Bowyer takes center stage as Nationwide champion (cont'd)

Tenth-place Marcos Ambrose was in his native Australia for a family situation, but in a video thanked, along with his team owners and sponsors, Ford Racing, which has supported Ambrose in most of his racing career and enabled him to race in NASCAR.

In 2009, Ambrose will drive Sprint Cup Toyotas in a partnership between Michael Waltrip Racing and his current JTG Daugherty Racing team.

Nationwide received high praise from most banquet speakers.

Toyota was honored for winning its first Bill France Performance Cup, signifying the series' manufacturers' champion.

JR Motorsports' second-year driver Brad Keselowski, who won his first series pole and first two series events this season and finished third in the championship, was revealed as the winner of the series' Most Popular Driver Award, which was established in part via a fan vote on NASCAR.COM.

"Well, they pulled a surprise on me -- I didn't see that coming," said Keselowski, who ironically works for Dale Earnhardt Jr. "This [third place] is obviously one of the highlights of my career and I'm looking forward to another great year in 2009 and hopefully getting two spots higher."

Keselowski, who received a $20,000 check for winning the WIX Filters Lap Leader Award and promptly forgot it on stage, adroitly deflected a question from emcee Allen Bestwick about whether or not his ascension to the series' upper level had increased his luck with the ladies this season, one of the night's more oddly humorous moments.

Most of the rest of those were provided in two segments by stand-up comedienne Kathleen Madigan, a regular on HBO and Comedy Central who was bookended around a two-song performance by O.A.R., one of Earnhardt's and fellow Sprint Cup driver Brian Vickers' favorite musical groups.

ESPN pit reporter Shannon Spake served as co-host with Bestwick and, following the recent tradition, executed two-on-one interviews with the eight of the top 10 drivers, besides Bowyer and Ambrose.

A video was shown of Bowyer's Tuesday visit to Nationwide Insurance headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, which included visiting Nationwide Children's Hospital, meeting company executives, a question and answer/autograph session with company associates and attending the Columbus Blue Jackets-Edmonton Oilers hockey game at Nationwide Arena, where he participated in mid-period activities on the ice.

Landon Cassill received the Raybestos Rookie of the Year Award, JGR's head engine builder Mark Cronquist the Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Year Award, ninth-place Jason Leffler the Featherlite Most Improved Driver Award and fifth-place Mike Bliss the Mobil 1 Command Performance Award.