November 2007 Archives

Evel Knievel was known for daredevil jumps over famous landmarks such as Caeser's Palace in Las Vegas. He might be more well-known for his failed jump over the Snake River in Idaho.
What most might not know is that Knievel had an entry in the Indianapolis 500 in 1977.
He didn't drive it. Gary Bettenhausen was behind the wheel of the No. 98 Agajanian/Evel Knievel Dragon/Offy.
Bettenhausen started 21st and finished 16th withdrawing with clutch problems after 138 laps.
Knievel died Friday. He as 69.

The NHRA implemented a new playoff format called the Countdown to determine champions in its four national touring divisions: Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle. The top-eight drivers and riders qualified for the Countdown to Four. The top-four qualified for the Countdown to One, which consisted of the final two races of the year at Las Vegas and Pomona. The nominees also include racers from the IHRA.

Greg Anderson won eight races and finished second in the NHRA Pro Stock division. He won the 50th race of his career at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma.

Jeg Coughlin won the NHRA Pro Stock championship, the third of his career. He won four races, including the season-finale at Pomona, and the 50th race of his career at Brainerd in Minnesota.

Dale Creasy Jr. won the IHRA Funny Car championship, his second. He won six races and was fast qualifier three times.

Bruce Litton won the IHRA Top Fuel championship. He won three races and was fast qualifier twice.

Tony Pedregon won the NHRA Funny Car championship, the second of his career and his first as owner of his own team. He won four races including the Countdown races at Dallas and Las Vegas.

Tony Schumacher won the NHRA Top Fuel championship, the fifth of his career. He became the first driver to win four NHRA Top Fuel championships in a row. He won six races, including the U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis and the season-finale at Pomona.

I've been catching a little grief for being critical of Kyle Busch's driving style last year. Nothing new there. I catch grief for the things I writer from time to time.
But it got me thinking: Where does Kyle Busch rank among current drivers in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series?
He finished fifth in the Chase for the Nextel Cup, but that doesn't necessarily mean his is the fifth best driver out there right now.
Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon are clearly 1-2 and probably interchangable. During the first 26 races of the year, Gordon was by far better than Johnson. But Johnson turned in another stellar Chase and won another Cup championship. After that, it's a toss up.
Here is my top 10:
1. Jimmie Johnson - Two straight Cup titles are hard to ignore.
2. Jeff Gordon - If not for the Chase, Gordon might have six Cup championships by now.
3. Tony Stewart - He will probably be the first driver to win a race for Toyota.
4. Matt Kenseth - Consistent. When he does win a Chase, it will be with 10 straight top fives.
5. Carl Edwards - Destroyed Busch Series compeition, except for that pesky 29 team.
6. Kurt Busch - Made the Chase with clearly inferior equipment and won a couple races to boot.
7. Kyle Busch - Young and talented a volatile combination. Experience will only make him better.
8. Mark Martin - Would have been in the Chase if he wanted to race a full schedule.
9. Kevin Harvick - Daytona 500 winners are hard to ignore.
10. Jeff Burton - Like Kenseth, consistent every week, doesn't wreck many cars and is always in contention.

There are essentially two sports car racing series in America: The Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series and the American Le Mans Series. With the number of manufacturers in each series, it makes both fun to follow. But each series has as many as four classes of cars that race together, and actually watching a race can be painful.
The American Le Mans Series races in Long Beach. It made its first appearance in the Grand Prix of Long Beach in 2007 and will be back in 2008. The closest the Grand Am Series comes to L.A. is Laguna Seca in Monterey and Infineon Raceway in Sonoma.
Here are the nominees.

Max Angelelli won two races in a Pontiac-Riley in the Daytona Prototype class of the Grand-Am Series and was third in the series standings. He teamed with Jan Magnussen to win the race in Montreal, Canada. His teammates this year included Jeff Gordon and Memo Gidley.

Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin won nine races driving for Corvette Racing in the GT1 class of the American Le Mans Series. They won the season opening 12 Hours of Sebring, seven poles and finished on the podium (top-three) in all 12 races. Beretta became the first driver to win five ALMS championships. It was the third straight ALMS championship for Beretta and Gavin and the seventh straight manufacturer's championship for Chevrolet in the ALMS.

Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas won eight races in Porsche Spyder for Penske Racing the LMP2 class of the American Le Mans Series. They beat the more powerful LMP1 class cars in six of those races. Prior to this year, an LMP2 class car has won only two races. They had five poles and 11 podium finishes in 12 races.

Rinaldo Capello and Allan McNish, driving for Audi Sport North America, won their second straight LMP1 class championship in the American Le Mans Series. They won nine races and set the ALMS record for most wins in a season. It was the third championship for McNish and the second for Capello.

Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney, racing a Pontiac-Riley, were the Daytona Prototype champions in the Grand-Am Series. They won seven races, including Infineon Raceway, and 10 poles.

Scott Pruett in a Lexus-Riley for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates won two Daytona Prototype races in the Grand-Am Series. He teamed with Juan Pablo Montoya and Salvador Duran to win the 24 Hours of Daytona. He also had eight podiums and was second in the Grand Am Series Daytona Prototype standings.

Tomorrow: Drag racers

Ron Hornaday Jr. has been around long enough to know that it takes more than a talented driver to win a championship.
His most recent championship started years ago with a man named Wally Rogers.
Hornaday credited Rogers, the former crew chief on his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team for Kevin Harvick Inc., for laying the foundation for his championship run in 2007.
Rogers has since moved on to KHI’s Busch Series team. Rick Ren is Hornaday’s crew chief now, but it was Rogers who started it all.
“It’s kind of ironic,” said Hornaday, a former Saugus Speedway champ from Palmdale. “He used to work for Bill Davis and took a lot of good notes and put it to ours, and everything just seemed to work out.”
It was Hornaday’s third Truck Series championship and his first with Kevin Harvick Inc. He won four races and had 22 top-10 finishes in 25 races in 2007. His 33 career wins are the most of any driver in the history of the Truck Series.
“I mean, this is cool,” Hornaday said. “We’ve won at some race tracks that Rick has never won at and he’s won at race tracks I’ve never won at. I won the championship for Rick Ren, Kevin Harvick Incorporated. This is just really special.”
Hornaday was the only driver with local ties to win a championship at the national level this year.

NHRALarry Dixon, a Van Nuys High graduate, and Jack Beckman, of North Hills, qualified for the first-ever Countdown, the six-race playoff devised by the NHRA.
Dixon, an NHRA Top Fuel driver, went in to the Countdown to One, the final four in the playoff for which only the top four drivers qualified, as the top-seeded driver. He came out in fourth place.
Beckman, perhaps the most unlikely qualifier in the NHRA Funny Car division, went from third place before the Countdown to One started to fifth place and out of the Countdown after it started. Beckman ended fifth in the final Funny Car standings.

American Le Mans Series
Santa Clarita-based Honda Performance Development and its Acuras made their debut in the American Le Mans Series. Three teams — Andretti Green Racing, Lowe’s Fernandez Racing and Highcroft Racing — used Acura-powered cars in the LMP2 division of the American Le Mans Series.
Valencia’s Bryan Herta was part of the Andretti Green Racing team that won the LMP2 portion of the season-opening 12 Hours of Sebring.
Robert Clarke, the outgoing president of Honda Performance Development, said winning at Sebring was the highlight of his 15 years with the company, which included providing engines and support for teams in the Indy Racing League and the old CART Series.
Highcroft Racing’s David Brabham and Stefan Johansson had four podium finishes and were was third in the final LMP2 team championship.
In addition to winning at Sebring, Herta, a Hart High of Newhall graduate, had podium finishes at the Lone Star Grand Prix in Houston and the Grand Prix of Mosport, just outside Toronto in Ontario, Canada.
Lowe’s Fernandez Racing, with drivers Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz, had three podium finishes.

Irwindale Speedway
Elsewhere, Rip Michels of San Fernando added to his legend at Irwindale Speedway. He won 11 races and his third NASCAR Super Late Model championship. Add his Grand American Modified championship and Michels has four track championships. His 55 career wins at the track are the most of any driver.
Tim Huddleston of Agoura Hills put together a four-car team, High Point Racing, to compete in the NASCAR Late Model division at Irwindale Speedway. He won the Late Model championship, the second of his career at the track.
He and his drivers — Jace Meier, Chris Carmody and Scott Jenkins — all finished in the top 10 in the Late Model division standings. The four drivers combined to win six of the 15 Late Model races at the track.
Meier, a driver from Las Vegas, ended up second in the Late Model standings with one win. Carmody, from Valencia, won two races and was fifth in the Late Model standings. Jenkins, from Portland, Ore., had six top-five finishes and finished was eighth in the Late Model standings.

1. Can Toyota win a race?
They better. Toyota made its debut in the Nextel Cup Series in 2007. The Japanese automaker provided engines for three teams: Michael Waltrip Racing, Bill Davis Racing and Team Red Bull. None of the teams had much success. They struggled to qualify for races and there were times when none of the Toyota teams were in the top 35 in owners points. The top-35 teams earned at least provisional starting spots for every Cup race.
But the stakes will be raised in 2008. Toyota is teaming with Joe Gibbs Racing and drivers Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch. All three drivers are used to qualifying for the Chase for the Nextel Cup and winning races. Toyota better provide both if it wants to keep Gibbs and his drivers happy.

2. Will Dale Earnhardt Jr. be a championship contender with Hendrick Motorsports?
There’s no reason he shouldn’t. Hendrick Motorsports got three of its four drivers in the Chase this year. Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon are clearly the class of the team. But Busch, who is moving from Hendrick to Gibbs next year, and his team did just fine in the shadow of Johnson and Gordon. A little more experience and patience and Busch might have been in the middle of the championship chase. Johnson and Gordon are still the stars at Hendrick Motorsports and that might be just what Earnhardt Jr. needs. Perhaps he can slip into Johnson’s and Gordon’s shadow and turn his attention to just winning races.
3. Can Johnson win three Cup championships in a row?
No one’s done it since Cale Yarborough. Not Richard Petty, not Dale Earnhardt, not Jeff Gordon. Still it’s hard to say no to Johnson. He seems to have a knack for putting together his best races at the end of the year. To win a Cup championship these days, that’s exactly what needs to happen. If Johnson can pull off four or five wins in October and November, he will be in the thick of it again.
4. Is it a smart move for Sam Hornish Jr. to move into NASCAR?
No. A worse move is Roger Penske giving the owner’s points he earned from Kurt Busch’s car to Hornish next year. Because of his Cup title in 2004, Busch can fall back on a championship provisional to qualify for races, once or twice or six times. Ask Dale Jarrett how that worked out. Hornish, who had trouble qualifying for Cup races this year on speed, has no such provisional. But he would have guaranteed starting spots with Busch’s points. It just seems like a desperate move from an owner who is used to winning races and championships in the Indy Racing League. NASCAR is a different animal, one that requires patience, resources and money. Penske has the resources and money, but moving Hornish into NASCAR reeks of impatience.
5. Will Chevrolet dominate again?
Absolutely not. Ford drivers, especially at Roush Fenway Racing, made significant strides at the end of the year. Matt Kenseth won the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Greg Biffle won the race at Kansas Speedway, although there are those in the Clint Bowyer camp who would still say otherwise. More importantly, Ford won some races with NASCAR’s Car of Tomorrow. That trend will only increase next year. Toyota will be better and should win a race or two. Dodge, well ... Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman are the best chances. Juan Pablo Montoya will win another road course race. Outside of that, it will be another long year for Dodge.

As a member of the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association, I get to vote on the All-America team every year. We select the top drivers in a variety of disciplines: open wheel, road racing, drag racing, short track, stock car and touring series. There is an at-large category as well for drivers who don't quite fit into the other categories.
Six drivers are nominated in each category. This year in the open wheel category, Sébastien Bourdais, Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti, Tony Kanaan, Will Power and Justin Wilson were nominated. That's right, no Formula One guys. Here are the nominees:

Sébastien Bourdais won the Champ Car World Series championship. He won eight races, six poles and became the first driver to win four straight Champ Car World Series titles. In addition, he was second in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Scott Dixon won four races and two poles in the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series. He was second in the IRL IndyCar Series championship standings.

Dario Franchitti won four races, including the Indianapolis 500, and four poles in the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series. He was the IRL champion scoring a record 637 points.

Tony Kanaan won five races in the IRL IndyCar Series, the most of any driver in the series, and had two poles. He led the most laps in the Indy 500 and finished third in the IRL IndyCar Series standings. He was also part of the winning team from Andretti Green Racing in the LMP2 portion of the 12 Hours of Sebring in the American Le Mans Series.

Will Power won two races and five poles in the Champ Car World Series. He set five qualifying records and was fourth in the Champ Car World Series drivers standings.

Justin Wilson won one race and was second on the Champ Car World Series drivers standings.

Tomorrow: Road racing.

As part of the Racers Who Care program, NHRA Funny Car driver Jack Beckman will speaking at the YMCA in Santa Monica on Friday.
Beckman will talk about his pursuit of becoming a professional drag racer and telling the campers about the importance of following your dreams. The presentation is open to the public.
Beckman drives for Don Schumacher Racing and was fifth in the Funny Car standings in 2007. He won two races and was part of the NHRA's first Countdown, which included the top-eight drivers in the Funny Car division competing in a playoff format over the last six races of the year.
The YMCA in Santa Monica is at 1332 6th Street, between Wilshire and Santa Monica boulevards.
The presentation begins at 4 p.m.

Talk about old school. No one was able to accurately gauge who had the fastest cars during Wednesday night’s practice for the Turkey Night Grand Prix at Irwindale Speedway.
None of the cars had transponders on them. Crew members, wives, girlfriends, parents and spectators were calculating times and speeds with stopwatches throughout the sessions.
Everyone was pretty much in agreement that Jason Leffler, Bobby East and Dave Steele had the fastest cars in the USAC Midget practices. Not many surprises there.
Leffler and East are mercenaries from NASCAR with extensive USAC experience. Steele is a USAC veteran with two Silver Crown series championships and more than 50 USAC wins.

"He’s been fast for the past 10 years,” Midget driver Brady Bacon said about Steele.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. raced what many think is his last race for Dale Earnhardt Inc. It wasn't the way he wanted to end this part of his career with the team his late father founded.
Earnhardt Jr. finished 36th in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. After the race, he was asked how he felt about racing his last race with Dale Earnhardt Inc. in the team's No. 8 Chevrolet.
"I guess I thought I would be sadder, but I am not," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I still have all these guys as friends, that is even better than the working relationship. Now, I am ready to get to work."
After the race, Earnhardt Jr. had to say good-bye to his teammates and crew. His crew chief and cousin, Tony Eury Jr., is going with Earnhardt Jr. to Hendrick Motorsports. But the rest of the team is expected to remain with DEI.
"It wasn't emotional. It wasn't as emotional as I thought," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I thought it might be emotional and tough but it wasn't really that bad. Those guys are going to be around and I am going to get to see them an awful lot more than we assume. It is not like we won't see each other again. We will, and it is just the nature of the business. You get used to people coming and going from day one when get you get started working in this business."

Jef Gordon set the NASCAR modern era record for most top fives and top 10 finishes in a season. He finished fourth in the season-ending NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway and finished second in the Chase for the Nextel Cup standings.
Gordon has to feel a little cheated.
Another era in NASCAR ended Sunday night. It was the last race for the car of yesterday. NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow will be used in every race next season.
But along with the introduction of the Car of Tomorrow, another era ended as well. NASCAR was a sport that rewarded its champions for consistency rather than streaks of dominance. No more.
Drivers like Jimmie Johnson, who can rattle off four wins in the last five races of the year, can win the Cup championship over drivers like Gordon who set records for top fives and top 10s.
Maybe that's the way it should be. But Gordon had another one of the best seasons in Cup history and has little to show for it.
Not that Gordon is complaining.
"I'm a big believer on when it's meant to be, it's meant to be," said Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. "You've got to work hard. You've got to prepare yourself and your team. And you know what? Jimmie and Chad and all those guys did a phenomenal job."
Chad Knaus is Johnson's crew chief. They teamed to win 10 races and their second Cup championship in a row.
"I know how good my team was this year," Gordon said. "They're one of the best teams I've ever been a part of. And for them to come out 77 points ahead over 10 races is very impressive. We're certainly extremely proud of what we've accomplished this year. It's been a great year. But we want another championship and we know we've got to beat Jimmie and guys like Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart and a lot of other guys if we're going to get us another one. So when it comes time to step up, we've got to be the ones stepping up as well."

It seems there are quite a few reporters who want to know how the late Dale Earnhardt would react to the Chase system, how he would race Jimmie Johnson at Homestead-Miami Speedway and how he would respond to his son leaving Dale Earnhardt Inc. for Hendrick Motorsports.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. addressed some of those questions Saturday before the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
On leaving Dale Earnhardt Inc. for Hendrick Motorsports, Earnhardt Jr. said he will be sad for his father that things aren't different.
"I'm sad for him, not for me or anybody else," said Earnhardt Jr. "I'm just sad because his vision was different. He was such a great person and his visions were great and worthy and should be realized. That'll be a shame."
Earnhardt Jr. said the support he has received from Rick Hendrick, the owner of Hendrick Motorsports, has been incredibly valuable and it will make the transition easier.
"He knows exactly what I'm thinking and what I'm going through, he knows exactly what kind of guy I am and the things that matter to me," Earnhardt Jr. said. "He's just great at reading people. He'll be great support for me as we move from one thing to another and adapting. I'm very anxious and nervous about the challenges I face going over to Rick's and trying to be an asset to that company and trying to be everything I can be, be impressive and get the job done. I'm anxious to get going on that and make those things happen. But, there's some things to finish and we'll get them finished."
As for how Earnhardt would race Johnson, Earnhardt Jr. said "real hard."
"He raced real hard all the time," Earnhardt Jr. "That whole group, they didn't care who you were. They ran the heck out of you all the time and still do. That generation, that's their style and a lot of it rubbed off on some of us because it's good. He would race hard, really hard."

A seventh-place finish was enough for Ron Hornaday Jr. to win the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
It was the third career Truck Series championship for Hornaday and his first since 1998. He also won the Truck Series championship in 1996.
His first two Truck Series championships came when he was driving for the late Dale Earnhardt. Hornaday was in the No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado for Kevin Harvick Inc. for his latest Truck Series championship.
"Coming to the race track with a truck like we've got every weekend, these guys have done an awesome job with this Chevrolet truck," said Hornaday. "I think the whole change was when Camping World came on board. I won a lot of races with that blue and yellow and it comes back right now. So this is really cool."
For Harvick, it was his first Truck Series championship as an owner. He was in the Truck Series season finale and finished fourth in the team's No. 2 Chevrolet Silverado.
"It's taken us six years to get the truck team to where it's at and we have a great driver in Ron Hornaday," said Harvick, a driver in the Nextel Cup Series for Richard Childress Racing. "It's hard to race and race in that position and try to win the race and that's what we tried to do there at the end. I was a little tough on my truck, but man, the coolest part about this whole thing is just being able to stop and be the first one to congratulate Ron Hornaday on the back straightaway. He's done so much for my racing career and to be able to win a championship with him and a lot of the guys that grew up with me in my racing career is something I'll never forget. So that makes it pretty special."
Rick Ren, Hornaday's crew chief, won his first Truck Series championship.
"Well, you know they don't give these things away and we've been trying for an awfully long time," Ren said. "I told Ron Hornaday earlier this year, I said, 'I know you've got some of those rings but I don't have one and I think we need to work really hard to get one,' and I don't know what else to say. This is what we do this for and it's like a dream come true."

By winning the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race at Phoenix International Raceway last weekend, Jimmie Johnson is tied with Fireball Roberts for 19th in career Cup wins. They have 33. Next on the list is Mark Martin with 35.
Since Martin might have a win or two left in him before he calls it quits, it could be a while before Johnson catches him.
After that, Bobby Isaac is 16th with 37 wins and Tim Flock is 15th with 39. Johnson is still well behind his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon, who has 81 career Cup wins. Gordon is fifth on the list.
Barring disaster, Johnson will win his second career Cup championship after the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. If he doesn't win the championship, only Gordon can catch him.
“No matter what happens, we know the Nextel Cup trophy will be at Hendrick Motorsports and that’s a great thing for our organization," said Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. "The lead that we have, it's a nice, comfortable position to be in. But we've got to go down there and run 400 miles. That's bottom line. If we don't run the full distance of the race then we’re in trouble."
Johnson probably doesn't have a lot to worry about. The car his team is taking to Homestead is a three-time winner. It won races at Las Vegas, Atlanta and the Labor Day race at California Speedway. It's a good car and it will be the last time Johnson will be able to drive it. Next year, all the Cup races will be with NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow, meaning Chevrolet teams will be running the new Impala model and putting the Monte Carlos on the shelf.
But it doesn't look like Johnson is putting too much thought into what car he is racing at Homestead.
"The lead takes some pressure off, but we're going to go down there and try to keep it simple like we've done," Johnson said. "Go out there, run our race, do our thing. I'm just trying to keep it simple and not get caught up in things. Last week was a good example of disappearing and going on vacation for a couple days. Not reading or seeing any highlights on TV, nothing, I was completely out of the loop. I hope I can do that this week. Show up, keep it simple, and get in the race car and go. I don't want to act like it's our championship yet. We have a nice margin in the points right now. But 400 miles, that's my goal. I have to run 400 more miles, and we'll get nuts after that.”

Jeff Gordon looks like he will fall short of winning his fifth Cup championship. He is 86 points behind Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson with one race to go, this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Gordon was asked by reporters at Homestead how the late Dale Earnhardt would approach the last race of the year if he was trailing Johnson by 86 points in the NASCAR Chase for the Nextel Cup standings.
Gordon said Earnhardt would probably take the same approach Ron Hornaday Jr. will take against Mike Skinner in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
Hornaday is 29 points behind Skinner in the Truck Series standings. It's not as much of a deficit as Gordon's, but still a challenge to make up that many points in one race.
Gordon said he thinks about how Earnhardt would react to the Chase and the new points system NASCAR has implemented recently.
"How would Dale be influencing things happening in this sport today, how would he run on the track, how would he compete against some of the drivers that are out there today," said Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. "The only real time I ever battled him for the championship was in '95 and while he taught me some lessons in '93, '94 by putting the bumper to me several times, in '95 that rarely ever happened in competition."
Gordon said he learned how to race Earnhardt, mainly knowing when to challenge him and when to stay out of his way.
"You knew he was going to lean on you and you had to be ready for that," Gordon said. "I can't think of a time when we were battling for a championship that he just intently did anything dirty. He might have raced hard but that's about it."
But that doesn't necessarily mean Gordon will use some of the tactics Earnhardt used on him. Earnhardt might have been known as the Intimidator, but Gordon said there are other ways than driving aggressively to intimidate.
"I've always said the most intimidating thing is a guy in your mirror that's running you down," Gordon said. "You don't have to drive a black car and rough guys up to do that. I think the style and the competitiveness, I think the microscope that we're under has changed that quite a bit over the years and the way NASCAR handles things, you can't do some of the things that you used to be able to do. I don't even know if Dale would be able to get away with some of those things today."

No matter where he finishes Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Clint Bowyer has to consider this year's Chase a successful one.
He hung tough with the best team in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series and will in all likelihood finish third to Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. That's nothing to be ashamed of, especially this year.
Johnson and Gordon have combined to win 16 of 36 races this year. Add the wins by Kyle Busch and Casey Mears, and the four Hendrick Motorsports drivers won half of the Cup races this year.
That didn't leave many opportunities for other drivers and teams.
Bowyer is coming off an 11th-place finish at Phoenix International Raceway. Like most drivers, he fought braking problems throughout the race and struggled with the Car of Tomorrow.
"Just frustrating, we fought brake problems all day and just weren't really a factor," said Bowyer, driver of the No. 07 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, after the race at Phoenix. "Our goal for Homestead is to finish. It would be good to get another win, but we just have to finish the year strong and not give up anything from behind and we will be fine."

Kyle Busch's record at Homestead-Miami Speedway has been mixed. He has qualified well there in his two previous NASCAR Nextel Cup Series starts. But his finishes have been poor. He qualified third in his first Cup race at Miami and finished 38th in the race.
The following year, he qualified fourth, and ended up 41st.
The car his team is bringing to Miami for the season finale has a similar history. It qualified eighth at Kansas Speedway only to get caught up in accident and finish 41st.
It's been indicative of his season. Busch is fourth in the Chase standings and has an outside shot of moving up to third.
"It's been a good and exciting year, but it's been frustrating, too," said Busch, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. "I feel like we could have won so many more races, but because either I did something or we were involved in someone else's mistake we weren't able to get the finishes we deserved. It's a product of racing, and we can always say we could have done better because we only won one out of 36 races."
This will also be the last race for Busch with Hendrick Motorsports. He is moving to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2008 and Dale Earnhardt Jr. is moving from Dale Earnhardt Inc. to Hendrick Motorsports.
"It's probably going to hit me really hard when the checkered flag drops that I won't be in this car next year," Busch said. "I owe Rick Hendrick so much for getting me into this sport, bringing me along, dealing with the ups and downs and just being a great person and boss altogether. Winning that Busch race last week in Phoenix was emotional. All of us got emotional. This is where I started; I have a lot of friends here and it's going to be bittersweet leaving, but I'm also excited for a new beginning. I'd love to go out on top just to give the No. 5 car, Kellogg's and CARQUEST one final celebration."

Tony Stewart finished fourth in the race at Phoenix International Raceway and moved up one spot in the NASCAR Chase for the Nextel Cup standings. He is fifth and can move up as high as fourth before the season ends this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
He can also drop as far as 11th.
Stewart would rather be in contention for the championship. He was asked if the pressure isn't as high since he has no chance of catching the top three drivers, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon or Clint Bowyer, in the Cup standings.
“Trust me, I’d much rather have the pressure of being the point leader, or even remotely close to the point leader," said Stewart, driver of the No. 20 Chevrolet for Joe Gibbs Racing. "But being where we are does take a little bit of that edge off. Still, I’d much rather be right there in the middle of the championship knowing that we’ve got a shot of winning it. Pressure is a part of this business, and we’re all used to it by now.”
The car his team is bringing to Miami won its first two starts. It is the car that won the races at Chicagoland Speedway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
It is also the car that probably should have won the race at Kansas Speedway. Instead, it is the car that blew a tire and got tagged by Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards at Kansas. The car has been repaired and made two trips for testing in the wind tunnel before heading to Miami for the season finale.
“We’re just going out there to try and win the race," Stewart said. "That’s all we can do. We’re not in a championship battle, but we’re still in a battle for points. We still have to go out and do the best we can to get as many points as we can.”

Kasey Kahne will be one of the NASCAR drivers entered in the Turkey Night Grand Prix at Irwindale Speedway, the traditional night of USAC races. He may be the only Cup driver entered in this year's races.
His people said this will be the first time in at least five years that Kahne has raced on Turkey Night and he is really looking forward to it.
Kahne has his own USAC team and is expected to race one of his own cars.
Tony Stewart has his own USAC team as well, with Sprint Car champion Levi Jones as one of his drivers. Stewart raced in last year's Turkey Night Grand Prix, but he has no plans on racing this year.
Casey Mears was also at last year's Turkey Night Grand Prix, but he will skip this year's races too.
Kahne is expected to announce his plans for the Turkey Night Grand Prix after the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season ends on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

In the wake of Sam Hornish Jr. moving from Indy cars to NASCAR, Penske Racing announced Monday that Ryan Briscoe will race the team's No. 6 entry in the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series.
Briscoe raced primarily in the American Le Mans Series for Penske Racing in 2007. He won three races and finished second in the ALMS driver standings. He was also in the Indianapolis 500 in the No. 12 Symantec Luczo Dragon Racing entry, with equipment that was leased from Penske Racing. He finished fifth in the Indy 500.
“I am very excited to race for Team Penske, it’s a dream come true,” said Briscoe. “I really want to thank Roger (Penske) and Tim (Cindric) for believing in me and giving me this opportunity. Racing for Penske’s ALMS program in 2007 has been a highlight in my career, but open-wheel racing is where my heart lies, and I can't wait to race full time in the IndyCar Series for one of the best teams in open-wheel history.”
Hornish, a three-time IRL IndyCar Series champion and Indy 500 winner will drive in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2008. He was entered in the most recent Cup race at Phoenix International Raceway. He started 26th and finished 30th.
Briscoe will be teamed with Helio Castroneves in the two-car IRL Penske Racing team.
“Ryan has been a great addition to our organization. He did a terrific job at Indianapolis this year, and delivered for us in our ALMS program,” said Penske. “Obviously he has big shoes to fill with Sam moving over to our NASCAR team, but he has shown us that he has the talent to win in the IndyCar Series.”
Hornish will be teamed with drivers Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman on the Cup team.

The comparisons are there. No driver since Jeff Gordon in 1998 has won back-to-back championships. Jimmie Johnson is on the verge of ending that streak.
Johnson is on the verge of having a Gordon-esque season, the likes that were thought to be over.
He is already the first driver since Gordon to have 10 wins or more in a season. Johnson's win at Phoenix was his 10th of the year. Gordon won 13 in 1998.
Johnson won his fourth straight race. The last driver to win four races in a row: Gordon in 1998. After the race at Phoenix, Johnson was asked if he thinks he is turning into the next Jeff Gordon.
"Well, first of all, he would say it, too, and I don't want to be called the next Jeff Gordon," said Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. "I'm Jimmie Johnson. I've always done it my way. You talk to him, you look at our driving styles and anything we do, we're on opposite ends."
Johnson doesn't want to hear the comparisons, even though the numbers he is putting up this year are the type that made Gordon a legend and a nemesis early in his career.
"So we do have some common interests. We've been close friends, but I'm not Jeff Gordon," Johnson said. "So get that part out of the way. He has, I think when business men or yourself maybe with your career, you look at the guy that gave you that first chance."
That's how Johnson views Gordon: a mentor and a visionary.
"It wasn't really my first chance, but it was my chance," Johnson said. "It was my shot, it was Jeff. And Jeff was put in a position by Rick (Hendrick) to say I want this guy to drive our race cars. They were talking about the fourth team and what was going on. And Rick came to Jeff and said you believe him that much, put some skin in the game. Let's start up this team, and put some partners in it and get Jimmie Johnson and put him in the car."

Jimmie Johnson won again. Jeff Gordon finished 10th. With one race left in the Chase, Johnson has an 86-point lead over Gordon in the NASCAR Chase for the Nextel Cup standings.
Johnson won the Cup race at Phoenix, his fourth in a row, and extended his lead over his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Gordon. The season ends at Homestead-Miami Speedway next weekend, but it will be more of a victory parade than a race.
"It's over. Even if we win it, it's because they had problems," said Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. "And while we'll accept it, we don't want to do it that way."
Johnson won last year's Chase, the first of his career. Gordon entered the Chase second to Johnson in the standings, but Gordon was clearly the dominate driver of the regular season. But Johnson was the leader in the standings because he won one more race than Gordon before the Chase started.
No one has been better than Johnson's team in the last four races, though.
"And those guys have flat-out killed everybody," Gordon said. "You've got to give credit where credit's due. Those guys deserve a lot of credit. We didn't step up and win the races when we needed to. We gave them a run for a while and now we've got to figure out how to get the best finish we can at Homestead and end this season off on a positive note going into the off-season."

Ron Hornaday Jr. finished second in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Phoenix International Raceway and is still in second in the Truck Series standings.
He trails Mike Skinner by 29 points with one race to go -- next weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
"Cool. It is another race for us at Homestead," said Hornaday, driver of the No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado for Kevin Harvick Inc. "That is all we can do, is keep doing what we are doing and racing hard."
Hornaday said even before the race at Phoenix was over, his team was developing its strategy for the race at Homestead.
"We are doing everything we can," Hornaday said. "We are bringing the truck we wrecked in Texas. They went home and fixed it, put a new horn on it and everything. It is a pretty good piece. Some of the guys got it at the wind tunnel right now."
Hornaday wrecked late in the Texas race and posted an 18th-place finish. It put him well behind Skinner for the lead in the Truck Series standings.
But his second-place finish at Phoenix, couple with Skinner's 10th-place finish, will make the Homestead race interesting.
"I have a team that never says die and they work their guts out to figure out my favorite trucks and they have been bringing them back," Hornaday said. "We are going to do everything we have to do, run like we did and hopefully Skinner has problem in the pits again. I heard the jackman was jacking his kneecaps or something I heard."

Just because Jimmie Johnson has won three races in a row and is in the lead in the NASCAR Chase for the Nextel Cup standings, it is no time to relax. Sure it took a lot of hard work to pass Jeff Gordon for the lead, but Johnson said one race can change everything.
“We have momentum going our direction right now but it's only 30 points and if you look at the last two weeks, I've been able to make up roughly 60 points," said Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. "Jeff hasn't had bad races the last two events. He's had strong he finishes. So it's not like he's had bad nights. I can finish 10th, he can win, and I'm back in second."
Johnson sounds like he is approaching the last two races of the year realistically. Winning three races in a row is a rare feat, especially in this era of NASCAR Cup racing, but it might not be enough to secure a Cup championship.
Johnson will have a fairly new and winning race car at Phoenix International Raceway for this weekend's race. The car his team is bringing to Phoenix is the same car that won the race at Martinsville Speedway on Oct. 21. It was the first of his three straight wins in the Chase.
Further, it was a car that dominated the Martinsville race, leading 147 laps. In his wins at Atlanta and Texas, Johnson led a total of 17 laps.
Phoenix will be a crucial race in deciding the Cup championship. Johnson can secure it with a strong finish. Gordon can close the gap and make the season finale at Homestead-Miami very interesting.
"So we have a lot of work ahead of us and are happy to be in a position to race for the championship," Johnson said. "With good race tracks coming up for us, good race cars in the lineup and momentum from the victories, and our guys are showing up hungry every week, we’re trying to get as many points as we can.”

This is unfamiliar territroy for Jeff Gordon. He started the NASCAR Chase for the Nextel Cup in second place, after spending a majority of the regular season in first, but quickly erased the deficit and reclaimed the top spot in the standings.
That was until his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jimmie Johnson, won three races in a row and took over first place in the Chase standings.
Gordon said he doesn't like getting beat by Johnson, especially now, so late in the season and with the Cup championship at stake.
One thing in Gordon's favor is that he won the April race at Phoenix International Raceway, site of this weekend's Cup race. Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, has yet to win a Cup race at Phoenix in eight career starts at the track.
“Performance-wise, I think we have a little bit of an advantage over the 48 team here,” said Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. “But Jimmie’s tough here, and that team has shown they can step it up when they need to. It’s only a matter of time before he gets his first win here."
Gordon enters the Phoenix race trailing Johnson by 30 points. Clint Bowyer, the third-place driver in the Chase standings, is 151 points behind Gordon. Barring disaster, Gordon and Johnson will be fighting for the Cup championship at Phoenix and the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
“The best way for us to make sure they don’t get that win this weekend is to be the first across the finish line,” Gordon said. “It’s hard for anyone right now to step up and beat them. We’re just going to keep playing it smart and being consistent – just keep doing the things we’ve done all year. If it comes down to being smart and staying out of trouble, I think we still have a great shot at the championship.”

If there is anything playing into Clint Bowyer's favor for the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race at Phoenix International Raceway it is that his only Cup win has come at a track that is very similar to Phoenix.
Bowyer started the NASCAR Chase for the Nextel Cup by winning the race at New Hampshire International Speedway, a 1.058-mile oval and one of the tracks for NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow.
Phoenix is a 1-mile oval and another race for the Car of Tomorrow. But he finished 22nd in the April race at Phoenix.
"I like Phoenix, I think it is a perfect race track," said Bowyer, driver of the No. 07 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. "I like mile race tracks, I don't know if it fits my driving style differently, just really enjoy driving on mile race tracks. It is just big enough where aerodynamics are things that are a little bit of an issue, but you can also beat and bang on each other a little bit. If you knock a fender in, you can beat it out and still have a decent day."
Bowyer is third in the Chase standings and 181 points out of first. His team is bringing the same car to Phoenix it raced at New Hampshire.
"Phoenix is a fun race track," Bowyer said. "I am looking forward to it. We are bringing the car we won with at New Hampshire. I have a lot of confidence in that car, in the equipment and looking forward to having a good day at Phoenix."

Kyle Busch moved up two spots in the Chase standings and is in fourth place with two races to go. He is 339 points behind Jimmie Johnson, the leader in the NASCAR Chase for the Nextel Cup standings, and has little chance of catching him.
But since he is still in the Hendrick Motorsports camp -- and only for the next two races -- he was asked during the NASCAR teleconference on Tuesday to handicap his teammates in the next two races.
Johnson drives the No. 48 Chevrolet for Hendrick and Jeff Gordon, second in the Chase standings, is in the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick. The final two races in the Cup season are at Phoenix International Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway. The next race is at Phoenix.
"Well, Phoenix, Jimmie is always going to run well at Phoenix, and it's a COT (Car of Tomorrow) race, so it's going to be a pretty good deal for us because Hendrick Motorsports has done really, really well and Gibbs has done well, too," Busch said. "So they are going to be fast."
Johnson has won three races in a row. Gordon won the race at Phoenix in April.
"Jeff, he's finally got a win at Phoenix I believe earlier this year, and you know, was able to achieve that," Busch said. "So I think you're going to see Phoenix be a good race for us, for all of the Hendrick cars, and Jeff and Jimmie especially."
If Gordon can repeat his performance at Phoenix, it will make for an interesting final race at Miami.
"Of course, Homestead, I think besides Jimmie's bad luck at Homestead, they do have – when they do finish well, they do finish in the top five," Busch said. "I don't foresee those guys finishing outside of the top five there these next two weeks."

Carl Edwards finished 26th at Texas Motor Speedway, but it was enough to move up a spot in the NASCAR Chase for the Nextel Cup standings. He passed Tony Stewart for fifth place in the standings. With two races left, Edwards can realistically move as high as fourth before the season ends. He has almost no shot of catching Jimmie Johnson, who is in first and 357 points ahead of Edwards.
Edwards will have a brand new chassis for this weekend's race at Phoenix Intenrational Raceway. In his five previous starts at Phoenix, Edwards has finished in the top five twice and the top 10 four times.
“I am excited to go to Phoenix; I like Phoenix a lot," said Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing. "It is the first place that I raced on pavement back in 2001, when I went and raced in the USAC Silver Crown race. I loaded up everything I owned in a pickup truck that I borrowed from one of my buddies and headed out to Phoenix. It was pretty cool – a very monumental experience and a turning point in my career.”
HIs Cup record at Phoenix is pretty impressive, but he has yet to win a race there. He doesn't need to win to move up in the standings. He trails Kyle Busch by 18 points for fourth place. And even though he hasn't won a Cup race at Phoenix, he did win a Busch Series race there.
“Since then I’ve been back to Phoenix a number of times and enjoyed racing there every time," Edwards said. "My Busch Series win there was a great win for me and we’ve run really well there in the Cup car. My Office Depot team has a great Car of Tomorrow program, especially on the short tracks and I am looking forward to a great race this weekend.”

During last year's NASCAR Chase for the Nextel Cup, Jimmie Johnson went into race at Texas Motor Speedway trailing Matt Kenseth by 26 points and left with a 17-point lead in the standings.
This time around, Johnson headed into Texas trailing Jeff Gordon by nine points and left with a 30-point lead in the standings.
Johnson was asked if this year feels any way like last year's Chase.
"It's more of a coincidence than anything," said Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. "This year is so much different than last that it's tough to find enough similarities or parallels to the racing as what's gone on."
Johnson didn't lose his lead in the Chase standings after the Texas race last year and went on to win his first Cup championship. There are two races left in this year's Chase and Johnson, after winning three races in a row, looks like he is about to repeat history, although Johnson isn't exactly convinced of that yet.
"So it's tough to say," Johnson said. "If it all works out, I guess we can look back on it and say, yeah, this is like 2006 but it's such a different year and different team that's racing for the championship. It's just totally different."

The race at Texas Motor Speedway was probably the one that ended Clint Bowyer's chances of winning the NASCAR Chase for the Nextel Cup.
He lost two laps at one point in the race and posted a disappointing 19th-place finish at Texas. He is still in third place, but he is 181 points out of first with two races to go.
"I am disappointed and frustrated for everybody on this Jack Daniel's Chevrolet team; my guys have fought hard all season," said Bowyer, driver of the No. 07 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing.
Even though Bowyer is in a deep hole with only two races left in the season, he is not about to give up.
"We are down but not out in the Chase," Bowyer said. "There is no give up in this team. We are going to take it a lap at a time, race at a time and keep fighting until the checkered flag falls at Homestead."

Jimmie Johnson won his third race in a row. Jeff Gordon finished seventh at Texas Motor Speedway. Now there is a new leader in the NASCAR Chase for the Nextel Cup standings.
Johnson has a 30-point lead in the standings with two races to go. Gordon said 30 points isn't much -- he had a nine-point lead heading into the Texas race. Getting beat three races in a row is a problem.
"We've got to go put some pressure back on them and outperform them," said Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. "We thought our qualifying run we had there was going to get us the track position we needed but we just couldn't maintain it. And Phoenix is a good track for us and we'll go there and fight hard just like we did tonight. Hopefully we can get those points back."
The last two races on the Cup schedule are at Phoenix International Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway. The next race is at Phoenix.
The championship race is still pretty much a two-car race. Clint Bowyer is in third place, but 181 points out of first. He came into the Texas race 111 points out of first.
Gordon said after the Texas race that Johnson's team is "spanking" his.
"They're putting it to us. I don't like it," Gordon said. "We're very competitive and we're just getting beat. We've got to go to work. We've got to get it back. Those guys have done an excellent job coming from behind there a little bit when we won those couple of races, and now here they are with three in a row and they're on a great roll. We've got to answer back. That's all there is to it."

1. Jimmie Johnson (6,382 points, -0) +1
2. Jeff Gordon (6,352 points, -30) -1
3. Clint Bowyer (6,201 points, -181) 0
4. Kyle Busch (6,043 points, -339) +2
5. Carl Edwards (6,025 points, -357) -1

Cruz Pedregon, carrying the Haddock in the Paddock logo on his Funny Car, struggled through the final day of qualifying for the Auto Club of Southern California Finals at Pomona. He did not make the field, the top 16 drivers in the NHRA Funny Car division.
But he did score a big win for his USAC Midget team.
Tony Hunt, a five-time USAC champion whose most recent title came in 2006 when he won the Western Sprint championship, will race one of two entries for Cruz Pedregon Racing at the Turkey Night Grand Prix at Irwindale Speedway.
Josh Wise, another USAC champion driver, will be in the other Midget car for Cruz Pedregon Racing at the Turkey Night Grand Prix on Thanksgiving night at Irwindale Speedway.
"Two chances to win one of the biggest races of the year is a big thing for me," Pedregon said.
Pedregon, who races his own Midgets cars from time to time, will not be entered in the Turkey Night Grand Prix as a driver. But he is planning on racing at Ventura Raceway before making a run at the Chili Bowl in Tulsa, Okla., in January.
"Pavement is not my forte," Pedregon said. "I've done a lot of dirt racing in my career. It would be fun, but dirt is what I prefer to race on. I think I'm pretty good on the dirt. I'd like to go there and win the race. It's a big enough race. I think it would be great for all our sponsors if I could have a team win the Turkey Night Grand Prix."

Would Haddock in the Paddock be a curse or a blessing for the Pedgregon Racing team? For the second race in a row, Haddock in the Paddock was riding along with the Pedregon brothers in the NHRA Powerade Drag Racing Series.
The extra weight didn't seem to bother Tony Pedregon in Las Vegas last week. He not only won the Funny Car division and extended his lead in the standings, but saw the other three drivers in the Countdown to One, the new NHRA playoffs, lose in the first round. That gave Pedregon a very comfortable lead in the Funny Car standings with one race to go.
Brother Cruz, who also was carrying the Haddock in the Paddock logo, wasn't so fortunate. He was one of the 10 drivers who did not qualify for the elimination rounds at the Auto Club NHRA Finals in Pomona.
Tony made it in the field, but it wasn't exactly the way he planned it. He was the 16th and last driver to qualify for eliminations.
He said qualifying Saturday was very stressful.
"I don't like fishing, but I'm thinking there's gotta be a better way to make a living," said Tony Pedregon, who can all but wrap up the Funny Car championship with a first-round win over Jeff Arend. "Typically, we don't qualify 16th; we don't qualify 15th. Normally, for the most part of the season, we qualified up in the top half. The last few races, we qualified in the top three."
If Tony Pedregon can work his way through the field and win the last race of the year after qualifying 16th, it would make for quite a story. He said Vince Lombardi, the legendary football coach of the Green Bay Packers, had a philosophy that fit into that category.
"Anytime anything's harder to achieve, I think it's a little more gratifying," Tony Pedregon said. "I hope I can say that tomorrow.
"I would love to determine the outcome of this championship by winning the first round instead of getting beat and waiting all day to see if these guys win or see if they set a national record. I'd like to put this thing to bed."

Teammates Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are locked in a tight battle for the NASCAR Chase for the Nextel Cup. Gordon leads his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson by nine points with three races to go.
Gordon said this year reminds him a little bit like it was in 1996.
Back then, Terry Labonte was Gordon's teammate. Labonte won the Cup championship that year in cars that were very similar to Gordon's.
The past three years have been like that 1996 for Gordon. The cars Johnson and Gordon have raced have been very similar, but Johnson has been the one winning the most races and the most recent Cup championship.
"It is and it is probably one of the things I have beat myself up the most about the last three or four years is the fact that I have pretty much known that we are getting our butts beat by the No. 48 team," said Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. Johnson drives the No. 48 car.
"You can have the exact same equipment and if you don't have the chemistry of the team and the confidence and support surrounding you and vice versa, then you are not going to get the full benefits of that," Gordon said. "Right now, these two teams are as tight and as close to having all those ingredients that I have ever seen since we have had both cars under one roof. Anything coming out of Hendrick Motorsports, it is pretty incredible what we have been able to achieve there, we are having a lot of fun and enjoying this success and this type of chemistry and I think it has made for a great -- call it rivalry or whatever -- it is just competitiveness among the cars and teams at Hendrick that is fantastic and exciting."
When Labonte's was Gordon's teammate, the difference in the teams was the crew chief. Gordon said Gary Dehart made the difference for Labonte's team.
"Although, I will say that because Jimmie's driving style is different enough, they play with this car only, because you can't do it on the Car of Tomorrow, to make differences for Jimmie that is different from what we do," Gordon said. "So each car is still, the capabilities are there, but they are a little bit different in the setups, which is typical for us."

Ron Hornaday Jr. looked like he was on his way to his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Texas Motor Speedway. But instead he was sent spinning late in the race and finished 18th.
That coupled with a third-place finish by Mike Skinner and Hornaday heads into the last two races of the year with a 57-point deficit in the Truck Series standings.
"Is that all? That is good," said Hornaday, driver of the No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado for Kevin Harvick Inc. "I see the way they are playing games right now, Bill Davis had another truck in there and it seemed like all he wanted to do is block all day. We know how to play it now, we are going to have fun."
Skinner drives one of the Toyotas for Bill Davis Racing in the Truck Series.
Hornaday is second in the standings and trails Skinner. The next race is at Phoenix International Raceway, followed by the final race of the year at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Hornaday had the lead before the second-to-last restart of the race. He was collected in a late-race collision and suffered severe front-end damage to his truck.
"It was NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series racing at its finest," Hornaday said. "We were racing and I didn't know the 8 truck (Chad McCumbee) was coming up there to make it three-wide and I knew Mike was going to get a good run on me cause he laid back. I thought I got a good enough start, but when you lay back you are going to get a good run and that's part of racing. Two trucks slow each other down and the eight truck got a run under us as and we got three-wide in there and I don't know if Mike's truck sucked me around or the 8 or whatever, but I got wrecked."

It's Jimmie Johnson's turn to try and win three races in a row. Jeff Gordon put together back-to-back victories to build his lead in the NASCAR Chase for the Nextel Cup standings. Johnson used back-to-back wins to climb within nine points of the lead.
If Johnson, the defending Cup champion, can win at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend, he can pass Gordon for the lead in the standings.
“It’s being in the right frame of mind and having the patience for the season and for the Chase; you only learn that from experience," said Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. "And that experience of really the last five seasons, including last year’s Chase and championship, have just continued to make me smarter and stronger, and the same for the team. Experience is everything. You can talk to anyone in sports and they’ll take experience over age regardless of the discipline.”
Johnson will have a good car at Texas. It won at Atlanta in March, Las Vegas and the Labor Day race at California Speedway. It also won the All-Star Challenge at Lowe's Motor Speedway in 2006.