2011 was a tumultuous year in motorsports. It had more than enough excitement, surprises and, yes, gut-wrenching sadness. There are enough stories to fill many pages. Here are three:

Trevor Bayne Although on no one’s radar when he arrived at Daytona in February, young Bayne showed an early turn of speed and quickly got the hang of “pod racing.” He just figured no veteran would pair up with a Cup rookie during the 500. Then Jeff Gordon raised his hand and when the pack scrambled off Turn 4 a final time, it was Bayne flashing across the finish line first. Having just turned 20, he couldn’t even drink the Victory Lane champagne. Then he had to go shopping for a suit to wear for all the media functions—he’d only packed a couple of t-shirts in the pickup he drove to the track. His good fortune turned sour in April when a mystery ailment sidelined him for much of the rest of the season. Finally cleared to drive, Bayne scored a victory in the Nationwide race at Texas in November. Many garage watchers were amazed by Bayne’s consistently positive outlook on racing—and life. That, he says, comes from his faith, which he openly shares in un-Tebow style. Expect great things from Bayne in 2012.

Triumph and Tragedy In May, it looked like history was repeating itself as rookie JR Hildebrand blasted through the short chute a final time and into Turn 4, the 100th Anniversary Indianapolis 500 firmly in his grasp. A moment’s indecision in passing a lapped car inched Hildebrand off line enough to put him into the outside wall and hand the victory to former 500 winner Dan Wheldon, rideless in 2011 but for a one-off deal at Indy. Life once again was looking up for Wheldon and his young family as they drank the milk at Indy’s Victory Lane. With a signed contract for 2012 with Michael Andretti in his briefcase, Wheldon accepted a $5m special prize offer for the IndyCar season finale at Las Vegas. If he could come from the back of the grid and win the race, he would collect the big- bucks bonus. Minor contact on lap 11 triggered a 15-car pile-up that launched Wheldon’s car into the catch fence where a support pole took his life. The scene still haunts me and the sense of the loss is still palpable.

The Greatest Comeback 2011 was a year for comebacks in sports. Who can forget the St. Louis Cardinals World Series win? Or the amazing performance of the Detroit Lions? Or “Tebow Time”? However it’s Tony Stewart’s “I will not be denied” victory in the last race of the season to win his third Cup championship. Before the Chase, Smoke himself said, “We don’t belong in the Chase if we run like this.” Then he won the first two races, slipped a bit then won two more. Carl Edwards led by three points starting the Homestead finale—from the pole. Smoke started a distant 15th. Various calamities sent Stewart’s No. 14 to the rear of the field—several times—but he kept his elbows up and in the drive of his career won both the race and the championship. The stat man says Smoke passed 118 cars during the race. It may well go down as the most exciting championship in NASCAR history.

NASCAR’s Answer to Tim Tebow While it’s impossible to have “Tebowtime” after a race win, Trevor Bayne openly and frequently credits his faith for his success. He had a potentially career ending illness after his remarkable Daytona 500 win, but took it all in stride. Everyone in the NASCAR garage area is amazed by Bayne’s poise and maturity. Bayne teamed up with award-winning motorsports journalist Godwin Kelly to write “Driven by Faith, The Trevor Bayne Story.” The book will be released in January (Zonderkidz; $6.99).

Wheldon Crash Report Released IndyCar released a 215-page report of its findings on the Las Vegas Motor Speedway crash that killed Dan Wheldon. I’m sure it has more than enough detail for all the anal-retentive out there, but let me summarize: Too many cars, a track too smooth, too fast and absolutely no margin for even the slightest error. Sadly, it was a perfect storm with a predictably tragic ending. IndyCar officials are no doubt reevaluating all ovals on the schedule and are likely to remove those from the calendar. They may also reconsider using drag and turbulence inducing aerodynamic changes like the Hanford Device used in the mid-1990s. The next few months of the off-season should be interesting.

Texas Two-Step The on again, off again Texas Formula 1 race is on. The green light is changing as fast as ‘60s rock concert strobe light display. Circuit of the Americas management officially said the event will be held as scheduled in September 2012. The sticking point was, you guessed it, all about the money. That, race fans, is what makes the wheels go ‘round…especially if Bernie Ecclestone has any say in the matter.

More Zip in the “Smokehouse” Greg Zipadelli has reunited with his former driver Tony Stewart, but not as Stewart’s crew chief. Zippy, as Stewart affectionately calls him, will be the Director of Competition. He replaces Bobby Hutchens who left the team this year. It looks like the musical chairs have finally stopped at Stewart Haas Racing with former Penske crew chief Steve Addington on top of the No. 14 box and Matt Borland, No. 12 crew chief when Ryan Newman drove for the Captain, now promoted to the VP of Competition. “The package” (Hendrick engines/chassis and new brainpower at the helm) makes SHR very stout for next year. It will be interesting to see who is on top of the No. 10 box for Danica at Daytona.

Tears and laughs Services in St. Petersburg Florida for Dan Wheldon were both heartrending and comical, somber, yet uplifting. Recording star Wynonna Judd, sister of Ashley Judd (Dario Franchitti’s wife), sang a special rendition of “Amazing Grace,” and “I Can Only Imagine” during the ceremony at the First Presbyterian Church. Wheldon’s wife Susie penned a soulful letter to her beloved husband, read by a family friend. She wrote: “My sweet Dan, my whole body is aching, down to the deepest part of my soul.” And later, this: “My heart is scattered in a million pieces,” she wrote. “I just want to wake up and hear your reassuring voice.” Three IndyCar drivers, Dario Franchitti, Tony Kanaan and Scott Dixon, served as pallbearers, while many other IndyCar drivers and luminaries were in attendance. A huge crowd jammed the security fences outside the church to pay their respects. Although wet hankies were in abundance at the Conseco Field House in Indianapolis on Sunday, there were laughs and testimonies to Wheldon’s commitment to the sport, his character, and the quirks that made Wheldon who he was—his shoe collection, phone pranks and playful nature. Franchitti, Kanaan and Bryan Herta brought the house down with several stories about the time they were Wheldon’s teammates. Kanaan quipped Wheldon is the only two-time Indy 500 winner on the Borg Warner trophy with two different sets of teeth. Franchitti capped the commentary with this: Dan was the little brother we never wanted. Now I’d give anything to get him back.”

More bad news There’s an old adage that bad things happen in threes. Moto GP rider Marco Simoncelli was fatally injured on the second lap of the Malaysian Grand Prix. It’s the second death in a racing marquee series in a week. The 24 year-old rider was heir-apparent to Valentino Rossi, his mentor and close friend. The seven-time champion Rossi wrote this on Twitter: 'Sic for me was like a youngest brother. So strong on track and so sweet in the normal life. I will miss him a lot.”

Talladega thins the pack The Talladega chase race was, well, boring—although it was nice to see Childress teammates Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton bring Richard Childress his 100^th win. The biggest news may well be the Earnhardt/Johnson pair waiting too long to make it to the front in a late race charge. Even though Jimmie Johnson moved up a spot in the chase, his 26^th- place finish put him 50 points behind chase leader Carl Edwards. Most rail birds now say only the top five drivers have a shot at the Sprint Cup crown. Keep your eye on Keselowski; he is now lurking in third place, ready to pounce.

Radio chatter Several team owners clamped down on the number of cars their drivers could call up during the Talladega race. Some had as many as 14 channels to ring up. Richard Childress was the first. He said other drivers could only communicate with the RCR cars if they had written permission. Later, Jack Roush laid down the law for his boys: Only Ford drivers could be on their radios. So, does this mean some drivers could skirt these rules by Twittering? And, a new term has been coined from the spotter stand. The two-car pairs are now called “pods.” Does that mean they’re podcasting for partners?

Stick’em up Anyone on DirectTV has seen notices that Speed, History Channel and others may go dark on November 1. I called DirectTV in a huff over this. The customer service rep says the problem is not coming from them. It’s the result of Rupert Murdoch’s Newscorp extortion ploy every time a carriage contract comes up for renewal. The DirectTV rep says Newscorp has done the same thing with Time Warner, Comcast, Dish and Charter. So, send those threatening missives to Newscorp, not DirectTV.

Audi R8 to Grand Am Audi Sport has announced its R8 GT3 racecar will compete in the 2012 Grand American Racing Series. The European model has been extremely successful winning more than 100 races on the continent. It will have to be modified to Grand Am specs. Audi says the car will be ready for the 50^th running of the 24 Hours of Daytona next year.

“Any woman who marries a race driver is an idiot,” said my wife after watching the racing death of a young man we knew. I have a very dark sense of humor and a fatalistic view of life, so I asked: “Would that include you?” “YES!,” she said. (She didn’t come in blind: Our first date was a test session of my racecar.)

Over 27 years of marriage, we’ve seen many drivers die or suffer permanently crippling injuries of body and mind. We’ve seen others who drank themselves to death when their racing careers—their only purpose in life—ended.

Race drivers, at least the ones I know personally, are NOT thrill seekers. Instead, they are control freaks. They live to control the uncontrollable.

I don’t hold to the notion that racers think it will happen to someone else. When you wear fire-resistant underwear, how can you not think it might or is likely going to happen to you? (A.J. Foyt raced in a single-layer fire-resistant suit and a T-shirt, which will give you about three seconds of protection. So maybe he did think it would happen to someone else.) More...

I am suspending the normal roundup of motorsports happenings because of the tragedy that unfolded at the IndyCar finale in Las Vegas.

Having been around the sport for a very long time, this isn't the first time I’ve felt the “kick in the gut” when somebody dies in a racecar. Yesterday a young mother and two young boys were dealt a catastrophic blow that will take a lifetime to mend. The sense of loss, however, will never leave them.

I worked with Susie, Dan Wheldon’s wife, at a North Carolina marketing agency several years ago. We worked on the Viagra Racing account. Susie was transferred to the Jim Beam account and IndyCar. I don’t think anyone could have anticipated what happened when Dan and Susie first laid eyes on each other. I was tickled when I heard the news they got married…and again when I heard about the birth of Sebastian, their first son, and when Oliver recently joined the Wheldon clan.

Even though Dan was rideless for a time, he and Susie were living the dream. I heard a familiar voice from the past break into the jubilation on Wheldon’s in-car audio after he captured his second Indy 500 win. It was Susie; she simply said: “I love you so much.”

Their life was looking up. The Vegas shot at a couple million and the announcement that Dan signed a deal with Andretti Autosport couldn’t have been better.

Now, I join the multitudes who share their grief. My heart aches for Susie, Sebastian and Oliver.

Anyone, including me, who has ever put on a fire suit and helmet and got belted into a car knows the potential dangers. Cars, driver protection equipment, and the tracks themselves have made racing much less perilous. That said, the danger lurks, like a prowling lion, ready to pounce. Even so, we press on in what has been called “suspension of disbelief.” Drivers figure the hammer will come down on somebody else.

Write what you want about the wisdom of racing those cars in excess of 200 mph at tracks like Las Vegas—it won’t change what happened. I pray that Dan’s life will teach us a lesson.

Godspeed mate.