Racing Thunder

500 Homerun Club & Efusjon Invite you to come hit a home run

2009-11-07T23:43:00.001-05:00

Welcome to the 500 Home Run Club®, LLC, the exclusively authorized, internationally recognized organization founded to celebrate the awe inspiring achievements of the greatest home run hitters in baseball history. The club operates with the endorsement and support of both Major League Baseball and the Baseball Hall of Fame.

NASCAR tripleheader at Texas Motor Speedway Weekend Preview

2009-11-06T16:24:00.001-05:00

A NASCAR tripleheader at Texas Motor Speedway and the season finale for the World of Outlaws headline the racing weekend's calendar.

The 1.5-mile TMS track hosts all three of NASCAR's top series this weekend highlighted by Sunday's Sprint Cup Series Dickies 500.

Jimmie Johnson carries a 184-point lead over Mark Martin in the Chase for the Sprint Cup standings heading into the Lone Star State weekend and needs to average a finish of 10th or better over the final three races of the season to lock up an unprecedented fourth straight series title.

Jeff Gordon won last April's visit to Texas with Johnson coming home second.

RacingOne will have comprehensive coverage from Texas all weekend long beginning with Friday's Live Qualifying session for the Dickies 500 beginning at 4:40 p.m. (ET).

Later that night the Camping World Truck Series tackles Texas for the WinStar World Casino 350. SPEED and MRN will provide live television and radio coverage beginning at 9 p.m. (ET).

Saturday afternoon the Nationwide Series will be in action at Texas for the O'Reilly Challenge, slated for a 12:45 p.m. (ET) green flag. ESPN2 and PRN have the TV and radio coverage.

Sunday's Dickies 500 will take the green flag at 3:15 p.m. (ET) with live coverage set for ABC and PRN.

Stay with RacingOne for the latest from the Lone Star State including late breaking news, results, statistics, photos, audio, video and post-race analysis.

The Dirt Track at Lowe's Motor Speedway hosts the season finale for the World of Outlaws Sprints Car Series as well as the late models. Donny Schatz leads Jason Meyers by 19 points heading into the final weekend of racing which includes shows Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. SPEED will air Saturday night's finale at 9 p.m. (ET). RacingOne will be trackside in Charlotte for the latest.

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Danica Patrick and Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s JR motorsports, close to inking deal

2009-11-06T16:00:00.001-05:00

IndyCar Racing League driver Danica Patrick is finally going to get a dose of NASCAR. She's apparently very close to signing a two-year deal with the team run by Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: JR Motorsports, according to ESPN.

The negotiations are supposedly "in the final phase" and it will mean that Patrick takes a NASCAR wheel for the first time when next February's Daytona 500 rolls around.

So she'll race full-time for Andretti Green Racing in IndyCar and part-time for JR in NASCAR. Both Earnhardt and Patrick have some sponsorship dollars from GoDaddy.com.

Sports Illustrated was reporting that Patrick was looking to snag $300,000 per race in NASCAR, no mater if it's Nationwide or Camping World Truck Series races. But it's not likely that she's getting that kind of dough.

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The Dam Letter This will make you laugh Out Loud

2009-11-03T23:16:00.001-05:00

The Dam Letter This is an actual letter sent to a man named Ryan DeVries

Jamie McMurray Survives Talladega Crash, to get his Third Sprint Cup Win

2009-11-02T14:49:00.000-05:00

For the first time since July 7, 2007, Jamie McMurray found himself in the right place at the right time.

Jimmie Johnson, on the other hand, can't seem to put himself in a wrong position -- even when he thinks he has.

McMurray was at the front of the field in Sunday's Amp Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway when the inevitable "big one," a 13-car wreck off Turn 4, caused the sixth caution of the race and froze the running order with just more than one lap left. All McMurray had to do was complete the white flag lap to claim his first NASCAR Sprint Cup victory since he edged Kyle Busch by .005 seconds at Daytona in 2007.

Johnson, the series points leader, wallowed around in the back of the field for most of the afternoon, but a fortuitous stop for fuel under caution for Ryan Newman's unnerving crash on Lap 185 helped him get to the finish line past a score of cars that either wrecked or ran out of gas.

Johnson leaves Talladega with a 184-point advantage over second-place Mark Martin, whose car hurtled through the air, flipped and slammed into the frontstretch wall during the final melee on an otherwise ho-hum day -- thanks to a stern prerace warning against bump-drafting and push-drafting from NASCAR -- that turned ugly in the closing laps at the 2.66-mile superspeedway.

Kasey Kahne overcame a start from the rear of the field because of an engine change to finish second. Rookie Joey Logano came home third. Because of the late caution for the wreck during which Newman's Chevrolet flip once end-over-end and land on its roof, the race went three laps beyond its scheduled distance of 188 laps, and McMurray was one of many drivers worried about running out of fuel.

"I saw the guys wreck behind me, and I didn't know if you had to take the white (flag) in order (to win the race) -- I wasn't real sure what the rules were -- and the 9 (Kahne) went to the outside because he saw the same issue, but I just moved up and kind of tried to block him," said McMurray, who won the third Cup race of his career. "As soon as I crossed the start-finish line, I shut the engine off and pushed the clutch in and coasted around as far as I could.

"What an exciting day. It's been a long time since I've won, and I want to assure every fan out there that I appreciate this as much as anybody. So thanks to all my fans who have stuck with me. I just can't believe it's here again."

As late as the final restart, which took place on Lap 190 after a 12-minute, 34-second red-flag period for Newman's wreck, Johnson was resigned to a finish in the 20s, where he was running after pitting for fuel right before NASCAR threw the red flag.

"From where we were with the red flag to where we finished -- I'm still in shock," said Johnson, who can clinch his record fourth straight title by finishing 10th or better in the final three races in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. "I can't believe that it worked out. I can't believe that that many guys ran out of fuel and put themselves in that position. We almost stayed out.

"It was such a relief to finish and make up points. ... I do feel bad that the guys crashed coming to the finish, and we got wrecked cars. I was really concerned for Mark, because when I looked in the mirror I saw the 5 roof number tumbling and flipping and then it hit the outside fence. I hate to see things take place that way.

"So the crash part, yeah. But making up points on them, that's what we're here to do. I wish it would have been under fuel circumstances not under a crash, for sure. But we'll take them."

Note: McMurray's victory was the first for a Ford and the first for Roush Fenway Racing since Matt Kenseth won the first two races of the season. McMurray is looking for a ride for next season because of a NASCAR mandate that requires Roush Fenway to pare its roster from five teams to four.

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Jimmie Johnson increases lead in Chase Points

2009-11-02T14:40:00.000-05:00

Whatever slim chance the rest of the Chase for the Sprint Cup field had of making major inroads into Jimmie Johnson's points lead pretty much ran out of gas in the closing laps of Sunday's Amp Energy 500.

Mired at the back of the pack with only a handful of laps remaining, Johnson was almost certain his conservative strategy was about to backfire in a big way. Instead, just before NASCAR officials threw the red flag to extricate Ryan Newman from his destroyed car on Lap 184, Johnson was able to duck onto pit road for a splash of fuel.
Autostock
Sound Off

Jimmie Johnson talks about his strategy at Talladega and his surprising finish.

* Watch

Once again, it was crew chief Chad Knaus who came to the rescue.

"To be honest with you, the strategies completely backfired," Johnson said. "The only thing that saved our butts was Chad's decision for fuel. We were in big trouble -- 25th or something on that red flag -- so all the credit goes to Chad and making us come down pit road and put some fuel in that thing. That was really the strategy that did it."

Fellow contenders Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon and Juan Montoya thought they had enough fuel for the remaining distance, but when the engines were refired, they found that wasn't the case. Up and down pit road, many crew chiefs realized the same thing, and several cars rolled or were pushed to their stalls for refueling. So when the race restarted, Johnson suddenly found himself in the top 10.

And when Kurt Busch was tapped by Brad Keselowski, setting off a 13-car melee on the frontstretch just as the white flag was unfurled -- collecting Martin, Gordon and Montoya in the process -- Johnson not only escaped Talladega's clutches, but piled up a bigger lead on his closest competition.

"I'm still in shock," Johnson said. "I can't believe that it worked out. I can't believe that many guys ran out of fuel and put themselves in that position. We almost stayed out."

Not bad for a guy who realized his wait-and-see strategy wasn't working to his satisfaction as the laps wound down.

"With about six [laps] to go, that's the last time I remember [Knaus] giving me a number of laps to go," Johnson said. "It dawned on me that we were in a bad position."

At that point, Johnson knew his options on the track were becoming extremely limited.

"They were three-wide in front of me, nowhere to go and you're just stuck," he said. "You hope that your lane moves forward a little bit. If it does, you pass four cars, five cars, that's about it.

"Then the inside lane or middle lane comes surging forward. And I knew I was in big trouble then. You could see guys pushing and shoving, and wondering if the big wreck was going to take place. But then I'm like, 'I can't be conservative now and try to miss it because if this thing goes green like it looks, we're in even more trouble.' "

At the finish, Johnson's focus was split between the points battle and making sure his Hendrick teammates were OK, especially Martin, whose car flipped before landing on its wheels.

"I do feel bad that the guys crashed coming to the finish and we've got wrecked cars," Johnson said. "I was really concerned for Mark, because when I looked in the mirror, I saw the No. 5 roof number tumbling and flipping and then it hit the outside fence. I hate to see things take place that way."

This was the race that Johnson and Knaus had targeted on their racing calendars well before the start of this year's Chase as a bellweather. On Friday, Johnson admitted he'd be happy to come away from Talladega Superspeedway with the same lead over Martin that he had coming in. Things couldn't have turned out much better, as he's now 184 points ahead of Martin, 192 in front of Gordon and 239 clear of Montoya with three races remaining. Still, Johnson isn't taking anything for granted.

"I'm not going to let up and lose focus to the job I need to do and allow the championship to be in the forefront of my mind until it's mathematically locked up," he said. "I can still lose 165 points next week if I miss a shift and blow the engine at the start of the Texas race and Mark has a perfect day.

"So with all that in mind, yes, I am feeling much better about things. I was so concerned about this race. I thought I was going to lose points with about three or four [laps] to go. So to have it turn around and leave with points, I didn't expect it.

"It's a very, very good situation we're in."

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Talladega officials bring in a Native Americanmedicine man to try to put an end to the craziness.

2009-10-28T16:29:00.000-05:00

It does not take a race on Halloween weekend for the ghosts of Talladega Superspeedway to rise. Whether it's karma or juju or the product of some supernatural power, there's always been something a little different about that 2.66-mile race track dug out of the north Alabama hills. NASCAR's very own twilight zone has been a place where strange, sometimes unexplainable things have happened, cast against a thousand campfires that give it an almost otherworldly glow.

There is no other venue like it, from the size to the spectacle to its turbulent and sometimes tragic history. It was at Talladega where Bobby Isaac abruptly parked his car and got out, claiming voices had told him to do so. It was at Talladega where the garage was once vandalized, where the pace car was once stolen, where parts of the infield still have a reputation for being as lawless as the tribal areas of Pakistan. Then there are the other events, these much more mortal, the water-tank explosions and helicopter crashes and racing accidents that have left sadness and devastation in their wake.

Why all this, in one place? The search for explanation began to take on a life of its own. People said the track was built on the site of an American Indian burial ground, and the spirits were exacting their revenge. People said the name of a nearby town was really a Native American word for "bad water." People said the place was cursed because the indigenous peoples had been forced to leave their homes and move west as part of the Trail of Tears. None of it was ever verified, of course. But it didn't matter. It persisted anyway.

Rick Humphrey, the track's president, has heard it all. He's heard every shred of rumor and myth and superstition about why his track, which hosts the Cup Series on Sunday, has such a checkered and tumultuous history. So through an acquaintance, he got in contact with a Creek Indian community based in a small town in far south Alabama, near the Florida line. And last Thursday, a man in a ponytail and wearing a rainbow-colored sash arrived to try and restore some balance to a facility that's been plagued by instability since its first race, which was boycotted by a number of top drivers due to safety concerns.

His name was Robert Thrower, and he was a medicine man from the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, the same Creeks that once inhabited so much of the land around Talladega. Speaking in the Muscogee language and working from a folding table set up as an altar at the start-finish line, Thrower offered what he called a prayer of protection, restoration, and balance to try and ease whatever cosmic instability surrounds the track. Using bits of cedar, rabbit tobacco, and wild sage, he performed a short ceremony similar to one his great-grandmother -- the last tribal medicine woman -- would have done.
Talladega has always been a little crazy. But here's the thing: people like it a little crazy.

"Most everything in Native American belief is about keeping balance," said Thrower, who is also a Baptist minister. "Sometimes people and places can get out of balance, and that unbalance may be perceived as something bad. What we did today was bless the track, and ask for reconciliation so that balance can be restored."

This kind of thing isn't unusual for Thrower, who often blesses houses or farms. But a race track? In a public ceremony? Then again, if anything can be described as slightly off-kilter, it's Talladega. How else to explain all those beer cans raining down on the frontstretch after Jeff Gordon's victory in 2007, or the preponderance of too-anatomically-correct Mardi Gras beads in the campgrounds, or that general, on-the-edge sense that permeates the place on the race track and off?

So yes, maybe Talladega could use a little balance. Hopefully, Thrower brought the heavy-duty rabbit tobacco.

"I wanted to share with somebody the myth or the legend that a curse had been placed on the area by the Indians," Humphrey said. "[Thrower] made sure that I knew that he was not coming to do some kind of exorcism, and that was not we wanted. He didn't mention a curse. He may have mentioned it one time during a prayer. He said, 'What I can do, and what I will do, is I will come and bless the land. And I will come and restore balance.' So really, I didn't know what I was calling and asking for, other than sharing, in some shape or form, our desires to put the urban legends and myths behind us."

So, what to make of this? Obviously, there's a publicity element to it, with the race weekend approaching and Talladega off 15 to 20 percent from last year on ticket sales just like so many other tracks are. But as anyone who has ever been there can fully attest, Talladega is a strange and different place. Those high speeds, those impossibly tall bankings, those sprawling campgrounds and all that heavy wood smoke -- in concert, it all has a cumulative effect on the mind. Talladega has always been a little crazy. But here's the thing: people like it a little crazy. They pack Airstreams and pup tents and sleep out in the cold in the hopes of being a little crazy, too.

To that extent, you have to wonder what kind of effect Thrower's blessing will have. Thursday will arrive, campers will show up, beads will be passed out, beer cans will be opened, and Talladega will become Talladega again, whether it's in balance or not. Now, in terms of protection -- especially given Carl Edwards' accident there in the spring, where his car went airborne into the restraining fence and a woman's jaw was broken by debris -- you hope Thrower really does have the ear of the Great Spirit. Because more than freakish occurrences, those are the kinds of incidents that give Talladega a bad name.

But we can hope, at least, for a safe and incident-free weekend, that balance has truly been restored and whatever spirits hovering about Talladega Superspeedway are of the benevolent variety. Then again, Saturday night is Halloween. Hopefully, the medicine man will be on call. source>>>

New crew chief for Kyle Busch

2009-10-27T16:47:00.000-05:00

Kyle Busch, who hasn't won a Sprint Cup Series race since Aug. 22 at Bristol, will get a new crew chief after Sunday's race at Talladega Superspeedway, Joe Gibbs Racing announced Tuesday.

JGR has tapped Dave Rogers, crew chief for the organization's No. 20 Nationwide Series car, to replace Steve Addington, who guided Busch to 12 victories in the Cup Series in the No. 18 Toyota. Since winning eight of the first 22 races in 2008, however, Busch has four wins in 46 races and he failed to qualify for the Chase this year.

Addington will be reassigned to another position within the organization.

Rogers led the No. 20 team to the Nationwide Series owners' championship last year with a roster of four drivers -- Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano and Busch -- who collectively posted nine victories. The No. 20 team has won five times this season under Rogers' leadership.

The crew chief change comes two days after Busch recorded his best Cup finish since Bristol, a fourth-place run at Martinsville. Addington won the Wypall Wipers Crew Chief of the Race award after his strategic pit calls helped Busch charge to the front from the 41st starting position.

"We evaluate all of our teams on an ongoing basis and believe this is a change that will make the 18 team stronger as we prepare for next season," JGR president J.D. Gibbs said in a team release. "We think highly of Steve and the job he has done, and we look forward to him remaining a part of the JGR family.

"Dave has proven himself a talented crew chief, and we think he will work well with Kyle. We hope that by making the move following this weekend's race at Talladega they can use the final three weeks of this season to begin working on communication and setups for the 2010 season." source>>>

Sparks fly between Juan Pablo and Jeff Gordon at Martinsville.

2009-10-27T16:43:00.000-05:00

Perspectives and timing can be everything in racing, as well as they can emphasize various points in everyday life -- and so it was on Sunday at Martinsville.

Early in the Tums Fast Relief 500, Juan Montoya went scraping past Jeff Gordon to take the fourth spot. The move, and the action leading up to it, apparently prompted some heated comments on the in-car radios.

The most printable was Gordon's, after losing the spot to Montoya, informing his crew, "I don't know what's wrong with him, but I'm pissed."

But what would you expect? Racing is an aggressive sport, in which emotions throughout a race constantly need to be bottled up and unleashed, virtually at will.

But perspectives mean everything. When different individuals obviously in most cases see things differently -- particularly when they're wearing different color uniforms -- disagreements are inevitable.

Gordon couldn't see it then -- might not be able to see it yet -- but to Montoya it was as plain as the colors of the Colombian flag.

"It's just every time we've been around racing against him, he runs the hell out of me," Montoya said after the race. "He moved me out of the way before, and he was starting to do the same here [Sunday]. I was running the outside of him, and every time he was just getting wider and wider.

"And it got to a point, it's like, 'Hey, I'm here, and you're not going to push me around,' you know what I mean? If you give me room, I'll give you room. He wasn't giving me any, so I played the same game.

"It's not as hard [to be patient] as you think. You race. And if somebody races hard, you're going to race hard."

Immediately after Montoya banged his way past Gordon, he pulled away by a few car lengths. But then, running virtually the same lap times, no immediate confrontations ensued.

But the beauty of it is when communication overcomes bad feelings, and such was the case Sunday when Gordon more than Montoya -- but really both men -- had a lot riding on a good finish. Chase leader Jimmie Johnson's excellence at Martinsville was proven by his ultimate second-place finish to winner Denny Hamlin.

"Here is a place you don't want to wreck anybody because payback is really bad here, but people have got to respect you [so] we did what we had to," Montoya said, before explaining he'd gone much further than that. "I got on the radio and said to the spotter, 'Look, tell him if he comes I'm going to give him space, but I hope he does the same.'" After the race, Gordon was disappointed in his finish. Maybe he was a little frustrated to be fifth; but in his typical balanced way he presented a well-measured demeanor, especially when speaking of Montoya, who charged to third. Continue>>>

Jeff Gordon Looking for Win #8 at Martinsville Speedway

2009-10-21T13:46:00.001-05:00

An eighth win for Jeff Gordon at Martinsville Speedway would certainly help his quest to win the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup championship.
In 33 starts, he has seven wins, seven poles, 21 top-fives (including a current streak of nine straight) and 27 top-10's. The last time Gordon finished outside the top 10 at the 0.526- mile track was 2002

Top 3 drivers in the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup championship

2009-10-21T13:40:00.000-05:00

A glance at the 12 drivers competing in NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup championship heading into this weekend's race at Martinsville Speedway (in order of points):

DRIVER: Jimmie Johnson

CHASE POINTS: First, 5,923

CAR: No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet

TEAM: Hendrick Motorsports

POSITION CHANGE: None

CAREER MARTINSVILLE STARTS: 15

AVERAGE MARTINSVILLE FINISH: 5.3 (six wins)

LAST WEEK: Johnson is doing his best to take all the drama out of the Chase. Again. He had a perfect weekend at Lowe's Motor Speedway, winning from the pole to extend his points lead and move closer to a record fourth straight title.

CHASE CHATTER: "I'm not trying to downplay where we're at," Johnson said. "I'm very, very, very happy where we're at. But there's five races left. There's a lot of racing left."

DRIVER: Mark Martin

CHASE POINTS: Second, -90

CAR: No. 5 Carquest/Kellogg's Chevrolet

TEAM: Hendrick Motorsports

POSITION CHANGE: None

CAREER MARTINSVILLE STARTS: 43

AVERAGE MARTINSVILLE FINISH: 13.3 (two wins)

LAST WEEK: Is the glass slipper starting to get a little too snug? Martin finished 17th at Lowe's, the first real crack in the pursuit of his first points title.

CHASE CHATTER: "We had a lot of issues and we could have given up and (nobody) did," Martin said. "We had a really good effort. I got really tight at the end."

DRIVER: Jeff Gordon

CHASE POINTS: Third, -135

CAR: No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet

TEAM: Hendrick Motorsports

POSITION CHANGE: +2

CAREER MARTINSVILLE STARTS: 33

AVERAGE MARTINSVILLE FINISH: 6.8 (seven wins)

LAST WEEK: Gordon has been nearly the equal of Johnson the last two weeks. He finished fourth at Lowe's and led late for the second straight week. Good, just not good enough.

CHASE CHATTER: "All you really want to do is get maximum points and finish ahead of the guys you're racing in points," Gordon said. "Other than Jimmie, we're doing that."

Competitors must stop Jimmie Johnson, if they want to win at Martinsville

2009-10-21T13:32:00.001-05:00

Halfway through the NFL playoffs, no one knows who will play in the Super Bowl. In hockey, baseball and basketball, best of seven game series determine the champion.

Then there's the Chase for the Sprint Cup, which NASCAR created in 2004 to spice up the final 10 races and the battle for the championship after Matt Kenseth won the 2003 title with just one victory. That year, nine other drivers won at least two or more races but couldn't overcome Kenseth's consistency.

Early on, the Chase met this goal. In 2004, Kurt Busch became the champion, edging Jimmie Johnson by eight points and Jeff Gordon by 16. In 2005, Tony Stewart edged Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards to win the title by 35 points.

Since then, it's been all about Johnson and the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team, which has won the title the past three years.

With five races to go in this year's Chase, Johnson scored what crew chief Chad Knaus called a "perfect" weekend at Lowe's Motor Speedway near Charlotte - winning the pole and the race, as well as being the fastest in the practice sessions. His victory Saturday night in the NASCAR Banking 500 was his series-leading sixth of the season.

Unlike the first four playoff races, when Chasers all but filled the Top 10, Kasey Kahne, who finished third, and Gordon, who finished fourth, were the only other Chasers in the Top 9.

The two drivers who had been keeping pace with Johnson, Mark Martin and Juan Pablo Montoya, sustained damage in an incident during a restart on lap 125. If they avoid that problem, the race and the Chase would look different. Once again, Johnson looks indestructible while his competi-tors fall by the wayside.

The next two races - at Martinsville Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway - tracks at the opposite ends of the NASCAR spectrum - will demonstrate whether or not the No. 48 team will have a cakewalk the rest of the season or a battle for the Cup.

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Martinsville, just .526 miles in length, can be an obstacle in any driver's path. The beating and banging at a short track can leave a car with a broken radiator, flat tire or other malady. Unfortu-nately for the other Chasers, Johnson has won five of the past six races at the Virginia short track. So to win at Martinsville, you have to get past Johnson.

Denny Hamlin, whose Chase woes continued at Lowe's, was the other Martinsville race winner in the spring of 2008. Hamlin also finished second to Johnson there this spring. But he's now out of Chase contention, 372 points back. As much as Chasers such as Hamlin want to win for themselves, winning to keep Johnson out of victory lane is also a motivating factor.

Johnson's closest competitors are his Hendrick Motorsports teammates, Martin in second place, 90 points back; and Gordon, 135 points back. If they can't stop him at Martinsville, there is still a very large hurdle all drivers must overcome the following race - Talladega.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. says he is at the end of his rope trying to get things turned around

2009-10-21T13:28:00.001-05:00

Starting over -- again -- in my mind is the absolute wrong thing for Hendrick to do but I think he has no other choice after Junior's comments last week in Charlotte. In airing his frustration over the continued failings of the 88 team, Earnhardt didn't quite endorse having crew chief McGrew back to call the shots in 2010 and it seems the whole team is now in complete disarray. Rather than using the final five races of the season to work on chemistry and prepare for 2010, Hendrick will most likely be searching for the right personnel to plug into a situation that has gone from bad to worse in the second year of Earnhardt's tenure with the powerhouse team. In my mind, Earnhardt needs a crew chief that will tell him what to do and how to make the car better and not the other way around. Unfortunately I'm not sure if that person exists right now. Unless Hendrick is willing to really shake up his ranks by pairing Earnhardt with Chad Knaus or Steve Letarte, I think he should leave McGrew as crew chief. Give Earnhardt and McGrew a chance to work together over the offseason and see what transpires at the start of the 2010 season. Though the end result after the crew chief change from Tony Eury Jr. has continued to be mediocre, there have been little sparks here and there to make me think that with just a little luck McGrew and Earnhardt can succeed together. If they don't, it's getting to the point where you have to wonder if there is anything at all that can be done to turn around Earnhardt's fortunes. Clearly the new car is giving him fits and the lack of testing isn't helping his cause.

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Add Juan Pablo Montoya to the drivers who have openly expressed their frustration with NASCAR

2009-10-21T13:24:00.001-05:00

Tony Stewart

Ryan Newman

Brian Vickers

Kasey Kahne

Add Juan Pablo Montoya to the list of drivers who have openly expressed their frustration with NASCAR.

After a rough night on Saturday at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Montoya, in an interview with ESPN, claimed that, "you could see that their was stuff all over the track," during the race.

But Montoya believed that NASCAR did not throw the caution because, "they were criticized last week for throwing the caution," and thought that they, "took it a bit over the top," Saturday night.

Montoya added, "It is what it is. NASCAR is in charge of you. So it's okay."

Who would know that fact better than Montoya?

If you will recall, it was that very driver who called NASCAR out over his radio at Indianapolis for allegedly speeding on pit road. The move cost him the race, giving it to eventual winner, Jimmie Johnson.

However, there was no proof then that Montoya sped, or didn't speed. Just as there was no proof on Saturday night that there was debris, or wasn't debris.

It appears that what we have here is a war of words. Was Montoya just blowing steam, or was there really debris on the track? We'll likely never know. But we do know that Montoya wasn't nearly as adamant about the debris as he was about speeding on pit road. Because this time, he didn't swear on his family, or thank NASCAR for messing up his day.

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For Jimmie Johnson, it's down to a single-race Chase Talladega could be last remaining hurdle

2009-10-19T16:16:00.000-05:00

The blue and silver Chevrolet dipped to the bottom of the race track, and zoomed past the only vehicle in front of it with a move that carried a certain degree of finality. There are five races remaining in this Chase for the Sprint Cup, five trying events at five challenging tracks that can still shape the title picture. But in all reality, after Saturday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Jimmie Johnson's bid for an unprecedented fourth consecutive championship on NASCAR's premier circuit now comes down to a single afternoon.

For Johnson, it's effectively a one-race Chase. He'll deny it, of course, and point to a million possible doomsday scenarios, as any driver in his position would. But the 90-point lead he carried away from metro Charlotte on Saturday is the biggest any competitor has enjoyed at the halfway mark of the playoff series. Johnson is in a stronger position now than he's been in any of three most recent title runs. He's bound for his best track, tiny Martinsville Speedway, where he's won six of his last seven starts. Barring the kind of catastrophic mechanical failure that his No. 48 team has managed to avoid over its magical run, it all comes down to one final hurdle.
Get Your Jimmie Johnson Gear Now!

Talladega Superspeedway, Nov. 1. Because of the schedule switch prior to this season that helped facilitate the date swap between Atlanta and Auto Club Speedway, this year marks the first time that the menacing restrictor-plate venue has fallen this late in the Chase. Statistically it's one of Johnson's worse tracks, a place he's failed to finish six times, a place where chaos can erupt at any moment, a place where this past spring Carl Edwards went spinning into the restraining fence. If Johnson gets through 500 miles on that howling, sinister, metal-mashing Talladega surface with his car intact, then it's over.

Done.

Finished.

Naturally, Johnson doesn't agree.

"That's the track that you don't have any control at," he said of Talladega. "But at the same time, I mean, we're only halfway through this thing. So much can happen. Somebody at Martinsville can lose their brakes and clean you out. With the double-file restarts, there's going to be a lot of bumping and banging. Somebody can get into you and knock a valve stem out, or cut a tire. It's a nice point lead, but there's no need for anybody to get excited yet. We've got good tracks ahead for us, so from a team standpoint, we're excited. We're optimistic. But at the same time, there's a lot of danger out there, and we've got to be smart."

And yet, the evidence to the contrary is becoming overwhelming at this point. Consider that since the playoff format was implemented prior to the 2004 season, no driver before Johnson had ever won three of the first five Chase events. Consider that prior to Saturday night, the largest advantage enjoyed by a points leader leaving Charlotte was 69, held last year by you-know-who. Consider that with each passing season, Johnson asserts himself a little more, and wins the title by a wider margin. Yes, he rallied from the unthinkable sum of 146 points down at this point to win his first championship three years ago. But now, the only Chase driver with the potential to do that is the one in the lead. source>>>

It appears the torch has been passed, Try as he might, Jeff Gordon just cannot catch Jimmie Johnson

2009-10-19T16:09:00.000-05:00

There was a brief moment at Lowe's Motor Speedway on Saturday when it appeared the clock had been turned back.

But then, just as quickly as Jeff Gordon passed Jimmie Johnson for the lead late in the NASCAR Banking 500, it was back to the future. Or at least back to the present.

Thanks to another impressive victory at Lowe's, David Caraviello says as long as Jimmie Johnson survives Talladega, he will win his fourth consecutive championship.

That the present belongs to Johnson, and not Gordon, cannot be disputed. Even Gordon, his crew chief Steve Letarte and his car owner Rick Hendrick have a difficult time contesting that at the least the immediate future already is in Johnson's firm ownership grip as well.

Yet, there it was on Saturday for the racing world to behold -- like the days of old: Gordon's No. 24 Chevrolet passing Johnson's No. 48 Chevy for the lead with just 15 laps remaining in a 334-lap event.

Alas, it was a mirage. Gordon and Letarte and, well, really anyone who had been paying close attention knew it. On Letarte's command, the No. 24 team had gambled on the previous pit stop -- taking on only two tires to gain valuable track position while Johnson and most of the rest of the cars running up front took on four.

So Gordon's breath of fresh air -- or was it a blast from the past? -- lasted a mere two laps. Then Johnson not only passed him, but so did Matt Kenseth and Kasey Kahne. Those drivers eventually finished one-two-three in the event, leaving Gordon surprisingly upbeat and satisfied despite having to settle for fourth.

"We were able to get to the outside of Jimmie and I thought, 'I don't know, if we're able to get out front, maybe these two tires will hold up,'" Gordon said. "We gave it everything we had. But if we hadn't taken two, we would never have had a shot at him. We just wouldn't have been able to get up through there and pass enough cars and probably would have finished ninth or 10th. So just to be battling up there for the win made for a spectacular night."

There was a time when fourth would not have been considered a spectacular night for Gordon under almost any circumstances.

But then again, there was a time when Gordon regularly won races and championships. Now he contends for them -- or at least this season, he is -- but rarely gets to enjoy the spoils of either because Johnson, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, always seems to be getting in his way.
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I don't want to wish any trouble on them. But really, the only chances we have to win this championship is to go win the next five races in a row -- or if they run into some problems.
"
-- JEFF GORDON

Hendrick admitted it puts him in a difficult emotional state at times. But then he sort of shrugged and admitted that as long as the person beating Gordon also is in his employment, it is up to Gordon and his team to learn to deal with it.

After all, Gordon is the one who recommended that Hendrick hire the unknown Johnson in 2001. Gordon is the one who is listed as Johnson's car owner.

"Jeff's been in this long enough to know that he was that guy that everybody said, 'I can run second to him every week, but I can't catch him,'" Hendrick said. "He's proud of Jimmie, but he wants to beat Jimmie. It's one of those deals where somebody's got to finish second or third or whatever, but I think he's been in that top position before just like Jimmie -- and one day Jimmie's going to have to face that from somebody else. If you're going to do this long enough, you've got to deal with it."

Lord knows, Gordon is trying mightily.

He has finished second eight times this season. His fourth on Saturday snapped a string of two consecutive second-place finishes -- yet he keeps losing ground to Johnson in the Chase.

Changing of the guard

While Gordon has won one race this season -- one in the past two seasons combined, in fact -- Johnson has now won a series-high total of six this season and 13 in the past two. Take it back three-seasons plus and Johnson holds a 28-9 advantage on Gordon in victories.

That's why Gordon can take solace in a fourth-place finish that moved him up to third from fifth in the points standings, even if he dropped further behind Johnson overall -- falling from 105 points off the pace to a more daunting 135 with five races to go.

"We're not gaining on the 48, but we're gaining on everybody else. That's just as important," Gordon said. "I don't think we can beat those guys straight up if they don't have problems. They're just too strong, too fast. We proved that in clean air and with four tires, we can be faster than everybody. But you're still not going to make up 100 points that way.

"I don't want to wish any trouble on them. But really, the only chances we have to win this championship is to go win the next five races in a row -- or if they run into some problems. They're just too strong. They're not going to have a 12th-place day. It just doesn't happen to them."

Letarte tried hard to sound optimistic after the race -- and, in fact, he pulled it off. But he seemed more optimistic about being happy about solid second- and fourth-place finishes in the No. 24 car's future than he did about actually catching Johnson.
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"We did not do all we could do. We finished fourth. We could have won," Letarte said. "I mean, it's frustrating because we're not winning races -- but it's really great to see the team, how motivated they are. Jeff's driving the wheels off it; I felt like I called a great race. I think we could have given him a little bit better of a car -- but is it frustrating?

"It's frustrating anytime you didn't win. It may be a little consolation that we're moving up in the points, even if we're losing ground to the leader. We started off a little slow; it's our own fault. But we're only halfway [through the Chase] so we've still got a chance."

Maybe so, but Johnson's got a far better chance to catch Gordon -- in total Cup titles, that is. Once, not so long ago, it was all the rage to speculate about how Gordon, who won his fourth championship in 2001, might eventually challenge the all-time record for championships held jointly by recent NASCAR Hall-of-Fame selections Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.

Now Johnson is poised to win his fourth -- an unprecedented fourth consecutive championship, no less. If someone is going to stop this runaway train into the future, he hasn't yet appeared in the 34-year-old Johnson's rear-view mirror long enough for anybody to get a good look at him, least of all Johnson.

And he shows no signs of slowing down to permit that to happen anytime soon.

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Jimmie Johnson the only driver to win title without lead after four

2009-10-15T15:00:00.000-05:00

There is good news and bad news as the Chase heads to Lowe's Motor Speedway for the final Saturday night race of the season, the NASCAR Banking 500 (7 p.m. ET, ABC).

The good news is this is the third-closest point battle in Chase history as Mark Martin trails Jimmie Johnson by 12 points after four races. In 2006, Jeff Burton led Matt Kenseth by six points after four races and in 2007, Johnson trailed Jeff Gordon by just nine points. Aside from those two years, the deficit between first and second place after four races were 29 in 2004, 75 in 2005 and 72 in 2008.

More good news, twice in Chase history the points leader after four races hasn't won the championship -- meaning just because Johnson currently leads heading to Charlotte, the Chase is far from over.

The bad news -- only one driver has not been the points leader after four races and won the championship ... Jimmie Johnson, in 2006 and 2007.

Johnson made up 156 points in six races back in '06. Six drivers are within that point frame right now -- Martin (-12), Juan Montoya (-58), Tony Stewart (-84), Gordon (-105) and Kurt Busch (-121). Can one of them join Johnson in overcoming a deficit in the final six races? Or will Johnson make history with his fourth consecutive title?

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NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson is opening his life for HBO Sports "24/7"

2009-10-15T13:51:00.001-05:00

NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson is opening his life for HBO Sports' award-winning "24/7" program.

HBO is already following the defending three-time champion to collect video for a four-episode, all-access series. The show will air beginning in January and focus on Johnson's preparation for the 2010 season-opening Daytona 500.

It is HBO's first venture into NASCAR, and marks the first time its "24/7" franchise will stray from boxing.

Johnson and his wife, Chandra, wanted to do the show after they became hooked on the boxing series. They'll allow cameras to capture several aspects of their lives, as will Hendrick Motorsports and Johnson's entire team

Dale Earnhardt and four others to be The inaugural class for the NASCAR Hall of Fame

2009-10-15T13:42:00.000-05:00

Dale Earnhardt, a seven-time NASCAR champion and winner of 76 races, was named to the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Ceremonies for Earnhardt and four others -- Richard Petty, Junior Johnson and the father-son duo of Bill France Sr. and Bill France Jr. -- will be held next May in Charlotte, N.C.

Earnhardt Sr., whose aggressive style rattled competitors and captivated fans, was killed in a crash on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.

Petty holds the record for most NASCAR wins (200); Johnson has 50 wins as a driver and six championships as a car owner; Bill France Sr. helped establish NASCAR, and his son, Bill Jr., succeeded him as NASCAR president in 1972. Both are deceased.

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Ford Mustang to run in select races in next year's NASCAR Nationwide Series

2009-10-15T13:32:00.000-05:00

Ford will enter a new version of its Mustang in select races in next year's second-tier NASCAR Nationwide Series. The car was unveiled in a ceremony in Charlotte Tuesday.

Dodge is expected to race a version of its own iconic 2+2, the Challenger, next year as the Daytona Beach, Florida-based sanctioning body attempts to reinvent its junior division, previously known as the Busch Series. The new car will be used in four races, starting with the July 2 race at Daytona International Speedway.

"It's been a long project that we've worked on, changing the identity of the Nationwide Series, giving us our own look and our own unique competition out on the racetrack," series director Joe Balash told the Charlotte Observer.

For the past decade and a half, the cars competing in the series were nearly identical to the top-level Sprint Cup Series machines with only minor variations in dimensions and engine components.

The Nationwide Series car remains similar to the old Cup car, predecessor to the new model introduced in 2007 and labeled the Car of Tomorrow, or COT. The new Cup car was introduced in 16 selected events in 2007 and last year became the standard piece.

Roush Fenway Racing provided the model that was unveiled. The No. 16 car will be driven by Colin Braun.

The car is designed to bear a stronger resemblance to its production counterpart than other NASCAR machines. It will utilize a traditional blade rear spoiler, unlike the wing spoiler on the Cup COT, but will have a front splitter similar to the COT's.

Chevrolet has no plans to use NASCAR to market its reprised Camaro, and Toyota, the fourth manufacturer participating in NASCAR's national series, does not have a representative with the heritage of the U.S.'s "Big Three" automakers. They will continue to race the Impala and Camry body styles, modified to new Nationwide Series rules.

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illness forced Kyle Busch to make an early exit from

2009-10-12T13:00:00.001-05:00

For the second consecutive day, illness forced Kyle Busch to make an early exit from his car.

Suffering from the aftereffects of strep throat, bronchitis and influenza, Busch lasted 62 laps in Sunday's Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway before being replaced by David Gilliland in the No. 18 Toyota. He was helped from the car, then slowly climbed on top of the team's war wagon to watch a couple of laps before going back to the garage area.

"I'm going to go lay down for a little bit and see if I can't get some fluids or something in me at the infield care center," Busch said. "The car was decent. I'm real proud of these guys. I appreciate them sticking behind me and I'm sorry I had to get out.

"I'm not feeling well. I was coughing read bad out there. Maybe now I'll go lay down and get some fluids or something and try to get better. We've been fighting it for several days."

Denny Hamlin filled in for Busch during Saturday's Nationwide Series event, giving the Las Vegas native a chance to rest up for the Sprint Cup race. But when Busch felt no better Sunday morning, the team decided to go ahead and use a relief driver.

Gilliland parked his No. 71 Chevrolet after 13 laps, then walked back through the garage area and stood by in the No. 18 pits. Starting last after the team changed engines before the race, Busch steadily worked his way through the pack and was up to 23rd by the time green-flag stops commenced on Lap 38.

A caution flag for an incident involving Jamie McMurray allowed Busch to come in and make the switch. While the pace car circulated around the track, the team was able to get Gilliland belted in, his radio connected and four tires and fuel. He left pit road, just beating the pace car into Turn 1 and remaining on the lead lap.

"Way to cut it close, boys," Busch's spotter, Jeff Dickerson, reported on the radio. "We make it look like it was rocket science."

Gilliland returned in 28th position and was given a quick pep talk by crew chief Steve Addington.

"Do what you've got to do and we'll be fine," Addington said on the radio. "We'll adjust it from here."

Busch said the car was handling well when he climbed out.

"It was a little bit tight for me and we were trying to loosen it up and see if it would get to where I like it," Busch said. "We started getting a little loose in. Hopefully it's not too loose for [Gilliland]."

Unaccustomed to the car, Gilliland realized several laps into the run that Busch had turned off several of the electrical switches controlling the fans when he exited the car. That was quickly remedied on the next stop.

Gilliland was able to avoid the multi-car accident that took out a significant number of lead-lap cars with less than 10 laps remaining, allowing him to move up to 24th at the finish, two laps behind winner Jimmie Johnson.

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Juan Montoya not going anywhere despite top-fives

2009-10-12T12:49:00.000-05:00

Despite finishes of third, fourth, fourth and third in the first four races in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, Montoya is third in the standings, 58 points behind three-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson.

Montoya seems neither perturbed nor disappointed by his inability to gain ground in the standings, despite his succession of top-fives.

After another top-five finish, Juan Montoya is pleased with his team's efforts, but frustrated that he cannot gain ground.

"Remember, when we started the Chase, I was 40 points behind already," said Montoya, who has not won a race this season, compared with four regular-season victories for Mark Martin. "So against the 5 car [Martin], I should have been like four points [behind]."

Montoya actually trails Martin by six more points -- 46 -- after four Chase races. Martin finished fourth Sunday and was replaced atop the standings by Johnson. Martin, who won the first Chase race, trails Johnson by 12 points. Montoya is the only driver with top-fives in all four Chase races.

"We're getting close to our first win," Montoya said. "We know it's going to happen. But I think that's why we fell behind in the Chase.

"If you ask me -- ask anybody, ask yourself -- did you think we were going to be this competitive when the Chase started? No. We just wanted to make the Chase. And we played our strategy to make the Chase."

Of the top four finishers in the Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway, Montoya was the only driver not employed by Hendrick Motorsports. Johnson won the race, followed by Jeff Gordon. Martin's fourth place was his third top-five of the Chase.

"We're doing our best," Montoya said. "We're enjoying ourselves, and we're racing hard. We've got great race cars, you know. There were four or five Hendrick cars and us racing [Sunday] in the front. So to be able to do that is huge."

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Jimmie Johnson Wins at Fontana California, Takes leads the NASCAR Sprint Cup points standings.

2009-10-12T12:40:00.001-05:00

In front of 70,000, Jimmie Johnson and his No. 48 Lowe's/Jimmie Johnson Foundation Chevrolet won the Pepsi 500, his 45th victory in 285 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. This is his fifth victory and 19th top-10 finish in 2009. This is also his fourth victory and 10th top-10 finish in 14 races at Auto Club Speedway. Johnson is the first driver to win four NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Auto Club Speedway and the first to win the Pepsi 500 in three consecutive seasons. In addition, Johnson has led each of his past six starts at Auto Club Speedway for a total of 619 laps.

Finishing second, Jeff Gordon and his No. 24 DuPont/Pepsi Chevrolet posted his 10th top-10 finish in 19 races at Auto Club Speedway. It is his 21st top-10 finish in 2009.

Juan Pablo Montoya and his No. 42 Target Chevrolet continues to be the surprise of the 'Chase' after posting a third place finish, his first top-10 finish in six races at Auto Club Speedway.

Mark Martin and his No. 5 Kellogg's/CARQUEST Chevrolet was doing everything he could to keep his points lead, but his fourth place result wasn't good enough.

Tony Stewart came into this race with an average finish of 15th, but today Stewart and his No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet turned around with a fifth place finish.

The best finish for a Ford was sixth - Carl Edwards - while the best result for a Dodge was Kurt Busch. He finished eighth.

Joey Logano (14th) was the highest finishing rookie, and had the best run with Toyota power.

Jimmie Johnson leads the NASCAR Sprint Cup point standings by 12 points over Mark Martin.

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5 NASCAR drivers to answer question, "Are you smarter than a 5th grader"?

2009-10-07T15:55:00.000-05:00

NASCAR drivers have been called a lot of things, asked a lot of things. Now comes the untimate question: Are you smarter than a 5th grader?

Five Sprint Cup Series drivers are playing the fast-paced game for charity. On Tuesday, drivers David Ragan and Michael Waltrip play the game, and on Oct. 26, "NASCAR Week" kicks off with Carl Edwards, Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin among the contestants.

Hosted by comedian Jeff Foxworthy, the all-new half-hour version of Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? is an atypical game show that measures adults' lack of knowledge -- as revealed by how much they've forgotten since grammar school.

Grownups find themselves in a classroom setting, revisiting their youth, as they tackle subjects they were taught years ago ranging from art to geography and math to social studies.

However, the players are not alone and there is a way for contestants to "cheat" in this classroom. The adults have the opportunity to get some help -- in the form of elementary advice from real 5th graders who always seem to know more than the contestants.

Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? airs at 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday on MyNetworkTV. Episodes also now air five days a week in syndication.

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NASCAR to raise Fences at Daytona and Talladega from 14ft. to 22ft.

2009-10-07T15:24:00.000-05:00

The fences at Daytona and Talladega will be raised from 14 to 22 feet following a safety analysis conducted after Carl Edwards' airborne flight into the Alabama track's safety barrier (watch video).

A wreck on the last lap in April's race at Talladega sent Edwards sailing into the fence. It bowed, but held and his car shot back onto the track. Debris from the accident injured seven fans in the stands, the most serious a broken jaw suffered by a teenage girl.

The frontstretch fence at Talladega will be raised before the Nov. 1 race, and the backstretch will be completed during the offseason. Daytona will have its fences raised before its first big event in January.

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