As we leave 2015 behind, the Speedway Media staff reviews their favorite and least favorite moments of the year as we anticipate the 2016 season. Disagree? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
Favorite Memory:
“A return to Darlington over Labor Day Weekend; hot and humid “back in the day” southern-style racing at the track Too Tough To Tame.” – Noel Lanier
“My favorite memory of the 2015 season was the Southern 500 race at Darlington Raceway. Moving the race back to its former Labor Day date was a smart move by NASCAR but what truly made it special was the back to tradition theme. The throwback paint schemes provided a nostalgic window to the past. You couldn’t walk far without running into the likes of NASCAR legends such as Bobby Allison, Leonard Wood, James Ingram, Junior Johnson, Bill Elliott, Richard Petty, Rex White, Ned Jarrett, Terry Labonte and some I’m probably forgetting. There were murals from the 1970s painted on the inside of the tunnel as you entered the track, 1970s logos everywhere, down to the tiniest detail, it was the 70s recreated and it was mind-blowing.” – Angela Campbell
“My favorite moment of the season was seeing Jeff Gordon make the Chase and have the opportunity to compete for a championship (even though it was a long shot) in his last race of his career before riding off into the sunset of retirement.” – Mary Jo Buchanan
“One thing I liked about the 2015 season was that NASCAR was willing to use a lower downforce package that we’ll get to see used in 2016. It made for a spectacular race that finally justified Kentucky Speedway’s existence on the Sprint Cup schedule and made Darlington’s return to Labor Day that much better.” – Tucker White
“Kenseth dumping Joey Logano – It showed fire, the situation didn’t get handled by NASCAR so Matt took it into his own hands and just about everybody loved it.” – Michelle Lippold
“Kyle Busch’s march back from injury to claim the 2015 Cup title – He was gone for the opening 11 races of the campaign, but came back to win, then continued to work his way all the way back to a position among the Top 30 to qualify for the Chase. Without the “win and you are in” format of today, Busch would have been just an also ran for the entire season. While I think the season leader should also receive some recognition, Busch’s suggestion of a first round bye for the leader as they enter the Chase is a good one. The best single moment, then, would be Kyle Busch claiming the championship at Homestead to complete his Cinderella season, followed by Jeff Gordon contending for the crown right to the final race.” – Ron Thornton
“To me, the thing that comes to my mind immediately is Jeff Gordon celebrating his final Sprint Cup victory like it was his first win. To see the crowd reacting the way that it did made me accept that Gordon had made the right decision to retire, on top, on his terms.”- Ed Coombs
Least Favorite Memory:
“I know that none of us can fight Mother Nature…but I didn’t like all the rain delays and postponements. I want more dry time to spend in the garage area and on pit road and less time in the photo deadline room. Also, the Daytona July race; never start a race at midnight.”- Noel Lanier
“The one thing I don’t want to see ever again is the type of wreck that sidelined Kyle Busch for 11 weeks. Two words – SAFER barriers. No more excuses, enough said.” – Angela Campbell
“My least favorite thing about the 2015 season was the switching up of the rules packages, which was confusing and seemed to favor different teams.” – Mary Jo Buchanan
“I didn’t like the high downforce package. I won’t fault NASCAR for trying something new considering that’s how we’re getting the low downforce package for 2016, but it was a total failure at Michigan.” – Tucker White
“Inconsistent rules – Restarts: One driver clearly jumped, no penalty; a different driver does it and gets nailed. Matt and Joey go at it for weeks with each other and it should have been taken care of by NASCAR before it got to the point where Matt dumped him. Truthfully they both should have been parked or neither.” – Michelle Lippold
“Tony Stewart’s continued fall from contention – It began with the moonlighting race in which he broke his leg in 2013, followed by the tragedy of 2014. Smoke has never recovered. Prior to his troubles, his average finish over 15 seasons had been 12.8. Since the two accidents, it has been 22.5. The decline has been shocking in its suddenness. In his swan song in 2016, we can only hope he can go out with enough success to at least cause him to reconsider, if only briefly, his retirement. My least favorite moment, then, would be each of the 23 races Stewart failed to finish at least in the Top Twenty. We have seen past champions fade before in the twilight of their careers, but never one so suddenly.” – Ron Thornton
“The aggravating part to me was the quality of the racing as they tried to get the aero package right. Many of the races during 2015 were simply forgettable. While one would expect that for some of the races, it seemed to be that the meat of the 2015 season was follow the leader.” – Ed Coombs
What NASCAR Got Right:
“I was encouraged by the development of the new low-downforce aerodynamic packages that NASCAR tested during 2015. There is more work to be done but it’s definitely moving in the right direction.” – Angela Campbell
“What NASCAR got right was the Chase and the determination to give Kyle Busch the opportunity to make his amazing comeback to win the championship against all odds.” – Mary Jo Buchanan
“The best thing NASCAR did was admit it was a mistake to mess with tradition and put Darlington back in its rightful place on Labor Day weekend. While the sport we all love will constantly change, some traditions like Martinsville and Darlington should remain forever untouched.” – Tucker White
“The Chase – Love it or hate it, you can’t deny it’s exciting.” – Michelle Lippold
“Changing the aero package for 2016…I hope. You have to give NASCAR credit, they make changes in the hopes of producing a safer, more exciting product. Unfortunately, most of them seem to come up short in the entertainment side of things. Note the next category. This time, their low-downforce package which was run to acclaim at both Kentucky and Darlington, might actually deliver. Most of the drivers seem to think so. They know what they like. They also know what they detest. Which brings us to…” – Ron Thornton
“Say what you will, NASCAR made the right call allowing Kyle Busch to compete for the Sprint Cup. He won races, which is an automatic entry into the chase. ” – Ed Coombs
What NASCAR Got Wrong:
“I think the so-called knock-out qualifying was a bust and it resulted in a lot of sheet metal and trashed cars. And it did not necessarily bring out more fans in the grandstands. I vote for the return to single-car qualifying.” – Noel Lanier
“I don’t want to see any more rain-shortened Chase races. Wait out the rain or finish it the next day. The stakes are too high to settle for anything less.” – Angela Campbell
“One thing that NASCAR should leave behind in the new season is the changing of rules at the last minute, like the changing of the number of attempts at a green, white, checker at superspeedways. Pick one rule at the start of the season and stick with it throughout. NASCAR needs to lose the inconsistency for the 2016 season!” – Mary Jo Buchanan
“The biggest thing NASCAR got wrong this year was not penalizing Matt Kenseth for so blatantly jumping the final restart at Richmond. If they had, we wouldn’t have spent the next three weeks talking ad nauseam about the damn restart zone! I would sell my soul if it meant we never had to talk about it again! I’m being hyperbolic of course, but you get my message.” – Tucker White
“No more racing at tracks without SAFER barriers everywhere – NASCAR touts its safety measures and how conscious they are about safety yet they race on tracks missing SAFER barriers and as usual when drivers crashed, that’s where they seem to hit. The safety of our drivers is the number one priority and at this point if a track doesn’t have them everywhere, then they need to be dropped from the schedule until they do. It’s not acceptable anymore.” – Michelle Lippold
“The experiment that messed with side-by-side racing even more than usual – It was hoped that by introducing a high-drag rules package, we would be blessed with a lot of passing at Michigan and Indianapolis. It failed. Drivers could not pass most of the time while we saw cars bunched up only briefly after a re-start. At least, the nine-inch spoiler was not as cosmetically repulsive as the old splitters, but not by much. We can, at least, be thankful that NASCAR had both a Plan A and a Plan B to fix the product, as Plan A actually made the racing worse even as they attempted to make it better. The fact they can be so wrong does leave me with reason for concern.” – Ron Thornton
“NASCAR’s inconsistency continued in 2015. From restarts to suspensions for dumping somebody, one would shake their head as NASCAR justified their thought process.”- Ed Coombs
