Season's top performers honored at media luncheon

NEW YORK -- The top performers from the recently completed 2008 Sprint Cup Series season were honored Thursday at the annual NASCAR NMPA Myers Brothers Media Luncheon at Cipriani in New York.

Bob Bahre, long a champion promoter and supporter of stock-car racing in the New England region, collected one of NASCAR's most prestigious and longest-running awards, as the former owner of New Hampshire Motor Speedway, received the Buddy Shuman Award (read more). Presented since 1957, the award annually recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to NASCAR racing.

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"We might have built the thing, but it's been the fans and drivers who have made it what it is today," Bahre said.

Longtime NASCAR photographer Thomas Taylor Warren, affectionately known to the motorsports community as "T. Taylor," is the recipient of the National Motorsports Press Association's Myers Brothers Award for 2008. Warren was recognized for a lifetime achievement in NASCAR photography. Accepting on behalf of Warren, who died on Oct. 8 at the age of 83, was NASCAR vice president of corporate communications, Jim Hunter.

"T. Taylor was a true pioneer in NASCAR photography," Hunter said. "He may no longer be with us, but his photographs will live forever."

Team owner Richard Childress was the recipient of the NASCAR Home Depot Humanitarian Award (read more). Childress recently helped fund the establishment of the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma at Wake Forest University's Baptist Medical Center.

"This is an important cause that we really believe in," Childress said. "More than 12,000 children die each year from traumatic accidents. We're committed to do all we can to help make life better for some of these children."

For the sixth consecutive year, Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Chex Cereals Most Popular Driver Award (read more). More than 1.2 million fan votes were cast for Earnhardt.

"It's a great honor to be chosen by the fans once again," Earnhardt said. "NASCAR fans are the best in all of sports and we're fortunate to have a large group of fans that have been extremely loyal to us over the years."

Three-time Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson picked up five awards and his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team received three other awards.

"Today was an opportunity to reflect back on all of the hard work and effort put in by everyone at the race shop," Johnson said. "The emotions kind of go over the top when you take a moment and realize just how special each of these individuals have been in sharing in the success we've had the past three seasons."

Here is the complete list of Thursday's award winners:

2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Driver Champion: Jimmie Johnson

2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Owner Champion: Rick Hendrick and Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports

Raybestos Rookie of the Year: Regan Smith

Final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Top 12
1. Jimmie Johnson, 6,684
2. Carl Edwards, 6,615
3. Greg Biffle, 6,467
4. Kevin Harvick, 6,408
5. Clint Bowyer, 6,381
6. Jeff Burton, 6,335
7. Jeff Gordon, 6,316
8. Denny Hamlin, 6,214
9. Tony Stewart, 6,202
10. Kyle Busch, 6,186
11. Matt Kenseth, 6,184
12. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 6,127.

• Friday -- Johnson, his family and his Hendrick Motorsports team will participate in traditional photos during the afternoon, before attending the Sprint Cup Series awards ceremony in the Grand Ballroom at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel at 7 p.m. ET.