• Jimmie Johnson – 31 years old from El Cajon, Calif. – won the 2006 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup championship. He became the 28th driver to win the championship on NASCAR’s premier series, winning the championship by 56 points over Matt Kenseth.

As part of the bounty for winning the 2006 Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford title, Sebastien Bourdais (#1 McDonald’s Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) was awarded a new Ford Edge at Saturday’s Champ Car Awards Banquet. The vehicle would come in handy by the end of the night as Bourdais would fill the new [...]

Ryan Newman’s final night of the 2006 season lasted a little longer than he had planned when he was called to the NASCAR hauler after #30-Juan Pablo Montoya spun into the wall and his car burst into flames.

NBC ended its six-year NASCAR contract with last night’s Ford 400. Sam Flood, the NBC sports producer whose work this year fashioned the highest-rated Daytona 500 in history, and director Mike Wells, have been hurt by complaints about the network’s work this season.

Johnny Sauter, a son of veteran racer Jim Sauter, is reported to be in line to take over the vacant ride for Robert Yates next season, taking the spot that Dale Jarrett has had for the past 10 years.

Matt Borland [former #12 crew chief] is scheduled to meet with Penske Racing South owner Roger Penske on Monday, a day after missing his second consecutive Nextel Cup event. If no decisions are reached regarding Borland’s future in that meeting, nothing might be decided until he meets with Don Miller, the team’s president, and others [...]

Official confirmation may still lacking, but team co-owner Gerhard Berger says Toro Rosso will contest the 2007 season with the same race drivers.

Fernando Alonso has failed to secure an early release from his Renault contract.

Mere hours after the track debut of Red Bull’s 2006 car, the team decided to turn its attention to next year. That is the revelation of team owner and energy drink mogul Dietrich Mateschitz, after the Milton Keynes based squad finished seventh in this year’s constructors’ world title.