NASCAR Daily News Headlines * November 20, 2009

Johnson On Homestead Pole

Lowe's and Johnson Extend Contracts

Driving the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolets will be current points leader and three-time defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, who has signed a five-year contract extension with Hendrick Motorsports that will keep him with the organization through 2015.

Johnson and Lowe's previously were signed through the 2010 season.

The new pacts build upon a partnership launched in 2001 when Johnson was selected by Hendrick Motorsports to drive for the new Lowe's-sponsored No. 48 team. After nearly eight full seasons, the driver-sponsor relationship has become one of the most successful in NASCAR.

"Jimmie Johnson and Hendrick Motorsports are a key part of our marketing efforts and outreach to our more than 225,000 employees," said Robert A. Niblock, Lowe's chairman and CEO. "We believe this is the best combination in racing, and we're proud to have Jimmie carry the Lowe's name in NASCAR."

Since his first full-time Sprint Cup season in 2002, Johnson has earned a series-leading 47 victories and only twice has finished outside the top two in championship points. Of the 16 NASCAR drivers who have recorded 40 or more wins, just three -- Herb Thomas, David Pearson and Richard Petty -- have higher career winning percentages.

"Lowe's commitment to the 48 team and Hendrick Motorsports is tremendous and has been a source of pride for me personally," said Johnson, 34, who never has had a primary sponsor other than Lowe's in Sprint Cup competition. "We've built a championship team together, and I'm proud the 48 will carry the Lowe's colors for many more years."

Through 35 of 36 races in 2009, the No. 48 Lowe's team led by crew chief Chad Knaus has posted 15 top-five finishes, 23 top-10s and a series-high seven wins. Johnson leads the championship standings with a 108-point margin over teammate Mark Martin going into Sunday's season finale at Homestead, Fla.

"Lowe's took a chance on us back in 2001, and it's not a stretch to say this whole thing would never have been possible without them," said Rick Hendrick, who co-owns the No. 48 team with driver Jeff Gordon. "When you have a partner put that much faith in you, it's incredibly rewarding to see them be successful. They're a company with values and practices that we admire and learn from in our own business, and we feel very fortunate to continue this amazing ride together.

"Jimmie is charting new territory in our sport, and that's due to a combination of natural talent and unsurpassed work ethic. How he's committed himself is just incredible, and it shows in everything that he does -- not just on the racetrack. There's no question that he's one of the great champions in all of sports, and he's not done yet."(HMS PR)

Frank Caliendo To Headline Awards Banquet

Serving as the event’s emcees will be two people highly recognizable to NASCAR fans – Mike Joy and Krista Voda from NASCAR on FOX and SPEED. (The awards ceremony will be broadcast live on SPEED on Dec. 4, at 9 p.m. ET.)

Two premier musical acts will supply additional star power for the ceremony’s Vegas debut: singer/songwriter David Gray, a Grammy-nominated artist with album sales exceeding 12 million; and Escala, a female electric string quartet who emerged during last year’s “Britain’s Got Talent” television show.

Also, comedian John Pinette will return for a third-straight year to NASCAR’s post-season national series awards ceremony lineup – and his second-straight appearance at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards Ceremony.

Caliendo, who currently performs his own one man show at the Monte Carlo in Las Vegas, is perhaps best known among sports fans for his weekly appearances over the last six years as guest prognosticator on FOX NFL SUNDAY, but he also has a strong NASCAR connection. He was featured in several videos shown at last year’s awards ceremony and also has appeared at post-season events for both the NASCAR Nationwide Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

"I'm excited to be hosting this year's awards ceremony and look forward to a great evening celebrating the 2009 NASCAR season,” Caliendo said. “I'm on the pole but don't worry; even though we're in Vegas, I'm not dancing.”

Caliendo’s repertoire of dead-on impressions includes NFL broadcaster John Madden; former NBA star Charles Barkley; former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton; and actors Robert DeNiro and Jack Nicholson.

An eight-year veteran of television sketch comedy as a cast member on “MADtv” and with his own series, “Frank TV,” Caliendo has been a fixture on television for the last decade. He has comedy specials that run regularly on TBS and Comedy Central and he is a regular on the late night talk show circuit. He also was a special correspondent for Superbowl XXXIX and co-starred in the film “The Comebacks.” In addition, he recently signed a 10-year deal to headline a nightly Las Vegas act.

With the heart of folk music at his core, Gray’s mix of acoustic and electronic instrumentation has established him as one of the world’s leading music artists. With a career now spanning more than 15 years and nearly 12 million album sales, Gray’s commercial success is also backed up by a critical consensus and countless accolades. Gray recently released his highly anticipated seventh studio album, “Draw The Line.” USA Today called it Gray’s “most ambitious, affecting and densely musical work to date” while Entertainment Weekly said “Gray's sincerity and robust voice have been missed, and his new music sounds well-produced and confident.”

Homestead Goodyear Tire Notes

Harvick Wins Homestead: Final Truck Race of 2009

Harvick, who came to the pits for tires under the final caution on Lap 129 of 136, was a double winner Friday night, given that the truck he fields for Ron Hornaday Jr. locked up the series owners' championship with an eighth-place finish. Hornaday clinched his record fourth drivers' championship last Friday at Phoenix. -- "We knew we needed to go out and beat Kyle," said Harvick, who led 108 laps. "We knew that Hornaday needed to race safe and do what he needed to do to win the owners' championship. Obviously, he won the drivers' championship last week. Our goal was to go out and lead the most laps and win the race. I think everybody was concerned about their tires (late in the race), and there weren't very many trucks on the lead lap, so we came down for four tires (while Peters remained on the track). I thought the 17 (Peters) was going to be a sitting duck there, (and) luckily it all worked out."

Kyle Busch's hopes of winning the owners' championship in Billy Ballew's No. 51 Toyota disappeared on Lap 82, when Busch came to the pits to replace a cut tire. To compound the problem, Busch had to serve a pass-through penalty when his crew failed to carry the damaged tire to the pit wall before Busch left the stall. Busch finished 13th. Harvick pitted for fuel on Lap 114 and regained the lead eight laps later when Aric Almirola made his final pit stop. After the field cycled through, Harvick quickly opened an advantage of more than four seconds over Peters and expanded the margin until Ryan Sieg's spin on Lap 127 caused the fourth caution of the race and bunched the field.