2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Tony Stewart to Present Annual ‘Stewie Awards’ Live on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Dec. 1

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2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Tony Stewart to Present Annual ‘Stewie Awards’ Live on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Dec. 1

 

Three-time champion and his co-host, Matt Yocum, will host from Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas

 

Annual highlight of NASCAR Champions Week honors the best, boldest and funniest moments from the NASCAR season

Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) announced that 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion Tony Stewart will host the fifth annual ‘Stewie Awards’ show on Thursday, December 1, live from Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

The ‘Stewies,’ which features Stewart’s entertaining and irreverent take on the best, boldest and funniest moments from the 2011 NASCAR season, will be awarded during a live broadcast hosted by Stewart and Matt Yocum from Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on Thursday, December 1 (9:30 pm ET / 6:30 pm PT).  The live broadcast will air nationwide on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90 on Sirius and XM Premier (formerly known as “The Best of Sirius”).  The broadcast will be open to the public for fans.

Stewart won his third NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title after a remarkable postseason run that saw him win five of the 10 races in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.  His down-to-the-wire battle with Carl Edwards created one of the most exciting finishes in NASCAR history, as Stewart overcame early-race troubles and held off Edwards to win the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway and claim the crown.  In just his third year as a driver/owner with Stewart-Haas Racing, Stewart becomes the first driver/owner to win a championship since Alan Kulwicki did it in 1992.  He was the last driver to win the championship before Jimmie Johnson went on his historic five year title run. 

The ‘Stewie Awards’ event will feature live interviews with several of Stewart’s competitors in this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, plus other special guests.

“Hosting the ‘Stewies’ is always one of the highlights of Champions Week for me and this year’s show will be incredibly special,” said Stewart.  “This has been an amazing season for me and the team and it’ll be great to share the excitement of Champions Week with the fans in Las Vegas and those listening around the country on SiriusXM.”

Fans can vote for the ‘Stewie Award’ winners online at www.siriusxm.com/stewieawards.

The 2011 ‘Stewies’ nominees are:

Best Original Drama – For the year’s most dramatic moment or sequence.

  • Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick battle Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin to end of Aaron’s 499 at Talladega only to be bested by Jimmie Johnson, who tied a record for slimmest margin of victory at .002 secs thanks to a late push by Dale Earnhardt Jr.
  • Brad Keselowski drives to victory in the Good Sam RV Insurance 500 at Pocono with a broken ankle. During a red flag for rain, Kez had fluid drained from his ankle, which had swollen to the size of a softball.
  • Kyle Busch wins 18 combined series races and passes Mark Martin on all-time NASCAR Nationwide Series win list, yet makes headlines for a series of “less attractive” reasons.
  • Dale Earnhardt Jr. fans thought his 104-race winless drought was over, but on final turn of green-white-checker finish, Junior runs out of gas and Kevin Harvick wins Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte.
  • Tony Stewart overcomes pit road issues, debris damage, a lengthy red flag and down-to-the-wire challenge from Carl Edwards to win season finale Ford 400 at Homestead.  Smoke has to climb his way to the front of the field twice and he and Edwards trade lead several times.  The 1-2 finish leaves them tied in points but tie-breaker, and championship, goes to Stewart.

Bonehead Move of the Year Award

  • Leading the Daytona 500 with two laps to go, David Ragan changes lanes before reaching start/finish line during a restart and is black-flagged to end of lead lap.  He finishes 14th.
  • Carl Edwards destroys his car’s front end during post-race celebration after winning $1 million NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte.
  • Kyle Busch’s win at the Quaker State 400, NASCAR’s inaugural Sprint Cup Series race at Kentucky, gets overshadowed by reports of 15-mile traffic jams on I-71.
  • Perhaps unaware of in-car cameras, Chad Knaus is heard telling Jimmie Johnson before Good Sam Club 500 at Talladega, “If we win this race, you have to crack the back end of the car.”
  • JJ Yeley pushes Matt Kenseth when #17 runs out of gas at Geico 400 at Chicagoland but, since it is illegal to receive assistance on final lap, Kenseth is dropped from 8th to 21st place finish.

“Feels Like The First Time” Award – For the most notable “first” of the NASCAR season.

  • On the day after his 20thbirthday, Trevor Bayne wins Daytona 500 in his second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start.
  • After 105 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series attempts, Regan Smith finds Victory Lane in the Showtime Southern 500 at Darlington while driving for a single car team.
  • Avoiding a wreck-fest in the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona, David Ragan redeems himself from five months earlier (Daytona) by getting his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win.
  • Coming from a family with deep racing roots, Paul Menard becomes first in his family to kiss bricks at Indy after getting his first win in Brickyard 400.
  • Australian champion Marcos Ambrose gets his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win in Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen.

Best Vocal Performance – For the year’s most memorable quote. (Visit www.siriusxm.com/stewieawards to hear audio of nominees.)

  • Clint Bowyer once exclaimed during a 2008 race that, “Michael Waltrip is the worst driver in NASCAR, period.”  Skip ahead to this year, at press conference announcing Bowyer as the newest driver at Michael Waltrip Racing, the two discuss Waltrip’s driving prowess.
  • Kenny Wallace delivers a memorable command to fire engines in the UNOH 225 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Kentucky.
  • After some “you dumped me, so I’ll dump you” talk between Brian Vickers and Tony Stewart in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma, Smoke waxes poetic with the media about being blocked.
  • After winning the IRWIN Tools Night Race at Bristol, Brad Keselowski celebrates in Victory Lane with help from his sponsor.
  • Pastor Joe Nelms of Family Baptist Church in Lebanon, TN, channels his inner “Ricky Bobby” during the pre-race invocation for the Federated Auto Parts 300 at Nashville.

Best “Driver2Crew Chatter” – (Visit www.siriusxm.com/stewieawards to hear audio of nominees.)

  • The #88 crew helps Dale Earnhardt Jr. mark his pit stall in the STP 400 at Kansas.
  • Comedian Larry the Cable Guy, honorary pace car driver for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, details the biggest challenge of driving at NASCAR’s highest level.
  • In the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas, Chad Knaus and Jimmie Johnson pay their “respects” to one of the year’s biggest success stories.
  • Kurt Busch expresses his “displeasure” with how things are progressing in the Matthew & Daniel Hansen 400 at Richmond.
  • Greg Biffle and then crew chief Greg Erwin discuss their “winning plan” during Coca-Cola 600.

Best Original Comedy – For the year’s most entertaining “incident.”

  • With three regular season races remaining, Tony Stewart questions his team’s “Chase” abilities during a post-race ESPN interview at Michigan.  Smoke goes on to win five postseason races and win his third NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship.
  • On the final green-white-checker attempt, Justin Allgaier begins thanking his team for win at Bucyrus 200 at Road America but runs out of fuel and fails to maintain caution speed.  Ron Fellows and Reed Sorenson advance, but after Fellows also fails to maintain caution speed, Sorenson is declared winner.
  • When Kyle Busch pits during the Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville, crew chief Dave Rogers reminds team to “tighten the lugs,” but as Kyle pulls away his front left wheel detaches and rolls down the track.
  • Thinking Greg Biffle was racing dirty in the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen, Boris Said requests a “meeting” with “The Biff” after the race.  In the ensuing encounter, Biffle takes a swing at Said and Said answers back with verbal TKO.
  • Battling teammate Carl Edwards, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. blows an engine on last lap of US Cellular 250 at Iowa.  The combination of oil on the track and blinding smoke on Edwards’ windshield causes Carl to slam into Stenhouse and push him to win.

Hal Needham Award (Best Stunt Sequence) – For the year’s most remarkable crash.

  • At the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen, Denny Hamlin hits the tire wall at 76 mph.  Hamlin emerges from his car under his own power – sore, but safe.
  • At the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen, David Ragan hits wall at 100 mph.  Ragan then hits David Reutimann who cartwheels into Turn 2 fence.  Everyone emerges safely.
  • Battling Carl Edwards during the 5-Hour Energy 200 at Dover, Joey Logano gets loose, bounces off wall and collects Clint Bowyer, who flips on his side as both cars are destroyed and several other cars get caught in the mess.  The drivers are uninjured.
  • In Goody’s Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville, Martin Truex Jr.’s throttle sticks entering Turn 3 causing him to crash into the SAFER barrier at high speed.  Grateful for NASCAR’s safety improvements Truex says afterward, “Ten years ago I wouldn’t be here.”
  • At Aaron’s 312 at Talladega, Mike Wallace hits Jason Leffler and goes airborne, flipping completely over before landing back on his wheels.  Wallace finishes the race in 18th place.

‘Boys, Have At It” Award – For the year’s most memorable on- or off-track bumping and/or dumping.

  • Robby Gordon gets put on indefinite NASCAR suspension after an incident with Kevin Conway in the Las Vegas garage.  Few people witness the altercation but the two drivers have an unpleasant history following their 2010 partnership.
  • After an on-track battle at the Showtime Southern 500 at Darlington, Kevin Harvick throws a punch at Kyle Busch on pit road.  Busch rams Harvick’s car into pit road wall and fight breaks out between the two race teams.
  • Steve Wallace spins Patrick Carpentier during NAPA Auto Parts 200 at Montreal to prematurely end the final race of Carpentier’s career.  Carpentier’s crew chief, Jerry Baxter, reaches into car to pull Wallace’s hair.  Wallace states later, “Only girls pull hair.”
  • After multiple incidents, Ryan Newman and Juan Pablo Montoya visit the NASCAR hauler.  It is rumored Newman throws a punch during the meeting but “Rocket Man” will only say, “What happens in the trailer stays in the trailer.”
  • Nearing the checkered flag in the Good Sam Club 500 at Talladega, Jeff Gordon gets dumped by his tandem draft partner, Trevor Bayne, for another Ford driver.  Gordon goes from being a contender to win to finishing 27th, 12 spots behind Bayne.

The Social Stewie Award – For the year’s best social media quote.

  • Matt Kenseth via Twitter after his wife’s “Better Half Dash” practice injury. @matt_kenseth17: “Katie is feeling pretty good today, and I got to learn something new…how to put a bra ON!”
  • Would-be-father Scott Speed via Twitter. @scottspeed: “At the obgyn to find out if @Amanda_Speed has bad eggs or if my swimmers are just turning left n going in circles lol”
  • Comedian Jim Gaffigan opines via Twitter about “horse power.” @jimgaffigan: “Horse racing is just NASCAR for gamblers, right?”
  • Kevin Harvick weighs in via Twitter about Ron Hornaday being dumped.  @kevinharvick: “Great night for the 2 truck!! Just watched the race replay and saw what I already knew @kylebusch is a b****…”
  • Jimmie Johnson pleads with “NASCAR Nation” via Twitter.  @jimmiejohnson: “I’m amazed how many of you admit to owning a shake weight.  Please stop buying them so it goes away. #publicservice.”

Golden Stewie Award – Chosen by Stewart and Yocum and honoring a legendary figure from the Golden Era of racing, the winner of this award will be revealed the night of the event.

“Stewie” Lifetime Achievement Award – Chosen by Stewart and Yocum, the winner of this award will be revealed the night of the event.

SiriusXM is the Official Satellite Radio Partner of NASCAR, broadcasting every NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race live on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90, the only radio channel dedicated to NASCAR 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

For more info please visit www.siriusxm.com.

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