SM Archive

SIX-PACK: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS for Hendrick Motorsports, extended his lead among active drivers and inched closer to catching Hall of Famers Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt Sr. after earning his sixth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title with a ninth-place finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday. Petty and Earnhardt have seven titles apiece, followed by Johnson with six. Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon ranks fourth all-time with four.

Richard Childress Racing teammates finished 12th (Austin Dillon), 14th (Ty Dillon) and 32nd (Brian Scott).

SAM HORNISH JR. – No. 12 Alliance Truck Parts Ford Mustang – “You can’t give away points throughout the year like we did at times – some was the driver’s fault and some was the team’s fault and some was out of our control."

Austin Dillon, driver of the No. 3 AdvoCare Chevrolet Camaro, claimed the 2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) championship with a ­­­12-place finish in the season-ending race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. His title, the first for Dillon and fourth for team owner Richard Childress, marks Chevrolet’s 17th Driver’s Championship since the inception of the series in 1982.

In what has been an already impressive first full season in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, Kyle Larson added another accolade to his resume Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway – the Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award. In doing so, he becomes the first NASCAR Drive for Diversity (D4D) graduate and first Asian-American driver to receive the award in a NASCAR national series.

Earlier today, Target Chip Ganassi Racing owner Chip Ganassi participated in an INDYCAR Conference Call to discuss the MAVTV 500.

DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY – IT’S GO TIME CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media and discussed her first year of competition in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, her plan over the off season and other topics.

Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet SS, scored his 9th top five starting position of the year in qualifying second for Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400, the final round of the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. This is Busch’s eighth second place start and his ninth front row starting position of the season.

"I had been arguing with myself for an hour or two as to where to run in turns three and four. That was the first time I've run on the bottom all day. It was a little too loose off both ends but definitely was a decent lap for us."

“It was better in practice. Turn one and two was a lot better in practice. I messed up in three and four a little bit and we have been struggling there in practice. The car wasn’t as good as I thought it would be. I am disappointed, but it was a pretty decent lap.”