NASCAR represented at ESPYs

Jimmie Johnson holds his ESPY Award for Best Driver outside of the
Nokia Theatre at L.A. LIVE Wednesday in Los Angeles, Calif.
Credit: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

The stars of sports and entertainment aligned at the 2011 ESPYs on Wednesday night in Los Angeles. Live from the Nokia Theatre, ESPN's 19th annual awards ceremony honored the best and brightest in the world of sports. NASCAR was nominated in three categories, winning in one, and had a presence among the night's presenters.

Five-time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson kept another streak going: Johnson won his fourth consecutive Best Driver ESPY. Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic, of ESPN's "Mike and Mike in the Morning" show, presented Johnson with the silver trophy during the awards' pre-show. Johnson beat out three-time IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti, 15-time NHRA Funny Car champion John Force and four-time NHRA Full Throttle champion Greg Anderson for the honor.

Johnson was also up for Male Athlete of the Year for the second year in a row, but lost the award to Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowizki, the MVP for his winning team in this year's NBA finals.

Trevor Bayne (left) with Danica Patrick (right) and her husband
Paul Hospenthal (center) on the ESPY Red Carpet.
Credit: NASCAR IMC

Rounding out the NASCAR nominees was Trevor Bayne, whose storybook Daytona 500 victory was nominated for Best Moment. Bayne lost out to Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Roy Halliday's post-season no-hitter against the Cincinatti Reds.

Extreme sports star Travis Pastrana, who will make his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis in two weeks, lost Best Male Action Sports Athlete to skateboarder/snowboarder Shaun White.

In addition to being an ESPY winner, Johnson pulled double duty as a presenter. He and "Entourage" actress Emmanuelle Chriqui presented the evening's first award, the Best Breakthrough Athlete ESPY, to Los Angeles Clippers' Blake Griffin.

IndyCar and NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Danica Patrick was also a presenter. She and pop idol Justin Bieber - decked out in a firesuit! - presented the final award of the evening for Best Team to the Dallas Mavericks.

The majority of ESPY winners are determined by fan vote in the three weeks leading up to the ceremony. For a full list of winners, click here.