
| Posted: Tuesday March 20, 2007 10:24AM; Updated: Tuesday March 20, 2007 12:15PM Jeff Gordon completed 500 miles in one of the new Chevrolet R07 engine last week in a tire test at Darlington Raceway. Chevrolet officials had hoped that teams would see RCR use the engine for a full race weekend and put it in their main cars in the next few weeks. That probably won't happen. Scott Wimmer likely will attempt the April 15 race at Texas with the new engine for another race simulation try. Dale Earnhardt Jr. will pull the Bristol double with entries in both Cup and Busch Series races. Besides driving his No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet in Sunday's Food City 500 at BMS, he will be making his 2nd 2007 Busch Series start in the No. 8 Menards Chevrolet in Saturday's Sharpie Mini 300. Ryan Newman won the pole for this past Friday for the Atlanta race. But winning poles doesn't seem to translate into wins for Newman who is now on the brink of setting a modern-era record that he probably does not want. Newman has gone winless in the last 26 races that he has started from the pole. This places him in a tie for second with Ricky Rudd (who snapped his 26-race losing streak in 2001). AT&T sued NASCAR after meeting resistance to its efforts to replace the Cingular brand with the AT&T brand on the No. 31 Chevy car that the company sponsors. The complaint, filed in federal court in Atlanta, also seeks a declaratory ruling and damages. Juan Pablo Montoya flipped off the flat screen in his motor home late Saturday after three laps of the Australian Grand Prix. Was it too painful to watch ex-Formula One teammate Kimi Raikkonen win on the international circuit where Montoya drove from 2001 to 2006? No, Montoya said, too predictable. In another sign he is blending in quickly with the stock-car set, Montoya also has seen enough of F1. After finishing fifth in his fifth NASCAR start, the first person to congratulate Juan Pablo Montoya outside his No. 42 Dodge was veteran Jeff Burton, who offered a hearty handshake and words of encouragement -- the first of many from peers impressed by the Colombian's rapid transition from open-wheel racing. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||