FORT WORTH, Texas - Mike Bliss was the surprise leader during final round of NASCAR Nextel Cup practice at Texas Motor Speedway, piloting the BAM Racing Dodge to a speed of 188.180 mph while Chase contender Mark Martin damaged his primary Roush Racing car in an incident midway through the session.

Robby Gordon and crew chief Greg Erwin weren’t saying much yesterday about this week’s NASCAR penalty for throwing a piece of roll-bar padding on the track on Sunday in Hampton, Ga.
One top driver said he was curious why NASCAR wasn’t able to determine that the debris was only roll-bar padding before throwing the yellow.

It would be hard to blame Kevin Harvick if he wanted the NASCAR Busch Series season to go on forever.
Harvick dominated the field again Saturday in the O’Reilly Challenge 300 at Texas Motor Speedway, winning for the second straight week and third time in his last four starts. It was the ninth Busch victory of [...]

Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Friday reiterated concerns he expressed last weekend about the racing surface at Texas Motor Speedway, which he has called one of his favorite NASCAR tracks.

A highly placed source within NASCAR said that changes to the format for the 2007 running of the Chase for the Nextel Cup will not be announced until January, probably during the annual Lowe’s Motor Speedway Media Tour.

Despite Brian Vickers blistering Texas Motor Speedway with a pole-winning speed in excess of 196mph, NASCAR Vice President of Corporate Communications Jim Hunter said restrictor plates will not be used in Sunday’s Dickies 500 to slow the speeds of the cars down.
Probably not, anyway.

Lenox Industrial Tools has partnered with Richard Childress Racing and driver Jeff Burton in a multi-year sponsorship agreement beginning with the 2007 Cup season. LENOX will be an associate sponsor throughout the season on Burton’s #31 Cingular Wireless Chevy.

NHRA and Las Vegas Motor Speedway announced today that the 2007 ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals will remain on the last weekend in October. Next year’s event, which had previously been scheduled for Oct. 18-21, will be held instead on Oct. 25-28. With the move, the final two races in the NHRA [...]

Mark Martin still doesn’t know what his limited Craftsman Truck Series schedule will look like next year, but he said Friday that Wood Brothers/JTG Racing is working to secure the sponsorship.

3M Company and Roush Racing announced today that 3M will sponsor the No. 16 3M Ford Fusion in seven NASCAR Nextel Cup races and the full Busch Series in 2007. Greg Biffle will represent 3M in the Nextel Cup Series and will share driving responsibilities with Todd Kluever in the No. 16 3M Ford Fusion [...]