Kyle Busch, who had won the last three spring races at Richmond, spent most of this Saturday night thinking the streak would come to an end.

Following a slow start to his young Penske Racing career with bad luck defining some mediocre performances, AJ Allmendinger found himself at Martinsville Speedway for the Goody’s Fast Relief 500.

Your kids aren’t the only ones wishing for presents this month! During the busy holiday season, our IZOD IndyCar staff sat down and composed letters to Santa. They decided to ask for what they most want for some of the best drivers in the world and for the series as a whole. *From Matt…*

Martin Truex Jr. dominated at the 1.5-mile Kansas track, leading a race-high 173 laps, but lost in a duel with Denny Hamlin late and had to settle for second.

These days, the brunt of both fan and media attention is focused on the larger, more well-funded teams of NASCAR — and rightfully so. They’re, after all, the organizations that challenge for top-10 finishes each week, let alone wins and championships. However, those teams only take up about two-thirds of a full 43-car field. The …

Read more

*Brad Keselowski is the 2012 Sprint Cup champion, and is a bit polarizing with his “Bad Brad” moniker. How do you think Keselowski will be remembered as champion…and how many more will he win?* Phil: Especially since Brad’s only 28, it’s a little early to say how many he’ll win. But I wouldn’t be surprised if he snags a couple of more. Mike N.: Keselowski is going to be a great spokesperson for the sport. I believe he’ll be able to effect change, unlike some other champs because he is extremely smart and very introspective. I believe he’ll be remembered for changing the social media aspect of the sport, making it mainstream and speaking his mind. That, and drinking out of the biggest Miller Lite glass he could find after winning.

Thanksgiving is tomorrow and it’s a time when we all think back on our lives, and especially the last year and consider all of the people and things we are thankful for. The Frontstretch IndyCar staff decided to look back at the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series season and do the same thing. So, here are the IndyCar things each of our writers are thankful for. *From Matt…* * I’m thankful for the fact that IndyCar will finally see the return of the Triple Crown in 2013. Indianapolis, Pocono, and Fontana give IndyCar three major races that will help keep the series in the news throughout the year.

As a Michigander (albeit a 1995 transplant from Pennsylvania by way of Ohio), I watched with great pride as Brad Keselowski won the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup championship at Homestead. His success – the first Cup title for a Michigan native – saved what has been a lackluster year for professional sports in our state. The Detroit Lions are having yet another sluggish season. It’s become a holiday tradition to watch our NFL franchise suffer Thanksgiving losses (my students on Monday swapped stories about how watching the Lions tended to ruin otherwise pleasant family gatherings). It’s difficult to celebrate our nation’s abundance when victories are in such short supply.

Phoenix was actually a pretty good weekend from the start. Practice went good, qualifying was OK. I think we ended up qualifying 17th and within the first 20 laps I think we were up to ninth, so the car was just really good in the beginning. We took two tires on the first stop and that made it too tight. In the spring race, towards the end of the race we were really tight and so we just put on two left sides to free it up, and that’s really what brought the car to life and got us a top-10 finish that time but this time it just made it way way way too free.

Th-th-th-that’s all, folks! For the second year in a row, we are talking about someone not named Jimmie Johnson winning the championship. For the first time since 2005, someone not named Tony Stewart or Jimmie Johnson finally took the trophy home. But who would have thought that out of all the experienced, talented, and qualified drivers out there, that it would be Brad Keselowski? Not that there could have been a better driver considering his outreach on social media, but still .. he beat Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, and Denny Hamlin when it came to winning their first titles. I get the feeling that this dude is going to be around for a while.

*Did You Notice?…* As the dust begins to settle on the 2012 Sprint Cup season, a look inside the numbers tells you the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly on the state of the sport. Let’s get right to it: *The Good:* A total of fifteen different drivers won a race this season, roughly one-third of what would compose a 43-car grid in a total that’s roughly in line with previous years. Also, for the second straight season parity took center stage as no driver got more than five wins apiece. Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin, drivers from three different organizations _and_ manufacturers shared the honor. It’s hard to get competition any closer than that; NASCAR hasn’t had league-leading victory totals this low in back-to-back years since 1991-92.

Well, it’s over. No more races for the year. We’ve got a new champion named Brad, rediscovered the bad guy in Jeff and welcomed MWR into the upper ranks of Cup goodness. Dale Jr. proved his mortality, Danica proved… what we always suspected, and a host of capable young drivers signed up for the future …

Read more