Juan Pablo Montoya doesn’t seem to have a lot of friends in NASCAR. The Nextel Cup rookie, who made the jump from Formula One, doesn’t care. “I think I’m a lot more popular here than I was in F1,” Montoya said Friday. “So, I’m OK.” Montoya has generated animosity among his peers [...]

Dale Jarrett is puzzled by reports that he could retire at the end of the season. Not only does he plan to continue racing for Michael Waltrip Racing next season, but he also says that sponsor UPS is solidly on board with the #44 team. He also dismisses talk that longtime Jarrett sponsor UPS is [...]

Going out last, Jeff Gordon captured the pole for Sunday’s 3M Performance 400 at the Michigan International Speedway. The No.24 Hendrick Motorsports driver circled the high-speed, two-mile oval in 38.090 seconds (189.026 m.p.h.).
The pole victory was Gordon’s series-leading sixth of the season, fifth at MIS and 62nd of his Nextel Cup career.

Covering every angle and including a number of statistics, NASCAR’s Driver Rating has proven incredibly consistent as a means of predicting solid finishes at a given track.
For instance, Tony Stewart had the top pre-race Driver Rating at Watkins Glen going into last Sunday’s race (140.1). He won that race, making it three victories in the [...]

NASCAR Nextel Cup Series — Race No. 23 — GFS Marketplace 400
NASCAR Busch Series — Race No. 25 — Carfax 250
Michigan International Speedway (2.0-mile oval) — Brooklyn, Mich.
Fast Facts for August 17-19, 2007
Tire: Goodyear Eagle Speedway Radials
Number of Tires:
Nextel Cup: Left-side — 1,425, Right-side — 1,425
Busch Series: Left-side — 575, Right-side — 575

Dale Earnhardt, Jr knows that many have written him and his Budweiser #8 off in their quest to make The Chase. And he knows that they face an uphill battle and have had terrible luck as of late.
But Earnhardt, Jr isn’t ready to throw in the towel and he enters a 4 race stretch [...]

12th Place Offers No Sanctity, With Chase Approaching
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Aug. 14, 2007) — Kurt Busch (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge) is in 12th place in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings, coming into Sunday’s 3M Performance 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
It’s a good place to be — but by no means secure.

SANFORD, Fla. — A pilot of a NASCAR plane was planning an emergency landing due to smoke in the cockpit seconds before communications cut off and the aircraft crashed, killing five people, a newspaper reported Friday.
“Zero One November declaring an emergency. We need ?smoke in the cockpit ?we need to land at Sanford,” said one [...]

Paul Andrews [former crew chief for Bobby Labonte] was seriously injured in an accident at his shop [Tim Andrews Busch East car] in Mooresville, NC late yesterday [Wednesday] afternoon.
He fell off a ladder in the shop while changing a light bulb, and fell about 30 ft. to the floor. He was airlifted to Carolinas Medical [...]

An association of U.S.-based racing sanctioning bodies is asking to get involved in the Kentucky Speedway antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR and International Speedway Corp.
The Automobile Competition Committee for the United States has asked to file a legal brief in support of NASCAR and ISC because the case involves how sanctioning bodies determine the tracks that [...]