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2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship
Nov 19, 2006 12:00 pm ET

The 2006 Nextel Cup Championship is hanging in the balance, and NASCAR is prepared to crown a new champion this Sunday following the Ford 400 from Homestead-Miami Speedway. Jimmie Johnson is the likely candidate at this point, going into the season finale with a 63-point lead over Matt Kenseth. Don’t miss out on your last chance to get in on the NASCAR matchups, props and other betting options.

Legge has surgery on injured thumb
Katherine Legge underwent surgery on Thursday in Indianapolis to insert two screws into the joint of her right thumb. The PKV Racing driver suffered the injury in an opening lap incident with Mario Dominguez during last weekend's Champ Car finale in Mexico City. Despite the pain in her thumb, Legge returned to finish the race in 16th. "I just can't say enough about Champ Car medical staff," said Legge, who is recovering at home in Indianapolis. "They do a great job and it is very comforting knowing they are there for the drivers. I also want to thank Dr. Dickie, who performed the surgery. He did a fantastic job. I have a bit of pain right now, but that is to be expected. The good news is that when I recover I will be 100-percent." Legge made 14 starts for PKV Racing in her inaugural Champ Car campaign, earning four top-10 finishes including a career high sixth at Milwaukee. She qualified in the top-10 twice and finished third in laps completed and ninth in laps led with 11. She placed 16th in the final championship standings with 128 points and fifth in the Roshrans Rookie of the Year race. Legge became the first female to start a Champ Car/CART race since Lyn St. James at Michigan in 1995 and the first female to lead a Champ Car race in Milwaukee. Her sixth place finish at Milwaukee also set a new series high for a female driver, surpassing a ninth place finish by Janet Guthrie at the 1978 Indianapolis 500. Legge is expected to be back with the Champ Car series in 2007 but it's uncertain at this point if it will be with PKV Racing or another team.

Mosley: 20 races could be the F1 norm
FIA president Max Mosley says teams may have to accept a 20 race calendar in future years in order to protect several European events from being axed. Currently, teams are committed to 17 races which can be expanded to 18 provided that they are compensated by F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone. This past season, there were 18 races on the schedule, one less than the record 19 staged in 2005. Mosley says he'd like to see a better balanced schedule between European and non-European events. "There are still a disproportionate number of races in Europe," said the FIA president. "If you look at the Olympic Games, for instance, over the last 100 years around 50 percent of them have been in Europe and that is a little bit out of balance and we are even worse." "Places like India, China, Russia, South America, Central America - they are all very important markets." Despite dropping two races from the European leg of the schedule - the European Grand Prix and San Marino Grand Prix - nine of the 17 races will be in Europe next year. Burkhard Goeschel, who represented the Grand Prix Manufacturers Association in recent talks with FIA, says for his group, Europe and North America are their biggest markets, so he would be a little cautious when it comes to trimming European events. "The U.S. is still the most important market in the world," said Goeschel. "It is an area where F1 still has some weaknesses. There might be an interest from the car manufacturers to improve the situation in the U.S." Mosley adds they would like to add another North American race, likely in the United States, but that would involve compromise from the teams. "The ultimate sacrifice may have to be made by the teams having 20 races. That is to be discussed."

Champ Car finds new television home
The Champ Car World Series has confirmed a television agreement with ABC/ESPN for the 2007 season. The multi-year agreement will cover both the Champ Car World Series as well as the Cooper Tires Presents The Champ Car Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda and includes Spanish-language broadcast rights as well. ABC/ESPN will begin its partnership with Champ Car and Atlantic events in 2007, and will be become the exclusive broadcast partner for both series beginning in 2008. "Champ Car is moving into a bright new era in 2007 with four new venues and a newly-developed car for the series, and this new television agreement gives us even more reason to be optimistic about the future," said Champ Car President Steve Johnson. "This agreement allows us to bring the excitement of Champ Car racing to a greater number of fans while providing a stronger delivery platform for our sponsors and corporate partners." ABC/ESPN partnered with the Champ Car World Series as far back as 1983 and was a mainstay of the series through the 2001 season. Many of the great moments in the history of the series were seen live on ABC/ESPN including Alex Zanardi's 1997 win in Cleveland where he introduced the world to victory doughnuts and Mario Andretti's final Champ Car win at Phoenix in 1993. "Having the Champ Car World Series back on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC is a tremendous addition," said John Wildhack, senior vice president of programming and acquisitions for ESPN. "This series produces close, competitive and exciting racing and adds more strength to the lineup of world-class motorsports and automotive programming we are offering our viewers, particularly on ESPN2 as it becomes the destination for motorsports fans." As part of the deal, Champ Car and ABC/ESPN will also pursue strategies to exploit digital media applications as they pertain to the Champ Car World Series, including internet and wireless media opportunities. "We have been very happy with the treatment that the series has gotten from our television partners, but the opportunity to reach a long-term agreement with one network was attractive to us," said series co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven. "There are a great number of reasons to be excited about the future of Champ Car racing and this television package will make the series even more enticing to teams, drivers and sponsors."

Montoya to make NASCAR debut in Miami
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Juan Pablo Montoya will attempt to make his Nextel Cup debut at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the No. 30 Dodge, The Associated Press has learned. Car owner Chip Ganassi had briefly considered putting Montoya in the No. 42 Dodge, which is driven by Casey Mears and is guaranteed a spot in the field. The No. 30 is not, and Montoya will have to qualify the car to get into Sunday's race. ''He'll earn more respect if he qualifies the car then he will if he takes the freebie,'' Ganassi told the AP on Wednesday. ''And isn't that what this has all been about? Gaining respect? At the end of the day, Juan didn't want a free pass into the race.'' Montoya announced in July that he would leave Formula One, the world's premier auto racing series, to run NASCAR. He'll take over the No. 42 Dodge following Mears' departure from the team. Mears' final race with Ganassi is Sunday at Homestead, and the car owner said the No. 42 car was the best chance for the pair to score their first victory together. Mears led 75 laps at Homestead last season en route to his fifth-place finish. ''Casey led a lot of laps there, and I've got to give him every opportunity to win the race,'' Ganassi said. Mears had been opposed to driving the 30 car and had said in Phoenix on Sunday that he'd rather be released than drive a secondary car. Montoya has had mixed results through his first three Busch events: an impressive debut at Memphis, followed by struggles at Texas and a 20th-place finish at Phoenix on Saturday. But his latest effort was particularly frustrating because traffic at the back of the Busch field was often difficult to maneuver. Now he'll get a chance to test his skills against NASCAR's best in their season finale. He's said all along he thinks the Cup race will be a better barometer of where he stands in stock cars. The only problem is the No. 30 car won't be as competitive as the other Ganassi entries because its patchwork team will be serviced by a Busch series crew.

De la Rosa likes Ferrari's chances
Pedro de la Rosa believes Ferrari will start 2007 as the favourites to win the Formula One championship due to their experience with Bridgestone tires. "Next year's championship will be fought between McLaren, Ferrari and Renault," de la Rosa tells the Spanish news agency EFE. "(But) Ferrari are favourites, because they already have a lot of experience with Bridgestone." Bridgestone will be the sole tire supplier in 2007 following Michelin's withdrawl from the sport. The Japanese manufacturer has already said it will not favour one team over another and plans to offer a new, different tire spec for the upcoming season, which should put everyone on essentially the same playing field. But de la Rosa believes Ferrari's past experience will give them a slight advantage over the former Michelin teams. "It's hard to know how our car will adapt to the tires and that's where Ferrari have a small advantage. But it will be a very open championship." "McLaren's car will be good. We don't usually have two bad years. We come from a year without a win and it's unlikely that will happen again with the people that we have here." "Honda will be (in the championship chase) and so will BMW," added de la Rosa in sizing up the rest of the competition. "Then there's Toyota, who is always a box full of surprises." De la Rosa is still waiting to hear whether or not he will partner countryman Fernando Alonso at McLaren in 2007.

Tagliani seeks another Champ Car ride
Alex Tagliani's tenure at Team Australia appears to be over. Writing in his column on RDS.ca, Tagliani says he has spoken to several teams about next season, including Rocketsports Racing, Dale Coyne and RuSport. "I do not expect to return with Team Australia, the team with whom I spent the last two seasons," writes Tagliani. "I know that the team would like two Australian drivers next season and I cannot really blame them." Tagliani compares the situation to that of Player's Racing, which generally leaned towards fielding Canadian drivers when they were involved in the sport. Tagliani says if the choice were up to him, he would likely return to the Michigan-based Rocketsports team, where he ran for two seasons in 2003 and 2004. He adds that his departure from the team was a business decision and that he still maintains a good relationship with owner Paul Gentilozzi. Tagliani says he hopes to finalize his future plans by mid-December.

Klien tabbed as Honda Racing's new tester
Christian Klien's decision not to give up on his Formula One dream appears to have paid off, at least for the short-term. The former Red Bull Racing driver has landed the test and reserve driver role with Honda Racing for 2007. He will replace Anthony Davidson, who is moving on to a full-time ride with Super Aguri after three seasons in the testing role at Honda. James Rossiter will also join Honda as a test driver next season. "Christian has accumulated a great deal of experience in Formula One over the past three years and this should prove extremely valuable to us given the limitations placed on teams by the new testing regulations," said Honda Sporting Director Gil de Ferran. "We expect Christian to play an important role in the development of the RA107 and we look forward to working very closely with him in the winter, together with James who steps up to be an official test driver for us." Klien spent three less than impressive seasons with Jaguar/Red Bull, accumulating 14 points in 46 Grand Prix starts. His best finish was fifth at the 2005 Chinese Grand Prix. A graduate of the Red Bull driver development programme, the Austrian was dropped by Red Bull at the end of the 2006 season in favour of Mark Webber. He was offered a fully-funded ride in the Champ Car series, but elected to forgo that offer in order to remain in Formula One. "This is a fantastic opportunity for me to work with one of the top manufacturers in Formula One and alongside two of the best race drivers," said Klien. "I have three years of F1 experience to contribute and I am looking forward to helping Honda to achieve its ambitions. Equally, I have a great opportunity to progress my own career. I am very much looking forward to driving the car for the first time when winter testing begins."

Davidson latest to get Super Aguri shot
Anthony Davidson will get his chance at a full-time Formula One drive. The longtime Honda tester has been confirmed as Takuma Sato's teammate at Super Aguri next season. Davidson has been the test and reserve driver with Honda since 2004, consistently topping the timesheets on the Friday free practice sessions. His previous F1 races include two stints with Minardi in 2002 and with Honda in 2005. "This is a great opportunity for me and I'm really excited about my first full season as a race driver in Formula One," said Davidson. "I'd like to thank everyone at the Super Aguri F1 Team and Honda for giving me this chance. "I'm looking forward to working with everyone at SAF1 - I've been impressed with the improvements the team has made through the 2006 season, and I can already see from my first visits to the factory that the team is very hard-working and highly motivated. I can't wait to get started!" Davidson will become the fourth teammate for Sato in less than a year since Super Aguri took to the track in January. Last season the team started with rookie Yuji Ide before being forced to replace him after four races with test driver Franck Montagny. He lasted seven starts before Sakon Yamamoto took over the reigns for the remaining seven races of the season. "As you know, Anthony has been with Honda as a test driver for a while now and he brings to us a wealth of experience in Formula One," said team boss Super Aguri. "I believe that he will make a positive impact on the team and that he will fit into the family atmosphere that we have at Super Aguri perfectly."

Nascar Schedule
November
19th Ford 400 Homestead-Miami Speedway Homestead, Florida

Busch Schedule
November
18th Ford 300 Homestead-Miami Speedway Homestead, Florida

Craftsman Schedule
November
17th Ford 200 Homestead-Miami Speedway Homestead, Florida