• Mears Replaces Gordon in France: Mears will join fellow Nextel Cup star Jimmie Johnson in representing the United States in the all-star race, an event matching drivers from around the world. Gordon, a four-time Cup champion, was scheduled to race in Paris, but had to withdraw after coming down with a severe case of the flu. Gordon became dehydrated and spent Wednesday night receiving intravenous fluids. He was released from the hospital Thursday but was still ailing, spokesman Jon Edwards said. Robbie Loomis, the crew chief on Gordon's No. 24 Cup car, flew to New York to fill in for the driver at a breakfast Friday morning, but Gordon still hoped to be well enough attend to the NASCAR awards ceremony Friday night. (FoxSports)

• Dale Earnhardt, Jr. most popular again:  The fans made it official -- again. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the most popular driver in NASCAR's Nextel Cup series. For the second straight year, Earnhardt drew the most votes in online balloting for the National Motorsports Press Association's Most Popular Driver Award. `It was fun to win it last year, but to get two in a row really means a lot to me,'' said Earnhardt, who won a career-high six races in 2004 and finished fifth in the season standings. ``I've learned this year about how loyal and supportive my fans are. My team had our best season ever, but we also had a lot of trouble along the way, including my injuries.''  Earnhardt was burned in a crash during a sports car event in California and had to use a relief driver in two races. Junior also faced adversity when he was docked 25 points by NASCAR after uttering a vulgarity during a live TV interview in October after winning a race in Talladega. (Yahoo/AP)

• Blaney in RCR car; Jack Daniels on board: The Jack Daniel Distillery announced today it has entered into a partnership with Richard Childress Racing (RCR) as the primary sponsor of the No. 07 Chevrolet Monte Carlo for the 2005 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series with veteran driver Dave Blaney and crew chief Philippe Lopez. “We are thrilled to be making this announcement and look forward to a mutually beneficial relationship with RCR,” said Mike Keyes, senior vice president of Brown-Forman Beverages and global general manger for Jack Daniel’s. “Richard Childress is a legend in NASCAR racing and we believe that this is the beginning of an excellent partnership. Putting together two iconic brands like Jack Daniel’s and RCR opens up a wealth of opportunities and we couldn’t be more excited for our consumers, fans and everyone who loves this sport.” The company applauded NASCAR’s decision to allow distilled spirits sponsorships next year in the NEXTEL Cup. Keyes  noted that the company’s marketing, advertising and public relations campaigns have always been grounded in responsibility and that will continue with the RCR sponsorship. “This sponsorship makes sense from a business standpoint – and it also makes sense from a responsibility standpoint,” continued Keyes. “We will be promoting our key message, “Pace Yourself, Drink Responsibly” on a recurring basis and, like everything we do, our marketing will be directed to adult audiences of legal drinking age.”  Blaney, the 1995 World of Outlaws sprint car champion, is a veteran of 163 NEXTEL Cup Series starts since 1992. The 42-year-old Hartford, Ohio native began his tenure with RCR in June at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, taking over the reigns of the No. 30 Chevrolet. He was instrumental in advancing the program to a new plateau and was immediately on Childress’ short list to be the team’s full-time pilot in 2005. (RCR PR)

• Hendrick Wins Award: Team owner Rick Hendrick is the latest winner of the Buddy Shuman Award. Shuman was a popular NASCAR driver in the early 1950s who died in a hotel fire in 1955. The award has been given annually since 1957, honoring someone from the NASCAR community for contributions to the sport. Hendrick, a popular figure in the garage area, lost his son, his brother, two nieces and two key team officials among the 10 persons who died in an Oct. 24 crash of a team plane on the way to a race in Virginia. Hendrick's team has won five Cup championships and fields cars in both the Cup and Busch Series. (FoxSports)

• Gordon in Hospital; to Miss Race: NASCAR superstar Jeff Gordon spent Wednesday night in the hospital because of flu-like symptoms that will keep him from racing in a dream head-to-head matchup with Formula One ace Michael Schumacher on Saturday in Paris, a team spokesman said Thursday night. Gordon and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson were scheduled to represent the USA in the Race of Champions Nations Cup, an international all-star event. "He's definitely under the weather," Johnson said earlier Thursday. "And being as dehydrated as he is with the flu symptoms, being on an airplane for eight hours is probably not a good move." (USA Today)

• Fox races go High-Def: NASCAR on FOX hits the gas on its fifth season in grand style with razor sharp 720p high-definition pictures accompanied by crystal clear Dolby 5.1 audio. FOX's Emmy Award-winning coverage begins during SpeedWeeks at Daytona, returning to the airwaves on Saturday, Feb. 12 (8:00pm/et), with a prime time presentation of the Bud Shootout, live from Daytona International Speedway. Coverage continues from Daytona with the 2005 season's inaugural NASCAR Busch Series event on Saturday, Feb. 19 (2:00pm/et), and culminates with live, flag-to-flag coverage of the 47th running of "The Great American Race" — the Daytona 500 — on Sunday, February 20 (12:00pm/et). "We're thrilled to present the entire NASCAR on FOX 2005 season in 720p High Definition clarity and Dolby 5.1 audio," said FOX Sports Chairman David Hill. "Our HD broadcasts will ensure that fans at home are treated to the visceral experience that NASCAR action provides to those present at the speedway, which is precisely what we at FOX Sports aim to deliver as broadcasters." NASCAR racing legend Darrell Waltrip and former champion crew chief Larry McReynolds return to provide race analysis for all NASCAR on FOX Nextel Cup and Busch Series events, and Mike Joy returns as race announcer. Prerace coverage is again hosted by Chris Myers with analyst Jeff Hammond, and returning to cover pit road for FOX are reporters Dick Berggren, Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum and Jeanne Zelasko. In its fifth season as the home of NASCAR, FOX Sports airs 15 NASCAR Nextel Cup races. Last season, the average per-race audience for FOX's "regular season" NASCAR Nextel Cup schedule (Rockingham through Sears Point) was 9.03 million viewers, identical to the figures posted in 2003. NASCAR Nextel Cup racing has retained its status as the second highest-rated sport televised nationally, trailing only the National Football League. NASCAR on FOX' 2004 regular-season average rating of 5.6/14, topped the regular season average of the NBA on ABC by 133% (vs. 2./4/16), the biggest margin ever between those two sports. FOX's 5.6/14 for regular season Nextel Cup racing was also +22% better than ABC's 4.6/10 for the NBA playoffs.  (FoxSports.com)

• CitiFinancial to Sponsor NASCAR Busch Series Race Car in 2005: CitiFinancial has announced that it will expand its partnership with Robert Yates Racing (RYR) by sponsoring 19 NASCAR Busch Series races in 2005 - the first time the company has taken the primary sponsorship on a NASCAR racing car. CitiFinancial will continue the associate sponsorship deals that it initiated this year with RYR on its No. 88 UPS Ford and No. 38 M&M Ford, which compete in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup. "We're excited about taking this great partnership with Robert Yates Racing and NASCAR to the next level," said Kevin Kessinger, Executive Vice President of Citigroup's Global Consumer Group and President of Consumer Finance North America. "This is a big step for CitiFinancial, and we couldn't be happier that we're taking it with these exceptional organizations." The NASCAR Busch Series, the second highest-rated motor sport in the United States, offers a great mix of rising young stars and established veterans competing week in and week out. All 34 of its events are broadcast live on FOX/NBC or FX/TNT. Dale Jarrett and Elliott Sadler will share seat time in the CitiFinancial car, which will make its debut on Feb. 26 at the California Speedway. The 19-race deal also includes NASCAR's debut in Mexico, where the Banamex logo will be added to the CitiFinancial car for the March 6 event at the historic Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez road course. "We could not be more pleased to enhance this relationship," said Harry Goff, President and CEO of CitiFinancial. "Many of us at CitiFinancial - our employees and our customers - are huge NASCAR fans. The first year of our partnership was a tremendous success, and we look forward to a long relationship with Robert Yates Racing and this great sport." "We are excited to be a part of CitiFinancial's first ever primary sponsorship and proud to be associated with a company that values teams on and off the track," said Robert Yates, owner of Robert Yates Racing. "Together we make a very successful team." - (CitiFinancial/RYR PR)

December 2, 2004:

• Bestwick Out? Webber in? Jayski.com is reporting Allen Bestwick who has been NBC's lead announcer since NBC has televised races, will take over as host or may lead the pit road.  Lead pit road reporter and pre-race host Bill Weber will assume the play-by-play call with Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach.

• NBC/TNT Races in High-Def: Beginning next year, NBC and Turner Network Television (TNT) will televise their entire portion of the 2005 NASCAR schedule in high-definition. Viewers will be able to experience the unrivaled picture clarity and quality sound of high-definition as the networks combine to exclusively televise the second half of the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series and NASCAR Busch Series races. TNT and NBC's full-season of HD NASCAR coverage will begin with NASCAR Busch Series and NASCAR NEXTEL Cup racing during the weekend of July 1 and 2, 2005 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. NASCAR in HD debuted on NBC on February 15th for the network's coverage of the Daytona 500 and on TNT on September 11th for the championship field-setting race at Richmond International Raceway. All of the main cameras used for NBC and TNT's coverage, as well as the production truck, will be native HD. The feed will be transmitted in high-definition and formatted for 4x3 high-definition and standard-definition. The NASCAR telecasts on both TNT and NBC will be broadcast in 1080i native HD using Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. Currently, TNT also presents all of its 2004-05 NBA coverage in high-definition.(NBC PR)

• In-Car Deal Extended: NASCAR Digital Entertainment was scheduled to announce today a two-year extension of its deal with iN Demand for NASCAR In Car services through the 2006 Nextel Cup season, the Sports Business Daily reports.The multichannel digital sports package includes seven channels of in-car camera coverage, as well as team communications and virtual dashboards. Financial terms are not scheduled to be announced.(NASCAR Scene Daily Newsletter)

• New Crew Chief for Bobby Labonte: Steve Addington has been named Bobby Labonte's crew chief on the #18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet for the 2005 season. Addington comes to the #18 Interstate Batteries car after one year as crew chief for the No. 20 Rockwell Automation Busch Series car for JGR, which was driven by Mike Bliss in the 2004 season and finished fifth in the final Busch point standings. "Steve brings a great deal of racing knowledge and leadership to the Interstate Batteries team," said J.D. Gibbs, president of JGR. "He did a great job with the #20 Rockwell Automation car in the Busch Series last year, and we look forward to a lot of success with him in 2005." During the 2004 season, Addington helped Bliss to his first career Busch Series victory Oct. 15 at Charlotte and 14 top-10 finishes. Prior to working with JGR, Addington was crew chief for Jason Keller in the Busch Series, first at KEL Racing from 1990-96 and then at ppc Racing from 1999-2003..(Joe Gibbs Racing PR)

December 1, 2004:

• Fox NASCAR Schedule Out: NASCAR on FOX hits the gas on its fifth season in grand style with razor sharp 720p high-definition pictures accompanied by crystal clear Dolby 5.1 audio. FOX's Emmy Award-winning coverage begins during SpeedWeeks at Daytona, returning to the airwaves on Saturday, Feb. 12 (8:00 PM ET), with a prime time presentation of the Bud Shootout, live from Daytona International Speedway. Coverage continues from Daytona with the 2005 season's inaugural NASCAR Busch Series event on Saturday, Feb. 19 (2:00 PM ET), and culminates with live, flag-to-flag coverage of the 47th running of "The Great American Race" — the Daytona 500 — on Sunday, February 20 (12:00 PM ET).   "We're thrilled to present the entire NASCAR on FOX 2005 season in 720p High Definition clarity and Dolby 5.1 audio," said FOX Sports Chairman David Hill. "Our HD broadcasts will ensure that fans at home are treated to the visceral experience that NASCAR action provides to those present at the speedway, which is precisely what we at FOX Sports aim to deliver as broadcasters."  NASCAR Busch Series racing on FOX — second only to NASCAR Nextel Cup racing as the most watched motor sport in the country — is featured five times on the network, including NASCAR's first-ever visit south of the border on Sunday, March 6 (3:00 PM ET) when the Busch Series visits Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City. Other highlights include Saturday, April 16 from Texas Motor Speedway (2:00 PM ET), and Saturday, April 30 from Talladega Superspeedway (2:00 PM ET). (FoxSports) (2005 Nextel Schedule)

• NASCAR opened the Markets today: Timothy Donahue, President and Chief Executive Officer of NASDAQ-100 Nextel Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: NXTL); George Pyne, Chief Operating Officer of NASCAR; Kurt Busch, 2004 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Champion; Jimmie Johnson; Jeff Gordon; Mark Martin; Dale Earnhardt Jr.; Tony Stewart; Ryan Newman; Matt Kenseth; Elliott Sadler; Jeremy Mayfield; Donald Trump, Chairman, President and CEO of the Trump Organization; and Irish Tenor Ronan Tynan will preside over the Market Open. Following the open, a Victory Lap ceremony, staring at 9:45 a.m. will begin when Donald J. Trump will then say the most famous words in racing -- "Gentlemen Start Your Engines" -- and wave the Green Flag. The show cars of the top 10 drivers will roar down Broadway, turn left on 42nd Street and finally take a "checkered flag" at NASCAR's New York office on 52nd Street and Park Avenue. (NASCAR PR)

• Wallace Out of Busch Ride: NASCAR veteran Mike Wallace has left the Busch Series team owned by the Biagi Brothers for whom he has driven for during the past three years. The #4 team, which carries sponsorship from GEICO, are planning to announce a new driver-development program with an existing Nextel Cup outfit, expect a younger driver to be named.

• Official Tax Service of NASCAR: Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc. today announced a three-year sponsorship with NASCAR, in which Jackson Hewitt Tax Service will be known as "The Tax Service of NASCAR." Jackson Hewitt's motorsports marketing strategy also includes an endorsement sponsorship of three NASCAR NEXTEL Series drivers - Greg Biffle, #16 Ford, recent winner of the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Ford 400 at Homestead - Miami Speedway; Michael Waltrip, #99 Chevrolet [Busch Series], two-time Daytona Champion; and Kasey Kahne, #9 Dodge, 2004 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Rookie of the Year. These sponsorships, which were brokered by motorsports marketing agency, Just Marketing, will run through the 2007 tax season, and will also feature promotional offerings, guest appearances and use of the NASCAR trademark in marketing communications. The Jackson Hewitt Tax Service promotion for NASCAR fans will run from January 3, 2005 through April 30, 2005, and will provide customers with free NASCAR gear and a money-saving coupon. The coupon, which will be available on jacksonhewitt.com/racinggear (PRNewswire/Arizona Racing Times)

• Ken Schrader in Tenn. Racing: NASCAR Cup star Ken Schrader will be at Cleveland Speedway this Saturday night to compete in the Lamar Mowery Memorial Toys for Tots 45.  Schrader, one of the few remaining Cup drivers to race the short tracks, will have his hands full as he tries to master the tricky third mile east Tennessee oval. He will not only be battling the track he will be battling a host of local and area talent all set on keeping the visiting star out of victory lane. (WhoWon)

• DEI Shake-up, Eury Jr, to #15, and More: Dale Earnhardt, Inc. has announced various internal motorsports promotions effective for the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season. Tony Eury, Sr. has been promoted from Crew Chief of the #8 Chevrolet to Director of Competition. Steve Hmiel, previous Director of Competition, will now be the Technical Director for Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Pete Rondeau has been moved to the Crew Chief position of the #8 Budweiser Chevrolet. He took over as Crew Chief on the #15 NAPA Chevrolet during the latter portion of the 2004 Nextel Cup Series season. Rondeau led Earnhardt, Jr. to a Busch Series win at Bristol Motor Speedway this year and Ron Fellows to a second-place finish at Watkins Glen International. Tony Eury, Jr. will Crew Chief the #15 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet of Michael Waltrip. Eury, Jr. was the Car Chief on the #8 Chevrolet for the past five seasons and was also instrumental in Earnhardt, Jr’s two Busch Series championships. The #8 and #15 core members of the teams will collectively transfer intact with the promotions of Eury Jr. and Rondeau, as well. Richie Gilmore, Vice-President of Motorsports for DEI, said the moves come on the heels of a successful season and the teams wanted to improve and achieve even greater success. “We all sat down and talked because we want all of our teams to produce even better results,” Gilmore said. “Everyone is excited about this and we’re already getting ready for Daytona testing. We think the results will show up immediately.” (DEI Site)

• In addition Slugger out of DEI; To Evernham: Richard "Slugger" Labbe -- who served as #15-Michael Waltrip's crew chief earlier this season and also worked with Earnhardt Jr. Truex's teams, has left DEI and joined Evernham Motorsports. Evernham officials confirmed Labbe has been named director of speedway development, over Evernham's #9 and #19 Dodges, driven by Kasey Kahne and Jeremy Mayfield, respectively. (ThatsRacin.com)

November 30, 2004:

• Not racing, Williams NBC News: When Brian Williams takes over as anchor for NBC Nightly News for Tom Brokaw on Wednesday, he will be the first to usher in a new generation of network anchors.  But, the long-time NBC correspondent is anything but nervous, "I'm looking forward to gaining all these new friends, looking forward to the getting-to-know-you phase."  Away from the anchor desk Williams calls himself an average guy, "I have two young kids. I have a two-car garage in the suburbs. That gives me a world view. " A world he will now view from the top spot.  Williams is also an avid NASCAR fan, "Big NASCAR freak, I'm a 'gear-head,' what they call a 'gear-head.' I read a ton of books. I've had a life-long interest in the American Presidency, American History, Biography. I haven't read a work of fiction in 15 years, and my wife gets after me for."  (NBC News)

• Johnson picked Driver of the Year, by fellow racers:  It came down to the final race. First and third place were separated by 21 points heading into that race; it was anyone's championship to win. Although Kurt Busch held on to first place, Jimmie Johnson — who finished second to Greg Biffle in the race and shaved 10 points off Busch's lead, falling eight short — was chosen in a vote by his fellow competitors as the fourth annual Sporting News Driver of the Year.  "That's cool," says Johnson, who finished second in points for the second year in a row. "That means a lot, especially since it's decided on by everybody in the garage area. You work week in and week out, and you don't know if the accomplishments you achieve are being noticed, whether your effort is respected or what others' opinions are of you. That really means the world to me. That's just incredible. I had no idea they thought that much of me." (The Sporting News)

• Track sues makers of Stacker 2/YJ Stinger: Big time race sponsorships cost money-in the case of the Busch Series Stacker 2 Hundred at Dover International Speedway, $350,000. But according to a complaint filed with the Superior Court of Newcastle County Delaware, the speedway hasn't been paid. The complaint, obtained by Rowdy, also alleges that NVE Pharmaceuticals, which owns Stacker 2 and YJ Stinger, did not spend another $325,000 to market the event, as agreed to in the contract. (Rowdy PR) For information Call 1-800-95-ROWDY to sign up for a free, no obligation trial.

• New Seats at Kansas Speedway: Kansas Speedway President Jeff Boerger announced today that construction has begun to add 1,500 seats to Kansas Speedway for 2005. Three new sections of permanent grandstand seats are being added to the on grade front stretch near Turn 1. Because of Kansas Speedway’s bowl-shaped design, the new seats will continue to provide some of the best views of the race track, Pit Road and all the exciting track action – from start to finish. With the addition of the seats, total capacity of Kansas Speedway’s grandstand will be nearly 82,000. The new seats are bench-style seats with backs in varying shades of green – depicting Kansas’ waving fields of wheat.   Permanent concession stands and restroom facilities are also being added during this construction phase.  (WhoWoon)

• Army Helicopters NASCAR Windshield Technology: A laminate that protects NASCAR racecar windshields from rocks and debris will soon give extra protection to Army helicopters flying in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Army's Aviation Applied Technology Directorate at Fort Eustis, Va., started testing the concept in March and just got the green light to begin applying the Mylar polyester coating to the windshields of operational aircraft. Nathan Bordick, an engineer working on the project, said the Army borrowed the idea from NASCAR, where teams have been applying multiple layers of the peelable coatings to vehicle windshields for years to resist cracking, chipping and scratching. Periodically throughout a race, pit crews peel away a layer, leaving a clear, undamaged windshield for the laps ahead, he said.(American Forces Press Service / Conservative Voice.)

• Chase Ratings Up 38%: NBC's broadcast of the Nov. 21 Ford 400 Nextel Cup finale earned a final 6.2 rating from Nielsen Media Research, The New York Times reports. The figure is up 37.8 percent from last year's event. The story says the race was seen by 9.9 million viewers and says the 10 races in the inaugural Chase For The Nextel Cup showed a 12 percent ratings increase, to a 4.6, with an average of 7.3 million viewers per race.(NASCAR Scene Daily Newsletter)

November 29, 2004:

• Pocono Raceway Acquires South Boston Speedway: Pocono Raceway has acquired South Boston Speedway, Pocono officials announced today, South Boston Speedway, which recently completed its 47th year of operation, is a NASCAR sanctioned 4/10 mile paved oval located in South Boston, Virginia. For the past five years, the Speedway has been directed by its President Joe Mattioli III, son of Dr. Joe Mattioli, CEO of Pocono Raceway and Manager Cathy Rice. During that time, South Boston has achieved the distinction of being recognized by Circle Track Magazine (March 2002) as the "Leader of the new generation of Super Short Tracks". Additionally South Boston boasts one of the biggest fields of NASCAR Late Model Stock Cars, averaging over 24 cars per event with each event paying $3,000 to win. South Boston has proven to be a great training ground for both competitors and future motorsports facility managers. Nick Igdalsky, Dr. Mattioli’s grandson, is currently working at South Boston, as well as competing in their Pure Stock Division. The acquisition will provide Pocono with a presence in the Southeast and will align South Boston with the excitement and prestige of Pocono, a NASCAR Nextel Cup facility, providing both venues with joint marketing and promotional opportunities. The management of South Boston will remain unchanged. "We are excited about the opportunities that this acquisition will provide, allowing South Boston to reach new heights that it would not be able to achieve on its own", commented Joe Mattioli, South Boston's President. In addition to its NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series events, the Speedway promotes events for USAC Ford Focus Midgets and two nationally televised Hooters Pro Cup events. South Boston will honor its 2004 champions on Saturday evening, December 11th. - (South Boston Speedway PR)

• Kurt Busch starts media tour: Las Vegas native Kurt Busch begins a five-day whirlwind tour of New York today as NASCAR's inaugural Nextel Cup champion with two scheduled network TV appearances. Busch, 26, who captured the Chase for the Championship title by eight points over Jimmie Johnson eight days ago in Miami, will appear on NBC's "Today" show (7 to 10 a.m., KVBC-TV, Channel 3) and the syndicated talk show "Live with Regis & Kelly" (9 to 10 a.m., KTNV-TV, Channel 13). Segment times are not known. Also, Busch is tentatively listed by NASCAR as a guest for today's airing of CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman" (11:35 p.m., KLAS-TV, Channel 8). However, the show's Web site lists actor George Clooney and six-time Tour de France cycling champion Lance Armstrong as guests. Busch, a Durango High School graduate, will be feted around New York over the five days, culminating with NASCAR's season-ending banquet at the Waldorf-Astoria on Friday night. - (The Las Vegas Review-Journal)

• Artist suing over trophy design : A freelance designer and artist is gearing up for a battle against auto racing behemoth NASCAR, the Franklin Mint and the Mint's former president. Matthew T. Scharle of Barrington, N.J., filed a lawsuit last week against all three, seeking credit for the new Nextel Cup Series Championship trophy, which he claims to have designed. "It's not my intention to hurt NASCAR," said Matthew T. Scharle, who lives in this small Camden County borough. "I love the sport. I just want recognition for the design work I did." Scharle's lawyer Neal A. Jacobs said Scharle's suit also seeks compensation for the alleged incorrect identification of the trophy's designer and related copyright issues. The Franklin Mint, the Aston, Pa.-based collectible marketer, is involved in the matter because, two years ago, NASCAR hired it to design the new trophy. Jeffrey S. Edwards, a lawyer representing Franklin Mint, said the Mint believes it is inappropriate to comment on pending litigation. On Nov. 9, the NASCAR sued Scharle, Franklin Mint and former Franklin Mint President Bruce J. Newman, seeking an injunction to block Scharle from taking any action to interfere with the awarding of the trophy trackside after NASCAR's final race Nov. 21 or at NASCAR's Dec. 3 banquet. "NASCAR dealt with the Franklin Mint during the design process and is very proud of the trophy and what it symbolizes," the association said in a statement. "NASCAR maintains that it owns all rights, title and interest in the design of the NASCAR Nextel Cup trophy and in the trophy itself, including the right of attribution and all other worldwide copyrights as spelled out in NASCAR's agreements with the Franklin Mint." In its lawsuit, NASCAR stated any dispute between Scharle, who was paid for his work by Franklin Mint, and Franklin Mint should be handled by those two parties through binding arbitration.(MSNBC.com)