Banquet Fever

The NASCAR awards banquet has always been an excuse for country mice to enjoy city life (and that's not a slam; I went to nine of them in New York, and that was the reality), but I'm not sure anyone is ready for four days of partying in Las Vegas after a meatgrinder schedule.

Ah, what am I saying? That's WHY you want to go to Vegas for celebrating.

NEWS FLASH: The winner of the NMPA Most Popular Driver Award for 2011 is....wait for it....Dale Earnhardt Jr.! For the ninth straight season, it appears that Junior has a lock on the award like Bill Elliott once did.

It also means he won SOMETHING in 2011. Cheap shot, I know, but it's banquet week...

Be sure to tune in to SPEED tomorrow night at 9 p.m. ET. It will be the usual dog-and-pony, with some good lines from Harvick, Edwards, Johnson and Gordon, but not much else.

Until Stewart reaches the podium, that is. He's liable to give a performance that Vegas hasn't quite seen before.

All in all, it's a cool way to end the season. I am already scheming to get to next year's event...and I might just have to take some of you with me!

Enjoy!