Pit Crew of the Year
A repeat winner here as like last year this year I'm going with Tony Stewart's pit crew.

Stewart missed out on the Chase for the Nextel Cup championship, but during the playoff he won three races and piled up more points than any other driver. His pit crew performed outstandingly, holding service on every stop, and not surrendering track position.

Stewart is tight with his pit crew -- that hasn't always been the case, but it is now. And anytime a pit crew is working for a driver it considers a friend, well, you just can't beat that.

Pit crews are obviously under a tremendous amount of pressure during pit stops. Given this the key to solid, error-free pits stops is the individual focus of each member of the crew on the specific task assigned to him.

We saw at times during the Chase were a split-second loss of focus adversely affected the pit stops of some drivers, costing them a precious few seconds that could result in a loss of six to eight positions when getting back on the track. 

A good deal of the credit for the performance and chemistry of pit crews goes not to the team's crew chief, but rather to the pit crew coach. He oversees the pit crew, and it's his challenge to get the best out of them on a consistent basis.

Pit crew coaches watch tape of their team's pit stops to make sure that all the members are executing their assignments correctly, and that there is no confusion between crew members.

It's also the job of the pit crew coach to make sure the team members get along, and there is no friction between them that could hamper their collective effort.

Rookie of the Year
This was not even a contest. Denny Hamlin not only became the first rookie to make the Chase for the Nextel Cup championship, he astounded most everyone by finishing third in the playoff.

What made this kind of Cup success happen so quickly for Hamlin? His calmness. Nothing seems to rattle him. And add to this the fact that he is ultra competitive, and you've got a formula for overnight success on NASCAR's top circuit.

While Hamlin was by far the most dominant first-year driver in Cup racing, I was really, really impressed with other rookies. This might have been the best rookie class I have ever seen.

David Stremme started the year off poorly in the No. 40 car of Chip Ganassi Racing, but I thought he came on strong in the last half of the season. I thought he was very competitive, and I wouldn't be surprised if he wins a race in 2007.

Same thing with Martin Truex Jr. of Dale Earnhardt Inc., who after a slow start wound up the season in real impressive fashion by finishing second in the last race of the year at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Reed Sorenson of Chip Ganassi Racing had some moments were he was just spectacular, and how many times did it look like Clint Bowyer in the No. 7 car of Richard Childress Racing was going to get to Victory Lane?

And J.J. Yeley of Joe Gibbs Racing is a quality driver who still has some work to do on making the transition to Cup racing.

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