It’s hard to find fault in a season that produced four wins and a runner-up points finish, but there were oh so many factors that really should have made this one the year for Elliott Sadler and the No. 2 team.
Austin Dillon won both trips to the Bluegrass State in 2012 for the Nationwide Series, but his first one, the first Nationwide win of his career, was in dominating fashion.
For soft-spoken Timothy Peters, it’s been a slow build towards success in the Truck Series.
James Buescher was the class of the Turner Motorsports stable, and the Truck Series for that matter.
After finally gaining the opportunity to compete against Sprint Cup competition, again Brian Vickers proved to be a nice acquisition for Michael Waltrip Racing.
Any of his six wins looked awful good, but the high point of the season for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. came on a night where the No. 6 team didn’t visit victory lane.
David Ragan got a nice Christmas present this past month in the form of a wife. He married his girlfriend Jacquelyn Butler, who’s no stranger to racing competition either.
While it came at the expense of fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr., Regan Smith’s shining moment came when he had the opportunity to compete in Hendrick Motorsports equipment for two races.
David Reutimann won the only races in the history of MWR before this season, but found himself looking for a ride after 2011.
Qualifying for two consecutive pole positions in August (at Pocono and Watkins Glen) was the highlight of Montoya’s year.