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The 18 cars Dale Jr. chose for NASCAR Hall of Fame

By Daniel McFadinJan 10, 2020, 12:00 PM EST

Saturday will mark the debut of a new lineup of cars for the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s “Glory Road” exhibit.

It will be the fourth set of cars to grace the Hall of Fame’s main atrium since the museum opened in 2010.

The difference with the new batch of 18 cars is they were specifically chosen by former Cup driver and NBC Sports analyst Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Earnhardt, the first guest curator of “Glory Road,” chose 18 cars that were driven by Cup champions. The exhibit, called “Dale Jr: Glory Road Champions,” will be on display for about three years.

The car lineup was slowly revealed over the last week on social media, culminating in tomorrow’s exhibit opening.

Here are the 18 cars that Earnhardt chose.

Richard Petty’s 1979 Oldsmobile Cutlass 442

(Photo by ISC Archives/CQ-Roll Call Group via Getty Images)

The car Petty drove to a win in the historic 1979 Daytona 500, which marked the first live flag-to-flag TV coverage of the “Great American Race.”

Petty claimed the win after last-lap crash between Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison as Petty ran in third. Petty would race an Oldsmobile and a Chevrolet in 1979, winning five times on his way to his seventh and final Cup title.

Dale Earnhardt’s 1994 Chevrolet Lumina

Fifteen years after Petty’s seventh title, Dale Earnhardt became the second driver to reach that mark, winning four times in 1994 along with 20 top fives and 25 top 10s in 31 races. It marked the end of Earnhardt’s run of six championships in nine years.

Jimmie Johnson‘s 2016 Chevrolet SS

(Photo by David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

It took a little longer for Jimmie Johnson to join Petty and Earnhardt as a seven-time champion, doing so 22 years after Earnhardt. Johnson won five times and earned 11 top fives and 16 top 10s through 36 races. Three of those wins came in the last seven races of the season.

Jeff Gordon’s 1997 Chevy Monte Carlo

The actual car Gordon won the 1997 Daytona 500 with – his first of three wins in the “Great American Race” – will be on display. The win kicked off Gordon’s second championship campaign. Gordon, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2019, would go on to win 10 races for the second year in a row.

Bill Elliott’s 1988 Ford Thunderbird

(Photo by ISC Images & Archives via Getty Images)

“Awesome Bill from Dawsonville’s” lone Cup title came in 1988. That year he won six times, including the Southern 500 for the second of three times.

He also won the July race at Daytona, at Bristol, Pocono and swept the Dover races.

Tony Stewart’s 2002 Pontiac Grand Prix

The car Stewart drove to his first of three Cup titles and the second Cup title for Joe Gibbs Racing following Bobby Labonte’s in 2000.

Stewart only won three times (Atlanta, Richmond I and Watkins Glen), but had a 13-race streak that included two wins, five top fives and eight top 10s. He took the points lead for the first time after the 30th race of the 36-race season.

Benny Parsons’ 1973 Chevrolet Chevelle

A former Detroit taxi driver, Parson’s lone Cup title came in the 1973 season despite him only claiming one win (Bristol II). But in the 28-race season, he finished outside the top 10 just seven times.

The championship was part of a nine-year stretch where Parsons did not finish outside the top five in the standings.

Alan Kulwicki’s 1992 Ford Thunderbird

One of the most celebrated championship stories in NASCAR history, the independent driver-owner Kulwicki won the 1992 Cup title in the season finale at Atlanta Motor Speedway, besting four other drivers who entered the race with a shot at the championship, including race winner Bill Elliott.

Kulwicki, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2019, died in a plane crash on April 1, 1993 on his way to Bristol Motor Speedway.

The car that will sit on “Glory Road” is the car Kulwicki drove to his fifth and final Cup win on June 14, 1992 at Pocono Raceway.

Bobby Allison’s 1983 Buick Regal

Allison claimed his lone Cup title in 1983 off of six wins, 18 top fives and 25 tops 10s in 30 races.

Allison’s wins included three in a row late in the season, with the first in the Southern 500. His title came after he had placed runner-up in the standings five times.

Cale Yarborough’s 1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass 442

In 1978, Cale Yarborough became the first driver to claim three consecutive Cup titles, an achievement that’s been repeated only once since with Jimmie Johnson as part of his five straight titles.

Driving for Junior Johnson, Yarborough won 10 races (for the second time in his career) and earned 24 top 10s in 30 races.

Buck Baker’s 1957 Chevrolet 150

Baker won his second consecutive Cup title in a car nicknamed “The Black Widow.”

Baker competed in 40 of the season’s 53 races, winning 10 times and earning 30 top fives plus eight more top 10s.

Rusty Wallace’s 1989 Pontiac Grand Prix

Wallace’s lone Cup title came in 1989 when he drove the No. 27 car for owner Raymond Beadle. Wallace claimed six wins and 13 top fives during the 29-race season, his last before he teamed with Miller Genuine Draft as a sponsor.

Wallace won the championship by just 12 points over Dale Earnhardt.

Darrell Waltrip’s 1981 Buick Regal

Waltrip claimed his first of three Cup titles in five years in 1981 while driving the No. 11 car for Junior Johnson. That year he won 12 races (which he would also do in 1982) and earned 21 top fives in 31 races.

His wins included four in a row late in the season at Martinsville, North Wilkesboro, Charlotte and Rockingham.

David Pearson’s 1968 Ford Torino

Pearson claimed his second of three Cup titles in 1968 driving the No. 17 car for Holman-Moody Racing. He claimed 16 of his 105 career Cup wins that season, his most in any year.

Pearson also earned 36 top fives over the course of the 49-race season. He started in 48 races.

Jimmie Johnson’s 2006 Chevrolet Monte Carlo

Johnson started his historic five-year championship streak in 2006. That year he claimed five wins, including his first victories in the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400.

This is the first car on the new version of “Glory Road” representative of NASCAR’s playoff era.

Dale Earnhardt’s 1980 Chevrolet Monte Carlo

The car Earnhardt drove to his first of seven Cup titles in 1980 while he raced for owner Rod Osterlund.

Earnhardt won five times and led the point standings for all but one of the season’s 31 races, leaving the season opener at Daytona second in points.

This car was gifted to Dale Earnhardt Jr. by Talladega Superspeedway in 2017 as part of his farewell tour before he retired from Cup racing.

Dale Jr. helped complete a restoration of the car so it would be historically accurate.

Richard Petty’s 1964 Plymouth Belvedere

The car “The King” raced to his first of seven Cup titles, totaling nine wins and 37 top fives over 61 starts, including his first of seven victories in the Daytona 500.

In the 500, Petty lapped the entire field of 46 cars while leading 184 of 200 laps.

Herb Thomas’ 1951 Hudson Hornet

Thomas won 48 races in his Hall of Fame career, including seven times in his first of two championship campaigns in 1951. Thomas raced a Plymouth for much of the first half of the season before switching to the Hornet. His seven wins included a victory in the Southern 500.

67 years ago today, Herb Thomas won the 1951 Southern 500 @ Darlington.@HudsonMotorCarC pic.twitter.com/XH9cBmVzMx

— Andrew (@Basso488) September 3, 2018

Tony Stewart ready to ‘Rumble’ this weekend

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By Jerry BonkowskiDec 22, 2019, 10:18 PM EST

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It’ll be a short Christmas break for soon-to-be NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart, who will be getting back to his racing roots in his home state of Indiana this Friday and Saturday in the 22nd annual Rumble in Fort Wayne.

Over 100 drivers will compete in more than 100 qualifying races, heats, last chance races and features on the indoor paved track inside the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum and Expo Center including Midgets, Non-Wing Dirt 600 Mini Sprints, Outlaw Modified Winged Midgets, Go-Karts and Quarter Midgets.

Stewart, who will be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame on January 31 along with Joe Gibbs, Buddy Baker, Bobby Labonte and Waddell Wilson, will be going for his 10th Rumble title and will be joined by a few of his racing buddies including USAC and World of Outlaws winner Rico Abreu.

Abreu will be looking to avenge bad luck in last year’s Rumble. He was unable to qualify when his car broke during a practice session and he wasn’t able to continue on.

“It’s fun seeing some of the young drivers that develop into nationwide stars,” Rumble Racing Series spokesman Bob Koorsen told the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. “Erik Jones ran here when he was 6 years old. Ten years ago, Austin Prock was winning quarter midget races and now he drives a Top Fuel dragster for John Force.

“(Abreu has) been … looking forward to coming back. The fans are going to get a treat.”

Koorsen will be one of the busiest individuals in the Coliseum, serving as lead announcer for all 100-plus races this weekend. He’s been a fixture throughout the Rumble’s two-plus decade history.

“I look forward to it all year long,” Koorsen told the Journal Gazette. “There’s just so many people you only see once a year. You have people coming in from California to the Carolinas, and they all converge on Fort Wayne for the smallest track they’ll run on all year.”

There will be one of the widest age swaths of any event in motorsports anywhere, with mini-go-kart drivers as young as five years old, on up to 600cc mini-sprint car driver Clarence Hoch, who will soon turn 72.

Both days of racing begin at 11 a.m. ET, with qualifying, heats, last chance races and features.

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Decade in Review: Best NASCAR finishes of the 2010s

By Daniel McFadinDec 19, 2019, 9:00 AM EST

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From Saturday, Feb. 13, 2010 to Sunday Nov. 17, 2019, there were 3,564 days that went by on the calendar.

In that time span, NASCAR’s three national series held 924 points races.

That’s a lot of races, but unfortunately not every one had a memorable finish.

What were the best race finishes of the 2010s?

NBC Sports’ NASCAR writers compiled 21 memorable finishes from across the decade and then voted on them.

More: 10 most memorable quotes of the 2010s

More: 10 best drivers of the 2010s

More: 10 most memorable moments and stories of the 2010s

Here are the resulting 10 best finishes in NASCAR from the last decade:

1. Watkins Glen International, Aug. 12, 2012

To borrow a phrase from “Saturday Night Live’s” famous club critic, Stefon, this finish had everything.

On the last lap around the New York road course, the rumble began when the second place car of Brad Keselowski made contact with and spun leader Kyle Busch in the esses. Then it was on. Keselowski, the eventual Cup champion, and Marcos Ambrose, the defending race winner, took part in nothing short of a brawl, aided by a track coated in oil that had leaked onto the surface.

The two drivers went off course twice in the bus stop, kicking up a cloud of dirt. Ambrose slid going into Turn 5 and recovered enough to deliver a shot to Keselowski’s rear bumper, opening the door for Ambrose. Keselowski then returned the favor in Turn 6, sending Ambrose off course and setting up a drag race to the final turn. Ambrose’s position on the inside line prevailed, as he beat Keselowski through the final right-hander and went on to claim his final Cup Series win.

On this day, the best club in New York was called “The Glen.”

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2. Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, Sept. 30, 2018

The drama from the last lap of the inaugural Bank of America Roval 400 came in the final turn and ensured the Roval’s historic Cup debut would not be forgotten.

Defending champion Martin Truex Jr. led Jimmie Johnson, who hadn’t won (and remains winless) since the June 2017 race at Dover. As they approached the frontstretch chicane, Johnson moved to Truex’s left side for a pass. But Johnson’s brakes locked up and sent his No. 48 into a spin that ended with it hitting Truex’s right rear, which turned the No. 78 around.

That’s when Ryan Blaney swooped in to take the checkered flag and score his only win of the year.

Almost forgotten in the chaos was Kyle Larson. Larson had been limping his battered No. 42 Chevrolet around the track following a wreck. He bounced off the wall twice in the final turns and passed the prone car of Jeffrey Earnhardt right before crossing the start-finish line. That gave Larson a 25th-place finish. That one extra spot placed Larson in a tie with Johnson and Aric Almirola for a transfer spot to the Round of 12. But the tiebreaker did not favor Johnson.

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3. Chicagoland Speedway, July 1, 2018

Usually when the two frontrunners in a race make contact twice in the last lap and the second contact results in the first-place car going into a slide and the second-place car pancaking the wall, it’s not likely you’ll see a 1-2 finish between those same cars.

Don’t tell that to Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson.

This last-lap duel between them included Larson’s failed “Slide Job!” on Busch exiting Turn 2 and the first contact between them.

Then in Turn 3, Busch gave a push to Larson’s rear bumper, which sent the No. 42 into a slide as Busch contacted the wall.

Thanks to a 55-lap green flag run to end the race, the third-place car of Kevin Harvick couldn’t overtake either as Busch won and Larson finished second.

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(Photo by Chris Trotman/NASCAR via Getty Images)

4. Daytona 500, Feb. 21, 2016

The Toyotas of Joe Gibbs Racing and Furniture Row Racing had the front of the field locked down for most of the 2016 Daytona 500. That was true right up to the checkered flag.

Denny Hamlin was fourth at the white flag before a push from Kevin Harvick in the outside lane propelled Hamlin to the rear bumper of leader Matt Kenseth entering Turn 3. Kenseth’s attempt to block a move by Hamlin to the inside resulted in slight contact that had Kenseth successfully avoid a spin or worse.

That set up a drag race between Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. and Hamlin winning his first Daytona 500 by .010 seconds, the closest finish in race history.

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5.(tie) Daytona International Speedway, Feb. 25, 2012

There’s last-lap passes for the win and then there’s what James Buescher did in the 2012 Xfinity Series season opener.

Buescher, driving the No. 30 Fraternal Order of Eagles Chevrolet for Turner Scott Motorsports, was in 11th place as the field navigated through Turn 4 for the last time.

Buescher technically passed the 10 cars in front of him. In reality, he avoided a really big wreck.

It would be the only Xfinity win for the cousin of Chris Buescher. James would go on to win that season’s Truck Series title, earning four of his six career Truck wins.

Also, what’s up with cars sponsored by the Fraternal Order of Eagles and wacky Daytona wins?

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5. (tie) Martinsville Speedway, Oct. 28, 2018

Martin Truex Jr. was two turns away from winning his first short track race in the Cup Series.

Then Joey Logano pulled the rug out from underneath him.

After a spirited six-lap battle between the drivers, the playoff race came down to the final two turns. Logano gave Truex’s rear bumper a shove, drove underneath him and the two made contact as they exited Turn 4. Truex got sideways, Logano won and Truex finished third after Denny Hamlin snuck by him.

The win locked Logano into the Championship 4.

Three weeks later, Logano would pass Truex late in the season finale to win the race and his first Cup title.

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7. Sonoma Raceway, July 26, 2016

If Tony Stewart was going to get his 49th and final Cup Series win on any type of track and in any fashion, it had to be a road course and it had to involve some bent fenders.

Stewart earned the eighth and final road course win of his career on this day after a last-lap duel with Denny Hamlin. Stewart lost the lead on the back half of the course. But opportunity presented itself in Sonoma’s signature hairpin turn.

Hamlin wheel hopped as he entered the turn, which left the inside open to Stewart. He took advantage and while Stewart passed Hamlin, he delivered an authoritative door slam to Hamlin’s car before racing to the checkered flag.

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8. Homestead-Miami Speedway, Nov. 20, 2016

Jimmie Johnson only led three laps all night in the 2016 season finale. They were the only three that mattered.

Johnson, who started from the rear due to failing pre-race inspection, only took the lead on the overtime restart, taking it from Kyle Larson. Johnson then held off Larson and Kevin Harvick to claim the win and his record tying seventh Cup title.

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9. Auto Club Speedway, March 24, 2013

Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin made contact multiple times during the last lap around the 2-mile track in Fontana, California.

The last instance allowed Kyle Busch to streak by on the outside for the win as Hamlin slid toward the inside wall and Logano scraped along the outside wall. Hamlin’s car would impact the wall nose-first with the incident injuring his back.

Hamlin would sit out the next four races before returning at Talladega.

(Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR)

10. Daytona 500, Feb. 20, 2011

Trevor Bayne might be the epitome of a one hit wonder in NASCAR.

A day after turning 20, Bayne made his second career Cup start. It came in “The Great American Race” driving for the historic Wood Brothers Racing.

On the second attempt at a green-white-checkered finish, Bayne received a pushes from Bobby Labonte and Carl Edwards over the last two laps.

Bayne would not win again in 187 Cup starts, the last start coming in 2018.

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Honorable Mentions: 2018 Daytona 500, 2011 Coca-Cola 600, 2016 Truck Series race at Canada, 2015 Martinsville Cup playoff race and 2015 Truck Series race at Charlotte.

Now’s your chance to vote. What is the best finish of the 2010s?

I’ve been in lots of these crazy finishes. Some good and some bad. Memorable none the less

— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) December 19, 2019

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Decade in Review: Best NASCAR drivers of the 2010s

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By Daniel McFadinDec 17, 2019, 9:00 AM EST

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Day 2 of NBC Sports’ NASCAR Decade in Review series is here.

We continue our look back at the 2010s with the top 10 drivers of the decade, as voted on by the NBC Sports NASCAR writers.

More: 10 most memorable quotes of the 2010s

Every Cup champion from the decade is present on this list, but where did they wind up?

1. Kyle Busch

Kyle Busch raced a lot and won a lot in the 2010s and claimed two Cup titles along the way, becoming the first repeat champion under the elimination playoff format.

Early in 2019, Busch claimed his 200^th national NASCAR series win with a victory in the Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway.

Busch ended the decade with 56 Cup Series wins, 40 of which came in the 2010s. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has yet to go winless in his 15 full-time seasons in the Cup Series.

Of the drivers on this list, he and Kevin Harvick are the only Cup drivers to win in every year of the decade.

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2. Jimmie Johnson

While his decade ended on a down note, going winless over the final two seasons, Johnson’s impact on the 2010s is indisputable.

He began it in 2010 be claiming his fifth consecutive Cup title and proceeded to win two more by 2016 while also winning 36 races before his drought began.

Two years after his record-tying seventh title, he and crew chief Chad Knaus split up after 17 seasons together.

Johnson will bring his full-time Cup career to an end in 2020 after 19 years while seeking his record eighth Cup title.

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3. Kevin Harvick

Kevin Harvick surged in the 2010s, and that was before he moved from Richard Childress Racing to Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014 and proceeded to win his first Cup title.

Harvick entered the decade on a two-year winless streak and with only 11 Cup wins since his debut in 2001.

In his last four years with RCR (2010-13), Harvick topped his total from the previous nine seasons by earning 12 wins.

He didn’t slow down with SHR. With crew chief Rodney Childers, he earned five wins in his championship year. In the five years since, Harvick’s won at least two races in each season, including a career-best eight in 2018.

He’s also made the Championship 4 in five of the six years of the elimination format.

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4. Martin Truex Jr.

No driver quite experienced the rebirth in the 2010s that Martin Truex Jr. did.

When the decade began, the two-time Xfinity Series champion had just one win, at Dover in 2007 as a rookie with Dale Earnhardt, Inc.

Truex only claimed one victory from 2010-2013, at Sonoma Raceway in 2013 with Michael Waltrip Racing. In the aftermath of MWR’s “Spingate” scandal in 2013, Truex found safe harbor at Furniture Row Racing. After yet another winless season in 2014, he was paired with crew chief Cole Pearn.

Over the next five years the duo produced 24 Cup wins, the 2017 Cup title and four appearances in the Championship 4 even as they moved to Joe Gibbs Racing for the 2019 season.

Truex will now race in a post-Pearn era going into 2020. The crew chief surprised many by resigning and announcing he was leaving NASCAR to spend more time with his family.

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5. Brad Keselowski

While he had starts and even one win in Cup before the decade started, 2010 marked Keselowski’s first full-time season on NASCAR’s top circuit.

Though he went winless in his rookie season with Team Penske, Keselowski has since claimed 29 victories driving the No. 2 Ford and can tout himself as the first driver to win a Cup title for Roger Penske (2012).

Since his title, Keselowski has finished in the top five just twice, including making the Championship 4 in 2017.

Other decade highlights include: becoming winningest active Cup driver at Talladega (five wins), earning Team Penske its first Brickyard 400 win (2018), its first win at Darlington since 1975 and becoming Team Penske’s overall winningest driver.

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6. Denny Hamlin

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver ended the decade with nearly the best season of his career.

Hamlin won six times in 2019, the second-most of his career, a year after he went winless for the first time in his career. That gives him 36 Cup wins in 14 full-time seasons.

Since 2010, his wins include the Daytona 500 (twice), Southern 500 (twice), at Martinsville (three times), Talladega and the Bristol night race (twice).

The biggest knock against the 39-year-old driver is that he remains the winningest active driver on the circuit without a championship.

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7. Joey Logano

Logano had a rough start to his Cup career to begin the decade with just one win in three seasons with Joe Gibbs Racing. But Logano came into his own in the 2010s after joining Team Penske in 2013, eventually winning the 2018 Cup title.

Logano ended the decade having earned all but one of his 23 Cup wins. He’s won at least one race each year since joining Penske and has claimed victories in the Daytona 500, the Bristol night race (twice), at Martinsville and four superspeedway wins.

Logano has also reached the Championship 4 three times while also failing to make the playoffs in 2017.

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8. (tie) Matt Kenseth

The first of two drivers on this list whose Cup careers came to an end before the decade did.

Kenseth, the 2003 Cup champion, claimed 21 of his 39 career wins during the decade, failing to win in two of his eight full-time seasons (including 2015 when he was suspended for two races).

Kenseth switched teams four years into the decade, going from Roush Fenway Racing to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2013. That year he won a career-best seven races and finished runner-up in the standings for the second time.

Following the introduction of the elimination playoff system, his best season result was fifth in 2016.

Kenseth closed out his career in 2018 starting in 15 races for Roush. He also competed in the All-Star Race and won the pole for the event.

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8. (tie) Tony Stewart

The driver known as “Smoke” tapped out of his Cup Series career after the 2016 season, taking with him three titles and 49 wins.

Only 12 of those wins came during his seven years of competition in the 2010s, but five of those victories occurred over a very important stretch in 2011.

Stewart claimed his third championship that year after he entered the playoffs winless and then won five of the 10 races in the “Chase,” including winning the season finale over Carl Edwards and earning the title via a tiebreaker.

Stewart would miss 26 races from 2013-16 – 10 races shy of a full season – due to injuries and the aftermath of the Kevin Ward Jr. tragedy in 2014, but he did enough to earn a spot of recognition.

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10. Christopher Bell

Bell has the distinction of being the only driver on this list who has never made a start in Cup Series.

But Bell, who turned 25 on Dec. 16, has made his mark on NASCAR in a fast and furious manner prior to his rookie season in Cup next year with Leavine Family Racing.

The Oklahoma native has competed in national series from 2015-19. In that time he’s earned 23 national series wins, one Truck Series title and has reached the Championship 4 in all four of his full-time seasons (two each in Xfinity and Trucks).

He won a rookie record seven Xfinity races in 2018 and then topped that by one this year. Where will Bell land on this list in 2029?

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Now it’s your turn to vote. Who was the best driver of the 2010s?

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Decade in Review: Most Memorable NASCAR quotes of the 2010s

By Daniel McFadinDec 16, 2019, 7:00 AM EST

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NASCAR is a very quotable sport.

With microphones located seemingly everywhere – in the garage, on pit road, in a driver’s helmet and in a pit reporter’s hands – it’s hard to miss a controversial or humorous sound bite.

It’s time to look back at the 10 most memorable quotes from the 2010s, as voted on by NBC Sports’ NASCAR writers.

1. “We’ll put it back in the hands of the drivers and we’ll say, ‘Boys, have at it and have a good time'” – Robin Pemberton in the 2010 pre-season.

The 2010’s had barely even started when a sound bite that helped define the first half of the decade was uttered by NASCAR’s then vice president of competition, Robin Pemberton.

The quote by Pemberton was NASCAR’s way of establishing its new approach to how drivers policed themselves on the track. This was put to the test early on in the season when Carl Edwards intentionally spun Brad Keselowski in the Cup race at Atlanta with three laps to go, resulting in Keselowski going airborne, flipping and landing on his roof.

Edwards would be put on probation for three races because of his actions.

Anytime a controversial act happened on the track over the next few years, Pemberton’s quote was quick to come up.

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2. “It’s probably not his fault, his wife wears the firesuit in his family and tells him what to do.” – Joey Logano, June 6, 2010

Ten races after the Keselowski-Edwards incident, tensions flared at Pocono Raceway after Joey Logano was spun from contact with Kevin Harvick in the closing laps of the Cup race on the “Tricky Triangle.”

Speaking to the media afterwards, Logano spoke this line that invoked Harvick’s wife, DeLana. The quote led to the Harvicks selling a shirt inspired by it with proceeds going to their charitable foundation.

Nine years later, it came full circle when Logano raced an old Harvick paint scheme in the Southern 500. As part of the announcement, Logano and his wife, Brittany, appeared in a video where Brittany claimed she wore the firesuit in their family.

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3. “Is your arm starting to hurt? I bet it’s hot in there. Itch it.” – Crew chief Brian Pattie to Clint Bowyer, Sept. 7, 2013

At 14 words, this is a very loaded quote.

It would come to define “Spingate,” the race manipulation scandal in the 2013 Cup regular season finale at Richmond that cost Michael Waltrip Racing a lot:

A $300,000 fine, 50 point penalties for all of its teams, sponsorship from NAPA Auto Parts and ultimately, helped pave the way for the team to close down after the 2015 season.

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4. “He’s just a dipshit! The way he races, I don’t know how he’s ever won a championship. I’m just sick and tired of him.” – Jeff Gordon, Nov. 2, 2014

Jeff Gordon of all people said this.

It came after the 2014 playoff race at Texas Motor Speedway, when contact between Gordon and Brad Keselowski in the closing laps resulted in a cut tire for Gordon, who spun.

Afterward on pit road, following a helpful push of Keselowski by Kevin Harvick, Gordon and Keselowski’s teams engaged in a large scuffle.

Gordon displaying his temper wasn’t new by this point, following his heated confrontation with Jeff Burton at Texas four years earlier.

But imagine the shock to the system had Gordon made a similar statement about a fellow driver during the height of his squeaky-clean “Wonder Boy” days in the late ’90s.

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5. “Kyle Busch is an ass.” – Brad Keselowski, Aug. 21, 2010

2010 was a really quotable year, wasn’t it?

It’s not often you can pinpoint the exact origin point for a decade-defining rivalry, but this notorious quote from Keselowski – which all Bristol night race driver introductions are now compared to – is pretty much it.

Keselowski’s comment was a result of him being upset at Busch over contact between the two drivers in the previous night’s Xfinity Series race.

To say the rivals have been at odds with each other for the ensuing 10 years would be an understatement.

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6. “That’s quintessential NASCAR.” – Brian France, Oct. 19, 2015 on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

NASCAR’s then CEO and Chairman provided his assessment on a late-race incident in the Cup playoff race at Kansas Speedway, which saw Joey Logano make contact with and spin race leader Matt Kenseth with five laps to go.

That’s the contact that led Kenseth to retaliate against Logano a few weeks later at Martinsville, intentionally wrecking Logano while he led and Kenseth was multiple laps down after a wreck.

NASCAR deemed that not “quintessential” and suspended Kenseth for two races.

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7. “Hold my watch” – Richard Childress, June 4, 2011

There’s no audio of this quote, which has become legendary in the garage since Childress reportedly uttered it before putting Kyle Busch in a headlock after a Truck Series race at Kansas Speedway.

The incident in question was the culmination of events that included Kevin Harvick and dated back to the 2010 Cup finale in Miami.

But Childress doesn’t dispute that he said it. During a visit to the Dale Jr. Download in April of this year, he even provided the 1970s origin story of why he always takes off his watch before wading into a fight.

“We used to go out to the bars and have a good time and everything,” Childress recalled. “We were up at an old bar at Daytona one night and a big fight broke out. I happened to be in it. I had a Rolex. First Rolex I ever had in my life. I lost it in that fight. Ever since that you always take your watch off.”

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8. “I don’t know what y’all are whining about. If you don’t like that kind of racing, don’t even watch.” – Kyle Busch, July 1, 2018

After a wild and thrilling conclusion to the 2018 Cup race at Chicagoland Speedway between Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson, not everyone was pleased.

Busch, the race winner, ribbed the fans in the stands who booed his victory while also pretending to cry into NBC Sports’ TV cameras.

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9. “They’re really good, but they’re really, really lucky, too. Jimmie (Johnson) is a good friend of mine, but there’s no denying how lucky they are. They have a golden horseshoe stuck up their ass.”– Kevin Harvick, Feb. 21, 2010

Yet another quote from the opening year of the decade. Something was in the water that season.

Kevin Harvick was clearly tired of losing, especially to Jimmie Johnson.

This shot from Harvick came after the second race of the season at Auto Club Speedway, which saw him fail to track Johnson down for the lead in the final laps.

Johnson was fresh off his fourth championship in a row and on his way to a fifth. Meanwhile, Harvick was mired in a winless streak dating back to 2007. He’d finally break through seven races later at Talladega and win three times that year.

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10. “I’m gonna bust his ass” – Tony Stewart, March 24, 2013

There’s only one quote from the driver nicknamed “Smoke” on this list and it’s a doozy.

Following the dramatic conclusion of the Cup race at Auto Club Speedway, Stewart confronted Joey Logano on pit road and launched a scuffle between their teams because Stewart was furious with the Team Penske driver for blocking Stewart on a restart.

This one line about Logano is the cleanest adult language fit to print from Stewart’s brief exchange with a pit reporter in the garage.

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Come back tomorrow for the best drivers of the 2010s.

Now you get the chance to vote. Which of these is your favorite quote of the 2010s?

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