by FOXSports.com

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People power is more important than horsepower. Rick Hendrick believes that. The 60-year-old multi-millionaire business executive's Chevrolet team has become the NASCAR Sprint Cup series' gold standard. Hendrick is virtually assured of a ninth Cup championship - and possibly an historic fourth in a row with Jimmie Johnson. Most of Hendrick's 6,000 employees - over 500 on his race teams - swear there's no better boss. When Kyle Busch was released to Joe Gibbs Racing two years ago, crew chief Alan Gustafson dismissed reports he might follow. "I'd rather sweep floors for Rick Hendrick than be a crew chief for someone else," he said. Hendrick, who answered questions from The Republic by e-mail because he was traveling internationally, calls that "humbling." "I take so much pride in watching these guys like Alan and Steve (Letarte, Gordon's crew chief), who have come up through the organization, from literally sweeping floors in the shop to being crew chiefs. I think it goes back to putting the right people in place and then providing them with opportunities to be successful and show what they're capable of doing . . . I can't tell you how gratifying that is." -- Arizona Republic

Jeff Gordon: Cup drivers running Nationwide races for extra money

Jeff Gordon asked why Cup drivers run Nationwide races: "Listen, the bottom-line, you want to know why those guys are running Nationwide races? For money. They're wanting extra money. The sponsors are there supporting the car owners to run the series. Those guys are able to make extra money. That's why they run it. Of course, somebody like Kyle, you know, has the opportunity to go win a championship, or Carl, then, hey, why not do that, too? But the Cup drivers that are over there, that's why they're doing it." -- Examiner

Ryan Newman: owning Cup team not one of my goals

Ryan Newman asked if he would like to be an owner/driver? "Honestly, that's not one of my goals. Other people have tried even before Tony. So I don't think that that is something that I'm interested in. I know that there are - it's kind of like when things are on a grand scale, when they're good they're great. But when they're bad, they're really bad. And I don't have any will to have those potential bad headaches. I think Tony's done a great job and Gene Haas as well as far as laying ground work and everything else in the shop. I don't know that you could ever try to repeat that or duplicate that." -- Augusta Chronicle

Jimmie Johnson: Phoenix double-file restarts will be interesting

Jimmie Johnson believes the flat, one-mile oval at Phoenix will make the decision to choose the inside or the outside a key on a double-file restart. "The double-file restarts will be interesting," Johnson said. "The bottom will probably be the preferred line. I think in turns 1 and 2 the outside will do a really good job of hanging on and can maintain down the backstretch. But in most cases the bottom of 3 and 4 is the preferred line, and we'll probably end up prevailing through the length of the race." -- USA Today

Regan Smith: lots of buzz about 2010 schedule

Running a part-time 20-race Sprint Cup schedule in 2009, the Furniture Row team is gearing up to run a full 36-race slate in 2010. "There's a lot of buzz at our Denver race shop right now," offered Regan Smith. "Both the team roster and the shop size are expanding. We all have an upbeat feeling heading into next season. Running all 36 races is going to make us a better team. It's been fun and we're even going to have more fun." -- Paddock Talk

Biffle Chasing momentum

Greg Biffle made the Chase without winning a race this year. He hasn't won a Chase race, either, but he is seventh in points. "Making the Chase this year was a lot of momentum for the team, and this sport is a lot about momentum," Biffle said. "Certainly, we'd like to win one of these last two races, but we're looking forward to finishing off the season the best we can and then being better next year. "The season has been a little disappointing for the 16 team. We came very close [to winning]. We almost won California [finished fourth]. We were right there at Las Vegas [seventh]. We would have probably won Texas, had we not dropped a lug nut. We would have won Michigan if we [hadn't] run out of gas 800 from the start/finish line. "The biggest gain for us was Kansas, the third race into the Chase. We felt we were on to something that had a lot of speed. But we haven't been able to hit on anything since then." -- Philadelphia Daily News

Montoya learns how to get to front in NASCAR

Juan Pablo Montoya has run up front almost his entire career, whether it be in CART, the 2000 Indianapolis 500 or Formula One. But it took him a while to learn how to get to the front in NASCAR. "You've got to get going all the time and it's a little harder," he said. "It's just a different perspective." -- USA Today

Three NASCAR-related entities making comebacks

When was the last time you had news about North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway, Petty Enterprises Inc. and Richard Childress' racing truck in the same story? All three NASCAR-related entities are making comebacks of sorts. North Wilkesboro, owned and operated by the much-beloved Enoch Staley for nearly half a century, closed for business the day after hosting its last NASCAR Cup Series event on Sept. 29, 1996. The .625-mile oval hosted many a bull-ring thriller before losing its Cup dates to Texas and New Hampshire, much newer and bigger tracks near urban areas. Wilkesboro will host at least two stock-car races in 2010. The ASA Late Model Series and a USARacing Pro Cup Championship Series race date. The short track hosted its first NASCAR Cup race during the inaugural year of the tour, in 1949, when it was called Strictly Stock. Wilkesboro hosted the last race of the year, and it was there NASCAR crowned Red Byron its first Cup champion. -- Daytona Beach News-Journal

Carl Edwards struggling

A season that started with championship promise can't get over soon enough for Carl Edwards. He made the Chase, but the last month has been a disaster. A wreck Sunday relegated him to a 39th-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway. In the last four Chase races, his finishes have been 39th, 20th, 14th and 39th. -- Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Montoya a good fit with NASCAR

As a racer with IndyCar and Formula One experience, Juan Pablo Montoya is qualified to compare NASCAR racing with other series. When you read what he says about major league stock-car racing, you might feel he has been NASCAR-ized. Whatever, ol' J.P. thinks NASCAR is No. 1. "People that complain about a NASCAR race haven't watched anything else in motor racing," Montoya said on a Tuesday conference call. "[NASCAR] is the greatest racing you can have in any motorsports scene. I'm not saying this because I'm here. I'm saying it because I've lived all of them." Before competing in his first Chase for the Championship, Montoya wasn't sure whether his No. 42 Chevrolet team was ready to challenge for the title. Montoya began the Chase impressively with four consecutive top-five finishes, putting him in third place, only 58 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson. In the next four Chase races, however, Montoya has only one top-five, and has drifted to sixth place, 236 points behind Johnson. With two races remaining, Montoya was asked whether he'll be a serious championship contender next year. "I guarantee a lot of people are going to be [telling] me, 'This is going to be the year you have to win the championship,' " Montoya said. "The key for our team [next year] is to be able to match the performance that we have this year. [Also] a lot depends on the work that is done during the winter, because it is key to being positioned for the following year." -- Philadelphia Daily News

Mark Martin: can't make predictions on Chase

Mark Martin on the championship battle: "We can't say that one race changed everything. Did we close in on Jimmie (Johnson)? Yes. But that doesn't mean that the whole Chase has changed. We're going to keep doing what we've done every race week: try to win. That's all I can do, and that's all this team can do. We aren't in control of anything else that happens. I've said all along that you can't make predictions, and I still say that it's not over. There are a lot more guys in contention than just me and Jimmie. The race is still on for all of us." -- Motorsport.com

Biffle happy with postseason banquet moving to Vegas

Greg Biffle is happy the postseason banquet has been moved from New York to Las Vegas. "I'm a little bit more of a Vegas guy than New York," Biffle said. "I don't have anything against New York. I enjoy going there, but it's cramped and busy and all that. I love to gamble, so I don't know if Vegas is good or bad for me." -- USA Today

Who Knew?

Hendrick Motorsports drivers have won five straight races at Phoenix, with Martin most recently visiting Victory Lane in April. Johnson earned the three previous victories, while Jeff Gordon won the April 21, 2007, contest after starting from the pole position. During the last nine races at the track, Hendrick Motorsports drivers have claimed six victories and six pole positions. -- Motorsport.com

Texas Motor Speedway ratings stay flat

Sunday's telecast of the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway earned a final national rating of 3.7, the same rating the event drew in 2007 and 2008. The telecast averaged 5.8 million viewers. ESPN2's broadcast of Saturday's O'Reilly Challenge earned a 0.9, down from 1.2 in 2008. -- Dallas Morning News

46,693 beer caps create NASCAR shrine

Sam Thornton always wanted a gar-age to do his mechanical tinkering, but what he got instead is a shrine. The walls are covered with more than 46,693 Coors and Budweiser bottle caps arranged in designs of the number of his favourite NASCAR drivers. The many shelves are filled with 67 replica model cars ranging from some of his favourites from the 40s, 50s and 60s to the modern racing machines he watches each weekend. "I'm not responsible for all those beer caps," laughs Thornton, a retired Chrysler employee. "I'm only 73 and I wouldn't be 73 if those were all mine. "People collect them and bring them by the bag full. I still have a little bit of wall to cover." Sprinkled amongst all the motorhead paraphernalia are mementos to his other great sporting passion -- hockey and more specifically the Montreal Canadiens. Next to his collection of Patrick Roy photos and artwork, Thornton proudly shows off Denis Potivin's stick autographed by the entire New York Islanders team from the club's run of four straight Stanley Cups in the early 1980s. Thornton said he never planned to turn his garage into a sports viewing mecca. He always just wanted a garage and used some of his Chrysler buyout money to build it six years ago. -- Montreal Gazette

Starbucks to make NASCAR debut with Martin Truex Jr. at Phoenix

The Starbucks coffee chain will make its NASCAR debut this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. Starbucks will serve as an associate sponsor on EGR's No. 1 Sprint Cup Chevrolet driven by Martin Truex Jr., and samples of the company's products will be available throughout the weekend. -- Scene Daily

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