Five NASCAR drivers invited to meet President Barack Obama at the White House aren't going to show, citing "scheduling conflicts." Nobody's sure whether "scheduling conflicts" means "political views," but thanks to stereotypes associated with NASCAR, nobody's ruling that out.
While we'd say most NASCAR drivers are famous for their overly aggressive, on-track fuel-conservation tactics, we wouldn't expect racing legends Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon to be all that concerned with fuel economy beyond the confines of the track. Turns out, we're wrong.
Introduction to Karting: Part 1 - Click above for high-res image gallery
After Jeff Gordon won Thursday's second qualifying race in Daytona, his car failed a post-race inspection for riding too low. While NASCAR officials are not accusing Gordon or his team of cheating, it will cost him. Instead of starting Saturday's race in 4th position, Gordon will fight his way through 41 other cars if he wants to take the lead.
Joining the endless ranks of officially-licensed Barbie dolls (tie-ins have ranged from Harley-Davidson to the X-Files and literally everything in-between) are a pair of new plastic fantastic NASCAR fangirls-- Jeff Gordon Barbie and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Barbie.
This Sunday the Chase for the 2006 Nextel Cup will cross the finish line. At the end of the day, as long as No. 48 Jimmie Johnson finishes 12th or better at Homestead-Miami Speedway, he will walk away with his long-awaited championship. According to the guys who crunch the numbers, that's even if No. 17 Matt Kenseth, who trails Johnson by 63 points, wins the race and leads the most laps.
