2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Paul Metcalfe · Oct 28, 2008

Missed this(Stayed out after a Robinho hat-trick), just watched the highlights. Carl Edwards' face was a picture when they told him in victory lane who had finished second.

Paul Metcalfe · Nov 4, 2008

Edwards wins in Texas and Johnson has a bad day. His lead in the chase cut to just 106 points with two races left, and with Greg Biffle now only 143 points behind it could get interesting at Homestead.

Link to full standings

Also at Texas, take a look at this you tube video for some naughty driving.

JPM has a bad day

Rob Prange · Nov 4, 2008

JPM's bad luck this year isn't even funny anymore. Last week they get crashed out in the pits and now this.

Kudos to Juan for holding up during the post-crash interview, extremely stupid and dangerous move by Gilliland.

I have a sneaky feeling we haven't seen the end of this.....

Paul Metcalfe · Nov 8, 2008

Phoenix Internation Raceway (Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500).

Instead of one big post for the chase, let's split it up a bit. This thread for PIR and Chase thread for overall.

Looking good going into PIR is Jimmie Johnson who takes pole, Edwards is a way back on the grid. But after that fuel mileage win last time out is it enough for JJ?

Official qualification times

Smart money is on JJ as Chevy have dominated here for the last few years.

Paul Metcalfe · Nov 10, 2008

I was right, should have put some money on it.

A race win and most laps lead by Johnson, not a bad race with some multiple car accidents to boot.

Race results from PIR

Paul Metcalfe · Nov 10, 2008

One race to go in the chase, and it's pretty much settled as far as I can see, with Johnson only needing a 36th place finish at Homestead(It wont therefore be as nail biting as Lewis 'only' needing fifth'.

Chase standings after Phoenix

David Bischoff · Nov 14, 2008

i like nascar and love NR2003 but i really dont understand "the chase" im so english..

Is it just the last 10 races that they call the chase for the top 10 drivers?

Paul Metcalfe · Nov 14, 2008

Yeah, top twelve go into what the NFL would call the play o*** for the last ten races(that's how i took it to work(English too

)).

So if you're out of the top twelve come the last ten races, say goodbye to all hope of winning it. Best you can do is to get in the mix with the chase drivers and maybe help your team mate out(should you have one, and should they be in the chase)).

I think I've confused myself now. So I'm off to lie down in a dark room.

It's hard to understand sometimes, American being a foreign language and that.

David Bischoff · Nov 15, 2008

yea i get it

Gareth Hickling · Nov 16, 2008

Paul Metcalfe · Nov 17, 2008

2008 NCSC Ford 400 Homestead

Edwards ends the season with a win, crossing the line on petrol fumes at Homestead.

Johnson comes home in 15th, in a race where most of the field finished with 18 cars on the lead lap.

Video highlights

Paul Metcalfe · Nov 17, 2008

Three-peat. That's what most commentators have called Jimmie Johnson third successive Sprint cup title. Well done JJ! Any chance of a share of that nice $7,000,000 cheque(that's check for our American friends

)?

Cup standings

Carl Edwards finishing runner up less than 70 points behind, but has the most race wins over the season. This alongside his runner up spot in the Nationwide series behind Clint Bowyer.

Paul Metcalfe · Nov 17, 2008

Faster DIY

Ever thought to yourself I wish I could hammer nails in quicker? I know I have.

Well don't worry because now you can own the #88 Dale Jr. hammer for only $19.99 from the NASCAR superstore.

Watch the rubber though it's prone to puncturing.

James Yates · Nov 17, 2008

I was expecting it to be V8 powered... like Clarkson's food blender off Top Gear :eat:

Matthew Parr · Nov 18, 2008

lmao thats soooo sad rofl

Brett Bagstad · Dec 7, 2008

Yarborough passes torch to Johnson at Cup banquet

NEW YORK -- Cale Yarborough passed the torch.

The first driver to win three consecutive titles on NASCAR's premier series shared the stage Friday night with the only other man to achieve that feat, presenting Jimmie Johnson with his champion's ring at the Sprint Cup awards banquet in the grand ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.

"Somebody finally did it," said Yarborough, who came out to a standing ovation. "But it took them 30 years. I hope Jimmie realizes that NASCAR is 60 years old, and there are only two of us who have done it in those 60 years. It's a rare achievement."

Read More At NASCAR.com

Brett Bagstad · Dec 7, 2008

NASCAR's Seventh Annual Fans Choice Awards!!

See what the fans picked for things like:

-Most Dramatic Moment
-Most Enjoyed to Boo
-Next Big Thing In NASCAR
-Many Many Others

Seventh Annual Fans Choice Awards!!

Brett Bagstad · Dec 7, 2008

Potential Petty merger a 'wake-up call' to teams and fans!

NEW YORK -- NASCAR without a Petty Enterprises? It's an idea that competitors were struggling to comprehend Thursday, in what should have been a celebratory atmosphere during Champions Week.

Jimmie Johnson will be crowned as Sprint Cup champion on Friday evening at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, but the mood in New York was tempered by reports that Petty Enterprises was in negotiations to merge with Gillett Evernham Motorsports, in a deal that could alter one of auto racing's most recognizable names. The Petty team has competed in NASCAR since the beginning, winning 10 championships and 268 races on the sport's premier circuit.

But the team has been dogged by sponsorship issues in recent years, to the point where its flagship No. 43 car -- the one Richard Petty drove to seven titles and 200 wins -- has yet to secure backing for the 2009 season.

"It's extremely disappointing to hear that's happening to the Pettys," four-time champion Jeff Gordon said. "Who doesn't want to have this sport with the Petty team in it? I hope they find a way to keep that. I don't know all the details, but I think it's important to our sport. But it's also a huge wake-up call to all of us, that none of us are immune to what could potentially happen."

Read More at NASCAR.com

Brett Bagstad · Dec 11, 2008

Petty releases Labonte, now in talks with GEM

Six months ago, the future could not have been more promising for Petty Enterprises and Bobby Labonte. The historic race team had just agreed to a partnership with Boston Ventures, an investment firm that would provide needed capital to an organization with 268 race wins, but none since 1999. The driver had just agreed to a four-year extension, with the promise that there would be a place for him within the franchise once his days behind the wheel were done.

Yet in the ensuing months, economic reality intervened. A recession hit. Sponsorship dried up. And so began the long tumble toward Thursday, when Petty Enterprises announced that it is negotiating with Gillett-Evernham Motorsports to field its flagship No. 43 car, and Labonte announced that he had been released from all ties to the organization. It's another step toward the end of Petty Enterprises as the sport has always known it, the team that family patriarch Lee Petty founded in 1949.

Read More at NASCAR.com

Brett Bagstad · Dec 11, 2008

Johnson's third title one of second-half success in '08

What else can be said about Jimmie Johnson?

The No. 48 team once again shifted into an untouchable gear when it came Chase time, and once again hoisted the Sprint Cup trophy. His third consecutive championship came 30 years after Cale Yarborough became the first -- and only other -- driver to make it three in a row.

But seven victories and a 10.5 average finish didn't come easy, despite how Johnson made it look like he was cruising in the final half of the Chase.

Read More at NASCAR.com