Ginn Settles Out Of Court With Four
Former Ginn Racing drivers Joe Nemechek and Sterling Marlin as well as former crew chiefs Peter Sospenzo and Richard "Slugger" Labbe apparently have reached settlements with former team owner Bobby Ginn. All four cases - filed in North Carolina Superior Court in Concord, N.C. - have been dismissed, indicating that settlements have been reached.

The drivers and crew chiefs were asking for the fulfillment of their contracts. The case files do not indicate how much they were paid, only that the drivers and crew chiefs have dismissed their claims.

Ginn Racing merged with Dale Earnhardt Inc. in July, leaving Nemechek, Marlin, Sospenzo and Labbe as well as several other crew members without jobs. There are still two lawsuits involving other crew members pending against Ginn.(scenedaily.com)

Knaus Crew Chief Of Race Award
Chad Knaus and the No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools team arrived at Texas Motor Speedway on the wave of momentum. Two consecutive victories had placed the Hendrick Motorsports team only nine points behind the leader in the driver championship. For Sunday’s running of the Dickies 500, the team did not let up. Knaus and his driver, Jimmie Johnson, proved once again why they are considered one of the formidable partnerships in the garage, driving away from Texas clinching their ninth win of the season. For Knaus, it was a demonstration of strategic planning and racing knowledge as the No. 48 crew chief made a late race call that differed from the teams around him, eventually earning their well-deserved victory. For this outstanding effort, Knaus was awarded the WYPALL* Wipers Crew Chief of the Race.

Through the first 300 laps of the 334-lap race, Johnson and Knaus ran a cautious race strategy, maintaining track position and keeping the No. 48 Chevrolet within striking distance of the leaders. A caution flag on lap 300 brought the top five cars, including Johnson, through pit road for final pit stops of the race. While many of his crew chief counterparts opted for a quick two tire stop, Knaus called to change all four, giving Johnson a full set of fresh rubber. Heading back to the track after dropping to the fifth position, it did not take Johnson long to move up into a position to challenge for the lead. An ensuing battle for the lead raged between the No. 48 and No. 17, with Johnson edging ahead for the final two laps of the race to take the checkered flag. Accolades for Knaus’ race day leadership came from not only Johnson, but also team owner Rick Hendrick.

“With 30 laps to go, Chad, the great field commander, made a very gutsy call” said Hendrick. “He had us take on 4 tires when the rest of the leaders took just two. We were fifth in track position. As soon as the green flag racing started we were able to pass all the leaders because we had four fresh tires and that call won us the race.” The win proved even more satisfying, as Johnson has now taken a 30-point lead in the championship standings.

A panel of judges, including a member of the local media, Robbie Reiser, Kenny Francis and a WYPALL* Wipers spokesmen, all agreed Knaus was the deserving winner. “It seemed the right decision to take two tires on the last stop, however, it was obvious that the fresh tires made the difference,” said Reiser on Knaus’ pit road decision. “That was some awesome racing at the end. If it wasn’t for the four tires, I don’t know if Jimmie would have caught up. But he did. That’s the difference a decision like Chad’s can make.”

As the WYPALL* Wipers Crew Chief of the Race, Knaus received $1,000. Mike Ford is the current leader in the overall standings with five wins. Bob Osborne and Chad Knaus are currently second with fours wins. Robbie Reiser and Steve Letarte are third with three wins each, while Tony Eury Jr., Jimmy Elledge, Larry Carter and Donnie Wingo all have two wins apiece. Pat Tryson, Tony Gibson, Mike Nelson, Darian Grubb, Alan Gustafson, Chip Bolin and Ryan Pemberton each have one win. At the end of the season, the crew chief with the most wins will receive $20,000 and be crowned WYPALL* Wipers Crew Chief of the Year.

Gene Haas Sentenced To 2 Years
Haas CNC Racing team owner Gene Haas was sentenced today (Monday) to two years in federal prison after pleading guilty to one count of tax fraud in August. U.S. District Court Judge Christina A. Snyder issued the sentence Monday in accordance with guidelines set in the previously agreed to plea bargain in federal court in Los Angeles. Haas will begin serving his prison term Jan. 14, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Haas, who was arrested in June 2006 after a lengthy investigation, agreed to pay $34.2 million in back taxes for the years 2000 and 2001, as well as a $5-million fine. With statutory penalties and interest on the back taxes, Haas has paid more than $70 million to the government to resolve his tax issues for 2000 and 2001.

"Mr. Haas has now paid the government more than twice the amount of taxes he attempted to avoid paying," said U.S. Attorney Thomas P. O'Brien in a statement. "This huge monetary penalty, as well as the two-year prison term, should reassure law-abiding citizens that tax evasion can and will be rooted out, and that there are significant ramifications."

Haas is the owner of Haas Automation, which is the largest dollar-volume machine tool builder in North America and the largest unit-volume builder of CNC machines in the world.

He is required to serve 85 percent of the sentence before being considered for release, so he will have to serve at least 20 months and 12 days in prison.

Officials with the race team, which has hired Jeremy Mayfield and Scott Riggs as its drivers for next season, have indicated that it does not expect an impact from Haas' pending imprisonment. The team is owned by Haas Automation. When the plea bargain was agreed to in August, Haas' attorneys released a statement indicating that Haas relied on the wrong people for financial and accounting advice and made a mistake in filing the erroneous returns.(scenedaily.com)

Overnight Ratings Down
ABC's broadcast of Sunday's Dickies 500 NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway earned a 3.6 overnight Nielsen Media Research rating, Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Daily reports. The figure is 10 percent lower than the 4.0 NBC earned overnight for the race in 2006.(scenedaily.com)