He was new to ovals. When he came back from his inured he was good. Don't forget that was the year Dixon was terrible and Manning wasn't too good.
He did well in the Indy 500 this year with the unofficial Penske crew.
I was a new fan of the ALMS this year. First year I really got into it as there has been fantastic racing and nice to see Briscoe win in the Penske Porscher and thrash the Audi-anti-Christ.