Night of Costner, Cruise and most especially Cale

NEW YORK -- The ruse began with Brian France. The NASCAR chairman walked on stage late in the Sprint Cup awards ceremony Friday night, ostensibly to present Chandra and Jimmie Johnson with the traditional spouse gift and champion's ring. But France was really there to introduce someone else -- and when the spry, white-haired image of Cale Yarborough emerged from behind the curtain, the grand ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria exploded in applause.

To many, especially those who know that Yarborough is a rather private man who chooses the peace and quiet of his South Carolina plantation home over the public eye, his presence was a complete surprise. NASCAR had managed to keep it a relative secret, with fewer than 10 people knowing until Friday night. Although Yarborough sat at a table in the grand ballroom during much of the dinner, he was lost in the crowd of 1,000 people -- until that moment when he emerged, spotlights flashing and music blaring, when the first winner of three consecutive series titles arrived to present the champion's ring to only the second man to achieve the feat.

It was the kind of public bridging of generations that had to happen eventually. NASCAR had invited Yarborough to the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, to be present when Johnson tied the record that Yarborough had first set 30 years earlier, but he had a conflict with another engagement. Johnson idolized Yarborough as a youth, Friday night again telling the story about first seeing a Hardee's when he was 7 or 8, and running inside thinking the burger chain -- which sponsored Yarborough's car at the time -- was actually the race shop. Although Yarborough has never had anything but nice things to say about Johnson, seeing both men on stage at the same time, sharing robust handshakes, one effectively cementing his stamp of approval on the other, was a moment everyone had long waited for.

Party Time

It was a festive night at the Waldorf-Astoria as NASCAR honored its top drivers at the sport's annual award ceremony.

• Watch all the speeches

Even Yarborough seemed touched by the moment. "I've got the racing spirit back," he said. "I'm wondering, Rick [Hendrick], if you had a seat open -- a good seat -- you might be the first car owner to hire a 70-year-old champion."

It was the perfect finale to a rather uneven awards ceremony, one that actually improved -- imagine that -- when the top 10 drivers began making their speeches. There was no shortage of star power, with Matchbox Twenty playing loud, Kevin Costner appearing in a historical retrospective with Richard Petty and Betty Jane France, and Tom Cruise -- "I'd like to introduce one of my old drivers, Cole Trickle," Hendrick said -- sitting at a Hendrick table alongside wife Katie Holmes, who's appearing in a Broadway play. Cruise and Hendrick have been friends since the two worked together on the movie Days of Thunder 18 years ago.

Although nothing could match Yarborough's appearance, the night did have its share of moments. One year ago, in his final days as a Hendrick Motorsports employee, Kyle Busch made something of a halting, uncomfortable speech. Friday, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver gave the best of any driver's, needling Johnson ("Maybe one of these days they'll actually let somebody else up here"), Johnson again ("Remember Chicago? That was awesome!") and the fans who -- well, let's just say perhaps don't fully appreciate the talents of a driver who won 21 national division races. "You let me know in your own special way that you pull for me," he said. "Of course, you could find a different way of telling me I'm No. 1." (Continued)