FanHouse NewYorkCity

NASCAR fans don't care about wins, poles, or championships for their favorite drivers.

Performance on the track? Well, it's kind of important, but not nearly as important as having multiple television commercials, a pretty-darned famous last name, and a down-home attitude and look.

For those reasons, Dale Earnhardt Jr. just won his fifth-straight NMPA Chex Most Popular Driver award Thursday in New York City. Junior gave his obligatory remarks on winning his 5th-straight popularity contest that came as a surprise to -- well -- no one.

"When I became a Cup driver in 1999, I never would've imagined that we'd be talking about five consecutive Most Popular Driver awards. I have a special place at JR Motorsports where I put the MPD trophies, so I'm honored to add another one to the collection," said Junior.

"I don't want it to sound like a cliché, but this award really does mean a lot to me after all we have been through this year. This year has marked a significant transition in my life and career [...]"

You do kind of have to feel sorry for the folks at the NMPA because of the absolute domination that Junior holds on the contest. According to this article, of nearly 3.8 million votes cast online for each of the top 50 drivers in NASCAR, Dale Jr. managed to pull in 1.4 million of those -- nearly a third of the votes cast.

In other words? Dale Earnhardt Jr. is going to have to start building a new room onto JR Motorsports to house the trophies from the popularity contest he is bound to continue winning for a long time.

This victory, of course, comes during the year when Dale Jr. was the single-most talked about driver on the planet because of his departing of Dale Earnhardt Inc. for greener pastures at Hendrick Motorsports in 2008 -- a move that precipitated over several months.

The move, Earnhardt hopes, will take him from his zero-win 16th-place 2007 series finish to contending for wins and championships.

It's the last day to get your votes in for the first-ever NASCAR FanHouse FanVote.

We've decided on driver performance, television coverage, and the biggest stories of 2007, so naturally, that means its time to predict for 2008.

Will Jimmie Johnson three-peat? Will Roush-Fenway strike back with a vengeance? Will the NASCAR's Next-Generation race car perform at a high level? These are all looming questions for 2008, and its up to you to decide!

Make your selections, return to Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3 if you haven't made your selections there yet, and be sure to check in on Friday here at the FanHouse as we unveil our results of the FanVote, prior to the annual Nextel Cup Awards ceremony in New York City.

Happy voting, and thanks for the participation!


Click the link to continue voting!

The NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season-ending week-long award-giving gala has officially taken control of New York City.

Wednesday morning, Times Square and Broadway hosted the "NASCAR Victory Lap", which involved all Top 10 drivers driving in their cars, a police escort, plenty of barricades, from many accounts a decent fan base, and definitely a lot of PO'ed New Yorkers.

The highlight of the event (which you can kinda see on the video) was Kyle Busch bumping into Matt Kenseth's bumper during the parade.

The week culminates on Friday with the Nextel Cup Series awards banquet at the Waldorf-Astoria Grand Ballroom, where Jimmie Johnson will be toasted as the champ and countless gaffes will be made by NASCAR personalities who aren't the best with public speaking will mis-read the teleprompter.

No worries, though, as ESPN has managed to make sure it isn't that big of a deal by hosting the awards show on ESPN Classic. You've got to believe NASCAR just loves that exposure.

Dr. Jerry Punch, the ESPN play-by-play commentator will serve as Master of Ceremonies while entertainment will be provided by David Spade. NASCAR's token B-list star, Kelly Clarkson, will be on hand for musical entertainment.

Until that point, make sure to keep an eye out for NASCAR personalities all over the tube -- from Good Morning America to Rachel Ray's cooking show -- during the media blitz.

One casuality of the current writer's strike? We won't get another appearance by the Top 10 guys on David Lettermen's show, which was definitely one of my favorite parts of the week.

Hidden among endless Yankee and Met writing and glamorous celebrity coverage came this nugget of news last week from the New York Post.

"NASCAR star Jeff Gordon has just become a full-time New Yorker.The 35-year-old hot-rodder and his smokin' hot Belgian model wife Ingrid Vandebosch have just signed a one-year, $26,000-a-month lease for an apartment at the Park Imperial on West 56th Street."

For that cool $26K/month, Gordon's pad at the Park Imperial will have three bedrooms and bathrooms. Views of Central Park from 70 stories up will be the norm and tenant that lives just above the new space? Sean "Diddy" Combs. That's a treat in itself, for sure.

The New York City address is nothing new for Gordon, as he has had at some residence in the Big Apple for a few years now. Apparently, Jimmie Johnson and his wife also have a place in the city.

Gordon will undoubtedly keep a place to stay in the Carolina region, as well, just for ease of visiting the Hendrick shop and other related events in the area.

Gordon's wife, Ingrid Vandebosch, is expecting a daughter in early June.

It's always funny to see local boosterism rear it's head in areas where it is supposed to be above it. Like NYC. For such a metropolitan area, their sports coverage is as bad as any podunk area when it comes to pointing out the local ties. College basketball has been harder in recent years as the talent has not stayed in the area as much; and what talent does, has really not been that great. It's a cyclical thing, but no one wants to ever hear that.

Add in the marquee college basketball program -- St. John's -- has been down in the dumps for a while and things can get downright weird. Kids that are nice enough players -- and would be recruited by mid-majors and the local colleges can suddenly be elevated.

So, on its face, the news that the leading scorer of the NYC Catholic League was committing to St. John's would understandibally greeted as great news. The kid's averaging around 25 points per game. That is, until you see that Mike Cavataio's other offers were from Richmond, Hofstra and Manhattan.

It's hard to tell right now where Cavataio will fit with the Johnnies (11-8, 2-4 Big East). He's capable of getting his own shot and is an excellent decision-maker. His high basketball IQ was one of the biggest attractions. However, coaches and assistants at other Big East programs envision the 6-5 swingman as a productive role player and not someone destined for a starring role.

"He's talented and gets his own shot," said one Big East assistant coach, who asked not to be identified because it is a violation of NCAA rules to comment on a recruit. "Only time will tell about how he will develop. He's coming from a good place, a good family. But it would be a stretch to call him an impact player.",

Those other Big East programs hadn't offered him. Cavatio was not even ranked in the recruiting sites. That says more about the struggles for St. John's to get enough good recruits that they would take him for the 2007 recruiting class at this point. Kind of surprising with a decent class otherwise, that includes Power Forward Justin Burrell. Burrell is a top-100 player and top-20 PF in the 2007 class.