NASCAR

The "Chase cut-off race" at Richmond International Raceway headlines a busy weekend of racing. Meanwhile, the IndyCar Series title will be decided in the season finale at Chicagoland.

Target Chip Ganassi Racing announced Tuesday that Dario Franchitti will replace Dan Wheldon in the team's No.10 car, starting in 2009. Franchitti, the 2007 Indianapolis 500 winner and IndyCar Series champion, will return to the open-wheel ranks after spending less than a year in NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series competition. He plans to make several more Nationwide starts this year.

To say Jeff Gordon will end the year without a victory is downright bold right now, but with 11 races remaining in the season, it's becoming more likely the four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion could end the year in the winless column for the first time since his rookie season in 1993. His last victory came 31 races ago, in October 2007 at Charlotte.

Jimmie Johnson won Sunday night's Pepsi 500 with a dominating performance at the Auto Club Speedway. The No.48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet driver and two-time defending Sprint Cup Series champion led 228 of 250 laps.

California-native Jimmie Johnson captured the pole for Sunday's Pepsi 500 at the Auto Club Speedway. The No.48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet driver and two-time defending Sprint Cup Series champion circled the two-mile oval in 39.912 seconds (180.397 mph).

NASCAR placed Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards on probation for the next six races of the Sprint Cup Series after the two traded intentional bumps following Saturday's Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee.

After a wild night of racing at the Bristol Motor Speedway last Saturday, the Sprint Cup Series will run under the lights again this Labor Day weekend at the Auto Club Speedway. The Nationwide Series will join the Sprint Cup in Fontana, Ca, while the IndyCar Series heads to "Motown" for a date at The Raceway at Bell Isle in Detroit.

Next year's Budweiser Shootout at Daytona will have a new format. NASCAR officials announced Tuesday the pre-season, non-points race at the Daytona International Speedway will feature the top-six teams from Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford and Toyota, based on the final 2008 car owner points. The field will no longer be based on the previous year's pole winners.

Gillett Evernham Motorsports announced Tuesday that Reed Sorenson has signed a multi-year contract to join the team, starting with the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.

Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards sparked NASCAR's next great rivalry Saturday night at the Bristol Motor Speedway, and while the two are currently first and second in the Sprint Cup Series point standings, the feud could escalate heading into the championship "Chase."