As always, a NASCAR driver wins Driver of Year

Brad Keselowski was voted the 2012 Driver Of The Year by an American panel of motorsports broadcasters and journalists who favor NASCAR drivers every year. Keselowski was a near-unanimous choice in the annual award, after winning his first NASCAR Sprint Cup championship and the first as an owner for Roger Penske.

"To be honored with the 2012 Driver Of The Year is a great way to cap off our championship season," said Keselowski, who also won the fourth-quarter vote. "The list is definitely a 'Who's Who' in the history of racing. It gives me great pride to see my name there with the likes of Mark Donohue and Mario Andretti, drivers who have transcended one particular discipline or series, and are considered some of the best to ever sit in a racecar.

Keselowski scored 18 of the 19 votes cast by journalists and broadcasters, who voted in a secret ballot for a single driver. Ryan Hunter Reay, the 2012 IndyCar champion, received the remaining vote. In the quarterly voting, Keselowski beat the NHRA's Antron Brown and five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson by more than double the points. In its 46th year, the 2012 Driver Of The Year title is unique because it is the original award of its' type that encompasses all of the racing series and all of the drivers in the United States.