Stewart reveals nominees for second Stewie Awards

SIRIUS XM Radio, the Official Satellite Radio Partner of NASCAR, and two-time Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart, announced Monday the nominees for the second annual Stewie Awards, honoring the best, boldest and funniest moments of the 2008 NASCAR season.

The Stewies will be awarded during a special broadcast of Tony Stewart Live, the weekly talk show hosted by Stewart and Matt Yocum, at SIRIUS XM Radio's New York City studios on Thursday, Dec. 4 from 6-8 p.m. ET during 2008 NASCAR Champions Week. The live broadcast will air nationwide on SIRIUS NASCAR Radio, available on SIRIUS channel 128 and on XM channel 128 with the "Best of SIRIUS" programming package.

"After seeing the tears of joy stream down Kevin Harvick's face after handing him his Stewie for 'Best Original Drama' last year we knew that, while it would be tough to top last year's event, the show must go on," Stewart said. "So we're excited to be back for Year 2 to celebrate all the great people and performances from the 2008 season. It'll be a great way to cap off the season and we'll have a lot of fun with our guests and our listeners on SIRIUS and XM."

The 2008 Stewie Award winners will be determined by fans around the country who cast their votes online at www.sirius.com/stewieawards.

"Once again the fans, who are such a big part of Tony Stewart Live throughout the year, can get involved by voting in the award winners," Stewart said. "And so, without further ado, the nominees for the 2008 Stewie Awards are ..."

Golden Stewie Award
Honoring a driver from the Golden Era of racing (1960-85)

Lifetime Achievement Award

Best Original Drama
For year's most dramatic moment or sequence
• Ryan Newman wins the 50th Daytona 500 (Feb. 17)

• Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins the Budweiser Shootout for first victory with Hendrick Motorsports (Feb. 9)

• Tony Stewart announces departure from Joe Gibbs Racing to become a driver/owner with Stewart-Haas Racing (July 9)

• Kyle Busch wins eight races, including four in a row, but finishes 10th in final Chase standings

Best Stunt Sequence (Hal Needham Award)
For year's most spectacular crash

• Michael McDowell's tumbling crash during qualifying at Texas Motor Speedway (April 4)

• Jeff Gordon hits inner wall at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (March 2)

• The Big One during the AMP Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway involves 11 cars and collects six Chase drivers (Oct. 5)

• Brian Vickers' wheel comes off during Coca-Cola 600 (May 25)

• Juan Montoya triggers multi-car wreck at Phoenix International Raceway that ends with David Gilliland's car resting atop Scott Speed's car (Nov. 9)

Best Original Comedy
For year's most entertaining "incident" or occurrence

• Kenny Wallace falsely announces plans for his brother Rusty to come out of retirement

• Goodyear tire controversy at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (July 27)

• The "Yellow Line Debate" after controversial finish at Talladega (Oct. 5)

• David Starr takes on Germain Racing in melee on pit road at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (Sep. 13)
Best Engineering and Special Effects (Smokey Yunick Award)
For year's most creative -- and ultimately illegal -- modifications to a racecar

• Carl Edwards and No. 99 team get caught without oil can lid attached at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (March 2)

• Joe Gibbs Racing cars get caught with magnets behind accelerator at Michigan International Speedway (Aug. 17)

• Juan Montoya and No. 42 team are penalized for illegal shocks after winning pole at Kansas Speedway (Sep. 28)

• Brian Vickers and No. 83 team are penalized for too thin sheet metal at Martinsville Speedway (Oct. 19)

Bonehead Move of the Year

• Carl Edwards pushes Kevin Harvick in Lowe's Motor Speedway garage while discussing Harvick's "pansy" comment after Talledega race (Oct. 9)

• Michael Waltrip Racing allegedly steals sway bar from Roush Fenway Racing

• City of Concord, N.C., flip-flops on its stand against a drag strip after SMI chairman Bruton Smith threatens to move Lowe's Motor Speedway to another city

"I Got Dumped" Award
For year's most memorable on- or off-track bumping

• Kyle Busch vs. Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Richmond International Raceway: On May 3 Kyle takes out Dale Jr.; on Sep. 6 Dale Jr. overdrives a corner and gets into Kyle

• After a great season, David Ragan narrowly misses Chase after spinning himself and collecting Roush teammate Matt Kenseth at Richmond (Sep. 6)

• David Gilliland takes out Juan Montoya on backstretch at Texas Motor Speedway (Nov. 2)

• Roush Fenway fabrication shop after Carl Edwards takes out himself and teammates Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth at Talladega (Oct. 5)

Best Driver2Crew Chatter Exchange
For year's most memorable driver-to-pit crew communication (Visit www.sirius.com/stewieawards to hear audio of nominees)

• Dale Jarrett signs off and ends racing career by crossing finish line in All-Star Race at Lowe's Motor Speedway (May 17)

• Clint Bowyer declares Michael Waltrip "the worst driver in NASCAR" at Bristol Motor Speedway (Aug. 23)

• Owner Rick Hendrick redirects Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s anger at New Hampshire (Sep. 4)

• Tony Stewart expresses concern paramedics will show up at No. 20 team pit box at Martinsville Speedway (March 30)

Best Vocal Performance
For year's most memorable quote or sound bite (Visit www.sirius.com/stewieawards to hear audio of nominees)

• Jimmie Johnson sums up his run at Texas Motor Speedway after Dickies 500 (Nov. 2)

• Steven Wallace reacts to Kyle Busch confronting him in racecar after Nationwide race at Richmond (May 2)

• Ron Hornaday rips Kyle Busch after Craftsman Truck Series incident at Michigan International Speedway (June 14)

• Kyle Busch is unwilling to accept Carl Edwards' apology after being taken out in final laps at Bristol Motor Speedway (Aug. 23)

• Carl Edwards describes his desperation off-the-wall move at Kansas Speedway and where he learned it (Sep. 28)

The critically acclaimed Tony Stewart Live debuted Jan. 2, 2007, and airs weekly throughout the year exclusively on SIRIUS NASCAR Radio, available on SIRIUS channel 128 and on XM channel 128 with the "Best of SIRIUS" programming package. The two-hour show features Stewart and Yocum taking calls from listeners, talking with prominent guests and covering the spectrum of motorsports

Victory, Chase good for Junior, but good enough?

Expectation is the word that comes to mind for Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s 2008 season. His move from family-owned Dale Earnhardt Inc. to Hendrick Motorsports in the offseason brought a heavy load with it.


Dale Earnhardt Jr. snapped a 76-race winless streak at Michigan.Junior was expected to win races after failing to do so in 2007. He was even projected by some to contend for the championship after finishing 16th or worse in the standings in two of the last three seasons. He certainly didn't extinguish those expectations when he won the Budweiser Shootout and his Gatorade Duel race at Daytona. But the season brought his team back down to earth.

Earnhardt started the year as a model of consistency, scoring 11 top-10 finishes in the first 15 races. The culmination of that streak was his victory at Michigan, snapping the 76-race winless drought. Yet another streak followed: Nine finishes outside the top 10 in the next 10 races. Still, it was good enough to make the Chase with ease.

Two weeks into the Chase, Junior's title contention went sour with a four-week span of mediocrity that dropped him from fourth in points to barely hanging on to the top 10. He rebounded with a second-place finish at Martinsville, but a 20th-place finish at Texas and a 41st at Homestead sealed his fate: He fell to 12th in the standings, his worst position since the second week of the season.

Did Earnhardt meet expectations? By most accounts, no. His team thrived early in races, only to fade in the closing laps. Each race became a microcosm of the season. But he did return to Victory Lane and the Chase, which could only set the bar higher for 2009.

Best Race


LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway -- Sure, Junior won the race. But the race also proved that he could still communicate well with crew chief Tony Eury Jr., that he trusted his cousin's judgment from the pit box, and that he can still win races after a 76-race winless streak. Junior stayed out for the final 55 laps, enduring a green-white-checkered finish before having to be pushed to Victory Lane when his car ran out of fuel crossing the line. Was it Junior's best race? That could easily be debated. But if the No. 88 team is to go on to win more races in the future, it can point to an extended day in Michigan that reminded the team it can still do the job.

Turn for the Worse


Camping World RV 400 at Dover International Speedway -- Race 2 of the Chase began with Earnhardt sitting fourth in points, 50 behind leader Jimmie Johnson. But a 24th-place finish at Dover, combined with top-five finishes for Johnson, Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle, dropped Junior all the way to ninth in points in just one race, 129 back of Edwards in the lead. Earnhardt never recovered. His next three races ended with finishes of 13th, 28th and 36th, ultimately dropping him to 10th in points and out of title contention.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.
2008 Season Statistics

Race Start Finish Laps Status Led Rank

Daytona 3 9 200/200 Running 12 8
Fontana 15 40 203/250 Running 0 23
Las Vegas 8 2 267/267 Running 17 10
Atlanta 2 3 325/325 Running 62 6
Bristol 15 5 506/506 Running 0 5
Martinsville 22 6 500/500 Running 146 4
Texas 1 12 338/339 Running 31 4
Phoenix 13 7 312/312 Running 87 3
Talladega 9 10 188/188 Running 46 3
Richmond 22 15 410/410 Running 15 3
Darlington 2 4 367/367 Running 35 3
Charlotte 6 5 400/400 Running 76 3
Dover 25 35 387/400 Running 0 3
Pocono 7 4 200/200 Running 0 3
Michigan 3 1 203/203 Running 14 3
Sonoma 15 12 112/112 Running 0 3
New Hampshire 5 24 284/284 Running 29 3
Daytona 3 8 162/162 Running 51 2
Chicagoland 2 16 267/267 Running 0 2
Indianapolis 11 12 160/160 Running 8 2
Pocono 12 12 200/200 Running 1 2
Watkins Glen 2 22 90/90 Running 33 4
Michigan 4 23 199/200 Running 43 4
Bristol 40 18 498/500 Running 0 3
Fontana 18 11 250/250 Running 0 4
Richmond 4 4 400/400 Running 90 4
New Hampshire 4 5 300/300 Running 79 4
Dover 10 24 397/400 Running 0 9
Kansas 11 13 267/267 Running 0 8
Talladega 15 28 173/190 Crash 19 10
Charlotte 10 36 289/334 Running 0 10
Martinsville 10 2 504/504 Running 0 9
Atlanta 9 11 325/325 Running 1 10
Texas 5 20 332/334 Running 1 11
Phoenix 5 6 313/313 Running 0 10
Homestead 22 41 246/267 Wheel Bearing 0 12
Totals 10.3 14.1 98.6% 896 12

Junior's twin worlds of popularity, performance

The official awards banquet isn't until Friday night, but that didn't stop Jimmie Johnson from adding to his trophy collection one day early. At NASCAR's annual Myers Brothers Media Luncheon, the three-time champion received an award for leading the most laps. He received an award for winning the most poles. His crew chief won an award, his pit crew won an award, his sponsor won an award, even one of his engine builders won an award. And Dale Earnhardt Jr. upstaged them all with one thing.

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Facial hair. Lots of it. "I called him 'Mountain Man' when I first saw it," Jeff Gordon said of the Grizzly Adams-like growth sported by his Henrdrick Motorsports teammate. Hey, Junior is going hunting with some of his uncles in a few days. And he had never grown a beard before.

"I figured, I'd see what happened," Earnhardt said. "I got through the itching and I was all right."

Besides, it's not like the guy has to be all clean-cut for the annual year-end awards ceremony, a black-tie affair held within the refined, opulent environs of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Despite making the Chase after a one-year absence, despite winning a race to snap that 76-event winless skid, Earnhardt isn't on the program for Friday night. His late-season swoon relegated him to 12th in the Sprint Cup standings, and only the top 10 appear on stage. Junior was in New York on Thursday to pick up his sixth consecutive most popular driver award, a trophy only Bill Elliott (16 times) and Richard Petty (nine times) have won more.

It was one of those moments when Earnhardt's popularity and performance, not always directly proportional, stood side-by-side. Clearly, there is no driver that fans adore more. He earned 1.2 million votes in balloting for his latest most popular driver award, which was never in doubt. His value to sponsors is rock-solid even in a recessed economy. He moves merchandise and sells tickets. But even Earnhardt, smart and savvy guy that he is, realizes his on-track performance isn't quite where many believe it should be.

"I don't know what I'm doing to get that," he said, sounding somewhat confused by his own popularity. "I don't know what I'm doing to make that happen. I'm just lucky."

It's easy to forget, with his two-year-long winless streak and his acrimonious departure from Dale Earnhardt Inc. still fresh in the memory, that this is still a driver who's won 18 times on NASCAR's premier circuit and was a championship contender right down to the wire in 2003, 2004, and 2006. The expectations were stratospheric when he joined Hendrick, then a seven-time championship organization, prior to last year. And he seemed to deliver, running as high as second in points early in the season, benefitting from the months of ground work that crew chief Tony Eury Jr. had laid, and finally unshackling himself from that long winless skid with a fuel-mileage run at Michigan.

Sound & Speed to feature Junior, Montgomery Gentry

For the fourth consecutive year, the worlds of NASCAR and country music will collide in Music City for Sprint Sound & Speed presented by SunTrust on Jan. 9-10, 2009. Award-winning country duo Montgomery Gentry will headline the kick-off concert to be held at the Sommet Center at 8 p.m. on Jan. 9.


Montgomery GentryOn Jan. 10 at Nashville's Municipal Auditorium fans will have the opportunity to meet drivers, team owners and top-name musicians for autographs, story-telling and question-and-answer sessions. Among the NASCAR stars scheduled to appear at the festival are Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Michael Waltrip.

Other drivers scheduled to appear are Reed Sorensen, Jamie McMurray and David Stremme.

Country music celebrities scheduled to participate in autograph and question-answer sessions include Josh Turner, Jason Michael Carroll, members of Diamond Rio and newcomer Rick Huckaby.

Additional drivers and artists will be announced in the coming weeks.

The event also will feature show car and sponsor displays, as well as a charitable auction with memorabilia from the racing and entertainment industries.

Tickets for Sound & Speed will go on sale Dec. 12, and will be available through TicketMaster (www.ticketmaster.com) and on the Web site www.soundandspeed.org.

Tickets for the Saturday festival at Municipal Auditorium are on sale now. Tickets for the Jan. 9 concert at the Sommet Center range from $17.50 to $35. Tickets for the Jan. 10 Sound & Speed Festival at Municipal Auditorium are $20 for adults and $15 for children. Combo tickets, good for the concert and the festival, range from $40 to $50.

Charitable beneficiaries of Sound & Speed are Victory Junction Gang Camp and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

Earnhardt Jr. wins Chex most popular driver award

NASCAR fans across the nation have once again made a statement about their favorite driver. After tallying more than one million votes, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the recipient of the 2008 NASCAR NMPA Chex Most Popular Driver award.

Throughout the race season, fans voted daily for more than 40 of their favorite drivers online. Earnhardt Jr. was presented with the award Thursday at the National Motorsports Press Association's Myers Brothers media luncheon in New York. The award is Earnhardt Jr.'s sixth consecutive win since 2003. Only Bill Elliott (1991-2000) has more consecutive wins.

The NASCAR NMPA Chex Most Popular Driver award has been given annually since 1956 and today is the only award for NASCAR's top drivers given by the fans. The six wins by Earnhardt Jr. moved him past Bobby Allison and now only behind Richard Petty (9) and Bill Elliott (16) for most total awards.

"I've been fortunate enough to win this award now for the sixth time, and I can tell you it never gets old." Earnhardt Jr. said. "I've said it many times before that this award is special because it's the voice of the fans.

"I think back to [more than] a year ago when I made the decision to go to Hendrick Motorsports, and my biggest concern was whether the fans would support my decision. They did, and I will always be grateful for that. I appreciate everyone who voted, and I want to thank Chex and the National Motorsports Press Association for all they do for the sport."

"The fans have spoken, and it's obvious that Dale Earnhardt Jr. truly is amongst the elite of fans' support," said Tom Jensen, president of the National Motorsports Press Association. "He deserves this award, and we're thankful for all the fans who continue to vote and make this award a rich part of our sports history."

The top 10 drivers receiving the most votes in alphabetical order were Dale Earnhardt Jr., Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Bobby Labonte, Tony Stewart and Michael Waltrip.

No Junior in New York caps off disappointing season

So it's Champions Week in the Big Apple.

It's time to rain down more confetti on the head of Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, who became the first driver (and only second ever) in 30 years to win three consecutive championships in 2008. It's maximum exposure time for other drivers and their sponsors as well.

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But something will be missing in New York this week -- or at least during this Friday night's gala wrap-up festivities in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.

The most popular driver in NASCAR will be sitting this one out. Again.

When the top drivers of the 2008 season are introduced one-by-one to come up on stage and be recognized Friday, Dale Earnhardt Jr. will not be among them for the third time in four years. Since the Chase format was introduced in 2004, he has made the main stage at the end of a season only twice -- placing fifth in points in '04 and again in 2006.

This year was supposed to be different, and it certainly started out that way.

Starting anew

Ditching the supposed wicked stepmother, Teresa Earnhardt, and the company she was busy running into the ground that was founded by his late and legendary father, Earnhardt Jr. was starting anew in a No. 88 Chevrolet fielded by the most successful owner currently operating in the business, Rick Hendrick.

Former champion Darrell Waltrip predicted Junior would win the season-opening Daytona 500 and "at least" six races during the 2008 season. When Earnhardt opened up Speedweeks in Daytona by winning both the Bud Shootout and his 150-mile qualifying race for the 500, Waltrip was looking like a genius.

So was Hendrick. You got the feeling early on that if Mr. H would have been pressed hard to predict a champion from his crop of drivers at Hendrick Motorsports, he would have at the very least hemmed and hawed a good bit before picking Jimmie over Junior.

Earnhardt seemed that hot, that focused.

When he finished in the top 10 in five of the first six races, including second at Las Vegas, third in Atlanta, fifth at Bristol and sixth at Martinsville in consecutive weeks, the Juniorella story still seemed plausible. He hadn't won in nearly two years, but who cared? Surely that was only a matter of time, and then he would go on to contend for the title.

Reactions in garage vary on DEI, Ganassi merger

The company his father founded essentially will cease to exist, at least in the form that his father intended.

But Dale Earnhardt Jr. said that he has learned to move on. So the son of the late Dale Earnhardt -- who founded the Dale Earnhardt Inc. racing organization in 1996 with the hope that Dale Jr. might someday run it -- admitted to mixed feelings about the news that DEI is merging with Chip Ganassi Racing.

DEI, Ganassi merge
Teresa Earnhardt and Chip Ganassi will combine their slumping race teams next season, an effort to stabilize their organizations in a tough economic time.

Complete story, click here
Head2Head: Good move?
"I just ain't got much to say about it anymore," said Earnhardt, who left DEI at the end of last season to drive for Hendrick Motorsports after his stepmother, Teresa Earnhardt, rejected his bid to buy a majority share of the company. "I did, but I'm so far past it and a little bit farther removed from it. I don't have the initial knee-jerk reaction about it no more when those kinds of things happen to 'em. I'm more on the sidelines with everyone else now, just viewing from a distance. I still have emotional connection with it where I want it to work and I want it to do good. But a lot has changed. It's difficult to feel any real close connection to it anymore."

That isn't true, of course, for everyone in the garage. Driver Regan Smith, for instance, enters this Sunday's Sprint Cup Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway poised to capture Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors. But the driver of the No. 01 Chevrolet currently fielded by DEI has no idea what lies ahead for him in the immediate future.

As speculation continued to swirl about the new combined operation running Chevrolets next season (Ganassi currently runs Dodges), DEI officials weren't offering any further information on that, or on who the yet-to-be-named driver of the organization's fourth car might be. The release announcing the deal named Juan Montoya, Martin Truex and Aric Almirola as drivers, but did not name a pilot for the merged team's No. 41 car.

That leaves Regan Smith, the DEI driver who nearly won the Sprint Cup event at Talladega earlier this season, in limbo. Smith's No. 01 car is without a sponsor and will be folded into the new four-car team, while the driver effectively is a free agent.

"My name wasn't on the merger release, but I'm definitely talking to a lot of people," he said. "I wouldn't say I'm any closer by any means, but I would say there's a lot of interest, and I'd say everyone knows the teams available in the garage, and every single one of them has interest in me. We've just got to see how some financial stuff plays out here in a few weeks, and go from there."

Earnhardt aims for sweep at Michigan

NASCAR drivers got into the stock car sport for the speed. But feathering the gas pedal to save gas is a regular -- and dreaded -- part of their jobs.

Michigan International Speedway is one of the places where fuel economy often comes into play.


That's how Dale Earnhardt Jr. ended a 76-race winless string on Michigan's 2-mile oval in June, and it's likely to be a factor in Sunday's 3M Performance 400.

Drivers are either apologetic or defiant after winning a race by getting to the finish line on fumes while their closest competitors run out of gas or are forced to pit.

"My fans are happy and I'm happy for them," he said after barely stretching his last fuel load to the finish. "The other half are going to tear this apart on how we won this race. But I got the trophy and I got the points."

Earnhardt, who will start fourth on Sunday, hasn't won since the last Michigan race and has slipped from third to fourth in the season points.

"Just the race tracks we have been going to," he said. "I don't have good finishes at those race tracks. Couple of road courses, Pocono, it is just typically not a good part of the season where we have run very good. We are always strong at the races the first third and last third of the season."

Another victory here would be a good way to gain some momentum with only four races left until the start of the Chase for the Championship. And, if he has his choice, it will be a full throttle win.

"It would be good to get another win to show everybody we can do it on a full tank of gas," Earnhardt said. "It would be a good to get a win anywhere, but Michigan is a good place because of the manufacturers being close. Being close to Detroit, Motor City."

Asked what he will do if crew chief Tony Eury Jr. gets on the radio Sunday and tells him to start saving gas again, Earnhardt replied: "Get mad, because you don't want to save, you just want to run hard.

"It is a lot of work and you don't know if what you are doing is saving gas or not. You don't know what you are accomplishing, and it's no fun."

Jeff Burton agreed, noting that the timing of the request to try to save fuel can be important, too.

"The first thing I need to know is how much fuel do we need to save," Burton said. "You can't tell the driver to save fuel with five laps to go in the race. The information has to be fed to a driver as soon as that run starts.

"Look, we're on the edge here. The only way to save fuel is to go slower. You de-accelerate sooner. You're off the throttle sooner. You're on the throttle later and you're on the throttle less aggressively.

"By the way, you still have to make reasonable lap times in most cases."

Denny Hamlin, one of several drivers working hard to stay in the 12-man Chase field, is concerned because his team hasn't been good at fuel economy racing.

"We're terrible when it comes to that," said Hamlin, who goes into Sunday's race tied with Greg Biffle for 10th in the standings, just 83 points ahead of 13th-place Clint Bowyer. "We're just trying to get better, and we did definitely (improve) on road courses.

"But these bigger tracks we still are, it seems like, always about two or three laps less than what everyone else is. I'm not a fan of the fuel mileage races. I like the fastest car winning. ... I don't think the fans like a crew chief race -- I think they like to see a driver's race."

But Earnhardt isn't worried about what anybody thinks, as long as he wins.

"It depends on what side of the fence you are on, man," Junior said. "If you are on the winning side, you are happy, don't matter how. If you are the guy who had the fastest car all day, you aren't real happy about it.

"I have been on both sides of it. ... Everybody would like to just go out there and just outrun the hell out of everybody to win races. Sometimes, you have to take them how you get them."

Same strategies, differing results for Hendrick duo

Two Hendrick Motorsports teammates used the same strategy at the end of Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway, but with very different results. Jeff Gordon parlayed a fuel gamble into a second-place finish, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. was left running on fumes.

Winner Carl Edwards wasn't the only one who tried to stretch his final fuel run in the Dickies 500. Gordon and Earnhardt, who both rallied from a lap down to get back into contention on the 1.5-mile racetrack, each used the same tactic to get to the front. It worked for Gordon, who's still winless on the season, but tied his best finish of the year with the runner-up result. Earnhardt, though, ran out of fuel with five laps remaining, stalled his No. 88 car when he ducked onto pit road for gasoline, and finished in 20th place.

“
I know it's late in the season, we haven't won yet, but that doesn't mean we're laying down.
”
JEFF GORDON"I told [crew chief] Tony Eury Jr., you know, don't worry about that," Earnhardt said of the failed gambit. "We all tried to win the race, and we win as a team and lose as a team. We need to figure out the fuel mileage deal because Jeff Gordon stayed out as well, and just figure out what we need to do. We probably just should have started saving a little bit earlier."

Edwards set the standard, feathering his throttle to the checkered flag to complete a 69-lap, race-ending fuel run that gave him his eighth victory of the season and trimmed Jimmie Johnson's championship lead to 106 points. But it felt like a win for Gordon, who finished second for the first time since Martinsville in March. It looked bleak early for the Texas pole winner, when Edwards' relentless pace at the front put one car after another a lap down, Gordon's No. 24 Chevrolet included. Eventually Gordon was in position to receive a free pass back onto the lead lap -- Earnhardt did the same -- and make a bid for the front.

"Real proud of [crew chief] Steve Letarte and all the guys on this team for not giving up," Gordon said. "We struggled. We were good when we were out front at the beginning, and fell back to fifth, and we just kept trying to free it up through the middle. One time I got too loose and lost all the track position, lost a lap. We had to fight our way back to get on the lead lap. I give them a lot of credit for being patient with everything all day, and Steve Letarte for making that great call to come in and not only work on the car but get as much fuel in it as we could and go for it there at the end."

Gordon believes the free pass helped him in more ways than one. The caution that let him back on the lead lap was caused by a Juan Montoya accident that closed pit road, because the crippled No. 42 car was left blocking a part of it. As the field coasted under yellow, Gordon was able to save fuel that he'd need in the end.

"The leaders had already come in, and we had to ride around for quite a while, and that gave us the few extra laps," Gordon said. "Then when we pitted, we just took our time with it. We were the only car that had to be at the tail end anyway, and plus I saved on the caution laps. I was turning the engine off, so I felt pretty confident that we could make it if we were only one lap short."

Added Letarte: "We just played the hand we were dealt. We didn't have a good enough car to drive up to the front. We got behind on that one run. We got the [free pass]. The guys did a great job. Jeff drove a pretty smart race. When our car was off, he kept it in one piece, and we knew we were close on fuel. I didn't think anybody could make it. I thought we had it won, to be honest."

Not quite. Toward the end, it looked like Gordon might come up one lap short. But he made his fuel last.

"I conserved a little bit under yellow. So when they said we were one lap short, I really wasn't that worried," he said. "But I was still letting off real early, and we didn't know the No. 99 [car of Edwards] was going to go for it. Obviously a great call by Steve Letarte on this DuPont/Nicorette Chevrolet. Great, great teamwork all day. It was a heck of a fight for us."

But it still wasn't the race victory Gordon has been looking for. He's now gone 39 events since his last Sprint Cup victory, at Lowe's Motor Speedway in October of last year. He's 14 days away from his first winless season since his rookie campaign of 1993.

Sunday, though, brought hope. Intermediate tracks like Texas have been one of Gordon's biggest hurdles in the new car, and he left Fort Worth with renewed confidence.

"We're not going to give up, that's for sure. I know it's late in the season, we haven't won yet, but that doesn't mean we're laying down. We're certainly not going to do that. Just like going for the pole on Friday. I mean, we're doing everything we possibly can," said Gordon, who's won at every active track on the Sprint Cup tour with the exceptions of Texas and Homestead-Miami Speedway, where the season concludes in two weeks.

"You know, I'd be a little bit more excited about our chances if we had run up front and ran in that second position all night or all day. The thing is, we're going to look at any possible way to win races. We're going to try to make the car go as fast as we can. When we have that opportunity to make it on fuel, you know, we're going to take the opportunity. That's what we did [Sunday]. But I'm still disappointed that we struggled with the handling. I had my hands full. Some of it's me, some of it's the team and the setup. That's something we've got to work on coming back to Texas. But I look forward to the next two opportunities to try to win. [Sunday] is an obvious sign that we can still win. No matter how the car's running, we can still win. We'll go to the next two and do everything we can to try to win."

Not even Johnson immune to Talladega's harsh reality

Talladega Superspeedway is known for close-quarters, high-speed racing on the high banks, which is a combination that can sometimes result in wild, multi-car crashes. And it's that threat on every lap of the 2.66-mile oval that looms in the mind of every driver in the Chase for the Sprint Cup this weekend.

This is the track that has tripped up the championship chances of Chase drivers in the past, particularly for Jimmie Johnson, the current points leader.


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In 2004, Johnson collided with Kasey Kahne on pit road (watch video) and damaged the air duct to his radiator, which caused the engine to overheat and finally expire late in the race, leaving him 37th. The next fall, Johnson was at the center of a chain-reaction crash involving Elliott Sadler, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin, with Michael Waltrip getting the worst of it (watch video).

Johnson was also involved in a huge 25-car wreck that spring (watch video), which resulted in Junior calling him "an idiot." So Sadler wasn't very complimentary after Johnson ran into the back of his car, triggering the pileup.

"I'm really upset at Jimmie," Sadler said. "I guess he's trying to keep his streak alive. He caused a big wreck here last year and he caused a big one again this year. Maybe that's his way of racing here at Talladega ... try to get rid of everybody so he can win the race."

Earnhardt, who was giving Johnson a bump draft, said the accident had more to do with circumstances.

"It was just hard racing," Junior said. "We're all together so it's hard to miss something when you're going so fast. You can turn left, but the car is still going to go straight. It's just frustrating, because there's nothing you can do."

But if you need an example of how fortunes can change in an instant at Talladega, one only needs to look back at the 2006 UAW-Ford 500, when soon-to-be ex-teammates -- and future teammates -- wound up having a major effect not only on the finishing order of the race, but on the championship.

With an opportunity to make major gains in the standings when Jeff Burton pitted late for a flat tire, Earnhardt and Johnson expected to make it a two-car fight to the finish on the final lap. But Brian Vickers -- who had already announced plans to leave Hendrick Motorsports at the end of the season -- had other plans.

As the three headed out of Turn 2, Johnson made his move to the inside of Junior. But as Vickers followed his teammate, he tapped the back bumper of Johnson, sending him into Junior. As the two cars slid out of control into the infield, Vickers stayed in the gas and led the field back around to the checkered flag for his first win (watch video).

Vickers was apologetic when he reached Victory Lane.

"I got into Jimmie and I hate it," Vickers said. "The last thing I wanted to do was wreck either one of those guys, but what happened, happened. It wasn't intentional.

"It's definitely mixed emotions for me, being my first win, but also what happened with Jimmie because he is my friend and also a teammate, as well."

Johnson, who wound up 24th, was understandably livid.

"I just can't believe it. Here we go all day long, I had a great chance to make up some points, and I end up getting wrecked by a teammate," he said. "Knowing the situation we're all in, I would hope that someone would be a little more patient than they were back there.

"I know he was trying to get his first win, but he was in a position to finish second or third the way that was, and he gave me one hell of a push from behind and pushed me into [Earnhardt] and off we went."

Johnson's crew chief, Chad Knaus, understood that Vickers was trying to help when things went wrong.

"I honestly don't think Brian was trying to wreck us, I think he was trying to help us," Knaus said. "I just don't think he has the talent to understand what he has underneath him."

And Junior, who finished one position better than Johnson, took things somewhat in stride, even if his loyal fan base was more interested with showering the winner with boos and beer cans.

"Brian was just excited there," he said. "I'm not really that upset. I mean, that's just the way racing goes here and sometimes you come out on the good end of those deals and sometimes you don't."

Both Johnson and Earnhardt rebounded the next weekend at Lowe's Motor Speedway with top-five finishes, but their fortunes went in opposite directions from that point forward. While Johnson would go on to record five consecutive finishes of first or second and win the championship, Junior's title hopes took a huge hit with a finish of 22nd at Martinsville. He wound up fifth in the final standings.

As for Vickers, he's still searching for win No. 2. He suffered through a season of growing pains with Toyota's Red Bull operation in 2007. This season, he has three top-fives, including finishing a distant second to Kahne at Pocono, but nothing comes close to that one day in early October when he found himself in the middle of a controversial last-lap finish at Talladega.

Smack: Undecided voters in Junior, Busch debate

1. Now that the season is almost over, it's time to assess: did Rick Hendrick make the right move by releasing Kyle Busch to add Dale Earnhardt Jr.?

Dave Rodman: I'm not dodging the question, but it's still a case where time will ultimately tell. Look at it this way: Three Hendrick teams made the Chase, and so did three at Joe Gibbs Racing, where Busch competes now. So I think it's been beneficial all the way around.

David Caraviello: I don't know who the joker is who came up with this question, but it's unanswerable. The Earnhardt-Busch situation was not a zero-sum game. You're talking about two guys who both needed new surroundings. And two guys who both clearly benefited from the change.

Joe Menzer: Well, Roadman is obviously avoiding the question. But the fact of the matter is that this is just like one of those NFL or major league baseball free-agency deals. You need a full three years to make the correct judgment. If you are asking how it looks right now, at this very moment, judging off just this first year, then the answer is obvious and you would have to say no.

David Caraviello: Three years? Dude, you're not covering the NFL anymore. Three years in this deal is a lifetime. This is a results-now business. And if you look at where they are versus where they were, both are much better off.

Dave Rodman: It will take even longer than three years, I believe. Who's gonna end up with the most championships? And that is totally open-ended. At Daytona in July you might've said Kyle would -- but with the way he's tanked in the last third of the season, we're gonna need another whole year to see what they really have.

Joe Menzer: Well, if you're gonna judge it that way ... then how can anyone possibly say you're better off to have a guy who has one win versus a guy who has eight in Cup?

David Caraviello: Because I don't think Kyle would have won eight races in that environment. It's all about fit, and for whatever reason, he didn't fit at Hendrick. There's something about Gibbs that's brought out his best. It's the same thing with Earnhardt. It was going to be very difficult for him to make the Chase and contend for titles at DEI. He needed a place where the equipment was more reliable and his talent could show. He found it at Hendrick.

Joe Menzer: There is indeed some truth to the fact that getting pushed out at Hendrick forced Kyle to mature, or lit a fire under him, or whatever. It put him in position with the right guy in crew chief Steve Addington.

Dave Rodman: Again, there are a lot of parameters you have to judge it by. Hendrick's Chase teams are gonna handle JGR's, and who finishes better between Junior and Shrub still remains to be seen. David, your point on timeframes is well-made, but I think the assessment here is longer-term.

Joe Menzer: But the question was if Rick Hendrick made the right move. And if I recall, even Hendrick said late last year that if Kyle had driven and acted like he did the latter part of that year, he never would have parted ways with him.

Dave Rodman: All things considered -- especially considering Casey Mears might win a couple of races next season -- I wonder if Rick ever wishes he had both Junior and Shrub right now. Wouldn't that raise some outcry amongst all the other fans that are still left in the sport. Though the point that can't be lost is that Steve Addington and that 18 crew are a big part of why that team won so much, just as much as they're at the root of the current slump.

David Caraviello: Given how things have turned out with Casey, there's reason to believe Rick might be second-guessing himself on cutting Kyle loose. But if Kyle isn't the odd man out at Hendrick, then does he become that more mature driver who wins eight races at Gibbs? In some ways, you could say he's a product of the environment.

Joe Menzer: Now that's an interesting point. But I think Mr. H is pretty happy to put Mark Martin in that car for at least next year. And, by the way, Dave, what makes you think Casey Mears will win anything next year? Not sure I see that.

Dave Rodman: He's teaming up with Gil Martin and a two-time Chase team.

Joe Menzer: So you're saying Mears' inability to win (more than once, anyway) in good equipment at Hendrick was his crew chief's fault -- more than his own?

Dave Rodman: If they mesh well, I can see him doing quite well. But of course, with Mark Martin already in the 2009 Chase, that doesn't leave many spots. I already can't wait.

David Caraviello: Well, Casey has been sort of jobbed throughout his career -- the whole five teams in five years thing. A little stability might do him good.

Dave Rodman: How did Kyle Busch win so little at Hendrick, comparatively speaking? We all know these teams and their success rates are the result of infinitely, exquisitely agonizing bouts of chemical balance. Did that make sense? Got off on the language there.

Joe Menzer: The younger, supposedly much less mature Kyle Busch still managed four Cup victories in the same car at Hendrick with Alan Gustafson as his crew chief. And you could argue that Gustafson's job was tougher under those circumstances.

David Caraviello: Hey, the comparison here isn't Kyle against Casey -- that's a no-brainer. As for Earnhardt and Busch, both guys seem much happier and much more able to live up to potential. Nobody loses.

2. Petty Enterprises is holding preliminary talks about some sort of merger or alliance with DEI. Would Petty still be Petty, even if operating under another name?

Joe Menzer: Well, let's be clear about this: Robbie Loomis and others at Petty have made a point of saying while they've talked, nothing is imminent -- and one source said he can't see anything happening there.

David Caraviello: Man, tough questions today. My gut feeling would be no. Petty is about so much more than the racecars. It's about what they refer to as the Petty "brand," all that history, outside activities like the driving experience and the camp, and the silhouette of the King. How can you keep all that if you merge with another organization?

Dave Rodman: If you recall the previous partnership deal, it's obvious the Petty brand is the key to everything. So no offense to DEI, but I wouldn't think any merger with anyone would radically change that.


Thinking about it
Petty Enterprises has beeen a staple in NASCAR from the beginning, but in these tough economic times the team is finding it hard to compete. For that reason, Petty Enterprises is talking with other teams, including DEI, looking to possibly merge.

Complete story, click here
Joe Menzer: But if it's not DEI, it's probably going to be someone else they form an alliance with. Boston Ventures didn't buy a majority interest in Petty with the idea that Petty would remain overmatched forever in the garage, and the only way they're not going to be overmatched is if they team up with another team sort of in the same boat as them.

David Caraviello: But the Petty folks have always been very conscious -- and rightly so -- of the fact that the name is the meal ticket. They haven't ever done anything to undercut that. This is the only team in the garage that can run less than competitively and get away with it, because of the Petty name. You sacrifice that, the results don't follow -- and then what do you have?

Joe Menzer: Earnhardt is a pretty big name in the business, too, folks!

David Caraviello: It is, Joe, but the Earnhardt name is all about performance. This is a team that's used to winning recently, and thinks they can get back there fairly soon. Petty's one big piece of leverage is the last name.

Dave Rodman: The danger here is taking too narrow a view of any merger or alliance. There's no reason anything like that would involve name changes. Depends how much egos come into it. Over the weekend, Richard said they were talking to a lot of people -- as everyone is. But he also said they were fairly comfortable with their situation.

Joe Menzer: Even they can't get away with running in the back forever. You're already seeing that now with them obviously having more problems getting sponsors than anyone thought they would have.

David Caraviello: The new Boston Ventures folks in charge seem to have a keen understanding of the fact that Petty isn't just a race team, it's a brand name. I think that's why they bought in.

Joe Menzer: I'll be blunt about this: I don't think the higher-ups at NASCAR will ever let the entity known as Petty Enterprises ever go completely away. Nor should they.

David Caraviello: Well, these are privately-run businesses. Kyle's gonna get out of the car for good sometime in the near future, and when Petty doesn't have a Petty behind the wheel anymore, that will be the real test.

Dave Rodman: Yikes. Without going into any great detail, and as painful as the thought is, I don't think NASCAR would think that deeply about it. Business, unfortunately would be business -- as it most always has been.

Joe Menzer: Now you are testing my patience, Roadman. Are you saying NASCAR has never propped up big-name teams before? Seems to me they helped Junior Johnson out a little once back in the day.

Dave Rodman: That was a previous time and different people -- with different goals and value sets, unfortunately.

David Caraviello: Here's my question: could two teams merge and still keep their individual names? Could Petty and Earnhardt merge, build cars out of both shops, call one Petty and one Earnhardt, and leave it at that? Because surely, DEI has a name and a legacy it would want to protect as well.

Joe Menzer: I don't think it will be an issue -- because I don't think it's going to happen. I think Petty will end up merging -- or forming an alliance, or whatever you want to call it -- with another Dodge organization.

Dave Rodman: That's what I said before, DC -- if egos would allow it, they certainly could. Richard was asked the question last weekend and didn't much want to comment about names or bargaining positions, but he did infer that DEI was in the weaker position of the two organizations.

David Caraviello: But Joe, aren't they still in the same boat, regardless of who they merge with? Protecting the name that means so much to them? That's why they haven't merged with anyone to this point, to be honest.

Joe Menzer: You said it yourself. Because of the name, they are so much more than just a race team. They're an entity -- one that includes the Petty Driving Experience, etc. -- but they'll have to do something on the merger front to ever get competitive on the track again. But I guess to answer the question, yes, there will always be a Petty Enterprises involved in NASCAR in my opinion. In some form and on some level.

David Caraviello: Well, they have proven the past few years they're not above changing -- moving from Level Cross and all that. Maybe this is another break with tradition they're willing to make to be competitive again.

3. It's the last fall Chase race for Atlanta, which moves into the Labor Day spot next season. Is it a good move for a track with attendance issues?

Joe Menzer: I think so. They had to do something, and this might help. But if it doesn't, look out. If it fails, they could be looking at losing one of their races in another two to three years.

David Caraviello: It surely can't hurt. Atlanta has been besieged by cold and rainy weather during its long tenure near the back end of the schedule. Any move to warmer months will certainly help.


Changing lanes
Atlanta Motor Speedway and NASCAR are hoping rain and attendance aren't an issue when the track's fall race moves to Labor Day beginning in 2009.

Complete story, click here
Caraviello: Tough one to sell
Complete 2009 Cup schedule
Joe Menzer: The other side of the equation is California. Having a race out there on Labor Day was a bad idea from the start, and maybe this will help them as well. At least you won't be able to fry an egg on Roadman's forehead.

Dave Rodman: It's potentially gonna be cold and possibly rainy on at least one day in Atlanta. Incomprehensibly, that track seems to have issues drawing a near-to-full house, so it's got to be good to try something.

Joe Menzer: I don't know how incomprehensible it is. Atlanta, to me, traditionally has never been the strongest of sports towns for the professional market.

Dave Rodman: Well, good point. But it's great racing and great racing draws 'em in from miles around.

Joe Menzer: And we might also mention here that calling it "Atlanta Motor Speedway" sort of would be the same as calling Martinsville "Greensboro Motor Speedway." They're about the same distance from those respective cities.

David Caraviello: Well Mr. NFL man, as for your geographic stickiness, don't the Detroit Lions play in Pontiac? The Washington Redskins in Landover? The Dallas Cowboys in Irving? Night qualifying at Atlanta has always been pretty neat, so a full Cup race under the lights there should be spectacular. There's won't be much of a conflict with football, and the weather will be warmer. So it's as good a shot, on the surface, as the place has had.

Dave Rodman: This brings up an old, sore point with me. The schedule should not be set in stone. Tracks should have a black-and-white set of parameters to meet: Attendance, ingress/egress, facilities, purse. If they can't make it this year, they lose a race in the near future. Give someone else a shot who can meet the same parameters. Atlanta would already be facing a hiatus, and so would California. Kentucky and Nashville would have had a shot, by now. And even though I'm told Iowa might not be the best track for a Cup race, they might even have had an opportunity.

Joe Menzer: As hard as it is for me -- and Smack observers -- to believe, I think Roadman has hit on a very good point here and I agree with him. The problem is the track operators like it being set in stone, arguing that it helps 'em sell tickets.

Dave Rodman: Well, stone will be more like lava next season. I think their ticket-selling dramas are only beginning.

Joe Menzer: I would argue, on the other hand, that you could keep certain dates that are proven successful over the long haul set in stone, if you like. But move the others around.

David Caraviello: I think F1 has a set of track criteria that facilities must meet. And then that sanctioning body ignores it in the case of creaky old Monaco. These race organizations run the show, and can do what they want.

Fast facts
What Pep Boys Auto 500
When 2:20 p.m. ET Sunday
TV ABC, 1 p.m. ET
Radio PRN (Sirius Ch. 128), 1:15 ET

• Track Page | Tickets | TravelJoe Menzer: Hate to keep comparing this sport to others, but why not? It's not like you see the NFL schedule completely set in stone each year. They play division rivals, then rotate other dates and teams in and out.

Dave Rodman: Oh yeah, Joe. Daytona, Lowe's, Bristol, Richmond -- and even New Hampshire because even with a short legacy, they've filled the place up and improved it, consistently. They would all be locks, as is. But these others...

David Caraviello: Right, guys, but the schedule does come out only about six months ahead of time. All this is on a year-to-year basis. They're not saying Atlanta will have the Labor Day date for 20 years.

Joe Menzer: Carl Edwards said it best the other day, but it won't ever happen. He said he thought it would be neat if they could race on 36 different tracks throughout the season. Go to Kentucky, Montreal, some places Cup has never been.

Dave Rodman: Which is why I said "they'd lose a date in the near future..." Screw up fall 2008, you're back to one date in 2010, which gives you plenty of time to work on fixes.

David Caraviello: A buddy and I sat in a bar one night and came up with a 25-race schedule. Two races for many of the places Dave mentioned, everybody else gets one. You're out before football season heats up and everything else gets lost.

Dave Rodman: Along with meeting parameters, certain tracks should rotate having two dates in a season. That, too, would give other facilities a chance. Any track that wants a date and can meet the criteria should have a chance. The fans, and I bet, the teams would love it.

David Caraviello: Boy, guys, all that would make selling tickets very hard.

Joe Menzer: Of course you would always need to have two races at certain places, like Daytona and Talladega ... and Vegas, baby! We need two at Vegas!

David Caraviello: Joe, the people in Vegas would be glad to see you again, too. Nobody can part ways with $100 faster.

Joe Menzer: Or $150.

Earnhardt: Don't look for changes in radio chatter

Dale Earnhardt Jr. wants there to be no mistaking how badly he wants to win the Sprint Cup championship, and Friday at Dover International Speedway he insisted that anyone who monitors his radio communications with his team will understand his passion.

He didn't apologize for the emotion he displayed last weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on his way to fifth place, and said not to expect any changes in the future -- despite a lot being made about car owner Rick Hendrick coming on his radio frequency during last week's Sylvania 300, ostensibly to calm him down.

“
It's real easy to get frustrated when you're not realizing the potential every weekend, because I feel like we're a great team that should be in the thick of this. I don't want to be sitting there five races in, 150 points out, going, 'What the hell did we do wrong?'
”
DALE EARNHARDT JR."I would love to be calmer under those types of situations, I would," Earnhardt said before qualifying 10th for Sunday's Camping World RV 400. "And I was [calmer], when I first started, I was. And then I got called lackadaisical. I got compared to my father and his determination. I got questioned about if I quit partying so much and focused and this, that and the other -- so now I'm on the chip and want it more than anybody else and I am getting hell for getting too excited.

"Regardless of how I act, somebody is going to criticize me one way or another and find an angle. I don't really want to change because I don't want to lose my enthusiasm and I don't want it to matter less -- I want it to matter as much as it matters to me. If that means it is going to get me excited when things don't go right, I just need to be better at controlling that, you know?"

But don't expect Earnhardt to seek professional help, such as from the sports psychologists some of his competitors have sought.

"No I haven't [seen a sports psychologist]," Earnhardt said. "But I could probably teach him a thing or two."

Virtually all of Earnhardt's success has come with his cousin, crew chief Tony Eury Jr. Earnhardt said that relationship and the cousins' affinity for each other leads to some of their broadcast emotion.

"Me and Tony Jr. have worked together for a long, long time," Earnhardt said. "I think Rick likes being in the middle of it because it's fun. I don't know of any driver on the racetrack that doesn't get hot under the collar. I don't do it every race. But I have had some real good ones you all missed apparently -- last week wasn't my best. I've had some pretty good ones.
"The Chase is real important to me. My determination has never been higher. Those things are hard to harness, you know, when you're trying to accomplish what you want to accomplish. You're leading the race all day and things go away and the car changes and there is no answer. That is all you want is an answer. So it's real easy to get frustrated when you're not realizing the potential every weekend, because I feel like we're a great team that should be in the thick of this. I don't want to be sitting there five races in, 150 points out, going, 'What the hell did we do wrong?'

Still, Earnhardt said his emotion in the car is part of who he is, and his relationship with Eury makes it easier to communicate -- something others may not understand.

"I guess I can understand how my comments are offensive and definitely over the top at times," he said. "As you get older you try to do better at that because that is just how you are supposed to act. It's hard in the car. It's hard to remember. I look at those guys and I think they are great friends of mine, but they don't know me well enough, maybe, to talk to them like that."

That was what led Hendrick to get more involved with his newest driver last weekend. With five days to digest that, Earnhardt said he welcomed his owner's involvement, anytime, anywhere.

"I think it's great," Earnhardt said. "I welcome and want Rick's input on exactly what he thinks about exactly what I'm doing every minute of the day that I'm on the job -- and even some of the things I chose to do in my personal life. I want his opinion on it, because I trust him that much. I believe what he says. I wouldn't argue with him. I just told him it would be hard to talk me off the ledge. I know he's talked a few drivers off of it before, but it's hard to get me calmed down, because I want them to get excited. I want to hear the same frustration from them. I want to know -- I'm sitting in the car, I want to know they are as diligent about it as I am as far as finding what happened.

"It makes you more angry and more angry when you hear '10-4' or 'things are going to be better.' I don't want those stock answers; I want to know exactly what's going on. Tell me exactly what you're looking for and what you think it might be. Make up something, lie to me, I don't care. That is what's going to make me feel better."

Earnhardt said the one thing he'd have a hard time doing is taking Hendrick's advice to "tone it down a little."

"I don't know," Earnhardt said. "I mean, it's just hard to take it down a little. I'm serious. I grew up in this sport and I've been raised around this and it's all I can do and it's all that matters to me. I'm very serious about it. When I'm hot on the radio, I'm challenging everybody else to get to that level and get that serious and make it mean that much to you.

"I take it pretty seriously. I understand what Rick's saying and I believe he's right, that I do need to chose my words wisely and take it easy -- only probably because of the exposure it gets, not so much because of how it affects me and Tony Jr.

"I can't do any better at communicating. I only know the car as good as I know it. I'm only going to be able to tell them and explain it to them the best way I can. I feel like I do that. I don't think when I get [upset] I communicate worse, I think it is harder for them. I think at that point, Tony Jr. isn't listening to what I'm saying and thinking how to fix the car -- he's hearing me raise hell, and wanting to raise hell back, you know?

Moving forward, Earnhardt said anyone could scan his radio communications, but at their own risk.

"I don't mind if ya'll listen, but keep your opinions to yourself -- all right?" Earnhardt said. "Because I'm doing business out there and I'm doing my job and that is how I do it. Ya'll can listen all you want, but if you hear something that upsets you, don't come crying to me or whoever said it on my radio. That's the way I feel about it. I don't want to restrict the fans' access, I like the access. If I am a fan, that is what I would want.

"Ya'll can tell, you can sit on the Internet all week and talk about [what] you want. I don't like answering questions about it and I'm not going work too damn hard about changing it because I kind of like how it is -- it keeps me motivated and enthused during the race, it keeps me from getting relaxed and monotone during the race. I don't want that to happen."

Not great, but Junior's first year at HMS a good start

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- It wasn't a win, but second place in the TUMS QuikPak 500 at Martinsville Speedway sure felt like one for Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Sunday.

There will be no Sprint Cup Series championship for the kid named Earnhardt this year. His strong finish Sunday moved him up just one spot in the standings -- to ninth -- and hardly atoned for disastrous runs the previous two weeks at Talladega and Lowe's Motor Speedway near Charlotte, N.C.

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But to Junior and his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports team, it was salve to apply to the open wounds left by those earlier terrible finishes that took him out of this Chase for the Sprint Cup championship almost before he ever could get up to speed.

"We ran good at Talladega and we ran good at Charlotte, and couldn't finish anything," crew chief Tony Eury Jr. said. "This was the kind of finish we really needed."

Earnhardt agreed.

"It's does feel great finishing like this," he said. "We have had such bad luck the last six weeks and tore up so many racecars. I had been proud of myself all year long for not wrecking cars and for keeping all my cars in one piece. Then I think we went through about six in the last month or something like that.

"It has been terrible. But this is good for my team."

Looking back
This was a season that began with such great promise eight months ago in Daytona, where Earnhardt won his first two races in the new No. 88 Chevrolet being fielded for him by owner Rick Hendrick. When he captured the Budweiser Shootout and his 125-mile qualifying race for the Daytona 500, however, it very well may have had the opposite effect of relieving any pressure he may have felt to succeed this season.

Indeed, it may have increased expectations on a season that already had great ones heaped upon the No. 88 team by the likes of former points champion and current television analyst Darrell Waltrip. It was Waltrip who predicted Earnhardt would win not only the season-opening Daytona 500 but "at least" five more races before the season was completed.

It was Waltrip who said that. But it was Earnhardt -- as well as Hendrick -- who did not flinch when told of Waltrip's great expectations.

As it turns out, they were too great. Earnhardt did not win a points event until gambling on fuel mileage at Michigan in mid-June, and he hasn't won another since -- despite leading lots of laps. He led at least one lap in eight of 10 races during one stretch, including 90 at Richmond, 76 at New Hampshire, 43 in a second go-round at Michigan and 33 -- nearly a third -- of a 102-lap road-course event at Watkins Glen.

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So there have been plenty of bright spots. Earnhardt has been out of the top 10 in the standings only one week out of 32 this season, so he has been remarkably consistent. He has run up front and challenged for victories.

But too many times, especially lately, his finishes had not matched the effort or the early-race successes. Sunday's did.

"This will give us momentum heading into Atlanta and Texas, and that's what we need," Eury said. "We want to finish this season strong. We run strong at these tracks coming up, and it's important to finish this off the right way and build some momentum that we can take into next year."

Learning experience
It hasn't been a horrible first year for Earnhardt at Hendrick. It just hasn't been the grand success that Waltrip and others had envisioned for him.

After Earnhardt's fifth-place finish at New Hampshire -- the first event in the 10-race Chase -- Hendrick took great pains to point out that he has been very pleased with Earnhardt's first season with his organization. But he also made it clear that he, like Earnhardt and Eury and everyone else associated with the team, believes that it could have been better and should be better in the future.

Earnhardt is hoping Sunday is a start down that path. He said he considers himself lucky to be working out of the same building as the No. 48 team of two-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson, who moved one step closer to becoming the second driver in NASCAR history to win three consecutive titles when he was the only one to finish ahead of Earnhardt at Martinsville.

"I'm fortunate enough to be in the same shop as Jimmie and see how they work and what they do," Earnhardt said. "Hopefully a lot of that stuff is going to rub off on us."

Maybe it's already starting to. There were fleeting moments when Earnhardt thought he might even catch Johnson on Sunday. But they passed before he could make the pass.

In the end, the consensus was that his car just wasn't quite strong enough.

"I would have liked to have had that opportunity and I think I could have given Jimmie a good run for his money, but I knew for a fact that wasn't going to be the outcome," Earnhardt said.

The outcome, as it was, did not turn out that badly for Earnhardt. And on the whole, neither has his first season at hm

Unilever to sponsor No. 5 car for 10 races in 2009

Unilever, a multi-national company that owns more than 400 of the world's most recognized food and home care brands, will be a primary sponsor for JR Motorsports' No. 5 Chevrolets in 10 Nationwide Series races in 2009 (watch video).

The 10-race sponsorship package will be divided amongst four popular Unilever brands -- Hellmann's mayonnaise, Ragu pasta sauce, Klondike ice cream and Lipton tea. Three different drivers will compete in select races in the Unilever-branded No. 5 car -- two-time series champion Earnhardt, all-time wins leader Mark Martin and current rookie contender Landon Cassill. Martin and Earnhardt alone combine for 70 series victories.

"Unilever is thrilled to associate our brands with two of racing's most popular and respected drivers, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin, and with one of the sport's top rising talents, Landon Cassill," said Marc Shaw, Director of Integrated Marketing for Unilever. "By partnering with Dale Jr. and JR Motorsports, we are expanding an already successful history with NASCAR -- especially with a driver whose popularity transcends motor racing with wide appeal and recognition. We are extremely pleased that Dale, Mark and Landon will represent our brands in the 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series."

The select races that will feature Unilever brands on the No. 5 Chevrolet are still being finalized. However, it is confirmed that Earnhardt Jr. will kick off the partnership by driving the No. 5 Hellmann's Chevy in the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 14. Five of Earnhardt's 22 series victories have come at the 2.5-mile superspeedway.

"I am really excited to partner with Unilever and continue what we've been able to accomplish with JR Motorsports," said Earnhardt, who co-owns the No. 5 team with Rick Hendrick. "In a short amount of time, we've gone from an upstart, single-car team in the NASCAR Nationwide Series to having two highly competitive teams that won races in 2008. When we merged our Nationwide Series operations with Hendrick Motorsports last year, it really elevated our program to the next level. Having Unilever come on board will help us continue that momentum."

The 2009 campaign will mark the second consecutive year that Earnhardt, Martin and Cassill share driving duties in the No. 5 Chevrolet. Martin, whose 48 series victories are the most of any driver, kick-started JR Motorsports' breakout season with a win at Las Vegas in March. It was the first of two wins achieved by the No. 5 team this year, and the first of four that JR Motorsports has celebrated among its two full-time teams thus far in 2008.

Like Martin, Cassill has played a contributing role in the team's success this year. The 19-year-old driver from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, scored a career-best finish of sixth at Gateway in July, and he won the pole for the June race at New Hampshire. Cassill currently holds a one-point lead in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings.

"We know that NASCAR fans crave real food that tastes great and is made from simple ingredients; we're all about real food for real fans," said James Fish, Senior Brand Manager for Hellmann's and Best Foods. "One of the main platforms for our involvement in NASCAR has been to search for and reward 'real' fans, and we plan to continue and even expand our campaign with Dale Jr., Mark Martin and Landon Cassill, three NASCAR drivers who are real in every sense of the word."

Biffle splashes way to 8th-place finish

While Greg Biffle had fun in the first major NASCAR points race in the rain, the Sprint Cup driver won't be quite as eager the next time it pours.

"I kind of was looking forward to this because I've never raced in the rain, but I don't think I will be from now on," Biffle said Saturday after the Nationwide Series race at rain-drenched Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.


"It got a little hairy there when it started raining so hard. The car would hydroplane bad down the frontstretch and I mean a 140 or 150 miles an hour hydroplane is not very safe. It made it hard to see there at the end. It was raining so hard and everything was getting so wet. The guys said there was an inch of water in the right side of the car on the floorboard. So the car started to fill with water and we were going to start having electrical problems."

Biffle, also racing Sunday in the Sprint Cup race at Pocono, finished eighth in the race -- the first major NASCAR points event ever run on grooved rain tires.

"It was fun. It was a lot of fun," he said. "I'm glad I made history today."

David Reutimann, also doing double-duty, finished 17th in the difficult conditions.

"It's probably not something we should do unless we come up with a better system to be able to see," Reutimann said. "The tires worked fine. All that stuff worked OK. I don't have a problem with that, just the lack of being able to see is the big issue and that's pretty dangerous. If we come up with a better scenario there's no reason why we couldn't do it in the future, but not with what we have now."

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LOGANO CRASHES: Teen star Joey Logano finished 17th in his first NASCAR road-course start after crashing during the final caution period.

"I hit a lapped car with no brake lights. I have no idea who it was," the 18-year-old driver said. "I couldn't see 5 feet in front of me down the straightaway, under caution. Somebody stopped. I locked up all four and boom! ... It's just not right."

In position to replace Tony Stewart next year in Joe Gibbs Racing's Sprint Cup lineup, Logano won at Kentucky Speedway in June in his third Nationwide Tour start and added second-place finishes at Milwaukee and Gateway.

"I'll take what I learned this weekend, try to forget about all the stupid stuff that happened and we'll get to do it again next week," Logano said.

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HOMEBREW: Quebec driver Andrew Ranger won the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series race Saturday morning in dry conditions.

The 21-year-old Ranger, 29th in the Nationwide Series race, took advantage of leader J.R. Fitzpatrick's last-lap spin to win for the first time in eight races this season. Series leader Scott Steckly was second in the 23-lap race.

"I haven't won a race here in a long time and to do it in front of my family and fans is really nice," said Ranger, second last year.

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LUGNUTS: Nationwide Series leader Clint Bowyer finished ninth. He has a 168-point lead over fellow Sprint Cup driver Carl Edwards. ... Gilles Villeneuve, driver Jacques Villeneuve's father, was killed in a crash during qualifying for the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix. The Montreal track was renamed Circuit Gilles Villeneuve soon after the accident.

Wallace hopeful of Nationwide date for Iowa

Now that Mexico City will not be on the Nationwide Series schedule in 2009, speculation is rampant about a replacement. And the one track that comes up constantly is Iowa Speedway.

But Rusty Wallace, who helped design the 0.875-mile track in Newton, Iowa, said NASCAR has not promised the track a date for next season.


"We have always asked NASCAR for a Nationwide race or a truck race, and there's never been room in the schedule," Wallace said at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, site of Saturday's NAPA Auto Parts 200. "Now, there's room in the schedule. NASCAR has not called me up and said, 'Hey, we're going to go to Iowa.' They have said they really like our track. They like what it looks like.

"At this point, I'm not going to speculate. I've got my fingers crossed. I hope we get it. But they have never come up to me and said, 'You're getting it. Here's the date.' We're absolutely 100 percent at their mercy."

Nationwide Series driver Landon Cassill, an Iowa native, said he'd love to be able to race there next year.

"It's just an awesome race track," Cassill said. "I raced there in Late Models, and there's three grooves in Late Models. I'd hate to see what it'd do in a Nationwide car. It would open up pretty good.

"Rusty did a nice job designing the place. Everything from the track surface to the campgrounds and the stands and the club seats, the bus lot. Every garage has a drain for your cool-down units, so you don't have water all over the place. Everything is so nice and state-of-the-art, you'd be crazy not to go there."

Wallace, of course, would agree.

"If Iowa Speedway could be the recipient of that [Mexico] date, I'd gladly take it," Wallace said. "But I've got to reiterate, they have not told us. I don't want to lead anybody on."

Fellows wins in the rain in Montreal

Carl Edwards used a squeegee to clean his windshield while he drove under caution. Jacques Villeneuve and Joey Logano wrecked with the yellow flag flying. And rooster tails flew off the grooved -- yes, grooved -- back tires.

It certainly was a history-making day at rainy Circuit Gilles Villeneuve -- right down to the winner, Canadian road-racer Ron Fellows.


In the first NASCAR points race run on grooved rain tires, Fellows splashed his way to victory -- his fourth road-race win in 13 Nationwide Series starts -- in the event that ended 26 laps early because of heavy rain and poor visibility.

"Visibility was the big, big problem," said Fellows, the first Canadian winner in a major NASCAR race in Canada. "At over 70 mph, there was just so much spray."

The 48-year-old Ontario driver took advantage of Marcos Ambrose's pit-road speeding penalty to take the lead, and had about a half-minute advantage over fellow Canadian Patrick Carpentier when the NAPA Auto Parts 200 was red-flagged.

"It's very dangerous," Fellows said minutes before the race was called.

After just eight laps on the 2.71-mile, 14-turn road course, rain and lightning forced an eight-minute delay. The cars returned to the track with the grooved Goodyear tires and many also had a single windshield wiper.

"This is ridiculous," early leader Scott Pruett said over his radio.

Grooved tires also were used in 1999 during a Craftsman Truck Series practice on the road course at Watkins Glen. In 1997, rain tires were used in practice and qualifying for an exhibition race in Japan.

After averaging about 90 mph on the regular slick tires before the rain arrived, the leaders' average speed dropped to about 75 mph on the grooved tires.

"That was different," Fellows said. "This is incredible."

Fellows, driving the No. 5 Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s JR Motorsports, led the final seven laps. Ambrose finished third after leading a race-high 27 laps.

Ron Hornaday was fourth, followed by Boris Said, Edwards, Jason Leffler, Greg Biffle, series leader Clint Bowyer and Scott Wimmer.

"All in all, I'm surprised how well everyone did and how few accidents there were," Said said. "In the end, people were wrecking under caution because you just couldn't see. The cars were hydroplaning."

Villeneuve, the former Formula One and CART champion racing on the track named after his late father, had so much trouble seeing out of his Toyota that he ran into the back of another car during the final caution period.

Running sixth at the time of the accident, he ended up 15th.

"I couldn't see a thing," Villeneuve said.

Logano also wrecked during the final caution.

"I hit a lapped car with no brake lights. I have no idea who it was," Logano said. "I couldn't see 5 feet in front of me down the straightaway, under caution. Somebody stopped. I locked up all four and boom! ... It's just not right."

The teen star finished 16th.

"It was fun, but it's not good to see guys wrecking under yellow," Edwards said.

The historic tire move came a week after tire troubles derailed the Sprint Cup race at Indianapolis. Goodyear's tires weren't durable enough to withstand more than 10 or so laps at a time, creating a chaotic and confusing caution-filled race.

Pick 'em: Michigan

Each week the staff at NASCAR.COM will pick a race winner, a dark horse for the checkers and the ain't-got-a-chance driver (no scrubs; someone with a Q score).

Our scoring system: Experts receive as many points as the "winner" pick gets in the race.

3M Performance 400

Writer Winner Here's why ... Dark Horse No Chance Points

Josh Pate Jimmie Johnson Remember how good Kyle Busch was at the start of the year? That's where Jimmie is now. In five of his past six Michigan races he's finished sixth or better. He's never won at MIS, so while Roush steals all the headlines, the 48 team will snag the trophy. Brian Vickers Clint Bowyer 3,187
Duane Cross Tony Stewart Conventional wisdom had me thinking Matt Kenseth, but now that his shop is in order I think we may begin to see Smoke emerge from the fog. Martin Truex Jr. Kurt Busch 3,171
Bill Kimm Carl Edwards Roush owns this track and I'm going to go with his hottest driver. Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle each have their two wins here, now it's time for Edwards to get his second. kasey Kahne Clint Bowyer 3,131
Joe Menzer Dale Earnhardt Jr. Last time he broke his long winless streak at Michigan by winning on fuel mileage. This time, he'll do it because he's got one of the best cars and he and crew chief Tony Eury Jr. are starting to take more aggressive chances. Juan Montoya Ryan Newman 3,045
Raygan Swan Carl Edwards Everyone knows that Roush Fenway Racing cars dominate in Michigan so Carl Edwards is the obvious pick this week and he's looking to cut into Busch's lead heading into the Chase. David Raygan Clint Bowyer 3,003
David Caraviello Matt Kenseth He's overdue, and he needs a strong run to solidify his place in the Chase. He'll get that and more Sunday at a track where Roush Fenway cars have traditionally dominated. Kurt Busch Jeff Gordon 2,988
Dave Rodman Jimmie Johnson He is getting into a zone that may result in his third consecutive Cup championship, but at the very least will result in a victory Sunday. Brian Vickers Clint Bowyer 2,882
Jarrod Breeze Carl Edwards Gotta go with arguably the second-best driver all year -- at least in terms of wins (four) and points (currently) -- whose track record at Michigan also is arguably second to none. He's good there because of Roush; but Roush is good there because of Edwards. Elliot Sadler Kasey Kahne 2,764
Mark Aumann Carl Edwards With seven top-10s in eight starts, has the best average finish of any active driver at Michigan. And he's hungry to find 10 more bonus points.

Vickers follows top practice run with pole at Michigan

It didn't take Brian Vickers long to realize that his No. 83 Toyota was a potential pole winner.

By the second lap of Sprint Cup practice Friday at Michigan International Speedway, Vickers knew he had something special. Later that afternoon, Vickers put his Camry on the pole position for Sunday's 3M Performance 400 at the 2-mile track.

3M Performance 400
Race Lineup

Pos. Driver Speed Time

1. B. Vickers 188.536 38.189
2. J. Johnson 187.028 38.497
3. E. Sadler 186.577 38.590
4. Dale Jr. 186.321 38.643
5. J. Gordon 186.032 38.703
6. P. Carpentier 185.979 38.714
7. D. Reutimann 185.907 38.729
8. R. Smith 185.874 38.736
9. G. Biffle 185.821 38.747
10. S. Riggs 185.821 38.747

• Lineup | Videos | Photos"We tried some things during practice that didn't work at all,'' Vickers said. "So we went back to where we were and I think that's one of the best qualifying cars I've ever had. It was a heck of a lap.

"Sometimes you just hit it. You don't know why.''

Vickers turned a lap in 38.189 seconds (188.536 mph) to knock Jimmie Johnson off the top spot late in the Friday's session and secure the first pole for Red Bull Racing (watch video), which made its debut in Cup racing last year.

"It was there from the first lap, the first turn,'' said Vickers, who won his fifth career pole and his first since leaving Hendrick Motorsports at the end of the 2006 season.

"Some days, some weeks you just hit it -- and we hit it," Vickers said. "We wish we knew what caused that, because you'd do that every week. Obviously, we've come a long way since last year."

Last season was mostly a struggle for Vickers, who finished 38th in the standings. But the 24-year-old, who raced to fourth here in June -- one of three top-fives this season -- has made big strides this year and is a solid 17th in the standings.

"I'm very proud of everybody at Red Bull Racing and Toyota,'' he said. "We've come a long way since last year.

Johnson (187.028 mph) will start on the outside of the front row (watch video).

"We picked up speed from practice, but I just knew inside the car that it wasn't the perfect lap," Johnson said. "It was way tighter than it needed to be. I was shocked when they told me the lap time."

Johnson's lap was more than three-tenths of a second slower than Vickers.

"And I think, for that [Red Bull] team and Brian, this has been a track that fits their style. He'll be ever more of a threat come race time," Johnson said.

"That's a great team,'' Vickers said of Johnson and his No. 48 Hendrick Chevrolet. "It's the team to beat in our sport for the last several years.''

And the fast lap by Vickers wasn't a fluke. He was also fastest in the 90-minute practice earlier Friday (speeds).

"To lay that lap down in practice and back it up in qualifying, that's a really good feeling,'' the youngster said. "Really unbelievable. I wish we could take that and apply it to every week. But it's not that easy.

"But anytime you can see progress, feel progress, patience comes easier.

Elliott Sadler (186.577 mph) will start third in Sunday's race, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. (186.321 mph) and Jeff Gordon (186.032 mph), as Hendrick Motorsports drivers claimed three of the top-five spots on the grid.

Patrick Carpentier, David Reutimann, Regan Smith, Greg Biffle and Scott Riggs will start from the sixth through 10th positions, respectively, on Sunday.

Notes: Brad Coleman, who will make his Cup debut on Sunday, was the last car to make the race on speed. Coleman has replaced J.J. Yeley in the No. 96 Hall of Fame Racing Toyota. ... Of 44 drivers competing for 43 starting spots, Johnny Sauter was the odd man out. Sauter's No. 08 Dodge was more than .2 seconds slower than Coleman's Camry. ... Terry Labonte didn't need his past champion's provisional to get into the field. He'll start 17th in the No. 45 Petty Enterprises Dodge, 18 positions ahead of his brother, Bobby Labonte, who drives the No. 43 Petty car. In a nine-car pileup last week at Watkins Glen, Bobby Labonte took one of the hardest hits of his career. ... Matt Kenseth, trying to protect 12th position on the Cup standings, starts 14th. Clint Bowyer, 13th in points, will have to rally from the 41st starting position.

Burton: Fewer teams best for long-term health of Cup

Jeff Burton was on a roll Friday morning at Michigan International Speedway, and he wasn't even on he track.

Burton was asked about how only a year ago there were concerns about too many sponsors with too many cars and no guarantees of making Sprint Cup Series races, and about how this weekend, for the third time this season, only 44 cars showed up to attempt making the 43-car field for this Sunday's 3M Performance 400.

“
I think there was a time in our country where you looked at the auto manufacturers as an empire that could never go away -- and I think today we can't look at it in that fashion, which is sad.
”
JEFF BURTONIt was only one question. But he rambled on with his passionate answer.

"I don't think there's any question it's a function of sponsor involvement -- and the sponsor involvement has a great deal to do with the economy," Burton said. "A company has to be 100 percent committed to motorsports in this kind of economy to be able to spend the money that it takes, which goes back to part of the reason that I believe it's not in our best interest to have 48, 49 teams."

In Burton's mind, NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series actually would be fiscally healthier with fewer teams.

"How many cars did we have at Daytona [for the Daytona 500] this year? Fifty or so [actually 53]?," Burton quizzed. "We're having teams shut down. Every time a team shuts down, there is somebody who is left unemployed.

"We put ourselves in a position where with this change of car count, over a three-year or four-year period you go from 49 full-time teams to maybe 44, that's a five-team switch. If you put 60 people on a team, that's 300 people whose jobs are impacted by that."

Burton said he has a simple answer to put an end to all that economic uncertainty, whether the nation's economy is in a slump as it is now or it's when the good times are rolling.

"Our sport would be so much more secure, our employees would be so much more secure, our sponsors would be so much more secure, if we had 43 teams," Burton said. "There is no benefit in having [more than 43] teams. It only creates insecurity for sponsors, for car owners, for crew members.

"We need 43 teams to put on a race. If we have 43 teams that we knew were going to be in the race, then the sponsor's investment is much more secure -- and at a time when the economy is iffy, the sponsors that want to be involved in the sport want to know that they're going to be in the race."

Burton knows that NASCAR has long frowned on the idea of limiting its field to what essentially would be 43 franchises.

"I'm not even saying the F-word," he joked, laughing.

He even conceded that he understands the philosophy behind letting more than 43 cars attempt to make a race on a weekly basis. He just doesn't think it's sound business in the long term.

"The philosophy of having 48 cars all vying for 43 spots, I know that's cool and everything. Or the thought that if you're not good enough, you just go home because you don't deserve to be in the race. But that's not economically sound," Burton said.

"This is a time when you start seeing a negative side of having a bunch of teams. The sponsorships are being spread out over more cars. The cost of sponsorship is being de-valued because they have more choices. There's really no advantage in all that and our sport is less secure."

As Burton and the rest of the Sprint Cup drivers prepare for this Sunday's race in the backyard of America's Big Three automobile manufacturers, Burton's comments cast a long shadow. That significance was not lost on him.

"I think there was a time in our country where you looked at the auto manufacturers as an empire that could never go away -- and I think today we can't look at it in that fashion, which is sad," Burton said. "If you think about how big the American manufacturers are to the economy of America, it's huge. The amount of employment, the things that they do, it's unbelievable. And it's hard to see them struggling because it should be a source of pride for our country.

"They're really struggling hard. I don't think you can take them for granted anymore. ... You think they always will be involved, but they still have to be able to write the checks."

If they had fewer teams to write them to, perhaps that would help.

"Forty-three cars that are assured of being in the field is the best scenario for our sport," Burton insisted. "Professional golf being the exception, we are the only major sport that has to make the investment that we make and you don't know 100 percent that you're in the field.

"Now the top-35 rule is a tremendous step in the right direction. It's way better than it used to be, but it ought to be a 43 rule. I don't know how you go about determining whose going to get the car owners and all. I'm a driver, so I get to point at somebody else and say figure it out. But it's in our best interest to have 43 well-funded teams and sponsors that are secure in what they're doing. That's in our sport's best interest. That's my opinion."

As Chase nears, 10th-place Biffle deflecting pressure

Sitting 10th in the points with four races left would be enough to stress anyone. Being 10th in points, only 83 in front of 13th-place Clint Bowyer with four races left will add gray to the hair of the strongest of drivers.

But Greg Biffle is calm, cool and collected as he looks to secure a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, beginning with this week's 3M Performance 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

3M Performance 400
Race Lineup

Pos. Driver Speed Time

1. B. Vickers 188.536 38.189
2. J. Johnson 187.028 38.497
3. E. Sadler 186.577 38.590
4. Dale Jr. 186.321 38.643
5. J. Gordon 186.032 38.703
6. P. Carpentier 185.979 38.714
7. D. Reutimann 185.907 38.729
8. R. Smith 185.874 38.736
9. G. Biffle 185.821 38.747
10. S. Riggs 185.821 38.747

• Lineup | Videos | Photos"I wouldn't say desperation, but we know where we are in the points," Biffle said. "We know that we need to finish 10th or better in these next four events."

That shouldn't be a problem at Michigan, where Roush Fenway Racing has dominated in what could be called the team's home track. In 139 races, Roush Fenway has compiled 10 wins, 39 top-fives and 74 top-10s. Biffle specifically has run very well at the 2-mile oval with two wins, four top-fives and six top-10s.

Unfortunately for Biffle, the past three races have seen a decline in those strong results. Finishes of 38th and 19th in the '07 races followed by a 20th in this year's spring race have Biffle struggling at a track at which he's unaccustomed.

Biffle, though, looks at the big picture, not just at where he crossed the finish line.

"The last time we were here we were running third and fourth and got the air hose caught on the splitter," Biffle said. "So the results on the piece of paper show we finished 21st or 20th and that's certainly not where we ran all day.

"We feel good about this weekend and getting a good, solid run. We feel like this is a good opportunity for us."

Things got off to a great start for the No. 16 team during Friday's practice, when Biffle posted a lap of 184.981 mph, tied with Jeff Gordon for 10th in the session behind Brian Vickers' fast lap of 187.373 (speeds).

It was more of the same in qualifying. Biffle will roll off ninth Sunday, after a lap of 185.821.

With no wins on the season, Biffle -- if he makes the Chase -- will be down at least 80 points to leader Kyle Busch when the 10-race playoff begins at New Hampshire. Biffle isn't concerned about bonus points though; he knows his focus has to be on points racing in the final four events at Michigan, Bristol, Fontana and Richmond to ensure a spot in the top 12.

"We've been saying for the last six races, we know if we [finish] 10th or better we're technically gonna lock ourselves in because we feel like those are good enough finishes.

"Certainly we want to win, get in the top five, that's the focus we have. But we feel the urgency to be in the top 10, for sure."

Newman makes it official, will drive for Stewart-Haas

Tony Stewart plans to build his new NASCAR team into one that can win races and championships sooner than later.

The two-time Sprint Cup champion figures signing Ryan Newman as his teammate at Stewart-Haas Racing is a big step in that direction, though both drivers have a little unfinished business to take care of first.

“
The thing that impressed me the most about Ryan was that he asked all the right questions. The questions he asked me about were how are we going to win races, how are we going to win championships, how are we going to get the right people in place to do the right jobs.
”
TONY STEWARTStewart is trying to nail down a spot in the Chase for the championship -- and maybe another title -- in his final season with Joe Gibbs Racing, while Newman hopes to leave longtime employer Penske Racing at the end of this season with another win or two to add to his season-opening victory in the Daytona 500.

Stewart made the much-anticipated signing of Newman official at Michigan International Speedway on Friday, and the soon-to-be teammates sat side-by-side, smiling and talking about the future.

"This is an exciting day," Stewart said. "I mean, it's very important to Stewart-Haas Racing, obviously."

Stewart, leaving the Gibbs team after 10 successful seasons to become part owner of what has been the midpack Haas CNC Racing, added, "The flood of personnel that have come over and wanted to join the team since we made that announcement has been huge. With the addition of Ryan coming on board now, I think it's even going to make that list even grow larger."

The new owner-driver knows he's facing a lot of work to make a contender out of his new team, which currently has Scott Riggs 37th in the car-owner points and Tony Raines 43rd.

But Joe Custer, general manager of what is still Haas CNC Racing at this point, said things are changing quickly.

"It's overwhelming in ways," Custer said. "You know, to have Tony come on board, obviously, and now Ryan, it's just unbelievable. ... Tony's led the charge. The program's growing. It's exciting to be part of it."

Newman said he had at least three other serious offers for a new ride in 2009, but went with Stewart-Haas mostly because of its new co-owner.

"It's just a great opportunity," Newman said. "I think a lot of Tony from a personal standpoint as well as a driving standpoint, and I've seen his success from an ownership standpoint with the USAC cars and the World of Outlaws cars. I've seen him get the job done in other venues, and I look forward to the opportunity."

Skinner replaces McDowell in No. 00 for three races

Craftsman Truck Series regular Mike Skinner will pilot Michael Waltrip Racing's No. 00 car in the next three Sprint Cup events, while regular driver Michael McDowell sits out so the organization can reexamine its program.

McDowell, a Sprint Cup rookie, stands 36th in owner points, eight points behind A.J. Allmendinger for the final guaranteed starting spot this week at Michigan International Speedway. Skinner will also attempt the forthcoming events at Bristol and Fontana, while McDowell is slated to return to the car for the Sept. 6 race at Richmond.

“
We're struggling right now, and we're outside the top 35, and our program as a whole is struggling right now. It gives us a chance to put Skinner in, and evaluate where I'm at, where our whole team's at.
”
MICHAEL MCDOWELL"We're struggling right now, and we're outside the top 35, and our program as a whole is struggling right now," McDowell said Tuesday. "It gives us a chance to put Skinner in, and evaluate where I'm at, where our whole team's at, and hopefully get better, which ultimately is the goal of this whole process. I'm definitely getting back in, that's not a question. It's just a matter of getting our program better."

McDowell finished 25th in last Sunday's event at Watkins Glen International after being involved in a large crash near the end of the race. In 17 starts since replacing the retired Dale Jarrett, McDowell has made every race and has a top finish of 21st on the road course at Sonoma, Calif. He said the switch to Skinner had been discussed even before the crash at Watkins Glen, which began when McDowell collided with David Gilliland. Seven other cars were also impacted.

"The whole melee at Watkins Glen was obviously unfortunate, but it wasn't what made us come to the decision that we need to do something different," McDowell said. "It's something we've been working on, and it really had nothing to do with [the fact] that Watkins Glen was a bit of a disaster. It was an opportunity for us to evaluate the program."

Waltrip's approach is similar to one taken earlier this season by Team Red Bull, which put Skinner in its No. 84 car for five races in place of Allmendinger, a second-year NASCAR driver who had failed to qualify for the first three events of the year. Allmendinger showed marked improvement when he returned to the car, and has recorded top-20s in his last four starts. He is in the top 35 in owner points this week for the first time.

"I thought [Skinner] did a really nice job of working with Red Bull and A.J. Allmendinger earlier this year, and our No. 00 team could use the same experienced insight," Waltrip said in a statement released by the team. "We feel the same way about Michael McDowell as we did when we signed him. But this is the toughest, most competitive form of racing in the world, and I know Michael and MWR can benefit from Skinner's input."

But unlike Allmendinger, McDowell has made every race since he first stepped into the No. 00 car at Martinsville Speedway in March. He's spent most of the season inside the top 35, falling out for the first time two weeks ago after a 34th-place finish at Indianapolis. He made the next race at Pocono on speed, and was in the starting field at Watkins Glen after qualifying was canceled by rain.

"It's not ideal. It's not something I wanted to do," McDowell said. "But I'm going to do everything I can to get back in the racecar and to help the program."