2016 EFR Motorsports Awards

I'm gonna take it upon myself to do the honors again this year. Also, I'm posting this a day before the Cup Series wraps up so it's ready for everyone when it does finish.

Same deal as every year, just nominate a driver, team, race, etc. for the given category. I don't think anyone actually tallies these things, so do what you want. And I'll leave it up to everyone to decide whether they want to do awards for all racing series collectively, or for each individual series.

If I may be so bold, I'd like to introduce a new category: The WTF Moment Award! Kinda self-explanatory, choose the wackiest or most bizarre moment of the season.

Driver of the Year:
Team of the Year:
Fail Driver of the Year:
Fail Team of the Year:
Best Comeback:
Best Race:
Worst Race:
Biggest Hit:
Best Finish:
Controversy of the Year:
LOL Moment:
WTF Moment:

2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards
Driver of the Year: Jimmie Johnson (Honorable mention for Martin Truex, Jr.)
Team of the Year: Joe Gibbs Racing
Fail Driver of the Year: Brian Scott
Fail Team of the Year: Might have to get back to you on this one. For now, I'll go with RPM.
Best Comeback: Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (Ran well enough and wasn't tearing shit up this season)
Best Race: Southern 500
Worst Race: Texas II
Biggest Hit: Kevin Harvick @ Talladega I
Best Finish: Phoenix I
Controversy of the Year: Chris Buescher making the Chase after winning on a rain-out at Pocono II.
LOL Moment: Michael Waltrip yet again making a fool of himself at Talladega I
WTF Moment: NASCAR doing its best 1990 North Wilkesboro impression at Martinsville II

2016 Verizon IndyCar Series Awards
Driver of the Year: Simon Pagenaud
Team of the Year: Penske Racing
Fail Driver of the Year: Jack Hawksworth (Would've said Townsend Bell for the Indy 500 alone, but that's not fair)
Fail Team of the Year: Andretti Autosport
Best Comeback: James Hinchcliffe
Best Race: Indianapolis 500 (This race outdoes itself every year. )
Worst Race: Long Beach (Pretty forgettable race aside from Max Chilton's corner-cutting shenanigans)
Biggest Hit: Josef Newgarden @ Texas
Best Finish: Texas
Controversy of the Year: Probably the end of the Phoenix race
LOL Moment: Ed Carpenter making a fool of himself at Texas
WTF Moment: Alexander Rossi's impossible fuel strategy at the Indy 500

2016 FIA Formula One World Championship Awards
Driver of the Year: Max Verstappen
Team of the Year: Mercedes F1 (Go figure)
Fail Driver of the Year: Daniil Kvyat
Fail Team of the Year: Sauber
Best Comeback: Verstappen @ Brazil
Best Race: Brazil or Spain
Worst Race: Baku
Biggest Hit: Kevin Magnussen @ Spa
Best Finish: Singapore
Controversy of the Year: Corner cutting at the Mexican GP
LOL Moment: Mercedes drivers making fools of themselves at Spain
WTF Moment: Podium shenanigans following the Mexican GP

Overall, since I didn't watch a lot of racing this year.

Driver of the Year: Max Verstappen (Formula 1)
Team of the Year: Joe Gibbs Racing (NASCAR)
Fail Driver of the Year: Derrike Cope?
Fail Team of the Year: Obaika Racing (NASCAR)
Best Comeback: I really have no idea
Best Race: Rolex 24 (IMSA)
Worst Race: didn't saw enough races to rate a worst race
Biggest Hit: didn't saw enough stuff to rate a big hit
Best Finish: Rolex 24 (IMSA)
Controversy of the Year: didn't watch a lot of stuff to pay attention to controversies
LOL Moment: Derrike Cope implodes @ Watkins Glen (NASCAR)
WTF Moment: IMSA Officiating in the Rolex 24

Formula 1

Driver of the Year: Tough, but I will give it to Max Verstappen
Team of the Year: Red Bull
Fail Driver of the Year: Esteban Gutierrez
Fail Team of the Year: Sauber
Best Comeback: Max Verstappen in Brazil
Best Race: Spain
Worst Race: Hungary
Biggest Hit: Kevin Magnusson in Belgium
Best Finish: Singapore
Controversy of the Year: Red Bull vs Sebastian Vettel in Mexico
LOL Moment: Mercedes pulls a Red Bull in Spain
WTF Moment: Tough, but I will say Fernando Alonso's crash in Australia

Verizon IndyCar Series

Driver of the Year: Josef Newgarden; Pagenaud was the deserving champion, but through displaying so much grit, maturity, and speed, Newgarden earned himself a chance to drive for Team Penske
Team of the Year: Penske Racing; winning ratio of 62.5% plus a 1-2-3 in the championship is pretty impressive
Fail Driver of the Year: N/A; some people underperformed, but I'm not sure if I'd identify any as "fail"
Fail Team of the Year: Lazier Partners Racing, I suppose? I'm not sure what should be expected of a one-off team with such a small budget.
Best Comeback: Ryan Hunter-Reay at Pocono (like, three times over the course of the race)
Best Race: Indianapolis 500
Worst Race: GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma
Biggest Hit: Josef Newgarden at Texas (June)
Best Finish: Firestone 600 (Texas, August)
Controversy of the Year: Simon Pagenaud crossing the blend line at Long Beach
LOL Moment: the rain delay at Texas in June
WTF Moment: Max Chilton cutting turn 5 at Long Beach, I suppose?

Cup:

Driver of the Year: Martin Truex Jr (Dude was quick all year and only fell of when it was time to work on 2017)
Team of the Year: Joe Gibbs Racing/Furniture Row (Gibbs utter control of Nascar is scary impressive right now)
Fail Driver of the Year: Brian Scott (I predicted it would be a disaster...was one)
Fail Team of the Year: Richard Petty Motorsports (Other than Scott tearing that team budget to piece, Almirola was way off this year from a speed point of view)
Best Comeback: Alex Bowman (Bowman's runs in the 88 should in theory earn himself of ride, but with Junior coming back i think he's in trouble. Deserves a good ride though)
Best Race: Pocono (This might change but this is the only one coming to mind right now)
Worst Race: Texas Fall (Slow and painful race and tuned out half-way)
Biggest Hit: Danica killing the wall at Dega in the spring (Kenseth's flip was wild, Danica's hit was brutal)
Best Finish: Double photo finishes in the Sprint Open
Controversy of the Year: Martinsville Scoring Error/Brian France's "business ventures" (30 lap caution was no fun. Also that thing France did in March that upset everyone)
LOL Moment: Michael Waltrip pulling an NR merge back intro traffic at Dega in the Spring (KEEP YER FOOT IN IT *smash*)
WTF Moment: Nearly 3 flips at Dega in the spring (That race was a fever dream of crashes)


Xfinity:

Driver of the Year: Daniel Suarez (If i can make the argument the only reason Nascar Mexico came back is because of him, you know the kids on his way to being a star)
Team of the Year: Joe Gibbs Racing (Jones and Suarez being fast, oh yeah and we got a cup guy)
Fail Driver of the Year: Ray Black (Black did good in trucks, he then proved that probably needed another year in Trucks)
Fail Team of the Year: JD Motorsports (This was a team i had taking one of those 12 spots, surprisingly didn't happen)
Best Comeback: Ryan Reed/Blake Koch (Reed has turned it around since breaking a 40 race top 10 drought, and Koch for a driver that i used as a joke for another crappy driver has shockingly turned out to be a good driver)
Best Race: Mid-Ohio (Rain racing is always a treat)
Worst Race: Indy (Playing it safe because i don't remember it)
Biggest Hit: Logano's big smash at Dega.
Best Finish: Fontana (When the lead battle turns into madness)
Controversy of the Year: Indy still being on the schedule (Again playing it safe)
LOL Moment: Cole Whitt suicide strat at Homestead (I told him to stay out and he did....The absolute madman!)
WTF Moment: Cars keeping on the island in the closing laps of Mid-Ohio despite full monsoon conditions (I remember the rain being loud enough to be picked up a mic, and considering how wild it had been with less than that intensity it was crazy to seem them stay on the track)

Trucks:

Driver of the Year: William Byron (8 wins in your rookie year is absolutely impressive)
Team of the Year: Kyle Busch Motorsports (Byron worked magic and Bell had some good runs throughout the year)
Fail Driver of the Year: John Wes Townley (I think we're starting to get a theme where Townley had one good year and one year that remind of the dude from 2009, 2009's back kids)
Fail Team of the Year: Athenian Motorsports (Just by association i guess)
Best Comeback: Johnny Sauter (I don't like Sauter...but he did show some fight on the way to the title this year)
Best Race: Eldora (Dirt track fun and things)
Worst Race: Texas (Just playing it safe)
Biggest Hit: Christopher Bell's Rusty Wallace impression at Daytona (Been a while since we had a nasty barrel roll and boy was it)
Best Finish: CTMP (Slugfest finish in more ways than one)
Controversy of the Year: Mosport Finish (Heck this didn't bother me that much but everyone was on fire because of it)
LOL Moment: Patrick Staropoli worth 4 cautions at Homestead (This might change because it's the only thing i can remember right now, but man he was a mess at on Friday)
WTF Moment: Bell's flip at Daytona (The way it went over was completely bizarre, it looked like a 2 wheeler then suddenly turned a flip out of a bad racing movie)


Indycar:

Driver of the Year: Simon Pagenaud (For a guy that seemed not to adjust to Penske well at first he came out and killed it this season))
Team of the Year: Penske Racing (Not counting Montoya the team was on it one again)
Fail Driver of the Year: Max Chilton (Chilton was neither quick or had brought the small dnf record over from F1 to Indycar. Messy 1st year for him)
Fail Team of the Year: Andretti Autosport (When your best car is a technical alliance with Herta's team. That says a lot)
Best Comeback: Pagenaud/Hinchcliffe (Pagenaud from turning a really horrible 2015 into an amazing 2016, and Hinch showing he hasn't lost a beat in the car yet)
Best Race: Indy (100th 500, big hype with an awesome race and nailbiter finish)
Worst Race: Long Beach (It's only not Sonoma because bias from being there)
Biggest Hit: Newgarden at Texas (Demolishing your roll hoop and passing out on live isn't fun)
Best Finish: Rahal vs Hinchcliffe at Texas (First photo finish in the DW12 era is pretty nice)
Controversy of the Year: Texas rescheduling (Pushing it back two months is one thing, continuing on the same lap from 2 month ago is kinda bizarre)
LOL Moment: Rain Delay shenanigans at Texas (Broadcast breaking down into goofiness is best broadcast)
WTF Moment: Texas in August. (See Controversy)

F1:

Driver of the Year: Max Verstappen (Dude was the highlight of the year when the hype card was called)
Team of the Year: Mercedes (Of course)
Fail Driver of the Year: Haryanto/Palmer (Haryanto was slowed but Palmer's first half was abysmal
Fail Team of the Year: Sauber (This team had a shot at wins 5 years ago, now they can't keep ahead of Manor in some races)
Best Comeback: Nico Rosberg (Nico was off last year compared to the Ham man, found what he was missing this year)
Best Race: Brazil (Verstappen's mad drive, overcoming a farcical first 20 laps, and rain racing crazies made Brazil one of the best races of the year)
Worst Race: Germany (The literally nothing happened race)
Biggest Hit: Fernando Alonso's roll at Australia (The live shot made it look like a horrendous fence hit, was great to see him get out)
Best Finish: Abu Dhabi/Mexico (Abu Dhabi for the title fight/race win shenanigans at the end, and Mexico for that Vettel vs Red Bull duel coming towards the end)
Controversy of the Year: Danill Kvyat's sacking from Red Bull (The Vettel stuff was silly at the beginning of the year, but compared to what Max has been doing to him i think Sebastian wouldn't mind another swap)
LOL Moment: Mercedes collision at Spain (Hilarious because it was a crash that did not need to happen the way they were racing, honorable mention to Vettel telling the Chief Steward to fuck off)
WTF Moment: Triple red flag party at Brazil. (First 20 of that got ridiculous and proved Pirelli's need a better rain tire.)

Overall

Driver of the Year:Pagenaud
Team of the Year: Gibbs
Fail Driver of the Year: Brian Scott. Duh
Fail Team of the Year: idk
Best Comeback: IDk
Best Race:Indy 500
Worst Race: God the Brickyard was Horrible
Biggest Hit: Edwards last night was pretty bad
Best Finish: Daytona 500
Controversy of the Year: Martinsville 2 Madness
LOL Moment: there really wasnt one
WTF Moment: idk

NASCAR Cup Series

Driver of the Year: Jimmie Johnson
Team of the Year: Joe Gibbs Racing
Fail Driver of the Year: Brian Scott
Fail Team of the Year: Roush Fenway Racing
Best Comeback: Stewart wins Sonoma, first race win in 3 years
Best Race: Talladega 2
Worst Race: Indianapolis
Biggest Hit: Danica at Talladega 1
Best Finish: The Open. Twice.
Controversy of the Year: That caution under Martinsville 2
LOL Moment: Brian Scott's retirement.
WTF Moment: Brian Scott's retirement.

IndyCar

Driver of the Year: Simon Pagenaud
Team of the Year: Team Penske
Fail Driver of the Year: Charlie Kimball
Fail Team of the Year: AJ Foyt Racing
Best Comeback: Josef Newgarden gets hurt then decides to be a badass.
Best Race: Indy 500
Worst Race: Long Beach?
Biggest Hit: Josef Newgarden at Texas
Best Finish: Texas
Controversy of the Year: Pagenaud and the blend line at Long Beach
LOL Moment: Texas' rain delay
WTF Moment: wait texas won a lot of these awards so i guess that works

CUP


Driver of the Year: Jimmie Johnson
Team of the Year: Gibbs
Fail Driver of the Year: Brian Scott
Fail Team of the Year: FAS Lane
Best Comeback: Stewart at Sonoma
Best Race: Homestead
Worst Race: Texas II
Biggest Hit: Danica at Dega
Best Finish: Homestead
Controversy of the Year: Bowman / Kenseth Phoenix II
LOL Moment: Rain at Pocono giving Beuscher the win.
WTF Moment: JGR Sandbagging at Dega II

Xfinity

Driver of the Year: Erik Jones
Team of the Year: Gibbs
Fail Driver of the Year: David Starr
Fail Team of the Year: Roush, they were just MEH this year. Obaika Racing.
Best Comeback: Matt Tifft
Best Race: Mid-Ohio
Worst Race: dunno
Biggest Hit: Matt DiBennideto at Texas
Best Finish: California
Controversy of the Year: TIE Cole Whitt at Homestead
LOL Moment: Mid-Ohio Rain Shenanigans
WTF Moment: Derrike Cope at Watkins Glen

Trucks


Driver of the Year: William Byron
Team of the Year: GMS
Fail Driver of the Year: JWT - He regressed a lot
Fail Team of the Year: Jennifer Jo Cobb racing
Best Comeback: Brett Moffit winning!
Best Race: Michigan
Worst Race: Didn't watch enough to figure this out
Biggest Hit: Crafton / Suarez at Atlanta
Best Finish: CTMP
Controversy of the Year: CTMP finish
LOL Moment: Multiple Jennifer Jo Cobb Trucks
WTF Moment: Cole Custers flying tackle of JHN.

Top Tier Open Wheelers: (Indycar, F1, Super Formula)

Driver of the Year: Simon Pagenaud (Indycar)
Team of the Year: Red Bull Racing (F1)
Fail Driver of the Year: Kamui Kobayashi (Super Formula)
Fail Team of the Year: Andretti Autosport (Indycar) - Dishonorable Mention: Williams Racing (F1)
Rookie of the Year: Yuhi Sekiguchi (Super Formula)
Best Comeback: Yeah lets go with James Hinchcliffe (Indycar)
Best Race: Round 3 - Fuji Speedway (Super Formula)
Worst Race: "European" Grand Prix (F1)
Biggest Hit: Newgarden at First-Half of Texas (Indycar)
Best Finish: Second-Half of Texas (Indycar)
Controversy of the Year: The Race Officiating all year (F1)
LOL Moment: Gutierrez's meltdown to end the year (F1)
WTF Moment: Hamilton and Rosberg crashing out at the start of the Spanish GP (F1)

This may be far from accurate, but I didn't follow much outside of F1 and NASCAR this year(barely followed racing at all, matter of fact)
Driver of the Year: Chase Elliott(Made Chase as rookie, almost won a race on multiple occasions)
Team of the Year: Red Bull Racing(Kept Mercedes honest)
Fail Driver of the Year: Brian Scott(Only because there is no Pastor Maldonado)
Fail Team of the Year: Ferrari(Just can't get their act together, this is the team that was dominant with Schumacher, and kept Mercedes honest last year)
Best Comeback: Alexander Rossi Indy 500 fuel mileage win.
Best Race: Ford 400(Cause Joey did not win, and Jimmie achieved 7)
Worst Race: Baku "European" Grand Prix
Biggest Hit: Any big plate track incident, take your pick.
Best Finish: Indycar Firestone 600@ Texas
Controversy of the Year: Race officiating (F1 AND NASCAR)
LOL Moment: Derrike Cope Explosion @ Watkins Glen
WTF Moment: Massive Restart Pileup @ Dover(since I can not use Derrike Copes Explosion twice I assume)

F1
Driver of the Year: Nico Rosberg
Team of the Year: Mercedes Benz
Fail Driver of the Year: Rio Haryanto Daniil Kvyatt
Fail Team of the Year: Sauber
Best Comeback: Either Max Verstappen at Brazil or Lewis Hamilton at Belgium
Best Race: Brazil, Spain, or Singapore
Worst Race: unsure
Biggest Hit: unsure
Best Finish: unsure
Controversy of the Year: Hamilton's conspiracy theory
LOL Moment: Mercedes Benz at Spain
WTF Moment: Mercedes Benz at Spain

IndyCar
Driver of the Year: Simon Pagenaud
Team of the Year: Penske
Fail Driver of the Year: Jack Hawksworth
Fail Team of the Year: AJ Foyt Enterprises
Best Comeback: Pagenaud going from no wins last year to the dominant driver this year.
Best Race: Indianapolis 500
Worst Race: Well, Boston
Biggest Hit: not sure
Best Finish: Indianapolis 500
Controversy of the Year: Aero kits
LOL Moment: When Pastor Maldonado was being considered by Ed Carpenter. What's a worse source of funding; one of the most oppressive regimes in the Western hemisphere that funds that idiot while their people are starving, or Tony freaking George? I don't know.
WTF Moment: Boston. I had been looking forward to that race.

Sprint Cup
Driver of the Year: Jimmie Johnson
Team of the Year: Gibbs
Fail Driver of the Year: ?
Fail Team of the Year: ?
Best Comeback: Tony Stewart
Best Race: Sonoma
Worst Race: unsure
Biggest Hit: Kenseth
Best Finish: unsure.
Controversy of the Year: unsure
LOL Moment: Alex Bowman winning a pole
WTF Moment: The Chase

Alpineopossum wrote:
What's a worse source of funding; one of the most oppressive regimes in the Western hemisphere that funds that idiot while their people are starving, or Tony freaking George?

Did you mean to write his name twice?

Suprised no one who did F1 has voted Alonso for hit of the yaer.

Mother of Invention wrote:Suprised no one who did F1 has voted Alonso for hit of the yaer.

To me, Alonso's crash was more, eye-catching I guess when Magnusson's crash seemed to be a harder hit because of where it happened in Spa

Formula One


Driver of the Year: Max Verstappen
Team of the Year: Mercedes (Mostly Unstoppable)
Fail Driver of the Year: Rio Haryanto
Fail Team of the Year: Manor
Best Comeback: Verstappen @ Brazil
Best Race: Spain, Malaysia and Brazil
Worst Race: Germany (I don't remember a thing about that race.)
Biggest Hit: Magnussen @ Belgium
Best Finish: Singapore
Controversy of the Year: ehhhh.....maybe the battle with Vettel, Verstappen and Ricciardo @ Mexico
LOL Moment: Rosberg and Hamilton colliding @ Spain
WTF Moment: See LOL Moment
.

The_Wall_91 wrote:

Mother of Invention wrote:Suprised no one who did F1 has voted Alonso for hit of the yaer.

To me, Alonso's crash was more, eye-catching I guess when Magnusson's crash seemed to be a harder hit because of where it happened in Spa

I haven't followed F1 that much this year,So I had forgotten about Magnusson's crash.

NASCAR Sprint Cup:

Driver of the Year: Martin Truex Jr. (Johnson a close 2nd)
Team of the Year: Joe Gibbs Racing (Not even close)
Fail Driver of the Year: Brian Scott (As usual)
Fail Team of the Year: Richard Petty Motorsports (As usual)
Best Comeback: Austin Dillon (Kyle Larson a close 2nd)
Best Race: Talladega 1 (Southern 500 a close 2nd)
Worst Race: Texas 2 (Brickyard falls right behind)
Biggest Hit: Kevin Harvick at Talladega
Best Finish: Daytona 500 (Phoenix 1 a close 2nd)
Controversy of the Year: The lug nut rules
LOL Moment: Phoenix 2 restarts
WTF Moment: Joe Gibbs not winning the driver's championship


NASCAR Xfinity Series:

Driver of the Year: Daniel Suarez
Team of the Year: Joe Gibbs Racing
Fail Driver of the Year: Ray Black Jr.
Fail Team of the Year: JD Motorsports
Best Comeback: Blake Koch
Best Race: Miami (Mid-Ohio a close 2nd)
Worst Race: Indy (didn't other watching the race)
Biggest Hit: Joey Logano at Talladega
Best Finish: Fontana
Controversy of the Year: Pretty much Alex Bowman vs Ty Dillon at Loudon
LOL Moment: Kyle Busch ran out of fuel in the closing laps at Fontana
WTF Moment: Look above


NASCAR Camping World Truck Series:

Driver of the Year: William Byron
Team of the Year: Kyle Busch Motorsports
Fail Driver of the Year: John Wes Townley (came back to his old self)
Fail Team of the Year: Leavin Matt Crafton out of this----The other drivers of ThorSport Racing
Best Comeback: Johnny Sauter
Best Race: Kansas
Worst Race: Texas
Biggest Hit: Christopher Bell at Daytona and Atlanta
Best Finish: Canada
Controversy of the Year: Canada
LOL Moment: Gallagher-Townley "fight" at Gateway
WTF Moment: Patrick Staropoli at Miami


IndyCar:

Driver of the Year: Who else but Simon Pagenaud?
Team of the Year: Penske
Fail Driver of the Year: Jack Hawksworth
Fail Team of the Year: AJ Foyt Enterprises
Best Comeback: James Hichcliffe
Best Race: Indy 500
Worst Race: Indy GP
Biggest Hit: Dixon at Texas
Best Finish: Texas
Controversy of the Year: Texas
LOL Moment: Ed Carpenter's season
WTF Moment: Andretti Autosport's season as a whole except Indy 500


Formula One:

Driver of the Year: Nico Rosberg
Team of the Year: Mercedes
Fail Driver of the Year: Jolyon Palmer
Fail Team of the Year: MRT
Best Comeback: Max Verstappen at Brazil
Best Race: 3-way tie (Spain, Brazil and Abu Dhabi)
Worst Race: Azerbaijan (Can't believe I remembered the spelling of the country more than the race itself)
Biggest Hit: Daniil Kvyat at Austria GP qualifying
Best Finish: Abu Dhabi
Controversy of the Year: Verstappen vs Vettel in Mexico
LOL Moment: Lewis Hamilton's engine blown at Malaysia
WTF Moment: Hamilton and Rosberg taking out each other at Spain