Bleacher Report - Jimmie Johnson

Tony Stewart Stirs the Stuff With His Third Annual Stewie Awards

David Yeazell — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:07:26 -0500

Tony Stewart and Matt Yocum took to the Sirius Satellite air waves in Las Vegas Thursday night to present winners of the third annual Stewie Awards.

The star-studded event kicked off at the Rio Hotel and Suites and featured guest appearances by Robin Leach, serving as show announcer, Carrot Top and 10 of this year's Chase drivers, including four-time champion Jimmie Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus.

Up for grabs were awards in nine categories, with winners in each decided by fan voting.

This year also featured the first time a sitting U.S. President was nominated for an award. It also featured two special awards, one for lifetime achievement given to Rick Hendrick and the Golden Stewie Award was given to David Pearson.

Rolling through the two-hour comedic award show with the grace of Vanna White and the physique of Drew Carey, Stewart seemed humbled after hearing his name announced for the "Best Vocal Performance" award.

Stewart's “in awe” comments about Jeff Gordon at Kansas beat out Michael Waltrip, President Barack Obama and Kyle Busch, who was nominated in a record five categories.

Juan Pablo Montoya’s comments about NASCAR screwing him at Indianapolis bested four other nominees for the award in “Driver2CrewChatter” category. Montoya's domination of the race, leading by as much as seven seconds at one point, came to an abrupt end with a pit road speeding penalty on his final stop, all but handing the win to Jimmie Johnson.

Chad Knaus’ offer to kiss Jimmie Johnson on the lips after qualifying on the pole at Phoenix was conveniently left off of this year’s nomination list.

Jeremy Mayfield’s final opportunity to salvage something from this year’s season was stifled by none other than Kyle Busch.

Busch won the “Bonehead Move of the Year” award for smashing the one-of-a-kind Sam Bass guitar after winning the Nationwide race at Nashville.

According to voters, Carl Edward’s spectacular ride on the last lap at Talladega in the spring race was good enough to win him the award for “Best Stunt Sequence.”

Given the other three nominees in this category, Kasey Kahne and Sam Hornish Jr. at Watkins Glen, Joey Logano at Dover and Ryan Newman at Talladega in the fall, this award should really be changed to “Best Supporting Roll Cage.”

Other notable awards for the night were: Mark Martin, “Best Original Drama;” Denny Hamlin vs. Brad Keselowski, “Best Original Comedy;” Kevin Harvick, “Feels Like the First Time;” Marcos Ambrose, “I Got Dumped;” and Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson, “Best Engineering and Special Effects.”

The Annual Stewie Awards celebrate the strangest and funniest moments during the year of NASCAR racing. Be sure to nominate and vote for your favorite moments in the 2010 season.

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NASCAR Issues "Rules" for Vegas Victory Lap

Mary Jo Buchanan — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 07:15:58 -0500

With the move of the championship banquet from New York City to Las Vegas, NASCAR has announced the return of the Victory Lap as part of Champion's Week celebration. The top 12 drivers in the final points standings will take a Victory Lap along Las Vegas Boulevard on Thursday, Dec. 3 from 3:15 - 4:00 PM.

The procession of the Champion and his 11 merry followers will begin at the MGM Grand and continue along Las Vegas Boulevard to Spring Mountain Road. The Victory Lap will include a Burn Out by the Champion and also a pit stop for all of the cars participating in the event.

"Mr. Las Vegas" Wayne Newton will have the honor of waving the green flag to start the Victory Lap event. Newton is celebrating 50 years on the strip with his show at the Tropicana entitled, "Once Before I Go."

With the return of the Victory Lap, NASCAR also announced several rule changes applicable to the event. First, NASCAR advised that there will be no bump drafting, especially in the corners of the intersection of the Boulevard and Spring Mountain Road.

NASCAR requires that the officials at least see daylight between each and every race car throughout the Victory Lap. Any driver bump drafting or racing too closely will have to go to the tail end of the cars on the lead lap.

While NASCAR has suspended the double file restart for the Victory Lap in celebration of the champion Jimmie Johnson, they will permit Hendrick teammate Jeff Gordon to use the guns he won in his only victory at Texas to make sure any restarts are "shootout style." NASCAR has, however, warned Gordon that he may not point the guns at Johnson at any time.

NASCAR has granted special dispensation to the sport's elder statesman and runner-up Mark Martin so he can assist his fellow AARP recipient Wayne Newton with the drop of the green flag. Special accommodations have been made to ensure that the aerobic activity of waving the flag will not be detrimental to anyone's health during the Victory Lap.

While a Champion's burn out is part of the Victory Lap, NASCAR has advised Jimmie Johnson that he may emit only two seconds of burn out smoke in order to comply with the new "greening" of the Las Vegas Strip.

NASCAR has already called both Tony Stewart and Juan Pablo Montoya to the NASCAR hauler to ensure the "disagreements" between the drivers will not carry over from the regular season into the Victory Lap. Both drivers have received written warnings and will be suspended for the rest of the season if there is any trouble on the Boulevard.

NASCAR has allowed Kasey Kahne special dispensation. He can put whatever motor he can find left at Petty Motorsports into his car for the Victory Lap.

NASCAR has also announced that any missed lugnuts on the required pit stops during the Victory Lap may be used by teams and fans as skipping stones in the Bellagio fountain. There is a limit of two per person, however, to ensure that no pipes become clogged.

For the Victory Lap only, all drivers will be permitted two posts to their Facebook pages and a maximum of five twitters. NASCAR has warned Juan Pablo Montoya that they will especially be monitoring his Twitter activity.

NASCAR has also granted Kurt Busch's request, made at the Charity Roast of champion Jimmie Johnson, to put Chad Knaus' name into a hat. A special drawing will be made prior to the drop of the green flag and whoever pulls Knaus can have him as their team's crew chief on the box for the Victory Lap.

NASCAR will allow Carl Edwards to do whatever victory celebration he so chooses if he wins the Victory Lap on the strip. Back flips and somersaults are acceptable, however, NASCAR has drawn the line about stripping off the fire suit and any bare-chested activities of any kind.

NASCAR has also warned Chase driver Denny Hamlin that he is not permitted to veer off the Victory Lap course in any way. That includes not veering off the Boulevard even if Brad Keselowski is standing on the sidewalk.

NASCAR has issued a blanket advisory to all competitors, as well as fans, to report any sighting of Sam Hornish, Jr., Michael Waltrip, or Robby Gordon to NASCAR as soon as possible. The sanctioning body is committed to no spin outs or other disruptions during the Victory Lap.

President Mike Helton encourages all fans and competitors to enjoy the resurrection of this special Champion's Week celebration, the Victory Lap in Vegas. He reminded all of the Chase finalists and the Champion that whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

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Denny Hamlin is Being Himself Like NASCAR Wants—But Fans Don't Like It

Kelly Crandall — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 02:08:45 -0500

Since the death of Dale Earnhardt NASCAR fans have longed for a driver that had a take no prisoners attitude.

A driver that could back up his talk on the racetrack and wasn’t afraid to speak his mind.

Tony Stewart has said he doesn’t want that role; he doesn’t want to be the go-to guy in the garage. And after his comments a few years ago about NASCAR and his subsequent sit down with the top dogs, seems he’s sticking to that.

Nearing the end of the 2009 season it seemed the perfect driver had emerged in Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin. The only problem was that Hamlin’s new attitude was met with a different result than Earnhardt’s.

While Earnhardt was praised, and sometimes criticized, for his rough and tumble nature, Hamlin has received an outpouring of nothing but criticism for his actions.

In October he started using the popular networking site Twitter to express his opinions. Soon his fans were personally connecting with him on how they felt about the happenings around NASCAR.

“You really don’t get a good idea for what the fans think until you see it through several thousands people who have a response to a race or how it goes,” he said about the site.

Things took a visibly more noticeable turn the weekend of the fall Talladega race.

After NASCAR “changed the rules” about what would be acceptable bump drafting, Hamlin was enraged and expressed as much. Some fans understood his position that it wasn’t right for NASCAR to do.

To be more precise, Hamlin actually questioned who was in charge.

“Jeff G [Gordon] told NASCAR we shouldn’t be bump drafting. Cuz they never did in the past. Who’s running this sport??”

Later he would say, “A lot of people just agree with NASCAR because they don’t want to get in trouble with NASCAR, but the truth is the truth.”

What had Hamlin so fired up that day was that NASCAR told the drivers in their pre-race meeting that they were banning two cars from hooking up and shooting to the front.

Something that Hamlin felt he was really good at and was an advantage.

“It’s just frustrating that Gordon has got that much pull with NASCAR…I just wish everyone could have equal say-so and not just somebody behind closed doors being able to change how the rules go,” he said.

“Ultimately, he’s going to lobby to NASCAR saying, ‘We don’t need to push.’ Why? Because his car didn’t push well. So it was an advantage I felt like I had gained over the last couple of years and had it taken away basically right before the race.”

Fans didn’t like what Hamlin had to say or how outspoken he was. Many said that Hamlin had no right to question a driver that has been in the sport longer than he has.

But Hamlin didn’t back down.

His next target was the recurring incidents that he’s had in the Nationwide Series with Brad Keselowski. Hamlin’s side of the story is that Keselowski has wrecked him on four different occasions and that he’s yet to repay the favor.

After the two tangled at Phoenix Hamlin came right out and said he would cash in his chips at Homestead a week later.

Hamlin kept his word and on lap 35 he sent Keselowski spinning down the frontstretch, which he called well worth it after having to serve a one-lap penalty for rough driving.

And yet, fans still aren’t happy. Some called him immature for his constant bickering with Keselowski and say that he’s a whiner when things don’t go his way.

In reality, Hamlin isn’t doing anything that any legends of the sport haven’t done. But instead of being embraced, it seems it’s going to take more time to win over NASCAR nation.

In a time when ratings are down, Jimmie Johnson is dominated the sport, and it seems there are so many things to complain about, Hamlin is giving people everything they’ve asked for.

He’s being aggressive, outspoken, and entertaining. He’s not robotic, or vanilla, he’s being himself, which is what fans have said they want. Now they’ve got it and they don’t like it.

It doesn’t matter to Hamlin though, who’s enjoying his role. As he said, he’s opinionated and doesn’t plan on stopping anytime in the near future.

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