Most Popular Vote Tops 3 Million
The NASCAR NMPA Chex® Most Popular Driver award recently surpassed the 3 million mark in votes, and voters are still logging in daily. This new tally tops last year’s total of 2.8 million votes cast, but we don’t want fans to stop here. Can the award top four million votes? We think it can with your help. Log on to the Chex® Most Popular Driver Website at (www.mostpopulardriver.com) once a day, each day, through Monday, November 19, 2007 at 11:59 a.m. CST and make your vote count. Make your favorite driver the most popular driver.

The current list of top-ten drivers, in no particular order, includes Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Dale Jarrett, Jimmie Johnson, Elliott Sadler, Tony Stewart and Michael Waltrip.

“The season is coming to a close, but fans continue to show their loyalty both to the sport and this very important award,” said Rohan Thakur, marketing manager for Chex cereals. “We hope the fans will keep voting up until the last race of the season.”

The NASCAR NMPA Chex® Most Popular Driver winner will receive the award on Thursday, November 29, 2007 at the annual Myers Brothers Luncheon held in conjunction with the Nextel Cup Series’ end-of -year banquet in New York City.

The award has been given annually since 1956. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has four consecutive wins in the voting competition, with his most recent win coming in 2006. He joined drivers Bill Elliott and Richard Petty as the only drivers to win four consecutive awards.

Fan Day At RCR
Richard Childress Racing (RCR) will host a fan appreciation day Fri., Oct. 12 at its Welcome facility less than an hour northeast of Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord. The RCR Fan Day, scheduled for 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., will be highlighted by autograph sessions with all the RCR drivers, including Chase for the Cup contenders Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick. Richard Childress, Scott Wimmer, Tim McCreadie, members of the famed “Flying Aces” pit crew, and Childress’ grandsons Austin and Ty Dillon are also scheduled to sign autographs between 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. Tickets for the 30-minute sessions will be handed out ahead of time on a first-come/first-serve basis.

The day’s activities will also include tours of the RCR Racing Museum, pit stop ride-a-longs, a collection of private cars owned by Childress and some of the drivers, live entertainment, food vendors, and a merchandise blowout tent sale. Sponsor activities and displays will include those from Shell/Pennzoil, Jack Daniel’s, DirecTV, RoadLoans, Dixie Stampede and Coca-Cola. A silent auction of racing related items, many of them autographed by the drivers, will take place to benefit Camp Care (www.campcarefree.com) of Stokesdale, N.C.

On Thurs., Oct. 11, pit crew members from RCR’s three NASCAR Cup Series teams will also sign autographs. The No. 07 Jack Daniel’s crew will sign from 9:40 a.m.-10:00 a.m., the No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil crew from 11:40 a.m. - noon and the No. 31 AT&T crew from 2:40 p.m.- 3:00 p.m.

Oct. 12 Autograph Session Schedule

Richard Childress Racing is located on N.C. 8/Old U.S. 52 in Welcome. From Charlotte, take Interstate 85 North to exit 87 (I-85-BR/US-29/US-52/US-70) toward Lexington/Winston-Salem. Stay on US-52 N to exit 92 (NC-8/Old US-52); turn right at the end of the ramp and right again at the RCR sign. From Winston-Salem, take Interstate 40 to exit 193 (NC-8/US-52 South) toward Lexington to exit 97 (NC-8/US-52). Turn right at the bottom of the ramp, travel through Welcome and look for the RCR sign on your left.

No. 41 Team May Be Penalized
Reed Sorenson has been on a roll, stringing together seventhand tenth-place finishes the past two Chase races at Kansas and Talladega. But a NASCAR spokesman said Sorenson's No. 41 Dodge failed post-race inspection after Sunday's UAW-Ford 500.

Kerry Tharp said it appears that "the 41 may have been too low." If so, Sorenson and Chip Ganassi Racing could face the same penalty handed out to Carl Edwards after his win in Dover. Edwards was docked 25 championship points.

Team owner Jack Roush also was docked 25 owner points, and crew chief Bob Osborne was fined $25,000. Although NASCAR determined the height infraction was not intentional, the team still was penalized.

Tharp said NASCAR officials are likely to decide later this week whether it will penalize Sorenson.(rich.com)

Tony Gibson No. 8 Crew Chief
Tony Gibson will be the crew chief for the #8 Budweiser team for the remainder of the season. He was the interim crew chief for six races earlier in the season after Tony Eury Jr. was suspended. In the six races with Gibson at the helm, the team recorded an eighth-place finish at Charlotte and two top-five finishes. Gibson, a native of Daytona, joined Dale Earnhardt Inc. in 2003. He was crew chief for Steve Park and Michael Waltrip at DEI before becoming the car chief for the #8 Bud team in 2005. He spent six seasons and won two championships as the car chief for Jeff Gordon and Hendrick Motorsports before coming to DEI. In his long NASCAR career, he also won a Cup title with driver/owner Alan Kulwicki and has worked with drivers including Bill Elliott, Cale Yarborough, Lake Speed and Rob Moroso. His goal is to win a fourth championship with a third organization.