HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. – Nov. 20, 2012 – Sprint (NYSE: S) announced today four new awards will be added to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards on Friday, Nov. 30, in Las Vegas. The Sprint Fan Voice Awards are designed to let fans have a voice in determining the top highlights of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.
Fans can visit Facebook.com/MissSprintCup to view nominee videos and vote for their favorite moments. The Miss Sprint Cup Facebook page is the only place to cast votes for the four categories of the inaugural Sprint Fan Voice Awards. Voting begins at 10 a.m. EST Tuesday, Nov. 20, and ends at 11:59 p.m. EST Thursday, Nov. 29. The winners will be announced during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards, which airs on SPEED at 8 p.m. EST Friday, Nov. 30.
Sprint Fan Voice Award categories:
· #DidYouSeeThat: Defines an on-track moment that created a buzz with fans and media on social networks long after the checkered flag
· Hard Charger: Defines a driver who charged his way to the front of the field in a given race or standings to put his team back in contention
· Call of the Race: Defines a significant decision made by a driver and/or crew chief that benefitted the team’s on-track performance
· Dialed in to Win: Defines the best race finish of the 2012 season
Sprint Fan Voice Award nominees include:
· #DidYouSeeThat:
o Jimmie Johnson – After Johnson won the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, team owner Rick Hendrick jumped halfway into the car’s window and took an impromptu encore celebration lap.
o Juan Pablo Montoya – In the Daytona 500, Montoya walked away from one of the most unbelievable moments in the history of all sports. After equipment failed, Montoya lost control of this car and hit a jet dryer causing an immediate explosion and significant fire on the track. NASCAR and racetrack safety personnel reacted quickly and no one was injured in the incident.
o Tony Stewart – The night race at Bristol Motor Speedway was not short on fireworks. After Matt Kenseth and Stewart collided, Stewart waited for Kenseth to return to the scene and launched his helmet at the No. 17 with a direct hit on the windshield.
· Hard Charger:
o Jeff Gordon – As pressure mounted for Gordon to make the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, he found himself battling Kyle Busch in Richmond for the lone remaining position in the playoffs. Charging through the field, Gordon crossed the finish line a mere three points ahead of Busch and sending the four-time champion into the Chase.
o Denny Hamlin – After qualifying 32nd at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Hamlin got to the front of the field after only 94 laps and dominated his way to raising the live-Maine lobster in Victory Lane.
o Jimmie Johnson – After Johnson hit the wall on lap 136 at Kansas Speedway in October, a top-10 finish was nearly out of sight. After several repairs to the car, the No. 48 returned to the pavement and Johnson raced his way to a ninth-place finish.
· Call of the Race:
o Clint Bowyer/Brian Pattie – The last race before the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup called for bold decisions regarding pit and fuel strategy as a late-race caution flew. Bowyer and Pattie opted to stay on the track and, with little to no fuel left, the No. 15 team took the checkered flag.
o Brad Keselowski/Paul Wolfe – At Dover International Speedway in September, Keselowski and Wolfe were sitting in the catbird seat with many teams opting to gamble on fuel strategy. Running in third place, Keselowski’s slim chance to win opened wide as race leader Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch, running second, both ran out of fuel. Keselowski crossed the finish line on fumes.
o Tony Stewart/Steve Addington – As a light rain started to fall on Auto Club Speedway in March, race leader Stewart faked out the field with a last-second decision to stay on the track at the entrance to pit road. The light rain soon turned into a heavy downpour, allowing Stewart to appear in Victory Lane moments later.
· Dialed in to Win:
o Marcos Ambrose – Watkins Gen International’s twists and turns played host to one of the most exciting laps of the entire 2012 season. As the white flag flew, Ambrose, Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski bumped and banged throughout the road course that Ambrose tamed for his second-career and second-straight win at WGI.
o Joey Logano – In June, Logano raced his well-known idol Mark Martin hard in the final laps at Pocono Raceway. With four laps remaining, Martin got loose, allowing Logano to take the lead and checkered flag for his second career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win.
o Ryan Newman – Martinsville Speedway set the scene as multiple cars tangled, creating a green-white-checkered finish in April. Newman was able to hold off a late-race push by A.J. Allmendinger and claim his first win of the season.
Fans are encouraged to follow @MissSprintCup and @NASCAR on Twitter to engage in the #SprintFanVoice Awards conversation throughout the voting window.
About Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel served more than 56 million customers at the end of the third quarter of 2012 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; offering industry-leading mobile data services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. The American Customer Satisfaction Index rated Sprint No. 1 among all national carriers in customer satisfaction and most improved, across all 47 industries, during the last four years. Newsweek ranked Sprint No. 3 in both its 2011 and 2012 Green Rankings, listing it as one of the nation’s greenest companies, the highest of any telecommunications company. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.
