NASCAR Champion’s Week in Las Vegas concludes with awards banquet

All photos above are from Getty Images.

NASCAR’s season-ending awards banquet wasn’t created as a TV event. The primary focus was always on the people at the dinner itself – drivers, team members, sponsors and other elites from the NASCAR community getting together in tuxedos and gowns to celebrate the year that was.

Though the evening became more TV-focused in recent years, it took a significant move toward that direction with a new format debuted Friday night at the Wynn in Las Vegas. It was almost as if attendees were at a live taping of a TV show, and they just happened to be dressed up and eating dinner while there.

Comedian Howie Mandel brought his act to Las Vegas a day early -- and incognito.

The host of tonight’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series awards banquet at the Wynn, Mandel turned up at Thursday’s interview sessions after the Myers Brothers Luncheon, wearing a wig and holding a microphone, pretending to be a member of the press corps.

As Dale Earnhardt Jr. began to answer a serious question, Mandel yelled from the fringe of the scrum, “Can’t hear you!”

Earnhardt began again. Mandel interrupted. “Can’t hear you! Not getting it. Can you talk so we can all get it?”

“I can only speak as loud as I can speak,” Earnhardt replied.

“OK, go ahead,” Mandel said.

A radio reporter, who didn’t recognize the comedian, offered to hold his microphone closer to Earnhardt.

“No, I’ve got it,” Mandel said.

For the third time, Earnhardt began to answer.

“Louder!” Mandel shouted, and Earnhardt smiled as recognition dawned.

“I know this guy,” Earnhardt chuckled. “I know who this guy is. He’s going to keep going.”

“He’s screwing up my sound bite,” said the radio reporter.

“Louder!” shouted Mandel before exiting the group, leaving Earnhardt and the reporters laughing.

Thursday was the annual NASCAR “Victory Lap” in Las Vegas, and SB Nation rode along with Matt Kenseth for his final trip in the No. 17 car.

Along the way were two burnouts, a pit stop – and a fun feud with Clint Bowyer.

The “NASCAR After The Lap” show – 90 minutes of a tell-all conversation with the top 12 NASCAR drivers in Las Vegas – was funny again this year (although perhaps a little tamer than last year, when Jeff Gordon decided to break-dance).

Here are five of the best moments, if you missed it:

Brad Keselowski is as famous for his Twitter prowess as he is for winning this season’s NASCAR championship. But did you know Keselowski was bitter about social media before he started tweeting?

Back when MySpace was popular, Keselowski logged on because he wanted to look up the page of a girl he thought was hot. He created an account and was active on the site for awhile, but soon “realized how creepy MySpace could be – along with the rest of America.”

Clint Bowyer isn’t planning to forgive Jeff Gordon for his actions at Phoenix anytime soon.

Bowyer didn’t want to discuss the issue with reporters on Thursday in Las Vegas and indicated he’s still upset over Gordon’s intentional wreck on the last lap of the race – an incident which led to a brawl in the garage.

In a surprise to no one, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been honored as NASCAR’s most popular driver yet again.

This time, though, the Most Popular Driver award – given Thursday at the NASCAR NMPA Myers Brothers Luncheon in Las Vegas – came with a bit of history: Earnhardt Jr. tied Bill Elliott with his 10th consecutive victory.

By the time NASCAR’s new fleet of cars hit the track in February, there might not be a single fan who misses the dreaded COT.

The so-called “Gen 6” cars – the 2013 makeovers for all of NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series manufacturers – all look great, and Chevrolet’s unveil of its new SS on Thursday in Las Vegas is no exception.

For the last several years, NASCAR has hosted a game-show style fan event in Las Vegas to help showcase the Chase drivers’ personalities and kick off Champion’s Week in a fun way.

The first year, a mean-spirited roast of Jimmie Johnson at Las Vegas Motor Speedway didn’t fly with the drivers. So a Family Feud game replaced it in 2010.

There’s certainly plenty of opportunities for stories to come out of NASCAR Champion’s Week.

The top 12 drivers have a media availability on Thursday. There’s the hijinks of After the Lap. The Most Popular Driver Award results. The banquet speeches.

I’ve been saying this for several years now, and I hope it’s still true over the next few days: Visiting Las Vegas for NASCAR Champion’s Week provides so much value for fans that I honestly believe it’s worth skipping a race somewhere else to come here.

The Vegas events for fans are awesome because the drivers aren’t distracted by thoughts of what they need to do in the next practice or on their qualifying lap, and it shows in the amount of fun they have with both the audience and each other. The festivities start this afternoon with a game show on Fremont Street hosted by Carrot Top.

One of the best opportunities all year for fans to get closer to their favorite drivers is NASCAR Champion’s Week in Las Vegas.

Whether it’s drivers interacting with fans at one of several events or happening to catch your favorite racer as he’s walking through a casino, the drivers seem to be more accessible in Vegas than any other time during the season – even more than at the racetrack.