The Bowlesy Awards: Best, worst and memorable moments so far

It's that time again! The Bowlesys are back to recognize the best and worst of the 2008 NASCAR season to date. Now in their third year, these semi-annual awards pop up each July and December and keep the sport on its toes with an honest assessment of who's really made their mark or missed it.

Without further ado ... here they are!

The Richard Petty Award (best points racer): Jeff Burton.

Kyle Busch's entourage stood up in shock when his name wasn't called, but a career-defining year couldn't overshadow the consistency of Burton. In the first 17 Cup races, Burton pulled the unprecedented -- 17 consecutive finishes of 15th or better, while completing all but one lap of every race run during that stretch. It was a remarkable achievement that kept him in the same time zone as Busch in the standings -- even leading them for a month in April when the No. 18 entered a mini-slump. The No. 31 has faltered somewhat the last two events -- finishes of 37th and 19th ended the streak and dropped Burton to fourth in points -- but his streak remains one of the remarkable stories of '08.

The David Pearson Award (hardest charger): Kyle Busch.

Is there really anyone else who has even come close to Busch's dominance in the Winner's Circle? Seven victories and 12 top-five finishes have him making a mockery of the championship, leading by 262 points over Dale Earnhardt Jr. with seven races left in the regular season.

Busch's wins have run the gambit from road course (Infineon) to restrictor plates (Talladega) to NASCAR's roughest race of the season (Darlington). And to cap it all off, Busch pulled the best late-race dramatics of the year last Saturday night, passing Jimmie Johnson on the outside during a restart with two laps left to win at Chicagoland and put his former organization in its place. No question about it, this year's title is clearly Busch's to lose.

The Tim Richmond Award (comeback driver of the year): Brian Vickers.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. gets some consideration here, as his success with Hendrick Motorsports is better than anyone would have expected by now. But for Vickers, no one expected much of anything after he failed to qualify for 13 of 36 races last season with Team Red Bull. This year at Daytona, a flat tire nearly got everything off on the wrong foot once again; but the team recovered in their Duel to make the 500, and Vickers hasn't looked back since.

Three top 5s -- including a second at Pocono -- have been the highlight of a year that's got the No. 83 team on the brink of Chase contention. It's still going to be a long road to make it over the hump, but even if he falls short, Vickers could well reach Victory Lane before season's end, the sole two-car team capable of dueling with the three-and-four-car superpowers up front.