SM Staff

Jimmie Johnson is the Sprint Cup Series champion, again. So why is this one so surprising?

You see Santa, we fans look forward to seeing you once a year, but Tony Stewart, well we get to spend 36 glorious weekends with that big guy in red annually.

To understand how much a championship means to someone, they say that you should know the road that they took to get to where they are.

NASCAR Championship week in Las Vegas has culminated yet again in the crowning of Jimmie Johnson as the Sprint Cup Champion.

Even though Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s current deal isn't expected to expire until 2012, Rick Hendrick has confirmed that the two parties are working out a new contract extension already.

When it was announced last year at the Sprint Cup Series banquet that Rick Hendrick would be receiving Bill France Award of Excellence, nobody was surprised.

When Robin Pemberton uttered those now infamous words, "Boys, have at it" it was anyone’s guess what type of a season the sport was in for. Looking back at the 2010 Nationwide Series season, it became quite clear that the drivers lived by those words each weekend.

Richard Petty has fallen under the curse as well. The seven-time NASCAR champion is struggling to keep his Richard Petty Motorsports racing team afloat.

Now that Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been awarded Jeff Gordon’s equipment, team and crew chief, just what does Mark Martin have to look forward to?

When Robin Pemberton uttered those now infamous words, “Boys, have at it” it was anyone’s guess what type of a season the sport was in for. Looking back at the 2010 Nationwide Series season, it became quite clear that the drivers lived by those words each weekend.