And the top 10 NASCAR die-cast cars of 2012 are...

Lionel NASCAR Collectables dropped its list of the best-selling die-cast cars of 2012 on Thursday morning, and there were no surprises at the top.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had three of the top four die-casts this season, with his standard No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet out-selling all the rest.

The Dark Knight Rises car from his Michigan win also was eagerly snatched up by Junior Nation. His race-used die-cast (which is designed with race damage and confetti to match the version fans saw in Victory Lane) came in at No. 2, and the standard version of his Michigan car (as it appeared before the race) was the No. 4 bestseller.

Danica Patrick’s No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet – the one she used in 10 Sprint Cup Series races this year – was No. 3 on the list. That shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who saw the lines at Patrick’s merchandise haulers this year. She definitely has a strong fan base.

Jeff Gordon also had two cars on the list: His DuPont car was No. 5 and the AARP/Drive to End Hunger car was No. 7.

For the second consecutive year, one of Lionel’s “NASCAR Classics” cars made the list: Dale Earnhardt Sr.‘s 1989 No. 3 Goodwrench car came in at No. 8.

And finally, a late push gave NASCAR champion Brad Keselowski the No. 10 spot. The “Sprint Cup Series Champion” edition of his No. 2 car (it has the champion logo on the roof) was a hot seller since Keselowski won the title in November.

“It just shows that fans are excited about the energy Brad has brought to NASCAR,” Hitchcock said.

Below is the full top 10 list, and you can see a slideshow of each car at www.lionelnascar.com/top10.