As two GM vehicles driven by Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson were dominating the final laps of Sunday’s Autism Speaks 400 at Dover, thousands of GM employees were bracing for the worst news possible.
This morning, the worst came to pass, as GM filed for bankruptcy protection in the fourth-largest filing in the nation’s history. The onetime giant will receive a total of nearly $60 billion in financial assistance, and the federal government will take over a 72.5 percent share of the company in an effort to make it leaner and more viable.
What this means for NASCAR remains uncertain…Â Details
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Dale Earnhardt Jr. will have a new crew chief starting with this weekend’s race at Dover because of a slump that has dragged deep into the season.
Tony Eury Jr. was removed as crew chief of Earnhardt’s No. 88 team Thursday. The two are cousins and have worked together during Earnhardt’s entire career.
“It seemed the harder we pushed, the more it unraveled,†team owner Rick Hendrick told The Associated Press. “We need a new reason to get up and go to the track each morning, and the chemistry had broken down between them to the point where we just needed a fresh start.â€Â … Details
Joey Logano still has plenty of years to develop into NASCAR’s next big thing.
For now, the Cup rookie is still learning his way around the tricky tracks. The former phenom absorbed some hits early in his first year on the circuit, but the teenager has started to show some of the promise that made him one of the most hyped prospects in years.
He’s recorded two straight ninth-place finishes, and three in his last four races. All that early talk that he was a bust and those false rumors that he might be replaced at Joe Gibbs Racing have faded with each finish near the front of the pack… Details
The asphalt at the Famoso drag strip was hot, the bike licked with red and orange flames when Jesse James stepped up to the starting line and threw a leg over the 1,000-horsepower, nitro-powered dragster.
A flicker of green light, a twist of the grip and James was off. Seconds later, at a top speed of 161 mph, James had won the respect of the seasoned racers who trained him and sighs of relief from the production crew that was capturing it all on camera for his new Spike TV show, “Jesse James Is a Dead Man.”
James had defied the program title, just as he’d done when he caught himself on fire, and when he rode shotgun in an F-16D fighter plane, subjecting his 210-pound frame to nine Gs.
James, who turned 40 last month, insists he isn’t …Â Details
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