NASCAR Cup Series

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Charlotte Motor Speedway and discussed racing at Charlotte, past success here, season to-date, performance in the Chase, Jeff Gordon and other topics. Full transcript:

This weekend the action continues at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Nationwide Series Drive for the Cure 300 Friday evening and the Sprint Cup Series Bank of America 500 Saturday night. This is the second event of the three-race Contender Round for the Sprint Cup drivers as the top 12 battle for a win to guarantee their spot in the upcoming Eliminator Round.

McDonald’s Monopoly: Jamie McMurray recently filmed several television commercials to promote the Monopoly game at McDonald’s that started in-stores on Sept. 30 and runs through Oct. 27th. In addition to McMurray, the commercials feature other prominent McDonald’s athletes including Patrick Kane (Chicago Blackhawks), Alex Morgan (US Women’s National Soccer Team) and probably the most recognized athlete on the planet, LeBron James.

Kansas Recap: Denny Hamlin finished seventh in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway, a solid finish for the FedEx team, placing them fifth in points after the first race of the Contender Round of the Chase. A two-tire pit strategy call by crew chief Darian Grubb and quick work by the FedEx crew had the #11 machine third in line for the restart with 33 laps to go, however, in the scramble for turn one on the restart, Hamlin got shuffled back to seventh where he would eventually finish in the 267-lap event won by Joey Logano.

The Sprint Cup Series doesn’t travel very far from where most of the industry resides this weekend. The drivers and crew visit Charlotte Motor Speedway, a short distance from most of the sports’ race shops.

Charlotte Motor Speedway: “Hopefully, we can take some of the things we learned at Kansas Speedway into Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend,” Allmendinger said. “Charlotte is a little bit different and a little bit rougher. We will see how it all goes. We tested there not long ago and we were happy with the test. Everybody at our shop has worked really hard on our mile-and-a-half program.

JENNIE LONG: We're joined by Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Kyle, thanks for joining us.

It’s not difficult to get Clint Bowyer excited. But if you want to see the NASCAR Sprint Cup driver get really excited, mention Martinsville Speedway.

Richard Petty Motorsports announced today that Sam Hornish Jr. will be the new driver for the No. 9 Ford Fusion in 2015, replacing Marcos Ambrose who announced last month that he was returning to his native Australia. Representatives from the team, along with Hornish, held a teleconference this morning.