Jay Mohr helps NASCAR laugh at itself at awards ceremony

LAS VEGAS — Jimmie Johnson had some pointed words for acerbic comedian Jay Mohr as their paths crossed backstage during Friday's NASCAR Awards Ceremony at the Wynn.

"I said, 'Put me in the bulls-eye, man,' " Johnson said with a laugh after being honored for finishing a career-worst 11th-place in the 2014 Sprint Cup points standings. "Take some shots. Let's make this fun. I don't see why people get so offended, you know? He's a comedian. Let's have some fun with it."

Kyle Busch, standing alongside the six-time series champion for red-carpet interviews, hopped on the invite.

"The guys," he cracked, "are fine with it."

That was an obvious shot at Danica Patrick, who wasn't in attendance a year after she was rankled when Mohr joked she might be "uncomfortable sitting up front" (she accompanied Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in 2013 as her boyfriend accepted the rookie of the year honor).

But her absence didn't keep Mohr from mercilessly skewering NASCAR's stars while hosting for the second consecutive year and the fifth overall, adding looseness to an event that often has been criticized for being too stuffy amid an incessant parade of politically correct sponsor recitations.

There are no sacred cows when Mohr is running the show, though.

"He puts us all back down," said Brad Keselowski, "It kind of reminds me of Talladega Nights that sometimes we get stuck in this place we put ourselves, and Jay does a good job of knocking us back down and putting it in perspective that we're race car drivers, right?"

Johnson, who was eliminated from the revamped Chase for the Sprint Cup after the second of four rounds, got his wish quickly.

"The fire marshals have asked the crowd to keep the aisles clear," Mohr said. "In case, Jimmie Johnson decides to make an early exit."

He stared at the Hendrick Motorsports driver, who was sitting much deeper in the crowd than his spot at the head table last year.

"Jimmie, you might want to win again," Mohr said. "Those seats suck."

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None of the championship contenders were spared, from Carl Edwards' toothy grin ("it looks like someone is about to feed you hay") to Keselowski's ostracization by peers ("Where is Brad? Let me look for the table of one. Come on, drivers. Use your hands to clap, something other than to hit Brad Keselowski.") to Jeff Gordon's age ("Jeff can leave tonight and go see a movie for $2.50.").

"If they were making fun of me, and I wasn't here at the banquet, then maybe it would bother me," said Gordon, who turned 43 in August. "And I am the oldest guy in the Chase, so I'm proud of that. I started at a young age, been doing this a long time and to still be doing it at the level I'm doing it, I don't mind being made fun of."

Neither did Joey Logano, whose team was savaged by Mohr after a disastrously slow pit stop in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway scuttled any hope of a championship.

"Tomorrow, they're celebrating Thanksgiving," Mohr said, adding that Kevin Harvick needing 14 years to win a championship was the equivalent of "like six Joey Logano pit stops.

"I love Joey Logano," Mohr said. "Just his turn in the barrel tonight."

With a smile, Logano noted his team had ranked fourth for fastest pit stops. "Sometimes you're in the limelight, it attracts a lot of bugs," he said. "That happens; we've got a tough group of guys, and we'll be fine."

Drivers got a measure of revenge with a video montage in which they ridiculed Mohr's act (Keselowski: "At least I know I'm no longer the most hated man up here.").

Taking hardly any guff, of course, was Harvick, who provided some lighthearted moments on stage as he celebrated his first championship in NASCAR's premier series with his 2-year-old son. Clad in a miniature tux, Keelan Harvick spent much of the ceremony climbing over his father "like a jungle gym.

"He got pretty comfortable," said Harvick, who laughed about receiving a text from Dale Earnhardt Jr. to straighten his tie. "The next thing I know, buttons were missing, and my pants were ripped. At one point, he wanted to pow-pow Mr. Jay, and then I knew he'd had enough.

"It's OK, I'll take a lost button and some wrinkles on stage. It was pretty cool."

Follow Ryan on Twitter @nateryan

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