TONY STEWART AND SIRIUS XM RADIO ANNOUNCE NOMINEES FOR THIRD ANNUAL
'STEWIE AWARDS'
"The Stewies" will be presented live December 3 from the Rio
Las Vegas during NASCAR Champions Week
NEW YORK -- November 17, 2009 - SIRIUS XM Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) and
two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion Tony Stewart announced today
the nominees for the third annual 'Stewie Awards,' honoring
the most memorable moments of the 2009 NASCAR season.
The 'Stewies,' which first debuted in 2007, will be awarded
during a live broadcast hosted by Stewart and Matt Yocum from the Rio
All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on Thursday, December 3 (10:00 pm
-- midnight ET / 7:00 pm -- 9:00 pm PT). The live broadcast
will air on SIRIUS NASCAR Radio, available to listeners nationwide on
SIRIUS channel 128 and XM channel 128 with the "Best of
SIRIUS" programming package.
The two-hour event will feature live interviews with the 2009 champion
and other drivers in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, plus other
special guests. Celebrity Robin Leach will serve as the show announcer.
Fans can determine the 2009 'Stewie Award' winners by casting
their votes online at www.sirius.com/stewieawards.
The 2009 'Stewies' nominees are:
"Feels Like The First Time" Award -- Recognizing the most notable
"first" of the NASCAR season.
* Matt Kenseth wins the Daytona 500 for owner Jack Roush. (Feb. 15)
* Brad Keselowski wins first Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega. (Apr.
26)
* David Reutimann wins first Sprint Cup Series race at Charlotte. (May
25)
* Joey Logano wins first Sprint Cup Series race at Loudon. (Jun. 28)
* Kevin Harvick gets first win in his own Nationwide Series car. (Mar.
21)
* Tony Stewart gets his first owner/driver win in Sprint All-Star Race.
(May 16)
Best Original Drama -- Honoring the year's most dramatic moment or
sequence.
* Stewart-Haas Racing's exemplary inaugural season.
* 50-year-old Mark Martin makes the Chase in his first year with
Hendrick Motorsports.
* Kyle Busch dominates the Dickies 500 at Texas (Nov. 8) by leading
a race-high 232 laps but runs out of gas with three laps to go and
finishes 11th.
* Jimmie Johnson runs out of gas on the final lap at Michigan (Aug 16),.
handing the win to Brian Vickers .
* Danica Patrick's on-again, off-again relationship with NASCAR.
Best Original Comedy -- Honoring the year's most entertaining
"incident."
* Denny Hamlin vs. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski spins Hamlin into the
wall late in NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Dover (Sep. 26). After the
race, crews from both teams get into a pit road skirmish.
* Tom Logano vs. Greg Biffle: Angry that Greg Biffle forced his son,
Joey, into the wall at Fontana (Oct. 10), Tom Logano flips off Biffle as
he heads to Victory Lane.
* Humpy Wheeler vs. Bruton Smith: Angry that he didn't get a personal
invitation to attend the Charlotte races from former boss Bruton Smith,
Humpy Wheeler attends the Indianapolis 500 instead and made his feelings
known about Smith. The two continue to exchange words in the media for
days over the circumstances of Wheeler's departure from Lowe's Motor
Speedway.
* Carl Edwards vs. a frisbee: Edwards breaks his foot playing frisbee
two races into the Chase and uses the injury to plug his sponsor, Aflac,
in a press release.
Best Vocal Performance -- Honoring the year's most memorable quote
(Visit www.sirius.com/stewieawards to hear audio of nominees)
* Kyle Busch tells "Junior Nation" that he'd rather win races than sell
the most t-shirts at Bristol. (Mar 22)
* Michael Waltrip tackles 5th Grade U.S. History on FOX's "Are You
Smarter Than A 5th Grader?" (Oct. 27)
* Tony Stewart "in awe" of Jeff Gordon post-race at Kansas. (Oct. 4)
* President Barack Obama welcomes NASCAR to the White House. (Aug. 19)
* Inaugural Class of NASCAR Hall of Fame inductees announced by NASCAR
Chairman & CEO, Brian France. (Oct. 14)
Smokey Yunick Award (Best Engineering and Special Effects) --
Acknowledging the year's most creative modifications to a race car.
* Carl Long gets penalized for oversized engine during Sprint All-Star
weekend. (May 16)
* Robby Gordon's rear axle housing exceeds the maximum specified toe of
plus or minus one degree at Coca-Cola 600. (May 24)
* After finishing 5th in the Sylvania 300 (Sep. 20), Kyle Busch gets
penalized after the left front of the #18 Toyota is too low in post-race
inspection.
* Martin Truex, Jr. finishes 16th in the LifeLock 400 (Jul. 11) but
fails post-race inspection when right rear quarter panel is too high.
Four months later, in the Dickies 500 at Texas (Nov. 8), Truex finishes
14th but fails post-race again for being too low.
* Honorable Mention: Mark Martin's #5 and Jimmie Johnson's #48 cars
for NOT being illegal, yet causing a media frenzy in September of 2009
after being warned by NASCAR that they were "getting too close to the
tolerance limits" set forth by NASCAR.
Bonehead Move of the Year Award
* Jimmy Watts, gasman for Marcos Ambrose, gets suspended for four races
after running onto the infield grass to retrieve a loose tire during the
Kobalt Tools 500. (Mar. 8)
* Juan Pablo Montoya, despite holding a commanding lead all day, commits
a speeding penalty during pit a stop in the Allstate 400 causing him to
lose the race. (Jul. 26)
* Kyle Busch destroys his Nationwide Series guitar/trophy at Nashville
in true "rock star fashion." (Jun. 6)
* Jeremy Mayfield's entire 2009 season (on and off the track).
'I Got Dumped' Award -- Acknowledging the year's most memorable on or
off-track bumping
* Marcos Ambrose loses NAPA Auto Parts 200 Nationwide Series race in
Montreal on last lap to Carl Edwards by misjudging final turn. (Aug. 30)
* Tony George leaves Hulman-George Companies (Indianapolis Motor
Speedway) after 20 years as President & CEO.
* After Dale Earnhardt, Jr. goes winless since June 15, 2008, Tony Eury,
Jr. is released as crew chief for the #88 and is replaced by Lance
McGrew.
* Kyle Busch ends up in the wall on the final lap of the Coke Zero 400
(July 4) after slight contact with Tony Stewart. Stewart gets his 2nd
points win of the year but says, "that's not the way I wanted to do it."
* Despite 12 of Kyle Busch's 16 Cup Series wins coming in the last two
years, Steve Addington is ousted as crew chief for the #18 and replaced
by Dave Rogers.
Hal Needham Award (Best Stunt Sequence) -- Acknowledging the year's most
spectacular crash
* Carl Edwards wrecks on the final lap at Talladega in the spring (Apr.
26) and sends the car flipping into the catch fence. Edwards gets out of
car and runs across finish line to complete the race.
* Ryan Newman wrecks at Talladega in the fall (Nov. 1) and the car lands
on Kevin Harvick's hood. After being freed from the car Newman walks
away.
* Joey Logano flips 7½ times on Lap 32 at Dover (Sep. 27). Post-race, an
unharmed Logano says, "It was the wildest ride I've ever been on."
* Lap 61 coming out of Turn 9 at Watkins Glen (Aug. 10), Kasey Kahne and
Sam Hornish Jr. tangle causing a multi-car crash.
Best Driver2Crew Chatter Exchange -- Acknowledging the year's
most memorable driver-to-pit crew communication (Visit
www.sirius.com/stewieawards to hear audio of nominees)
* Roger Penske puts Kurt Busch in line at Martinsville. (Mar. 29)
* Spotter Jeff Dickerson to Kyle Busch at Las Vegas: "Say goodnight,
Gracie." (Mar. 1)
* Juan Pablo Montoya penalized by NASCAR at Indy for speeding on pit
lane. (Jul. 26)
* Kurt Busch's love/hate relationship with his team in 2009. (Montage
from 2009 season)
Golden Stewie Award -- Chosen by Stewart and Yocum and honoring a
legendary driver 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
Stewart and Yocum hosted their critically-acclaimed show, Tony Stewart
Live, on SIRIUS XM Radio from 2007 through 2008. Prior to the 2009
NASCAR season, Stewart announced he would be partnering with Haas
Automation to form a new Sprint Cup team, Stewart-Haas Racing, where he
would be an owner and driver.
SIRIUS XM 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 SIRIUS NASCAR Radio,
channel 128, the only radio channel dedicated to NASCAR 24 hours a day,
365 days a year.
-credit: www.sirius.com.
