Kenseth Wins Race ~ Johnson Is Champion
Matt Kenseth won the Ford 400 NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday but the day belonged to Jimmie Johnson and his crew for winning back-to-back Nextel Cup Championships. Kenseth dominated the race, leading 213 of 267 laps was never seriously challenged -- even when pit stops put him behind, he was able to easily drive back to the front. This is Kenseth's second victory of the 2007 season and the 16th of his 292 race career. Kenseth was languishing in 12th place in the chase until the past four or five weeks. That's when they came alive and Kenseth finished fourth in the Championship point standings. It also was the end of a partnership between Kenseth and his crew chief Robbie Reiser. After working with Kenseth for nine years in the Cup Series, Reiser will move up the ladder in the Roush Fenway organization to become the General Manager. "It feels great to win one," said Kenseth, who blew out a rear tire doing burnouts. "I guess I blew out a quarter panel -- at least we don't have to race it again."

Kurt Busch finished second and Denny Hamlin was third. Jeff Gordon, who trailed Jimmie Johnson by 86 points in the standings going into the race, finished fourth and gained only nine points in an effort to win his fifth Championship. Carl Edwards brought his Ford home in the fifth spot followed by Martin Truex Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Burton, Mark Martin and rookie David Ragan to round out the top ten. Ricky Rudd, running in his 906th and final race, finished 21st on the day.

Johnson won four of the last five races to snatch the Championship away from Gordon. It was the 7th Cup Series Championship for car owner Rick Hendrick. Jeff Gordon set a record along the way also, he finished in the top-ten in 30 of 36 races, a new modern era record. That concludes the 2007 Nextel Cup Series, the Sprint Cup Series moves to Daytona International Speedway on February 17th, 2008, for the Daytona 500. The Budweiser Shootout will be run on Saturday February 9th, 2008.
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)

Billy Hagan Dies
Billy Hagan, whose team won the Nextel Cup championship with driver Terry Labonte in 1984, died Friday. He was 75. Hagan (born March 22, 1932-November 16, 2007) in Lillie, Louisiana) is a former NASCAR driver/owner. He made three starts in NASCAR's Grand National/Winston Cup division, finishing eighth in his first start, the inaugural Talladega 500 in a self-owned 1968 Mercury. He didn't field another car until 1975, finishing 19th once again at Talladega. He also fielded a car for five races for Skip Manning.

In 1976, he fielded the #92 Stratagraph Chevrolet for Manning, and he won Rookie of the Year honors. Manning was released in 1978, and replaced by Terry Labonte. Labonte won the Southern 500, and won the championship together in 1984. Labonte left the team in 1986, and was replaced by Sterling Marlin. Labonte returned to the team in 1991, but was unable to continue their success. 1994, marked Hagan's last season as a single car owner, fielding cars for John Andretti and Randy MacDonald. In 1996, his shop was purchased by Triad Motorsports.

Hagan continued to serve as a co-owner of the operation until the team's demise in 1999.

Go-Or-Go-Home Cars To Qualify In Separate Group In 2008
Cars not guaranteed starting spots because they’re not in the top 35 in car owner points will qualify together at the beginning of qualifying sessions in 2008, Nextel Cup Series director John Darby confirmed Saturday.

“We’ll group them up front,” Darby said in the garage at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Qualifying order for all cars entered in Cup events has been set by a random draw. But some complained that “go-or-go-home” cars qualifying early or late in the draw, depending on weather and track conditions, might have an unfair advantage toward making the race on speed.

Darby said that NASCAR could have changed the rule during the season. “But then if you think you missed a race because of where you qualified in February or March, and we change it in April, people would have said that’s not fair,” Darby said.

“We thought it would be better to say that as of Jan. 1, 2008, this is the way we’re going to do it.”(thatsracin.com)

New Media Center For Homestead
When the NASCAR media press corps return to Homestead-Miami Speedway for Ford Championship Weekend in 2008, there will be even more to cheer than the crowning of NASCAR's champions. Homestead-Miami Speedway-home to the final races of the 36-week NASCAR campaign-will construct a new state-of-the-art press facility in time for the November 2008 season-finale, Speedway President Curtis Gray announced.

The new 18,000 square-foot, two-story media facility-scheduled for completion in September 2008-will be centrally located within the garage area and include: