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Filed under: Kevin Harvick, NASCAR Fights, Joe Gibbs Racing, Joey Logano

A NASCAR veteran caught the ire of a sophomore driver and his father after spinning out the young driver at the end of of Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Pocono Raceway.

Kevin Harvick dipped inside of Joey Logano on the second-to-last lap of the 200-lap race as they battled for fourth place, made contact and spun Logano's No. 20. Following the race, Logano parked his Toyota alongside Harvick's No. 29 on pit road, promptly exited his car and engaged in a shouting match with Harvick -- all while being egged on by his father Tom Logano.

Afterwards, in a television interview, Logano said, "It's disappointing. We had a top-five run going. For us, that was going to be awesome and I was pretty pumped up about it."

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Filed under: Jimmie Johnson, Daytona Int'l Speedway

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona is billed as a grueling, endurance test of driver, car and crew. For NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson and the defending Grand-Am Series champion GAINSCO team, that describes the 24 hours just leading into the historic sports car season-opener.

The four-time Sprint Cup champ Johnson was still smarting Friday from a collision in Thursday's opening practice for this weekend's twice-around-the-clock race through the Daytona International Speedway road course.

 

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Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Chase for the Sprint Cup, IRL, Danica Patrick

Unlike some so-so motorsports seasons earlier in the decade, 2009 was abundant with major story lines and compelling plots. Lackluster it was not.

For as much excellence behind the wheel -- Jimmie Johnson, Tony Schumacher, Mark Martin -- there was equally as much drama off the race track -- Kyle Busch smashing trophies, Danica Patrick's "would-she? wouldn't-she?" NASCAR foray, Tony George's Indianapolis ouster and then the great Michael Schumacher punctuating the year with his comeback announcement.

Here are FanHouse's selections for the top-10 motorsports stories of 2009:

 

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Filed under: Tony Stewart, Chase for the Sprint Cup, NASCAR Awards

LAS VEGAS -- Imagine Vegas icon Wayne Newton dropping the green flag for a race car parade on a shut down Las Vegas Strip, NASCAR pit crews performing demonstration stops in front of Bally's and the ultra-lux Bellagio resorts and four-time champ Jimmie Johnson doing victory burnouts on Las Vegas Boulevard.

This over-the-top scene is NASCAR's reality this week and the thousands of fans that have gathered here for NASCAR Champion's Week couldn't be more supportive of the sport's decision to move west after more than a decade spent holding the Sprint Cup Series Awards Ceremony in New York's famed Waldorf-Astoria.

"You couldn't pay me to leave this city right now,'' two-time cup champion Tony Stewart said Thursday, offering rave reviews. "I'm a million times happier out here. ... I don't like cabs blowing horns at two o'clock in the morning. It's just so much more relaxing and there's so much more to do here.''

 

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Filed under: Jimmie Johnson, Chase for the Sprint Cup

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- With two laps to go, pop star Nick Lachey began clapping and cheering on his good friend. The back slaps and handshakes among crew, family and friends started coming like a slow wave picking up speed as Jimmie Johnson slid his Chevy out of the final turn and approached the last checkered flag of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season.

His father, Gary, stood behind the growing celebration in his son's pit stall at Homestead Miami Speedway -- a huge smile on his face, a sparkling Superman pin attached over the logo of his Hendrick Motorsports cap.

Superman is the nickname bestowed on Johnson, who on Sunday became the first driver in NASCAR's 61-year history to win a fourth consecutive Sprint Cup championship.

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Filed under: Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Chase for the Sprint Cup

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- The hard-core conspirators will think NASCAR scripted it. The reality is Jimmie Johnson was the fastest driver of the day.

Johnson will start his No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet from the pole position in Sunday's Ford 400 at Homestead Miami Speedway -- the ultimate beginning to the last chapter in his quest to become the first driver to win four consecutive championships.

Of all things Johnson knocked his Hendrick Motorsports teammate -- and only title challenger left -- Mark Martin off the top spot on the qualifying speed chart. Johnson leads Martin by 108 points and needs only to finish 25th or better to clinch his historic championship.

 

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Filed under: Jimmie Johnson, Hendrick Motorsports

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Two days before he attempts to wrap up a historic fourth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup championship, Jimmie Johnson has announced a contract extension with Hendrick Motorsports that will keep the champ driving the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet through the 2015 season.

"It's the only car I've ever driven,'' Johnson said with a smile Friday morning. "I'm very proud of that.''

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Filed under: Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Chase for the Sprint Cup, Hendrick Motorsports

MIAMI -- NASCAR's Championship Weekend officially kicked off Thursday during a contenders press conference that couldn't have been less like boxing's version of a pre-bout showdown. This was more meet-and-greet than stare-and-glare.

The players here -- three-time defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Mark Martin -- like each other, so much so it was difficult to remember that they are actually competing against one another.

Johnson gushed about what a great driver Martin is. And Martin humbly insisted he was just happy to be in position to challenge Johnson. And their team owner Rick Hendrick maintained, "I'm just living the dream."

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by Holly Cain

Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Chase for the Sprint Cup

Is there another sport that turns on its winners so?

And cheering against the New York Yankees doesn't count.

Another superb run in NASCAR's Chase for the Championship has put Jimmie Johnson in position for a historic fourth consecutive Sprint Cup title. He's on the verge of accomplishing something Richard Petty, the late Dale Earnhardt, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Gordon never did.

And for all his hard work and performance under pressure here's the thanks he gets: people are accusing him of stinking up the show.

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What's the Knock on Johnson? None originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:28:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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by FanHouse Newswire

Filed under: Denny Hamlin

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) -- Denny Hamlin didn't need to do anything funny to exact his revenge from Jimmie Johnson at Martinsville Speedway. He just drove right by him.

And then he drove away with ease on three restarts over the final 52 laps, ending the three-time defending series champion's remarkable run of five trips to Victory Lane in the previous six races at the shortest circuit in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series.

Hamlin used an out-of-sequence pit stops after about 160 laps to move to the front, then held on up there until the entire leaderboard headed for pit road about 20 laps later.

"Once we got that track position, our car just kind of took off," he said.

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Hamlin Holds on for Tums 500 Win originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sun, 25 Oct 2009 17:37:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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