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LOUISVILLE, Kentucky - With the U.S. automobile industry crumbling, NASCAR chairman Brian France softened his stance on the future of Ford, Dodge and General Motors in the sport they helped create. Days after saying the stock car series wouldn't "live or die" on the fates of America's Big Three, France said NASCAR was working aggressively to make sure the companies remain part of the circuit's foundation. GM's stock dropped to its lowest point in 60 years on Monday. "We have every intention of them being a big part of the sport in the future," France said on Tuesday. "We're going to do everything we can to help them get through a very difficult business cycle." That includes perhaps eliminating all testing as a cost-cutting measure, an about-face from a few months ago when NASCAR hinted it may expand testing to 24 days a year for all teams. "Testing is on everyone's short list," France said. France, however, remains optimistic about the health of NASCAR despite the economic climate. He pointed out that 90 percent of the Sprint Cup teams have sponsorship for next season and that new advertisers are ready to invest in the series in 2009. "There are always some unfunded teams," he said. "One of our goals is to have a system where you don't need $26 million to put a competitive team forward. It's one of the things NASCAR has a lot of influence on and we're working all the time to figure it out." France thinks the advent of the Sprint Cup's new car, which will end its first full season as the baseline model this weekend in Miami, will help teams get through the economic crunch. "We believe very strongly that this car will deliver cost savings in the long run for sure, and in some cases in the short run," France said. "It will allow us in the future to take cost out of the equation ... Our No. 1 policy along with safety is to take cost out of the industry." Just don't expect NASCAR to shorten its 36-race season. France said eliminating some dates would be "impractical" and shortening some of the races would simply be symbolic and wouldn't help teams save money. The same goes for the Chase for the championship format. Though he admitted he'd love for the points title to come down to a mad dash at Miami, France said there are no plans to tweak the points system even though Jimmie Johnson enters the season finale with a nearly insurmountable 141-point lead over Carl Edwards. "I'd love for all 11 drivers to be within 25 points of (the leader) myself," France said. "The reality of it is, that's sports. There are World Series that are not as exciting as others, that's just the nature of a dominant performance quite frankly."

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Jimmie Johnson has some bad news for people who think he's turning the Chase into a yawner for the third consecutive year. He doesn't care. "That's my goal," he said. "That's what I want to do. I don't care if people are getting bored or not. We're getting a chance to do a lot of great things, something that's been done only one time in the history of NASCAR. Every competitor wants to do this." Boredom might be a strong word for what Johnson's doing. The two-time defending series champion is carving up the field once again, taking a nearly insurmountable 149-point lead into today's Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. No driver has made up a deficit that large with four races remaining in the sport's history. If Johnson can win the title, he'll join his boyhood idol Cale Yarborough as the only drivers with three consecutive titles. Yarborough did it in 1976-78. "The handwriting's on the wall now," Yarborough said. "It's going to happen. And if it happens, I understand that I was Jimmie's hero when he was growing up. So if he does it, more power to him." Johnson isn't clearing room in his trophy case just yet, but he also knows that there are things working in his favor. He's posted top-nine finishes in the first six Chase for the Sprint Cup races, winning two. He's always done well in Atlanta (winning there three times). He won at Texas Motor Speedway in 2007. And he's won the past two races at Phoenix, the circuit's stop after TMS. The series finish at Homestead Speedway Nov. 16 figures to be a 400-mile coronation. Then, and only then, will Johnson get to reflect on what it means to join Yarborough. "When he was in the Hardees car, I was in California racing dirt bikes," said Johnson, who has talked with Yarborough briefly this year. "He was my guy. I remember traveling back from Oklahoma from an amateur race. It was the first Hardees I saw. I thought I was going to see Cale Yarborough but I didn't see a sign of him. At that point, I understood the marketing of NASCAR." Now Johnson is the sport's biggest star, and is using the experience he gained the last two years to fuel this title run. Not panicking early was key to that. This season got off to an awful start, with a 27th-place finish at Daytona, followed by finishes of 29th, 30th and 39th. By May, he was ninth in the points standings. But Johnson historically has picked up steam in the summer, which was the case this year. He won the two races leading into the Chase and hasn't slowed down, despite every team's best efforts to wrestle the title from him. "I've always felt it's much more difficult to defend," Johnson said. "We're more confident with the team, and it's all due to experience. We can defend today better than we have in our career. We're doing a better job now. I know the reality could be there for us. We need to stay focused and committed to our team." Johnson's success is having a far-reaching effect. With the economy in such bad shape, fewer media members are traveling to races. Homestead is normally a big draw because it's where the champion is crowned, but that might not be the case this year. TMS media guru Mike Zizzo said there hasn't been a drop-off in credential requests for next weekend's Dickies 500, with the thinking that Johnson could wrap up the title there. While that would be a cause for celebration for some, Johnson isn't buying into it. And least not yet. "I'm not one that focuses on the historical part," he said. "I'm just looking at the third championship and what we need to do to get it done. If it takes place, we'll celebrate like I wouldn't believe." Rest assured, there will be nothing boring about that.

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Joe Gibbs Racing will try yet again to get Joey Logano into one of its cars this season by sending him to Texas Motor Speedway next weekend. Logano has tried three times to race the No. 02 car in the Sprint Cup Series, but all three qualifying sessions were washed out by rain, including this weekend at Atlanta. In those situations, the 43-car field is determined by the points. Logano, a regular in the Nationwide Series this season, was left out each time. "We're going to run Texas and there is a possibility that we will add some more to it," team president J.D. Gibbs said Sunday. "It probably depends on our test schedule and what we've got going on." The 18-year-old has been tabbed to replace Tony Stewart in the No. 20 ride next season, and JGR is trying to get him as much Cup seat time as possible before his promotion. He's made two Cup starts this season, both for Hall of Fame Racing, and struggled to finishes of 32nd and 39th. Logano is not yet NASCAR-approved to run the season-opening Daytona 500, and racing at Texas could secure it. But Gibbs thinks Logano's experience running in the ARCA and Truck Series' at Talladega earlier this month might be enough. "I think he's probably done enough," Gibbs said. "From our standpoint, we've talked to NASCAR, too, we want to see him in some more stuff as well. We're going to run at least one or two more."

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HAMPTON, Georgia - Kyle Busch came to Atlanta Motor Speedway in March at the top of his game, notching his first win of the season to start an impressive run to the top of the NASCAR points standings. Seven months later, it's all fallen apart. Busch is last in the Chase for the championship standings and has apparently lost all enthusiasm for what had been a remarkable first year with Joe Gibbs Racing. He won eight Cup races this season and started the Chase as the favorite to win the championship. "It's frustrating to have to come to the race track every week and not have a shot for a championship," he said. "It is what it is and we'll have to go back at it next year." His attitude so clearly defeated, Busch was asked if he was mentally prepared to come to the track each week. He didn't even bother to sugarcoat his answer. "Probably not. But I've still got a job to do and I'm here to do it," he said. His drop-off has puzzled almost everyone in the garage. Seemingly unbeatable all season long, mechanical problems derailed him in the first three Chase races and his No. 18 Toyota has not been competitive since. Busch trails championship leader Jimmie Johnson by 445 points. "I would have never thought he'd have been that far back," said Greg Biffle. "That's the thing about luck. I mean, the right place at the right time, execute properly, things happen, and I tell you when the wheels start coming off this thing, it's hard to get it to stop. "Then you don't give up, but if you relax your guard a little bit like, 'I can't win anymore, or I can't win the title,' things can compile and have a snowball effect on you. It's that hard to get momentum and it's that easy to lose it. It's a difficult spot."

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Bill Elliott began his racing career three decades ago at Dixie Speedway in Woodstock, Ga., and he'll be back there Saturday night for a short-track race on the dirt with some famous friends there to help him. Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne, Ken Schrader, Dave Blaney, David Gilliland and Ray Evernham are all scheduled to be at the Bill Elliott 50 Red Dirt Dash. A 50-lap shootout paying $5,000 to win for regional Super Late Model racers follows the celebrity event. The race starts at 7:30 p.m. Advance tickets can be purchased for $30 for adults and $15 children ages 7 to 17 by calling the track at (770) 926-5315. Adult tickets at the gate are $35 and pit passes are $40 adult and $20 children 11 and under. Elliott and the other celebrities will sign autographs in a private session at 6 p.m. Vouchers for that session are $30 and will go on sale at the gate at 3 p.m. Proceeds from the race and the autograph session will benefit Children's Healthcare of Atlanta for cancer research and care. Dixie Speedway is just north of Atlanta along Georgia 92. Visit dixiespeedway.com or billelliott.com for more information. Elliott's 1988 Cup Series championship team also will be honored in ceremonies prior to Sunday's Pep Boys 500 at Atlanta Motor Speeedway.

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Anyone in the Sprint Cup garage still complaining about the NASCAR's new car and hoping for big changes in 2009 can forget about it. The "car of tomorrow" is now the car of today, and it's going to stay that way for the foreseeable future. "There is no official statement on changes to the new car, but I can say that no changes are planned," NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said. "Over the course of the year, the teams have adjusted to the new car and have a much better understanding for how to set it up and drive it than they did back in February. "Making changes at this point would likely cause teams to have to further make adjustments to their adjustments and that's not productive." NASCAR's research and development division began planning and designing the bigger, bulkier car shortly after the sport's biggest star, Dale Earnhardt, died in a crash during the 2001 Daytona 500. It first competed at Bristol in March 2007 and was used in 16 races that season before running all the races this year - a year earlier than originally planned. NASCAR's stated intention was to build a safer car that also promoted close racing and helped keep team costs under control by requiring fewer different cars for a variety of racetrack configurations. Most of that has been accomplished, but the transition from the old cars hasn't always been smooth. It's difficult to find the balance on the new car during the races, and there have been times when Goodyear has failed to come up with a good tire match for it. Add in that the car is harder to drive and there has been a lot of dissatisfaction bubbling up in Cup. Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has complained about the handling at times, said, "The car is definitely still a work in progress. "I think ... the car isn't a finished product. Whenever they decide to move forward and evolve and let that car change and become a better race car, we will be ready to do that. But until then, we really don't have a choice in the matter." Jimmie Johnson, winner of six races and seemingly well on his way to a record-tying third straight Cup title heading into Sunday's race at Atlanta, got off to a slow start this season as he and crew chief Chad Knaus acknowledged they were having problems figuring the new car out at some tracks. The difficulties surfaced early in the year. Johnson's team arrived in Las Vegas in March thinking it had a decent setup. He finished 29th after a frustrating day in which the usually consistent Johnson was a nonfactor. The rest of the season was a series of ups and downs for Johnson, who seems to have found the right combination during the 10-race Chase for the championship. In August, just before the start of the Chase, Johnson said solving the CoT has been difficult for Knaus, considered one of the top minds in the sport. "It's been tough for him, and it's been a huge, huge challenge for him," Johnson said. "But more importantly the go-to moves that we've always had with the old car do not work. And to kind of retrain (Chad's) brain and look at things in a different way, that is the hardest part for him." Despite their recent success, Johnson thinks the car could be better. "I think a lot of us have some ideas for changes and we'd like to see them put in. I feel that as the season's gone on, we've all gotten a lot smarter and we've helped the car," he said. "But there still are some things that I feel should be looked at and considered. "At least we're putting on good shows. The cars are easier to drive in traffic. ...And the racing is going well on the big tracks. I still think it could be better." Kasey Kahne, who has won two Cup races this season, said he believes it would be a good idea to let the crew chiefs and team engineers have more input into the development of the new car. "The car has come a long ways from where we were a year ago," Kahne said. "Engineers and crew chiefs could make this a better race car if they're allowed to." Jeff Burton echoes Kahne, but the veteran driver, third in the season points, said he is fine with NASCAR's current approach to the car. "There has been an effort by NASCAR to minimize the changes the teams are having to deal with because we do have a history of making so many changes that it's very difficult to ever get a center or to get a real base line on what it is that you're dealing with," Burton said. "They used to cut spoiler heights off. You'd go to a race and they would put a notice out that they were cutting the spoiler height off so all the aerodynamics testing you've done, all the stuff you had done you had to start over. So, in many ways, I'm a proponent of minimizing changes. "At the same time, I think we have to be careful to say, 'You know what, if something comes up at the right time that we believe will make the car better, we will be open-minded at that,' rather than just saying 'No changes.' " And, looking down the road, Burton said NASCAR may just be waiting for the teams to have more experience with the new cars before thinking about changes that could cost the teams big money in a bad economy. "I think that going into 2010 we have to be looking, 'OK, what is it that we can do better without turning the world upside down?' You have to be respectful of when NASCAR makes a small change how big that impacts us in costs and efficiencies and testing."

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Jeff Gordon has just eight more races to make it to Victory Lane and avoid his first winless season since his 1993 rookie year. For many, it's inconceivable that the four-time Cup champion is this far into a season without a win. To some, crew chief Steve Letarte is squarely to blame. Gordon won't stand for it. "Steve is an amazing crew chief," he said. "Whenever we're not performing, my fans seem to stay loyal to me, and I appreciate that. But I'm as much a part of this team and its performance as anybody else out there. "If there's going to be criticisms, you know, I want it to come across the board." But Gordon has been spared much of the criticism in a season that can only be described as disappointing. He heads into Round 3 of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship ranked eighth in the standings, 118 points behind leader Carl Edwards. His winless streak has reached 33 straight races, dating back to an October win at Lowe's Motor Speedway, and he's led more than 10 laps in a race just six times this season. Letarte, who started working at Hendrick in the parts department as a teenager and moved through the ranks to the top job with Hendrick's winningest team, admits this season has been underwhelming for the No. 24 crew. "My goals coming into the year were much higher than this," he said. "This is a race team built on winning races and winning championships, so when you don't win races, of course that's an unsuccessful season." But it's not exactly a bad season. It's just not the follow-up anyone expected from last year's incredible run, when Gordon won six races and notched a NASCAR record 30 top-10 finishes in 36 events. He built a lead of more than 300 points in the regular season, and was brilliant during the Chase with two victories and an average finish of 5.1. Problem was, teammate Jimmie Johnson was just a tick better - tallying an average finish of 5.0 to steal the title from Gordon. Johnson, a four-time winner this season, is back in the thick of the title hunt this year. But Gordon is a bit of an underdog based on his regular-season mediocrity. That's led his legion of fans to question what's wrong and critique the job Letarte has done this season. "It's no different than when you coach the Yankees and you miss the playoffs," said Letarte. "It's no surprise. To think you can take a position like this in this sport - or with any sports team - if you don't win, you are going to take the blame. I've got big shoulders. I can handle it. "But all I can do is keep doing my daily chores: try to make the car better, try to make the team better and try to win races." Gordon explained the criticism comes with the territory for the crew chief, who holds down a job akin to being a head coach in other sports. "Unfortunately, we just haven't seen the results like we did last year," said Gordon, who has just 13 top-10s so far this season. "It's really easy to put aside or forget what we did last year, which to me was one of the best seasons I ever had in the Cup series. Looking at this year, just things haven't gone our way for whatever reason. But I believe (Steve's) the guy for the job, and he's a confident guy that does the job well. I hate that he gets the criticism." Letarte also has support from team owner Rick Hendrick, who finds it somewhat amusing that the crew chief is being scrutinized after such a successful 2007 season. Instead, Hendrick blames this season's struggles on a combination of bad luck, NASCAR's finicky new car, Gordon's difficulty adapting to driving it full time, and team-related miscues. "I think Jeff Gordon would be the first guy to raise his hand and say 'Stevie is one of the best I've ever worked with,' " Hendrick said. "Steve Letarte works hard, he's smart, and he's the same guy who led the points by over 300 last year and got him to finish in second in the Chase with an average (finish of 5.1) and got beat. "He didn't go brain dead this year. It's really easy, in this sport, if the guy wins, it's his talent. And if he doesn't, it's the crew chief's fault. The crew chief kind of walks a plank by himself." Hendrick believes Gordon and Letarte can pull it together, be a factor in this championship hunt and win a race before the season is out. But Letarte doesn't want the remaining eight weeks to be focused on simply getting back to Victory Lane and avoiding a winless season. "We don't worry about wins. We worry about running better," Letarte said. "If you lead laps, you're going to win races. If you run in the top five, you are going to win races. If you run in the top 10 or top 15, you know, the opportunity to win races gets smaller. "So we need to have faster race cars, and lead more laps and run more competitively to expect a win. Winning is a result of having a good car and a good day. If all you do is try to win, you miss the whole point."

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BRISTOL, Tenn. - Has Bristol lost some of its bite?

The track notorious for its beating and banging got a new paving job before last year's August night race. Trucks and Nationwide Series races leading up to the Sharpie 500 were memorable and there was great anticipation for the Sprint Cup race.

Perhaps because those expectations were so high, a lot of folks went home disappointed after that race. There were 10 cautions, but only 12 lead changes among eight drivers in a race dominated by two cars. Kasey Kahne led 305 laps, but wound up second behind Carl Edwards, who led 182 of the other 195.

There were plenty of possible explanations for the new look and feel of what has long been considered one of NASCAR's most popular events. Saturday night's running marks the 30th anniversary of the night race at Bristol and will be the track's 53rd straight Cup ticket sellout.

The most obvious reason was the new track surface, which was smoother than the previous concrete pavement. While being repaved, the contours of the transitions in and out of the turns and the banking in the turns themselves were also altered in an effort to give Bristol a second racing groove.

"There's probably less bumping now just because you don't have to bump a guy out of the way to get a position, Edwards said. But I think it's better racing for sure.

"I don't enjoy the races where you have to bump somebody out of the way to pass them. That's not any fun. I don't think that's the right way to race. It's frustrating when that's the only way you can pass somebody."

Maybe, however, Bristol has been a bit tamer because it's taking Cup teams a little while to adjust to driving both on a new surface and with a new race car. The "car of tomorrow" actually made its debut at Bristol in the spring race in 2007, and it was used there again last fall and this spring on the new surface.

"The first time we went there, I think the tires were a little too hard," said Kevin Harvick. "The last time we went there, it was more like the old Bristol, but you still had a couple of options from the bottom to the middle. I think once they got the tires squared away, the race track kind of came back around and the racing was a lot more normal."

Another theory is that Bristol's spot on the schedule could have something to do with what happened last fall. After Saturday's race there will be only two races left before the Chase for the Sprint Cup field is set. For drivers who come into the weekend on the Chase bubble, Bristol can be a track they're just looking to keep their title hopes alive on.

"The changes to Bristol made it a little less of a wild card," said Jeff Gordon, who comes into the weekend ninth in the points but just 82 points clear of the Chase cutoff. "Any time you go to a one-groove race track, especially on a short track, you're going to have kind of a little bit of Russian roulette. But now, we've got multiple grooves there.

"I love it. I think the racing is three times better. It's just the crashes don't happen as much, so if you love crashes, you're still going to see them at Bristol but you're not going to see them as often or as much as you used to, because basically when the guys got frustrated with the car in front of them, they just took them out. That's not racing, in my opinion. That's more bumper-cars."

"Now, we're going to Bristol and we're racing and I love it. We haven't been as good there since they re-did the track, so I'm anxious to get there and be better, but I do like what they've done."

Jimmie Johnson said that he knows there can be a difference in what drivers like and what fans like.

"The tracks the drivers say they enjoy the most are tracks where we have options and we can pass," he said. "Typically they are tracks that the fans aren't too receptive to. Michigan is one of the best tracks for the drivers, but we get spread out and there aren't a lot of cautions and you have some people that think that's not good racing because there are no cautions.

"Bristol kind of falls in that same category now where there are a lot of options on the track to use. From a driver's standpoint, Bristol is much more enjoyable now than its ever been. You can really race people, try different lines, explore around the track, and explore set-ups. So I like the challenges that Bristol gives us now, but it's because I can control my own destiny. I'm sure the fans paying for the seats have liked the fact that there was so much pushing and shoving and knocking people out of the way in the past and we just don't have that there anymore."

Still, when you put 43 cars on a .533-mile track it doesn't matter how many grooves there might be. Anything is possible.

"There aren't too many other places we race where you can leave with a top 10 and have a race car that's pretty beat up and maybe even been wrecked," Kahne said. "I really don't know of another track you can compare it to. …It's a place I look forward to racing just because you really never know what to expect, which makes it fun and challenging."

NASCAR dropped the hammer on Joe Gibbs Racing's Nos. 18 and 20 teams Wednesday, suspending seven team members indefinitely - including both teams' crew chiefs - assessing fines and points penalties for their efforts to rig a chassis dyno test last weekend at Michigan International Speedway. The penalties are easily the most severe and comprehensive ever handed down in the Nationwide Series. The drivers - Joey Logano and Tony Stewart - were stripped of 150 driver points each in the Nationwide Series and car owner Joe Gibbs was stripped of 150 owner points for each team. In addition, both crew chiefs - Dave Rogers on the No. 20 and Jason Ratcliff on the No. 18 - were fined $50,000 each and suspended indefinitely by NASCAR. On the No. 20 team, car chief Richard Bray and engine tuner Dan Bajek were both suspended indefinitely. On the No. 18 team, car chief Dorian Thorsen, engine tuner Michael Johnson and crew member Toby Bigelow were all indefinitely suspended from NASCAR. Both teams have also been placed on NASCAR probation through the end of the year. In its news release, NASCAR said the teams placed magnetic spacers under the throttle pedals in order to produce a false reading on the chassis dynamometer test, which measures rear-wheel horsepower. There was no immediate comment from Joe Gibbs Racing. JGR has the right to appeal the penalties to the National Stock Car Racing Commission.

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That's Racin's weekly ranking of the top 40 teams in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series as of the 3M Performance 400 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich. (last week's ranking in parentheses):

1. (1) Kyle Busch -- car No. 18

Still the guy they're chasing even though he couldn't chase down a win at Michigan.

2. (2) Carl Edwards -- car No. 99

Emerging as the most potent challenger to the No. 18 once the Chase gets underway.

3. (3) Jimmie Johnson -- car No. 48

Team has fought back from mistakes the past two races. Now's the time to try that.

4. Vacant

This slot left open to indicate the separation between the top three and everyone else.

5. (5) Tony Stewart -- car No. 20

This team has let wins get away at Bristol. Maybe it will close the deal this time.

6. (6) Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- car No. 88

Ever get into a rut where every decision you make backfires? This team's right there.

7. (7) Jeff Burton -- car No. 31

Has to be happy to see two short-track races coming up in the next three weekends.

8. (4) Kasey Kahne -- car No. 9

The momentum this team had as the summer stretch started all seems to be gone now.

9. (t9) Greg Biffle -- car No. 16

Great run at Michigan keeps this team in pretty good shape for making the Chase.

10. (8) Matt Kenseth -- car No. 17

Top five at Michigan gives this team a little bit of breathing room on Chase bubble.

11. (t9) Kevin Harvick -- car No. 29

Bristol should be a good track for this team, which could help it shore up Chase slot.

12. (t9) Jeff Gordon -- car No. 24 and (t9) Denny Hamlin -- car No. 11

Gordon's team can't get anything going. Late engine woes at Michigan puts Kahne on the bubble.

13. (14) David Ragan -- car No. 6

14. (13) Clint Bowyer -- car No. 07

15. (16) Brian Vickers -- car No. 83

16. (18) Martin Truex Jr. -- car No. 1

17. (17) Mark Martin/Aric Almirola -- car No. 8

18. (20) Elliott Sadler -- car No. 19

19. (19) Jamie McMurray -- car No. 26

20. (15) Ryan Newman -- car No. 12

21. (21) Kurt Busch -- car No. 2

22. (24) Casey Mears -- car No. 5

23. (22) Bobby Labonte -- car No. 43

24. (23) Juan Pablo Montoya -- car No. 42

25. (25) David Reutimann -- car No. 44

26. (26) Travis Kvapil -- car No. 28

27. (27) David Gilliland -- car No. 38

28. (31) Scott Riggs -- car No. 66

29. (28) Robby Gordon -- car No. 7

30. (32) AJ Allmendinger -- car No. 84

31. (33) Patrick Carpentier -- car No. 10

32. (30) Sam Hornish Jr. -- car No. 77

33. (28) Reed Sorenson -- car No. 41

34. (36) Paul Menard -- car No. 15

35. (39) Michael Waltrip -- car No. 55

36. (35) Regan Smith -- car No. 01

37. (38) Joe Nemechek -- car No. 78

38. (34) Dave Blaney -- car No. 22

39. (NR) Marcos Ambrose -- car No. 21

40. (40) Michael McDowell/Mike Skinner -- car No. 00

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