Who thrived in 2007 and who could use a restart

Either Jimmie Johnson or Jeff Gordon would have been a worthy champion. AP

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Time for one last look back at the year in NASCAR's Nextel Cup Series.

Winner: Jimmie Johnson. An obvious first choice, not just because he won the Nextel Cup title, but how he won it -- by winning and beating his teammate, Jeff Gordon, who would have been the champ in any other year. Johnson's second-consecutive Cup title run showed that a driver could run hard and not resort to points racing to protect the title.

Winner: Jeff Gordon. Although the racing cliché says that the second-place finisher is first loser, Gordon need not be ashamed that he didn't win his fifth Cup title because his teammate, Johnson, was only a little better. Of course, that little bit better was the difference, but Gordon was a champ on the track and off. Maybe, someday, his critics will appreciate that he still has the guts to drive hard to win, that he's a real racer, and that he is probably the best thing for the sport outside a car. Gordon is very articulate and he senses what an interviewer or the public wants for an interview.

Loser: Kasey Kahne. He's a much better driver than this year's statistics show. After winning six races in 2006, with 12 top-fives and 19 top-10s, he and his Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge went into a victory drought with only one top-five and eight top-10s. It was his worst performance in the four years he's been racing in the Cup series. To add insult to injury, he's the subject of a civil lawsuit arising out of an alleged shoving incident at the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Loser: Dale Earnhardt Inc. Not only did the race team founded by the late seven-time champion lose NASCAR's most popular driver, Dale Jr., it also had a myriad of engine problems that kept Little E out of the Chase. Then Earnhardt's long-time crew chief, Tony Eury Jr., left to join him at Hendrick Motorsports. Although there is potential to bring the team back into the competitive spotlight, they'll need to step up their game while bringing in some new talent to make sure their equipment is competitive and can finish all the grueling NASCAR Sprint Cup races in 2008.

Winner: Hendrick Motorsports. Ordinarily, this powerhouse team would be considered a winner just because its' drivers finished one-two in the standings while running away from all others. What really puts this team over the top was the announcement that they had signed Dale Earnhardt Jr. starting in 2008. At the moment, this team is very strong on paper, perhaps unbeatable.

Winner: Chevrolet. With 26 victories, this General Motors' brand demolished the competition. Dodge and Ford had only 10 wins combined.

Loser: Top 35 qualifying rule. When this rule was first announced, it seemed like good medicine to insure that the regular teams (in the top-35 in owner's points) who intended to run the full series were assured of a starting spot. What NASCAR didn't know was that there was going to be a surplus of full-time teams in the Nextel Cup series in 2007. The result, on many weekends, was that some of the fastest cars were sent home -- even though they were faster than those in the top 35 -- because they were slower than eight of the non-locked in teams.

Loser: Toyota. That same Top 35 rule bit the rear of most of the Toyota teams who came into the Nextel Cup series with no points in their debut year. In particular, Michael Waltrip Racing's car, for Waltrip himself, never overcame a serious points penalty after an illegal substance was found in his Camry's carburetor. When Toyota teams failed to qualify, they couldn't earn points in the races and were forced to attempt to qualify virtually every weekend.

Too tough to call: Joe Gibbs Racing. While Tony Stewart made it back to the Chase after narrowly missing it last year, he'd be the first to say he wanted more. Denny Hamlin, who had two wins in his rookie year, had only one. On the other hand, the team announced the hiring of the brash Kyle Busch and switched to Toyota. This news could be the catalyst for better days ahead.

Too soon to call: Chip Ganassi's bet on Juan Pablo Montoya. It has paid off in good publicity, and a return to victory circle, although it was on a road course. Ganassi followed that up with the news that he's snatched the Indy 500/IndyCar champ Dario Franchitti. While Ganassi hired two undisputable open-wheel stars, Montoya is still seeking a Cup win on an oval track and Franchitti is starting as a rookie. As such, he's unknown potential for the moment.