As reported on Nascar.com:

DARLINGTON, S.C. -- Traffic giveth and traffic took away a possible win from Jeff Gordon Saturday night at Darlington Raceway, but there was no question Gordon's second-place finish in the Dodge Charger 500 provided something valuable.

It was just a great run for us, so close and momentum that we can carry into next week and the next couple weeks at Charlotte," Gordon said. "I'm very happy."

After sitting in a season-high sixth in points for two weeks, Gordon had fallen to ninth after losing an engine and finishing 40th at Richmond. Even though it was only one race, Gordon knew he had to get back on track.

The runner-up finish did that as Gordon climbed back to sixth, and it's got him hopeful for the short-term future.

"You hope to have a good finish anywhere we go," Gordon said. "Knowing that we haven't quite perfected or figured out some of the set-ups on some of these other tracks that [Kasey Kahne] and [Tony Stewart] and some of those other guys have figured out [worries us].

"So we knew coming into this track that we were going to take that old approach and hope that it paid off -- and it did."

But with even as few as 10 laps remaining around Darlington's treacherous, 1.366-mile oval, Gordon felt there was no way he could catch winner Greg Biffle's No. 16 Ford -- which for the fourth time in 11 races this season led the most laps.

But lapped traffic and the fact that Gordon's No. 24 Chevrolet was in a position to seriously challenge Biffle with less than two laps to go despite getting damaged when he slapped the wall while chasing down third-place Matt Kenseth.

But at the same time, Ken Schrader's No. 21 Ford, which was battling to remain on the lead lap, was in the line Gordon needed to occupy to make a run at Biffle; and that was game, set and match.

"We're coming up to take the white flag and the two leaders are battling and we got a run on [Schrader]," Gordon said. "And you would just expect like the other lapped cars that we came up on, to give a little bit more room.

"And he gave plenty of room to [Biffle] and I carried it in there [Turn 3] on the outside of him, but I needed to be able to go up to the wall and then turn down and come back to the bottom.

"That was my line I ran all night long. I'm not saying [Schrader] knew that, but I felt like with a little bit of extra room there, I would have been able to do that."

For his part, Biffle agreed that traffic inevitably allowed Gordon to catch him but he cut Schrader some slack for his part in the incident.

"Jeff Gordon wasn't even gonna come close to catching me, but I tried to pass [Dave Blaney] for three laps," Biffle said. "I lost so much ground because he made me pass him on the bottom and I just couldn't do it.

"The thing you've got to remember is your tires are so wore out that you can't even get out of the way. I caught [Schrader] three quarters of the way down the back straightaway and I knew Gordon was five to eight car lengths back.

"I knew he was gonna have trouble [because] he was gonna catch the lapped car in the corner, which is trouble. It's just the way the cards fell."

"It killed all my momentum and made the car push even worse into the outside wall," Gordon said. "So I lost every chance that we had."

Heading into the two-week stretch on most of the drivers' and teams' home ground, with the Nextel All-Star Challenge and Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway outside Charlotte, N.C., he said he couldn't put a price in the momentum gained Saturday night.

"I'm very happy to be up there battling for that win, obviously," Gordon said. "It's been a little while since we've been able to do that [and] gosh, it was just so close. I wanted it so bad that I was a bit disappointed."

At the end of the night, Gordon was praising Darlington Raceway -- a place where he's won six times -- for its "old-school racing," and he and crew chief Steve Letarte used an old-school setup on their car to enable its long-run virtuosity.

"It's a modified version of the set-up that we ran here last year, and we finished second [then]," Gordon said of the look that had the nose of his car noticeably further off the racetrack than most of the competition. "We've had set-ups not too far from this in our books for a long, long time at Hendrick Motorsports.

"Every year you try to improve on it and I think our car improved on it, as well."

So it has Gordon enthused about his trip "home" to Charlotte after scoring his fourth top-five of the season, but his first in five races.

"I'll tell you, we needed a top-five just as bad as a win," Gordon said. "I think that with the last couple of weeks and the way they've gone, a top five is fantastic for us -- but when you're that close to the win you want it really bad.

"It's not about needing it, it's about wanting it and the fact that the team put out that effort that was capable of a win [was big]."

As rported on NASCAR.com

CONCORD, N.C. -- Drivers will battle for a record $6.4 million during the May 28 Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway while total posted awards for the track's schedule of May events is more than $14.2 million.

Already one of the richest races on the NASCAR circuit, the $6,432,681 in total awards for the Coca-Cola 600 is $153,032 more than was posted for last year's event and $2,095,632 more than competitors raced for in the 600-mile event just five years ago.

"These are some impressive numbers as the prize money for our races continues to escalate, but money is only part of what these guys race for," said H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler, president and general manager of Lowe's Motor Speedway. "I think we could pay nothing for the Nextel All-Star Challenge and the racing would be just as furious."

Competitors participating in the Nextel All-Star Challenge and the NASCAR Nextel Open on May 20 will be competing for a record $4,200,450 with the Challenge winner guaranteed a minimum of $1,005,000.

In addition to the posted prize money, $1,780,853 in television awards for the Nextel All-Star Challenge will be distributed through the Nextel Cup Series Car/Champion Owner Program.

Busch Series drivers will compete for a record $1,227,316 during the Carquest Auto Parts 300 on May 27 and the Quaker Steak & Lube 200 Craftsman Truck Series event on May 19 adds $524,098 to the total prize money.

The 2006 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard weekend, Aug. 4-6, will provide more on-track action for fans of NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series racing, as an additional 30 minutes of practice time have been added to the 2006 schedule.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway will play host to an exciting weekend of NASCAR racing, beginning with two practice sessions on Friday, Aug. 4, which again will be Chevy Day at the Brickyard. Qualifying and two practice sessions are scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 5, with the 13th annual Allstate 400 at the Brickyard race at 2:30 p.m. (local time) Sunday, Aug. 6.

Tony Stewart scored an emotional victory and fulfilled his lifelong dream of winning at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the 2005 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. Stewart will attempt to defend his very popular, exciting win in this year's race.

The stars of the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series will take to the 2.5-mile oval Friday, Aug. 4 for practice sessions at 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.

Chevy Day at the Brickyard also will return to the Friday schedule. There will be appearances, autograph sessions and question-and-answer sessions with many NASCAR Chevy personalities. Details of this event are forthcoming.

NASCAR qualifying is scheduled to begin at 10:10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 5, followed by practice sessions at 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. The Saturday practice sessions have been expanded from 45 minutes in the past to this year's one-hour format for each session.

Driver introductions for the 13th Allstate 400 at the Brickyard get underway at 2:10 p.m., followed by the start of the 160-lap race at 2:30 p.m. The race will be broadcast live on NBC Sports and the IMS Radio Network.

Tickets are on sale for the 2006 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. Fans can order tickets online at www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com, by calling the IMS ticket office at (317) 492-6700 or (800) 822-INDY outside the Indianapolis area, or at the ticket office at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Parking and camping information also can be obtained through the ticket office.

Hours for phone orders and the ticket office are 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, while online orders can be made at any time.

Reserved seats start at just $35.

2006 ALLSTATE 400 AT THE BRICKYARD SCHEDULE
(All times local, subject to change)

Friday, Aug. 4        Chevy Day at the Brickyard
1:30-2:30 p.m.          NASCAR NEXTEL Cup practice
3:30-4:30 p.m.          NASCAR NEXTEL Cup final practice
TBA                     Chevy Day at the Brickyard activities

Saturday, Aug. 5
10:10 a.m.              NASCAR NEXTEL Cup qualifying (two laps, all positions)
1:30-2:30 p.m.          NASCAR NEXTEL Cup practice
3:30-4:30 p.m.          NASCAR NEXTEL Cup final practice

Sunday, Aug. 6
2:10 p.m.               NASCAR NEXTEL Cup driver introductions
2:30 p.m.               13th Allstate 400 at the Brickyard (160 laps/400 miles)

Toyota president, John Howett has called on the powers that to ensure F1 has a 'clear vision' for the next four to five years.

Speaking about 2005 as a whole, Howett pointed out that while he was pleased with the form of Toyota Racing, what frustrated him most was all the politics. He also added that in his view, FIA president, Max Mosley and F1 tsar, Bernie Ecclestone, could both learn a thing or two, by looking at how NASCAR is run in the US.

"I think finishing fourth in the championship and scoring five podiums is a collective high [for us]. Coming into the season we would have been happy to achieve that. The low point is just the politics," he confirmed, when asked about the highs and lows of the season.

"We spent too much time trying to look at the future of Formula 1 instead of really focusing on running Panasonic Toyota Racing. That, to me, is the thing that needs to be fixed for next year.

"If you research it, F1 is still one of the strongest global sports. People are really passionate about it and it's the ultimate combination of man and machine. I think we tend to talk it down too much rather than looking at all the positives.

"All we need is one clear vision for the next four to five years.

"We could perhaps look at NASCAR in the USA and see how they have developed the size of their total audience and support for the sport by, I believe, having an organisation leading and developing the whole business in a unified, professional manner. That is, to some extent, what's really lacking at the moment - a clear future vision for the sport over the next five or ten years."

The 10 drivers competing in NASCAR's Chase for the Nextel Cup championship, in order of points standings:

DRIVER: Tony Stewart
CAR: No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet
CHASE POINTS: First (Tied), 5,777
POSITION CHANGE: None
WHAT HAPPENED: Stewart crashed while leading at Charlotte after cutting a tire by running over debris on the track, and finished 25th to see his lead in the standings evaporate into a tie with Jimmie Johnson. Stewart has competed in 13 races at Martinsville with six top-10 finishes, including a victory in 2000.
SPEAKING: "I doubt anybody shed any tears for us last week at Charlotte when we finished 25th after leading a bunch of laps and showing everybody that we had the best car. That's how competitive the Chase is right now," Stewart said.

DRIVER: Jimmie Johnson
CAR: No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet
CHASE POINTS: First (Tied), 5,777
POSITION CHANGE: Plus 4
WHAT HAPPENED: Johnson had a myriad of problems in Charlotte, yet still managed to find his way to Victory Lane for the fourth consecutive time at Lowe's Motor Speedway. He goes into Martinsville as the defending race winner, but also will be observing the one-year anniversary of the Hendrick Motorsports plane crash that killed 10 people en route to the race.
SPEAKING: "I'm shocked just like everybody else just how close the championship race is and I think that over the next five, it's only going to be more interesting, more aggressive, more stress and pressure. It's going to be right down to the very end, I think," Johnson said.

DRIVER: Greg Biffle
CAR: No. 16 National Guard/Subway Ford
CHASE POINTS: Third, 5,766
POSITION CHANGE: None
WHAT HAPPENED: Biffle pulled within 11 points of the lead by finishing third at Charlotte. It was his third top-five finish through five Chase races. He has competed in five races at Martinsville, but has never finished better than 17th. He also has not led a lap at the half-mile track.
SPEAKING: "You've got to be confident and I felt like I was going to be able to make up the 88-point deficit, I really did. I was trying to be excited about being able to catch (Stewart)," Biffle said.

DRIVER: Ryan Newman
CAR: No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge
CHASE POINTS: Fourth, 5,760
POSITION CHANGE: Minus 2
WHAT HAPPENED: Newman was the first driver to blow a tire at Charlotte, taking him out of contention for the win. He also was penalized for leaving pit road with his fuel can hanging off his car. Still, he finished seventh. Although he slipped two spots in the standings, he closed the gap on the leader from 75 points to 17. Newman has four top-10 finishes in the five Chase races.
SPEAKING: "We'd like to have a 150-point lead, but we'll just keep the pedal to the metal and see what happens," Newman said.

DRIVER: Mark Martin
CAR: No. 6 Viagra Ford
CHASE POINTS: Fifth, 5,726
POSITION CHANGE: Plus 2
WHAT HAPPENED: Martin had no tire problems and pulled out a fifth-place finish at his favorite race track. He's steadily climbing in the standings, up two spots this week and just 51 points out of the lead. Martin has 21 top-10 finishes, including two victories, at Martinsville. He has a 12.641 average finish there, third among Chase drivers.
SPEAKING: "It's a step at a time. We got a little closer ... (the team) is giving me a shot at it," Martin said.

DRIVER: Carl Edwards
CAR: No. 99 Office Depot Ford
CHASE POINTS: Sixth, 5,723
POSITION CHANGE: None
WHAT HAPPENED: Edwards finished 10th in Charlotte and was relieved to finish after battling an ill-handling car the entire race. Edwards has scored four top-10 finishes in the last four Chase races. He has competed in two races at Martinsville, finishing 24th last year and 38th in April. His 31.0 finishing average is 10th among Chase drivers.
SPEAKING: "We needed Tony to have that one bad night like that, so it's going to be a heck of a tight battle. If we can come out of Martinsville with another top 10 that will be another one in the bank," Edwards said.

DRIVER: Rusty Wallace
CAR: No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge
CHASE POINTS: Seventh, 5,685
POSITION CHANGE: Minus 3
WHAT HAPPENED: Wallace was one of the drivers to blow a tire in Charlotte and he brought out the final caution of the race with a spin in the closing laps. He finished 24th, dropped three spots in the standings but lost only two points on the leaders. Wallace has a series-leading seven victories at Martinsville, his most recent in 2004. He has led 3,632 laps there, second only to Cale Yarborough.
SPEAKING: "The race at Martinsville this weekend is one that we've been looking forward to forever, it seems. The track has been so good to us through the years and we're looking for another big boost there this weekend," Wallace said.

DRIVER: Jeremy Mayfield
CAR: No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge
CHASE POINTS: Eighth, 5,662
POSITION CHANGE: Minus 1
WHAT HAPPENED: Mayfield had to start at the back of the field in Charlotte after changing a transmission, but battled back for an 11th-place finish. Mayfield has competed in 20 races at Martinsville with five top-10 finishes.
SPEAKING: "From the outside world, our record is actually better than it was last year. From my world, I know we're capable of a lot better results then we're getting," said car owner Ray Evernham.

DRIVER: Matt Kenseth
CAR: No. 17 DeWalt Tools Ford
CHASE POINTS: Ninth, 5,653
POSITION CHANGE: Minus 1
WHAT HAPPENED: Kenseth had a bad blowout early in the race and finished 10 laps down. But because so many other drivers had problems, he wound up 26th and fell only eight points further behind. He has competed in 11 races at Martinsville with three top-10 finishes; his only top five was a runner-up finish in 2002.
SPEAKING: "Our record has certainly been inconsistent at Martinsville. I think we may see a lot of cautions and it will be important to take care of your equipment and try to avoid trouble," Kenseth said.

DRIVER: Kurt Busch
CAR: No. 97 Irwin Industrial Tools/Sharpie Ford
CHASE POINTS: Tenth, 5,635
POSITION CHANGE: None
WHAT HAPPENED: Busch finished second at Charlotte, good enough to cut 80 points off his deficit. He's still in 10th place, though. Busch has competed in 10 races at Martinsville with three top-10 finishes, including a victory in October 2002.
SPEAKING: "It's still a long ways to go. We just still have to do our job and hope for some good fortune for our own team," Busch said.

Updated on

It will be difficult for Jimmie Johnson to focus on racing this weekend, to not allow his mind to wander to the friends he lost one year ago.

When he drives through tiny Martinsville, Va., on his way to the race track, he and his teammates won't be able to avoid seeing the mountain that a Hendrick Motorsports plane slammed into last October, killing all 10 people on board.

But Johnson is in the thick of a championship chase, and knows everyone on that plane would expect nothing less than for him to give it his all Sunday in pursuit of the Nextel Cup title.

Johnson knows this weekend won't be easy. In addition to the race, he'll be doing his best to be supportive of the victims' families and to offer comfort to teammate Brian Vickers, who lost close friend Ricky Hendrick -- the heir apparent at Hendrick Motorsports -- in the accident.

"It's going to be so tough for all of them and I know they all do different things to help the anniversary pass, and with as little pain as possible," Johnson said. "Another person I'm going to be thinking of is Brian Vickers. It's his birthday. The plane crash was on his birthday, of all things. So, as a teammate and friend, to be there for him as well as the other people that lost loved ones on the flight."

The crash last Oct. 24 could have devastated the Hendrick organization. In addition to Rick Hendrick's son, the accident claimed the lives of the company president, general manager and head engine builder. All were en route to the race that day.

Johnson went on to win the race, only to be told about the accident after he crossed the finish line.

After a week of mourning, it was on to Atlanta for another race. It was decided that keeping up the routine was the best medicine.

Johnson went on to win that race, too, for his third consecutive victory.

"We didn't even want to go to Atlanta. We had to, but we didn't want to go there," he said. "The race weekend wore on and the first day was tough and the second day was a little bit better and the weeks to follow were that way, too.

"But it did, at the end of the year, give us a lot of pride to know that we went out to Atlanta and we were able to win at Martinsville. That we honored our friends as a team and everyone at Hendrick Motorsports really performed."

So that's what Johnson will do again this weekend. He heads into Martinsville fresh off a victory last weekend in Charlotte that rocketed him up the standings into a tie with Tony Stewart for the lead in the Chase for the championship.

The race at Charlotte bunched the field dramatically and temporarily ended what was shaping up to be a runaway championship for Stewart. The co-leaders have an 11-point lead over Greg Biffle, and only 142 points separate them from 10th-place Kurt Busch.

"I'm shocked just like everybody else just how close the championship race is and I think that over the next five it's only going to be more interesting, more aggressive, more stress and pressure," Johnson said. "It's going to be right down to the very end, I think."

It went like that last season, the first year of the Chase format, when Johnson lost to Busch by eight points. It was the closest championship finish in NASCAR history, and Johnson put himself in contention by winning four of six Chase races.

Now he feels like his team is on the verge of putting together a similar run.

"We're kind of hitting our stride at the right time and hopefully we can rattle off a couple of wins," he said. "If not, top fives at this point. I still feel that it's about not losing the championship, versus winning it."

He'll still have to contend with Stewart, who had his first really bad race of the Chase at Charlotte. He cut a tire while leading and crashed hard into the wall, setting up a 25th-place finish. It wiped out his points lead and gave the Chase competitors hope of catching him.

Stewart accepts that everyone is watching him and his team to see how they respond this weekend.

"I don't think any of them are wishing us bad luck, but in the back of their mind if it happens, they're not going to be disappointed by it by any means," he said. "I doubt anybody shed any tears for us last week at Charlotte when we finished 25th after leading a bunch of laps and showing everybody that we had the best car.

"That's how competitive the Chase is right now."

NASCAR officials have approached Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage about a possible date swap for the 2006 Samsung/RadioShack 500 Nextel Cup weekend.

The race in Fort Worth currently is scheduled for April 9, one week after the series visits Martinsville Speedway. Gossage said Fox Network officials would like TMS and Martinsville to swap dates, taking TMS out of a battle for viewers against the Masters - one of golf's biggest tournaments.

"They want to maximize TV ratings (for TMS), and that's a compliment," Gossage said. "But I do want to caution people - do not move any reservations. It's an ongoing discussion."

Gossage said a decision should be announced in "a week or two."

In any event, individual tickets for the Samsung/RadioShack 500 and the IRL IndyCar Series Bombardier 500 night race in June will go on sale at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9.

Todd Berrier will begin serving a two-race suspension from NASCAR this weekend after the National Stock Car Racing Commission on Wednesday unanimously rejected Richard Childress Racing's appeal of Berrier's multiple penalties.

Berrier, crew chief for driver Kevin Harvick's No. 29 Goodwrench Chevrolet, was ejected from the grounds of Talladega Superspeedway on Oct. 1 -- a day after the car was found with three rules violations in its tail area in post-qualifying inspection.

The following week Berrier was issued penalties including a $10,000 fine, suspension from NASCAR that amounted to two additional races and probation until Dec. 31, 2005. Chris Hussey, RCR's director of engineering who has previous experience as a Cup crew chief, will fill-in for Berrier in this weekend's Subway 500 at Martinsville Speedway. A team spokesman said Childress would have no comment on the ruling, and that the team would not appeal the decision to National Stock Car Racing Commissioner Charles D. Strang. After missing the race at Talladega, which wasn't part of the penalty, Childress appealed, which meant that Berrier worked with Harvick at Kansas Speedway and Lowe's Motor Speedway last weekend, after which Harvick sits 12th in the point standings. The violations regarded the sealing of the 29 car's trunk area, the fuel tank vent hose and the shock doors within its trunk. NASCAR issued the penalties under Section 12-4-A of the Nextel Cup Series rulebook, "Actions detrimental to stock car racing," and Section 12-4-Q, "Any determination by NASCAR Officials that the car, car parts, components and/or equipment used in the Event do not conform to NASCAR rules: Unapproved aerodynamic modifications and unapproved fuel cell vent mounting." The commission panel -- which included chairman George Silbermann, a NASCAR administrator; former team owner Brad Daugherty; and short track promoter Richard Gore -- said that "Taken individually, each of the components that failed to conform to the rules had plausible explanations, but taken collectively, constituted a serious violation of the rules. "Therefore, it is the unanimous decision of the National Stock Car Racing Commission to uphold the original penalty issued by NASCAR. The period of the suspension will be adjusted to commence from the date of this hearing." Thus, Berrier's suspension will include races this weekend at Martinsville and the following weekend at Atlanta, where Harvick won his first career Cup race in 2001. Earlier this season, while Berrier was under another suspension for a technical infraction, Harvick and his team, led by interim crew chief Scott Miller, won the race at Bristol in April.

Nextel Cup cars were on the track again Wednesday testing at Atlanta Motor Speedway in preparation for the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 on Oct. 30.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. topped the speed charts in his No. 8 Chevrolet, with a lap of 189.215 mph, (29.30 seconds). The No. 36 Chevrolet of Boris Said was second fastest.

Accompanying Earnhardt Jr. and Said were Jimmie Johnson, and Martin Truex Jr.

There was one incident of note during the day-long test. Said spun exiting Turn 2, but did not hit anything.