Kyle Busch qualifies third in fire-scarred truck

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- Kyle Busch qualified third Thursday for the NASCAR race at Texas in a truck that was salvaged two nights earlier from a hauler fire that destroyed the team's primary truck and a lot of equipment.

"With the black soot, you couldn't read the number on the side of it this morning," Busch said after his lap of 178.183 mph.

The hauler for Billy Ballew Motorsports was destroyed by fire late Tuesday night near Shreveport, La., when it was en route to Texas for Friday night's Chevy Silverado 350K. Busch said the backup truck and a scarred pit box were the only things that were salvaged.

"Everything else is gone. It's unfortunate for Billy," Busch said. "I'm sure the $1 million in insurance won't cover all that was lost."

Rick Crawford, making his 22nd start at Texas, earned his first pole at the 11/2-mile track with a qualifying lap of 178.826 mph. It is only his fifth pole in 295 career races.

Cale Gale qualified second at 178.778 mph. Series points leader Johnny Benson qualified 20th, 13 spots behind Ron Hornaday Jr., who trails him by only 31 points.

Busch, the runner-up to Hornaday at Texas in June, said the salvaged truck was full of water after firefighters put out the fire. The crew worked overnight Wednesday pumping the engine and making sure everything ran OK.

"It seems like everything is just normal with it," Busch said. "I'll put a car freshner in it, hang it from the mirror."


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Tough economic times ahead for NASCAR

Jeff Gordon says the current economic meltdown is increasing the pressure on NASCAR teams to win.

And that gives the bigger teams the upper hand.

"It's a domino effect, when the strong get stronger," said Gordon, a four-time Cup champion for the elite Hendrick Motorsports team. "I think that, especially in a tough economy like this, we have secured sponsorship and we have the resources; it makes the gap sort of widen at times."

Track officials and teams in all of NASCAR's top three professional series are either still looking for sponsorship for 2009 and beyond or spending time worrying that the companies currently in the fold may find themselves having to cut back on spending, or even walking away from their contracts.

Gordon believes the top teams -- Hendrick, Roush Fenway Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing, and Richard Childress Racing -- have an advantage because they give their sponsors a return on their investments.

"It's a business, and the strong businesses that are providing great product and have something to give back are the ones that are going to thrive," he said. "That's us, that's Roush, that's Gibbs, that's Childress and that's just kind of the way it is right now."

Most folks who have been around NASCAR awhile remember what happened in 2002 when Kmart filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy and suspended its sponsorship of the Haas-Carter Motorsports team in the Cup series, as well as its involvement with the Daytona 500.

There's little question that more of that kind of attrition could affect NASCAR.

So, right now, it's good to be one of the dominant Sprint Cup teams with multiple big sponsors and lots of resources.

Heading into Sunday's race at Texas, the top four teams have combined to win 29 of the 33 Cup races this season. They also each placed three drivers in the 12-man Chase for the championship.

Gordon, who also owns an equity share in the Hendrick team, understands that sponsorship is a necessity in stock car racing and foresees some tough times ahead.

"If those companies (that are current sponsors) aren't thriving and they can't put the dollars in their marketing program and look at NASCAR as one of those marketing programs, and they're cutting back, then the sport is going to suffer," he said. "What happens is that those teams that are farther down, it just makes it tougher and tougher to get sponsorship. If they don't get sponsorship, they fold.

"For us, if we don't get sponsorship, we could last for a little while. Even as good as we are, we might have to look for a merger."

Greg Biffle, who drives for Roush Fenway, said he's very happy to be with an organization with so many resources.

"But I think we've seen that anybody can be susceptible to these big issues, like the big banks," he said. "So, I don't think anybody is safe, but I feel bad for those people in those positions that are trying to get by.

"The only saving grace that we have, I think, is that the oil prices keep going down."

Jeff Burton, who also drives for Roush Fenway, said the worst thing anyone in NASCAR can do right now is panic.

"I do believe that in our sport, as probably most sports, we have a tendency to beat this story into the ground," he said. "But on the same token, it is there. It's not something that we've created by any means.

"The only thing that we can do as a sport, in my opinion, is ... make a compelling reason why people need to come watch a race and why they need to tune into it on television. If we do that, then we're going to have better days when the economy is good."

And what the sport has to do, he added, is somehow hang onto its share of corporate America through the bad times.

"If we don't have (sponsorship), we can't succeed," Burton said. "So, it impacts us because if the corporations can't spend the money and the people can't afford to come watch, then there's teams (in trouble)."

While everyone agrees that tough times are coming, NASCAR is trying hard to remain upbeat.

Last week, while announcing Camping World as the new series sponsor for the truck series, NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France sounded an optimistic note.

He said NASCAR's business is off only "single digits" at the moment, adding, "We tend to fare much better than other industries, thankfully. That's because sports are so culturally ingrained to fans. It's one of the last things that they want to not participate in."

France said most of the teams in Cup are well-funded heading into 2009.

"There are obviously some teams that aren't, but there are always teams that aren't," he said. "Some of that is based on performance, not necessarily the economy. So teams that tend to perform consistently well tend to do very well in the sponsorship area as you would think."

While Gordon expects the rich to get richer in bad times, he is trying to look down the road.

"This economy affects everybody," he said. "It affects me, it affects you, it affects sponsors, it affects race teams. These are tough times. Everybody has got to bear down and stick with it and make the most of it.

"We're all kind of waiting to see where it's going to go."


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Ken Schrader wins Bill Elliott charity race

Ken Schrader wowed the crowd at Dixie Speedway last Saturday night, holding off fellow NASCAR stars Tony Stewart and Davey Blaney for a victory in a 25-lap celebrity race for charity at the inaugural Bill Elliott 50 Red Dirt Dash.

Others in the celebrity field at the Woodstock, Ga., track included Kasey Kahne, David Gilliland and Ray Evernham.

The super late model celebrity event featured a two-stage format in which the field was inverted for the final 15 laps. Stewart led the first segment, while Schrader wound up on the pole for the second segment.

"I hit the kill switch by mistake," said Schrader, who brought out a yellow flag near the end of the first 10 laps. "I was able to get away from them a little bit toward the end. Getting away from someone and passing them are two different things."

Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., won the main event, the Bill Elliott 50 super late model race.

Georgia native Bill Elliott won his first race at Dixie Speedway in 1974.

"I've very proud of being able to give back to local racetracks and raise money for local charities," Elliott said. "I know the economy is bad and things are tough, so to be able to put on a good show, draw a great Dixie crowd and raise money for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta makes this event all the more special."

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FOUR-WHEELING: Motorcycle stars Ricky Carmichael, Scott Russell and Jason Pridmore were at Daytona International Speedway this week -- on four wheels.

The motorcycle racers were shaking down a Daytona Prototype during this month's test session in preparation for a potential run in the 47th anniversary of the Rolex 24 sports car endurance race on Jan. 24-25.

For Russell and Carmichael, it was their second sports car test at Daytona, while Pridmore drove a car there for the first time. All have been testing at other road courses as they look to make an attempt to compete in the Grand-Am series season-opener at Daytona.

All three riders have had success at Daytona. Russell is a five-time Daytona 200 winner, a record he shares with Miguel Duhamel.

"It's a great challenge to come in cold like that with no real car experience," Russell said. "I don't think any of us have much car experience. You got a lot of great drivers in this series and I look forward to chasing them around and trying to see if I can get my times down to where they are. It's such a new challenge for me. It's great."

Carmichael, retired from bikes and now pursuing a NASCAR career, is a record five-time Daytona Supercross winner.

"It's neat to be here and see it from this angle," he said. "I've been around the motorcycle stuff for so long. This is a racer's heaven for sure. It's awesome to be able to have done it on a motorcycle, do it on a Daytona Prototype and next on the list is a stock car."

Pridmore anchors the trio of motorcycle champions with two 750 Supersport victories at Daytona.

"It's exciting because we're all nervous," Pridmore said. "We're all scared. I don't think any of us will lie to you. We're all a little bit nervous for what we're getting ourselves into. There's a lot of respect for the guys that do this full time."

All three riders are being tutored by sports car veteran Guy Cosmo for the potential Rolex 24 start.

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MAD MAX: Open-wheel and sports car veteran Max Papis has signed with Germain Racing to drive the No. 13 Toyota Camry in two NASCAR Sprint Cup races this year and at least 18 in 2009.

The car will be sponsored for those events by Geico, which signed a four-year agreement with the Germain team.

Papis will attempt to qualify Friday at Texas for his first Cup race on an oval. He previously raced in both Cup road course events this season, finishing 35th at Sonoma and 43rd at Watkins Glen in a car fielded by Haas Automation. He also has raced in seven Nationwide Series events, with his only oval start at Texas in 2006. He crashed and finished 40th in that race.

He will also attempt to qualify for the Cup finale at Homestead on Nov. 16. Aside from recording three wins in the now-defunct CART Series, Papis has been a top competitor in American sports car racing, posting wins at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 2000 and 2002, as well as winning a Grand-American Rolex Sports Car Series championship in 2004. As a member of GM's Corvette Racing team, Papis has two wins at the 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans as well as two runner-up finishes at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

"My family and I have been working on this for the last five years and I'm proud that it's happening with GEICO," said the Italian-born Papis, son-in-law of former Formula One and IndyCar champion Emerson Fittipaldi.

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F1 STANDARDIZATION: Formula One's governing body is moving forward with its plan to have a sole engine and transmission supplier beginning in 2010, saying some parties have shown interest in the bidding process.

FIA said in a statement Monday that it "received a number of questions from interested parties regarding" the invitation to tender it made on Oct. 17.

The governing body intends to introduce rule amendments "requiring all competitors must use a standardized engine and transmission system" for the 2010, 2011 and 2012 seasons.

Joint bids for engines and transmissions and for engines alone must be submitted by Nov. 7, FIA said. Bids for power transmission systems alone won't be due until three weeks later.

Some teams have complained about the measure, which is part of FIA's moves to try and reduce costs amid the global financial crisis.

The exclusive engine supplier will provide either the full engine or the information so the teams can build them. The sole supplier will work with FIA to ensure that all engines and parts are in accordance to the rules.

The supplier of transmission systems will provide them ready to use to all competitors.

A season of catch-up in the new IRL

SURFERS PARADISE, Australia (AP) -- Justin Wilson thought he had it made when he signed after last season to replace Sebastien Bourdais in the Champ Car series.

And then along came the announcement in February that the Indy Racing League and Champ Car, after a 12-year split, had agreed to unify.

"I had (Bourdais') car and it was going to be great. I was thinking 'OK here we go,"' said Wilson, who drives for the Newman/Haas/Lanigan team.

"Then the talk and the rumors started, which was a massive distraction. Finally it happens and we had to regroup and tackle something that was pretty tough."

As tough as hitting the books again.

"It's like walking into a class at school with the others having been studying for six years and you, three weeks," Wilson said. "You can cram all you like but you will not know as much as they do."

Wilson wasn't being overdramatic. For his team, it was out with the Cosworth engines, in with the IRL's Honda power plants. DP01 chassis? Gone, replaced by Dallaras. And those Bridgestone tires used by Champ car were history, replaced by Firestone.

Horsepower in the cars went down to about 650 from 800. And no push-to-pass turbochargers to help out on the straights.

Most of the Champ Car teams barely had time to build a new car, let alone a backup, although IRL founder Tony George did offer the new teams help.

"Tony and the league went above and beyond, I think, to not only get the cars, but to tool us up with spare parts," former driver and IRL team owner Jimmy Vasser said last week at the Indy 300 at Surfers Paradise.

"I commend the IRL teams that did help us out. I think they realized there was a greater goal, for the good of open-wheel racing, not to have the Champ Car teams struggle. I think that if the shoe was on the other foot, they realized the difficulty they would have had."

Champ drivers also had to learn a new track at almost every race, most of them ovals. The general consensus was that Champ Car could have been up to six years and $50 million behind in research and development when the two groups merged, a figure that Vasser thinks could be exaggerated.

The five Champ Car teams that moved to IRL were each connected with a "partner" team from the existing circuit, often using organizational ties to marry the two into a relationship.

The existing IRL teams were expected to provide their expertise, even perhaps some race setups, to the new kids on the block. But there could be some perceived reluctance at anyone giving a team like Newman/Haas/Lanigan, which has more than 100 open-wheel victories in CART and Champ, any more information than it already had.

Vasser, whose KV Racing Technology was paired with Target Chip Ganassi Racing, a team Vasser drove for when he won the 1996 Champ series title, said the situation worked well.

"If it wasn't for Chip and (team managing director) Mike Hull and all his guys over there, we would have been in a much more difficult position," Vasser said.

Newman/Haas/Lanigan's two drivers were the only former Champ Car drivers to win on the IRL this season, Graham Rahal in St. Petersburg, Fla., and Wilson in Detroit.

Despite his comment about having to go back to school, Wilson has no doubt the unification was a great move.

"Ultimately it is the best for everyone," he said. "Take the pain now, suffer these first few races, but eventually this is what the sport needed to get stronger."

Team Australia's Will Power also said it was a daunting season.

"At the start of this year I was getting ready to win a championship," Power said. "Then suddenly I've got to start again, from scratch."

The unification's pluses were evident: the number of teams on the combined circuit jumped from eight to 14; the average number of cars per race from 20 to 26, and the fewest number of cars to enter any IRL race was 24, up from 18 in 2007.

At the Champ Car race at Surfers Paradise last year there were just 17 cars, this year, in the expanded IRL, 24.

The IRL said in a statement there were more spectators at 12 of the 16 races on the schedule, television ratings were up about 10 percent and there was a 25 percent increase in merchandise sales.

Erik Berkman, the president of Honda Performance Development, the engine-building arm of the company, said from his standpoint, the transition went "seamlessly and successfully," adding that Honda engines ran nearly 230,000 miles during the 2008 season "without a single in-race engine failure."

In 2009, the IRL has scheduled 18 races, 10 on ovals and eight on street courses. It is expected that the ratio might be 10 and 10 in the future if new races are added.

For now, it's onward and upward, says Vasser, as the open-wheelers continue to try to make inroads in the tremendous popularity enjoyed by NASCAR.

"I welcome the challenge," Vasser said. "We need to keep giving good value to our sponsors. And just keep our heads down and put out a good product for the fans."


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Knaus closing in on NASCAR history

AP Graphics CHASE FOR THE CUP, DICKIES 500

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- The notes fluttered from Chad Knaus' notebook last November just as Jimmie Johnson began his celebratory lap around Homestead-Miami Speedway. The duo had just won their second consecutive championship, but Knaus was more concerned with making sure his strategies didn't land in the hands of a rival.

There was no time to rest.

"It's been a phenomenal ride," Knaus said immediately after that race ended. "Sad it's over, but I can't wait for Daytona now ... all you want to do is just keep going. I think there are more wins out there for us. I think there are more championships out there for us."

It's that drive that had Knaus and his crew in the shop three weeks ago on a rare Sunday off, trying to figure out why Johnson faded over the final laps at Charlotte to finish sixth.

It's why Knaus wouldn't ride it out last week in Atlanta, calling Johnson into the pits for a four-tire stop then watching his driver pass nine cars in the closing laps as he stormed to a second-place finish that left the competition speechless.

And it's how he's put Johnson on the verge of joining Cale Yarborough as the only driver in NASCAR history to win three straight titles. Johnson goes into Texas Motor Speedway this weekend with a 183-point lead over Carl Edwards with just three races remaining, and a crew chief who won't let up until every other driver is mathematically eliminated.

"He is more motivated by dominating," Johnson said. "We'll have what we consider the best car in practice, look at the lap tracker, and we might have a tenth on the field and he's like "We need more.' That's just his mind-set. It's more, more, more. We've got to be better. We've got to be better."

Since Johnson and Knaus hit their stride three years ago, no team in NASCAR has been better than Hendrick Motorsports' No. 48 team.

Oh, they've been good since their 2002 inception, and they challenged for the title in both 2004 and 2005. But Knaus was incapable of pacing himself, and the team faded over the final few months of those seasons.

Driver and crew chief were fed up with each other after the 2005 defeat, and team owner Rick Hendrick sat them down together during the offseason for a meeting that put them on this current course of dominance.

"We do a good job now of pacing ourselves during the year," Knaus said. "Jimmie is pretty fresh, our team is pretty fresh, and we're all really competitive and love stepping up to the plate to answer the challenge."

But how did Knaus, who ran himself so hard during those first several years that he was spent by the time the Chase started, learn how to save his energy?

"I guess I'm just different now," he said. "I've learned. As you mature you get wiser, hopefully. And I've gone through different scenarios, different points systems, different emotions, and I got to a place where I know I can do this now."

Yet it has come at a cost for the 37-year-old Knaus, who is single, has no children and has dedicated his life to racing.

He was a crew chief at 14, when he called the shots as his father won the Rockford Speedway championship in their Illinois hometown. The duo also won the NASCAR Great Northern Series championship, and finished second in the Winston Racing Series before Knaus headed out on his own following his high school graduation.

He was 22 when he made it to NASCAR as an original member of Jeff Gordon and Ray Evernham's "Rainbow Warriors." Knaus advanced through the ranks -- he was a tire changer, a general fabricator and eventually managed the chassis and body program for the No. 24 -- as the team won championships in 1995 and 1997.

Knaus left Hendrick after that second title to gain experience in positions that were already filled at the powerhouse organization. He made it to crew chief for Stacy Compton at Melling Racing in 2001, but was back at Hendrick at the end of the season when they needed a leader for Johnson's new team.

His story is not unique to NASCAR, but his sacrifices can be considered extreme. He's been known to work holidays and bye weeks, often reluctant to take a vacation. Aside from his weekly stint as a Speed analyst, and an occasional round of golf, Knaus can most likely be found working.

"I haven't made any sacrifices as far as I'm concerned," he said. "A sacrifice is giving up something you love in order to accomplish something else. What I love is putting the amount of effort into this that we need to accomplish what we want as a team. I don't have a lot to look back on and I say 'I missed out on that.'

"Those other things are just not on my priority list right now. If I wanted to have kids and wanted to be married, I would. But I'm not and if people say it's because of my job, that would be false."

Any trade-offs are worth it to Knaus, and assuming Johnson wraps this title up, he'll be the first crew chief to win three straight titles. Herb Nab called the shots for Yarborough in 1976 and '77, while Tim Brewer and Travis Carter led the effort in 1978.

Knaus claims earning a place in history doesn't matter right now -- "I'll reflect on that after I retire. Maybe late Sunday night in Miami" -- but his boundless confidence says otherwise. Although he downplayed his pit call in Atlanta, rivals marveled at a moxie that was last seen when Evernham sat atop Gordon's pit box.

It's no coincidence that Knaus has been nicknamed "Little Ray," in a not-always-flattering nod to Evernham.

But Knaus insists he doesn't model himself after the man voted the greatest crew chief of all-time. Rather, he cites lessons from Rick Hendrick, people skills from Robbie Loomis, balance from Steve Letarte and even temperament from rival Greg Zipadelli.

The drive, of course, he learned from Evernham.

"I don't know that any one person is the best, a lot have good qualities," he said. "And I'm certainly not the best."

By the time he leaves NASCAR, his record may argue otherwise. But Knaus isn't sure when those days will come. Right now he's focused on winning a title this year, and next year and maybe even the year after.

"I'll be here five more years. Maybe," he said. "I don't want to be a crew chief out there rolling out of bed, my back hurts, drinking six cups of coffee to keep moving. I'll go until I figure out what my next challenge is, and right now my challenge is winning championships."


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Johnson providing reasons to rethink Chase

ATLANTA (AP) -- Hey, NASCAR. Got any other tweaks that might actually bring a little suspense to what is supposed to the most exciting part of the season?

Jimmie Johnson has turned the current Cup Chase into a laugher. Judging by all those empty seats at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, most fans have already turned their attention to 2009.

Maybe the folks that brought you yellow flags for "debris on the track" can sneak a couple of cement blocks into Johnson's car. Maybe they can get some troopers to set up a speed trap that only targets the No. 48. Maybe they can send him out in a REAL Chevrolet Impala.

The way things stand now, they might as well set up the ballroom, warm up that banquet-circuit chicken and shine up the big trophy for Johnson.

Even on a day when Carl Edwards cruised to victory in the Pep Boys Auto 500, the star of the show was the laid-back Californian who has essentially locked up his third straight Cup championship with three races still to go.

Even with a rare mistake -- he was caught going a bit too fast on pit road (maybe NASCAR did take the advice about the speed traps) -- Johnson roared back from 30th place to take the runner-up spot behind Edwards.

"We just fought and fought and fought," Johnson said. "We leave here very happy. It's almost like a win."

It sure seemed that way to Edwards, even though he pulled away to win by more than 21/2 seconds. While celebrating in victory lane, a TV reporter asked if he knew who finished second.

"Who?" Edwards said.

Johnson, came the reply

"Are you kidding me?" Edwards shot back, incredulous. "Well, you've rained on my parade. I could have done without that one. That's unbelievable. He does a great job."

Johnson sure stretched the bounds of believability after crew chief Chad Knaus gambled on a late pit stop to change all four tires. His driver returned to the track in 11th place with eight laps remaining.

"That was just a great call, a risky call, but it just goes to show that Chad is out there racing," Johnson said. "He's not trying to ride around and get points. He's out there to earn them. He called me in for tires and told me to put my cape on and off we went."

One by one, Johnson took down those ahead of him -- Greg Biffle, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth among them. Finally, he set his sights on Denny Hamlin, who led 56 laps late in the race before being passed by Edwards on a restart.

"Jimmie just put a show on there at the end," said Steve Letarte, crew chief for Gordon. "It was pretty impressive."

Johnson saved his best move for the final lap. Coming through the last big sweeping turn on the 1.54-mile trioval, he closed in on Hamlin's bumper, then went high. The rear wheels on the No. 11 car drifted up the banking, before Hamlin got the tempestuous car under control and avoided a spinout.

Johnson kept from wiping out himself and sped on by as though he had places to be, awards to collect. His commanding lead in the points -- 149 over Biffle coming into the race -- actually got bigger. He's now 183 ahead of Edwards as Biffle slipped to third, 185 off the leader's blistering pace.

"I guess they put on tires and went for it," Edwards said. "That's pretty amazing. He's a heck of a competitor, but he's also the first guy to congratulate you when you win. In a way, that just makes him even harder to beat. He's one of those guys who does it right. We've got to hope that something happens ... and he loses a couple of hundred points."

Don't count on it.

Johnson has been quite the closer, the stock-car equivalent of Mariano Rivera. He's won four of the last nine races, finished second in two others and been inside the top 10 every time during that stretch. In the seven Chase races, he's taken the checkered flag second, fifth, first, ninth, sixth, first and second, leaving everyone else in the dust.

"They are a good team, man," said teammate and Chase rival Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished 11th in Atlanta and dropped 419 point behind Johnson. "They are going to win the championship. They are the best team in this sport. They have been the best team for three years."

No argument there.

"Carl is doing his job. He really is," said Gordon, a four-time Cup champion and another member of the powerful Hendrick Motorsports team. "He's doing what he needs to do. But that No. 48, they're just tough."

Also give credit to Knaus for making the call to change all four tires on the final stop.

"He has one of the best feels for how a race will go and what he needs to do," said team owner Rick Hendrick. "He never flinches. I would never be able to make that call -- never."

NASCAR devised the Chase playoff system in hopes of adding a little drama to its fall races, when many casual fans turn their attention to football.

It's not working out so well. Even on a warm, sunny day, the turnout in Atlanta was estimated at 80,000 -- some 45,000 short of capacity. There were gaping holes of empty seats on the front straightaway, perhaps an indication of how Johnson has sucked all the drama out of this season.

Which is just the way he likes it. Let others duke out in the garage, as Edwards and Kevin Harvick did a few weeks ago, or moan about NASCAR's ever-changing rules, as Tony Stewart seems to do every time he opens his mouth.

"I can't be like Stewart and cause a hurricane. It just doesn't work for me," Johnson said. "I race people with respect. I try to settle it on the track. I'm no pushover by any means. That's just my style."

There's even a mathematical chance Johnson could clinch the title next week in Texas. If he leaves there up 323 points over the competition, he would need only to start the final two races to become the first driver since Cale Yarborough (1976-78) to win three consecutive championships.

A long shot, yes. But not out of the question with this guy.


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Kodak ending its NASCAR sponsorship

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) -- Eastman Kodak Co. is ending its 22-year sponsorship in NASCAR and putting more sports marketing dollars into professional golf.

The photography pioneer, betting its future on electronic imaging, said Monday the realignment fits better with a new effort to highlight its brand digitally, such as on PGA Tour scoreboards.

Kodak also wants to engage more customers overseas since 60 percent of its sales are outside the United States.

Kodak said it is also ending a four-year sponsorship of Penske Racing at year-end.

Since signing on with NASCAR in 1986, Kodak-sponsored cars have won the Daytona 500 four times -- with Ryan Newman's car this year, Sterling Marlin's in 1994 and 1995 and Ernie Irvan's in 1991.

"Just as we have transformed our company, we are transforming our marketing," said Betty Noonan, Kodak's vice president of corporate marketing and branding. "We want to express our deepest thanks to our friends at NASCAR and Penske Racing for their partnership and support. We remain big fans."


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Edwards isn't giving up on running down Johnson

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Carl Edwards has seven wins this season and unbridled optimism about his potential.

What he doesn't have -- and probably won't get this year -- is a Sprint Cup championship.

But credit Edwards for refusing to wave the white flag on his title run. After all, he gained 15 points on Jimmie Johnson with his win Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Problem is, he's still a whopping 183 points out with just three races left to dethrone Johnson.

It's preposterous to think Johnson -- who only needs to finish ninth or better in the final three events to win his third consecutive title -- is suddenly going to slip and give Edwards any chance to steal the trophy. Edwards, however, won't concede and is taking a commendable positive attitude into the final stretch.

"Listen, guys, anything can happen," Edwards said. "If there's one thing this season has shown me ... it's that every time you think you've figured out who is going to be the guy to beat, I think it can get turned on its head quickly. As long as we're within 130 points going to Homestead, we're still going there to win the championship and it can happen."

Even if that doesn't work out, Edwards has had a terrific season, overcoming an early 100-point penalty and six-week suspension to start the Chase as one of the favorites. But you've got to be perfect these days to beat Johnson and his Hendrick Motorsports crew, and Edwards hasn't been.

He triggered a 14-car accident at Talladega Superspeedway that led to a 29th-place finish and backlash from several competitors. Mechanical problems a week later in Charlotte contributed to a 33rd-place finish.

Those two blemishes may well be what Edwards looks back at a month from now, wondering what he could have done differently. That's because, in the five other Chase races, Edwards finished no lower than third.

It's why car owner Jack Roush was suggesting NASCAR implement a mulligan rule for the Chase, where a driver can throw out his worst finish from the final 10 races. It won't happen -- and it wouldn't help Edwards, anyway: Johnson's lowest finish of this Chase was a ninth at Talladega.

So Edwards will forge ahead, intent on winning the final three races of the season and only worrying about where he stacks up when the checkered flag falls on the Nov. 16 finale in Florida. He won't think about what might have been right now, or stop to assess what he has accomplished so far this season.

"If we win 10 races and the championship, that's going to be a spectacular season and that's what we're focusing on doing right now," he said. "We just have to see what happens. But one thing I've learned in this sport, it's really hard to come to grips with, you don't always get the result you want.

"You just have to perform the best you can. If you do that, the result doesn't matter."

Some other quick hits from Atlanta:

-- Yes, Johnson has turned the Chase into a bit of a joke this year with an average finish of 3.7 through the first seven races. But it's hard to criticize him, especially after he passed nine drivers in an amazing final eight laps Sunday to finish second.

When he becomes the first driver since Cale Yarborough (1976-78) to win three consecutive championships, the talk should be about how unbelievable Johnson has been and not about flaws in the Chase system.

But Johnson doesn't really care if critics want to blame him for "ruining the Chase."

"I would hope that through all of this, that people would watch and say ... 'This is pretty cool,"' Johnson said. "A guy has a chance to do something that has been done once before and then will re-rack next year and chase history."

-- Team owner Bill Davis wasn't at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, when rumors swirled about the stability of his race team.

A possible merger or sale to Gillett Evernham Motorsports has apparently fallen apart, and now comes whispers that Truck Series points leader Johnny Benson might leave the team at the end of the season to drive for Red Horse Racing.

With no sponsor currently lined up for the No. 22 Cup team next season, Benson's potential departure could be the final straw in an organization that once won both the Daytona 500 and the Southern 500.

The slumping economy has created an air of panic throughout the NASCAR industry, as more and more organizations are fighting for survival and crew members are worried about future employment. If BDR indeed becomes another casualty, it's bad news for the entire sport.

-- Reed Sorenson should take immediate note of AJ Allmendinger's past two races -- back-to-back top-15 finishes in the car Sorenson will drive next season for Gillett.

Sorenson signed his contract to drive the No. 10 before Allmendinger was released from Red Bull Racing, and Allmendinger is simply keeping the seat warm. But he's still jobless for 2009, and more runs like his last two could have GEM officials wondering if they made the wrong hire.


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Edwards wins, but Johnson 2nd after late surge

HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) -- Carl Edwards did his seventh celebratory backflip and headed to Victory Lane confident he'd closed in on Jimmie Johnson's bumper in the race for the Sprint Cup title.

As the champagne flowed, his spirits were dashed.

Even with his win Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Edwards didn't dent Johnson's lead in the championship standings.

With a masterful final drive to the checkered flag, the two-time defending champion rallied from a rare penalty to finish second and stretch his points lead to a commanding 183 points over Edwards with three races remaining in the Chase for the championship.

"Are you kidding me?" a deflated Edwards asked when told Johnson had finished second. "You've rained on my parade. I could have done without that one. That's unbelievable, he does a great job."

A championship-winning job.

It's mathematically possible that Johnson could clinch his third title next week in Texas. If he leaves there up 323 points over the competition, Johnson would need only to start the final two races to become the first driver since Cale Yarborough (1976-78) to win three consecutive championships.

"I'm just as shocked as (Edwards) is," Johnson said. "I thought we would finish probably ninth or 10th today. I thought I was in big trouble."

So did everyone else.

NASCAR flagged Johnson for speeding on pit road early in the race, and the penalty dropped him a lap off the pace and to 30th in the field. He worked his way back onto the lead lap through cautions, then steadily moved back toward the top 10.

But as the laps wound down, that seemed to be the best Johnson could hope for.

Edwards, meanwhile, knew a victory would be the only chance he had to pull back into Johnson's championship rearview mirror. So he was aggressive on a restart with 17 laps to go to blow past Denny Hamlin and take command of the race.

A debris caution with 13 laps to go regrouped the field, and crew chief Chad Knaus used the break to call Johnson into the pits for a four-tire stop. He restarted the race in 11th with eight laps to go, but picked off cars one at a time to finish second.

His aggressive drive past nine cars almost bit him in the end: his pass of Hamlin on the last lap caused Hamlin to wiggle, and Johnson narrowly avoided wrecking.

Exhausted, he made his way into the post-race news conference and quietly checked the points standings on a television monitor as he headed toward the podium.

"Man, I feel like I went 12 rounds with Tyson today," he said. "That was just a great call, a risky call, but it just goes to show that Chad is out there racing. He's not trying to ride around and get points. He's out there to earn them. He called me in for tires and told me to put my cape on and off we went.

"We just fought and fought and fought. I leave here very happy -- it's almost like a win today."

Long after the finish, Edwards was still in awe.

"I looked up there on the scoreboard and I saw that he was running seventh, eighth, ninth, somewhere in there most of the second half of the race," Edwards said. "I truly didn't know until I looked at the scoreboard that Jimmie had made that back up. I got to see some video and they put on some tires and went for it and that's pretty amazing.

"He's just one of those guys who does it right ... with the way they're running, it's going to be really tough to beat them."

Hamlin finished third and was followed by Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch. David Ragan was seventh and Jeff Gordon and Greg Biffle rounded out the top 10.

Despite his comfortable margin in the standings, Johnson has resisted laying claim to yet another title. He realistically won't clinch the championship for another two weeks in Phoenix -- the same place where he notched a fourth-straight win last season to break Gordon's spirit in what had been a fabulous race for the title.

This Chase isn't nearly as exciting, but his run at Atlanta proved Johnson won't slow down over the final three weeks. He figured he had a car good enough for a top-10 finish Sunday, but pushed for every last position.

"You just can't sit still and be content with sixth, seventh ... you gotta do it," he said. "My outlook is better. There's three races left and our points margin is bigger than its been. It's a step in the right direction, but until I have that trophy in my hand, I can't loosen up on this."

It's left Edwards with no room for error over the final stretch. He'll need to win at Texas -- and the winner of Atlanta has gone on to win the next week in Texas the past three years -- to stay in contention, and even that may not be enough.

"Three more good tracks for us," Edwards said. "But, man, Jimmie is magic. We've got to go win those next three and hope for the best."


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Too late, but Kyle Busch has another promising run

HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) -- While it didn't do him any good in the standings, Kyle Busch had another strong run Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway and hopes that he might be able to salvage a win before the year is done.

Busch, the Sprint Cup points leader going into the 10-race playoff, dropped from contention when his season went south at the worst possible time. He started the Chase with finishes of 34th, 43rd and 28th, dropping him to last among the 12 drivers who qualified.

At least the No. 18 team shows signs of recapturing the form that made Busch look unbeatable earlier in the year. Busch was fourth at Charlotte two weeks ago, and followed it up with a fifth-place showing in the Pep Boys Auto 500.

"I'm happy with that, I guess," Busch said. "If we can keep finishing in the top five ... then the wins should come back our way."

Busch remains last in the Chase, 465 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson and 40 behind the next-lowest driver, Denny Hamlin.

"It's a good points day," Busch said. "We're not in the points anymore, so we're trying to get some wins. We have to run in the top five to contend for those."

After the race, NASCAR announced that it was taking the rear end of Busch's car back to the R&D center for further examination to make sure it conformed to the rules.

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WALTRIP'S THOUSANDTH: As the sun set on Atlanta Motor Speedway, Michael Waltrip's battered car was loaded onto his team hauler. The right rear quarter-panel was ripped off. The No. 55 had been scraped away.

Hardly the way he wanted to finish the 1,000 race of his NASCAR career.

Waltrip was involved in two spins and brought out at least two other yellow flags by leaving debris on the track. He finished eight laps behind winner Carl Edwards in 37th place.

This was the 722nd start of Waltrip's Sprint Cup career, to go along with 270 in the Nationwide Series and eight in the truck series.

While Waltrip is second on the career list to seven-time Cup champion Richard Petty, he's hardly had the success of the King, who made all of his 1,184 starts at the highest level.

Waltrip has won four Cup races -- though, it must be noted, he's a two-time Daytona 500 champion -- and has 11 other wins in the Nationwide Series.

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MARTIN'S FUTURE: Mark Martin has talked with Hendrick Motorsports about getting a headstart on his next job.

The 49-year-old Martin might drive the No. 5 car at the season finale in Homestead. He's already set to replace Casey Mears in that ride next season.

"Since you don't get on the race track in December, or really the first half of January, it would give us a chance to find out what we need to focus on so that we come out of the gate focusing on what it is that we saw we needed to work on," Martin said before Sunday's race. "It would be a great advantage for us in that respect."

Martin, who has tested twice in the No. 5 car, will finish his contract with Dale Earnhardt Inc. the next two races at Texas and Phoenix, and he has no plans to ask out of those events.

Mears doesn't know if he'll finish the year in his ride.

"Honestly, you'll probably hear about it before me," he said. "There have been some conversations about things, but I don't know what the options are. I'm sure the week before Homestead we'll have a better idea of exactly what's going on."

Mears is moving to Richard Childress Racing next season, and Childress said Sunday he'd "for sure run Casey" at the final race if Hendrick gave him an early release.

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MONTOYA'S ANGUISH: Juan Pablo Montoya was running strong. Then a couple of mishaps ruined his day.

A top 10 contender much of the race, Montoya's fortunes took a turn for the worse when he was clipped on pit road by Clint Bowyer during a late caution period. The Colombian got back on the track, only to get taken out in a five-car crash in turn three with 22 laps to go.

Montoya finished 40th and dropped one spot in the season standings to 24th.

"It was a struggle for the first 10 laps of a run, and then just got better and better and better," Montoya said. "We had a topflight car at the end."

On the eighth caution of the race, he dipped into the pits for new tires. That's when he tangled with Bowyer, who was battling to get back on the lead lap as the "lucky dog," essentially ruining any hope of a good finish for the No. 42 car.

"It's annoying, because you could say we shouldn't have taken tires because we were wrecked," Montoya said. "But I think it would have cost us if we hadn't and was the right call. I came out one lane and I think Bowyer was fighting for lucky dog and he came down and hit us. It's stupid."

Still, Montoya was encouraged by the way his Dodge ran in what has been a disappointing season for Chip Ganassi Racing.

"It's exciting to see where everything is heading and the team is heading," he said. "We're a lot closer. In my opinion, we're still not there, but today shows where the team is heading."

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HOMETOWN FAVORITE: Bill Elliott didn't get much of a chance to shine for the home folks.

The Georgia native collided with Sam Hornish Jr. on the backstretch just three laps into the race. While Elliott was able to limp to the pits for repairs, he wound up nine laps behind in 38th place by the time his day was done.

The 1988 Cup champion was racing for the 18th time this season. Elliott missed in three other attempts to qualify for Woods Brothers Racing.

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ANOTHER TRY: Joe Gibbs Racing will try yet again to get Joey Logano into one of its cars this season by sending him to Texas Motor Speedway next weekend.

Logano has tried three times to race the No. 02 car in the Sprint Cup Series, but all three qualifying sessions were washed out by rain, including this weekend at Atlanta.

In those situations, the 43-car field is determined by the points. Logano, a regular in the Nationwide Series this season, was left out each time.

"We're going to run Texas and there is a possibility that we will add some more to it," team president J.D. Gibbs said Sunday. "It probably depends on our test schedule and what we've got going on."

The 18-year-old phenom has been tabbed to replace Tony Stewart in the No. 20 ride next season, and JGR is trying to get him as much Cup seat time as possible before his promotion. He's made two Cup starts this season, both for Hall of Fame Racing, and struggled to finishes of 32nd and 39th.

Logano is not yet NASCAR-approved to run the season-opening Daytona 500, and racing at Texas could secure it. But Gibbs thinks Logano's experience running in the ARCA and Truck Series' at Talladega earlier this month might be enough.

"I think he's probably done enough," Gibbs said. "From our standpoint, we've talked to NASCAR, too, we want to see him in some more stuff as well. We're going to run at least one or two more."


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Power takes 3rd straight Indy 300 pole

SURFERS PARADISE, Australia (AP) -- Will Power won his third straight Indy 300 pole position Saturday, overtaking Scott Dixon with seconds left in qualifying.

The Team Australia driver had a time of 1 minute, 34.9451 on his final lap on the 2.8-mile, 14-turn circuit. Dixon, the Indy 500 winner, had his fastest time on the previous lap, but Power was 0.82 seconds quicker to take the pole for Sunday's race.

Only three pole-sitters have won the Australian race -- Nigel Mansell in 1993, Jimmy Vasser in 1996 and Dario Franchitti in 1999.

"We've been really fast all week," said Power, who led both practice sessions Friday. "I just hope we can hold it all together tomorrow."

Australian Ryan Briscoe was third, followed by Franchitti, who is making his return to open-wheel racing from an aborted stint in NASCAR.

American Ryan Hunter-Reay, the 2003 winner, was fifth-fastest and will start alongside two-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves.

The 18th version of the race Sunday also is the first under the Indy Racing League banner, and is a non-points event. The IRL and Champ Car World Series, which formerly staged the Surfers Paradise event, unified in February.

Under the IRL qualifying format, the 24 cars were divided into two groups in sessions lasting 20 minutes each. The top six of each of those groups advanced to a second round of qualifying of 15 minutes, and the top six from that group went into a final 10-minute session to determine the pole winner.

The first group that included Danica Patrick had light rain falling when the session started. Patrick's bad run in her Australian debut continued when she crashed into the wall on her first lap after managing only a best time of 20th place in any of the practice sessions.

Patrick, the first woman to win a major open-wheel event, finished with no time and will start from the back of the grid Sunday.

Hunter-Reay was the best in the drizzle in the opening qualifying group but 19 seconds slower than the top practice time set earlier in the day on a dry track.

"It was pretty messy out there," said Briscoe, who just sneaked into the second round of qualifying by finishing sixth in the first group.

The rain eased slightly for the second group but the wet track left cars slipping and sliding all over the track and the yellow caution flag came out three times during the session. Power, on his last lap, finished with the fastest time in the second group, 1.45 seconds quicker than Hunter-Reay.

With more showers approaching the track, officials started the next session, with the 12 fastest cars, early and the track dried for most of the session. Dixon led the group of the final six qualifiers, followed by Castroneves, Franchitti, Briscoe, Power and Hunter-Reay.


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Biffle still chasing Johnson for Sprint Cup title

HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) -- Credit Greg Biffle and Jeff Burton for their confidence.

Although Jimmie Johnson is turning the Sprint Cup title chase into a rout, neither driver is conceding anything to the two-time defending champion.

"I promise you, it's not over," Biffle boasted.

But it sure seems that way as Johnson has steadily pulled away from the competition. He heads into Sunday's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway up 149 points over Biffle, while Burton is 152 points out with just four races left in the season.

A driver can make up 161 points in a single event, assuming he leads the most laps en route to victory and Johnson finishes last. But that's fairly unlikely to happen to Johnson and his Hendrick Motorsports crew: The No. 48 team has won 13 of the 46 Chase races since the format was introduced in 2004.

Barring a complete collapse -- and Johnson and his crew are far too prepared for that to happen -- he'll have this title wrapped up well before the Nov. 16 season finale at Homestead. History is on his side, too: No driver has ever come back from a deficit greater than 144 with four races to go.

But the competition is refusing to concede, despite knowing it will take a perfect month of performance -- and some Johnson bad luck -- to make this a race.

"We're going to have to have four flawless races," Biffle said. "If you do the math, 149 points divided by four, that's obviously what we need to pick up per race -- it's got to be those positions or more. But we know if he slips that we have to capitalize, and if he has a problem, we have got to finish well in that event.

"It's certainly possible. We're just going to do the best we can and see where he ends up at the end of the day."

Johnson isn't claiming the Sprint Cup just yet, either, and is keeping a close eye on the challengers. He's most worried about Carl Edwards, a six-race winner during the "regular season" who slipped to fourth in the standings after mechanical problems in Round 5 of the Chase.

"If we have a 43rd-place finish, it would probably allow more than just Carl in, but for whatever reason, my eyes have kind of stopped there at Carl," Johnson said. "I try to look at the worst case scenario, and if we leave here with 43rd-place points, who has a shot and who is very good at the tracks that are coming up.

"That way I can look forward to what my team needs to do, what I need to do in the seat. Stay focused on positive things and things that put a smile on my face instead of worrying about a negative side to it."

But Johnson is the one who is good at the remaining tracks on the schedule, including Atlanta, where he has three wins and nine top-10 finishes in 14 career races. He swept the races here last season, and starts from the pole Sunday because rain washed out qualifying and the field was set by points.

"This track has been real good to us over the years," Johnson said.

The exception was the March race here, when Johnson -- and all of Hendrick Motorsports -- struggled to find a groove with the current car. He finished 13th -- his worst showing since 2005.

"We still managed to get a decent finish, but it was a struggle for us here," he said. "We had a car here that was really tough to drive. I still have those thoughts in my mind."

But Johnson won't go easy Sunday, or in any other Chase race. He plans to race for wins in pursuit of this title.

"In the past we have been able to win here in the fall, I would really like to keep that alive and stay aggressive and try to win again in the Chase with everything that is on the line," he said. "We're focused, we're committed and we are excited about the weekend."


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Busch demoralized by fall in standings

HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) -- Kyle Busch came to Atlanta Motor Speedway in March at the top of his game, notching his first win of the season to start an impressive run to the top of the points standings.

Seven months later, it's all fallen apart.

Busch is last in the Chase for the championship standings and has apparently lost all enthusiasm for what had been a remarkable first year with Joe Gibbs Racing. He won eight Cup races this season and started the Chase as the favorite to win the championship.

"It's frustrating to have to come to the racetrack every week and not have a shot for a championship," he said. "It is what it is and we'll have to go back at it next year."

His attitude so clearly defeated, Busch was asked if he was mentally prepared to come to the track each week. He didn't even bother to sugarcoat his answer.

"Probably not. But I've still got a job to do and I'm here to do it," he said.

His drop-off has puzzled almost everyone in the garage. Seemingly unbeatable all season long, mechanical problems derailed him in the first three Chase races and the No. 18 Toyota has not been competitive since. Busch trails championship leader Jimmie Johnson by 445 points.

"I would have never thought he'd have been that far back," said Greg Biffle. "That's the thing about luck. I mean, the right place at the right time, execute properly, things happen, and I tell you when the wheels start coming off this thing, it's hard to get it to stop.

"Then you don't give up, but if you relax your guard a little bit like, 'I can't win anymore, or I can't win the title,' things can compile and have a snowball-effect on you. It's that hard to get momentum and it's that easy to lose it. It's a difficult spot."

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WHERE'S JIMMIE? Carl Edwards can't escape Jimmie Johnson, even in the kitchen.

Edwards is one of the drivers featured on a line of crock pots, and recently learned that Johnson appears in the photo used on the slow cooker.

"I don't know if people know it, but if you buy a Carl Edwards crock pot, on the crock pot there's a picture of us in Victory Lane in Atlanta in 2005 and it's like a "Where's Waldo,' " Edwards explained. "There's this little Jimmie Johnson head sticking out from behind my shoulder, where he's coming up to pour his drink over my head and congratulate me.

"Somebody told me about it, so I went to my mom's house and I got there and I got the crock pot off the shelf and I was like, 'Sure enough, there's Jimmie."

Edwards told the story to explain why it's so difficult to resent Johnson's success. The two were expected to battle each other for the Sprint Cup title, but mechanical problems at Charlotte knocked Edwards to fourth in the standings.

Johnson, meanwhile, is en route to a third consecutive title.

"The point is that he's the kind of guy that when you win a race or you have a good race with him and you beat him, he's the first guy over there to congratulate you," Edwards said. "So, yeah, I want to beat him more than anything, but I probably won't be trash-talking him anytime soon. That crock pot is funny.

"He doesn't get a royalty, even though his face is on it. But I don't think he gets paid for the Carl Edwards crock pot."

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CONCEDING THE TITLE: Jeff Gordon has waved the white flag on his chance at winning a fifth Cup title this season.

He's currently seventh in the Chase standings and trails teammate Jimmie Johnson by 275 points. But when told he's still in the title hunt, he acted surprised.

"I am?" he asked incredulously. "I wouldn't say very well in it. There's like a mathematical chance."

But Gordon, who is winless this season with just four races to go, is still motivated when he gets to the track.

"You do what you do every other week -- you go to try to win," he said. "You just try to win. You try not to get in the way of the guys or be a changing factor in the championship by crashing somebody or something like that, blocking some guy in the pits. You go out there and you try to win. That's what we're doing now just like every other weekend."

If Gordon can't make it to Victory Lane this year, it will be his first winless season since his 1993 rookie year.

"You lose a lot more than you win in this sport so it's easier to get used to that fight and that mind-set of what you have to do to try to celebrate in Victory Lane at the end of the day or have a finish that you're really excited and proud of when you leave here," Gordon said. "That's your goal every weekend. You just don't win as often.

"I know I've won a lot in this series, but I've lost a heck of a lot more. Not that you want to get used to that, but you have to know how to adjust to it. It's just part of racing."


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Edwards holds off Reutimann for Nationwide win

MILLINGTON, Tenn. (AP) -- Carl Edwards held off David Reutimann to win the Kroger On Track for the Cure 250 on Saturday, keeping alive his hopes for a second straight NASCAR Nationwide Series title.

Edwards, who missed qualifying at Memphis Motorsports Park because of practice for Sunday's Sprint Cup Race in Atlanta, started 34th in his No. 60 Roush-Fenway Racing Ford, but gained ground quickly after making an early stop for fresh tires.

He took the lead from Mike Bliss on lap 69, and never trailed after that, taking his fifth Nationwide Series victory of the season and 18th of his career.

Edwards pulled within 116 points of series leader Clint Bowyer, who finished 16th. There are three races remaining on the schedule.

"Any time you can gain 80 points on that team you're doing something," Edwards said. "But obviously we've got to think about winning the next three races."

Kenny Wallace finished third, his best series finish since 2005 and the best finish ever for team owner Jay Robinson. He was followed by Austin Dillon, grandson of NASCAR team owner Richard Childress. It was Dillon's second Nationwide start.

Joey Logano finished fifth and Chase Miller sixth, the only other drivers on the lead lap.

Reutimann, who battled back from two laps down, kept his Toyota on Edwards' bumper for the final two laps couldn't overtake him for the lead in a green-white-checker finish brought on by Brian Keselowski's accident with four laps to go.

"It came down to the last couple of laps where I could have easily had gotten into his back bumper, moved him and gone on," Reutimann said, "but that's not the way I like to do things. It's not the way I was taught to race. Hopefully it will come back someday, but now it just feels lousy to lose."

Earlier, in the heat of the moment, Reutimann had said: "Long story short, I should've moved him. He would've moved me for sure."

Edwards has been involved in a number of incidents, including a Sprint Cup dustup with Kevin Harvick that led to a garage confrontation last month.

"My crew was telling me his guys were getting on him to bump me," Edwards said. "I'd go down low, and was waiting for the contact. To be honest, I'm not sure how I would have reacted before today if I were in his position. But from now on, he's got the free pass from me. David really earned my respect."

It was Edwards' first win on this three-quarter-mile oval.

"It's special, because this is where I ran my first NASCAR event in the Truck Series," he said. "That day I felt like the race went on forever, and I was exhausted when it was over."

Edwards and the lead pack held out to the last second on a round of green flag pit stops that started on lap 92, and put the field a lap down at the halfway point of the race when Bowyer spun on the track, bringing out one of eight cautions. It was a much cleaner race than a year ago, when the yellow flag came out 25 times, one short of the series record.

Earlier in the day, 18-year-old James Buescher, in only his sixth career Nationwide Series start, grabbed the pole with a lap of 117.591 mph in his Toyota. He is the third-youngest polesitter in series history (18 years, 214 days), behind only Casey Atwood and Logano. He finished 19th in the race.


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Rain washes out Sprint Cup qualifying at Atlanta

HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) -- Another week, another rainout.

And, oh, by the way: another pole for Jimmie Johnson.

Rain washed of Sprint Cup qualifying for the third consecutive week Friday, forcing NASCAR to set the field on points at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It gave Johnson the top starting spot, and put the 11 drivers chasing him for the title right on his bumper.

Greg Biffle, who trails Johnson by 149 points with four races to go, will start second. Jeff Burton, who is 152 points out, starts third in Sunday's race.

"It makes it sort of boring, takes the excitement out of it because the 12 guys are starting right there," Biffle said. "A lot of times we're talking about, "Well, this guy is starting 30th, and this guy is 18th.' Other than that, it's kind of uneventful for us."

It's the ninth pole of the season for Johnson, and four of them have been handed to him because of rain. But that starting spot is critical at this time of the season, when Johnson is closing in on his third straight Sprint Cup title.

By starting from the pole, Johnson gets the first stall on pit road and has a rather easy shot at leading the first lap and earning a five-point bonus that will pad his already comfortable lead in the standings. He successfully led the first lap the past two weeks at Charlotte and Martinsville, Va., en route to pulling away from the other title contenders.

"I have mixed emotions about it. It's great to have that guaranteed pit stall and start where we are, but at the same time, everybody else is right there," Johnson said. "There's certain guys that I am racing in the points who are very good qualifiers, others who are not. In one respect, I am excited with starting on pole. Then on the other side of me, I say "Well, I still think I could have been top 10 in qualifying and maybe some of the others could have been further back.

"Who knows what could have happened?"

No one got the chance, as a steady rain kept cars off the track for all but a few minutes late Friday.

The track was deluged in water, causing a drainage issue that created a handful of "weepers" between turns and three where the water settled and could not be dried. Once the rain stopped, NASCAR drilled holes in the surface in an attempt to drain the water.

Late in the afternoon, Kevin Harvick took a ride in the pace car to inspect the surface, and deemed it clear for cars. About 15 drivers went out for a quick practice session, but it was halted shortly after it began because of a slow drizzle.

"The two laps that I made, there was so much water on the windshield, we had to stop," Johnson said.

The rainout prevented Joey Logano from making the field. The 18-year-old phenom has been trying to get his first Cup start in a Joe Gibbs Racing entry, but rain has washed out both attempts.

Logano, who is replacing Tony Stewart at Gibbs next season, was also sent home last month at Richmond.

Bryan Clauson, who was going to attempt his Cup debut in a car for Chip Ganassi Racing entry, also didn't make the field.


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Red Bull eyes image change after caught cheating

HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) -- Red Bull Racing fired the employee responsible for manipulating Brian Vickers' car. The team, however, knows that isn't enough to overcome the perception that cheating is behind its improvement this season.

"The old saying that 'Any press is good press' is wrong in this respect," said two-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson, who has seen his team slip onto the wrong side of the NASCAR rule book numerous times.

"When you have that negative press on your team, it does put question marks in people's minds, and that is something that takes a long time to overcome. I've lived it firsthand. It's a tough thing to overcome."

That's the battle Red Bull faces with just one month left on a season in which it crawled from the bottom of the NASCAR pile and moved toward the front of the pack. Barely competitive during last year's inaugural season, Vickers has challenged for wins and was in position to grab a career-high finish in the final point standings.

All that progress was sullied when NASCAR discovered illegal sheet metal on the No. 83 Toyota following Vickers' 11th-place finish at Martinsville.

The car was randomly selected for post-race inspection and also picked to go back to NASCAR's R&D Center for a further look. Once there, inspectors found the sheet metal did not meet the minimum thickness requirements.

NASCAR docked Vickers 150 points, fined crew chief Kevin Hamlin $100,000 and indefinitely suspended Hamlin and car chief Craig Smokstad.

The points deduction dropped Vickers from 15th to 17th in the standings and jeopardized Red Bull's season goal of having him finish inside the top 15 in points. Vickers' career-best finish was 15th in 2006, his final year with Hendrick Motorsports.

He declined to discuss the infractions Friday at Atlanta Motor Speedway but said in an e-mail he believes the team can overcome the setback.

"Having made huge strides as a team this year, we are all embarrassed over this situation," Vickers wrote. "This goes against my beliefs, as well as those of Red Bull Racing Team and Toyota. What happened was an error in judgment on someone's part. I have full confidence in the team and the team's strategy to rectify the situation."

Red Bull general manager Jay Frye has already taken steps, telling The Associated Press on Friday he fired the person who manipulated the sheet metal.

"It was just a complete error in judgment," Frye said. "What we did was wrong. It won't happen again and it was for sure isolated. The person responsible has been removed from the company and others have been disciplined."

Frye said he also put in place a stronger safeguarding system to make sure this doesn't happen again. The team is in second season competing in NASCAR. It struggled mightily last year under different leadership that relied heavily on the same approach Red Bull uses for its Formula One teams.

Since Frye was hired in January, he put Red Bull on a NASCAR model that has turned the program around.

"After we did our investigation on what happened, we had a team meeting and we said, 'We've got a black eye now, we've made great strides, and there's going to be the perception that this is why,"' Frye said. "And it is not why. This is not how we operate and we will not operate this way again."

The No. 83 has been randomly selected for post-race inspection numerous times this season, and Frye estimated the car was sent to the R&D Center an additional "six to eight" times for further inspection and sailed through without issue every time.

"The Red Bull team in general has a great system of checks and balances to it, so for this to slip through the crack, it was enlightening that it could still happen with all the systems we have in place," Frye said. "So we've had to add new systems. More internal policing, and it's everybody.

"If your supervisor comes to you and asks you to do something that you think is wrong, then you need to tell someone. Nobody will be reprimanded for asking a question."


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Stewart pleased comments led to new Atlanta tire

HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) -- Tony Stewart will gladly take some credit if Sunday's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway is free of tire troubles.

The outspoken two-time champion assailed Goodyear following the March race here, calling the tiremaker's product "the most pathetic racing tire I've ever been on in my professional career." Several other drivers also griped about the hard compound, which quickly lost grip and sucked all the excitement from the race, but no one was as vicious as Stewart.

It cast a negative light on Goodyear, which returned to Atlanta to test new tires twice before this weekend's event. Stewart said Friday he was pleased with the current tire selection, and doesn't regret the verbal assault that may have spurred the change.

"If nobody said anything, nothing would've got done," he said. "All I did was speak from the driver's standpoint and spoke the truth. It got something done, didn't it? If it makes it safer for us and makes us all more comfortable as drivers out there, isn't that -- at the end of the day -- what's going to put on a better show for everybody?"

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KENTUCKY UPDATE: Bruton Smith has not given up his fight to secure a Sprint Cup race for Kentucky Speedway, and said Friday he wants that track added to the NASCAR schedule in 2010.

Smith, chairman of Speedway Motorsports Inc., entered a purchase agreement for Kentucky in May and is expected to close on the track in December.

One holdup to getting a race at Kentucky is a pending antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR by the original track ownership group, which battled for years for a date. Smith said Friday NASCAR has indicated it won't give Kentucky a Cup race until the lawsuit goes away.

The lawsuit currently is in U.S. Appeals Court in Cincinnati, and former track owner Jerry Carroll has given no indication he'll drop the suit.

"He's tried like the dickens to get it (settled) but we have not been able to be successful on that," Smith said. "We will have a Cup race there in 2010."

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LOGANO'S LUCK: NASCAR phenom Joey Logano has been itching to run his first race in a Joe Gibbs Racing car, but weather keeps getting in his way.

Logano is entered in a fourth JGR car at Atlanta Motor Speedway, but awoke to a steady rain Friday that washed out qualifying. Logano had to qualify the No. 02 on speed to make Sunday's field, and the canceled session sent Logano home.

"It's a bummer," Logano said. "I heard there's a drought down here, though, so I guess it's good for them. I just wish it was a different day than today. It's something you can't control, so you can't get too upset about it. If it's something I did wrong, I would be more upset about it. It is what it is."

Logano was entered in last month's race at Richmond International Raceway, but missed the event when qualifying was rained out.

"We got to practice it, and we were a top-five car," Logano said. "That was a big confidence-booster there to know you can be a top-five car."

But he's had little to be excited about since. Logano made two starts for Hall of Fame Racing, which has a technical alliance with JGR, but neither race was productive. He was 32nd at New Hampshire, 39th at Kansas, and JGR officials decided to pull him from any more events in that car.

"When it doesn't work out, it just doesn't work out," Logano said. "We tried hard, we gave it our best effort, and we did everything we could do to make it work. We just had to rethink what we were doing. It was different than what I was used to driving, after doing a lot of testing with the Gibbs guys.

"You kind of have to start over with what you want with the race car and what they want. It wasn't jelling completely, the way we needed it to be."


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Power makes bid for 3rd straight pole

SURFERS PARADISE, Australia (AP) -- Will Power had the fastest time in practice Friday for the Indy 300, putting him in a strong spot to secure his third straight pole position in his home race.

Based on his luck on the previous two occasions -- race collisions put him out before the finish -- the Team Australia driver wasn't getting too excited by any hype that had him as the driver to beat Sunday.

"It's still early and qualifying isn't until tomorrow," Power said. "That and Sunday are all that matter to me. I am glad we are quick, but we still need to improve the car a bit."

He was fastest by 1.35 seconds over two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves, who was cleared to travel to Australia only two weeks ago after having his bail conditions on tax charges modified by a judge.

Power won the pole in 2006, when he collided mid-race with Sebastien Bourdais, and in 2007, when contact with Katherine Legge put him out after 18 laps.

Only three pole-sitters have won the Surfers Paradise race: Nigel Mansell in 1993, Jimmy Vasser in 1996 and Dario Franchitti in 1999.

The IRL is making its first appearance in Australia since February's unification between the Champ Car World Series and the Indy Racing League. Only half the drivers in the 24-car field -- the largest since 2001 -- had previously encountered the tricky, 2.8-mile, 14-turn course ahead of Sunday's non-points race.

The experience proved valuable for Power, Britain's Justin Wilson -- who finished second here last year -- and Franchitti, as they led the 90-minute early morning session.

In the second hour-long session, Power dominated in 1 minute, 34.8084 seconds. Team Penske driver Castroneves timed 1:36.1609 and Franchitti, driving for the first time this year with Target Chip Ganassi Racing, was third with 1:36.1712.

Power's time Friday was five seconds slower than his winning pole time last year. Indy car engines operate on several hundred horsepower less than the old Champ cars and the IRL's chassis are also thought to be better suited to ovals than the constant bump and grind of temporary street circuits.

"It's a very challenging track, and a lot of fun when you get it right," said Castroneves. "You just need to find yourself around here, where to brake with all the bumps."

Castroneves has been charged with conspiracy and tax evasion for allegedly dodging U.S. taxes on about $5.5 million in income by using offshore accounts. He has pleaded not guilty and was freed on $10 million bail.

Franchitti, the 2007 series champion, is making his return to the IRL after an aborted move to NASCAR.

"It's good to be back," he said. "I wasn't sure how I was going to go after being out of the car for a year.

"I was surprised how quickly it came back to me. It's been five or six years since I drove here, but first lap out it felt like I hadn't been away."

Oriol Servia was fourth quickest in the second session, Graham Rahal fifth and Wilson sixth. Next was series champion and Indy 500 winner Scott Dixon -- born nearby in Brisbane but raised in New Zealand -- followed by 2003 race winner Ryan Hunter-Reay in eighth.

Danica Patrick, who became the first woman to win a major open-wheel event in Japan in April, was 20th, 5.2 seconds slower than Power. She is making her first trip to Australia.

This is the first IRL race since Sept. 7, and Dixon has spent the past six weeks traveling, including two trips to New Zealand.

"It's been a fun first day back," Dixon said. "It felt like starting a new season."

Another practice session is scheduled for Saturday morning ahead of afternoon qualifying.


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Vickers docked points, Hamlin fined $100,000

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Brian Vickers was docked 150 driver points and crew chief Kevin Hamlin was fined $100,000 by NASCAR on Wednesday, because the Red Bull Racing team dipped its sheet metal in acid to make it lighter than required.

Team owner Dietrich Mateschitz also was docked 150 owner points, while Hamlin and car chief Craig Smokstad were both suspended indefinitely.

Red Bull Racing general manager Jay Frye said the team accepted responsibility and would not appeal the penalties.

The infraction was discovered after the No. 83 Toyota was randomly selected for a post-race inspection following Vickers' 11th-place finish at Martinsville Speedway. The car was sent back to NASCAR's R&D Center in Concord, where it was discovered the sheet metal did not meet minimum thickness requirements.

"This approach to racing is against the values of the Red Bull Racing Team, and the necessary steps will be taken to rectify the situation ensuring it does not happen again," Frye said. "It is a privilege to race in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and we are taking this penalty seriously."

Frye said Randy Cox, manager for Red Bull's research and development program, will replace Hamlin at this weekend's race in Atlanta.

There are just four races left in the season, and typical crew chief suspensions have been for six weeks. It was not clear if Hamlin and Smokstad's suspensions will carry over into 2009 and the season-opening Daytona 500.

Vickers is tied for a career-best 15th in the standings, but the penalty drops him to 17th. Without Hamlin, who took over the No. 83 at the start of the year, it will be difficult for Vickers to better his 2006 final points standings. Vickers was in his final year with Hendrick Motorsports that season and earned the only Sprint Cup Series win of his career with a victory at Talladega.

He moved to Red Bull in 2007, and both he and the team struggled in their inaugural season. The No. 83 team failed to qualify for 13 races, and Vickers finished 38th in the final standings.

It meant Vickers had to qualify on speed for the first five races of the year, until he could crack the coveted top-35 mark that guarantees a team a spot in the starting field. He easily made it, and Red Bull has since set its sights on scoring its first Sprint Cup victory.


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Camping World to sponsor NASCAR trucks

Camping World will replace Craftsman as the title sponsor for NASCAR's truck series in 2009.

The seven-year deal, thought to be worth between $5 million and $7 million annually, was announced Thursday by NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France and Camping World chairman and CEO Marcus Lemonis.

Camping World sells, rents and services recreational vehicles, as well as trailers and camping accessories. It has been active in NASCAR for several years and is in its first year as the title sponsor for NASCAR's developmental East and West series. The company also has been the title sponsor for several Sprint Cup races and has sponsorship deals with Kevin Harvick Inc. in trucks and NASCAR's Nationwide Series.

Lemonis said the company's sponsorships of the East and West series and KHI's No. 33 truck, driven by Ron Hornaday Jr., will continue through 2009.

The new sponsor is stepping into a series that is very competitive but facing a considerable challenge with both Dodge and Ford announcing within the past two months that their financial support of truck teams would end this season.

"First of all, the series is very healthy," France said.

Still, he noted that the manufacturers involved in NASCAR have been particularly hard hit in the area of truck sales.

"We're obviously affected by that, it's a legitimate issue," France said. "We try to do it anyway. But we'll accelerate the idea of taking even more costs out of the series for the team owners should certain subsidies or certain sponsorships be contracted a bit.

"We'll try to make things as easy on the team owners as possible to sort of get through this headwind of both the economy and the manufacturers going through their related challenges."

The current international economic crisis may also have broader effects on NASCAR.

"We're nervous like everybody else," France said. "We're taking every precaution we can in terms of getting costs out of our system, on behalf of the team owners, on behalf of the track operators. But this is also a time when you can't freeze either. You have to still be aggressive and still push hard on your product, and I know Marcus is doing that in his business and we're doing the same."

Craftsman, a division of Sears, Roebuck and Co., has been the only title sponsor of the series that began in 1995. It announced last fall that 2008 would be its last season as the truck series sponsor.

Lemonis said he spent nine months researching and talking with people before making this latest, and biggest, commitment to NASCAR. He said NASCAR and affiliated programs will now make up 6 percent of Camping World's total marketing scheme.

"It wasn't a matter of a last-minute decision," he said. "It was something that was fairly plotted out. We wanted NASCAR to make a decision that best suited them, which is why in the last 30 days there were a number of candidates they were considering. We were glad that we were given the option and the choice."

Lemonis said he was particularly impressed by the potential for business he saw while visiting the tracks.

"When I looked at the crossover, walking the campgrounds at some of the tracks, looked at the crossover of the number of travel trailers compared to the number of motorhomes, then I looked at the amount of hitching and towing that could go along with the number of trucks that were parked in the parking lot, it just seemed to be a natural fit," he said.

Financial details of the agreement were not announced.


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Drivers are big fans of NASCAR's oldest track

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) -- It's the smallest, oldest track in NASCAR, a place where the roots of racing are evident all around, and converge with some of the newest amenities.

But in the new media center last weekend, the questions still came, leaving track president Clay Campbell shaking his head as driver after driver was asked:

"Do you think it's inevitable that Martinsville Speedway will lose a date?"

The queries come as surely as leaves turn in the fall and sprout in spring.

"I'd love," Campbell said Wednesday, "to go through one race weekend where I don't do interview after interview talking about the possibility of us losing one of our dates."

The good news for the man whose grandfather built the 0.526-mile, paperclip shaped oval more than 60 years ago is that he knows many drivers are among the track's biggest supporters.

The bad news is that drivers have almost no say in NASCAR's scheduling.

Jeff Burton, who grew up about 60 miles from Martinsville, thinks the track's history and distinctiveness make it special, and worthy of its spots on the schedule in the spring and fall.

"I do think it is important to embrace our history, to embrace the past, and this is a great way to do that," he said. "There is no other track that we race on that is like this.

"I think it belongs. We aren't the ones that get to vote on where we are going to race. They don't ask us, but as far as I'm concerned, we have to have places like this because I think it reminds us of where we have come from, and I really think that is important."

Clint Bowyer, Burton's teammate with Richard Childress Racing, agrees, and thinks more factors than the size of a track and potential economic impact should be considered.

And in cases where the difference is great, he said, which one performs best in terms of attendance?

"I don't want to get in trouble, but look at California," Bowyer said of the 1.99-mile track in Fontana, Calif. "That's a long way away. We're not filling the grandstands there."

The grandstands at Auto Club Speedway hold 92,000, Martinsville about 65,000.

"This place is rich in history, and it's a part of NASCAR. It's been a part of it for a long, long time. I think if I was going to pull one away," he said, "I'd look towards California or doing something different there (rather than) pulling something from here."

Performance at a track also weighs into how much a driver likes racing there.

Carl Edwards has never won at Martinsville, and his third-place run last weekend was by far his best. Not surprisingly, he's not as enamored of the trickiest half-mile.

"It's a great place to race. I just haven't had the luck here," he said.

Count the trio at Hendrick Motorsports -- Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- among those that want Martinsville to stay, or at least a short track just like it.

"Obviously I'd be very disappointed" said Gordon, a four-time series champion and a series-high seven-time winner at Martinsville. "I feel like this is one of my best tracks."

Johnson thinks likewise, probably because he's won four of the past five Sprint Cup races in southwest Virginia, while Earnhardt thinks the beating and banging, short-track style of racing is more critical to the Sprint Cup Series than the speedway itself.

He and many other drivers have spent years wondering out loud why seemingly every new venue built in the past few decades is virtually the same -- a cookie-cutter 1.5-mile oval.

"I think that somebody really needs to kind of wake up a little bit and see what is going on there," Earnhardt said. "Get some more short tracks back on this series."

Or, in the mind of Campbell, stop trying to move away from the ones already in use. Martinsville, Richmond and Bristol routinely offer some of the closest racing in the series.

He said the topic of losing a date has never come up with NASCAR.

"As far as NASCAR is concerned, Martinsville is a very special place," NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said. "Martinsville Speedway has done more to build NASCAR than just about any other place. There have been no requests to move any dates from NASCAR, however, the best thing fans can do is to continue to buy tickets and pack the stands."

In recent years, before and after Campbell sold the track to International Speedway Corp., Martinsville had spent millions on improvements. It drilled a tunnel under the track to allow access to the infield by foot during a race, constructed a garage that is roomy enough for teams to comfortably work on their cars in preparation for a race and low profile enough that it doesn't obstruct the fans' view, and this year, the spacious new infield media center.

For some, though, it seems it will never be enough.


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