Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch by Bennett Raglin/ WireImage.com
NASCAR's "regular season" ended Sunday, and the 12-man field for the Chase for the Sprint Cup is set. The 10-race postseason begins with the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (Sunday, Sept. 14, 2 pm/ET, ABC).
The dozen drivers in contention for the 2008 title are: Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Clint Bowyer, Denny Hamlin, Jeff Burton, Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth. The Chasers will present a special "Top 12" on Late Show With David Letterman on Tuesday (Sept. 9, 11:35 pm/ET, CBS).
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Tony Stewart by Bennett Raglin/WireImage.com
Tony Stewart answered some important questions when he made what will be the 2008 NASCAR season's biggest announcement on Thursday. He will own 50 percent of Stewart/Haas Racing next year, after finishing out the current season driving the No. 20 car for Joe Gibbs Racing. But it will be months before we get the answer to whether this is a good move or a bad one for Stewart. Let’s tentatively call this a “be careful what you wish for” move.Stewart, a two-time Sprint Cup champion, has been agonizing over this decision since the end of last season, when Joe Custer, General Manager of Haas CNC Racing, first made the offer; and the Gibbs team opted to start running Toyotas instead of Stewart’s beloved Chevys. Along with his driving duties, Stewart currently owns four non-NASCAR race teams and three tracks. But racing every weekend and also co-owning an organization that will field two race teams means Stewart will be spreading himself mighty thin.Granted, that may be ...
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Dale Earnhardt Jr.
The new NASCAR season has arrived and in the garage area, teams come to Daytona — NBC airs the Daytona 500 on Feb. 19 at 2 pm/ET — with healthy quantities of anticipation and optimism. Tony Stewart intends to build on the greatness he achieved last season, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon hope to accelerate their way back into the top 10, Jimmie Johnson is getting a little tired of the bridesmaids dresses and the new crew at Roush — hello, Mr. McMurray, don't let the door hit you on the way out, Mr. Busch — is set for a few more backflips.
While this preseason gave drivers lots of opportunity to offer reasons why they're on the fast track, it also raised a number of topics that will affect the sport for years. The "Car of Tomorrow," a pet project of NASCAR Research and Development czar Gary Nelson that rolls out in 2007, is supposed to remake the common temp
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