The readers of
RACER magazine and Racer.com have voted for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski as their Oval Racer of the Year in the 18th annual RACER of the Year presented by Hawk Performance.
One of Keselowski's most endearing qualities is that he isn't shy about giving opinions or honest analysis. This time last year, he described himself thus: “I'm a B-plus driver with A-grade potential, and whether we get there or not depends on who I'm surrounded by and how hard I work at it.”
When “Special K” talks like this, it doesn't come across as arrogance so much as a plain speaking of the facts. And we guess it's safe to say that after capturing the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title, Keselowski made the grade, even by the high standards he set himself. If not, he certainly made the grade in the eyes of you, the
RACER readers. It was a close-run thing with Ryan Hunter-Reay but, in the end, NASCAR drivers maintained their recent stranglehold on this award.
Five wins and eight other top-five finishes are impressive enough, but perhaps what most impressed about the 2012-spec Keselowski was the sheer consistency of Penske Racing's No. 2 Dodge. Despite NASCAR's typically close competition, it became extremely rare for him to not play a significant role in a race. Incidentally, Penske Racing's first Cup title has now also killed the theory that you need a star-studded, multi-car team in order to succeed in NASCAR.
As Keselowski and crew chief Paul Wolfe assumed a Jimmie Johnson/Chad Knaus-style consistency, it was appropriate that it was the five-time champ's No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports car that took the title fight down to the wire. That the Penske driver ultimately prevailed says it all about how far Keselowski and the team has come over the past couple of years.
Your votes acknowledged that fact, and Brad Keselowski is as deserving of
RACER's Oval Racer of the Year as any of his illustrious predecessors.
“Winning the
RACER Oval Racer of the Year is another special award for our team for what was a special season in 2012,” said Keselowski. “There were so many worthy drivers that could have won this award. I just feel honored to be mentioned in that group. It means even more to me that this was voted on by the public.
“But as nice as it is, our focus is to keep looking forward. We want to have an even better year in 2013 so that we can be back in this group again! I truly believe the best is yet to come for this Miller Lite Ford team and for our sport.”
RACER editor David Malsher added: “Brad's talent has never been in doubt – his early run-ins with well-established NASCAR aces like Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards prove that they immediately saw him as a threat! But over the past two years he's just added layers of maturity and team leadership skills and in only his third full season in Sprint Cup, he won the title. The fact that he can bravely walk the walk is what drew
RACER readers to vote for him; that he can fearlessly talk the talk, too, is a massive bonus for us media types. Good on him!”
RACER Oval Racer of the Year Hall of Fame
1995 Jeff Gordon
1996 Jimmy Vasser
1997 Jeff Gordon
1998 Jeff Gordon
1999 Dale Jarrett
2000 Bobby Labonte
2001 Kenny Brack
2002 Sam Hornish Jr.
2003 Ryan Newman
2004 Jimmie Johnson
2005 Tony Stewart
2006 Sam Hornish Jr.
2007 Jimmie Johnson
2008 Jimmie Johnson
2009 Jimmie Johnson
2010 Jimmie Johnson
2011 Tony Stewart
Other 2012 winners voted for by
RACER's readers include:
RACER of the Year – 2012 IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay
Road Racer of the Year – 2012 IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay
Drag Racer of the Year – 2012 NHRA Top Fuel Champion Antron Brown.
Rookie of the Year – NHRA Funny Car race-winner Courtney Force.
RACER's editors also selected these 2012 winners:
Car of the year: Toyota TS030 Hybrid WEC LMP1 Hybrid
Career Achievement: Sebastian Loeb, 9-time FIA World Rally Champion
Race of the Year: Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix
Team of the Year: BMW's DTM squad
The Spring 2013 issue of
RACER includes full coverage of RACER of the Year presented by Hawk Performance, a wide-ranging interview with Hunter-Reay and the man he replaced as IZOD IndyCar Series champion, Dario Franchitti. The issue also features previews to the 2013 IndyCar, Formula 1, NASCAR, ALMS, Grand-Am, WEC and NHRA seasons.
RACER is beginning its 21st year of publication and is offered in print and digital editions and also in iTunes, Kindle and Android apps. It is also available at national bookstore newsstands in the USA and Canada. Visit www.racer.com for all the latest racing news and subscription offers.
● Paul Pfanner, Founder and Executive publisher of
RACER, announced that Hawk Performance is now the presenting sponsor of the annual awards that will be expanded in 2013 to also include an “Amateur Racer of the Year presented by Hawk Performance” category. Pfanner commented, “Hawk Performance is the ideal partner for our RACER of the Year, and their commitment to excellence is reflected in their high-quality products that are used by leading amateur and professional racers.”
He added: “Hawk's devotion to racers everywhere is exemplified by their 12-year partnership with the 40,000-member Sports Car Club of America. Our company has had the honor of publishing
SportsCar Magazine since 1984 and it was the Hawk team's shared passion for amateur racers that was the impetus for expanding our awards to honor their achievements.”
● THE HAWK ADVANTAGE
Hawk Performance provides unbeatable braking performance for racers.
Hawk Performance has dominated the motorsports market since 1990, offering a wide variety of highly engineered friction products with features designed to exceed the demanding environments found in nearly every type of racing, including open-wheel, sports car/GT, club, and Autocross competition.
Decades of experience in developing friction materials for aerospace, industrial, military, automotive and motorsports applications give Hawk an advantage over the competition.
In motorsports, we're committed to understanding the specific needs of the racecar, the driver and the demands of the environment in which they perform. Continuous research, development and testing assure the constant improvement of our line of brake materials and offer racers unbeatable braking performance.
Hawk is the Official Brake Pad of the Pirelli World Challenge and the Official Brake Products of the SCCA for a 12th straight year.
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