Scenes From the Sprint Cup: Champions Week

Friday night, FanHouse hosted a marathon live blog of what was likely the least entertaining awards show ever televised as NASCAR officially crowned Jimmie Johnson as its first three-time consecutive Sprint Cup champ in 30 years.

I'll give 'em credit, though, because its virtually impossible to make a banquet entertaining for fans who aren't eating the $300-plate (my guess) meals at an event that we already know the award winners of. The most thrilling award given was a the "Sprint Monster moment" and even that one had its winner (Carl Edwards) unsure if he was even supposed to give a "I'd like to thank the Academy"-type speech.

If you missed the show, don't worry too much because it wasn't the next incarnation of the Daytona 500 and the best line of the night really wasn't even that great. Funny, but not great. (More on that in a coming post)

It is, however, fun to see some of the usually firesuit-clad drivers dressed in black tie formality and to see some other events from what NASCAR has dubbed "Champions Week". So if you're in to that, here's your cup of tea as we enjoy a nice photo gallery from the fine folks at Getty Images:



Cale Yarborough, the first NASCAR driver to pull the three-consecutive championships feat, surprised Jimmie Johnson by presenting the second driver to manage the triple his championship ring. Johnson later said he was "floored" that one of his childhood heroes had made the trip.




Just prior to Friday night's banquet, NASCAR announced a new cross-promotion deal with actor and musician Kevin Costner for the 2009 season. Costner led a brief look back at the 60 years of NASCAR's existence (including unintentionally re-naming Dale Earnhardt the "Eliminator" rather than "Intimidator".



Matchbox Twenty served as the musical entertainment at the event by playing two songs (they could have played more but only two were broadcast) "Bright Lights" and "How Far We've Come".



Jeff Gordon accepted his seventh-place check and trophy during the banquet and also cracked that he has somehow been listed as the car owner for the last three championships for Johnson. Gordon serves as the technical car owner for Johnson's car.



NASCAR CEO Brian France congratulated Johnson on his third-consecutive title as the driver and his wife Chandra stood behind him.



Carl Edwards took home the second-place trophy Friday night but acknowledged it was hard to deliver a speech after finished second in the points "because that means we didn't win".



Johnson is shown in one of the many photo-ops he had to take part in during Champions Week festivities. This one if from just above New York City's Times Square.



Dale Earnhardt Jr. didn't give a speech Friday night thanks to finishing 12th in the standings but he was on hand for the media luncheon and to receive yet another Most Popular Driver award -- all the while sporting a fully-grown beard.



I'm not really too sure how it happens, but Jimmie Johnson seems to grow hair faster than a Chia Pet. Here, Johnson is shown with crew chief Chad Knaus. Knaus is the first crew chief in NASCAR history to win three-straight titles.