Motorsports FanHouse

Rick Hendrick Misses Season Finale

Holly Cain — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Chase for the Sprint Cup, Hendrick Motorsports

Hendrick Motorsports announced Sunday morning that team owner Rick Hendrick would not be trackside at Homestead Miami Speedway for that afternoon's Ford 400 NASCAR season finale, but instead remained back in Charlotte, N.C., for a family emergency.

Hendrick's 29-year-old niece Alesha Gainey is in critical condition at a Charlotte hospital being prepared for a liver transplant, Hendrick Motorsports general manager Marshall Carlson told reporters. Gainey is the daughter of Hendrick's late brother John, who was killed in a plane accident in 2004 along with Hendrick's son Ricky and two other of John Hendrick's daughters.

"Rick's priority at this point is supporting his family,'' Carlson said. "He's so proud of his teams but needs to be with his niece and her family.''

Hendrick Motorsports driver Jimmie Johnson earned his fourth consecutive Sprint Cup championship later in the day, defeating HMS teammate Mark Martin by 141 points. Johnson's title also gives HMS its ninth Cup championship, which ties it with Petty Enterprises for the most in Cup Series history.

Rick Hendrick Misses Season Finale originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rejuvenated Mark Martin Remains NASCAR's Sentimental Favorite

Holly Cain — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:16:00 EST

Filed under: Mark Martin, Chase for the Sprint Cup, Hendrick Motorsports

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Mark Martin winces, then breaks into a grin every time he hears the introduction.

"Ladies and gentlemen ... Mark Martin, who is attempting to become the oldest champion in NASCAR history."

The difference between this week and years ago is that Martin grinned. He's been doing that a lot lately.

Martin trails his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson by 108 points entering Sunday's Ford 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup season finale at Homestead Miami Speedway. Johnson, 34, only needs to finish 25th or better to clinch a historic fourth consecutive title.

Martin, 50, is still looking for his first.

"If I went from not winning in 70-some races to being close to winning a championship and having four or five wins, I would be smiling and very happy too and I think anyone in this garage would be," said Greg Biffle, Martin's former teammate at Roush Fenway Racing.

"Think about his career. He was all but done, right? He announced his retirement, 'I'm done, I'm leaving.' and a couple years later he's on the cusp of winning the title.

"You've got to feel like a new person when that happens in your life."

Martin has conceded as much. He announced his retirement in 2006 only to come back and race part-time the next two years. He signed a deal with the mighty Hendrick Motorsports organization last year to return full-time, humbly insisting he only wanted a shot to win a race.

"I went to the (Hendrick) shop quite a bit after we made this deal," Martin said. "My wife, I'd come in after being there, and she'd say, 'You're always smiling when you come back from that shop.' I said, 'Heck yeah, you would be too.'

"It makes you feel that way. I'd just come back from being there with a permanent smile on my face. It's good people with great attitudes. Everyone there has treated me, you know, like gold. It's been amazing, the respect that I've been shown there.

"It's very humbling."

The combination has also been magical for Martin. He's won five races and collected seven poles in the No. 5 Kelloggs Chevrolet and been ranked first or second in the points standings since September.

His first victory at Phoenix in the eighth race of the year was hugely popular; his contention for the championship, hugely sentimental.

It was his first win since 2005 during a 19-year tenure with Roush. It's the first time he's been a serious threat to the title since 2002, when he finished as championship runner-up for the fourth time in his career. Four other times he finished third in the standings.

Johnson (47 wins) and another Hendrick teammate, Jeff Gordon (82), are the only active drivers with more wins than Martin's 40. Martin has a record 48 in NASCAR's triple-A Nationwide Series and his five IROC (International Race of Champions) titles are unequalled.

But it's the Cup championship that has cruelly eluded Martin. He came up 26 points short of Dale Earnhardt in 1990 and lost the 2002 title to Tony Stewart by 38 points.

The result is that many regard Martin as "the greatest driver not to win a Cup championship." But Martin doesn't see it that way at all.

"My record does not stand up against the greats in this business," Martin said. "I just want to be a winner, just a winner, you know. That doesn't mean a career or at Monopoly or Scrabble. I just want to be a winner."

So why does he feel others hold him in such high regard?

"Because I'm the worker, I'm the guy that rolls up my sleeves, and I never put that mask on or pull the gun out. I work real hard and try to win the game, whatever it is, you know, fair and square."

Depending on who you speak to, what Martin is doing is nearly as impressive a feat as Johnson's dominant year.

"It's incredible, that's why we haven't seen it accomplished," said 1999 Cup champion Dale Jarrett, now an analyst for ESPN and ABC's NASCAR race broadcasts.

"A lot of it is his physical condition but I also believe it was good for him to take a couple years off. Mark's abilities have always been there, not taking away from Roush but he's always been a better driver than the equipment he's been in.

"There were times this sport would just eat at him," Jarrett continued. "Now you just see him having a blast. I think he's appreciating it more now."

And Martin would be the first to admit he is.

"This has been obviously the best year of my life professionally as well as personally," Martin said this week.

"The personal part comes from being happy. I was a very, very happy person in 2008. But that little bit of extra performance that we have been getting on the racetrack in 2009 even made it more awesome.

"The reason I took this deal is because I got close to winning a race or two in 2008, and I could just taste it. I really wanted a chance to try to win again before I wasn't able to ever experience that again. That was the motivation for me, taking this opportunity.

"It definitely has turned out to exceed my expectations. I knew that the race team would be awesome. I knew the car would be fast. I just hoped that I would be able to get the job done."

His boss, Rick Hendrick, certainly thinks he will. The two already brokered a two-year contract extension that will have Martin driving the No. 5 through 2011 -- through Martin's 52nd birthday, which essentially gives him two more chances to make history, two more seasons to enjoy the ride.

Rejuvenated Mark Martin Remains NASCAR's Sentimental Favorite originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:16:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jimmie Johnson Signs Contract Extension With Hendrick

Holly Cain — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:25:00 EST

Filed under: Jimmie Johnson, Hendrick Motorsports

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Two days before he attempts to wrap up a historic fourth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup championship, Jimmie Johnson has announced a contract extension with Hendrick Motorsports that will keep the champ driving the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet through the 2015 season.

"It's the only car I've ever driven,'' Johnson said with a smile Friday morning. "I'm very proud of that.''

Cain on Johnson: Long Road to American Hero | Toast of the Coast

His proud team owner Rick Hendrick sat next to Johnson to proudly make the announcement.

"This has been a fantastic ride with Jimmie,'' Hendrick said. "He and I have said we'd like to retire together.''

"It's a huge, huge, huge deal for both of us. But we feel really good about it. Lowe's has always been really extremely good in their incentives. They like to win and Jimmie and Chad (crew chief Chad Knaus) have delivered.''

Hendrick also addressed the future of four-time champion Jeff Gordon, who has a lifetime contract with the team.

"As long as he drives in Cup , he's going to drive our car,'' Hendrick said. "I'm hoping he's going to drive a bunch of more years. We know it's going to be at least three or four, so we're excited about that.''

"You know Jimmie and I try to look at a lifetime deal, but I couldn't borrow enough money to make it work,'' he added with a smile.

Jimmie Johnson Signs Contract Extension With Hendrick originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:25:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Everything's Gravy in Hendrick Universe

Holly Cain — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:35:00 EST

Filed under: Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Chase for the Sprint Cup, Hendrick Motorsports

MIAMI -- NASCAR's Championship Weekend officially kicked off Thursday during a contenders press conference that couldn't have been less like boxing's version of a pre-bout showdown. This was more meet-and-greet than stare-and-glare.

The players here -- three-time defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Mark Martin -- like each other, so much so it was difficult to remember that they are actually competing against one another.

Johnson gushed about what a great driver Martin is. And Martin humbly insisted he was just happy to be in position to challenge Johnson. And their team owner Rick Hendrick maintained, "I'm just living the dream."

Whitley: Johnson the Great Unknown

Of course, that's understandable when you're either on the verge of a historic fourth consecutive title, as Johnson is, or stand a mathematical chance to win your first at the age of 50, as Martin is.

And either way, Hendrick is assured of his ninth Cup championship as an owner, which ties him with the great Petty Enterprises operation which won seven with NASCAR's "King" Richard Petty.

Reporters couldn't even get Johnson and the famously-buffed Martin to predict a winner if the drivers arm-wrestled.

"I don't know,'' Johnson laughed, "have you seen his arms, he's pretty ripped. ... But remember, he only weighs about 125 pounds.''

Flanked by his two drivers Thursday in Miami, Hendrick clearly basked in his win-win situation. Johnson holds a 108-point advantage over Martin entering Sunday's Ford 400 season finale at Homestead Miami Speedway and only needs to finish 25th or better to become the first driver in NASCAR's 61-year history to win four straight championships.

Hendrick Motorsports's first four-time champ, Jeff Gordon, is third in the standings.

"To be able to look back and see what we've been able to accomplish, I've just been really fortunate to be around a lot of great people,'' said Hendrick.

"It's hard for me to believe that we're sitting here tied with Richard Petty. I don't feel worthy of that. I don't know how to explain that, because when I was nominated for the Hall of Fame, I don't think I'm even in that category in my mind with a Bobby Allison, a Richard Petty, that group.

"I hope one day when we look back that we can say we've accomplished some pretty neat things. So I'm just very fortunate to be at this place in my life with this organization. I owe it all to the people. I really can't explain how it happened, it just did."

And while he and Martin, who has finished runner-up in the championship four other times, conceded they're able to enjoy the ride more this weekend, Johnson is languishing somewhere between the confidence his three previous titles have given him and the anxiety that his fourth is not a gimme. The pressure is on him.

He said he hasn't read any newspaper stories about the Chase for the Championship since his win last Sunday in Phoenix, even confessing to changing the television channel should ESPN's SportsCenter mention NASCAR or tease to a race highlight.

It's worth noting that Martin made up 111 points when Johnson wrecked in Texas and has out-scored Johnson by at least 109 points nine times in the last five seasons.

"For me personally, I left Talladega with emotion and felt very good about things, that we missed the big one,'' Johnson said. "Damn if we weren't in the first caution on the third lap at the [next] race in Texas. So I am out of emotion. There is no emotion. It's all business.

"It's about showing up tomorrow, putting in the best [qualifying] lap I can, driving the car as hard as I can on Saturday, making sure the car is set up right, and doing my job on Sunday.''

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Latest NASCAR Photos

Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick, center, responds to a question during a news conference for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race in Coral Gables, Fla., Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009. At left is driver Jimmie Johnson, and at right, driver Mark Martin. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Latest NASCAR Images

Mark Martin, left, and Jimmie Johnson, center, pose with Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick, right, following a news conference for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in Coral Gables, Fla. Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009. Johnson is looking to win his fourth consecutive championship, and Martin his first, in the Ford 400 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

NASCAR driver Mark Martin reacts when asked a question about his own greatness in the world of racing during a news conference for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race in Coral Gables, Fla., Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009. Martin is chasing his first NASCAR cup title in the Ford 400 season finale at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, on Sunday. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

NASCAR drivers Jimmie Johnson, left, and Mark Martin leave a news conference for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in Coral Gables, Fla., Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009. Johnson is looking to win his fourth consecutive championship, and Martin his first, in the Ford 400 auto race season finale at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, on Sunday. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson responds to a question during a news conference for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in Coral Gables, Fla., Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009. Johnson is hoping to win a fourth consecutive championship Sunday in the Ford 400 auto race season finale at the Homestead-Miami Speedway. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

** FILE ** In this Feb. 7, 2009 photo, Hendrick Motorsports NASCAR drivers, from left, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, and Mark Martin pose for photos during the ceremonies to mark the Rick Hendrick Motorsports' 25 anniversary of auto racing. For Hendrick Motorsports, this season has been easy as 1-2-3. OK, maybe not easy. But NASCAR's dominant garage enters Sunday's Chase finale on the cusp of taking the top three spots in the owner standings, something it has never done. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter, File)

CORAL GABLES, FL - NOVEMBER 19: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's/KOBALT Tools Chevorlet, team owner Rick Hendrick, and Mark Martin, driver of the #5 Kellogg's Chevorlet, speak with the media during the NASCAR Championship Contenders Press Conference on November 19, 2009 in Coral Gables, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson;Mark Martin;Rick Hendrick

Getty Images for NASCAR

CORAL GABLES, FL - NOVEMBER 19: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's/KOBALT Tools Chevorlet speaks to the media during the NASCAR Championship Contenders Press Conference on November 19, 2009 in Coral Gables, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson

Getty Images for NASCAR

CORAL GABLES, FL - NOVEMBER 19: NASCAR legend Bobby Allison speaks to the media during the NASCAR Championship Contenders Press Conference on November 19, 2009 in Coral Gables, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Bobby Allison

Getty Images for NASCAR

Regardless of which driver hoists the trophy Sunday night at Homestead, Hendrick said he has to consider this the best year in his team's history. It will be the first time in NASCAR history one organization has finished 1-2-3 in the standings and Hendrick drivers have won 13 of the season's 35 races. Johnson owns a series-high seven victories.

"The thing that I'm probably going to be the proudest of is that what got us here is the fact that Alan [Martin's crew chief, Alan Gustafson] and Chad [Johnson's crew chief, Chad Knaus] will talk on Saturday and Saturday night and they will share information,'' Hendrick said. "Jimmie and Mark will talk on Saturday and Saturday night, and they will share information.

"They'll go out and compete against each other. That won't change. At the end of the race, they know that what they've done all year has got us here.

"That's the part that I'm so proud of, that Chad in a meeting at Hendrick Motorsports on Tuesday will give Alan credit that he got the setup on Saturday from Alan, went out and won the race, when Alan will give Chad the credit.

"When you've got everybody working together, it makes a big difference."

Everything's Gravy in Hendrick Universe originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:35:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dominance: Hendrick at Martinsville

Geoffrey Miller — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:00:00 EST

Filed under: Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Hendrick Motorsports

Predictable.

That's what attitude the 2009 version of the NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup Season has seemed to take on after Jimmie Johnson's win last Saturday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Fans keep wondering: Will Johnson ever screw up? Was the 'winning robot' nickname given to Matt Kenseth a few years ago a little premature?

If the past is any indication -- as it has seemed to be for Johnson & Co. -- then Sunday's race at Martinsville Speedway won't be giving fans a dose of the change in championship outcome that many of them so crave.

Hendrick Motorsports may have a shop in Harrisburg, N.C., within earshot of Lowe's Motor Speedway, but they might as well have set up a satellite operation on the grounds of NASCAR's oldest track in south central Virginia. The half-mile paperclip? A whipping post for any competition that deems it worthy to show up.

The current string of success started in the spring of 2003 when Jeff Gordon took his fourth career win at the short track. Since that point, Rick Hendrick has failed to add a Martinsville trophy to his collection just three times in 12 races -- bringing his 2003-present Martinsville batting average to an oh-so-slim .769.

Gordon has gone to victory lane four times in that period, while Johnson has visited six times.

The numbers get even worse, too.

Gordon has tallied up 13 straight top-10s at the track (he's finished out of the top-10 in just six of his 27 visits to Martinsville) -- which puts him just slightly behind Johnson's streak of 15 straight top-10s. Johnson's lone finish that wasn't a top-10 came in his first career race at Martinsville.

That day, Johnson finished 35th -- recording the only Did Not Finish result ever between he and teammate Gordon at Martinsville.

That's not promising for a fan base that's cheering more actively each week against Johnson for no other reason than his endless domination of big time NASCAR racing.

Also not promising is the most recent history left by Hendrick Motorsports at Martinsville back in April. Those looking to a spot a trend of downward dominance in Hendrick's Martinsville reign will need to skew the facts in an impossibly accurate manner to find signs that Hendrick machines won't be pacing the field this weekend thanks to the gaudy numbers from this season's sixth race.

Simply, all four Hendrick cars -- including some guy named Earnhardt -- finished 8th or better. To make matters concerning the competition worse, the two primary satellite cars from Hendrick's operation -- the Stewart-Haas Racing teammates of Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman -- finished third and sixth, respectively.

And that Johnson guy? He snuck into the lead late and led 42 laps total to steal yet another win away from Denny Hamlin. The win was Johnson's sixth at Martinsville, just one shy of Gordon's career total of 7.

The Hendrick stats are ugly for the rest of the competition at Martinsville, and as of yet no team has been able to stifle the dominance. We'll see what happens Sunday -- but I wouldn't be holding your breath for something dramatic.

Dominance: Hendrick at Martinsville originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jeff Gordon Just Misses Late Win

Geoffrey Miller — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 23:41:00 EST

Filed under: Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Sprint Cup, Hendrick Motorsports

The Jeff Gordon of old was back for a few laps Saturday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway -- but even that wasn't enough to stop the competition's worst nightmare.

Lined up side-by-side coming off of turn four, Gordon sat to the outside of Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson as the field took its final restart of the night with 17 laps to go. As was the case with the previous two restarts that had quickly turned to cautions in the back of the pack, nearly everyone expected Johnson to have the advantage as made the left-hand arc into turn 1.

But the No. 24, with a full head of a steam, wasn't ready to let Johnson take the lead so easily.

Gordon ran side-by-side with Johnson for the next lap and at the flagstand, Johnson narrowly held the lead. Gordon wasn't done.

Circling through turn 3, Gordon, on the outside, pinched Johnson down low just enough for Johnson's rear end to wiggle up the track -- shooting Gordon to the top spot again as they passed the start/finish line with 15 to go with Johnson in close pursuit.

Gordon, who had already led twice earlier in the evening and finished with a 3rd-most total of 64 laps led, proceeded to hold the lead after another circuit around the 1.5-mile track was complete. It was becoming evident, though, that Gordon was going to need some incredible luck or other intervention to keep the lead as Johnson began to line up again right on Gordon's bumper.

Not only was Johnson's car dominant compared to Gordon's, but crew chief Steve Letarte put just two fresh tires on Gordon's car during the final pit stop in an effort to gain track position. The goal succeeded as Gordon came in to the pits fading to the back of the top-10 and came out third.

Johnson, though, had four fresh tires and the difference in grip between the two Hendrick cars was evident as Gordon turned into turn 3 on lap 320. Gordon's car slid towards the wall while Johnson stuck to the bottom and motored by to take the lead for the fifth and final time.

Gordon's chances at winning -- something that would have brought Gordon closer to Johnson by at least 15 points in the Chase for the Sprint Cup -- were gone as he continued a slide to an eventual fourth-place finish. Such a finish is likely better than one he would have garnered by grabbing four tires on the last pit stop instead.

"We put two tires on and that was a great call by Steve (Letarte)," said Gordon. "I think Steve called this race perfectly tonight and we gave it a shot."

But Gordon didn't think a "shot" meant contending for a race win -- or making a pass of Johnson in the late stages.

"I couldn't even believe I got the lead on the restart and was able to get by Jimmie when he got loose and we were racing really hard," said Gordon.

The moment turning out to be to good to be true wasn't surprising, though.

"I knew it was just a matter of time before my two tires would give up and it did," said Gordon, referring to when he slid up the track as Johnson went by.

Despite Johnson's complete domination, Gordon's team has easily been one of the best in the past few weeks. After a disappointing 15th-place run at Loudon, Gordon has carried an average finish of 3.5 in the last four races -- just off Johnson's astounding 3rd-place average in that same span. The big difference, though, has been race wins.

Gordon did all he could to grab one of those away from Johnson on Saturday at LMS, but Johnson still reigned when the burnout smoke cleared. Sure, it was impressive to see Gordon fighting for yet another win, but you get the picture that even that won't be enough -- yet again.

Jeff Gordon Just Misses Late Win originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sun, 18 Oct 2009 23:41:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dale Jr. Near 'The End of My Rope'

Holly Cain — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chase for the Sprint Cup, Hendrick Motorsports

CONCORD, N.C. -- Sounding at times deflated and exasperated, Dale Earnhardt Jr. told reporters Friday at Lowe's Motor Speedway that he's just as perplexed by the disappointing performance of his team as the rising tide of critics and doubters.

Most frustrating, he said, is that he doesn't have the quick answers to turning things around.

Earnhardt used Thursday night's qualifying session as a microcosm of his 2009 season. After posting a top-15 speed during practice in his No. 88 Amp Energy-Chevrolet, he managed only the 39th fastest lap in qualifying.

"All the other cars qualified fine and backed their times up in practice and we didn't even get close,'' a mostly subdued Earnhardt said. "We looked ridiculous last night.

"It's like really encouraging one day and the next day it's equally discouraging and that gets really old. I'm about to the end of my rope on it.''

Earnhardt enters Saturday's Banking 500 ranked 22nd in the points standings. He has scored only two top-10 finishes since May while accumulating 12 finishes of 25th or worse -- half of those 35th place or worse.

As if the results weren't disappointing enough, to compound matters, Earnhardt is the only driver in Hendrick Motorsports equipment not among the 12-driver Chase for the Championship. His teammates Jimmie Johnson, 50-year-old Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon are ranked first, second and fifth, respectively, in the standings.

Stewart-Haas Racing drivers Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman, who use Hendrick engines and chassis, are ranked fourth and ninth.

Even when Earnhardt has run well, it seems a late race gremlin creeps up, negating the kind of effort the team desperately needs to build momentum.

Earnhardt qualified on the outside pole and led 41 laps at Kansas City two weeks ago -- the first laps he led since April 26 at Talladega, Ala. -- only to have engine troubles relegate him to a 36th-place finish.
"I've been riding it out but there comes a point where you don't want to ride it out no more. You've just had enough. It's been a long year."
-- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
"I've been riding it out but there comes a point where you don't want to ride it out no more,'' Earnhardt said. "You've just had enough. It's been a long year.

"I really don't want the year to be over with because I like going to the race track every week and racing, but the last several, well, all year, it's been so low.

"The highs have not been very high and the lows have been terribly low. That's hard to want to get back up and try again the next week when you take such a beating. I don't know what else to do."

The hope was that a change in crew chief early in the season would at least invigorate Earnhardt's team. Clearly what they had wasn't working.

Team owner Rick Hendrick replaced Earnhardt's crew chief -- and cousin -- Tony Eury Jr. with Lance McGrew following the Memorial Day weekend race here in Charlotte. But for all the good intentions, the new combination has only produced two top-10 runs (at Michigan and Bristol, Tenn.)

Earnhardt said he gets along well with McGrew but wasn't sure if they would be together next year based upon their tenure so far. But he said he hasn't discussed the situation with Hendrick yet and didn't feel qualified to make the call.

He suggested maybe he needed someone more like his uncle Tony Eury Sr., who heads up Earnhardt's successful Nationwide Series team saying, "I need more of a dictator.''

"I don't think I'm the guy to leave that decision up to because I wouldn't make the right one,'' Earnhardt said. "There's probably better people to make it, especially in the organization. There's a lot of smart people around there.

"I'm just waiting for somebody to make the call. Just tell me. Put the (dang) team together and say this is what you've got and this is what you're going to do next year. Just kind of waiting on that to happen.''

In the meantime, Earnhardt has such modest goals you'd think he was a young rookie, not a former Daytona 500 winner and championship contender. It's obvious he's done a lot of soul searching recently.

"Hopefully, you can finish one,'' Earnhardt said. "That should do a lot for us if we can finish one.

"We just need to run better. It's not happening. It's not happening fast enough.

"I don't know what the answer is. I've tried to think about what the answer is and I don't know what it is.

"Rick has put me in a great position but I haven't made the most of it, or for whatever reason we're just not getting it done.''

Dale Jr. Near 'The End of My Rope' originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NASCAR 'Warns' Johnson, Martin Teams

Holly Cain — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:34:00 EST

Filed under: Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Chase for the Sprint Cup, Hendrick Motorsports

NASCAR has warned the teams of championship leaders Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson that their Chevrolets were dangerously close to failing post-race inspection last week at Dover, Del., where the three-time defending series champion Johnson won the race and his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Martin finished runner-up.

Johnson's crew chief Chad Knaus cautioned that there was no wrong-doing, no intent to do wrong and that the attention this is receiving is mostly media sensationalism.

"The cars were legal, that's the thing everybody has to understand,'' Knaus said Friday from this week's Sprint Cup Series venue, Kansas Speedway. "It's turned into a bigger issue than what it really should."

"There's a tolerance for everything and as long as you're within the tolerance that's fine, but when you start getting close to that line you've got to make sure that we understand why, and that's what we're trying to do."

Johnson also deflected the situation during his weekly news conference with the racing press on Friday.

"Well we weren't cheating,'' Johnson said. "The cars were not found illegal. It's not uncommon for cars to stick around at the tech center to be measured. The tech center has ways to measure the vehicle that teams don't have. So they're doing their work and doing their data and collecting all that stuff and the cars were there being inspected.

"Believe me if they weren't legal they wouldn't have been released. So it is what it is and I hate that it's drawing speculation and concern but the cars passed tech and here we are."

It may be much ado about nothing this time. But once again it has raised NASCAR's eternal $10 million question: when is pushing the limit being innovative? When is it cheating?

Certainly when you factor in the history of Knaus, who has been suspended before for technical violations, along with the fact these two teams have already set the bar for the 10-race Chase for the Championship, it's easy to understand why this courtesy "warning" from NASCAR is generating big buzz around the garage.

Johnson has won the past three championships and 10 points separate him from Martin in a push for an unprecedented fourth consecutive Cup title.

"First off if we were cheating I wouldn't be standing here, I'd back in Charlotte, so obviously that's not the case,'' Knaus said.

"It's a situation that we do a good job of building very, very good race cars and we take pride in that. We really do. We've always taken it to what we thought were the tolerances, but we never crossed that line and we don't cross that line.''

NASCAR inspectors said Martin's No. 5 Chevy and Johnson's No. 48 Chevrolet were within an inch of not conforming to the body specifications following Sunday's race. Close, but not illegal, so obviously there were no penalties issued.

"They (NASCAR) said, 'look, you're a little close on the tolerance,' '' Knaus explained. "But ... they wanted to make sure it was the damage (during the race), it wasn't something that was built in intentionally because, like I've said, we've had so many cars there that have been within the tolerances and are acceptable and these were just a little bit off.

"It's just preventive maintenance more than anything, just to make sure that we don't have a situation.''

Fairly or not, this is receiving attention because of Knaus' past suspensions for pushing the envelope. In the past four seasons years, Knaus has been suspended for technical violations twice -- for a total of 10 races. The first of those was a four-race punishment after Johnson's car failed post-qualifying inspection for the season-opening Daytona 500, which Johnson went on to win.

Knaus' supporters will remind you, however, that you don't win three consecutive championships in NASCAR's most competitive era without successfully pushing the envelope.

Believe it or not, most of the competing teams -- even those directly racing Johnson for the championship -- are siding with Knaus on this one. At least publicly.

"Part of racing, part of this type of sport is that you have to push those boundaries and take it as far as you can,'' said Dodge driver Kasey Kahne, who is ranked 12th in the Chase standings.

"The Car of Tomorrow, since we've had it, is real cut and dry and you don't cross those boundaries. You stay on one side or another and if you cross them, you get hit pretty hard. That's how it's been with the Car of Tomorrow and (NASCAR) has shown it a few times.

"It's pretty black and white. You're either cheating or you're not, and if you're not, you're not."

NASCAR 'Warns' Johnson, Martin Teams originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:34:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Calling Out a Modest Jimmie Johnson

Geoffrey Miller — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Jimmie Johnson, Chase for the Sprint Cup, Sprint Cup, Hendrick Motorsports

A news conference on Wednesday at Lowe's Motor Speedway told you everything you need to know about Jimmie Johnson.

The three-time reigning Sprint Cup champion was asked about the prospects of winning seven NASCAR Sprint Cup titles -- the number, of course, that Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty share as the most ever. Johnson, ever the modest and self-doubting gentleman, politely answered that it would be "insane" for his team to win four more titles before his career ends.

Great answer, Jimmie. But come on, dude, let's be real -- we all know that answer is about as far from the truth as it can get.
First, here's exactly what Jimmie had to say, courtesy of the Charlotte Observer:

If Johnson can overtake Mark Martin in the standings and win his fourth straight championship, he'll be more than halfway toward tying the record seven titles won by Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.

"I don't think that's possible," Johnson said Wednesday at a news conference at Lowe's Motor Speedway. "I think getting to seven is just too tough. Jeff Gordon's got four and he hasn't gotten his fifth one.

"I hope I can maybe prove people wrong, but winning four more seems insane."

Keep telling yourself that, Jimmie.

Maybe its his way of avoiding a personal hex or jinx when it comes to winning more titles. Or maybe Johnson is just doing what he has always done -- being a guy that never says or does anything that his mother wouldn't be proud of.

Whatever it is, I've got to say he's wrong. Let's just look at the stats.

At the moment, Johnson is 283 races into his Sprint Cup career and in his 8th year of full-time competition. In his first 7 full seasons, Johnson won three championships -- a championship batting average, if you will, of .429. Ted Williams would be jealous.

The most comparable driver to those stats is exactly the one Johnson mentioned, his teammate Jeff Gordon. Gordon became the owner of four championships after 9 full seasons, though he hasn't been back on top since 2001. Such a clip was three years quicker than both Dale Earnhardt's and Richard Petty's run to four.

Speaking of those two, it took Earnhardt 16 seasons of full-time racing to win his 7 titles, while Petty took 19 seasons. Granted, Petty's numbers were a little different because he was racing at the start of his career in an era where racing 50 times a season was the norm. Petty also only competed in 14 of 55 races in 1965 after winning the championship in 1964 thanks to a stint in drag racing.

If Johnson wins the 2009 title -- a win last week at Dover and some struggles from other Chase competitors have increased those odds just two races into the Chase -- he'll be at four championships in 8 years of NASCAR racing.

And he'll be just 34 years old.

Petty was 35 when he won No. 4 and Earnhardt was 39 at that point.

Obviously, Johnson's torrid pace -- the guy is winning championships now like the New York Yankees wish they could be doing -- has put him in firm position to win 7 championships, even if he doesn't believe it.

Certainly there's no guarantee that Johnson will ever win another championship. He can look farther than to his teammate Gordon to see how the championship production can fall off without warning, and there's more than a handful of factors that can take even the most dominant teams away from the championship.

For reference, see Kyle Busch in 2008.

But Johnson does have NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup championship system on his side.

The system has been the ace in the hole, really, for the No. 48 bunch. It's enabled them to start off a season in moderate fashion and really build for the 10-race run. It doesn't hurt that the final ten tracks are right in Johnson's wheelhouse.

That, of course, might have something to do with team No. 48's ability to prepare for what really matters and less to do with the physical race tracks the series visits.

Johnson may find it "insane" to consider seven Sprint Cup titles to be out of reach, but me? I find it "insane" that Johnson can get away with such a statement.

He's got a better shot at 7 championships than anyone, ever, in NASCAR history.

What's so insane about that?

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In a June 18, 2009, photo provided by Twentieth Television, host Jeff Foxworthy, center, is shown with NASCAR driver Michael Waltrip and fifth-grader Danielle during the taping of the new half-hour version of "Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?" in Los Angeles. The episode, featuring Michael Waltrip playing for charity, airs Tuesday, Oct. 6. (AP Photo/Twentieth Television, Barry Holmes) ** NO SALES **

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NASCAR legend Richard Petty, left, answers a question as defending NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, right, during a news conference at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009. The NASCAR Banking 500 auto race will be run on Oct. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

NASCAR legend Richard Petty, center, shares a laugh with defending NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, right, and Lowe's Motor Speedway owner Bruton Smith, left, during a news conference at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009. The NASCAR Banking 500 auto race will be run on Oct. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

NASCAR legend Richard Petty, right, shares a laugh with Lowe's Motor Speedway owner Bruton Smith, left, during a news conference at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009. The NASCAR Banking 500 auto race will be run on Oct. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

FILE -- This is a March 29, 2009, file photo showing race team owner Rick Hendrick celebrating Jimmie Johnson's win of the Goody's 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup auto race in victory lane at the Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Va. With two cars on top of the points standings, Rick Hendrick appears well on his way to a 13th NASCAR championship. (AP Photo/Don Petersen, File)

FILE -- This is a May 15, 2009, file photo showing team owner Rick Hendrick talking with driver Jeff Gordon during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup All-Star auto race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. With two cars on top of the points standings, Rick Hendrick appears well on his way to a 13th NASCAR championship. (AP Photo/Terry Renna, File)

FILE -- This is a March 29, 2009, file photo showing Jimmie Johnson, center left, celebrating with team owner Rick Hendrick after winning the NASCAR Goody's 500 auto race at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Va. Mark Martin leads the points and Jimmie Johnson is right behind him. It's enough to leave the other Chase drivers discouraged that their best efforts aren't usually enough to get by the Hendrick Motorsports powerhouse. (AP Photo/Don Petersen, File)

FILE -- This is a Sept. 28, 2008, file photo showing Jimmie Johnson (48) and Mark Martin (8) driving during the first lap of the NASCAR Camping World RV 400 Sprint Cup auto race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan. Mark Martin leads the points and Jimmie Johnson is right behind him. It's enough to leave the other Chase drivers discouraged that their best efforts aren't usually enough to get by the Hendrick Motorsports powerhouse. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner, File)

FILE -- This is a Sept. 18, 2009, file photo showing NASCAR drivers Mark Martin, right, and Jimmy Johnson talking in the garage at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H. Mark Martin leads the points and Jimmie Johnson is right behind him. It's enough to leave the other Chase drivers discouraged that their best efforts aren't usually enough to get by the Hendrick Motorsports powerhouse. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm, File)

Calling Out a Modest Jimmie Johnson originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jimmie Johnson Dominates at Dover

FanHouse Newswire — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 19:44:00 EST

Filed under: Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Hendrick Motorsports

DOVER, Del. (AP) -- Jimmie Johnson dominated again in a Chase race, sweeping the season races at Dover International Speedway to accelerate his bid for an unprecedented fourth straight Sprint Cup title.

Johnson cut Hendrick Motorsports teammate Mark Martin's points lead Sunday with the victory -- his fourth of the year and 44th overall -- in the second of 10 races in the Chase for the championship.

"I'm pretty sure that dude is Superman,'' Martin said. "I've seen that dude up close and I see why he's so successful. He works harder at it than anybody else, I think, on the circuit.''

More Coverage: Check AAA 400 Results | Sprint Cup Standings

No winner of the second Dover race has ever gone on to win the Cup championship. If any driver can reverse that trend, it's Johnson. Much as he did in May, Johnson's No. 48 Chevrolet was out in front for the majority of the 400-mile race.

"I certainly hope that our performance today scares some people and affects them in a way that benefits us,'' Johnson said.

Chase drivers took nine of the first 11 spots. Martin followed last week's win at New Hampshire with a second-place finish. Juan Pablo Montoya was fourth and Kurt Busch fifth.

Matt Kenseth was the highest non-Chase driver at third.

Martin holds a 10-point lead over Johnson heading into next week at Kansas Speedway.

"This team is really on a roll right now,'' Martin said.

Other Chase driver results saw Jeff Gordon finish sixth, Kasey Kahne was eighth, Tony Stewart ninth and Ryan Newman 10th. Carl Edwards was 11th, Greg Biffle 13th, Brian Vickers 18th and Denny Hamlin 22nd.

"It's just two races,'' Martin said. "I still say that there's 12 in and 12 can win. It might be a challenge for a couple of the ones toward the end of the back.''

Johnson, who tire-tested in August at Dover, won from the pole. He led 298 laps when he won at Dover in May and added another 271 on the 1-mile concrete track Sunday. Johnson won for the fifth time at Dover.

"That's right boys, maximum points! Thank you!'' Johnson said over the radio.

Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus also won their 15th Chase race. No one is better down the stretch and it's the main reason why the No. 48 team is going for their record fourth straight title.

"Our team is pretty easily motivated,'' Knaus said.

Easy to see why. Cale Yarborough is the only other driver to win three straight championships and Johnson can move past him with more dominating performances like this one over the final eight races.

Johnson, who won for the first time since July at Indianapolis, crushed Kenseth and the rest of the contenders off the double-file restarts and was never seriously challenged.

He's in great position, but he's still not in first. Even with the 10 bonus points for winning, Martin still holds a slim lead.

The 50-year-old Martin is the sentimental favorite for his first Cup championship and he's in no rush to yield his spot atop the standings. His 1-2 finish in the first two Chase races proved he'll be a major factor in the No. 5.

"I'm happy with the result,'' Martin said. "We just missed it a little bit.''

It's way too early in the Chase to rule out any driver as a contender for the championship, but the Hendrick powerhouse sure looks like it fields the teams to beat.

"They're strong everywhere,'' Hamlin said. "There's no weakness to their race team at all.''

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

Jimmie Johnson Dominates at Dover originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sun, 27 Sep 2009 19:44:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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10 Years After Evernham's Hendrick Exit, Jeff Gordon Still a Force in NASCAR

Geoffrey Miller — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 21:59:00 EST

Filed under: Jeff Gordon, Sprint Cup, Hendrick Motorsports

10 years ago Saturday -- Sept. 26, 1999 -- was the end of an era for Jeff Gordon.

For as long as Gordon had been a NASCAR Sprint Cup driver, Ray Evernham had been his crew chief. The run produced three championships and 47 wins but came to end when Evernham decided to start his own venture into Sprint Cup ownership. The questions came quickly.

Would Jeff Gordon have the same success? Or would the loss of Evernham spell the end of Gordon's reign in NASCAR?

10 years later, Gordon's success has proved that Gordon could go it alone just fine, but also leaves the question of what could have been.
Starting with the final race of the 1992 season, Evernham and Gordon would join forces in the Sprint Cup Series for some 216 races, ending after the second Dover race of 1999. They earned their first win together in 1994 in Charlotte while their 47th and final together came on the road course in Watkins Glen, N.Y.

The driver-crew chief duo amassed a winning percentage of 21.76% -- winning one of every five races they competed in -- en route to making Gordon the youngest three-time champion in NASCAR history.

Since Evernham left, Gordon has hardly fallen off the map.

In fact, Gordon won the first two races immediately after Evernham left the team in 1999. He's tacked on 33 more wins to that number since 1999 -- a win total that by itself would put Gordon tied for 20th on NASCAR's all-time win list. Instead, his 82 career wins heading into Sunday's race at Dover leave him sixth on the all-time list, highest among active drivers.

The biggest number that seems to have fallen off since Gordon's days with Evernham is the championship count. In his post-Evernham career, Gordon has finished just one season -- the 2001 campaign -- at the head of the pack. That's not to say Gordon has lost his knack for consistency and performance, though.

NASCAR's switch to the Chase for the Championship in 2004 drastically changed what it takes to win the Sprint Cup title. Gordon's four titles came under a season-long cumulative points effort, which the Chase involves the points earned in the final ten races.

Had NASCAR not changed the point system for determining the championship, Gordon's point totals in 2004 and 2007 would have earned him two championships -- equaling the title production of the Evernham days.

Several of Gordon's stats have dropped in the 356 races he competed in since Evernham's departure, but their level is still high enough to be envied by most drivers in the garage area. The winning percentage has some dropped some 8 points, but his career percentage still sits above 14.

Gordon's average finish of 12.7 has dropped about a single position in 10 years, while he averages a start 2.5 spots back from the Evernham days.The number of lead lap finishes however has increased in Gordon's era after Evernham by some 10 percent to 73.31 percent.

A telling stat, though, for why Gordon hasn't won as often since Evernham left might have to do with his percentage of laps led. With Ray, Gordon led 16.48 percent of the time, but since then he's led 10.29 percent of the laps he's competed in. The percentage of top-five finishes has also dropped 13 percent, with Gordon finishing the top-five 40.17 percent of the time since Evernham's departure.

Look at Gordon's performance in two of NASCAR's crown jewels, though, and the difference isn't very big. Gordon won two Daytona 500s and two Brickyard 400s with Evernham, and since then he's picked up one more 500 and two more 400s.

Despite several of Gordon's statistical categories dropping since Evernham left, not all of it could be directly heaped on the crew chief change. NASCAR, as a whole, has gotten drastically more competitive since Gordon started his run to win all of those races.

Ask just about any driver in the garage area and you'll find that what used to a be sport that saw between 5 and 10 cars in position to win each week has become one where 15 drivers might have a car good enough to win today.

10 years ago, there were a lot of doubters of Jeff Gordon. They wondered if "Wonder Boy" could keep it up without arguably one of NASCAR's best ever crew chiefs, or if he'd fall back to the pack. And while his statistics aren't as gawdy or impressive as they used to be, it's a safe bet that Gordon is a safe bet for most races -- Evernham or not.

10 Years After Evernham's Hendrick Exit, Jeff Gordon Still a Force in NASCAR originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sat, 26 Sep 2009 21:59:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mark Martin Racing Time, Chasing History

Holly Cain — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Mark Martin, Chase for the Sprint Cup, Hendrick Motorsports

Mark Martin leaned into the microphone at Richmond International Raceway two weeks ago and, as if daring you to think otherwise, proclaimed his season already "icing on the cake," and any future success "overwhelming."

A day later the 50-year-old clinched a spot in NASCAR's Chase for the Championship.

He scored a Sprint Cup Series best fifth victory in New Hampshire on Sunday, extending his championship lead to 35 points over three-time reigning champ Jimmie Johnson with nine races remaining in stock car's version of the playoffs.

Overwhelmed it is.

Martin has returned from a part-time sabbatical -- he insists he never "retired" -- to equal his entire win total from 1999-2008. Only Johnson has led more races or more laps than Martin this season. And just last week, Martin signed a contract extension keeping him behind the wheel of the Hendrick Motorsports' No. 5 Chevy through his 52rd birthday.

Yet, if reverse psychology were a field of study, Martin would hold a doctorate. He is the professor of carpe diem, a case study in conservative expectations yielding high reward.

No one wants to win more. No one expects it less.

"He knows now there is a really good chance he can be a champion and he's doing everything he can not to think about it," teammate Johnson said with a laugh on Tuesday.

Too late.

The glass is half full.

"At the start of the season, he was putting realistic expectations on his goals and we all know Mark undersells that, anyone that knows Mark, knows that," Johnson said.

"At the end of the day, he's convinced himself his happiness cannot be affected by whether he wins a championship or not. But I do see his attitude change as the races are going on."

It is easier to understand why Martin brings this mindset to the table than to pinpoint what exactly it is that has propelled him to a career year at an age when most professional athletes have moved to the announcing booth or living room sofa.

Martin is all about guarded confidence -- it's a game of emotional tug-of-war he's played throughout his career, darting between hope and disappointment.

The confidence comes from 40 Cup Series wins spanning three decades, against two seven-time champions in two different championship formats.

The confidence comes from a record five International Race of Champions (IROC) championships. The now-defunct series featured the best of the best in identical cars and Martin beat the sport's greatest, such as Al Unser Jr., the late Dale Earnhardt, Steve Kinser and Tony Stewart, for those titles.

The confidence comes from a record 48 Nationwide Series wins and from a 2006 stint in the Camping World Truck Series, where he won six times in 14 starts.

The caution comes courtesy of four second-place finishes in the Cup championship and the 0-for-25 in NASCAR's Super Bowl, the Daytona 500, that have simultaneously haunted Martin and turned him into one of the most overwhelming sentimental title favorites in recent memory.

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LOUDON, NH - SEPTEMBER 20: Mark Martin, driver of the #5 CARQUEST/Kellogg's Chevrolet, takes the checkered flag as he heads across the start/finish line to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sylvania 300 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway on September 20, 2009 in Loudon, New Hampshire. (Photo by Gregg Ellman/Pool-GettyImages) *** Local Caption *** Mark Martin

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FILE -- This is a June 28, 2009, file photo showing Casey Mears (07) racing during the NASCAR Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H. The maker of Jim Beam Bourbon will stop sponsoring Robby Gordon's Sprint Cup team next season, sending another liquor company to the NASCAR sidelines. A day after Jack Daniels announced it would stop supporting Casey Mears' No. 07 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, Beam Global Spirits & Wine Inc. said Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009, it was shifting sponsorship dollars to areas outside NASCAR. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm, File)

FILE -- This is a Feb. 8, 2009, file photo showing NASCAR driver Robby Gordon preparing for the Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway, in Daytona Beach, Fla. The maker of Jim Beam Bourbon will stop sponsoring Robby Gordon's Sprint Cup team next season, sending another liquor company to the NASCAR sidelines. A day after Jack Daniels announced it would stop supporting Casey Mears' No. 07 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, Beam Global Spirits & Wine Inc. said Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009, it was shifting sponsorship dollars to areas outside NASCAR. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter, File)

FILE -- This is a Feb. 22, 2008, file photo showing Robby Gordon talking with a crew member before practice and qualifying for the NASCAR Auto Club 500 race at California Speedway in Fontana, Calif. The maker of Jim Beam Bourbon will stop sponsoring Robby Gordon's Sprint Cup team next season, sending another liquor company to the NASCAR sidelines. A day after Jack Daniels announced it would stop supporting Casey Mears' No. 07 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, Beam Global Spirits & Wine Inc. said Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009, it was shifting sponsorship dollars to areas outside NASCAR. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)

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Kyle Busch (18) drives through a corner during the the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' Sylvania 300 auto race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H., Sunday, Sept. 20, 2009. Busch, who missed making the Chase by just eight points, finished in fifth place. But the left front of his car was too low in post-race inspection, and he could be penalized this week. (AP Photo/Josh Gibney)

Mark Martin (5) leads drivers out of the pits during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' Sylvania 300 auto race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H., Sunday, Sept. 20, 2009. Martin won the race. Juan Pablo Montoya, right front, finished in third. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)

LOUDON, NH - SEPTEMBER 20: Kyle Busch (C), driver of the #18 M&M's Toyota, drives in a pack of cars during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sylvania 300 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway on September 20, 2009 in Loudon, New Hampshire. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Kyle Busch

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Fans cheer as Mark Martin takes the lead near the end of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' Sylvania 300 auto race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H., Sunday, Sept. 20, 2009. Martin went on to win. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)

Several drivers wreck during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' Sylvania 300 auto race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H., Sunday, Sept. 20, 2009. Mark Martin went on to win. (AP Photo/Gil Talbot)

A no-nonsense, no-one-to-blame-but-me racer's racer, Martin has always enjoyed a large following and the unwavering respect of his competition.

When Kevin Harvick won the 2007 Daytona 500, nosing ahead of Martin at the checkered flag by .02 seconds, he was almost apologetic in the victor's news conference.

Ask any of the current 12 Chase drivers who they'd pick to win the title if it weren't them.

"As a Mark Martin fan since I was a little kid, if he won it, I'd be happy for him," Johnson allowed, "but I try not to go into that place."

Martin is genuinely humbled when he hears the kind words from competitors. He's just afraid to buy into his own season's success yet. He doesn't want to get too greedy.

Heartache and tough life lessons have made him that way.

The four championship runner-up finishes -- including a 26-point loss to Earnhardt in 1990 that included a controversial penalty to Martin's team, along with a 38-point loss to Stewart in 2002 -- were difficult, but nothing compared to the loss of his father Julian Martin, who was killed in a plane crash during the 1998 season.

It was Julian Martin, the doting dad who modified his only son's first race cars so that the steering wheel and drivers seat were more safely positioned in the middle of car. It was Julian that cajoled, urged and encouraged Martin as he established himself around the Midwest, eventually winning three American Speed Association (ASA) titles.

They are the experiences that have formed Mark Martin's famous, "let's-not-get-ahead-of-ourselves" mindset, his feeling that opportunity and disappointment are behind every door.

It has also had the unexpected consequence of helping Martin appreciate and enjoy this season's success like no other - even if he still insists on deferring the credit.

Here's a guy who races door-to-door to the finish line with Kyle Busch -- an extremely aggressive driver, half Martin's age -- and after holding him off for victory, Martin's first words in victory circle were to thank Busch for the clean and spirited battle.

When Martin held off Indy 500 champ Juan Pablo Montoya and Denny Hamlin on three consecutive, race-deciding re-starts Sunday, Martin climbed out of his car and gave all the credit to his crew chief Alan Gustafson.

It's always his crew chief, or the engine shop, or his pit crew or his team owner.

Hey, Mark: it's you, too.

"I think he's the most dangerous guy,'' Montoya said. "He's the guy with the most experience. He hasn't won a championship and he wants one pretty bad.

"I know the 48 (Johnson) is going to be there every week, same as always, but if somebody wants it really bad, it's that 5 guy."

Whether he admits it.

"I didn't take this job to win the championship,'' Martin said. "I took this job to drive a fast race car and hopefully win a race. "I don't think you can will your way to scoring points. I tried that for 19 years. I tried to will my way, and it never worked. And it was frustrating.

"So what we will do, and what I will do, is do my very best, I'm a really intense person, I'm really competitive and I will give every ounce that I have at it just like I do every time.

"And we'll see how it turns out."

Mark Martin Racing Time, Chasing History originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Tue, 22 Sep 2009 17:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Martin Holds Off Montoya, Takes First Step Toward Title in Chase Opener

FanHouse Newswire — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 18:55:00 EST

Filed under: Juan Pablo Montoya, Mark Martin, Chase for the Sprint Cup, Hendrick Motorsports

LOUDON, N.H. (AP) -- When a young driver isn't sure how to approach an on-track situation, they often ask themselves "What would Mark Martin do?''

With a championship on the line, Martin fooled the competition and won.

The 50-year-old driver held off Juan Pablo Montoya on a three-lap sprint to the finish Sunday to win the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship opener at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. After, Montoya accused Martin of holding him up at the start of the second lap.

"What he did, not cool at all,'' Montoya radioed his crew. "I could have wrecked him.''

Sylvania 300 Results | Standings | Engine Problem Sidelines Kahne

But Martin insisted the move, which clearly surprised Montoya, was within bounds.

"I fought for that race,'' Martin said. "But I wouldn't do anything. I still won't.''

Whether Martin did anything wrong at all will be debated by many, but it won't change the record books: Martin won his Sprint Cup Series-best fifth race of the season and extended his lead in the standings to 35 points over runner-up Denny Hamlin and three-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson.

"Pinch me. I am sure I'm sleeping. I am sure I am dreaming,'' Martin said.

Martin crew chief Alan Gustafson used mid-race pit strategy to get the No. 5 into contention. He didn't bring Martin in for a pit stop under yellow that was outside their fuel window, knowing they'd get a chance to stop later in the race.

It put Martin out front at the end, in position to spoil what was shaping up to be a blockbuster day for Montoya.

"Pinch me. I am sure I'm sleeping. I am sure I am dreaming."
-- Mark Martin Making his 100th career start on his 34th birthday, Montoya won the pole in record-breaking speed and led every practice session while setting the stage for just his second career Sprint Cup Series victory.

Instead, he found himself slicing through the field at the end of the race. He went from fifth to second on a restart with 13 laps to go, and was on the inside of Martin on the restart with three laps to go.

They battled door-to-door for the first lap, and Martin finally slid in front of Montoya as they crossed the start-finish line. They ran bumper-to-bumper through the first turn, and Martin appeared to slow just a bit as they headed for Turn 2.

It caused Montoya to roll out of the gas - and lose considerable momentum - as Martin pulled away to a sizable lead.

"I didn't expect that,'' Montoya said. "I was expecting him to run pretty hard. He just ran very defensively, and I just got caught by surprise. I think if I would have would have been prepared I probably would have jumped to the outside.

"You've got to learn from it. I haven't fought for enough wins.''

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NASCAR driver Mark Martin relaxes before the Sylvania 300 auto race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H., Sunday, Sept. 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Cheryl Senter)

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NASCAR driver Mark Martin relaxes before the Sylvania 300 auto race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H., Sunday, Sept. 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Cheryl Senter)

Mark Martin (5) crosses the finish line ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya (42), of Colombia, to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' Sylvania 300 auto race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H., Sunday, Sept. 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Sandy Macys)

LOUDON, NH - SEPTEMBER 20: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, comes in for a pit stop during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sylvania 300 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway on September 20, 2009 in Loudon, New Hampshire. (Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson

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LOUDON, NH - SEPTEMBER 20: Mark Martin (C), driver of the #5 CARQUEST/Kellogg's Chevrolet, and Juan Pablo Montoya (R), driver of the #42 Target Chevrolet, lead the field late in the race during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sylvania 300 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway on September 20, 2009 in Loudon, New Hampshire. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Mark Martin

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LOUDON, NH - SEPTEMBER 20: Mark Martin, driver of the #5 CARQUEST/Kellogg's Chevrolet, leads the field late in the race during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sylvania 300 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway on September 20, 2009 in Loudon, New Hampshire. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Mark Martin

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Mark Martin takes a victory lab after winning the NASCAR Sylvania 300 Sprint Cup auto race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H., Sunday, Sept. 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)

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LOUDON, NH - SEPTEMBER 20: Ryan Newman, driver of the #39 US Army Chevrolet, comes in for a pit stop during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sylvania 300 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway on September 20, 2009 in Loudon, New Hampshire. (Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Ryan Newman

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LOUDON, NH - SEPTEMBER 20: Mark Martin, driver of the #5 CARQUEST/Kellogg's Chevrolet, crosses the finish line in front of Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Freight Toyota, on his way to victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sylvania 300 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway on September 20, 2009 in Loudon, New Hampshire. (Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Mark Martin;Denny Hamlin

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LOUDON, NH - SEPTEMBER 20: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet, comes in for a pit stop during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sylvania 300 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway on September 20, 2009 in Loudon, New Hampshire. (Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Dale Earnhardt Jr.

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Although Montoya said Martin "stopped,'' in front of him, Martin didn't think he had done anything wrong.

"My first instinct to answer that question would be, 'Yeah, I stopped - compared to how fast his car was going,' '' Martin said. "I don't think I stopped, stopped. Maybe it looked to him like I stopped based on how fast he had been.

The race ended under caution when AJ Allmendinger spun on the frontstretch as the leaders began their final lap. NASCAR waited for Allmendinger to get his car off the track and was slow to throw the yellow flag because officials were hoping to let the finish play out.

Instead, Martin, Montoya and Hamlin closed quickly on Allmendinger's disabled vehicle, making for a chaotic final moment that could have led to wrecked race cars.

Hamlin slipped past Montoya for second-place as the three cars split Allmendinger on the way to the finish line.

"I think they should have waited until they did to throw the yellow because it could have cleared itself, and then they wouldn't have spoiled the finish,'' Martin said, defending NASAR's delay in calling caution. "They do the best they can, and they're really strong and pro fan.''

Johnson finished fourth and was followed by Kyle Busch, who missed making the Chase by just eight points. Afterward, NASCAR said the left front of his car was too low in post-race inspection, and he could be penalized this week.

Kurt Busch was sixth and followed by Ryan Newman, Elliott Sadler, defending race winner Greg Biffle and Clint Bowyer.

It was a decent day for almost all the Chase drivers, who need a strong race in the 10-race title hunt to set the pace for the championship battle. Since its 2004 inception, only one driver, Johnson in 2006, finished lower than sixth at New Hampshire and still won the title.

That's bad news for Kasey Kahne, who lost his motor early and finished 39th. He was posting to his Twitter account about his crummy day from his airplane as he prepared to head home before the halfway point of the race.

After just one race, Kahne is last in the 12-driver field and 161 points behind Martin, the leader.

Considered the best driver in NASCAR without a championship, the 50-year-old is poised to finally grab one.

Martin, who announced a contract extension Friday that keeps him with Hendrick Motorsports through 2011, started the Chase as the points leader because of his four "regular season'' victories. Now he's got another win and a 35-point cushion over the competition.

Although he's consistently said that Montoya, the former Formula One driver, is the dark horse of this championship hunt, Montoya believes Martin is the man to beat.

"I think he's the most dangerous guy,'' Montoya said. "He's the guy with the most experience. He hasn't won a championship, and he wants one, pretty bad.''

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

Martin Holds Off Montoya, Takes First Step Toward Title in Chase Opener originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sun, 20 Sep 2009 18:55:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jimmie Johnson Makes Case as One of NASCAR's All-Time Best

Holly Cain — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 21:45:00 EST

Filed under: Jimmie Johnson, Chase for the Sprint Cup, Hendrick Motorsports

"No worries."

Spend much time around Jimmie Johnson and you'll hear that expression often. You won't meet a more down-to-earth, easy-going person making a 200-mph living than this 33-year-old San Diego native whose actually had to defend himself for being too nice of a guy.

But don't let the laid back demeanor deceive you.

In only his eighth season in NASCAR's premier Sprint Cup ranks, the three-time champion is quietly and methodically establishing himself not just among the best of his generation, but among the best in all of NASCAR history.

Just don't ask him about it.

"If I can keep that stuff out of my head, not think about what could be or what I could do for myself and my career and status, the better I'm gonna be,'' Johnson said this week, days after becoming the first stock car driver to win back-to-back races at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

"Nobody will be offended if I dodge those questions and try not to let that stuff in my head. It's what I'm trying to do to stay focused on what I do best,'' Johnson added.

What he does best these days, is be the best.

Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, is deservedly getting extra attention this week after earning his third win at Indy -- a feat only his Hendrick Motorsports teammate and good friend Jeff Gordon (four wins) has bettered in the stock car ranks. Only three other Indy car drivers whose names are racing royalty -- Mears, Foyt and Unser -- along with a Formula One driver by the name of Michael Schumacher, have won more than Johnson there.

It is significant because winning the big races distinguishes Johnson among a list of stock car greats -- the ability to win the big races and the championships.

In addition to Johnson's three Indy victories, he won the 2006 Daytona 500 and three consecutive Coca-Cola 600s from 2003-05 -- the Cup Series' marquee trifecta. The NASCAR traditionalists' favorite, Southern 500 at Darlington, S.C.? Johnson's won that, too -- part of a 2004 sweep at the track Too Tough to Tame.

Of the Cup champions in the past 20 years only Johnson, the late Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon have won the Brickyard 400, Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600 and Southern 500.

Johnson has proven himself to be among the most diverse in NASCAR. With the exception of road courses -- where Johnson is winless but accumulated seven top-10 finishes in 15 starts -- he has spread his 43 victories out over short tracks, super speedways and his specialty, intermediate tracks.

Through his first seven and a half seasons, Johnson has a career average finish of 11.2. It's on par with the first eight seasons of seven-time champ Earnhardt (12.2), two-time champ Tony Stewart (12.3) and three-time champ Darrell Waltrip (10.9).

Of champions from the past two decades, only Gordon had more wins (54) in his first eight seasons than Johnson. In this category, the comparisons for Johnson aren't with his contemporaries, but with sure Hall of Famers.

Three-time champion Cale Yarborough had 55 wins in his first eight seasons. Waltrip had 51 wins, Earnhardt 20.

Of course, part of the difference from 20 years ago is that Johnson started his career with a superpower. And he'll be the first to say so. But there have been -- and still are -- others with successful teams that didn't produce the results. It's one thing to have opportunity. It's another to seize it.

"It's not one thing that makes Johnson so good, it's three things: Hendrick Motorsports, [crew chief] Chad Knaus and it's Jimmie Johnson,'' 1989 Cup champ-turned ESPN analyst Rusty Wallace offered this week.

"Pull any one of those three things out and they would not be as successful. Chad with another driver isn't successful. Jimmie with another crew chief wouldn't be this successful.

"He's got to be an odds-on favorite to win the championship four times in a row, I know I picked him to, and here's the thing, he's a second-half driver. He's only just about to really turn it on.''

Many don't realize that Johnson, who began his career racing motorcross and off-road trucks, didn't even start driving stock cars until 1997. His first full season was 1998. He spent a couple years in the ASA series then two more in the Nationwide Series before Gordon convinced Hendrick to give Johnson his big break.

Often Johnson gets criticized for being "too nice" for being that happy-go-lucky, kid-next-door. But anyone who still questions his grit should watch replays of Johnson's hard-nosed win at Texas in 2007 or the way he races his own teammates in the waning laps. He is as competitive as anyone ever was behind the wheel.

Only he's proven you don't have to be a jerk to be a winner. Or a champion.

The win at Indy has positioned Johnson to make a real run at history -- a fourth straight Cup trophy. He goes to Pocono, Pa., this weekend -- where he's won twice -- second place in the championship behind Tony Stewart with six races remaining before the 10-race Chase for the Championship.

If the rankings were reset for the Chase today, he'd still be in second place behind his teammate Mark Martin by virtue of Martin's four wins to his three.

As Wallace mentioned, Johnson's team has proven itself the class of the late season field. His performance in the intermediate-track heavy Chase races is a major reason why he will be the man to beat.

A fourth consecutive title would be unprecedented in this sport and one of the greatest accomplishments in sports.

And try as you might, it's still not something Johnson wants to consider. He's having too much fun.

"I don't think it's in my nature to think long about it or focus on that,'' Johnson said with a laugh. "The less I let in my head the better. I joke around with it a lot that I'm not good at thinking. I'm better when I strap myself in that car and go out there and do what I know how to do.''

No worries, Jimmie.

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FILE -- This is a July 11, 2009 file photo showing Denny Hamlin driving during the NASCAR LifeLock.com 400 auto race at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. Unless his Joe Gibbs Racing team can find the success that's come so easily to his rivals at Hendricks Motorsports, Hamlin knows making a serious run at the title will have to wait another year. (AP Photo/Skip Stewart, File)

FILE -- This is a July 9, 2009, file photo showing Denny Hamlin during practice for the NASCAR LifeLock.com 400 auto race at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. Unless his Joe Gibbs Racing team can find the success that's come so easily to his rivals at Hendricks Motorsports, Hamlin knows making a serious run at the title will have to wait another year. (AP Photo/Skip Stewart, File)

FILE -- This is a June 7, 2008 file photo showing NASCAR driver Juan Pablo Montoya, of Colombia, right, talking with his crew chief, Brian Pattie, during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pocono 500 auto race in Long Pond, Pa. Pattie doesn't come to mind when listing NASCAR's best crew chiefs. He doesn't have the wins, reputations or budgets of others. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, Fle)

INDIANAPOLIS - JULY 25: Chase Austin signs autographs for fans at the special Macy's autograph signing hosted by CAVI at the Macy's Castleton Square Mall on July 25, 2009 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Joey Foley/Getty Images for Lawlor Media Group) *** Local Caption *** Chase Austin

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INDIANAPOLIS - JULY 25: Chase Austin (L) signs autographs for fans at the special Macy's autograph signing hosted by CAVI at the Macy's Castleton Square Mall on July 25, 2009 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Joey Foley/Getty Images for Lawlor Media Group) *** Local Caption *** Chase Austin

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INDIANAPOLIS - JULY 25: Chase Austin attends the special Macy's autograph signing hosted by CAVI at the Macy's Castleton Square Mall on July 25, 2009 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Joey Foley/Getty Images for Lawlor Media Group) *** Local Caption *** Chase Austin

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Jimmie Johnson Makes Case as One of NASCAR's All-Time Best originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Wed, 29 Jul 2009 21:45:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mark Martin Wins Fourth Race of Season

FanHouse Newswire — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 23:40:00 EST

Filed under: Mark Martin, Chevrolet, Sprint Cup, Hendrick Motorsports

JOLIET, Ill. (AP) -- Mark Martin will feel his age in the morning or a day or two after a race.

His bones will stiffen and his body will ache after driving 400 grueling miles, even though the fitness fanatic is still in top shape.

After all, 50 is 50 and that matters - well, everywhere but on the track.

More Coverage: LifeLock 400 Results | Sprint Cup Standings

Martin is still nifty at 50 and has made Cup racing his personal senior circuit. He won at Chicagoland Speedway, getting the strong jump off the double-file restart with two laps left to win his series-high fourth race of the season.

"I'm going to feel like hell tomorrow because I ain't going to sleep much tonight,'' Martin said on Saturday night. "When I'm pumped up driving fast race cars, I certainly don't feel 50.''

He's far from the sunset of his career and proved it under the lights on the 1.5-mile track.

Martin dominated the race early and led 195 laps, easily the most of the 400-mile race. He was in so much control of the No. 5 car, he radioed his crew to say, ``this is easy.''

But he dropped the lead to Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson with just over 40 laps left. Then a frantic finish that saw Johnson and Kurt Busch tangle on the track allowed Martin his chance to regain the lead and hold on.

"I don't know how we have one, much less four,'' Martin said.

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Mark Martin drives during the NASCAR LifeLock.com 400 auto race at the Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., Saturday, July 11, 2009. (AP Photo/Warren Wimmer)

Mark Martin cresses the finish line after winning the NASCAR LifeLock.com 400 auto race at the Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., Saturday, July 11, 2009. (AP Photo/Warren Wimmer)

Jeff Gordon (24) drives during the NASCAR LifeLock.com 400 auto race at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., Saturday, July 11, 2009. Gordon finished second. (AP Photo/Tim Stewart)

Kasey Kahne (9) drives during the NASCAR LifeLock.com 400 auto race at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., Saturday, July 11, 2009. Kahne finished third. (AP Photo/Tim Stewart)

JOLIET, IL - JULY 11: Todd Davis, CEO of LifeLock (R), poses with million dollar contest winners Donna (L) and Richard Musgrave (C) after the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway on July 11, 2009 in Joliet, Illinois. (Photo by Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Todd Davis;Donna Musgrave;Richard Musgrave

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JOLIET, IL - JULY 11: Mark Martin, driver of the #5 CARQUEST/Kellogg's Chevrolet, poses in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway on July 11, 2009 in Joliet, Illinois. (Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Mark Martin

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JOLIET, IL - JULY 11: Mark Martin (R), driver of the #5 CARQUEST/Kellogg's Chevrolet, is congratulated by by teammate Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 National Guard Patriot Academy/DuPont Chevrolet, in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway on July 11, 2009 in Joliet, Illinois. (Photo by John Harrelson/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Mark Martin;Jeff Gordon

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JOLIET, IL - JULY 11: Mark Martin, driver of the #5 CARQUEST/Kellogg's Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway on July 11, 2009 in Joliet, Illinois. (Photo by John Harrelson/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Mark Martin

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JOLIET, IL - JULY 11: Mark Martin (R), driver of the #5 CARQUEST/Kellogg's Chevrolet, is congratulated by NASCAR President Mike Helton in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway on July 11, 2009 in Joliet, Illinois. (Photo by John Harrelson/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Mark Martin;Mike Helton

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Mark Martin celebrates after winning the NASCAR LifeLock.com 400 auto race at the Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., Saturday, July 11, 2009.(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Jeff Gordon's hard-charging finish got him second place. He made a late pit stop for four fresh tires which helped him quickly make up ground and earn his third runner-up finish in the last five races.

Martin and Gordon are Hendrick teammates and earned a $1 million prize for a Colorado family. The teammates also grabbed the top two spots at the LifeLock sponsored race in June, setting up the fan's shot at the big cash prize.

"I saw Jeff coming and I was like, 'Get it, get it,''' Martin said. "I wanted him to get it. This is really, really special. Incredible what everybody does for us.''

Not only that, they gave team owner Rick Hendrick a nice early birthday present. Hendrick turns 60 on Sunday.

"It's a slightly early birthday present,'' Martin said just a few ticks before midnight eastern.

Martin might still be racing and winning races at 60, showing no signs in the No. 5 Chevrolet of slowing down.

Not for Kyle Busch.

Busch had a dreadful night, and was unruly on the radio as his No. 18 car was on the track and finished 33rd. He complained all race about his car to his crew and fell to 10th in the points standings.

"I got nothing,'' Busch said over the radio. "I don't care what you do. It's junk.''

Kyle Busch had shared the series lead for wins (three) with Martin.

While Busch sank, Martin soared. He went from 13th to 11th to propel himself into contention for a spot in the Chase for the championship.

Martin has insisted all season he wasn't racing for points. His move to Hendrick rejuvenated him and gave the best driver to never win a Cup championship perhaps the best ride of his career.

Martin, who was series runner-up four times, might have to start thinking championship over the season's final 10 races if he can stay inside the top 12.

"I leave the track in my mind 13th and that's fine with me,'' Martin said. "I'm not going to let myself get sucked into that. I may change my mind later, but I'm leaving the track at the same position I was last week.''

Kasey Kahne was third. Points leader Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top five.

Martin Truex Jr. finished 16th, but the No. 1 Chevrolet is headed back to research and development because the right rear was high.

Hamlin briefly took the lead late when he pushed past Johnson off a restart. Johnson got loose and bumped into Busch. Busch slammed back in Johnson's No. 48 Chevy, sparking chaos and some ill feelings.

"Everyone was going for a win right there,'' Hamlin said. "(Johnson's) had his fair share.''

Just not at Chicagoland.

Johnson, who let the checkered flag slip away in the final laps last year, is still searching for his first career victory at the track just outside Chicago. He told his crew before the race he owed them a win.

Busch and Johnson picked up where they left off after they also ran into each other three races back at Sonoma. Busch finished 17th on Saturday night and criticized Johnson's performance on the track.

"I am starting to lose faith in his ability as a three-time champion,'' Busch said.

Johnson accused Busch of "bodyslamming'' him on the track.

Greg Biffle fell out of the top 12 in the points standings and Kahne moved from 12th to eighth.

They were all looking up at Martin at the end.

"That's what life's all about right there,'' he said.

By DAN GELSTON, AP Sports Writer

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

Mark Martin Wins Fourth Race of Season originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sat, 11 Jul 2009 23:40:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Daytona's 'Big One' Takes Earnhardt Out Of Race Early

Holly Cain — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 22:45:00 EST

Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Daytona Int'l Speedway, NASCAR Crashes, Hendrick Motorsports

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The "Big One," a 13-car accident at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday night took out fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. before NASCAR's Coke Zero 400 was even halfway complete.

The accident on the backstretch was triggered when Kasey Kahne's Dodge tapped David Stremme's Dodge from behind. Eleven more cars were collected, including Earnhardt and his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon -- both truly innocent victims of the smoky melee.

Earnhardt, the 2001 winner of this race, entered the weekend needing a good run, acknowledging Friday that his championship chances are dwindling. He was 285 points behind 12th place Juan Pablo Montoya entering the night. Only the top 12 drivers qualify for NASCAR's version of playoffs and there are only eight more races before the championship field is set.

"I guess there were a couple of guys going for the same piece of real estate and I tried to stay high, '' an obviously disappointed Earnhardt said. "The National Guard Chevrolet was just getting going. I thought we had a shot of getting up there and mixing it up with the leaders. ''

Gordon's Chevrolet was able to continue, although badly damaged. Their teammate Mark Martin was involved in an accident on lap 14 and the fourth member of the Hendrick stable, Jimmie Johnson, was a top-five car all evening, ultimately finishing second.

Earnhardt ended up being credited with 39th place and dropped two positions in the standings to 21st - 356 points behind new 12th place driver Kasey Kahne.

Daytona's 'Big One' Takes Earnhardt Out Of Race Early originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sat, 04 Jul 2009 22:45:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mark Martin's Excellent Adventure

Holly Cain — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:30:00 EST

Filed under: Mark Martin, Chase for the Sprint Cup, Hendrick Motorsports

It's fair to say Mark Martin wasn't always a glass-half-full kinda guy.

Even a decade ago while piling up wins in the midst of four championship runner-up seasons as the lead driver for a more streamlined Jack Roush organization, Martin wasn't exactly effusive or happy-go-lucky. Even in victory circle he tended to analyze what went wrong instead of what went right.

Mr. Sunshine he was not.

And for those of us who chronicled the all-business, old soul it's especially refreshing to see the reinvigorated new deal. At 50, Mark Martin has never looked happier. He's smiling. He's upbeat.

And he's schooling -- or rather old-schooling -- his much younger competition. His third win Sunday at Michigan ties him with 24-year-old Kyle Busch for the most this season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

The amazing transformation from hardcore perfectionist to a more easy-going believer began last year when Martin sat alongside owner Rick Hendrick as he was introduced as the championship team's newest driver at an age which nearly could make him any of his three teammates' father.

A chance to drive the best equipment in the Cup Series with an owner who believed Martin was still a winner proved irresistible. Martin came out of retirement, immediately into relevance and just as quickly returned to the championship caliber form he consistently displayed during a 19-year full-time career from 1988-2006.

The Hendrick experiment was a cool storyline for the 2009 season and reporters quickly compared Martin to Super Bowl winning quarterback Brett Favre, who also emerged from retirement.

The difference between Martin and Favre is that Martin has a chance for a happy ending.

It hasn't been enough that Martin is competing again. He's winning again.

In fact, Sunday's victory in the No. 5 Kellogg's Chevrolet vaulted him up five positions in the championship standings to eighth place. He's had four top-10 finishes -- including two wins -- in the past six races, a remarkable turnaround from his 34th place ranking the first month of the season.

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FILE - In this March 16, 2008 file photo, Tony Stewart leads Jeff Gordon through a turn during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Food City 500 auto race in Bristol, Tenn. Five years after allowing Toyota into the third-tier Truck Series race, NASCAR says it is willing to consider other foreign automakers. (AP Photo/Wade Payne, File)

Firemen work in the car in which Mexican Nascar driver Carlos Pardo had an accident on June 14, 2009 in Amozoc, Puebla state, Mexico. Pardo died in an accident during a Nascar race. AFP PHOTO/ Jose Castaï¿½ares (Photo credit should read Jose Castaï¿½ares/AFP/Getty Images)

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Mexican Nascar driver Carlos Pardo's wife (C) cries in the racetrack next to an ambulance after knowing of his death next on June 14, 2009 in Amozoc, Puebla state, Mexico. Pardo died in an accident during a Nascar race. AFP PHOTO/ Jose Castaï¿½ares (Photo credit should read Jose Castaï¿½ares/AFP/Getty Images)

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Mark Martin celebrates winning the NASCAR LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan, Sunday, June 14, 2009. (Kirthmon F. Dozier/Detroit Free Press/MCT)

MCT

Mark Martin celebrates winning the NASCAR LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan, Sunday, June 14, 2009. (Kirthmon F. Dozier/Detroit Free Press/MCT)

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Mark Martin rounds during the NASCAR LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan, Sunday, June 14, 2009. (Kirthmon F. Dozier/Detroit Free Press/MCT)

MCT

BROOKLYN, MI - JUNE 14: Grand Marshal Kid Rock walks on the grid prior to the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway on June 14, 2009 in Brooklyn, Michigan. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Kid Rock

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BROOKLYN, MI - JUNE 14: Jimmie Johnson, driving the #48 Low'es Chevrolet, pulls out of the fourth turn during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway on June 14, 2009 in Brooklyn, Michigan. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson

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BROOKLYN, MI - JUNE 14: Mark Martin, driver of the #5 CARQUEST/Kellogg's Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway on June 14, 2009 in Brooklyn, Michigan. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Mark Martin

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Not only are his three victories a series best, the three pole positions he's earned ties Brian Vickers for tops in that statistical category, too. And he's positioned well among the top-12 drivers who will qualify for the Chase for the championship -- the playoff group set following the Sept. 12 race at Richmond, Va.

"At a stage when I might have written myself off or the competition might have written me off, to be able to do that (earn a playoff position) would be pretty cool," allowed Martin, who has already accepted Hendrick's offer to campaign the 2010 season, too.

"I'll answer the questions and everything else, but I'm not going to lay in bed at night and think about what it will be like to lift that trophy.

"It just doesn't exist, you know, in my brain. I'll just go out there and race every time."

It's a philosophy that's served him well.

Martin has always been an exceptional racing talent -- perhaps best exemplified by his unprecedented five IROC championships earned against the best drivers from all racing disciplines. And his fitness and diet regimen is legend in the NASCAR garage. He was reaping the benefits of being physically fit back when Jane Fonda was making aerobic videos and it has given him yet another edge on his younger competition.

His tremendous physique and stamina certainly helped Sunday when his car's cooling system stopped in the middle race and he had to drive in a searing hot cockpit.

The talent and dedication and physical skills have always been there for Martin. The difference this go-around is attitude. He's always been super driven to win. Only these days he's allowing himself to savor the journey and not just focus on the destination.

There was a flashback Sunday in the post-race press conference. In Martin's opening remarks he reminded reporters, "I always, always come up short on the gas mileage thing. If you look at the stats, you know, I've lost 25 and won two on it. I just don't have the luck for it."

Then the new Mark Martin kicked in. They guy who has found the greener grass in his own backyard.

"If we don't win another race this year, we still did good," Martin said. "I'm not gonna deal with expectations that cut my legs out from under me again ever in my career. I'm gonna go out and drive the race car as hard as I can drive every time I get in.

"I love this sport. I don't know what in the world I'll do when I can't do this anymore, but that's a long way out there. I'm not worried about it right now.

"I'm enjoying it."

Mark Martin's Excellent Adventure originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mark Martin Wins LifeLock 400

FanHouse Newswire — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 17:15:00 EST

Filed under: Mark Martin, Sprint Cup, Hendrick Motorsports

BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) -- The most surprised person to find Mark Martin in Victory Lane at Michigan International Speedway was the driver himself.

The 50-year-old NASCAR star has run well but has had to deal with considerable bad luck this season. It looked like more of the same Sunday when the battery in his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet began to fail before the halfway mark in the LifeLock 400 Sprint Cup race.

Martin turned off everything in the car that he could, nursing it as best he could. Then he realized the race was going to be a fuel economy run.

"I always, always come up short in those gas things,'' Martin said. "I'm probably about 2 and 25 in these things.''

Make that 3 and 25 now.

Martin saved just enough gas to hang on for his third victory of the season and the 38th of his Cup career.

Jimmie Johnson dominated most of the LifeLock 400 and took the lead from Greg Biffle six laps from the end as Martin watched the duel from third place.

Johnson, the three-time reigning Cup champion, ran out of gas two laps from the finish, giving the lead to Biffle. But he also ran out of gas as the final trip around the 2-mile oval began, clearing the way for Martin to drive to the front.

His car also was left with an empty tank on the last lap, but Martin was able to coast to the finish line almost three seconds ahead of runner-up Jeff Gordon.

"My car was good, but I couldn't run their pace and save gas,'' Martin said. "When Jimmie ran out, I said, 'Heck, we're this close. I'm going to run hard. With three quarters of a lap (left), what can happen?'''

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BROOKLYN, MI - JUNE 14: Mark Martin, driver of the #5 CARQUEST/Kellogg's Chevrolet, is congratulated in victory lane by teammate Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 DuPont/National Guard Chevrolet, after Martin wins the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway on June 14, 2009 in Brooklyn, Michigan. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Mark Martin;Jeff Gordon

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BROOKLYN, MI - JUNE 14: Tony Stewart, driving the #14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet, moves down the front stretch during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway on June 14, 2009 in Brooklyn, Michigan. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Tony Stewart

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BROOKLYN, MI - JUNE 14: Mark Martin, driver of the #5 CARQUEST/Kellogg's Chevrolet, drives down pit row after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway on June 14, 2009 in Brooklyn, Michigan. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Mark Martin

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BROOKLYN, MI - JUNE 14: Greg Biffle, driving the #16 3M Ford, runs out of gas near the finish line at the end of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway on June 14, 2009 in Brooklyn, Michigan. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Greg Biffle

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Mark Martin celebrates his victory in the NASCAR LifeLock 400 auto race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich., Sunday, June 14, 2009. (AP Photo/Carl Pendelton)

Denny Hamlin finished third, followed by Carl Edwards, Biffle, Juan Pablo Montoya and series points leader Tony Stewart. Last year's race winner, Dale Earnhardt Jr., finished 14th.

Brian Vickers started from the pole, but Kyle Busch passed him at the start and led the first eight laps with Johnson moving into second.

Johnson swept past to take the lead on the ninth lap and looked unbeatable, leading 141 of the next 142 laps. He was never challenged, building big leads after each caution flag bunched up the field.

But Biffle and Hamlin both came out ahead of Johnson when the leaders pitted under caution on lap 154.

At that point, all the leaders were being told to conserve fuel.

Johnson got past Hamlin to take the runner-up spot on lap 179, trailing Biffle by 1.7 seconds. He steadily ate into that lead and finally was right behind the leader on lap 193.

The two were briefly side-by-side - using more gas - on lap 194 and Johnson managed to get past the next time around. Biffle immediately sped up and tried to repass Johnson - again causing both to use more gas - with Johnson remaining ahead.

Biffle said he and Johnson made a mistake in trying to race each other while trying to conserve fuel.

"The 48 (Johnson) came up there and ran like we weren't on a fuel-economy run,'' Biffle said. "I messed with him a little bit. It made me use too much throttle and burned up the gas.

"Unfortunately, he came up there and we cat and moused and used up too much gas.''

Johnson led 145 of the 200 laps. He managed to get his car to the finish but wound up 22nd, the last car on the lead lap.

"I'm trying to look at the bright side,'' Johnson said. ``We had such a dominant car and we passed second and third and we went up to get the lead. It's unfortunate we ran out of gas, but that's how it is.''

Martin drove only partial schedules the past few seasons. He joined Rick Hendrick's elite team this year for the full season and is making the most of it, despite a few bad breaks that left him 13th - one position out of the field for the Chase for the championship. But the latest victory for the four-time series runner-up moved him to eighth in the points with 11 races remaining until the postseason begins.

Martin said crew chief Alan Gustafson told him he could race hard for about 10 laps after the last pit stop, but Martin said he began to conserve fuel after two or three laps.

"It was important we finish this race,'' Martin said. "If we were in the top five in points, we'd have run out today because I'd have gone for it.

"The battery had been going dead since lap 75 and I turned off all the fans and stuff,'' he added. "I turned it off after we crossed the finish line and coasted all the way around. Then I tried to start it up to drive it to Victory Lane and it wouldn't even turn over. It ran exactly as far as it was going to run.''

Gordon's team had to change his engine on Friday and that forced the four-time Cup champion to start from the rear of the 43-car field. He didn't stay there long, moving quickly toward the top 10.

"We just fought hard,'' Gordon said. "We had to work our way up through traffic and the car was there to do it.

"Once we got up there in the top 15 or so, we had to make some adjustments. We never really could get as good as the first two or three guys, but we were a top-five car. So I'm really proud of that.''

Gordon, a teammate of Martin, Johnson and Earnhardt, went to Victory Lane to congratulate Martin.

"I said, 'Old man, you snookered us again.' ... He's like a 21-year-old with a lot of experience under his belt, and that's tough to beat.''

By MIKE HARRIS AP Auto Racing Writer

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

Mark Martin Wins LifeLock 400 originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sun, 14 Jun 2009 17:15:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Junior's Free Ride With Fans Must End

David Whitley — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:32:00 EST

Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports

There's been a lot of hubbub recently over Dale Earnhardt Jr. becoming the Frank Sinatra Jr. of NASCAR. However you feel, everybody should agree on one thing.

Thank goodness the Junior Nation wasn't running the show back in 1776. If it had we'd all have British accents and be curtsying before royalty.

Junior fans obviously believe in the Divine Right of Kings. Nothing else can explain why Earnhardt Jr. still sits on NASCAR's throne.

In the last 112 races, he has won once. That's 12 fewer checkered flags than Kyle Busch, 20 fewer than Jimmie Johnson and only one more than Stevie Wonder.

If he were a baseball player, Junior would have been sent to the minors a year go. If he were a football player, he would have become an Arena League tackling dummy. If he were a basketball player, Isiah Thomas would have traded for him.

But he is Little E, so he still rules everything in NASCAR, except the winner's circle.

Earnhardt has been voted the sport's most popular driver six straight years. Unless he is spotted on a bin Laden videotape, he will probably make it seven in a row this season.

Junior Nation, pardon the rest of the world if we just don't get it.

Everybody understands the legacy part. Dale Earnhardt Sr. was beloved in life and has become Elvis in death. His son would naturally inherit a lot of the love, hopes and dreams.

If only he had inherited more of his father's driving ability. Forget dad, too bad he doesn't have Kyle Busch's skills.

That comparison infuriates Junior Nation, a large portion of which is in serious denial. At first Earnhardt's problems were caused by the evil stepmother who seized control of the family racing business.

Then Junior escaped her clutches last year and signed with Hendrick Motorsports, the best team in the business. It has produced Johnson, Jeff Gordon and even turned 87-year-old Mark Martin back into a winner.

All that, and Earnhardt was barely in the top 20 season in this season's standings. That led to last week's removal of his crew chief/cousin Tony Eury.

Yeah, it was all his fault.

Part of it undoubtedly was, just as part of the problem was Teresa Earnhardt, just as part of it was the fact the dog ate Junior's homework. A lot of people share some blame, but the man behind the wheel admits you don't go 1-for-112 without some contribution from the driver.

"There really isn't one thing you can put your finger on as to why it didn't work," Earnhardt said. "I take full responsibility for making some mistakes along the way, especially this year. ... I would definitely say that I haven't been on my game."

But is his best game good enough to justify being proclaimed the King of NASCAR? Something about that contradicts what the sport is all about.

If you cut open NASCAR's heart, it would bleed red, white and blue. Daytona is "The Great American Race." NASCAR Moms and Dads vote for traditional values.

Fans flout their independence from those other stuffy leagues. Drivers aren't raised with a sense of entitlement. Guys go to work and come home dirty. It's Americana, which is why there was a near revolt when Toyota started running those darned Japanese cars around our homeland tracks.

All that makes racing a sport our Founding Fathers would be proud of. Yet Junior Nation's attitude would leave Thomas Jefferson scratching his head.

His "all men are created equal" was a direct rebuttal of Divine Right. It's the belief that a monarch is appointed by God, and any attempt to depose him will be considered heresy.

It reached it zenith with the House of Tudor and House of Stuart. We fought the Revolutionary War to escape King George and his divine lineage. Now the most American of sports has given us the House of Earnhardt.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Photos

Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s team manager Brian Whitesell, left, and interim crew chief Lance McGrew, right, watch from the pits during the NASCAR Autism Speaks 400 auto race Sunday, May 31, 2009, at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Del. (AP Photo/Rob Carr)

Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s interim crew chief Lance McGrew watches from the pits during the NASCAR Autism Speaks 400 auto race Sunday, May 31, 2009, at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Del. (AP Photo/Rob Carr)

DOVER, DE - MAY 31: Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 DuPont Chevrolet, races Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet, during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Autism Speaks 400 at Dover International Speedway on May 31, 2009 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images)

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DOVER, DE - MAY 31: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet, races David Ragan, driver of the #6 UPS Ford, and Jeff Burton, driver of the #31 Caterpillar Chevrolet, during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Autism Speaks 400 at Dover International Speedway on May 31, 2009 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images)

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Mark Martin (5) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (88) head into turn one during the NASCAR Autism Speaks 400 auto race Sunday, May 31, 2009, at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Del. (AP Photo/Rob Carr)

Dale Earnhardt Jr. waits on pit road prior to the start of the NASCAR Autism Speaks 400 auto race Sunday, May 31, 2009, at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Del. (AP Photo/Rob Carr)

Scott Speed, left, and Dale Earnhardt Jr., right, talk during driver introductions before the NASCAR Autism Speaks 400 auto race Sunday, May 31, 2009, at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Del. (AP Photo/Rob Carr)

DOVER, DE - MAY 31: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet, stands on the grid prior to the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Autism Speaks 400 at Dover International Speedway on May 31, 2009 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR)

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Members of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s pit crew work on his car before the start of the NASCAR Autism Speaks 400 auto race, Sunday, May 31, 2009, at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Del. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

DOVER, DE - MAY 31: Joey Logano, driver of the #20 Home Depot Toyota, races Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet, during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Autism Speaks 400 at Dover International Speedway on May 31, 2009 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)

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Dale Sr. ruled NASCAR, and his son will inherit the kingdom no matter what he does. Or doesn't do, like win.

The thing is, Junior never really asked to be King. He has no choice because of his bloodline and the fact millions of fans want to be his loyal subjects.

That's put untold pressure on him over the years. I'd feel sorry for him if he hadn't made $35 million last year living the royal lifestyle. Imagine what Junior would make if he wasn't batting .010 in his last 100 plate appearances.

Maybe his revamped team will turn things around. Or maybe what we have here is just a good driver with a great name.

That would be enough for his Nation to keep him on NASCAR's throne. But our Founding Fathers, Earnhardt's father and even Jr. would prefer he get the job the old fashioned way.

By earning it.

Junior's Free Ride With Fans Must End originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:32:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dover a Monster Success for Dale Jr.

Geoffrey Miller — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 22:30:00 EST

Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Sprint Cup, Hendrick Motorsports

Sure, he didn't get the race win and he certainly didn't challenge for it. The No. 88 didn't finish in the Top-10 and it never led a lap.

But was Sunday's Autism Speaks 400 at Dover International Speedway a rousing improvement for Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s, uh, lackluster season? Can we really say a 12th-place finish is a good thing for a Hendrick Motorsports driver?

Well, in this situation, your darn right we can -- even though driver No. 88 may not exactly agree.

"There was eleven other guys out there that deserve an interview better than I do," said Earnhardt Jr. immediately after the race when what looked to be a hefty swarm of reporters surrounded him and the No. 88 hauler.

And it's not that you can blame the guy for thinking that, it's just that the way his season has progressed until the green flag of Sunday's race seemed to completely change when the flagman displayed that starting flag.

He ran high, ran low and -- most importantly -- seemed to be giving improved feedback to his crew in a manner that a nervous employee during his first day on the job would. Earnhardt sounded nervous and probably was because his cousin and longtime crew chief Tony Eury Jr. wasn't calling the shots anymore. Now, it was the Hendrick brain trust of guys to handle the No. 88.

And for a while, it worked. The No. 88 moved as high as third place at one point after seemingly handing the bad driving karma off to his Hendrick teammate Jeff Gordon. In its place? A more sensible setup and a comfortable car to drive.

The finish wasn't perfect, but the mission was -- restore a little bit of confidence in Earnhardt and go from there.

You can bet that Earnhardt Jr. wanted more than anything to not get the Danica Patrick-like treatment from the reporters who only really were looking to capitalize on how this 18-time Sprint Cup race winner was suddenly coming alive again. That'll happen, though, when 1) the sport's single most popular driver has been in the tank and 2) when you actually have a good line of communication and rapport with the racing media (Ahem, Kyle Busch, that one's for you.)

Let's face it: NASCAR does need Earnhardt Jr. to pick up the pace and make it interesting as we head towards the Chase for the Sprint Cup in September. Moreso, we need more of Earnhardt Jr. vs. Kyle Busch to happen thanks to the villian status the mute driver of the No. 18 has turned into in the Cup Series.

Don't get me wrong -- I'm not saying Earnhardt Jr. can win the championship now, but I am saying that Sunday we saw a team that with a little more cohesion and time to work on the cars from the pit box can definitely compete NASCAR heads down the stretch. More importantly, though, we saw a race car driver that can in fact race with the big teams in the pack, contrary to the claims of a lot people who felt Earnhardt Jr was a no-good has-been.

Frankly, that's not the case. Dale Earnhardt Jr. can win and will win again in this series -- it'll just take a matter of time.

Dover a Monster Success for Dale Jr. originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Mon, 01 Jun 2009 22:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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