Kurt Busch (pictured) began his racing career at 14, which would make him a late bloomer by NASCAR champion standards. After successful stints in Dwarf Cars, Legend Cars, the Southwest Series, and the NASCAR Truck Series, Kurt made his Sprint Cup debut in 2000 and went full-time the following year.

Beginning in 2002, Busch went on an impressive run in the top tier of the racing world. He has at least one win in each of the last ten seasons, which would include all but the first two (one partial, one full) of his Sprint Cup career. He has finished 18th or better every year during that run, with eight years at 11th or better. And, of course, the one series championship in 2004.

Younger brother Kyle Busch followed in his older sibling’s footsteps and got to start his racing career at age 13. He took a different route to the top, spending a lot of time in the Legend Cars series and winning two championships there. He was racing in the NASCAR Truck series before he finished high school. In his first full season on the Busch Series, he finished second in points and won the Rookie of the Year honors.

Kyle started on the Cup series in 2004 – big brother Kurt’s championship year – and went full-time the following year, finishing 20th in series points. In the six years since he has never finished lower than 13th in the points standings. Even though Busch is only eligible for points in the Sprint Cup series under the new NASCAR rules, he continues to race, with great success, in both the Nationwide and Truck series.

The two brothers have announced that they will be joining forces for the 2012 season, sharing driving duties in the #54 Toyota sponsored by Monster Energy in the Nationwide Series. Each will continue to drive a full slate on the Sprint Cup series where they are points-eligible.

(NASA photo)

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

In other NASCAR news, Rusty Wallace Racing is closing up shop for 2012. Wallace, the 1989 Cup Series champion, has been a car owner for the last 25 years, but the current incarnation of Rusty Wallace Racing has been fielding two to three cars on the Nationwide tour since 2004. In the seven seasons of its existence, RWR has had 15 drivers starting at a total of 411 races and finishing 343 of them. During that time, according to Wallace, he’s never made any money. None. As the saying goes, all work and no money makes Rusty … call it quits.

For now, anyway. Wallace didn’t rule out fielding a team in 2012, but he certainly didn’t rule it in, either. Reading between the lines – if the $6.5 million he’d need to do the job right falls into his lap, he’ll compete in 2012. If not, well, there’s always next year. Maybe.

(U.S. Air Force photo)

Long before Jimmie Johnson became the winner of 5 consecutive Sprint Cup championships, he started his racing career riding motocross at the age of 5.  He went on to Superlite Class, off-road racing, the AC Delco Challenge Series, and the Nationwide Series before joining the Sprint Cup series, earning honors at every step along the way.

Johnson drives the #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet owned by Jeff Gordon for Hendrick Motorsports.  His Sprint Cup career began inauspiciously in 2001.  He started just three races that year, never finishing above 25^th.  But the next year, his first full year on the Sprint Cup, everyone in NASCAR Nation took notice of the 26-year-old rookie.

He started the year off in the pole position at the Daytona 500.  He won at Fontana two months later in his 10^th start of the season.  He won three races in his rookie season and finished fifth in series points.

A year later Johnson would finish second in series points behind champion Matt Kenseth.  The next year, 2004, Johnson finished 2^nd again, this time behind nemesis Kurt Busch.  He would drop back to 5^th in 2005.

Then came 2006 and the reign of Jimmie Johnson.  He won the Daytona 500 along with 4 other races and the Sprint Cup Championship.  He won again in 2007 and 2008.  In 2009 he became the only driver in NASCAR history to win 4 consecutive titles and was the first driver ever to win the Associated Press Athlete of the Year award.  He went on to win a fifth straight Sprint Cup title in 2010, cementing his name in the NASCAR record books.

Off the track Johnson is active in his charity, the Jimmie Johnson Foundation, which provides assistance to children and families in need.

(White House photo)

Brad Keselowski

By 2010 Kes had earned himself a nickname and a full time gig on the Sprint circuit. Driving the #2 Miller Lite Dodge for Roger Penske Racing, the 26-year-old finished 25th in series points.

2011 was an even better year for Brad. His victory at Pocono, racing with a broken leg just days after the wreck that caused the injury, is already the stuff of legend… or legend in the making, at least. It was one of three wins on the season for Keselowski. He finished the year 5th in points, behind only Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, and Matt Kensethand ahead of such NASCAR luminaries as Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, and Jeff Gordon.

Brad is not the first Keselowski to get behind the wheel of a racecar. Both his father and his grandfather raced and his brother Brian is currently running on the Nationwide series. Keselowski is not only a legacy driver, he’s also an owner. Since 2008 Kes has owned a team on the Camping World Truck Series.
(U.S. Navy photo)

Joe Gibbs Racing announced that Jason Ratcliff will be the new crew chief for the #20 car. Ratcliff is moving up within the JGR organization after 7 years on the Nationwide tour.

He’s moving into the spot vacated by Greg Zipadelli, who jumped ship last week for a position with Stewart-Haas Racing. The position of “competition director,” specifically. Whatever else may be involved in that title, Zipadelli will have the honor of serving as crew chief for a certain Miss Danica Patrick when she starts her Sprint Cup career at Daytona in February.

In other racing news, NASCAR has issued a new mandate for Sprint Cup teams. The technical bulletin is, well, pretty technical, but the gist of it is that teams must make some changes to the cooling systems. By changing the size and location of the various components of the cooling system, NASCAR hopes to cut down on tandem drafting, which was a major factor in several Sprint Cup races this season.

There are several other technical specifications relating to the rear spoiler and restrictor plates. In effect, NASCAR is intentionally limiting the effectiveness of the radiators in order to force drivers to work with less than the full potential of their machines. The hope is to undo the trend away from the pack style of drafting toward tandems. This was supposedly done with the fans in mind, but I’m not sure how it leaves us any better off. We’ll have to wait until February to see how it plays out on the track.

(U.S. Air Force photo)

Tony Stewart

Stewart drives the #14 car, a Chevy, sponsored by Office Depot and Mobil 1. As of 2008 he is both the driver and the owner (or at least co-owner along with Margaret Haas as half of Stewart-Haas Racing). The move was considered risky at the time, as no driver/owner had won a Championship in over 15 years. In fact, no driver/owner had won even a single race on the Sprint Cup Series since 1999. Stewart would end the latter drought almost immediately and the former in his third season as owner/driver.

Stewart has a long and successful history in racing. As a youth he won the International Karting Foundation Grand National Title in 1983. He went on to compete in various racing leagues and formats, winning accolades at every level until he finally joined NASCAR’s top circuit full time in 1999 as a member of Joe Gibbs Racing. He won three races and Rookie of the Year honors in his first full year. He’s finished in the top 10 in points every year but one (2006, when he finished 11th) since then.

In his thirteen-year career in the Cup Series, Stewart has notched at least one victory every season, the longest streak among all active drivers. Only once during that run was he limited to a single victory in a season (2008).

Since winning the Sprint Cup Championship in November 2011, Stewart has not rested on his laurels. Always willing to rock the boat – even a boat that just won a Championship two weeks before – Stewart fired crew chief Darian Grubb, who had been with Stewart since the inception of Stewart-Haas racing. He was replaced by Kurt Busch’s former chief, Steve Addington.

Off the track, Tony Stewart devotes considerable time and effort to his charitable foundation. He raises money for chronically ill children, injured drivers, and the protection of endangered species. His charitable endeavors earned him the title of “Most Caring Athlete” in 2004, according to USA Weekend as well as several similar honors from other organizations.

(Photo: U.S. Air Force)

Carl Edwards

Edwards started his NASCAR career in 2001 on the Craftsman Truck Series. After just partial seasons, he joined Rousch Racing for a full year in 2003. He went on to win 3 races and Rookie of the Year honors in that season.

He made the move to the big leagues in 2004, competing on a limited basis in the NEXTEL Cup series, driving his familiar #99 car. Beginning in 2005, Edwards raced for Rousch full-time in both the NEXTEL and Busch series. He had a strong debut year, but suffered a sophomore slump in 2006 with no wins.

2007 was a better year for Edwards, who won the Busch Series Championship going away. By 2008, Edwards was ready to compete for the big prize and came within a few points of winning the Sprint Cup Championship.

2009 started poorly for Edwards. NASCAR fans will remember the 99 car going airborne into the fence at Talladega that year. Although he walked away unscathed, Edwards was never quite the same for the rest of the season, finishing without a single win.

2010 saw Edwards continue to excel in the Nationwide Series, finishing second in points for the third year in a row. After a slow start on the Sprint Cup, he gained traction in the second half of the season and finished fourth.

2011 was the year of Carl – almost. He finished the year in a dead heat with Tony Stewart but lost the Sprint Cup Championship on a tie breaker.

Edwards seems to move just as fast off-track as he does on. He has appeared on several TV shows including 24 and The Price is Right. He is the co-owner of a record label. His wife is a doctor and a serious hottie. The couple has two children.

With the 2011 season in the books, Edwards will spend the off-season working on a Civil War mini-series to air in 2013. That, and preparing to take the crown in 2012.

(U.S. Air Force photo)

Amazing what a little motivation and a few friends will do for a driver. There was little doubt all day and night that Stewart and Carl Edwards were the two best drivers, with the two best cars, on this particular day. In case you couldn’t discern that on your own, the ESPN coverage team reminded us constantly and virtually ignored the rest of the field in terms of commentary and screen time.

Stewart won for the fifth time in the Chase, overcoming pit crew mistakes and mechanical problems to come from nowhere to win the Ford 400 and the Sprint Cup Championship – both by the narrowest of margins. With the long delay and extended re-warm ups, it looked for a time like fuel would come into play. But fuel held out for both drivers just fine and everyone else on the track made way for the two competitors to flat out race for the finish.

Stewart and Edwards finished the season with exactly the same number of points. They both had exactly 2403 points. One point anywhere – anywhere – this season would have made all the difference. Stewart was crowned champion by virtue of a tie breaker based on the number of wins in the Chase. It was a long race to finish a long season.

Stay tuned to Gas Pedal Addicts every week throughout the offseason as we keep up to date on NASCAR developments, other races of interest, and driver profiles –- beginning with 2011 Sprint Cup Champion driver and owner Tony Stewart next week.

(National Guard photo)

There was more bad news for Kyle Busch Sunday. Engine trouble forced him from the race with over 100 laps left to go. The DNF dropped him to twelfth and last place in the Chase. The good news, if you’re a glass half-full kind of person, is that it didn’t really matter anyway. Eleventh or twelfth place, he’s more than a hundred points down and completely out of contention.

Jeff Gordon finished the race, but wasn’t much better off than Busch. He finally crossed the finish line in 32nd  place, earning just 12 points and dropping three spots in the standings. He’s now 112 points behind the leader.

Busch and Gordon are in good company. Ryan Newman, Denny Hamlin, Kurt Busch, Dale Jr. – they’re all down by over 100 points. The other drivers in the Chase are all out of the running. What started as a field of twelve is now down to just two. Even third place Kevin Harvick is 51 points out and hopelessly far behind with only one race left.

Next Week: The sport that starts the season with the equivalent of the Super Bowl will end the season with a mano a mano battle between the two top contenders. It will all be decided at the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Brad Keselowski finished fourth, first among an underperforming field of contenders.  In a race that was vitally important for the Chase, less than half of the contenders finished in the top 24.  Big names littered the higher numbers in the results.  Points leader Carl Edwards maintained his position despite an 11^th place finish.  Matt Kenseth crossed 18^th.  Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson, and Jeff Gordon eventually finished in 24^th-26^th place.  A terrible showing, unless you compare them to Kevin Harvick and the Busch Brothers who were all in the 30’s.

The new reality of the Chase is that it is Edwards’ to lose.  He stands 14 points ahead of runner up Kenseth with only four races to go.

Keselowski, Tony Stewart, and – despite his atrocious day – Harvick, still have a chance.  Beyond those four, the rest of the field have to be considered long-shots, although I still wouldn’t count out Kyle Busch or Johnson.  But time is running out for either to make their move.

They’ll get another chance at Martinsville next Sunday in the Tums Fast Relief 500.

(U.S. Air Force photo)