Smoke hands out 'Stewies' to most memorable of '09

LAS VEGAS -- Winners of the third annual "Stewie Awards" were announced Thursday night by two-time Cup Series champion Tony Stewart live on Sirius XM Radio.

The 2009 Stewie Award winners were decided by fans around the country who voted for the best, boldest and funniest moments of the season.

'The Stewies'

Catch the rebroadcast on Sirius XM Radio at 7 p.m. ET Friday; 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Saturday; and 2 p.m. Sunday. Video highlights of the event will be available at www.sirius.com/nascar.

Winners in 11 categories were honored. Among the evening's highlights was the presentation of the Stewie Lifetime Achievement Award to team owner Rick Hendrick and the awarding of the Golden Stewie to racing legend David Pearson.

The winners of the 2009 Stewie Awards:

"Feels Like The First Time" Award
Recognizing the most notable "first" of the NASCAR season

• Kevin Harvick gets first win in his own Nationwide Series car on March 21.

Best Original Drama
Honoring the year's most dramatic moment or sequence

• 50-year-old Mark Martin makes the Chase in his first year with Hendrick Motorsports.

Best Original Comedy
Honoring the year's most entertaining "incident"

• Denny Hamlin vs. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski spins Hamlin into the wall late in NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Dover on Sep. 26. After the race, crews from both teams get into a pit road skirmish.

Best Vocal Performance
Honoring the year's most memorable quote

• Tony Stewart "in awe" of Jeff Gordon post-race at Kansas. (Oct. 4)

Smokey Yunick Award (Best Engineering and Special Effects)
Acknowledging the year's most creative modifications to a race car

• Mark Martin's No. 5 and Jimmie Johnson's No. 48 cars for not being illegal, yet causing a media frenzy in September after being warned by NASCAR that they were "getting too close to the tolerance limits" set forth by NASCAR.

Bonehead Move of the Year Award

• Kyle Busch destroys his Nationwide Series guitar/trophy at Nashville in true "rock star fashion" on June 6.

"I Got Dumped" Award
Acknowledging the year's most memorable on or off-track bumping

• Marcos Ambrose loses Nationwide Series race at Montreal on last lap to Carl Edwards by misjudging final turn on Aug. 30.

Hal Needham Award (Best Stunt Sequence)
Acknowledging the year's most spectacular crash

• Carl Edwards wrecks on the final lap at Talladega in the spring (Apr. 26) and sends the car flipping into the catch fence. Edwards gets out of car and runs across finish line to complete the race.

Best Driver2Crew Chatter Exchange
Acknowledging the year's most memorable driver-to-pit crew communication

• Juan Montoya penalized by NASCAR at Indy for speeding on pit lane on July 26.

Golden Stewie Award
Chosen by Stewart and Yocum and honoring a legendary driver from the Golden Era of racing

• David Pearson

"Stewie" Lifetime Achievement Award

• Rick Hendrick

Guests on Thursday night's program included 2009 Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson; Chase drivers Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle, Juan Montoya, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, Carl Edwards and Brian Vickers; legendary drivers David Pearson and AJ Foyt; plus Kevin Harvick and Rick Hendrick; and celebrity Robin Leach.