NASCAR Daily News Headlines * December 6, 2007

Work Underway At Darlington

Craven took a quick turn at the concrete saw along the start-finish line at the track "Too Tough To Tame." Some of the stripe will head to Darlington's museum right outside the track. Another piece will reside in the new NASCAR Hall of Fame museum under construction in Charlotte, N.C.

Craven, with two tires going flat, made it to that stripe two-thousandths of a second ahead of Kurt Busch in the 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 in the closest finish since NASCAR began electronic timing in 1993.

Nearby the start-finish line, construction continued on a massive infield-access tunnel that will go under turns three and four. The track also redid its pit stalls for next May's Dodge Avenger 500. "This is the first really big step in a five-year plan," Darlington president Chris Browning said. "And I can't wait to keep it going." Browning says the track should look ready for racing sometime in January.(SI)

Dale Jr's Switch Top Story

Members of the media ranked the top highlights of the 2007 NASCAR season on NASCARMedia.com. A total of 141 votes were cast online between Nov. 26 and Dec. 4. Each highlight received 10 points for a first-place vote, nine points for a second-place vote, eight points for a third-place vote, etc. down to one point for 10th.

Earnhardt’s announcements garnered 64 first-place votes and finished with 1,243 points. Jimmie Johnson winning his second consecutive NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series championship earned 16 first-place votes and finished second with 1,028 points. Johnson became the first repeat champion in the series since Jeff Gordon successfully defended his championship in 1998.

Gordon passing Dale Earnhardt on the all-time wins list was voted the third top highlight of the year. The four-time champion picked up career wins number 76 and 77 at Phoenix International Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway, respectively, to move into sixth place all-time.

The close finishes at Daytona International Speedway were named the fourth top moment in 2007. The combined Margin of Victory in Kevin Harvick’s thrilling Daytona 500 victory over Mark Martin (.020 seconds) and Jamie McMurray’s Pepsi 400 win over Kyle Busch (.005 seconds) was only 0.025 seconds.

The introduction of the Car of Tomorrow at Bristol Motor Speedway was voted the fifth top story. The new car was the culmination of a seven-year research and development process by NASCAR and it raced 16 times in 2007. The car will race fulltime in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series beginning next season.

The rest of the top 10 highlights of 2007, according to the media, are: Juan Pablo Montoya becoming the first Hispanic driver to win a race in NASCAR’s top two series, Clint Bowyer winning his first career race as the No. 12 seed in the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, Johnson outdueling Matt Kenseth for the win in the closing laps of the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, the thrilling finish in NASCAR’s first-ever national series race in Canada and Ron Hornaday Jr. becoming the second driver in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series history to win three championships.

Hornaday To Run Bobsled Challenge

Craftsman Truck Series Champion Ron Hornaday, NASCAR Whelen All-American Series National Champion Steve Carlson, and NASCAR Grand National Busch East Series Champion Joey Logano have joined NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Champion Donny Lia, NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour Champion L.W. Miller, Nextel Cup driver and three-race Bodine Challenge winner Boris Said, and NHRA driver and previous Bobsled Challenge competitor Morgan Lucas, in the field of racecar drivers piloting bobsleds down the icy chute.

"This year's event is becoming a race of champions with the inclusion of Steve Carlson, L.W. Miller and Donny Lia," said Phil Kurze, vice president of motorsports for Whelen Engineering and president of the Bo-Dyn bobsled project. "These short-track champions will have the chance to show the rest of the competitors how talented they are.

"This year part of the rewards of being a champion in a Whelen sponsored NASCAR Series is the invitation to be part of the Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge. Each and every one of the champions jumped at the opportunity. Remember, it was a short-track racer (Mike Stefanik) that finished with a bronze medal last year."