Gridcrasher ranks the best drivers of the year

How did F1’s best compare with the top pilots from other series? Here’s part one of our end-of-year rankings…

10. Kyle Busch (Nascar)
The least popular man in Nascar won 21 races in 2008 - that’s an extraordinary figure. Indeed, Busch would be much higher than No.10 but for a disastrous Chase series (Nascar’s equivalent of a play-off system), when three mechanical problems ruined his chances of becoming champion.

A lovely NASCAR lady who has two massive dogs

Don’t let the handlebar moustaches and toothless grins fool you - the likes of Ingrid Vandebosch and Athena Barber have made the modern NASCAR track a thoroughly sexy place to be. Joining this tour-de-force of hotness is Samantha Sarcinella, who has been seeing Kyle ‘Wild Thing’ Busch since 2007.

Nascar’s driver of the year blows his whole season in three races

In a recent poll in Sports Illustrated, Kyle Busch’s fellow Nascar pros voted him as the most talented driver on the circuit. Had the same drivers been polled on the more subjective issue of popularity, Busch would have finished bottom of the heap. He has earned a reputation as a sulky, surly, cocky asshat, albeit a sulky, surly, cocky asshat who has won more races this year than anyone else.

At the start of the Nascar Sprint Cup Chase (Nascar’s play-off system, essentially), Busch held a big lead over his rivals, thanks to a stellar regular season. Three disastrous races into the Chase, Busch finds himself more than 300 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson, with virtually no chance of winning the title.

Random stuff we found by the side of the internet…

• First test drive of the all-new Ford Mustang KITT (pictured), star of the forthcoming Knight Rider movie. Does it still have a “Turbo Boost” button? Jalopnik has the answer.

The best of the rest:

• Is there a future for Nascar’s “Car of Tomorrow”? [Sports Illustrated]

• For the last time this season, Martin Brundle answers a whole lot of F1-related questions [ITV]

• Top 10 vehicles made out of Lego [Le Blog Moto]

• Would you boo at an F1 race? [F1 Fanatic]

• Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch ain’t got no love for each other [Ron Ripple]

Meet the wind beneath Kyle Busch’s wings

Apologies for the poor image quality, but you get the general idea: Sam Sarcinella is hot. The 22-year-old graduate has been dating Busch, Nascar’s runaway leader, since 2007, when they met at a race at the Indianapolis Speedway.

Sarcinella keeps a lower profile than most WAGs, so not much is known about her. We do know she recently graduated from Purdue University with a degree in psychology, and that she paid her way through college by working as an aerobics instructor.

The worldwide interweb also tells us she plans to obtain her masters degree in the same field, with a view to a career in leadership coaching. Whatever that is.

Another pic of Sam after the jump…

Nascar star frustrated by bad form…

… Still, at least he has a hot wife.

At this stage of the 2007 Nascar season, Jeff Gordon was leading the championship with four wins and a 344-point lead. Fast forward one year and he’s winless, in sixth place, a massive 500 points behind leader Kyle Busch.

So what’s gone wrong?

There goes the no-claims bonus…

Nine cars were caught up in the aftermath of a duel between rookie Michael McDowell and David Gilliland at Watkins Glen. With eight laps to go, McDowell and Gilliland bumped door panels and slid across the track as they came around Turn 11. Seven other drivers were involved in the scary pile-up that followed.

Bobby Labonte came off worst - his car struck Gilliland’s, side-on - and he had to go to hospital for precautionary checks. He has since been released, with no serious injuries to report.

The race, which was red-flagged for 43 minutes because of this incident, was won by championship leader Kyle Busch.

Volatile Colombian drives into rival on purpose

Juan Pablo Montoya crashed into Nascar series leader Kyle Busch - intentionally! - during Sunday’s Lenox Industrial Tools 301 (we won’t use any other undustrial tools). The fiery Colombian was hit with a two-lap penalty for “rough driving” and so relegated to a 32nd-place finish.

“Honestly, I have no idea (what happened). I got a run on him with 50 laps to go and got to his outside and he kept coming up a little bit,” Busch said after the race.

“I was just trying to get around (Dario Franchitti) who was in front of us, touched (Montoya) on the door and he turned left and spun me out. I don’t know what his beef is.”

Watch the video of the incident below…