Autoblog

Not that there was a lot of speculation about Dodge possibly dropping out, but Dodge's senior manager for motorsports, Mike Deahanty, says the brands presence in NASCAR will remain under Chrysler's new ownership by Cerberus Capital Management. Petty Enterprises and Evernham Motorsports have both renewed their contracts with Dodge.

Top Speed, however, says sponsorship for the Evernham team, which currently includes Dodge dealers and the United Auto Workers, could change, with Budweiser rumored to be interested in paying Kasey Kahne to wear its red livery.

So rest easy, NASCAR Dodge fans. You'll still be able to see Dodge Chargers (or at least machines with Charger written across the nose) roaring around in circles.

[Source: Top Speed]

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.

But No. 29 Kevin Harvick, third in the standings going into this weekend's race, will not end the year empty-handed. Harvick's done even better in the Busch Series. He had that title wrapped up in October. He can just coast through Saturday's Busch race (Ford 300 on TNT at 7 p.m. ET). No. 11 Denny Hamlin, fourth in Nextel Cup standings, looks good to take home rookie-of-the-year trophy.
Sorry No. 8 fans, at 115 points behind Johnson, Earnhardt Jr. is a long shot. There's always next year, Dale. Rounding out Nextel Cup's top 10 are No. 24 Jeff Gordon, No. 31 Jeff Burton, No. 6 Mark Martin, No. 9 Kasey Kahne and No. 5 Kyle Busch.

Watch the Ford 400/Nextel Cup Series Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.

For the Craftsman Truck Series championship, Johnny Benson trails Todd Bodine by 112 points before Friday's Ford 200 in Miami. Watch that race on Speed Channel at 7:30 p.m. ET

Check the NASCAR TV schedule for official airing times.

NASCAR drivers don't usually like to experience extreme oversteer in their racecars because it usually means they're spinning out of control and about to hit the wall. Tomorrow, however, a brave group of NASCAR Nextel Cup drivers will fight their instincts in a drift battle against some of the top D1 drifters at Irwindale Speedway, the site of this country's very first professional drift event in 2003. All of the proceeds from the event, called the Mopar D1 All-Star Duel presented by ShiftIntoGear, will go to the Kasey Kahne Foundation.

Kasey Kahne himself will be among the eight NASCAR drivers drifting it out at Irwindale, along with Bill Elliot, Robby Gordon, Matt Kenseth, Chris Cook, Greg Biffle and Casey Mears. The professional drifters, meanwhile, will be lead by none other than Samuel Hubinette, a.k.a. the Crazy Swede, and also include Ken Nomura, Toshiki Yoshioka, Voughn Gittin, Rhys Millen, Tanner Foust, Hideo Hiraoka, Takahiro Ueno and Tatsuya Sakuma.

Chris Cook, professional racer and part owner of the ShiftIntoGear professional driving school, will be responsible for educating the NASCAR drivers in the fine art of drifting before flying off to compete in the NASCAR Busch Series race at Kentucky Speedway this weekend.

We sure hope ESPN or some show is on hand to capture this event. Regardless of whether or not you're a fan of drifting, it's going to be fun to watch.

[Source: Irwindale Speedway]