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Johnson enjoying his place in NASCAR history

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:31:03 GMT

For Johnson, winning the championship included more than just the Sprint Cup trophy presentation and post-race media obligations at Homestead.

"Left the track around midnight, with the obligation, post-race obligations and stuff like that," Johnson said. "And then went out with my guys, went to a bar and they had a big party to celebrate the year and saw a bunch of drivers and team folks there and all my guys were there as well.

Menard to drive No.98 for Yates in '09

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:21:38 GMT

Menard spent his first two years in Sprint Cup competition driving the No.15 Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt Inc., but is leaving the racing organization and bringing sponsorship from his family-owned chain of hardware stores to Yates.

"I'm really looking forward to starting this new chapter of my life with Yates Racing and behind the wheel of the No.98 Ford Fusion," Menard said.

Johnson, No.48 team the next dynasty in professional sports

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:02:34 GMT

Johnson finished 15th in the season-ending Ford 400, and clinched his third title in a row, finishing the season 69 points ahead of Carl Edwards, who won at Homestead for his series-leading ninth victory of the year. Johnson became just the second driver in NASCAR's 60-year history to win three straight titles, matching Cale Yarborough's 30-year-old record.

"Right now we've been fortunate to win three," Johnson said. "So over the off season I'm going to be drooling about a fourth. It's not really where I fall into the books. It's more about what I want to be as a champion." Johnson ended t

Three-Peat: Johnson captures record-tying third-straight Cup title

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 19:43:09 GMT

Carl Edwards gambled on fuel late in the race as he "coasted" his way to victory, his series-leading ninth of the season.

Kevin Harvick finished second, and Jamie McMurray was third. Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top-five.

Reutimann captures first Cup pole for season-ending Ford 400

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:01:24 GMT

Reutimann's first pole came in his 63rd start. He becomes the fourth first- time pole winner in the series this year, joining Travis Kvapil (Talladega), Paul Menard (Daytona) and Patrick Carpentier (New Hampshire).

"I think we sat on the outside pole at Bristol and came close a couple of other times," Reutimann said. "It feels really good to see the 44 up there, and it shows all of the guys at the shop and on the team that they've been working hard all year long and doing a great job." Scott Speed, in just his fifth Sprint Cup start, secured the outside pole with

NASCAR cancels 2009 testing at sanctioned tracks

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 13:45:55 GMT

NASCAR informed teams Friday morning at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, where the Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Craftsman Truck Series will wrap up their seasons.

The ban includes pre-season testing for the Daytona 500, and it means teams will not be permitted to test at any track where NASCAR's national touring series compete.

This Week in Auto Racing November 14 - 16

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 18:36:28 GMT

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Ford 400 - Homestead-Miami Speedway - Homestead, FL After winning last Sunday's race in dominating fashion at Phoenix, Jimmie Johnson practically wrapped up this year's "Chase for the Sprint Cup" championship.

Johnson led 217 of 313 laps and held off a hard-charging Kurt Busch in a green-white-checkered finish to record his seventh victory of the season.

Nothing "funny" about moving tail end of NASCAR race to ESPN2

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 18:34:01 GMT

ABC made the decision to continue its coverage of the race on their sister network in order to air an episode of "America's Funniest Home Videos" at 7:30 p.m. (et). The race remained on ABC in the Mountain and Pacific time zones.

"After two red flags, rain in Phoenix and 4 1/2 hours on ABC, we were still 34 minutes from the end of the telecast as it turned out," ESPN spokesman George McNeilly said in a statement. "We told fans in the East and Central from the second red flag on that the

Johnson on the brink of third-straight title with Phoenix win

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 21:13:15 GMT

Johnson led 217 of 313 laps and held off Kurt Busch in a green-white-checkered finish.

The victory was Johnson's seventh of the season and the 40th of his Sprint Cup career.

Johnson on the brink of third consecutive title with Phoenix win

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 20:16:10 GMT

Johnson, the two-time defending Sprint Cup Series champion, led 217 of 313 laps and held off a hard-charging Kurt Busch in a green-white-checkered finish.

Johnson now holds a 141-point lead over Carl Edwards, who finished fourth. If Johnson finishes 36th or better in next weekend's season-finale at Homestead, regardless of Edwards' performance, he will clinch his record-tying third consecutive Cup title.

Johnson wins pole for Phoenix, Edwards starts 15th

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 20:23:23 GMT

The pole victory was Johnson's sixth of the season and the 19th of his Sprint Cup career.

Johnson has won the last two races at Phoenix, and is looking to become the first driver to win three in a row there.

This Week in Auto Racing November 7 - 9

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 17:47:43 GMT

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 - Phoenix International Raceway - Phoenix, AZ Two weeks ago, Carl Edwards sat fourth in the championship standings and trailed leader Jimmie Johnson by 198 points, but after winning back-to-back races - at Atlanta and Texas - Edwards has moved to within 106 points of Johnson in second place.

Edwards became the first driver to score three Cup victories at Texas, marking the fourth consecutive time the fall race winner at Atlanta also won the following week at Texas.

Edwards could make it an interesting Chase after all

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:15:58 GMT

Edwards took a huge gamble in his quest for the title Sunday, when he drove the final 69 laps without pitting for fuel to win the Dickies 500 at the Texas Motor Speedway. He also trimmed 77 points off of Johnson's lead after Johnson finished 15th, marking the first time the two-time defending Sprint Cup Series champion has finished outside the top-10 in this year's Chase.

Johnson came to Texas with a 183-point advantage over Edwards, and was in a position to possibly clinch his record-tying third-consecutive Cup championship in next weekend's race at Phoenix. But Edwards has now livened up the Chase as the title will now likely be decided in the season-finale at Homestead. That development comes as a sigh of relief for NASCAR offic

Fuel strategy pays off for Edwards with Texas victory

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 19:39:22 GMT

The No.99 Roush Fenway Racing driver led 212 of 334 laps and finished 8.310 seconds ahead of second-place Jeff Gordon.

Edwards recorded his eighth victory of the season and the 15th of his Sprint Cup career. He also swept Texas this year as he won the Samsung 500 in April.

Gordon wins pole at Texas for the first time

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 19:32:16 GMT

The pole victory was Gordon's fourth of the season and the 67th of his Cup career. However, it was his first pole at Texas.

"I can't believe that we just got the pole for Texas," said Gordon, who is currently sixth in the Chase point standing. "It's a great start to the weekend, but it's only half of the battle. We'll see what happens tomorrow, getting it ready for the race (on Sunday)." Gordon has 81 career victories, but has not won a race since October 2007 at Charlotte (38 races ago). His best finish in 15 starts at Texas is second, coming in 2002.

This Week in Auto Racing October 31 - November 2

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 18:56:43 GMT

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Dickies 500 - Texas Motor Speedway - Fort Worth, TX Even though Carl Edwards picked up the victory, Jimmie Johnson staged a remarkable comeback in last Sunday's race at the Atlanta Motor Speedway which helped him move closer to a record-tying third consecutive Cup championship.

Johnson was slapped with a penalty for speeding on pit road and fell one lap behind in 30th place as a result. But a gutsy call by crew chief Chad Knaus to pit late in the race helped Johnson cap off his turnaround.

Crew chief Knaus a hero for late-race pit call at Atlanta

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 17:14:36 GMT

Johnson was caught speeding while entering pit road during a round of green- flag stops on Lap 98, and after serving his drive-through penalty, he fell one lap down in 30th place.

"I made that mistake getting onto pit road I guess," Johnson said. "I'm not sure where. But somewhere I was speeding and had to do that pass through on green flag stop conditions. It just killed us." This was supposed to be Johnson's mulligan in the Chase, but that turned out not to be necessary.

Edwards wins at Atlanta, Johnson adds to points lead

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 18:23:54 GMT

The victory was Edwards' seventh of the season and the 14th of his Sprint Cup Series career.

Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch completed the top-five.

Sprint Cup qualifying rained out at Atlanta

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 20:18:09 GMT

Jimmie Johnson will start on the pole position for the third consecutive race and once again has the first pit stall. After winning last Sunday's race with a dominating performance at the Martinsville Speedway, Johnson extended his points lead to 149 with four races remaining in the season.

"It's great to have that guaranteed pit stall and starting position, but at the same time, everybody else is right there," Johnson said. "There are certain guys that I am racing right now in the points that are very good in qualifying and other guys that are not...When you start up front at a big track like (Atlanta) and the air is so important these days, the track position is really everyt

Camping World new sponsor for NASCAR Truck Series

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 14:27:50 GMT

Craftsman had been the sole title sponsor since the inception of the NASCAR Truck Series in 1995.

The sponsorship deal for Camping World is for seven years.

NASCAR suspends, fines Hamlin, docks Vickers points

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 16:25:59 GMT

Team owner Dietrich Mateschitz also was docked 150 owner points and car chief Craig Smokstad was also suspended indefinitely.

Vickers' No. 83 Toyota was randomly selected for a post-race inspection after his 11th-place finish at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday. The inspection, which took place on Tuesday in NASCAR's research and development center in Concord, North Carolina, discovered that the sheet metal was too thin.

This Week in Auto Racing October 24 - 26

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 21:23:40 GMT

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pep Boys Auto 500 - Atlanta Motor Speedway - Hampton, GA With four races remaining in the season, Jimmie Johnson holds a commanding 149-point lead over Greg Biffle in the championship standings. Johnson padded his lead after a dominating performance last Sunday at the Martinsville Speedway, where he led 339 of 504 laps en route to his sixth victory of the season.

Johnson is attempting to win his third-straight Cup championship, and if he does it, he'll join Cale Yarborough as the only drivers to capture three titles in a row in the series.

Johnson could wrap up third-straight title before Homestead

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:49:34 GMT

Johnson now holds a commanding 149-point lead over Greg Biffle, making it the most sizeable margin in the five-year history of the Chase with four races to go in the season.

Even though Johnson typically peaks at the end of the season, he remains cautiously optimistic at the prospect of tying Cale Yarborough's 30-year-old record for most consecutive titles in the series.

Johnson dominant at Martinsville, adds to points lead

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 17:45:38 GMT

The No.48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet driver and two-time defending Sprint Cup Series champion led 339 of 504 laps and held off teammate Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in a green-white-checkered finish.

The victory was Johnson's sixth of the season and the 39th of his Sprint Cup career.

Martinsville qualifying rained out

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 16:02:24 GMT

The field for the Sprint Cup Series race has been set on owner points, giving Jimmie Johnson the pole position. Johnson, who holds a 69-point lead in the "Chase for Sprint Cup" standings, has won three of the last four races at Martinsville.

Jeff Burton, currently second in the standings, will start on the outside pole.