NASCAR Daily News Headlines * November 29, 2007

Sprint Rejects Buyout?

Donahue and the investment group made the offer in a letter before Nov. 22, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the approach was private. They proposed buying Sprint securities that would later convert into equity for 20 percent to 30 percent more than the current stock price.

Sprint, based in Reston, Virginia, has been searching for a new chief executive officer since Gary Forsee departed in October after 337,000 subscribers defected in the third quarter. Customers have left for AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless after complaining about dropped calls and poor customer service. Donahue, 58, was chairman following the 2005 merger with Nextel until he retired last year.

The board didn't meet with Donahue or the investors before turning down the deal, the person said. The group isn't interested in pursuing a hostile takeover.(bloomberg.com)

48 Team Wins Pit Crew Award

The No. 48 Lowe’s Team also won the year-end award in 2004, making them the first-ever repeat winner of the award. The No. 48 Team follows the No. 24 Dupont Team (2nd Quarter) as the second team from Hendrick Motorsports to win a Mechanix Wear Most Valuable Pit Crew quarterly award in 2007.

The Mechanix Wear Most Valuable Pit Crew Award is given quarterly throughout the NASCAR Nextel Cup

Season. At the end of each quarter, the winning pit crew is determined by a vote of each team’s crew chief. The four quarterly winners are eligible for the year-end Mechanix Wear Most Valuable Pit Crew Award and a check for $100,000 awarded at the 2007 NASCAR National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) Myers Brothers Awards Luncheon in New York City on November 29, 2007.

“The No. 48 Lowe’s Team for Hendrick Motorsports has had one of the finest seasons in recent history and the pit crew was a key component to the overall success of the team,” said Ted Abdon, Mechanix Wear director of racing. “The No. 48 team has now won back-to-back championships at the highest level of the sport. The Over-The-Wall Pit Crew of the Lowe’s team has embodied what it means to be a team all season long, and we are proud to present this award to them for their hard work and dedication throughout the Championship season.”

Nextel Cup Champions Week - Day 4

The photo session was one of the major highlights of the day which included an appearance at the NASCAR NMPA Myers Brothers Media Luncheon at Cipriani 42nd Street (see next page for a list of award winners), and a private dinner at the Waldorf=Astoria Hotel on Park Avenue, where the drivers each sign mats that will be used in framing their champion’s “class picture.” Their evening was to be capped by attending the invitation-only Sprint Party at New York’s Marquee night club.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished 16th in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series standings, won the Chex Cereals Most Popular Driver Award for the fifth consecutive year.

“I was pretty honored for my fans to back me up and win the award for me again this year,” Earnhardt said. “It’s a coveted award. Looking at past years, it’s very hard to win. I never thought or anticipated that I would be winning this award. There are a lot of drivers who would be proud to have it and I’m proud to come hear again and pick it up.”

The visionary Bill France Jr., who passed away last June, won the Myers Brothers Award. Betty Jane France accepted the award to a standing ovation on behalf of her late husband and former NASCAR Chairman and CEO.

The day’s events were the biggest so far for NASCAR’s six 2007 regional and developmental series champions, who joined their national series peers for the Cipriani luncheon and the Brooklyn Bridge photo session.

Andrew Ranger of Quebec, champion of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, best known as a Champ Car driver prior to 2007, and is meeting his fellow NASCAR champions for the first time. “This is my first time to New York, and I’m really surprised at how big the city is,” Ranger said. “NASCAR has given us a huge opportunity to come here and meet a lot of people. Normally, you win a championship, get a trophy and go home. To be here in the same room with Jimmie Johnson and Juan Pablo Montoya makes my first NASCAR championship even more special.”

Joey Logano, 17, of Middletown, Conn., is NASCAR’s Grand National Division, Busch East Series champion. A developmental driver for Joe Gibbs Racing, he’s already well known to NASCAR national series drivers, but he’s never seen how national series drivers receive their honors. “It’s pretty cool to see what NASCAR does with its champions in New York. There is so much more that goes on behind the scenes before the banquet that you don’t see on television. It’s been a great experience and I’m just trying to take it all in.”

Of all the NASCAR champions in attendance, Steve Carlson of West Salem, Wisc., is the veteran of the experience. Carlson is the 2007 NASCAR Whelen All American Series national champion. He’s been to the New York celebration twice before as a champion of NASCAR’s former Elite Division, the same title he won when the champion’s photo shoot was held at past locations including Atlanta, Ga. and Homestead, Fla. Without a touring series to race in, I thought my travel days to the New York banquet were done,” Carlson said. “My weekly track (LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway) is five blocks from my house and it’s NASCAR sanctioned. We started out to run part time there this season and then went full time because we started winning and won the national championship and made it back to the champion’s event in New York. NASCAR really honors its champions, and it’s pretty cool. It’s big.”

Other NASCAR touring champions introduced at Thursday’s luncheon include NASCAR Grand National Division, West Series champion Mike David of Modesto, Calif., NASCAR Whelen Modified Series champion Donnie Lia of Jericho, N.Y., and NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Series champion L.W. Miller of Mooresville, N.C. NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday Jr., and NASCAR Busch Series champion Carl Edwards.

NASCAR Champions Week reaches a crescendo Friday, with the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Awards Ceremony at the Waldorf=Astoria Grand Ballroom. Earlier in the day, all the champions will appear at Fanfest at Hard Rock Café in Times Square.

Friday, Johnson and his team will pose for formal photos on New York City’s Park Avenue before attending several pre-awards ceremony receptions. That night, Johnson officially will be crowned the 2007 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series champion; the awards ceremony begins at 7 p.m. in the Waldorf=Astoria’s venerable Grand Ballroom. ESPN Classic will air the ceremony at 9 p.m. (ET).