Kevin Harvick would have preferred to win money and Nextel Cup points Saturday night, but he’ll take a million-dollar payday until he resumes racing for real in eight days.

Martin Truex Jr. captured the 40-lap Nextel Open at the Lowe’s Motor Speedway to advance to NASCAR’s Nextel All-Star Challenge. The No.1 DEI Chevrolet edged Johnny Sauter who also qualified for the main event.
The Nextel All-Star Challenge is an invitation only event run on Saturday night where only winning is important. On Saturday night, the [...]

Sprint Nextel has become an official party to the federal lawsuit with NASCAR and AT&T.
Sprint Nextel had not been an official defendant in the lawsuit but had filed motions and its lawyers testified on its behalf during hearings as part of NASCAR’s defense in the case.

DaimlerChrysler will be dropped from the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 title pending finalization of the sale of 80 percent of Chrysler divisions to a private equity firm. LVMS general manager Chris Powell said he expects a name change and should know by June what the 11th annual Las Vegas Cup race will be called.

The Richard Childress Racing No. 31 team will be able to use AT&T logos tonight after a judge denied NASCAR’s last-ditch effort to keep the Jeff Burton car from changing paint schemes prior to the Nextel All-Star Challenge at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

The car owners are calling and Dale Earnhardt Jr. is ready to listen. In fact, NASCAR’s most popular driver is enjoying the courtship part of free agency. Earnhardt said Friday he’s had preliminary talks with potential employers, and his sister has been prioritizing all of his options. He announced last week that he was leaving [...]

Team owner Richard Childress hinted strongly that he will soon announce a new long-term contract with driver #31-Jeff Burton.
“Jeff and I have a plan that we are going to announce pretty soon,” Childress said Friday. “I am sure we will start talking to AT&T pretty soon. Jeff is very happy where he is at and [...]

NASCAR will lift the indefinite suspensions of crew chief David Hyder and competition director Bobby Kennedy on May 30, NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp said on Friday.
Hyder and Kennedy were suspended when NASCAR discovered an unidentified substance in the engine of #55-Michael Waltrip’s car before qualifying for the Daytona 500 in February. Both were escorted from [...]

Roush Fenway Racing has signed a multi-year deal that reunites the team and Valvoline as its official motor oil and engine lubricant provider, effective immediately.