Busch, Hornaday honored as 2009 series champions

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Winning a NASCAR championship lands a driver in a select fraternity, and that was never more evident than in ceremonies to honor Kyle Busch and Ron Hornaday during Monday night's combined 2009 Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series banquet at the Loews Miami Beach hotel.

While team owner Kevin Harvick described Hornaday as joining "an elite group of champions" with his fourth title, Busch's Nationwide crown allows him to gain equal footing with older brother Kurt, the 2004 Cup champion.

DeLana and Kevin Harvick

• Different sides of defense

The top drivers, crew chiefs, owners and sponsors in each series were honored during the season-ending black-tie event, with the spotlight on the 51-year-old Hornaday, the oldest driver ever to win a national touring series title, and the 24-year-old Busch, who was chided for having 11 runner-up finishes to go with his nine wins.

"I want to thank a 51-year-old grandfather who gives us everything he has, whether that's in practice, qualifying or the race," Harvick said of Hornaday. "You've put yourself in an elite group of champions, and we wouldn't be here without you. But at the end of the day, the most important thing to DeLana and I is your friendship."

Busch poked a little fun at himself during his acceptance speech, claiming that NASCAR's new valet parking option was the main reason for his early departure from the car at Bristol. He also credited ESPN's pit reporters for keeping him in shape during his many comment-less post-race runs from the car to his motorhome. He even talked about setting a record for runner-up finishes in 2009, which landed him a crew chief in the process.

"There was a time this year when I finished second," Busch said. "I guess 11 of them. And I finished second to Joey Logano at Nashville, Kentucky, Chicago, Kansas -- oh, I did beat him at Loudon. Seriously, isn't 11 second-place finishes a bit much? What's a guy got to do to beat the new kid on the block? Oh, that's right. Take Dave Rogers and put him on his Cup program."

It was a night for trophies, checks and speeches. Toyota's Lee White kicked off things by accepting a pair of manufacturers' championships. Ricky Carmichael and Brad Keselowski were chosen by fans as the Most Popular Drivers in their respective series, with Keselowski mentioning that he recently had the opportunity to meet NASCAR president Mike Helton, off-handedly referring to his simmering, season-long feud with Denny Hamlin.

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Johnny Sauter and Justin Allgaier were given their Raybestos Rookie of the Year awards, and then the rest of the top five drivers in each series were introduced one by one and given an opportunity to chat with SPEED's Rick Allen and Krista Voda on stage. For the Trucks, that was (in reverse order of finish) Colin Braun, Todd Bodine, Mike Skinner and Matt Crafton. Mike Bliss -- who took a moment to list all six of his car owners this season -- Jason Leffler, Keselowski and Carl Edwards were feted on the Nationwide side.

J.D. and Joe Gibbs

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Edwards made a reference to comic Kathleen Madigan's earlier stand-up routine, where she mentioned that they both hail from Missouri, and teased that their home state was now No. 1 in the country for methamphetamine production and sightings of unidentified flying objects.

"One of the neatest things about the Nationwide Series is we get to go to foreign countries and race these things," Edwards told Allen and Voda. "For a kid from a place where all his buddies are seeing UFOs and meth labs, it's quite a thing to be in Montreal."

On a more serious note, Edwards took time to thank the other competitors present.

"It's been a blast to race with all of the guys in the room, and everybody up here on this stage," Edwards said. "Some of the greatest battles I've been in in my life have been in this series and some of my proudest moments are here. That's why I'm looking forward to being here in the future."

Then it was time to shower the series champions with their hardware. Harvick and J.D. Gibbs of Joe Gibbs Racing accepted their champion owners' awards. Champion crew chiefs Rick Ren and Jason Ratcliff, who told Busch "you are second ... to no one," had their time at the dais. And then first Hornaday and then Busch were given their championship rings by Helton.

"This isn't what I like to do," Hornaday admitted as he started his congratulatory speech. "I like to sit in that race truck and drive. When I signed a contract with Kevin and DeLana, they said I might have to do this again."

Hornaday elicited laughs from the crowd when he went down his list of sponsors, mentioning that he still hadn't gotten his pair of Georgia boots, could use some more Twizzlers and then when talking about driving the Vlasic pickle car, "Having a bird on my firesuit, that was pretty weird."

Helton made a poignant comment when handing Busch his ring.

"We've had our moments," Helton said of Busch. "I speak on behalf of NASCAR professionally, but for me personally, I like watching you race. I'm proud that you're our 2009 Nationwide Series champion. Don't change. You do it your way and it'll work out fine.

"We may have to visit from time and time, but just keep it up. I'm glad, however, that this is not a guitar."

That referred to Busch's destroying of the hand-painted Gibson guitar trophy after winning at Nashville this summer.

Lindy and Ron Hornaday

• Heart of a champion

In Busch's comments, he took one jab at the critics who claimed he might have stretched himself too thin by running more than 80 races in the three national series in 2009.

"They say winning races in all three series takes away from Sundays," Busch said. "Maybe you've heard about it -- can't focus, hurts the big picture, I'm too distracted -- so let me just say this. If not for racing in the Nationwide Series this year and chasing after the championship, I wouldn't be accepting this beautiful trophy, understanding what it takes -- the determination and drive -- in order to win a championship. So I'm proud to stand here right now to say, 'Things don't necessarily look too bad.'"

Hornaday summed up the thoughts of everyone in attendance when he glanced at his wife, Lindy, during his speech.

"My wife, Lindy, thank you, honey," Hornaday said. "We've got another one. Now you'll have to build me another trophy case. And for all the wives, all the girlfriends and all the kids, thanks for letting your husbands do what they do and love."

A condensed version of the banquet will be aired at 7 p.m. ET on Dec 4. on SPEED. Subsequent broadcasts will air from 8-10 p.m. ET on Dec. 11, and from 12 p.m.-2 a.m. ET on Dec. 12 and again from 2-4 p.m. ET the same day.

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