Obviously the awards banquet won't ever be as exciting as a great race on the track but for what it is the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Awards Banquet was a pretty good one.
SPEED coverage started at 9:00 EST but there was a whole lot of nothing in the beginning.
Kenny Wallace and Krista Voda hosted the "Red Carpet" portion of the coverage which lasted an hour and fifteen minutes. While it wasn't as bad as it might have been I could have done without this part of the program.
Then we moved into the banquet room where we had another hour of entertainment including Cirque du Soleil and music from Rascal Flatts.
It was during this portion of the program where comedian/impressionist Frank Caliendo was introduced as the host for the second year in a row. Frank had a few hits during his routine but also a number of misses. During one comedic dry spell Frank knew it wasn't going well and said "you guys can't groan at everything."
Then two hours and fifteen minutes after coming on the air they finally introduced 10th place Clint Bowyer.
Then we got into the driver speeches which were vastly improved over years past. The drivers seemed less nervous and were able to read through their speeches smoothly. Most drivers stayed true to their personalities. Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart were funny. Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson were professional to the end and all ten drivers did a fine job.
Jimmie Johnson collected his fifth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Champions ring with dignity and brought the 2010 season to a rightful close.
Now all eyes focus forward on the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. There are just 70 days to wait until the Budweiser Shootout on February 12th, 2011.
