ESPN's movie "3" about Dale Earnhardt debuts this Saturday at 9pm, and stars Barry Pepper as Dale. The movie follows the life of Dale Sr., his relationship with his son, and his refuse to lose attitude toward racing. After you check it out on TV, head on over to our web site's message boards and tell us what you think right here

It's Champions Week for the Busch Series and their new Champion Martin Truex Jr. He's been busy in both Tampa and Orlando Florida this week, with the awards show coming tonight starting at 7pm from the Tuscan Ballroom at the Porofino Bay Hotel. You can catch it on tape delay next Tuesday December 14th at midnite, so tape or tivo that one. Collective Soul is the musical guest for the evening.

Jimmie Johnson is getting married this weekend to longtime girlfriend Chandra Janway

Dec 9, 2004

Roush Racing has announced their crew chiefs for their two truck series teams in 05. Taking care of Ricky Craven's #99 ride will be Mike Beam who worked with Ricky on the 32 Cup team. For rookie Todd Kluever's #50 team it'll be John Monsam who helped Jon Wood grab two wins in 2003.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was voted the most popular driver for the second straight year. He won by a record setting 1.4 million votes which was more than the next six drivers combined. Jeff Gordon was second, followed by Kevin Harvick. This award dates back to 1956, with Bill Elliott winning it 16 times, and Richard Petty 9 times.

Recently DEI announced the swapping of the #15 and #8 crews, and Michael Waltrip said “I am happy with this decision. I feel we have a strong NAPA Team right now that will serve well for Dale Jr. next season. Obviously Tony Eury Jr. and the guys from the Bud car are some of the very best in the garage and I can’t wait to work with them. Ultimately this switch is to strengthen our effort as an entire team by using the very best resources from both sides. I know this switch will be talked about a lot in the days to come. I am just looking forward to Daytona testing in January when we can start to show everyone what a smart decision has been made.”

Dec 8, 2004

Akins Motorsports announced Jon Wolfe as the new crew chief for their #38 Great Clips Busch car for 2005. He comes from the Team Yellow car where he dealt with 10 drivers this year and got two polls, 3 top 5's, and 11 top 10's. Next year he'll work with Kasey Kahne and Tyler Walker who will split the driving duties.

Richard Childress Racing added a new sponsor for next year, SKF bearings and seals is on board with a multi-year associate sponsorship deal for all three RCR cars...the new #07, #29, and #31. SKF came over from Roush Racing.

Dale Jarrett and Elliott Sadler are going Busch Series racing for Robert Yates, driving the CitiFinancial car. They will share driving duties for 19 events starting at California Speedway, and will also include the new road course race in Mexico City on March 6th.

TESTING | NASHVILLE

Jeremy Mayfield and his #19 Dodge along with Bobby Hamilton's #32 will take to the track this week in preparation for the 2005 season.

Dec 7, 2004

Jimmie Johnson was named to Speed Channel's Driver of the Year - Fourth Quarter. He took home 4 wins in 5 races during the final 10 in the chase, and was second in the championship to Kurt Busch by only 8 points. The overall Driver of the Year vote will be announced soon.

Rabestos has named their rookies of the year in each series.
In the Truck Series, David Reutimann finished the season in fine fashion by sitting on the poll and finishing 4th at Miami.
In the Busch Series, Kyle Busch takes the honors with 5 polls, 5 wins, 16 top 5's and finished 2nd in points
In the Cup Series, Kasey Kahne was the top rookie with 4 polls, 13 toip 5's, and an amazing 5 second place finishes

If you are wondering what your favorite driver took home in the final 2004 winnings totals, here's the top 10

10 Jeremy Mayfield - $4.9 million dollars
9 Elliott Sadler - $6.2
8 Matt Kenseth - $7.4
7 Ryan Newman - $6.3
6 Tony Stewart - $7.8
5 Dale Earnhardt Jr. - $8.9
4 Mark Martin - $5.4
3 Jeff Gordon - $8.4
2 Jimmie Johnson - $8.2
1 Kurt Busch - $9.6

To answer your question, why are they so different? It's because each driver won different bonus winnings for various things.

TESTING | KENTUCKY

Yep, they are starting already trying to get a head start on the 2005 season. At the track this week are Jeff Green, Kyle Petty, Justin Labonte in the #00 Busch car, and Mike Bliss in the #0 Cup car. Could this mean Bliss will get this ride for next year? Nothing has been announced yet.