The class of '05: with five races to go, not all of NASCAR's prize pupils can be most likely to win the whole thing.(NASCAR)

Publication: The Sporting News

Publication Date: 28-OCT-05

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Nextel Cup High School is a close-knit community full of gossip and rumors, with haves (multicar teams) and have-nots (single-car teams). Reputations are made early and are hard to change. Cliques are difficult to penetrate; outsiders are welcomed but not embraced. Delinquents get sent to the principal's office for misbehaving.

Feuds and friendships change from week to week. Just look at the fall Talladega race, where Elliott Sadler did some serious talking behind Jimmie Johnson's back--on national television. The next week, Sadler gushed about his great friendship with Johnson--after Johnson apologized.

You know how girls at a dance all go to the same bathroom at the same time? Drivers all go to the same bathroom at the same time, too ... right before every race.

With the school year, er, season, coming to an end, yearbooks should be coming out soon. Well, they would be if we had anything to say about it. Imagine how the superlatives section would read.

Brightest Future

Kyle Busch

Like the new kid in town, Busch--the runaway Rookie of the Year favorite--started the season with a reputation. It wasn't a great one: full of talent but immature. Considering he was 19 when the season started, that should have been expected. His win at California guarantees his season will be a success. And the growth he has shown throughout the year guarantees more success is on the way.

"He's a different person than he was a year ago," says Jeff Hammond,...

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