NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick has issued a statement in response to NASCAR’s penalties handed down to his team for rules violations that took place last weekend in Sonoma:

NASCAR has issued penalties and fines to the #24 and #48 Hendrick Motorsports teams that compete in the Nextel Cup Series, as a result of rule infractions found this past weekend at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.

NASCAR’s television ratings have continued to decline this year despite the promotional push of ESPN and a news-filled four-plus months of racing, but network executives are encouraged by gains in the younger demographics.

For the fourth consecutive year, Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #8 Budweiser Chevy in the Nextel Cup Series, has been named among “America’s Favorite Sports Stars” in a national poll by Harris Interactive.
Earnhardt Jr. is ranked sixth overall this year, and has ranked no worse than eighth place since 2004. He is again the [...]

A documentary-style feature on Jeff Gordon is set to debut on TNT and then be available as a DVD. The program, “24 x 24: Wide Open with Jeff Gordon,” will debut on TNT July 7 [at 5:30pm/et and after the race in Daytona] with an extended version DVD set to be released July 10.

Hendrick Motorsports will not be able to purchase the No. 8 from Dale Earnhardt Inc., nor is DEI allowed to sell it to Hendrick or any other team.
NASCAR on Monday reiterated its long-standing policy that the sanctioning body owns and assigns all car numbers, and spokesman Ramsey Poston said a team cannot sell its car [...]

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA (No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge Avenger)
“It was a good day. It was tough. You don’t know how fast you are. I was patient. We made some changes on the car and that made a difference it was good. We had good restarts and it was hard when we were behind traffic because [...]

Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Impala SS, brought home a solid second place run at Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, California after heeding the advice of his crew chief to save enough fuel for one lap around the 1.99-mile/11turn road course.
The race came down to a battle on and off the track. While the driver’s were doing [...]

ROBBY GORDON — No. 7 Monster Energy Drink Ford Fusion (Finished 16th)
HOW FRUSTRATING IS THIS STRATEGY KIND OF A RACE? “You look at the monitor and look at the guys who beat us and they were nowhere all day long. It’s just disappointing that fuel strategy makes a difference of a race win or not. [...]

A season high six Toyota Camrys started Sunday afternoon’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series (NNCS) race at Infineon Raceway. Prior to today’s race, the most Camrys to start a Nextel Cup event in 2007 was five. (Five Camrys started the races at Bristol, Martinsville, Lowe’s, Dover and Michigan.) P.J. Jones, sitting in for [...]