Johnson Wins 10th Race
Jimmie Johnson put the final nail in Jeff Gordon's Nextel Cup Championship hopes on Sunday by winning the Checker Auto Parts 500K at Phoenix International Raceway. Incredibly, it was the fourth straight victory for Johnson and it hasn't been done since Jeff Gordon accomplished the feat in 1998. Johnson will be going for a five in-a-row next week and that hasn't been done since Richard Petty did it in 1971. "We only have seven more days until we do it again, I'll just try to keep my mind clear and take care of the things that I can control," said Johnson. I'll make sure my guys are doing the same thing and focus on next weekend. Now we've won four and you have to have four before you can win five."

It was Johnson's tenth victory of the season, the 33rd win of his 218 race career. Johnson increased his lead over Jeff Gordon, who finished tenth on the day, to an 86 point lead and a 241 point over third place in the standings driver, Clint Bowyer. Johnson has to finish only 18th or better to wrap up his second straight championship. "I'm lucky to be in cars that are capable of winning races," Johnson continued. "The pit stops and the pit crews, they put me in that position. I've dumbfounded and I'm just as shocked as everyone else watching. I couldn't be more proud of this race team. We just have to go down to Homestead and be smart."

Greg Biffle was closing fast on Johnson in the final laps but Johnson saw what he was doing and picked up the pace. Biffle held on to second place. Matt Kenseth was third and Tony Stewart finished fourth and pit troubles early in the race. Ryan Newman brought his Dodge home in the fifth spot followed by Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, Jeff Burton and Jeff Gordon to round out the top ten.

This is the sixth consecutive victory for Hendrick Motorsports. -- The Nextel Cup Series moves to Homestead-Miami Speedway next Sunday November 18th, 2007, for the Ford 400. This will be the final race of a 36 race season. The race is scheduled to start at 3:00 p.m. Eastern time and will be covered by ABC television.
To read the full article...     (Insider Racing News)
For full final race results...     (Insider Racing News)
For top-40 Nextel Cup drivers points...     (Insider Racing News)

Not As Easy As It Looks
Open-wheel expatriates Jacques Villenueve, Sam Hornish, Jr. and Patrick Carpentier all qualified for Sunday’s Checker Auto Parts 500 on speed, but some of the Nextel Cup regulars cautioned afterwards that the transition to big-time stock cars is still much more difficult than it looks.

“This stock car thing is pretty tough,” said Hornish’s teammate at Penske Racing, Kurt Busch. “I don’t think it should be taken for granted that this is easy to do even though we are having an onslaught of open-wheel drivers heading our way. (Juan Pablo) Montoya has made it look like it’s something that people can do, but it is much tougher than it looks. So, I think Montoya has done a good job for what he has done this season. I’m looking forward to helping Sam in getting him up to speed and to racing against him for race wins as quick as we can at Penske.”

Kasey Kahne, who is Carpentier’s teammate at Gillett Evernham Motorsports said he was pleasantly impressed by the Canadian driver’s performance in qualifying. “Truthfully, I was surprised,” Kahne said when asked what he thought of Carpentier making the race. “It is so hard to make these races. We’ve seen it all year long with all these drivers. … It is tough and he popped it right in there.”

Carpentier has had support this weekend from long-time Nextel Cup regular Ken Schrader, who’s doing consulting work for Gillett Evernham Motorsports, trying to help the team’s new driver get up to speed as soon as possible.(speedtv.com)

Jay Frye Looking For Work
Former MB2 Motorsports and Ginn Racing General Manager Jay Frye, one of many casualties of the fire sale of Ginn to Dale Earnhardt, Inc. earlier this season, was back in the garage at Phoenix International Raceway Saturday, ending a hiatus of several races. Frye said he has had numerous inquiries from other teams about his availability and expects to be gainfully employed again soon. “I’m looking at what’s available,” said Frye. “There are a lot of good opportunities out there.”(speedtv.com)

NASCAR Movies In Works
With the smashing success of “Cars,” “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” and the critical acclaim garnered by “Dale,” it’s no real surprise more NASCAR movies are coming down the pike. An independent film called “Red Dirt Rising” is under production now. It is being filmed in Archdale, N.C., with a scheduled release date of May 2008. The film chronicles a family of moonshiners turned racers in the 1930s and 1940s.

NASCAR is also lending its backing to another big-budget Hollywood film, details of which are being kept under wraps for the time being. Worse yet, completion of the script has been halted, at least temporarily, by the Hollywood writer’s strike.(speedtv.com)