Day two of the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour presented by Sprint was Chevrolet Day. The NASCAR media met with Chip Ganassi Racing, Richard Childress Racing, Furniture Row Racing, and Hendrick Motorsports. First was Chip Ganassi Racing, newly renamed for this season. It was formerly known as Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing.
As this is being written, we are only 38 days away from the Daytona 500, and the news has come fast and furious leading up to the beginning of the season. It doesn’t surprise me somehow that it began with the number three.
From the very moment Richard Childress Racing announced that driver Austin Dillon was moving up to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and would be in the #3 Chevrolet the response was immediate among the NASCAR media and the fans of the sport.
The 2013 season of NASCAR will be remembered as one of the most tumultuous in recent memory. The year would not be complete without a few snapshots to commemorate the highs and lows.
Johnson clinched his sixth Sprint Cup championship, and first in two years, with a ninth at Homestead. He finished the season 19 points ahead of Matt Kenseth.
Johnson started on the pole and finished third in the AdvoCare 500, well ahead of Matt Kenseth, who struggled and finished 23rd. Johnson has a 28-point lead heading into Homestead, and needs only a finish of 23rd or better to clinch the Cup.
We were wrong about Martinsville, which should be renamed Johnsonville the way Jimmie lays it down there. While Jeff Gordon tied Five Time in wins at the paper clip, claiming his 8th at the track and the 88th of his Cup career.