A YEAR OF TWISTS, TURNS AND TRAGEDY.

Byline: TIM HADDOCK Motor Sports

The American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association just sent out its yearly ballot for best drivers. While pondering who are the best open wheel, stock car, sports car drivers this year, it seemed a good opportunity to look back at 2001.

--Most memorable race: The Daytona 500 will be remembered for a couple of reasons. The most obvious is that it was the last race in which the legendary Dale Earnhardt competed. His death might have been the biggest sports story of the year. But it should also be remembered as the first NASCAR Winston Cup race won by Michael Waltrip, driving a Dale Earnhardt Inc. car. With it, he joined his brother Darrell as a Daytona 500 winner.

--Easiest race to forget: The German 500 was not only the lone major sporting event contested the weekend after the Sept. 11 attacks, it was also the race that ended two-time CART champion Alex Zanardi's racing career. Zanardi lost both legs in an accident near the end of the race and CART lost one its most charismatic and engaging drivers. Most drivers said they wanted to race in Germany despite the terrorist attacks, but it's almost a certainty that most drivers also had their minds on things other than the race. Anyone would. It's sad, but as one driver put it, almost every driver and team was in Germany when the attacks happened, none of them could return home to the United States because air traffic was halted, so there wasn't much point in postponing the race.

--Biggest no-brainer for NASCAR: Retire Dale Earnhardt's No. 3. NASCAR is not in the practice of retiring car numbers and has shown this year that it is unwilling to change that policy. But this is something that everyone, from fans to fellow drivers, seems to want. Almost every driver in Winston Cup has a small No. 3 on his car. The least NASCAR can do is make sure that those No. 3s never get any bigger.

--Best move by CART: Deciding to cancel the Texas 600 at Texas Motor Speedway. It might not have been a popular move, fans were turned away hours before the start of the race and it cost CART millions in legal fees, but it probably saved lives. CART drivers are the most fearless in the world. And most of them were aware of the limits they would be testing if they raced. In a sport that thrills fans by ever-increasing the speeds of its machines, CART officials showed courage and responsibility by canceling the race because the conditions were too dangerous. It also swallowed a huge pill of pride when it decided to abandon the turbocharged engine in favor of a normally aspirated engine. This decision, in part at least, was a result of what happened at Texas. And it's about time.

--Biggest upset: Robby Gordon won the NASCAR Winston Cup New Hampshire 300. Jeff Gordon whined a little about being knocked out of contention when he was spun by Robby Gordon (no relation) in the closing laps of the race. But in reality, Jeff Gordon took himself out of contention when he plowed into the back of Robby Gordon in retaliation. Even Robby Gordon said Jeff Gordon had a car to challenge him for the win. If Jeff had kept his cool, he might have had a chance to meet that challenge. But what makes this win so unlikely is that Mike Skinner was still the driver of the No. 31 Lowe's Chevrolet at the time the New Hampshire 300 was supposed to run. The race, schedule for Sept. 16, the Sunday after the Sept. 11 attacks, was postponed and contested on Nov. 23. Robby Gordon was looking for a ride on Sept. 16.

--Sign of the future: The top six drivers in the Indianapolis 500, the showcase race of the Indy Racing League, were drivers or teams from the rival CART series. Helio Castroneves, a Team Penske driver, won the race. He was followed by his teammate, Gil de Ferran, and a slew of drivers, including Tony Stewart, driving for Chip Ganassi Racing. This year's Indy 500 results should have much of the same look as last year. More CART teams, including Team Rahal driver Jimmy Vasser, have committed to racing at Indianapolis. Don't be surprised if drivers from Newman/Haas and Team Green follow. The IRL has proven it has the best race in open wheel racing. But CART has the best teams and can dominate any IRL event. And yes, the casual race fan can't tell the difference between an IRL car and a CART car. Open wheel racing would be a far better world if the team owners could come to this conclusion as well.