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Not original, from the Kansas City Star:
• Surprise hiring: Jamie McMurray by Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Great kid, good driver, local roots. Thing is; who is he?
• Surprise firing: Jerry Nadeau by Hendrick Motorsports. He was a bit of a disappointment in his 21/2 years at Hendrick. But he did get a victory, has the young look Hendrick seems to like and had more victories -- one -- than teammate Terry Labonte during the same time period.
• Warm-and-fuzzy story: Ward Burton offers to fix Missouri child's cleft palate after seeing him at an autograph-signing appearance. And the only thing Burton hated worse than seeing a young man with a severe disability was publicly taking credit for his offer.
• Tasteless T-shirt: "Hey Brooke, call me." This jab at Jeff Gordon's soon-to-be ex-wife was being sold along the road into Talladega.
• Hated to see: Kevin Harvick jumping over a car in an effort to grab Greg Biffle after a Busch Grand National race.
• Would love to see: Harvick try that with former Stanford starting linebacker and current NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Coy Gibbs.
• Most popular victory: Johnny Benson wins at Rockingham. One of racing's genuine nice guys finally gets what everybody wanted as much as he did. And does it with class.
• Walkin' the walk: John Darby, Winston Cup's cop on the beat. Penalties used to get more laughs than Jimmy Spencer one-liners. Gee, $5,000 fines for teams that had $20 million. But Darby started hitting offenders with point reductions. Nobody's laughing now.
• Stranger than fiction: Winston Cup team owner Jack Roush crashes an airplane upside down in a lake in rural Alabama. The one person in a 10-state area who can extricate Roush and save him is standing on the bank of the lake.
• Hottest driver in NASCAR: Scott Wimmer. Driving an unsponsored Busch car, he won four of the final eight races of the season, including three of the final five.
• In need of an accountant: It ain't Powerball but it ain't bad. Tony Stewart will receive $3.75 million for winning this year's Winston Cup championship.
• Good move: Moving the final race of the year out of Atlanta. Good racing there but lousy weather and worse atmosphere.
• Bad move: Moving the final race of the year to Homestead, Fla. Good weather, lots to do, lousy racing.
• The best: Tony Stewart is the best race-car driver in North America. He may be the best driver this country has ever produced. He is good for the sport and a deserving champion. Cut this guy a break.
• Crew chief of year: Ben Leslie. The native of Puroin, Mo., took Mark Martin to the brink of his first Winston Cup championship. The state of Missouri now has two of the best in the garages. The other is James Ince of Springfield.
• Surprise hiring: Jamie McMurray by Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Great kid, good driver, local roots. Thing is; who is he?
• Surprise firing: Jerry Nadeau by Hendrick Motorsports. He was a bit of a disappointment in his 21/2 years at Hendrick. But he did get a victory, has the young look Hendrick seems to like and had more victories -- one -- than teammate Terry Labonte during the same time period.
• Warm-and-fuzzy story: Ward Burton offers to fix Missouri child's cleft palate after seeing him at an autograph-signing appearance. And the only thing Burton hated worse than seeing a young man with a severe disability was publicly taking credit for his offer.
• Tasteless T-shirt: "Hey Brooke, call me." This jab at Jeff Gordon's soon-to-be ex-wife was being sold along the road into Talladega.
• Hated to see: Kevin Harvick jumping over a car in an effort to grab Greg Biffle after a Busch Grand National race.
• Would love to see: Harvick try that with former Stanford starting linebacker and current NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Coy Gibbs.
• Most popular victory: Johnny Benson wins at Rockingham. One of racing's genuine nice guys finally gets what everybody wanted as much as he did. And does it with class.
• Walkin' the walk: John Darby, Winston Cup's cop on the beat. Penalties used to get more laughs than Jimmy Spencer one-liners. Gee, $5,000 fines for teams that had $20 million. But Darby started hitting offenders with point reductions. Nobody's laughing now.
• Stranger than fiction: Winston Cup team owner Jack Roush crashes an airplane upside down in a lake in rural Alabama. The one person in a 10-state area who can extricate Roush and save him is standing on the bank of the lake.
• Hottest driver in NASCAR: Scott Wimmer. Driving an unsponsored Busch car, he won four of the final eight races of the season, including three of the final five.
• In need of an accountant: It ain't Powerball but it ain't bad. Tony Stewart will receive $3.75 million for winning this year's Winston Cup championship.
• Good move: Moving the final race of the year out of Atlanta. Good racing there but lousy weather and worse atmosphere.
• Bad move: Moving the final race of the year to Homestead, Fla. Good weather, lots to do, lousy racing.
• The best: Tony Stewart is the best race-car driver in North America. He may be the best driver this country has ever produced. He is good for the sport and a deserving champion. Cut this guy a break.
• Crew chief of year: Ben Leslie. The native of Puroin, Mo., took Mark Martin to the brink of his first Winston Cup championship. The state of Missouri now has two of the best in the garages. The other is James Ince of Springfield.