Budweiser Shootout

victory in the Budweiser Shootout through Denny Hamlin's win in the season finale at Homestead, the 2009 season belonged to Jimmie Johnson. Now a four-time Cup Series champion, Johnson wrapped up his fourth consecutive title with another 10-race Chase run into the record books.

However, there were many other storylines that made headlines this year -- the economy and its effect on a sponsor-driven sport, Jeremy Mayfield's suspension following a failed drug test and the subsequent legal filings, Danica Patrick's seemingly never ending "talks" with team owners, not to mention the Hall of Fame as well as the on-track competition.

NAS-CAR.COM's staff writers weigh in with their top stories of the year: Sponsorship was priceless in '09. Sponsorship was priceless in '09.

MARK AUMANN The economic slowdown affected every facet of the sport in 2009, and may continue to do so in the near future.

Two of the sport's manufacturers -- Chevrolet and Chrysler -- faced bankruptcy and throttled back their monetary and engineering assistance. Major corporations cut back or eliminated their sponsorships altogether. Several teams merged or shuttered their operations, and in the process, laid off hundreds of employees. Others went the "start and park" route in an effort to limit expenses and maximize revenues.

The drop in attendance, close to 10 percent from 2008 estimates, was partially blamed on the recession, as fans had more difficult choices to make with their increasingly limited disposable income. Many members of the media found themselves facing the same situation as declining advertising revenue required downsizing. And even though the forecast is rosier for the foreseeable future, there's no guarantee NASCAR will return to its halcyon days any time soon.

Wethersfield kindergartners learning numbers with NASCAR

Another generation of NASCAR fans has been born at Wethersfield Elementary School, where Verna Looney's kindergarten class is using drivers, car numbers, and sponsors in weekly races to practice number recognition, ordinal numbers and geography. In the midst of it all is a big, black Goodyear tire autographed by driver Kyle Busch the class just received courtesy of Wethersfield alumnus Rick ...

Two suspected of scamming parents at sport events

An assistant coach at Cardinal Newman was arrested Tuesday suspected of helping a Santa Rosa man bilk students and their parents out of money.

Local motor notes: Mansch now races just 'for fun'

It wasn't that long ago when Shannon Mansch became NASCAR's first female touring series champion. In 2006, the Roseville native won the title of the now-defunct Westcar Late Model Series that raced at numerous tracks, including Stockton 99 Speedway and All American Speedway in Roseville.

Track Smack: Debating All-Star Saturday, Stenhouse's success

Track Smack: Debating All-Star Saturday, Stenhouse's success

GMA Exclusive Deals and Steals on Shark Tank Products

We’ve all seen some of the best product ideas get pitched on ABC’s “Shark Tank.” Now, it’s your chance to get some of these simple but brilliant products at a major discount.