Cooler start to Pepsi 500 this year

FONTANA, Calif. (AP) -- Everything was cool at the start of the Pepsi 500 -- or at least considerably cooler than a year ago.

At the 5 p.m. PDT start Sunday, the temperature was 85 degrees at Auto Club Speedway, 22 degrees below the stifling heat at the beginning of the 2007 race.

This time, the temperature was expected to drop into the mid 70s late in the race, to the relief of the drivers who had to endure the scorching heat last year.

"This is one of the toughest tracks that we come to as far as that. The heat is so bad here," Denny Hamlin said, adding that it makes the speedway one of the toughest on the drivers. "In the summer, the track gets really greasy, the seats get really hot.

"This is probably the No. 2 physically demanding track (behind Pocono) that we go to, especially with this being 500 miles. This is one that you have to stay hydrated for your entire week leading up to it. Even though it goes into the night it's still very, very hot."

Jeff Gordon said the heat is just part of the deal for drivers, who get their hot-weather routine down to a science.

"Not quite as hot as it was last year," he said heading into the race. "It's just something that you have to get used to. It's just a part of the conditioning.

"I think probably the most important type of conditioning that we do is getting used to the heat, how we hydrate ourselves, how we cool the drivers inside the car."

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BIDDING GOODBYE: Two-time Cup champion Tony Stewart's teammate with Joe Gibbs Racing, Kyle Busch, wishes him well in his new endeavor. Stewart is leaving after this season to become an owner-driver of the Haas CNC Racing team, which will become Stewart-Haas Racing next year.

"He gets his way of staying in the sport a lot longer than him just being able to retire and step out," Busch said. "He'll have a team that he can have ownership of when he's old and in his 70's and 80's and still being Tony Stewart.

"The fun part about all of that is that he gets to enjoy what he loves to do most, and that's racing. And he's still going to be a part of Sprint Cup racing for a long time."

Stewart hasn't won a race this year, and Busch said, "Hopefully he can get to victory lane before the year is out."

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HOMES, SWEET HOMES: Jimmie Johnson has been helping out with some housing that has nothing to do with transmissions while he's in Southern California to defend his 2007 title at Auto Club Speedway.

"We're out here right now building four homes for Habitat for Humanity and just yesterday, we had a ceremony where I handed out the first set of keys over to a family. That was pretty cool, man," Johnson, a native of El Cajon, Calif., said on the eve of the Pepsi 500.

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SPARKPLUGS: Kevin Harvick went green to take a spin earlier in the week, test-driving a hydrogen-powered Chevrolet Equinox. The vehicle is part of a test fleet of hydrogen fuel cell SUVs, billed as the first large-scale market test of fuel cell vehicles. ... Gordon, winless this season, acknowledged that this year has been "a little bit frustrating and disappointing" for him and his team. "We came off such a great year last year. Our team has been phenomenal this year, we just haven't had the runs, haven't had the cars. And when we did have the cars haven't been able to put it all together."


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Fire look to heat back up
Stewart hires Newman for new team

Johnson's shadow looms over Busch, Edwards

FONTANA, Calif. (AP) -- While Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards are 1-2 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings and building strong cases for starting the Chase for the championship as the favorites, there is a shadow looming behind them.

Jimmie Johnson is never far from their minds.

"I've always been worried about Jimmie Johnson," Busch said. "I take him as being probably the best driver on the circuit. You never know what he can come up with during a race or what him and (crew chief) Chad (Knaus) can come up with in their cars to make it fast."

Edward echoed his chief rival, saying, "We talked about it this week, my trainer and I. We were kind of going over the guys that were really going to be tough and it goes without saying, Jimmie Johnson has proven that he can do it when it matters. I think that's one of the guys you're going to have to beat. You're going to have to beat Jimmie to be the champion."

While Busch has been the hottest driver this season, leading the points and winning eight races, and Edwards has been close behind with six wins, Johnson has had a so-so season -- for him.

The Hendrick Motorsports star is a distant fourth in the points and has just two wins and 12 top-10 finishes heading into Sunday's Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway.

But nobody is selling Johnson short with two races left until the start of the 12-man, 10-race Chase -- least of all Johnson himself.

Despite struggling with the big, bulky and still-new Car of Tomorrow at times this season -- particularly on the 11/2- and 2-mile ovals -- Johnson said the No. 48 team is figuring things, perhaps just at the right time.

"We looked at the big tracks and know that's where we've been behind, and we've been working hard to catch up," said defending race champion Johnson, who will start from the pole Sunday. "I think we're in the right spot.

"We're on par with those guys. This week will be a better tale of it, and then as we get on those tracks in the Chase we'll certainly know where we stack up to them. ... I feel like we're fine on the short tracks, it's just the mile and a half stuff that we need to be a little stronger at to really put a fight up for these guys.

"I think we're there; I really do. You would always like to be ahead and that's why we're still testing and doing all we can. We should be a factor in this thing."

Four-time series champion Jeff Gordon, one of Johnson's teammates, has had some of the same struggles this season. He's winless, ninth in the points and still fighting for a spot in the Chase.

But Gordon, who will start third Sunday, also is confident that he and Johnson and new teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- and maybe some others -- can make things interesting for Busch and Edwards in the Chase.

"That's the thing about the new format with the Chase is all it takes is two bad races ... and all of the sudden you're chasing," Gordon said.

Right now, the spotlight belongs on Edwards, who has won three of the last four races, and Busch, who has finished second twice in a row after winning three weeks ago.

"Those guys seem to have the chemistry, they seem to have the momentum and they have their cars and the talent to really pull it off," Gordon said. "Those are definitely the guys to beat and I'll be surprised if one of them don't win it."

Still, if he had to make a forecast, Gordon said he would pick Johnson to give Busch and Edwards the strongest competition or the title.

"Jimmie's got a good shot," Gordon said. "That team they're dangerous because they can turn things around. They're a two-time champ and they've got a lot of confidence, even though those guys they've been getting beat by the 99 (Edwards) and the 18 (Busch). I don't think they ever count themselves out.

"I just know how dangerous Hendrick Motorsports is in general. We just always are working to find whatever deficit we have or how we stay on top and you can never count them out."

The Chase format, which will reset the points -- with all 12 drivers in the postseason separated by no more than 100 points -- can make it tough on the guys who start out front.

"It really puts a lot of pressure on those guys when it all evens out (and) they have to pick it right back up again," Gordon said. "We went through that last year and pretty much prevailed. The best teams and cars going into it were me and Jimmie."

Gordon ran way with the regular season in 2007, but lost the championship to Johnson in the Chase.

"From what I've seen so far in the Chase, we haven't seen any huge surprises," Gordon said. "Pretty much the team I felt like was the team to beat either won it or finished right up front, and I expect that to be the same. But I'm also anxious to see a surprise, and I'd like to be the surprise."


Jimmie Johnson knocks Martin off Pocono pole
Bengals’ Johnson to have surgery on both ankles

Kanaan, Wheldon race for 3rd in IndyCar points

DETROIT (AP) -- While most eyes are on the battle at the top of the IndyCar Series driver points standings, Tony Kanaan and Dan Wheldon are locked in their own fight for third place.

Wheldon of Target Chip Ganassi Racing heads into Sunday's Detroit Indy Grand Prix at the Raceway on Belle Isle Park with a six-point lead over Andretti Green Racing's Kanaan.

"Everyone is focusing on Helio (Castroneves) and (Scott) Dixon and we have another championship going on between me and Dan," said Kanaan, the 2007 Detroit Indy Grand Prix winner. "It's six points and we only have two races to go. It's pretty tight and I'm behind him. So hopefully I'll catch him."

Both Wheldon and Kanaan cannot catch the two front-runners but they could play the spoiler's role for Castroneves, who trails Dixon by 43 points.

"I know that," said Kanaan, a close friend of fellow Brazilian Castroneves. "Right now it's their championship. So I'm going to try and not get in the way, and benefit one or the other.

"But I'm also here to win races. So if I can, I'm going to take it away from them."

Kanaan will start from the eighth spot after clocking a lap of 101.756 mph.

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TAGLIANI IN: Former Champ Car driver Alex Tagliani was brought in Saturday by Conquest Racing to replace injured Brazilian driver Enrique Bernoldi.

After running two practice sessions Friday, the team decided to sit Bernoldi, who suffered a torn ligament in his left thumb last Saturday at Infineon. He was injured during a spin caused by a suspension failure on his car.

"I couldn't give my all because of my left hand," Bernoldi said. "I was turning into the pits with just one hand on the steering wheel and was unable to do my best."

Tagliani originally was scheduled to compete this weekend in a NASCAR Canadian Tire event in Hagersville, Ontario. Previously, he competed in the Champ Car World Series for eight seasons, earning four pole positions and one win in 133 starts.

He did struggle in Saturday's qualifying, spinning the car out early in the session. His lap of 97.233 mph was the 21st fastest of the day.

"There's a lot to learn in so little time," Tagliani said. "I was rusty a little bit getting back behind the wheel of an open-wheel car. But I feel good in the car."

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SERVIA SHINES: Oriol Servia is new to the IndyCar Series this year, but he looked like an old pro during qualifying.

The 34-year-old Spaniard had the third-best qualifying lap of 102.136 mph. Earlier this season, Servia also started from the No. 3 spot at Edmonton and finished fifth.

"I always find that here you have to push so hard to qualify," said Servia, who drove on the Detroit course in a Champ Car in 2000 and 2001. "Obviously we didn't have enough for Scott (Dixon) at all. I don't know how he did that lap, but I'm just very happy for the team to be third again.

"Every session, we're closing up the gap. I feel like if this was a 38-race NASCAR season, we'd be right up there with (Dixon and Castroneves)."

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SPARK PLUGS: If Castroneves scores the maximum number of points in Sunday's race and the Sept. 7 finale at Chicagoland Speedway, Dixon only needs to score 62 points -- an average finish of 4.5 -- to become a two-time champ. ... Marty Roth, who had a trying couple of days on the track, withdrew from Sunday's race after assessing the damage to his car, which he crashed during Saturday's warmup session, an IndyCar spokesman said. The Canadian spun out four times during Friday's practice sessions and had the slowest lap of the day. His departure leaves a starting field of 25 cars. ... Five cars either spun or brushed the walls hard during qualifying. Tagliani and Bruno Junqueira each had half-spins, while Tomas Scheckter, Will Power and Wheldon each had contact with the wall and suffered damage to their cars. Scheckter was unable to record a qualifying lap and will start from the back of the field. ... Team Penske's Ryan Briscoe qualified fifth, marking the 11th time this season he has started in the top five. He is the only driver to compete in the Firestone Fast Six in all six road/street course events this year.


Another cautionary tale for IndyCar
Wheldon steps out of car, onto field
Scott Dixon on schedule for another title

No heat in latest NASCAR rivalry

FONTANA, Calif. (AP) -- What rivalry?

Kyle Busch jokingly says Carl Edwards is his "bff," texting shorthand for best friend forever. Edwards stopped short of such a commitment, but he did say, "I feel like we really have been good competitors."

The two NASCAR Sprint Cup stars caused a sensation -- and evoked images of great rivalries past -- Saturday night at Bristol when Edwards nudged a dominating Busch aside to take the lead with 30 laps to go and the two then exchanged postrace bumps after Edwards won.

The fans at the Tennessee track ate up the action, hooting with glee. But the bumping prompted NASCAR to chastise the two drivers and later to put both of them on probation for six races.

Meanwhile, newspapers, Web sites and blogs were filled with stories about "the new rivalry."

Lending credence is a championship battle that seems to be shaping up between the two. Busch, the hottest driver all season, is on top in points and with eight wins, while Edwards is second in the standings and closing in with six wins, including three in the last four races.

Although 12 drivers, including two-time reigning Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, will be in the 10-race Chase for the championship that begins after races this Sunday at Auto Club Speedway and next week at Richmond, it seems most everyone -- except Busch and Edwards -- expects those two to be the focus of the stock car postseason.

That would be just fine with both of them.

"It's very cool to have our team running so well, to be on top of our game, and it's really fun to have somebody like Kyle that's so fast," Edwards said Friday. "There have been a couple of races where it's like either me or him, and I think that brings out the best in a lot of people."

"For us, it's been a lot of fun. Like I said, if it comes down to just him and I for the championship, that would be fine. But I have a feeling some of these other guys are gonna have something to say about that."

Busch, who has finished second to Edwards the past two weeks after winning the previous race, said he knows there's still some work to do if his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota is going to hold off the No. 99 Roush Fenway Racing Ford for the title.

So, is there something specific Busch's team needs to do to regain the edge?

"Besides that they have a little better race cars than us at sometimes, then no, not really," the 23-year-old Busch said. "Yeah, they've caught up to us the past few weeks, but we finished second. It's hard to put that into trying to become any better.

"There's only one guy, I guess, that you're trying to beat the past two races, but it's that one guy that's going to haunt you the rest of the year. All we can do is try to do our best and come up with some better packages to end the year out strong."

A true rivalry usually arises between people or teams who don't like each other. Both Busch and Edwards shrugged off any talk about dislike off the track, even after some negative comments by each after the Bristol race.

"We're friends, man," Busch said Friday. "I even joke around with guys with myself that Carl is 'bff Carl.' We're best friends. I don't believe it's a rivalry. I believe that we can still be friends and stuff like that and have that relationship on the racetrack."

A little later, the 29-year-old Edwards echoed his young competitor.

"When he's won this year, I've congratulated him," he said. "When I've won, he's congratulated me, and that's why all this stuff this week, I kind of just got a chuckle out of it because I know deep down that what he says doesn't matter to me and what I say doesn't really matter to him. What really matters is we race well on the racetrack, so I'd say that we'll be fine."

Both were asked what effect being on probation might have on them over the next six weeks.

"I don't think it means that if you get into another driver and spin him out then you're going to get suspended for a race," Busch said, shrugging. "I think it has to do with the way that you got put on probation, which is if you do the same thing that you did again, then the repercussions for it are going to go up and that would probably be a suspension or something like that. (It means) keep your post race antics down to a minimum."

Edwards said he doesn't worry about being on probation.

"I just have to be a little extra careful not to let my emotions get the best of me," he said. "It will be good practice, I think."

Neither of the drivers believe they really did anything wrong at Bristol

"No, I don't regret anything," Edwards said. "I did what I felt was best at the time, and that's fine. In the grand scheme of things, looking back on it, I don't even think there was really anything that was that bad about last week. I thought it was just real good hard racing and what happened afterward is stuff that happens at every short track all around the country every week.

"The only bad part about it is just tearing up race cars when you don't need to."

Busch said things could certainly have escalated into a much worse situation.

"I could've very easily drove off into turn three and doored him right in the left-side quarter panel or something and spun him out," Busch said. "I didn't do that. I tried to race him clean. I tried to get back by him and I got bogged down a little bit by Denny (Hamlin), who got along side of me, and we raced for a little bit.

"I never laid a tire mark on (Hamlin) and got back by him and was just too late to try to run down Carl. I would've certainly liked to have tried to not touch him. ... I'm not out there to try to move anybody."


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Giants running back Bradshaw released from jail

Battle for last 2 spots in Chase heating up

FONTANA, Calif. (AP) -- Time is running out for the drivers vying for the last few spots in NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.

With only Sunday's race at Auto Club Speedway and next week's event at Richmond left on the regular-season schedule, Denny Hamlin and Clint Bowyer are trying to hold onto the final two spots in the 12-man Chase, while David Ragan and Kasey Kahne are hoping to catch them.

Heading into the Pepsi 500, 11th-place Hamlin is only 21 points behind Matt Kenseth in 10th, but he's also just 57 points ahead of 13th-place Ragan.

Bowyer is in an even more precarious position, 45 points behind Hamlin and just 12 in front of Ragan and 66 ahead of 14th-place Kahne.

Bowyer, who made the Chase for the first time and finished third in the points last year, said this weekend is no time to be doing anything different. But there is a real feeling of urgency.

"Obviously, it's time to pull out anything you can possibly come up with," the Richard Childress Racing driver said. "We have to run good here."

That may not be so easy, either, on a track where Bowyer has finished 19th and 20th in his last two starts after finishes of third and sixth in the two before that.

"This is the type of track we have been struggling with this year," he said. "We know going into Richmond, we should be OK there. But it sure would be nice to gain a little bit of leeway coming out of California."

Ragan, in only his second full season in Cup at the age of 22, figures he has nothing to lose in a year when he has already produced better results than anyone expected.

"I feel like if we just go out and not make many mistakes -- kind of like our whole year -- if we don't hurt ourselves, I think we'll be fine when they drop the checkered flag on Sunday," the young Roush Fenway Racing driver said.

"The guys like Bowyer and Kahne and Denny Hamlin and those guys are going to be fast and it's going to be the same thing for them," Ragan added. "They can't have many mistakes. I think the car in the next two weeks that clicks off two top-five finishes, or two top-10 finishes, (is) going to be in the Chase and someone's going to have that bad race or a tough-luck deal, getting caught in the pits on a green flag stop or something kind of freakish like that, and find themselves on the outside."

Kahne, who has slipped from eighth to 14th with a pair of 40th-place finishes the last two weeks, believes things could turn back the other way just as quickly.

"If they have some races where they are a little slower and we're good, then we'll probably make the Chase," Kahne said of his rivals for a berth in the Chase. "It's going to be interesting. I'm up for it."

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HOPEFUL CARPENTIER: Cup rookie Patrick Carpentier knew he was on the bubble when Gillett Evernham Motorsports dragged its feet on resigning him for 2009. But, when Reed Sorenson was named last week as GEM's third driver for next season, joining Kasey Kahne and Elliott Sadler, it left the Canadian driver in limbo.

"I knew that was a possibility," Carpentier said. "(NASCAR) is a sport that is sponsor dependent. I know (GEM) has been working hard to find sponsorship and I'm amazed that (they) found all the sponsorship this year. Mr. Gillett is paying for some of it out of his pocket. I don't expect them to do that every year.

"For sure it's a shock to learn someone else is taking your spot. But they are still working to get that fourth car out there -- a lot of teams want to go to four cars and this is one of them."

If it doesn't work out, Carpentier, who has made 19 of 24 races this season and is 37th in the points, said there are other opportunities for him.

"There are a lot of cars that haven't decided (on a driver) yet," the former open-wheel star said. "Ganassi and Penske and a few other teams. ... Yates and a few guys want to add some cars or change. So we'll see what it is. There are a lot of (drivers) out there knocking on doors."

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RACY GUY: Ken Schrader has driven in only six Cup races this season, but that doesn't mean the longtime NASCAR star has been idle.

Schrader tends to race somewhere every chance he gets, and this holiday weekend is no exception.

After taking part in Sunday evening's Pepsi 500 on the 2-mile, high-banked oval here in the No. 96 Hall of Fame Racing Chevrolet, Schrader will fly overnight to DuQuoin, Ill., to compete in Monday's Southern Illinois 100 ARCA RE/MAX Series event on the 1-mile dirt oval at DuQuoin State Fairgrounds.

Schrader has done the long-range double a few times before, although he didn't race at Fontana last year. And he said he couldn't get it done this year without some help from longtime friend and competitor Tony Stewart, who has also helped him out in the past.

"Tony has been awful good to me," he said. "After the race, I'll get on a helicopter with Tony and fly to the airport. We'll get on his plane and he'll drop me off at the Carbondale, Ill., airport, I'll hop in the rental car, grab a shower at the hotel and then meet the boys in the lobby because I think practice is at 9 a.m.

"It's been fun every year because, after we get out the cars, Tony and I usually talk all the way to Illinois, which isn't that long of a flight, it's three-and-a-half hours or something. But, when you're going through those time zones -- you get on the plane at 11 p.m. in Fontana and you're all pumped up and then it's 5 a.m. in Illinois when you land. It's kind of like 'Oh shoot, this could be a long day."'

Oh, by the way, Schrader has won the DuQuoin race the last two years.


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ENGLISH DUO STEP UP RYDER CUP CHASE
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Johnson ready to build some Chase momentum

FONTANA, Calif. (AP) -- Aiming to build some momentum heading into NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, Jimmie Johnson got off to a good start Friday, winning the pole at Auto Club Speedway.

The two-time reigning Cup champion was easily the fastest driver on the 2-mile oval in qualifying for Sunday's Pepsi 500, turning a fast lap of 180.397 mph.

"I'm really very proud of that lap," said Johnson, the defending race winner.

For much of the session, it appeared that the front row would be all Hendrick Motorsports, with Jeff Gordon sitting in the second spot with a lap of 179.565. But A.J. Allmendinger, one of nine drivers who had to qualify on speed, elbowed his way between the teammates with a lap of 179.659.

Kasey Kahne was fourth at 179.158, followed by Gillett Evernham Motorsports teammates Patrick Carpentier at 178.860 and Elliott Sadler at 178.492. Rounding out the top 10 were Martin Truex Jr. at 178.434, Dave Blaney at 178.381, Kurt Busch at 178.165 and rookie Aric Almirola at 178.134.

For Johnson, it was his first pole at the Southern California track, but the series-leading fourth of the season and the 17th of his career.

Heading into the penultimate race of the "regular season," Johnson is fourth in the season points. But, based on his two victories this year, he currently would be the third seed in the Chase, trailing only eight-time winner Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards, a six-time winner this season.

And Busch and Edwards have been the story lately, with Edwards winning three of the last four races and Busch turning in a win and a pair of runner-up finishes during the same span.

Johnson knows he has a lot of work to do if he is going to beat those two hot drivers once the Chase gets going. And a win here on Sunday would be a great way to gain some momentum.

"Yeah, it would mean a lot for us to win on a big track like this," Johnson said before his qualifying run. "Mile and a half and above tracks and downforce tracks have been kind of our weak spot.

"We've been making a lot of gains. Hopefully, we made some gains that will help us this weekend and moving into the Chase."

Johnson said it was the victory here last year that gave him a big boost toward his second title.

"It just started the confidence in our minds that we're ready for the Chase," he said. "The top-five guys (in the points) have a very good point of view or mind-set they're going to be in the Chase. So you're looking at what you need to do to be as good as you can in the Chase, and building the confidence around yourself and the team that you can be a contender.

"Our past history shows that we can do it. But, winning here last year just kind of cemented those confident thoughts in place and we rolled it from here into Richmond and won again on a track that's been very challenging to us over the years. That really just put us in the right mind-set that "Hey, you can do this."'

Edwards and Busch were both fast in practice, but it didn't show in qualifying. Busch will start the race 11th, while Edwards, who was fastest in Friday's practice, will start a disappointing 26th.


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Said's taken long road to carve NASCAR niche

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (AP) -- When rain washed out Sprint Cup qualifying at Watkins Glen International this month, a frustrated Boris Said had to park his No Fear Racing Ford for the second straight year at his favorite track.

"I used to get angry when this happened. Now I just get depressed," he said. "I think last year I was a little more angry. Now, I'm just rolling with the punches."

Considering the youth movement afoot in NASCAR, it's remarkable that Said is even striving to compete full-time in Sprint Cup as his 46th birthday nears.

"I guess if 10 years ago somebody told me I'd be in NASCAR part-time or anything, I would have told them they were crazy," he said. "I feel proud of the kind of unique career I've carved out in motorsports. I just love being part of the sport."

Said's childhood wasn't the happiest -- his parents split before he entered kindergarten and as a teen he hung out with the wrong crowd until he landed a job in a motorcycle shop. Instead of getting in trouble, he fixed motorcycles.

"That's all I really ever did," said Said, whose fun-loving demeanor belies a savvy sense of entrepreneurship.

That and sell popcorn. After seeing actor Jack Klugman plug some flavored popcorn on late-night television, Said opened a popcorn shop between a toy store and a Baskin Robbins ice cream parlor in Stamford, Conn. He had 32 flavors, one more than the pioneering ice cream store chain.

Between the two jobs, Said saved enough money to buy a Honda-Yamaha franchise at age 22, becoming one of the youngest motorcycle dealers in the country.

Turns out racing was in his blood. His late father raced cars and drove in the 1968 and 1972 Winter Olympics for the U.S. bobsled team. So it was understandable that when Said, who never really got to know his dad, went to the Formula One Detroit Grand Prix in 1985 he fell in love with the sport.

Said soon sold his motorcycle dealership to concentrate on racing full-time. Despite advice from an instructor at the Skip Barber Racing School in Lime Rock, Conn., who told him he didn't measure up, Said quickly began to make his mark in the Corvette Challenge series, even with pit crews that often consisted of friends who showed up to watch him.

Said begged owners for rides and often slept wherever he happened to be when night fell. One such night changed his life.

"I was driving back in a box truck from Florida and stopped about 2 in the morning at a car dealership," Said recalled. "I hooked up the hose in the back and was showering, and all of a sudden a cop pulled up and told me I couldn't stay there. I just drove next door and it just happened to be Tom Milner's building. I didn't even know it until he woke me up in the morning."

Milner owns PTG Racing in Winchester, Va., the two quickly became friends, and a couple of years later he finally gave Said the break he needed.

"He was almost like a father to me. When I was struggling in racing he kept me employed," said Said, who drove for Milner for more than a decade. "All my life people have told me it can't be done, but I'm a firm believer that if you work hard enough it can be done. I've proved it."

No argument there.

Career highlights include: rookie of the year honors in the Corvette Challenge series; three straight Sports Car Club of America championships; a Trans-Am title in 2002; a win from the pole at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium; two wins in the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona and a victory in the 12 Hours of Sebring, the signature events of sports car racing in America; and three years ago Said became the first American to win a 24-hour event at the Nuerburgring Nordschleife, a 151/2-mile road course in Germany that requires more than 100 shifts per lap.

Success in the highly competitive top three tiers of NASCAR -- Cup, Nationwide, and Craftsman trucks -- hasn't been so easy. He has one victory, in the truck series at Sonoma in 1998, and 22 top-10s in 116 starts. He has, however, proved that he's more than just a road course specialist.

In May 2006, Said, veteran crew chief Frank Stoddard, and Mark Simo announced the creation of No Fear Racing, which receives technical support, engines and Ford Fusion bodies from Roush Fenway Racing and has SoBe No Fear, an energy drink, as its sponsor. Less than two months later, in only the team's second race, Said stunned the NASCAR world by winning the pole for the Pepsi 400 on the high-speed banks of Daytona. He led nine laps during the race and finished fourth, losing the lead to eventual winner Tony Stewart with two laps to go.

Said calls it the highlight of his career. He wants more.

"I'm not giving up just yet," declared Said, whose No. 60 team has made only two starts this year and plans only one more, at Talladega. "Given the opportunity with a full-time sponsor, we could compete with these guys. We've shown we can do it every time we race."

Said, who was recruited by ESPN to be an in-studio analyst this year and has acquitted himself well despite skipping every rehearsal meeting, would be a welcome addition to the Cup garage, where drivers often seem like robots, spewing the same answers to the same questions week after week.

"I think he's awesome," four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon said. "I think he brings a lot of entertainment to the series. We'd love to see him out there. All the different types of cars that he's driven and he's had success in proves what kind of race car driver he is."

"He's all about giving and just a huge asset to our sport," said Elliott Sadler, driver of the No. 19 Dodge for Gillett Evernham Motorsports and one of many Cup drivers tutored by Said on the fine points of road racing. "His personality is second to none -- larger than life. I'd love to see him full-time, and I think if he ever got the right chance with the right people he could make it work."

As Said's racing career has blossomed, so, too, has his unique fan base, most of whom don Afro wigs made to look exactly like Said's head of curly brown hair.

Said's take the first time he saw a group of "Saidheads" at Watkins Glen?

"Frightened! I see guys like Jeff Gordon and Dale (Earnhardt) Jr. and Kasey Kahne, in all their fan clubs there are cute little girls yelling their name," he said. "Me? I've got a bunch of 35-year-old guys (and gals) wearing wigs yelling my name.

"But after I met them and started thinking about it, if I wasn't racing I'd probably be one of those guys."


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Logano to make Sprint Cup debut this year

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Joey Logano will drive in seven Sprint Cup races this fall as a tuneup before the 18-year-old star begins his full-time ride at Joe Gibbs Racing.

Logano, who will replace two-time Cup champion Tony Stewart in the No. 20 Toyota in 2009, will make his Sprint Cup debut Sept. 6 at Richmond International Raceway in the No. 02 Toyota prepared by Gibbs. JGR will also field a car for Logano at Atlanta in October.

Hall of Fame Racing announced Wednesday that Logano will then drive in the No. 96 Toyota in five more races: at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sept. 14, at Kansas Speedway on Sept. 28, at Lowe's Motor Speedway on Oct. 11, at Martinsville Speedway on Oct. 18 and at Texas Motor Speedway on Nov. 2.

Hall of Fame Racing gets its engines and chassis from Gibbs' race team.

"We appreciate Hall of Fame Racing helping us get Joey ready for 2009," said president J.D. Gibbs. "They came to us with the idea before the August Michigan race and we think it's a great win-win for all of us."

Logano has three top-five finishes in nine races in the second-tier Nationwide Series since he turned 18 in May. A development driver with Gibbs since he was 15, Logano was selected to replace Stewart, who will leave at the end of the season to become a driver-owner for what is now called Haas-CNC Racing.


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Johnson eager to get Chase started

If only most NASCAR drivers had Jimmie Johnson's problems.

From the outside, the two-time defending NASCAR Sprint Series champion appears to be in the middle of another spectacular season. He heads to this week's race in California fourth in season points, has wins at Indianapolis and Phoenix, and will clinch a spot in the playoffs if he manages to keep his No. 48 out of trouble on Sunday.

Yet to hear the perfectionist in Johnson talk, 2008 has been a frustrating mix of hit-and-miss efforts. While he remains in position to become the second driver in series history to win three straight points titles, Johnson admits his Hendrick Motorsports team is still trying to figure out the Car of Tomorrow.

"Some weekends I feel like we have a dominant car and other weekends I feel like we're a fifth-place car or even a 10th-place car," Johnson said. "With the strong team we have, we seem to be able to rally back and get finishes out of it. So I still think that we are maybe behind."

While Johnson and superstar teammates Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are all likely to make the Chase for the championship, all three have spent most of the season chasing series leader Kyle Busch and red-hot Carl Edwards.

"In different weeks, the 88 car (Earnhardt) has been the car, the 24 (Gordon) was the car early, we were, and it's just tough to really say where we're at," Johnson said.

Blame it on the bulky and balky COT, which remains a puzzle to Johnson's team, particularly crew chief Chad Knaus. Considered one of the top minds in the series, Knaus has been hamstrung by the new car.

"It's been tough for him, and it's been a huge, huge challenge for him," Johnson said. "But more importantly the go-to moves that we've always had with the old car do not work with the COT. And to kind of retrain (Chad's) brain and look at things in a different way, that is the hardest part for him."

The problems with the new car surfaced almost immediately. Johnson's team arrived in Las Vegas in March thinking it had a decent setup. He ended up 29th.

"The latest, greatest moves and the stuff we thought was going to work based on the old car, and we were not even in the same race," he said. "We were out there (in a) seven-cylinder class it seemed like. That has been the hardest part to find out where to work and that's what we've done all season long."

Even when he hasn't had the best car, Johnson has usually found a way to be competitive. Sometimes it's on pit strategy. Sometimes it's on luck. Sometimes it's on the experience garnered from having one of the series' top driver-crew chief combinations.

That doesn't mean it's been fun. Funny how much easier racing is when you have the fastest car on the track. It's happened a few times this year -- at Indianapolis in particular -- but the recipe for consistency remains a mystery.

"There is not anyone smarter than Chad, but the way he has thought about setting these cars up and what we have done in the past doesn't work with this new car," he said. "We are trying to find the right direction in the right areas to turn him loose and let him work."

Though Johnson thinks his team is "close" to getting it right, he knows there isn't some magic button Knaus will find that will put Johnson back at the front of the pack.

"There are not any big areas anymore," he said. "It's a lot of small areas and we are now, I feel, getting the rhythm of this car and understanding what to work on."

A little rhythm could go a long way toward Johnson making inroads on Busch and Edwards, who have combined for more than half of the Sprint Cup wins this year.

Busch and Edwards are also developing a little rivalry, particularly after both were put on probation for six races for bumping on the cooldown lap after Saturday's race at Bristol. Edwards had won by nudging Busch out of the way with 30 laps to go.

Johnson called the pass "just good racing" and doesn't think either driver will let the rivalry take his focus off the championship. If anything, it's just another reason to stoke the competitive fire.

"As the Chase gets closer, everybody that has a shot at this thing is going to find ways to motivate themselves and areas they can potentially play mind games in, or be out on the track and try to intimidate someone," he said. "That stuff is just part of any championship battle."

It's a battle Johnson has won the last two years. Making it three straight will be difficult, but with a Chase schedule littered with tracks he's done well at, Johnson remains optimistic he could make history.

"I feel like we are one of the guys to be considered a favorite in the championship and look forward to getting started," he said.


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Darlington to host a 500 festival this weekend

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Like most NASCAR fans, Darrell Waltrip thought Darlington Raceway's goose was cooked.

The former champion and current TV broadcaster saw the expansive new tracks on the circuit with their spacious parking, gleaming seats and fan-friendly touches. Darlington, meanwhile, looked about the same as when Waltrip first raced it three decades earlier. So when NASCAR put the country track on its endangered list a few seasons back, Waltrip figured it wouldn't be long before Darlington became extinct like iconic Southern racing layouts before it in Rockingham, N.C., and North Wilkesboro, N.C.

"There had not been a lot of growing" at Darlington, Waltrip said earlier this month. "That worried me."

But five years later, the longtime home of the Southern 500 has become the track "Too Tough To Kill."

This week, Waltrip takes part in what track leaders hope becomes another enduring tradition when Darlington hosts its first historic racing festival. Raceway president Chris Browning says the two-day event could draw as many as 20,000 people on a holiday weekend long connected to stock car racing at Darlington.

"You can hear the enthusiasm when they tell you, 'Yeah, I'm coming"' to the festival, Browning says.

It's part of Browning's strategy to keep Darlington relevant and thriving despite the loss of half of its old economic clout.

Back when Browning arrived at Darlington in 2004, his fight was to keep any Sprint Cup races at "The Lady in Black." Prospects seemed dim.

In 2003, Darlington saw a 53-year tradition of hosting NASCAR on Labor Day weekend come to end, the race date shipped to California Speedway for 2004. Soon after, Darlington's Sprint Cup schedule was cut in half after it had hosted two races each year from 1960-2004. And for Darlington's lone remaining date? Mother's Day weekend, which had been kept off NASCAR for nearly two decades.

But Browning and his staff kept pushing. The track added lights to accommodate Saturday night racing. It added a 6,300-seat Brasington Tower in turn one and upgraded several other fan areas. The result has been four straight sellouts on a weekend previously considered unpromotable.

Browning had kicked around ideas the past couple of years about expanding Darlington's footprint and settled on the festival. He says other such gatherings center on road racing. No other track has done a racing festival that concentrates on oval track, NASCAR-style racing to this extent.

"It makes perfect sense when you think about who we are," Browning says. "It's a perfect fit."

For those attending, it's similar to a living history lesson. Greats like Waltrip, "Silver Fox" David Pearson, Ned Jarrett and Bobby Allison will take fan questions and sign autographs.

There will be five classes of autos entered: Stock cars, Indy roadsters, modifieds, sprint cars and midgets. Each group will get track time twice a day for the two days on the 1.366-mile layout created by Harold Brasington in the late 1940s.

"It's really a historical landmark," Waltrip says.

Besides reuniting driving greats with one of NASCAR's founding tracks, a successful festival could add to Darlington's bottom line.

The track's last economic study in 2000 estimated an impact of $60 million a year on the region and state, Darlington spokesman Jake Harris said. An analysis of sales tax receipts done by The (Florence) Morning News after Darlington's first two Mother's Day weekend races showed increases of 21 percent or better from 2004 to 2005 in Florence and Darlington counties.

Browning doesn't expect the festival crowd to make up for meals that would have been eaten, hotel rooms that would have been rented and souvenirs that would have been bought if NASCAR still ran here on Labor Day. Still, "I think this is very vital," he says. "We can't really sit here and be comfortable with hosting one event a year."

Gradually, Darlington has melded its history and its future. Last year, the track repaved its surface and constructed a new tunnel to the infield with $10 million from owner International Speedway Corp. Earlier this month, the track announced the return of its Southern 500 race name for next May's Sprint Cup event.

The festival, Waltrip says, showcases Darlington's history.

Waltrip won five times at Darlington, including the last of his 84 Sprint Cup victories in the 1992 Southern 500. He's looking forward to swapping stories with some of his old rivals this week and at festivals to come.

He's not so worried about Darlington's NASCAR future anymore. "I think everybody's come to the conclusion that it's found its little niche," Waltrip says.


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NASCAR puts Edwards, Kyle Busch on probation

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- NASCAR placed Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards on probation Wednesday for the next six Sprint Cup Series races, the result of their on-track incident last weekend at the end of the race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

During the cooldown lap after Edwards' Ford took the checkered flag for Roush Fenway Racing, Busch drove alongside Edwards and bumped his car. Edwards responded by driving the nose of his car into the right side of Busch's Toyota, spinning him out.

The postrace incident was apparently a reaction to Edwards nudging Busch aside with 30 laps to go Saturday night. Busch had led the previous 415 laps.

Busch was unrepentant after the race, saying, "We'll go on and we'll race him that way in the Chase if that's the way he wants to race."

Edwards wasn't backing down, either.

"A real smart racer explained it to me this way after he wrecked me and I was real mad. He said, 'I just had to look at your rear bumper and decide if you would do this to me, and you had, and so it was a real simple decision,"' Edwards said. "I'd do it again."

Both drivers were later summoned by NASCAR to explain their actions.

This is just the latest development in a growing rivalry between the 23-year-old Busch and the 29-year-old Edwards, the winningest drivers in Cup this season.

Busch, who drives for Joe Gibbs Racing, has been the most dominant driver this season, winning eight times and building a lead of 212 points over runner-up Edwards in the Cup standings with two races remaining before the start of the 10-race Chase. But Edwards, who now has six wins, has come on strong in recent weeks, winning two in a row and three of the last four races.

The points race would have been even closer if not for a penalty Edwards received for racing without a cover on his oil tank after winning at Las Vegas. He was docked 100 points and NASCAR also took away the 10 bonus points for the win that would have transferred to the Chase.

Once the 12-man lineup for the Chase is set, their point totals will be reset to 5,000 and they will then be seeded by victories. If the Chase began this week, Busch would be on top with a 30-point lead over Edwards.


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Biffle the unheralded driver lurking in top 10

BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) -- Most drivers near the top of the Sprint Cup points standings get more attention than Greg Biffle these days.

Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards are having magical seasons, and Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth are more in danger of missing NASCAR's soon-to-start 10-race playoffs. Everything Dale Earnhardt Jr. does is news, Jimmie Johnson is trying to win his third championship in a row, Tony Stewart is hoping to win one as a parting gift to Joe Gibbs Racing, and Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick are among the best drivers never to win one.

Biffle doesn't mind at all, and is content to lurk in the shadows, at least for now.

"That's the way it's been, predominantly, a lot of the time," the veteran for Roush Fenway Racing said. "I think they kind of skip over me. I like that because it's less pressure for me. We just do the best we can, stay under the radar, I guess, and see what we can do."

So far, that's been a lot, especially since he remains winless this year.

Biffle will head into this weekend's race at California seventh in the point standings, 141 points ahead of teammate David Ragan, who is 13th with two races to go before the top 12 advance into the Chase for the championship. Kenseth, another teammate, stands 10th.

Jack Roush, who could wind up with four drivers in the Chase field if Ragan moves up one spot, thinks Biffle's team is close to putting it all together at the best time possible.

"We still just haven't got the chemistry between he and the crew chief and the team that we rebuilt to be where it's at its absolute best, but they're very close to being able to do the deal," Roush said before Biffle finished 11th at Bristol on Saturday night. "If we could just win a race and get that behind us, I think everybody would be a little bit more relaxed."

While Edwards, Roush's top driver this year, picked up his sixth victory of the season at Bristol, Biffle never contended for the victory despite being solid all race long.

"The reason he hasn't won is just because we haven't had our cars fast enough, but he's been close," Roush said. "He should have won two or three times this year. Maybe he can be a contender for a championship and have the best part of his year after the Chase starts."

That would clearly be just fine with Biffle, who has finished just outside the top 12 in each of the last two seasons after bad luck snatched the title from his grasp in 2005.

Second in points to begin the playoffs, Biffle was running third in both the standings and on the track at Texas in the third-to-last race when everyone made green flag pit stops.

When the stop was finished, Biffle left pit road and NASCAR saw that a wheel was loose, called him back down to pit road still under green and he returned to the track a lap down.

"It was a long green run day and I ran third the rest of the day," he said, "but a lap down third, and every time the caution would come out, (the leaders) were passing lapped cars again and I never got the lucky dog" that would have helped him get back on the lead lap.

"I finished 20th and we ended up losing the championship by 35 points. All we needed was a top-10 there and I had the championship won," he said. Instead, Tony Stewart won the title.

"That's kind of sore, I guess, but hopefully it won't happen this year if we get in."

In anticipation of making the Chase, Biffle and his team spent part of last week testing at Milwaukee, sessions they hope will help when they get to Phoenix and New Hampshire.

"We feel again like we could be a threat," he said.

A victory -- he's got 12 of them in his career, but none since last September at Kansas -- would be a nice boost to that cause, and so would a continuation of his steady finishes.

He has 10 top-10s this season, and his average finish is 14.8.

"You've got to put yourself in that position to be able to win a race," he said. "You're not going to win from running 20th. You're going to be in position running in the top five."

And that responsibility, he said, all comes down to one person.

"It's going to be up to me," he said.


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Gordon's Vegas crash prompts barrier addition

A frightening crash by Jeff Gordon last spring has prompted Las Vegas Motor Speedway to install a new SAFER Barrier along the inside wall on the back straightaway of the 1.5-mile track.

During the race last March, four-time Cup champion Gordon made heavy contact with the wall in the area that is now protected by the SAFER (Steel and Foam Energy Reduction) barrier. The new SAFER barrier covers 1,700 feet of the inside backstretch wall, with the energy-absorbing units now covering 7,800 feet of the retaining walls around the track.

Gordon's crash occurred when he made contact with Matt Kenseth's car, sending both spinning. Gordon's car hit the inside wall so hard it ripped the transmission from under the hood. Team owner Rick Hendrick said at the time that NASCAR should not return to the track until the retaining wall that Gordon hit was improved.

"Speedway Motorsports is committed to driver safety at all of its speedways," said track general manager Chris Powell. "Following this year's NASCAR Sprint Cup event, we consulted with NASCAR officials and our own engineers. We all agreed that installing the barrier on the backstretch was the proper course of action."

The final panels of the new barrier were put in place last week, with NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Brendan Gaughan on hand to see the changes firsthand.

"This speedway has made tremendous improvements to enhance both the fan experience and driver safety over the past several years," Gaughan said.

The first event on the superspeedway with the new barrier will be a truck series race on Saturday, Sept. 20.

------

MORE SAFETY: Texas Motorplex, the site of next month's NHRA Fall Nationals, is in the midst of several new safety initiatives, including extending the run-off area beyond the finish line.

The changes come in the wake of the fiery crash in June at Englishtown, N.J., in which drag racer Scott Kalitta was killed.

"Even though we have one of the longest tracks and sand trap areas in the sport, we decided after the Scott Kalitta accident that we should extend our safety area as much as possible just because you never know," said Billy Meyer, owner and president of the Texas track.

"Right now, our sand trap is about the length of a football field, and we are extending it so it will be three times as long," he added. "The walls are going to not only be taller than the height on the track, but the walls also are going to continue to narrow down to be able to funnel a car into a safe zone eliminating the chance that a car hits anything."

Meyer, a former drag racer, said Kalitta's accident taught everyone in drag racing a lesson.

"Even though we have not had a runaway car in a long, long time in this sport, it can happen," he said. "There is no reason to spare any expense if it can spare another racer's life. Even if the chances are one in a million that it could happen again, we can't take that chance."

John Force, who broke both legs and also damaged both his arms and hands in a 300-mph crash with Kenny Bernstein at Texas Motorplex in 2007, consulted with Meyer on the changes.

"NHRA is aggressively working on safety improvements, but I've also been talking to Force about some of the things we can do to increase safety at the track," Meyer said. "Force's team has been at the forefront of the quest to make the sport more safe. I spent a lot of time racing cars in my life and I know that we always need to be working on improvements."

Force, a 14-time Funny Car champion, and his Force Racing Team started The Eric Medlen Project after Medlen, who drove for him, was killed in March 2007 in a testing accident in Gainesville, Fla. The project's aim is to enhance race car safety in all forms of motorsports through heightened research and development.

"I'm excited Billy Meyer is making additional safety improvements to the Texas Motorplex," Force said. "As a former Funny Car driver, Billy has always wanted what is best for the racers. He has always been an innovator and I think the changes he is making to his track, especially the longer sand pit, will give drivers a better chance to avoid serious injuries."

------

GAMBLING ON FUTURE: Kansas Speedway has an awful lot riding on the possibility of a casino-hotel complex being built on its property.

The track, in partnership with the Cordish Co., has proposed building a $705 million Hard Rock Hotel & Casino above turn two on the 1.5-mile oval if it wins the casino management contract for Wyandotte County in Kansas. Three other groups have also submitted proposals to the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission.

Track officials have announced that they plan to build a road course if the contract comes through. That's on the heels of International Speedway Corporation president Lesa France Kennedy saying that if the track and Cordish, doing business as Kansas Entertainment LLC, is awarded the casino management contract, ISC would petition NASCAR to move a second Sprint Cup Series date to Kansas Speedway from one of its other facilities.

The road course would allow the speedway to host additional races and events throughout the year, and would be only the second active road course in the state of Kansas.


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Format change for Shootout at Daytona

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- The Budweiser Shootout at Daytona will be around at least three more years with a new format that places the emphasis on the four manufacturers in NASCAR's Sprint Cup series.

Anheuser-Busch official Tony Ponturo made the announcement of the contract extension and the format changes Tuesday. He was joined by Daytona International Speedway president Robin Braig and NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter.

The 31st annual season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 7 will have a field of 24 cars representing the top six teams from Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford and Toyota. It will be based on the final 2008 car owner points.

"This could not be better timing," Hunter said. "It's no secret that the manufacturers need all the exposure they can get right now. This is a good strategic move in that direction."

But two-time Cup champion Tony Stewart and reigning Daytona 500 champion Ryan Newman won't be in the Shootout lineup in February because of a change of teams.

Stewart is switching from Toyota to Chevrolet, while Newman is moving from Dodge to Chevrolet. That means neither will be there since their cars will not be among the top six in car owner points.

The Shootout, a non-points event, was originally known as the Busch Clash and first held in 1979. Over the years, it has been a showcase for the previous year's pole winners and previous winners.

Under the new format announced Tuesday, the race distance will be increased from 70 laps to 75 (187 miles) on the 2.5-mile Daytona trioval. The race will consist of segments of 25 and 50 laps, with both green- and yellow-flag laps counting toward the total.

There will be a 10-minute intermission between segments. Teams can pit or go to the garage and may elect to change tires, add fuel and make normal chassis adjustments. Changing of springs, shock absorbers or rear-ends will not be permitted.

Starting positions will be determined by a blind draw, held Feb. 5 at the speedway.


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Sorenson to join Gillett Evernham Motorsports

STATESVILLE, N.C. (AP) -- Reed Sorenson has signed a multiyear contract to join Gillett Evernham Motorsports, beginning in 2009.

The 22-year-old driver will finish the season with Chip Ganassi Racing, where he began his NASCAR career at 18. Sorenson has 97 Sprint Cup starts with five top-five finishes and 95 starts in the Nationwide Series. He has three wins.

Sorenson will team with Kasey Kahne and Elliott Sadler at GEM.

The team did not announce sponsorship or car number, saying those details would be revealed in the near future.

"Reed is a highly talented driver with a wealth of experience and accomplishments for a 22-year-old," said Mark McArdle, the team's vice president and managing director of competition. "We believe he has a great future ahead of him here at Gillett Evernham Motorsports. He will be a great fit with our drivers, sponsors and employees."

GEM has 15 victories and 27 poles since it began racing full-time in Cup in 2001.


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Logano, 18, picked to replace Stewart in No. 20

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (AP) -- Joe Gibbs remembers being a little hesitant the first time he met Joey Logano, days before he was to sign the phenom driver to a development contract with his race team.

"I come from football," the former Washington Redskins coach said Monday. "I'm used to seeing these great big guys, so when you sign them I'm getting my money's worth.

"I looked across the table and there was Joey, maybe 5-10, 5-9. I said, 'He's 15. We're going to sign him?"'

Three years later, a few of inches taller and only a few pounds heavier, Gibbs is convinced the rail thin, 18-year-old Logano can effectively replace Tony Stewart in the No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing next season.

"The farther you go the more you become convinced you've got somebody special," Gibbs said.

With Stewart, a two-time Sprint Cup points champion, set to leave JGR after 10 years to become driver-owner of what is now called Haas-CNC racing, Logano next season will inherit Stewart's sponsor, Home Depot, and his crew chief, Greg Zipadelli.

He'll also have plenty of pressure strapped to his 140-pound frame. While Logano has made a successful debut in the second-tier Nationwide Series, with three top-five finishes in nine races, he's yet to drive in a Sprint Cup race. Questions remain whether an 18-year-old has enough maturity to race at NASCAR's highest level.

It didn't stop JGR from signing Logano to a long-term contract and Home Depot to agree to a lengthy deal to continue as the primary sponsor of the No. 20 car. And it was clear at Monday's announcement that JGR was eager to put the focus on Logano and not last week's embarrassment that saw seven crew members suspended indefinitely by NASCAR for cheating.

"I'm cool with pressure," Logano said. "Moving up to this car now, it's more pressure, but I can handle it."

Logano, of Middletown, Conn., has starred at every level since his father, Tom, strapped him into a go-kart at age 4. He was racing quarter midgets at 6 and later won 14 straight races in Legends Cars. He won the NASCAR Busch East Series title last year and won the first ARCA race he competed in earlier this year.

The driver who veteran Mark Martin called "the real deal" -- when he was 15 -- finished sixth in his Nationwide debut on May 31, a week after he turned 18. He captured the pole in his second race and won his third start at Kentucky Speedway, becoming the youngest winner in Nationwide history.

So when Gibbs allowed Stewart out of the final year of his contract, he had little interest in pursuing free-agent drivers Ryan Newman, Casey Mears, Martin Truex Jr. or other veterans.

"There were other options, but I think for the long-term and what's in the best interest of JGR, The Home Depot and our whole team, Joey was the guy," said J.D. Gibbs, JGR president and Joe Gibbs' son.

Logano will make his Sprint Cup debut on Sept. 6 at Richmond. He'll also run at Atlanta and in a few more races in a car owned by Hall of Fame Racing, which gets its engines and chassis from JGR.

Next year, Logano will also run close to a full Nationwide schedule to gain experience.

"I'm sure there's a lot I have to learn," Logano said. "Racing is a lot of little things that make it. Every time I go to the racetrack I learn things. ... As long as I pick up something every time I go to the racetrack it's going to be great."

Young drivers have had mixed success in NASCAR. Points leader Kyle Busch entered the top series at age 19. So did Casey Atwood, who eventually lost his ride.

Logano will benefit by working with one of NASCAR's most successful crew chiefs. Zipadelli helped Stewart's transition from open-wheel cars, and Stewart was voted rookie of the year in 1999 when he won a record three races. Stewart went on to win series titles in 2002 and '05.

"We're excited about starting over," Zipadelli said. "We've had a great 10 years. We've got some pretty good stats to set our goals at right now and to use that as our motivating tools in the future. We've got to win at least three next year, like we did in '99."

Zipadelli later said making the year-end Chase for the Sprint Cup championship is a goal.

With high expectations, his past success, JGR's top equipment and an experienced crew, any mistake will be magnified. And since he'll inherit a car that's currently in sixth place in the Sprint Cup standings, maybe Logano could make the Chase next year.

Of course, Logano won't turn 19 until the night of May's Coca-Cola 600, which will mark the longest race of his life.

"Knowing your son, we talked about it and it wasn't a hard decision to make," Tom Logano said. "I think he's ready."


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Burton, Kahne take hits in Chase standings

BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) -- Championship contenders Jeff Burton and Kasey Kahne had rough races Saturday night, neither making it to the midway point of the Sharpie 500.

Burton, who started the night fifth in points, was running fifth on lap 196 when his car was hit from behind and he couldn't avoid slamming into the spinning car of Sterling Marlin in front of him. Burton climbed from his car and he never made it back onto the track.

It seemed the drivers behind Burton hadn't seen the accident unfolding before them.

"Typical Bristol wreck," Burton said. "But if you look in front of you, you tend not to hit stuff. I was trying to be smart and cautious, but it didn't do me any good."

Burton, though, was in no danger of falling out of the playoffs with one bad night.

Kahne, who started the night 11th in points, was caught up in an accident that started when Casey Mears tried to move into the front of a line of cars, clipped the one of Michael Waltrip right behind him and triggered impact that sent cars spinning and banging all over.

"We were just blocked in behind a bunch of cars and then a bunch of cars in front of me started wrecking," said Kahne, who dropped to 14th in the points race with three races left. Only the top 12 drivers can contend for the championship.

Mears was less than amused to have caused the melee and blamed his spotter, saying he only tried to move into the front of the line after hearing his spotter assure him it was clear.

"I like my spotter. He's a good guy, but man, that's ridiculous," he said. "We just took out a bunch of cars for no reason, and ourselves. I'm pretty upset about it."

The mess caused a red flag delay of 12 minutes, 19 seconds.

The race was also a bust for Jimmie Johnson, who was involved in an early mishap that caused him to pit twice under green, dropping him 13 laps off the pass when he came out.

He rallied to finish 34th and fell one spot to fourth in the point standings.

------

CHILDRESS' FOURTH: Casey Mears has a new home for the 2009 season.

As expected, Mears was introduced Saturday as the fourth driver for Richard Childress Racing, joining Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer in RCR's Chevrolet stable.

"I've watched Casey's career from the time he first came in and he's always impressed me," Childress said at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Recalling watching a race at Michigan with Mears in contention, Childress said, "I think I was pulling for you about as hard as I was for our cars."

Mears, who is leaving Hendrick Motorsports at the end of this season, will drive the No. 07 car with Jack Daniels as its primary sponsor, Childress said. Clint Bowyer, who is driving the 07 and has it close to making it into the top 12, and thus the 10-race Chase for the championship, will move to the new No. 33 with sponsorship from Cheerios and Hamburger Helper.

The points earned by Bowyer will stay with the 07, Childress said, but he added that he is not ready to make any announcement about whether Bowyer will have a cushion in the No. 33.

Teams that carry over points from the previous year can use them for the first five races of the following season, at least to avoid having to race their way into each event.

Teams without points have to qualify in the top 35 or risk not making the race.

"We've got some things working on that," Childress said without elaborating.

Bowyer joked about the possibility of starting next year with no points.

"It beats beating dents in a body shop," he said.

For the next three weeks, however, Childress said the team will focus on the last three races that set the field for the Chase. Burton (fifth) and Harvick (eighth) started the Sharpie 500 on Saturday night inside the top 12 and Bowyer was tied for 13th, 26 points off the pace.

Mears, who started Saturday night's race with one career victory in 203 starts, said he looks forward to joining the atmosphere of cooperation that exists among the RCR teams.

"I'm a team player, and that's how I like to race," he said.

------

IMAGE PROBLEM: Jeff Gordon is one of the drivers most loudly cheered -- and lustily jeered -- by fans during driver introductions every week, and said he has no issue with that.

"To me, what makes this sport what it is is the fans' avidness, whether it's for or against," the four-time champion said. "It's that they're so interested in what's going on that they know all they know about the teams, the drivers, the races and they form an opinion. That's the key, getting people involved with their opinions whether we like them or not."

Gordon's popularity, and lack thereof, grew exponentially as his success increased earlier in his career, and has waned only slightly during his ongoing 28-race winless streak.

That streak, he said, has taken on a life of its own because of his history.

"You know, it's just part of the expectations that are on this team," he said. "We've been at a very high end of competition and in the limelight a lot of the years. That's a good thing. To win four championships and 81 wins, all those things those are fantastic."

The success of Hendrick Motorsports overall, which includes back-to-back championships by Gordon's teammate, Jimmie Johnson, "only creates more expectations," Gordon said. "When the expectations are high and you don't live up to them, it's going to create a story."


Bowyer wins wild Richmond race
Ex-Kentucky WR Burton reaches deal with Rams
Consistent Burton back in title contention

Briscoe happy with runner-up finish

SONOMA, Calif. (AP) -- Ryan Briscoe settled for second place Sunday at Infineon Raceway and was pretty happy about it.

Briscoe followed Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves across the finish line, knowing the victory -- his first in 30 races -- helped the Brazilian stay in a championship duel with IndyCar Series leader Scott Dixon with two races remaining.

Castroneves had finished second seven times this season, including getting beaten by Briscoe last month on the road course at Mid-Ohio.

"I'm so happy for Helio," the Aussie said. "Not getting a win all year and getting all of those seconds was killing him, so I'm really happy for him to win the race. He was the quickest car out there today. It's just great for the team."

It was a very strong finish to a week that began with the news that one of the Penske team's transporters had caught fire, destroying the primary cars of both Castroneves and Briscoe.

"It's unbelievable," Briscoe said. "To start the week off the way we did, with the fire and everything, and then dominate with a one-two qualifying and race result, it's definitely the strongest we've been all year."

Team owner Roger Penske said he was very proud of the way the team responded to the loss of the transporter with the two cars, uniforms and other important equipment on it. He said his NASCAR and American Le Mans Series teams, working out of the same race shop as the IndyCar team in Mooresville, N.C., responded to the emergency.

"The fraternity pulled together with us and helped us get back together," Penske said. "All these guys, they are racers, a great group of guys. It's all about people and Helio and Briscoe really did a great job today. We have tough competition out there."

He said he was particularly proud of the way Castroneves responded.

"Helio wanted to get that win and, wow, what a way to do it under the adversity we had this week."

------

NOT SO EXCITING: With most of the drivers in Sunday's race following their own fuel-saving strategies, Tony Kanaan didn't find the action particularly scintillating.

Asked how the race played out for him, third-place finisher Tony Kanaan said, "Lonely, very lonely."

Kanaan said saving fuel is boring.

"I mean, I think racing is about going fast, not driving slow," the Andretti Green Racing driver said. "Obviously, you do whatever you can, whatever you need to do the finish on the podium. But it's like people on the radio saying you've got to do a certain amount of fuel number and drive slow, but be fast, don't get passed, things that don't make any sense."

------

ROOKIE RACER: Venezuelan rookie E.J. Viso finished sixth, his best effort since a season-best fourth-place on the street circuit at St. Petersburg in the second race of the season. Using a fuel-saving strategy, Viso led twice for nine laps.

"I think we did a great job today," said Viso, who drives for the one-car HVM Racing team. "The car was very competitive and (engineer) Michael (Cannon) gave us great strategy today to lead the race and be up front.

"The team, I have to give them a ton of credit also. The pit stops were fast and helped us maintain our position. We have some room to improve and run against the bigger teams, but today proved that we can compete with them."

Viso was the top finisher among the nine drivers in Sunday's race making the transition from Champ Car to the unified IndyCar Series.

------

CELEBRITY VISIT: Among the people visiting Marco Andretti on Sunday was filmmaker George Lucas, creator of the "Star Wars" saga and the Indiana Jones movies.

Andretti's No. 26 car has been a rolling billboard for several of Lucas' movies and carried graphics for "Stars Wars: The Clone Wars" on Sunday.

"It gets a lot of notoriety for the team," said Lucas, a longtime IndyCar fan who makes his home in Modesto, Calif. "Especially with the Star Wars and brand and Indiana Jones, we already have more notoriety than we need. If we're going to give it to something, we might as well give it to racing. I've lived through the Andretti legends and now Marco is carrying that one."

Andretti, the grandson of Mario Andretti and son of Michael Andretti, finished a disappointing 14th Sunday.

------

SPARK PLUGS: Fan favorite Danica Patrick finished fifth, among her best performances of the season. ... Winner Helio Castroneves led four times for 51 laps and averaged 100.254 mph in the race slowed by just one caution flag for two laps. ... Rookie Enrique Bernoldi, who tore the ligament in his left thumb in a crash on Saturday, finished 21st in the 27-car field.


DOUGHERTY SURPRISED BY ABSENTEES
Another cautionary tale for IndyCar
Penske fails in triple crown bid

Busch-Edwards feud adding spice to Sprint Cup

BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) -- NASCAR has a new rivalry: Carl Edwards vs. Kyle Busch.

Edwards called the latest installment payback and Busch promised that retribution will come down the road.

During a season in which Busch and Edwards have dominated Victory Lane celebrations, their growing feud is adding spice to the Sprint Cup series and the upcoming Chase for the championship.

Edwards won the latest battle, nudging Busch aside with 30 laps to go Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway and continuing on to his second consecutive victory and sixth overall. Making it sting all the more for Busch was that he had led the previous 415 laps.

"It was all going fine there until the end," said Busch, who showed his frustration by retaliating after the race.

During the cooldown lap after Edwards took the checkered flag for Roush Fenway Racing, Busch drove alongside Edwards and bumped his car. Edwards responded by driving the nose of his car into the right side of Busch's, spinning him out as the fans cheered.

Edwards defended bumping Busch during the race, saying he was merely using history as his guide.

"A real smart racer explained it to me this way after he wrecked me and I was real mad. He said, 'I just had to look at your rear bumper and decide if you would do this to me, and you had, and so it was a real simple decision,"' Edwards said. "I'd do it again."

Drivers tend to remember moments like that.

Edwards recalled a Nationwide race earlier this season when Busch "was a lot faster than me and went ahead and got to my back bumper and just smoked the back bumper of my car and sent me up the racetrack. Afterward, he said, 'Sorry, man, my car was just faster."'

Busch remembered a different incident, and said Edwards' good-guy image allows him to knock another driver out of a race, then claim he didn't mean to do it.

"He does that and he'll always come back and say he's sorry," Busch said. "He did it at Milwaukee and he's done it a few other times. It's just his normal fashion."

Edwards' victory put him 212 points behind Busch at the top of the standings and 20 back in bonus points with two regular-season races to go before the 10-race Chase begins.

Busch has eight wins for Joe Gibbs Racing. Each win is worth 10 bonus points that are used for seeding at the beginning of NASCAR's postseason.

"We'll go on and we'll race him that way in the Chase if that's the way he wants to race," Busch said before both were summoned to the NASCAR hauler for an explanation.

No matter what was said behind closed doors, the feud can't hurt NASCAR moving forward. Edwards' surge has been a blessing, creating at least a two-horse race for the championship.

And perhaps a new rivalry along the lines of Jeff Gordon and Rusty Wallace?

"Boy, you know, I don't know," Edwards said. "I guess it remains to be seen. It's like I said last week -- if there's only one guy I have to race, that's awesome."


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Edwards closes in on Busch with win at Michigan
Crosby dismisses feud with Grapes

Edwards passes Kyle Busch for victory at Bristol

BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) -- Carl Edwards isn't giving up anything to Kyle Busch and his domination of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, especially when it counts the most.

Edwards saw Busch lead 415 consecutive laps Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway, then used him bumper to nudge Busch in the first turn on lap 470. That move caused Busch's car to wiggle just enough so that Edwards could drive by on his way to his second consecutive victory.

The triumph was also the sixth of the season for the Roush Fenway Racing driver, allowing him to close the gap of bonus points he's likely to face when the 12-race Chase for the championship begins. Busch has eight wins, and each is worth 10 Chase bonus points.

After taking the checkered flag, Edwards was making his cool down lap around the track when Busch drove up and bumped his car. Edwards clearly wasn't amused, and when he responded by driving the nose of his car into the right side of Busch's, the fans cheered wildly.

Busch finished second, followed by Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Gordon, three drivers needing good nights to bolster their playoff prospects.

Ryan Newman was sixth and was the only car not in Chase contention in the top 10. Clint Bowyer was seventh, followed by Clint Bowyer, Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth and David Ragan.


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Eagles sue T.O. to recoup 2004-05 bonus money
Edwards closes in on Busch with win at Michigan

Mears becoming fourth driver for Childress

BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) -- Casey Mears has a new home for the 2009 season.

As expected, Mears was introduced Saturday as the fourth driver for Richard Childress Racing, joining Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer in RCR's Chevrolet stable.

"I've watched Casey's career from the time he first came in and he's always impressed me," Childress said at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Recalling watching a race at Michigan with Mears in contention, Childress said, "I think I was pulling for you about as hard as I was for our cars."

Mears, who is leaving Hendrick Motorsports at the end of this season, will drive the No. 07 car with Jack Daniels as its primary sponsor, Childress said. Clint Bowyer, who is driving the 07 and has it close to making it into the top 12, and thus the 10-race Chase for the championship, will move to the new No. 33 with sponsorship from Cheerios and Hamburger Helper.

The points earned by Bowyer will stay with the 07, Childress said, but he added that he is not ready to make any announcement about whether Bowyer will have a cushion in the No. 33.

Teams that carry over points from the previous year can use them for the first five races of the following season, at least to avoid having to race their way into each event.

Teams without points have to qualify in the top 35 or risk not making the race.

"We've got some things working on that," Childress said without elaborating.

Bowyer joked about the possibility of starting next years with no points.

"It beats beating dents in a body shop," he said.

For the next three weeks, however, Childress said the team will focus on the last three races that set the field for the Chase. Burton (fifth) and Harvick (eighth) started the Sharpie 500 on Saturday night inside the top 12 and Bowyer was tied for 13th, 26 points off the pace.

Mears, who started Saturday night's race with one career victory in 203 starts, said he looks forward to joining the atmosphere of cooperation that exists among the RCR teams.

"I'm a team player, and that's how I like to race," he said.

------

IMAGE PROBLEM: Jeff Gordon is one of the drivers most loudly cheered -- and lustily jeered -- by fans during driver introductions every week, and said he has no issue with that.

"To me, what makes this sport what it is is the fans' avidness, whether it's for or against," the four-time champion said. "It's that they're so interested in what's going on that they know all they know about the teams, the drivers, the races and they form an opinion. That's the key, getting people involved with their opinions whether we like them or not."

Gordon's popularity, and lack thereof, grew exponentially as his success increased earlier in his career, and has waned only slightly during his ongoing 28-race winless streak.

That streak, he said, has taken on a life of its own because of his history.

"You know, it's just part of the expectations that are on this team," he said. "We've been at a very high end of competition and in the limelight a lot of the years. That's a good thing. To win four championships and 81 wins, all those things those are fantastic."

The success of Hendrick Motorsports overall, which includes back-to-back championships by Gordon's teammate, Jimmie Johnson, "only creates more expectations," Gordon said. "When the expectations are high and you don't live up to them, it's going to create a story."


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Gibbs to name Stewart replacement on Monday

BRISTOL, Va. (AP) -- Joe Gibbs Racing is expected to detail its plans for 2009 next week, including an announcement on the successor to the departing Tony Stewart in its No. 20 car.

The team called a news conference for Monday afternoon at its shop in Huntersville, N.C., and all signs seemed to point to newcomer Joey Logano taking over Stewart's Toyota.

Team president J.D. Gibbs declined to confirm the speculation Saturday night.

"We'll have an announcement Monday," he said.

Stewart, a two-time series champion, announced earlier this summer that he's leaving JGR after this season to become co-owner of a Sprint Cup Series team now known as Haas-CNC.

Gibbs said it would not be unusual for a team to hire a driver before he's ever run in NASCAR's premier series, noting that Stewart's first race was as a fulltime driver for Gibbs.

"We obviously think he's a very talented driver," he said of Logano.

Logano has run a limited schedule for JGR in the Nationwide Series since he turned 18 earlier in the year, and is expected to make his Sprint Cup Series debut in September at Richmond, the final event before the 12-driver, 10-race Chase for the championship opens.

That run, and any others in the premier series Logano makes this year, are expected to come for Hall of Fame Racing, an affiliate of JGR

Stewart and Logano were linked in a bad way earlier this week when both teams were issued harsh penalties by NASCAR for rules violations discovered after last week's Nationwide Series race at Michigan. NASCAR suspended seven JGR crew members indefinitely for attempting to manipulate a horsepower test and docked Stewart and Logano 150 drivers points each.

The teams were also docked 150 points each and placed on probation for the rest of the year after inspectors found magnets on the gas pedals of both cars after the race.


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Brush with Bristol wall doesn't faze Edwards

BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) -- Carl Edwards is doing his best to slow Kyle Busch's momentum.

Edwards won his first pole position of the season Friday, turning a lap at 121.860 mph in qualifying for Saturday night's Sprint Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Edwards, who trails only the dominating Busch in the point standings, is 222 points behind, but followed up his victory last weekend in Michigan with his fourth career pole.

"That's as fast as I could go," Edwards said. "The pole is huge for us. This track, obviously track position, pit stall selection, those things are really important."

Busch, with eight wins and two poles this season, will start ninth.

David Reutimann put his Toyota on the outside of Edwards' Ford on the front row, turning a lap at 121.175 mph, with the Chevrolets of Jeff Gordon and rookie Regan Smith in Row 2.

Reutimann's effort was the best of his Cup career.

"I had to pedal it pretty hard coming off of turn two because I got back to the gas pretty quick and it shoved the front end a little bit," he said. "All in all, it ended up being a pretty good lap. It gave us a good pit selection and good starting position."

Gordon, a four-time series champion but non-winner through 23 races this season, is among the nine drivers battling for the final seven spots in the Chase for the championship.

Other drivers battling to stay in, or move into, the 12-driver playoff included Kevin Harvick (8th), who will start sixth; Kasey Kahne (11th), who qualified 13th; Greg Biffle (7th), who will start 14th; and Denny Hamlin (12th), who will start 21st.

Matt Kenseth (10th) starts 25th.

Clint Bowyer and David Ragan, the drivers tied for 13th and only 26 points behind the struggling Hamlin for the final spot, qualified 22nd and 27th, respectively, but Ragan will have to start at the back of the field after trying too hard and crashing during his lap.

"I just got a little free and I felt like I would have enough track to chase it and just didn't get out of the throttle," he said.


Dynamo pressure results in victory
Schalke stay on track
Stewart gets fifth Nationwide win