10 from '08: California's Day-Night-Day Event

With NASCAR's awards banquet on Friday, Dec. 5 (stop by for the live blog!), here's a look at 10 from '08 -- ten of the NASCAR season's best moments.

Thanks to rain, it took the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series well over 24 hours to finish the Auto Club 500 at the newly-named Auto Club Speedway (enough Auto Club for one sitting? I think so) back in February.

And of course, like only NASCAR could, the way it handled the rain situation got some fans more than fired up.

NASCAR attempted to get the race going for its Sunday start as planned, but only 21 laps went by before a wreck that somehow saw Casey Mears get flipped over thanks to the nose of a slowing Sam Hornish Jr. It was an interesting wreck (see the photo to the right and the video later in the post) after flames shot from Hornish's No. 77 while Mears was basically trapped in his No. 5.

Mears and Hornish were able to get out without injury.

The wreck included Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Reed Sorenson, and a previous wreck saw Denny Hamlin smack the wall. After the lap 21 incident, the red flag came out for water seeping from the track and later more rain, leaving Dale Earnhardt Jr. slightly ticked at NASCAR's attempt to get the race underway.

Earnhardt Jr. simply felt that NASCAR had messed up and started the race too early.

"The track ain't ready. We rushed into this [...]," said a visibly upset Earnhardt Jr.

Hamlin echoed the same sentiment, saying his car took off towards the wall after hitting a wet spot on the track.

More controversy followed as NASCAR kept trying to get the track dry before eventually calling it a night and determining the race would restart the next afternoon -- a Monday -- after waiting until after 1 a.m./EDT time to make the decision.

Me? I was kind of hoping to be watching live NASCAR racing as the sun was coming up in Indiana, but NASCAR opted not to do after cooler temperatures allowed dew to accumlate on the racing surface while the "weepers", or cracks in the pavement that allowed water to seep up, were attempting to be dried.

Fans across the country felt used and abused by NASCAR's decision to wait so long for racing, but if nothing else, NASCAR deserved some credit for trying to get a race in for the paying fans at ACS who stuck out the cold weather and damp conditions in an effort to see the NASCAR race they payed to see.

It didn't work out so well, but the race was eventually completed Monday afternoon with Carl Edwards taking the first of 9 victories in 2008.

As promised, the video: