Trophies and the NASCAR drivers who love them

Among the things I've noticed in having covered motor sports over the last 18 years, NASCAR Sprint Cup winners get some pretty awesome trophies for their wins.
At Sonoma Raceway, for instance, the victor of the Toyota/SaveMart 350 gets to drink from a goblet filled with wine. Here's a pic of what it looks like that I took when Martin Truex Jr. won there in 2013:

The main part of Sonoma's trophy, true to the spirit of its location, is an oak barrel motif with a wine bottle around it. Seeing wine in a trophy may be a little too obvious to some, but it can happen anywhere. Richard Childress owns a vineyard in his native North Carolina in addition to his race team, so there you go.
But as we go down the list, the mix of things race winners get in Victory Lane is pretty outstanding.
Let's start with Sunday's 5-Hour Energy 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Yes, the winner gets to hold a live lobster as part of the celebration. Here's last year's July winner, Brad Keselowski, with his crabby crustacean (pun almost intended!):

And as we move on through some of the other notable trophies, I have to stop at one of my favorites after 11 years. Before Kobalt Tools took over as the title sponsor of the Sprint Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the winner used to receive a boxer-style belt. Seemed appropriate after the 267-lap endurance test he had to endure.
But with Kobalt's arrival, the winner gets to hold a very cool oversized wrench in Victory Lane.
Unique, special, and something worth keeping in the trophy case for the grandkids to see.
Martinsville Speedway has its own special trophy, and it takes preparation to take it home. For 51 years, the race winner has received a grandfather clock made by Ridgeway Clocks. The company, appropriately enough, is based only a few miles from the "paper clip." In 2009, the clock, which stands about 7 feet tall (a good half-foot higher than me, even!), was valued at around $10,000. Here's a piece that tells the story behind how the clocks became trophies, written in 2013.
Here's a random thought: Jimmie Johnson has won eight grandfather clocks from Martinsville. Where in heaven's name does he keep them all?
Of course, there are other legendary trophies every Cup driver strives to win, especially the Harley J. Earl Trophy that goes to the Daytona 500 champ. It's no grandfather clock, but it's just as priceless.
I saw Keselowski ringing the bell for his win at Auto Club Speedway in March. And of course, there was the absolutely hysterical presence of SpongeBob on the race that had his name at Kansas Speedway back in May. Couldn't resist closing this post with a shot of Jimmie Johnson and that trophy:

So there you go. Chad Knaus, Johnson's crew chief, once said trophies were one of the big things that drove his team's competitive fire (OK, the paychecks aren't bad, either...seriously!). With the collection that's out there now, from the traditional to the new, they're a big part of why NASCAR always has my attention.
Tom Zulewski has covered motor sports in many forms, from World of Outlaws to NASCAR, the NHRA and American LeMans Series, through an 18-year journalism career. Follow him on Twitter @Tomzsports.