Winner Winner Chicken Dinner: Hornish Involved in Most Wrecks in 2008

As I do every day during lunch in my office, I picked up the USA Today this morning and turning to the sports section, noticed one of the paper's long-running racing traditions was back.

Yes, the folks at USA Today have gathered statistics pertaining to the number of wreck-related cautions in Sprint Cup this year, as well as the drivers who found themselves in harms way the most often. Overall, the Sprint Cup Series saw 211 incidents that turned into a caution in 2008, which corresponded to a 12 percent decrease from a year ago and also a five-year low (USA Today notes that this was likely caused due to the difficulty of the new car to drive, and I agree wholeheartedly.

Additionally, with the COT, especially early in the year, only a handful of teams really had a grasp on the machine, while everyone else drove with extreme caution trying not to tear up their equipment. That's probably why you saw so few cars on the lead lap early in the season at the intermediate tracks).

Here are how the top five stacked up in terms of number of wrecks:

Sam Hornish Jr. 20
Michael Waltrip 18
Joe Nemechek 16
Matt Kenseth 15
several drivers 12

And the bottom five:
Greg Biffle 3
Jeff Gordon 4
Regan Smith 4
Carl Edwards 5
several others 5

Obviously, there are some surprises. Matt Kenseth is typically one of the most consistent drivers in the series, yet found himself in trouble many times in 2008. Regan Smith, a rookie, stayed relatively clean. On the other hand, it is no shock to see rookie Sam Hornish Jr. at the top of the crashes list, or Jeff Gordon near the bottom.

I will come out and say I have never been a fan of this study done by USA Today, whose coverage of motorsports is adequate for the most part. It doesn't take into account accidents caused by mechanical failures or Goodyear's perpetual incompetence or any other factor.

Plus, it is all about being at the wrong place at the wrong time. In this day and time, all 43 drivers out there are pretty talented, and the difference between first and last is not much. Driving talent alone, for the most part, will not save a driver from a wreck that is out of his control or get him in a self-inflicted mess (today's drivers are too quick and too talented with too much on the line for that to happen).

On the highway, most accidents are caused by sheer stupidity on the part of motorists. Stupid driving at the elevated speeds seen in NASCAR is not advisable if you want to live, so most accidents are the result of close racing at velocities you and I will never travel.

That being said, I think it paints the picture that the "winner" of the most wrecks award is not fit to be a Sprint Cup driver. It couldn't be farther from the truth. Since the names Park, Yeley, Waltrip, Ragan, and Robby Gordon have all been singled out by this study since its inception, several, if not all, of these drivers have been painted as an on-track hazard by the fan base.

How many times have you seen Robby Gordon or Michael Waltrip called a no-talent hack on the message boards? In Robby's case, he has always driven over his head, but is certainly a capable wheel man. In Mikey's case, you could argue that he is too obsessed with his sponsorship obligations while driving, but superstar or not, Waltrip has spent his entire career toiling in mid-pack equipment.

To use the FOX announcing team's analogy, he is caught back in the eye of the storm more often than some of the sport's bigger names. Things tend to trend towards chaos back in the 25th or 30th position. As for Park, he was probably just a victim of circumstance. Like Hornish, Yeley and Ragan were rookies just trying to learn the ropes of a new, challenging series.

Back to Hornish: I am not surprised the guy was involved in the most wrecks in 2008. Every time you looked up, it appeared as if the 77 car was facing the wrong direction or making contact with something or someone. But he was a rookie, and rookies learn from their mistakes. A rookie who had little stock car experience to boot. I am sure he will improve his performance and ability to bring a car home in one piece when February rolls around, because if not, Roger Penske might be forced to reevaluate Hornish's future in NASCAR.

Moral of the story: take these numbers with a grain of salt, but it is still interesting to look at the statistics and gauge the past season. To check out the entire feature, follow this link.