The '05 drive: Gordon's curse, Busch's mouth and Junior's prayer helped make the latest NASCAR season one to remember—and one they'd like to forget

If there is one word to describe the 2005 Nextel Cup season, it's flatularbruggulous, as in too many flat tires. But there also were plenty of spectacular races, incredible breakout seasons and unexpected struggles by big-name drivers.

Take a look back at the 2005 season and peek ahead to 2006:

Their biggest beef

In the second year of the Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup, just about every driver who qualified offered the same critique: The format needs to be tweaked to make bad luck less of a factor.

That's a fair point, but let's make sure bad luck is bad luck and not bad performance. Greg Biffle's loose wheel at Texas, for example, was bad performance--somebody didn't tighten it. Mark Martin's wreck at Talladega, on the other hand, was bad luck. He had nothing to do with the wreck but got caught up in it.

Two suggestions, in case Brian France is reading: 1. Throw out the results of one Chase race per driver. 2. Hand out points in relation to other Chase drivers, not as part of the entire field.

The trendy pick

In looking for the next champion, there are two guys to pick: the driver who won the most races the year before or a driver in his fourth season. Next season, Biffle will fit both. Biffle broke out big time this season, winning six races and finishing second in points. His previous best win total was two, and he never had finished higher than 17th in points at the Cup level.

Biffle will enter 2006 energized to become the first driver to win championships in NASCAR's top three series.

Celebration we'd like to see

We couldn't decide whether to give best celebration to Tony Stewart for climbing a fence or Carl Edwards for backflipping. So we'll instead offer a challenge: The first winner in 2006 to backflip off the top of the fence wins this award next season.

Comparison you'll soon tire of

Is Stewart the new Dale Earnhardt? Stewart has won his second championship, so the question deserves an answer.

The two have plenty in common. They grew up racing with their fathers, with whom they had complex, difficult relationships. They cut their teeth sliding around dirt tracks--Earnhardt in closed-wheel cars in North Carolina, Stewart in open-wheel cars across the Midwest.

Earnhardt was extremely competitive, Stewart would "race you to the bathroom," as one of his friends puts it. That competitive nature landed both in a lot of trouble. Fans love to hate--and love to love--both.

There are differences. Earnhardt was feared and respected on the track. Stewart is respected but does not have near the dirty reputation Earnhardt had. Earnhardt's entry into the Cup level took several years of scraping together one-shot rides. Stewart's was more glamorous; it came after an Indy Racing League title. Earnhardt relished, maybe even embellished, his role as the Man in Black; Stewart is ambivalent about his bad-boy persona.

Smart move of the season, outside the car

Stewart moving back to Indiana from North Carolina.

Stupid move of the season, outside the car

Robby Gordon throwing his helmet at Michael Waltrip at New Hampshire.

Classic move of the season, inside the car

Carl Edwards passing Jimmie Johnson on the final lap at Atlanta and winning his first race. The victory gave Edwards a sweep of the Cup and Busch races at Atlanta that weekend, and he is the only driver to pick up his first checkered flag in both series the same weekend.

Most entertaining midrace radio chatter

Highlights from Biffle talking to crew chief Doug Richert:

* Biffle boasted before the second race of the season that he would be leading by the fifth lap--quite a statement considering he started fifth. When he took over the front on the fourth lap, he asked, "What lap are we on?"

* Apparently, 180-plus miles per hour isn't too fast to gawk. A Kansas, Biffle mused aloud about a huge barbecue party going on outside the track.

* At Phoenix, early in the race, Biffle came on the radio with concern in his voice, complaining of a vibration, possibly a loose wheel. A loose wheel the week before doomed Biffle's race. This time, Biffle waited a few minutes, and then said, "Just kidding."

Ask, and you shall receive

Before the 2005 season, Dale Earnhardt Jr. prayed, offering to trade God his success at restrictor-plate I tracks for success at intermediate tracks. His only win came at an intermediate track.

Anecdote saved for whenever we needed it

Kyle Busch qualified highest among rookies (fourth) at the second race at Michigan and thus attended a news conference about the feat. Joining him at the table: four-time Nextel Cup champion Jeff Gordon, Busch's teammate at Hendrick Motorsports.

After about five minutes of questions devoted solely to Gordon and his season, the moderator asked whether anybody wanted to ask Busch a question. Nary a hand raised. Busch rose to leave. "I've been here four weeks in a row, and nobody has asked me a question," he groused as he shuffled behind Gordon's chair.