Victory Lap and Kids on a Stage By Cathy Elliott

Photo Credit: David Becker/Getty Images for NASCAR


Guest Column By Cathy Elliott

NASCAR’s decision to move its annual NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion’s Week activities from New York City to Las Vegas was met with little, if any, resistance. Las Vegas, of course, is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country, and although everyone loves New York, it did seem to be time for a change of scenery.

It has been more than that; it has brought a change of attitude.

There’s a lot going on, including various media gatherings, a private dinner for the champion, sponsor receptions and the like. Las Vegas Motor Speedway hosted a big fan event on Tuesday. Stock cars are parked in prominent locations on the famous Las Vegas Strip for photo ops. Tony Stewart did a live radio awards show – his yearly “Stewies” -- from the Rio Hotel. There’s a lot of action, and it isn’t just in the casinos. Las Vegas is a happening place.

Speaking of the Strip, the city shut the whole thing down for an hour so the top 12 drivers in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup could take a Victory Lap, complete with pit stops and a burnout from four-time champion Jimmie Johnson.

The Victory Lap is probably Champion’s Week’s most spectacular event. When you’re standing in front of the MGM Grand Hotel with all the bells and whistles of Vegas behind you, fans are lining the streets as far as the eye can see, and then those stock cars fire up in front of you, you can’t help but think things couldn’t get any better.

But they did. Wayne Newton –- who has probably never before been referred to as the icing on the cake but in this case was –- waved the green flag for the Victory Lap. Yes, he’s real.

On Thursday, December 3, the National Motorsports Press Association and Myers Brothers hosted their awards ceremony. Other than the NASCAR Sprint Cup awards dinner, this is the biggest event of the week. It honors, if not exactly the little guy, then the guys who are slightly less large. Officials and crew members have their moment in the spotlight, and proactive sponsors are recognized for their contributions to NASCAR.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. flew in for the day to pick up the NASCAR NMPA Chex Most Popular Driver Award for the seventh consecutive year. Junior has turned into a pretty good speechmaker. On this day, he talked about his childhood dream –- the dream of so many kids that in this notable case came true –- of growing up to race cars for a living. He thanked the fans, who select the winner of this award, and said, “As long as you keep supporting me, I’ll keep showing up.”

Photo Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR

Joey Logano, who received Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors, may have delivered the best line of the day. Acknowledging Mark Martin as one of his primary role models, Logano said he only hoped he could measure up to that high standard when he reached Martin’s age –- in the year 2040.

Barney Hall seemed truly nonplussed to be presented with the event’s namesake trophy, the NMPA Myers Brothers Award, but still managed to summon up one of his trademark quips -- “Like the little fish said when he swam into a concrete wall, '… damn.'”

Of course, the top 12 drivers were there, participating in what has become one of my favorite vignettes from Champion’s Week. As they are introduced one by one to open the show, the guys come out in their impeccable designer suits and form a single line on the stage. Basically, it’s just a photo opportunity. Literally, all they have to do is stand there and behave themselves.

They never pull it off. Never. The world’s greatest drivers, who literally live in each other’s faces week in and week out, never seem to know what to do up there in their fancy outfits. They decide they need to stand up there and have a chat. They fidget; they put their hands in their pockets. They whisper jokes that must be pretty funny because there seems to be an awful lot of hilarity going on.

This year was the best. Realizing it was a long line, and they were going to run out of room on the stage before Johnson got out there, Brian Vickers, who was introduced first, tugged on the arm of Carl Edwards to get him to move down.

This started a chain reaction-type deal as the drivers pulled and poked and nudged one another in an attempt to properly rearrange themselves. Think about kids all costumed up as vegetables or farm animals in a second-grade play, trying their hardest to occupy their correct spots on stage, and you get the idea.

Plus, I’m pretty sure Martin was wearing sneakers.

Now, I realize this seems like a small point to make such a big deal out of. But really, it kind of sums up the whole feel of the 2009 Champion’s Week.

The most visible faces of a wildly popular sport are in Las Vegas for a week. At the NASCAR Sprint Cup Awards Ceremony, they will be honored for their achievements this year. As an added bonus, they will also get paid for those achievements. They got to drive their race cars down the Strip. They got to mess around on stage with their buddies. They’re having fun.

And because of them, so are we.

Photo Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR

NASCAR Nationwide: Kyle Busch Wins Big in Ford 300; Taking Race and Championship

Photo Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR

In mid-day qualifying, the #60 Ford belonging to 2008 Ford 300 winner Carl Edwards took the top spot ahead of Ryan Newman and Jeff Burton. In spite of earning pole Carl Edwards knew that his efforts to capture the 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Championship were exhausted the moment him and Kyle Busch took the green flag for the Ford 300. Needing simply to start the race, the #18 Toyota of Busch climbed his very first championship in a major NASCAR division. Coming off a frustrating Friday night finish in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, the newly-acclaimed 2009 Nationwide Series champion focused on an improved performance in Saturday's race. While Edwards led the first laps, Busch's #18 Z-Line Toyota quickly charged forward from his 5th place starting position. On a restart from a lap 9 caution for Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch took the lead on lap 12 for the 1st of 7 times during the 300 mile race distance.

While Kyle Busch rode comfortably at the front, Sprint Cup teammate Denny Hamlin (driving the #11 CJM Toyota for this race) would use the finale of the NASCAR Nationwide 2009 schedule to back up a threat he made last week in Phoenix. Holding strong hatred for JR Motorsport's driver Brad Keselowski's aggressive bumping on a lap 157 restart that claimed Hamlin's car, Denny Hamlin exact wording in a post race interview said "There's a lot of guys that have a lot of chips that they're going to cash in, I'm just going to be the first to the pay window". Aptly enough for Hamlin, he found the #88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet on track by lap 36, cashing in his chips on an incident of contact out of the 4th corner. Spinning out Brad Keselowski, the #88 car avoided contact with the walls as he sled down the frontstretch. While Denny Hamlin considered himself entitled to payback NASCAR, having spoken with both drivers following the Phoenix Nationwide race, didn't share Hamlin's logic penalizing the #11 car one lap for the incident. Getting rewarded a rewarded the free pass after a later caution, Denny Hamlin did rebound to a 5th place finish. As for Brad Keselowski, his final race for JR Motorsports ended in 12th position after the early race drama.

On lap 47, Busch's car give up the lead to a suddenly revived Jeff Burton wheeling the #29 Holiday Inn Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. Burton held the lead until a lap 81 caution for debris. With the lead changing 20 times through the Ford 300, Joe Gibbs Racing allies Kyle Busch and Joey Logano trading the first position 4 times between lap 86 to lap 101.

As they battled, the Ford Fusion of Carl Edwards set himself in prime passing position taking lap 102 and holding up to the lead for 34 circuits. After 64 caution-free rotations around the Homestead-Miami Speedway, caution flew for the 6th time for the #6 car of Eric Darrell brushing the outer wall. Benefiting from a gain in track position, the deciding restart for lap 163 allowed Kyle Busch able to size up Edwards making the pass one lap later. Surviving a final challenge of a final restart after a lap 186 caution, Kyle Busch blazed to the finish line on lap 200 capturing the last race of the 2009 NASCAR Nationwide schedule and 9th for Busch this season.

Winning it all through the Ford 300, a jovial Kyle Busch finally finds cause to celebrate in what is this young driver's biggest victory in history able to wave both the checkered flag and championship flag after the 2009 campaign.


NASCAR Nationwide Series
Ford 300

1. Kyle Busch #18 Toyota
2. Carl Edwards #60 Ford
3. Jeff Burton #29 Chevrolet
4. Joey Logano #20 Toyota
5. Denny Hamlin #11 Toyota
6. David Ruttimann #32 Toyota
7. Ryan Newman#33 Chevrolet
8. Steve Wallace #66 Chevrolet
9. Scott Speed #99 Toyota
10. Matt Kenseth #16 Ford
    

Harvick wins in Phoenix, Ron Hornaday Clinches 4th Truck Series Championship

Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR



A big night for Kevin Harvick Incorporated (KHI) saw two trucks overcome early race adversity to complete a double victory in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series' Lucas Oil 150. While Kevin Harvick personally netted his fifth Camping World Truck series victory by winning the 150 lap affair in the desert, him and wife DeLana Harvick also celebrated as car owners of the #33 Chevrolet Silverado piloted by acclaimed truck series points champion Ron Hornaday Jr.

Adding drama to Kevin Harvick's drive in his team's #4 Chevrolet truck, the KHI co-owner's race at Phoenix International Raceway was complicated when one of his tires touched an oil slick spinning out Harvick. Using his winning experience from last year's truck race on the 1 mile oval, Kevin Harvick possessed a quickened pace suited to passing the Toyota's of Aric Armirola and Kyle Busch to lead the late stages of the truck series event.

Clinching his 4th truck series championship, Ron Hornaday Jr's 2009 championship was supported by a considerable points lead gained contributed by a five-race winning streak. However, the past 2 months of racing kept the opportunity for challenger Matt Crafton to steal the truck top honours in mathematical reach (through the likelihood remained remote). Despite a pit stop violation penalty, Hornaday decisively claimed the championship by finishing in 4th place. The #33 truck more importantly finished ahead of Crafton's #88 Chevrolet to create a 215 point pad. Having won the truck series championship previously in 1996, 1997 and 2007, the 51 year old Ron Hornaday plans to hopefully add a 5th series crown with his KHI #33 team slated to remain the same into the 2010 season.

The Billy Ballew Motorsports duo ran up front through much of event with Aric Almirola leading NASCAR's current renaissance man Kyle Busch leading most of the 150 lap distance. While Busch's part-time campaign in the Camping World Truck Series tour has left him out of contention for the championship in that division of NASCAR for 2009, truck owner points places the #51 Toyota just 75 points behind the #33 KHI Chevrolet going into the Phoenix race. While Hornaday and KHI will claim the driver's title, Busch's 2nd place finish closes the gap to 60 points going into the season finale at Homestead-Miami next Friday.

Andrew Ranger is 2009 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Champion

For the second time in his three season career in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, Roxton Pond, Quebec's Andrew Ranger is named the tour's points champion by winning the Komatsu 300 at Riverside International Speedway. Him and his #27 Walmart Ford Fusion took the lead from Jeff Lapcevich at lap 252 cruising to the checkered flag. Taking maximum points with the top position, Ranger clinches the 2009 crown as one race remains to be run at Kawartha Speedway on September 26th.

Andrew Ranger had previously taken the 2007 championship in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series through a title chase based largely on consistent top 5 race finishes. For 2009, benefiting from a gaining knowledge base around stock car racing as well as some very fast #27 Ford Fusions prepared by crew chief Billy Burns has given Ranger, has allowed him to win the championship with flat-out dominance. With 6 wins on the season, balanced with 3 each on ovals and road courses, Andrew Ranger has also finished in the top 10 in every event for the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series for the year.

A possible window into Andrew Ranger's future, as well as gaining recognition in the Canadian series, some year has also been highlighted by a 3rd place finish in the Nascar Nationwide series in the NAPA Auto Parts 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.