NO COT 'TILL DOVER Saturday night's NASCAR Nextel All-Star Challenge, which will be televised by SPEED, and the May 27th Coca-Cola 600 will both be contested in the old-style Nextel Cup. But two weeks from now at Dover, Del., it will be back to the Car of Tomorrow, and Jimmie Johnson said that will be a handful around the concrete track known as "The Monster Mile."
"I think a lot of us really think it (Dover) is going to be a big challenge for the Car of Tomorrow - the hard transitions into the corner and also off the corner are a challenge for us," said Johnson. "I'm hopeful we get some more practice time. It's going to be really tough on us. The way we load the tire there, and the way this Car of Tomorrow works, we could potentially see extra wearing - especially on the right front. So hopefully we get in there and can get some good quality laps in and understand how the bigger cars work and take care of the right front. Dover is one of the toughest tracks we go to."
After losing the Pepsi 400 by a few feet, Busch put the blame on his Hendrick teammate. (LAT photo) MORE NASCAR PHOTOS
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SOLID GOLD Many of the cars entered in Saturday night's NASCAR Nextel All-Star Shootout have one-off special paint schemes, but Kurt Busch's Penske Racing South Dodge has what can be called a two-off: The team has brought back the same solid gold paint that Busch ran in the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona in February. And Busch well could be one of the drivers to watch on Saturday night.
"To be able to race for a million bucks on a Saturday night-type format, 20 laps at a time, it's really going to be exciting," said Busch. "We're really focused heavily on this race to obviously shoot for the big bucks and to get that trophy but of course to get the car ready for the (Coca-Cola) 600. I've finished second in this race before, and that was definitely a bittersweet night to be that close and to be running up front gets you so animated. It gets you so amped and pumped up you can do that and stay at that intensity because the race is only 80 laps. .... We commemorate this exciting race by bringing back the gold car, the Miller Lite Beer Cup Gold Award Winner.
We ran it at the Shootout earlier this year, a big resounding appreciation for the car and what it meant to the Miller Brewing Company."
EVERYTHING ELSE Reigning NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Champion
Jimmie Johnson will be feted Wednesday during Speedway Children's Charities 27th annual gala. For details, see www.speedwaycharities.org.
NASCAR legend
Junior Johnson was on hand at Lowe's Motor Speedway Friday to plug his new line of moonshine, "Junior Johnson's Midnight Moon."
Kenny Wallace has a new book, "Inside Herman's World." NASCAR and Home Depot have teamed up to create the first annual NASCAR/Home Depot Humanitarian Award, which will be given to someone who works in the NASCAR community.
The winner will receive $100,000 and two runners-up will earn $25,000 each.
Kyle Busch has formed a foundation for needy children.
On May 22, Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) and Hendrick Automotive Group will host a joint dedication of the new
Joe Hendrick Center for Automotive Technology at the CPCC Levine Campus in Matthews, N.C. The center is named for Rick Hendrick's late father.
Quote of the day:
"This race is everything. This is the All-Star race. It's no different than Major League Baseball. It's a huge deal. I can only compare it to that because people want to be in anything that's an all star." - Kenny Wallace.
