operation for 2006.
However, in November, Ganassi rescinded those plans, freeing up McMurray to move to Roush.
4. Jeff Gordon's midseason slump
Gordon won three of the first nine races, but from mid-May to mid-October, he failed to record a single top-five. The slump worsened as the summer dragged on and Gordon failed to finish race after race.
The slump hastened Robbie Loomis' planned exodus from the team, and Gordon went on to finish the season with three top-fives in the final five races.
3. Bobby Labonte leaves Joe Gibbs Racing
Bobby Labonte expected to retire at Joe Gibbs Racing, but rumors began surfacing during the summer that he would not be back with the team in 2006.
It was no secret that Labonte had been struggling, but JGR had only made one driver change to the No. 18 Chevrolet since its inception in 1991.
2. Carl Edwards comes within 35 points of winning the title.
The kid from central Missouri gave everyone a brief preview of what he could do in 2004, but no one expected him to make the Chase for the Nextel Cup in his first full season in NASCAR's top series.
The No. 99 Ford hadn't won in more than three years, but it took Edwards just 15 races to score his first victory. Although Edwards lacked consistency, his performance on the higher-banked tracks was enough to keep him in the title hunt until the final race of the year.
1. Kurt Busch leaves Roush, joins Penske.
This might have been the surprise of the decade.
On Tuesday, Aug. 9, members of the media opened their email boxes to find a release from Penske Racing stating that they had signed Kurt Busch to a contract starting in 2007.
Somehow, Penske was able to stop this news from leaking before the announcement. Busch's decision also caught owner Jack Roush by surprise, leaving him scrambling to find a driver.
By Ryan Smithson, NASCAR.COM
December 27, 200501:35 PM EST (18:35 GMT)
In this age of instant news and even more instantaneous rumors, it's not often that something will catch you by surprise.
Still, plenty of things left us with our mouths gaping open in 2005. What's more, many of the those things changed the landscape of NASCAR forever.
10. Dale Jarrett's win at Talladega
Admit it. It didn't look like Dale Jarrett was going to win a race in 2005. He hadn't won in nearly three years and in 2005, he led fewer laps than Mike Wallace.
Robert Yates Racing quietly arrived at Talladega with their best restrictor-plate package in years. It allowed Elliott Sadler to take the pole and while Jarrett qualified second, no one really expected him to hang around for 188 laps.
Jarrett avoided the usual wrecks that happen at Talladega and on the final lap, he motored past a dominant Tony Stewart on the backstretch. When the caution flew a few seconds later, Jarrett had scored the victory.
It was Robert Yates Racing's only win of the year.
9. Ricky Rudd's sudden scale-back
Ricky Rudd has been hinting at retirement, but he surprisingly said on Nov. 8 that he would not run a full-time schedule in 2006.
Rudd always said he would cut back if he struggled on the track, and while his luck was bad in 2005, he ran well, scoring nine top-10 finishes. The team started to come together in the second half, but Rudd decided he'd had enough of the 36-race schedule.
8. Rusty Wallace makes the Chase in his final season
Virtually no one gave Rusty Wallace much of a chance to make NASCAR's playoffs and frankly, the new Dodge Charger didn't make his chances any easier.
Wallace didn't win a race, but he started finding ways to finish on the lead lap, and his 17 top 10s and eight top-fives were his most since 2002.
When Wallace finished third at Dover in the fall, he was only seven points out of the championship lead.
7. NASCAR places four-car limit on teams
In November, NASCAR announced it would phase in a plan to limit teams to four cars. It was hard to decipher if the teams were surprised, but Roush Racing quickly fired back, saying that they felt the order was directed their five-car operation. NASCAR made the announcement shortly after Roush Racing's five cars took half the spots in the season-ending Chase for the Nextel Cup. NASCAR denied that it made the ruling as a direct result of Roush Racing's success.
NASCAR had long hinted at their desire to limit ownership, but the announcement appeared to catch team owner Jack Roush by surprise.
6. Roush Racing's dominance
Roush Racing has fielded five cars for nearly 10 years, but they have never been able to get all five cars in Victory Lane in the same season.
That changed in 2005. NASCAR drastically changed the rules governing car bodies before the season and Roush Racing immediately benefited from shorter spoilers and softer tires.
The team won eight of the first 15 races and placed all five of its cars in the Chase for the Nextel Cup.
5. Jamie McMurray gets released from Chip Ganassi Racing
Jamie McMurray's decision to leave Ganassi Racing for Roush wasn't much of a shocker, but owner Chip Ganassi steadfastly maintained that McMurray would be required to drive for him in 2006.
Ganassi announced in August that his team would expand to a four-car operation for 2006.
However, in November, Ganassi rescinded those plans, freeing up McMurray to move to Roush.
4. Jeff Gordon's midseason slump
Gordon won three of the first nine races, but from mid-May to mid-October, he failed to record a single top-five. The slump worsened as the summer dragged on and Gordon failed to finish race after race.
The slump hastened Robbie Loomis' planned exodus from the team, and Gordon went on to finish the season with three top-fives in the final five races.
3. Bobby Labonte leaves Joe Gibbs Racing
Bobby Labonte expected to retire at Joe Gibbs Racing, but rumors began surfacing during the summer that he would not be back with the team in 2006.
It was no secret that Labonte had been struggling, but JGR had only made one driver change to the No. 18 Chevrolet since its inception in 1991.
2. Carl Edwards comes within 35 points of winning the title.
The kid from central Missouri gave everyone a brief preview of what he could do in 2004, but no one expected him to make the Chase for the Nextel Cup in his first full season in NASCAR's top series.
The No. 99 Ford hadn't won in more than three years, but it took Edwards just 15 races to score his first victory. Although Edwards lacked consistency, his performance on the higher-banked tracks was enough to keep him in the title hunt until the final race of the year.
1. Kurt Busch leaves Roush, joins Penske.
This might have been the surprise of the decade.
On Tuesday, Aug. 9, members of the media opened their email boxes to find a release from Penske Racing stating that they had signed Kurt Busch to a contract starting in 2007.
Somehow, Penske was able to stop this news from leaking before the announcement. Busch's decision also caught owner Jack Roush by surprise, leaving him scrambling to find a driver.
posted by Timothy Barre at Wednesday, December 28, 2005
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