Biggest surprises of 2008

By DAVID GREEN

We all get frustrated at times, but as long as I can keep my head on reasonably straight, I prefer to emphasize the positive instead of the negative. So, I'm going with "surprises" as the topic of this post, to avoid terms like "disappointment" and "failure" and so forth.

Jimmie Johnson's record-tying third straight Cup championship has to go in both the surprise/no surprise categories, in my opinion. Johnson was anything but a long shot in February, but given that only one other driver had ever strung three titles, it had to be something of a surprise that he accomplished it.

But that was far from the biggest shocker of the year.

Carl Edwards' feat of winning nine Cup races and the manner in which he finished the season -- sweeping Nationwide and Cup races at Homestead, and finishing second in both series' driver points -- was an impressive accomplishment, but not really shocking. Edwards long ago proved himself one of the present generation's most capable drivers.

Empty grandstand seats and diminishing television ratings were not really a surprise, either. I'm old enough to remember the days when sports writers could write for credentials to a NASCAR event and get two or even four complimentary grandstand tickets, to boot. We're not back to those days (not quite). But it still is a little bit jarring to me when the TV cameras accidentally pan over a large expanse of grandstand without people sitting there.

Kyle Busch's blistering pace of the regular season and his swoon during the Chase were both pretty gobsmacking, but at the same time, not. Busch, like Edwards, is already -- even at his young age -- way beyond the point of being accused of pulling off an upset when he wins any race. The rash of victories was surprising only because of the bunches in which they came. As for the slump, the argument could be made that Busch used up his good fortune in the first 26 races. So that's not the big surprise.

It was a good thing that the Craftsman and Nationwide series delivered close championship finishes while the Chase, geared to do just that, did not. These things ought not be engineered to be falsely "exciting." However, it has to be mildly surprising that the Chase has foundered so badly since that first one.

Ryan Newman winning Daytona to start the season, then leaving Penske at the end; Tony Stewart leaving Joe Gibbs Racing; Dario Franchitti failing to last a full season in NASCAR and the Ganassi slump in general, in comparison to that team owner's success in the Indy Racing League; all were newsworthy, but not exactly man-bites-dog stories.

For me, the biggest, most jaw-dropping occurrence of 2008 was that five of the sport's top drivers and biggest stars -- Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick -- won, among them, two races all season. Cumulative total.

Gordon, Kenseth, Harvick -- winless. Zero. Zilch. Nada. And -- although they all count -- the single victories that Stewart and Earnhardt scored certainly came in some manner other than spanking the field. If not for some successful strategy and a favorable NASCAR ruling, all five could have been shut out.

Come on -- try to convince me you weren't shocked and awed.