Jimmie Johnson Wins Third Consecutive Race

Third Straight Victory For Johnson * CIA Stock Photo

Can anyone stop Jimmie Johnson from rolling to his second consecutive NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship? It sure doesn't look like it -- his season mirrors some of his races where he falls behind due to an accident, a miscue in the pits or just plain bad luck. Then at the end of the race you look up and Johnson is in the lead and you wonder where he came from. Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus does this better than anyone on the Cup circuit. Johnson only led eight laps on Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway but one was all he needed. He took the lead from Matt Kenseth with two to go in the Dickies 500 and won pulling away. On the final stop Kenseth took two tires and Johnson took four. And still it was not an easy task getting by Kenseth. "I knew it was going to be a battle to the end," said Johnson, referring to the last 25 lap battle with Kenseth. "I didn't think his two tires would last that long or he'd be that good. There wasn't much time to get it done."

The win is the 32nd in Johnson's short career, the third straight victory, he also won last Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway and the previous Sunday at Martinsville Speedway. This is the ninth victory for Johnson in 2007 and his first win ever at Texas Motor Speedway. Johnson now leads in the Nextel Cup standings by 30 points over teammate and car owner Jeff Gordon. With two races remaining on the 2007 schedule, Johnson still has to be careful though, he has never won at Phoenix or Homestead, the site of the final two races. Johnson chose his words carefully when asked if the victory was any indication of a repeat championship. "I doubt it, it's so hard from year to year to have things repeat," Johnson said. "I do know we're racing for a championship and now that we have control, I'm tickled to death." All drivers from seventh through 12th in the chase have been eliminated.

Kenseth held on to finish second with pole sitter Martin Truex Jr. in tow for third. Kyle Busch led a season high 153 laps but it was only good enough for fourth. Ryan Newman finished fifth ahead of Jeff Burton (sixth) and Jeff Gordon in seventh. Kurt Busch was eighth followed by Jamie McMurray and Kevin Harvick to round out the top-ten. The Nextel Cup Series moves to Phoenix International Raceway next Sunday November 11th, 2007, for the Checker Auto Parts 500. The race is scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m. Eastern time. This will be the 35th of a 36 race season.
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)

Harvick Wins * CIA Stock Photo Busch Series Champ * CIA Stock Photo

Harvick Wins Busch Race ~ Edwards 2007 Champ
Kevin Harvick won the O'Reilly Challenge Busch Series race at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday but the day belonged to Carl Edwards. Edwards finally wrapped up the Busch Series championship, his first ever NASCAR championship. The former school teacher ran the full Busch Series schedule and jumped out to an incredible lead (over 800 points) early in the season and could have wrapped up the title three of four weeks ago had he not experienced some horrible luck the past six or eight weeks. He still managed to out-distance his nearest rival, David Reutimann, by a margin of 552 points with two race remaining on the schedule. This is the second Busch Series title for Car Owner Jack Roush, Greg Bifflle was the 2002 Champion. "Hopefully, it’s one of many but we’re going to try and do it again next year and try to do even better," said Edwards. "We’ve had a lot of really great fortune this season and we’ve had a lot of bad fortune this season. This took a little bit longer than we thought. I’m just very, very grateful for all the people who have given me opportunities and I’m so glad to be here.”

The victory for Harvick was his 32nd career win in the series. That moved him into second place all-time passing Jack Ingram. He now sits in second place behind Mark Martin, who has 47 victories. "Just to be up there with Jack Ingram and Mark Martin and all they guys who made this series, that's pretty special," Harvick said. "It's been a lot of fun to drive this Richard Childress Chevrolet over the last few years."

Kyle Busch finished second yet again, his fourth time this year. Denny Hamlin placed in the third spot and Clint Bowyer was fourth. Matt Kenseth was fifth and Brad Keselowski, the highest finishing Busch Series regular and the highest finishing rookie, finished sixth. Tony Stewart led the most laps but managed only seventh place run followed by Jeff Burton, Tony Raines and Stephen Leicht to round out the top-ten.
For full final race results...     (O'Reilly Challenge Results)

Ted Musgrave Wins Wild Truck Race

Musgrave Celebrates Texas Win * VPS MotorImages

Ted Musgrave won a wild Craftsman Truck race at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday night. With eight laps to go in the Silverado 350K, points leader Ron Hornaday was sitting first on a restart, with Mike Skinner in second and rookie Chad McCumbee in third spot. Hornaday seemed to get a good start but Skinner went to the outside of Hornaday and was along-side him when McCumbee went to the low line, dove past both drivers and too the lead. Just as McCumbee slipped into first place, Hornaday slipped up the track further and made contact with Skinner. Both Hornaday and Skinner wrecked, with Hornaday getting the worst of it. The race was red-flagged while NASCAR cleaned up the mess and when the race was finally restarted, both Hornaday and Skinner resumed their run, but Hornaday was down several laps and Skinner was sixth. McCumbee spun his tires on the green-white-checker restart and second place runner Jack Sprague nailed McCumbee from behind. McCumbee tried to save his truck but he swerved several times in the effort and both he and Sprague wrecked. Third place driver Ted Musgrave inherited the lead and the victory in a wild finish.

The win for Musgrave was the 17th in his 171 race career in the Craftsman Truck Series. This is Musgrave’s first victory this year in the No. 9 Team ASE Tundra. Toyota has recorded 12 victories in the Craftsman Truck Series this year. “This is awesome for the guys on my team to get a win," said Musgrave, who announced he was leaving the team at the end of the season. "We were close a lot of times, but it’s farewell. At least we were able to give them the checkered flag. I get two more shots at it. Mike (Abner, crew chief) is doing a heck of a job and the guys are pumped up. We’re running good and hopefully we’ll be able to get them again in Phoenix."

Brendan Gaughan, who had once won four consecutive races at the Speedway, finished second and incredibly with a wrecked truck, Skinner limped his Toyota home in the third spot. Mike Bliss finished fourth and Rick Crawford was fifth. Rounding out the top ten were Jack Sprague, Matt Crafton, Jon Wood, Jason Leffler and Tim Sauter. Ron Hornaday, out of water from a busted radiator and out of oil from a serious leak, carried his Chevrolet to the finish line in the 18th spot. Skinner is now the points leader by 57 over Hornaday and 401 over Travis Kvapil.
For full final race results...     (Silverado 350K Results)

Petty Enterprises Will Move Shop To Mooresville
The winningest organization in NASCAR announces its first move since its inception in 1949. Richard and Kyle Petty, in efforts to garner continued wins and championships, have agreed to move Petty Enterprises closer to the center of NASCAR activities in the greater Charlotte, North Carolina area. They have reached a multi-year lease agreement for shop space located in the city of Mooresville. The space was formerly occupied by Robert Yates Racing and its two-car Nextel Cup operation.

Petty Enterprises, founded by Richard’s father, Lee, in 1949 as Lee Petty Engineering, is currently headquartered in Level Cross, North Carolina. At that location, the 60,000-square foot sprawling facility has become one of the most successful in motorsports’ history. The organization has won 268 NASCAR Nextel Cup races, 10 NASCAR Nextel Cup titles and nine Daytona 500 championships from inside the hallowed ground.

The move, to begin in December and be completed by end of the year, includes the #43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge driven by Bobby Labonte and the #45 Marathon American Spirit Motor Oil/Wells Fargo/Tire Kingdom Dodge driven by Kyle Petty. It’s another move in the forward direction since 2006 when Robbie Loomis was named Vice President of Race Operations and 2000 Nextel Cup champion Bobby Labonte was announced as driver of the famed 43 Dodge. It has not yet been determined how the current location of Petty Enterprises will be used in 2008.

Hall of Fame Racing Opts For Toyota
Hall of Fame Racing (HoFR) officials announced at Phoenix International Raceway that the team will partner with Toyota and Toyota Racing Development (TRD) in the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. J.J. Yeley will drive the No. 96 DLP HDTV Toyota Camry in 2008 for HoFR, and the team will continue their strategic alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) – leasing engines and receiving manufacturing support from JGR.

Yeley’s first appearance in a Toyota in Sprint Cup competition will come in the Feb. 9 Budweiser Shootout at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. Yeley earned his way into the non-points paying event via his first career Cup pole on June 15, 2007 at Michigan International Speedway.

Kyle Busch Makes Final Busch Start For Hendrick
Kyle Busch will make his final Busch Series start in the No. 5 Chevrolet this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway. In 19 efforts with Busch this season, the No. 5 team has won three races and three pole positions while recording 13 top-five finishes and 15 top-10s. Busch has led 968 laps in 2007, which is more than any other competitor in the series. NASCAR veteran Mark Martin will race the No. 5 Chevy in the season finale next week at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

After signing with Hendrick Motorsports, Busch made his first-ever Busch Series start at Lowe's Motor Speedway on May 24, 2003, qualifying fifth before leading 33 laps and finishing second to Matt Kenseth. This weekend, Busch will make his 108th start in the Busch Series, where he has earned 10 wins, 11 poles, 37 top-five finishes and 55 top-10s. To date, Busch has paced the field for a total of 2,474 laps and has won close to $4.5 million on the circuit. In addition to racing in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series and Busch Series, Busch will also race in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for Billy Ballew Motorsports this weekend at Phoenix.

Villeneuve Won't Buy Bill Davis Racing
Jacques Villeneuve has categorically stated that he has no interest in buying into NASCAR team Bill Davis Racing. The 1997 Formula One world champion has been linked to a purchase of the team he is racing for since his manager Craig Pollock expressed an interest in buying a NASCAR team, but Villeneuve claims that he will not be involved in any takeover bid.

Villeneuve said: "Over the last few weeks there has been persistent speculation that I am considering some form of purchase of the Bill Davis Racing organisation. In spite of my consistent denial of these claims, the questions and speculation continue, so I want to set the record straight, one time only. I am not interested in buying the BDR business, or any other NASCAR team. I have not been considering such a purchase, and I will not be changing that position." -- Villeneuve added that he wants to remain totally focused on his racing in NASCAR, where he is currently preparing for his rookie season in the Sprint Cup in 2008.(autosport.com)

Changes At Dale Earnhardt Inc.
Dale Earnhardt Inc. continued to strengthen its motorsports operation with the promotion of several key industry experts and the addition of a veteran crew chief to its roster. Dave Charpentier, current crew chief of the No. 15 Chevrolet, has been promoted to technical director, and Doug Randolph, current crew chief of the No. 43 Petty Enterprises car driven by Bobby Labonte, will take over as crew chief for Paul Menard and the No. 15.

Walter Giles, current race engineer on the No. 1 Chevrolet, was named director of race engineering, and Jason Anderson was named director of design and project engineering. Giles and Anderson will report to Charpentier. In addition, Rex Garrett has been promoted to director of motorsports operations. The nine-year Dale Earnhardt Inc. veteran will oversee the day-to-day activities of the race shop.(nascar.com)

IndyCar Driver Sam Hornish Heads For NASCAR
Sam Hornish Jr. is leaving the IndyCar Series for a full-time ride in NASCAR, joining the mass exodus of open-wheel stars fleeing to America's most popular racing series. The three-time IndyCar champion will drive the No. 77 Dodge next season for Penske Racing with Mobil 1 as the sponsor.

Penske will officially introduce Hornish as the third driver for his NASCAR team on Saturday night at the Penske Racing Museum in Phoenix. He'll join a team that already fields cars for Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman.

He'll join Juan Pablo Montoya, Dario Franchitti and Jacques Villeneuve as former Indianapolis 500 winners and IndyCar series champions now racing in NASCAR's top series. Patrick Carpentier is also moving to NASCAR after a long open-wheel career, and A.J. Allmendinger fled Champ Cars for NASCAR this season.(AP)

Ginn Settles Out Of Court With Four
Former Ginn Racing drivers Joe Nemechek and Sterling Marlin as well as former crew chiefs Peter Sospenzo and Richard "Slugger" Labbe apparently have reached settlements with former team owner Bobby Ginn. All four cases - filed in North Carolina Superior Court in Concord, N.C. - have been dismissed, indicating that settlements have been reached.

The drivers and crew chiefs were asking for the fulfillment of their contracts. The case files do not indicate how much they were paid, only that the drivers and crew chiefs have dismissed their claims. Ginn Racing merged with Dale Earnhardt Inc. in July, leaving Nemechek, Marlin, Sospenzo and Labbe as well as several other crew members without jobs. There are still two lawsuits involving other crew members pending against Ginn.(scenedaily.com)

Gene Haas Sentenced To 2 Years
Haas CNC Racing team owner Gene Haas was sentenced on Monday to two years in federal prison after pleading guilty to one count of tax fraud in August. U.S. District Court Judge Christina A. Snyder issued the sentence Monday in accordance with guidelines set in the previously agreed to plea bargain in federal court in Los Angeles. Haas will begin serving his prison term Jan. 14, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Haas, who was arrested in June 2006 after a lengthy investigation, agreed to pay $34.2 million in back taxes for the years 2000 and 2001, as well as a $5-million fine. With statutory penalties and interest on the back taxes, Haas has paid more than $70 million to the government to resolve his tax issues for 2000 and 2001.

Haas is the owner of Haas Automation, which is the largest dollar-volume machine tool builder in North America and the largest unit-volume builder of CNC machines in the world. He is required to serve 85 percent of the sentence before being considered for release, so he will have to serve at least 20 months and 12 days in prison.

Officials with the race team, which has hired Jeremy Mayfield and Scott Riggs as its drivers for next season, have indicated that it does not expect an impact from Haas' pending imprisonment. The team is owned by Haas Automation. When the plea bargain was agreed to in August, Haas' attorneys released a statement indicating that Haas relied on the wrong people for financial and accounting advice and made a mistake in filing the erroneous returns.(scenedaily.com)

Nemechek Signs 3 Year Deal
Joe Nemechek signed a three-year contract to drive for Furniture Row Racing, the team and driver said last Saturday morning. Nemechek joined the team at the Fontana race in September and has qualified the car into eight of the 10 events he has attempted. Prior to Nemechek's arrival, the team had made it into just 10 of 24 races. "This team has come a long way since I came over here," Nemechek said. "It's neat seeing how if you give people a certain direction to go in, how they start excelling."

Nemechek, who began the season driving for Ginn Racing, made six straight events with Furniture Row before failing to qualify at Charlotte and Martinsville. "When we missed that race at Charlotte, it sort of made everybody open their eyes and say, 'OK, where did we miss it at?'" he said. "The engineers had to go to work and everybody's been working their tails off trying to figure out how to make things better."(scenedaily.com)

Hall of Fame Racing Signs Coleman
Brad Coleman has signed a multi-year contract with Hall of Fame Racing, where he potentially could drive in seven Sprint Cup races in 2008 and then a full season in 2009, team general manager Tyler Epp said Friday. Coleman, 19, will spend 2008 mostly testing for the team, which is completing its second full year and was recent sold to Arizona Diamondback executives Tom Garfinkel and Jeff Moorad. Coleman has competed in 18 Busch Series events in his career. He has driven for Joe Gibbs Racing this past season. He will drive for Brewco Motorsports in a full-time Nationwide (formerly Busch) Series ride next season with sponsorship from Kleenex.

"After talking to them [at Hall of Fame] of what their visions are for the future of the team and what they're going to do with the personnel, they're going to make that team one of the top-tier teams competing against Hendrick and Joe Gibbs," Coleman said. "It really excited me. I feel very confident that Tom Garfinkel and Jeff Moorad are going to make it a great team." (scenedaily.com)

Kevin Harvick Hires Jack Sprague
Kevin Harivck Inc. announced that Jack Sprague will join its team to drive in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series as a teammate to Ron Hornaday beginning in 2008. Sprague, a three-time truck champion, hopes to get back to challenging for titles. Hornaday, a two-time champ, is looking to deliver KHI its first title this season. A sponsor will be announced at a later date.