Randy and Ralph debate who should be charter members of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Can they narrow it to just five?

R & R Racing: The inaugural R&R Awards show.

MOORESVILLE, N.C.—NASCAR team owner Ray Evernham has bought a small North Carolina dirt track to preserve what he said is a disappearing venue for nourishing up-and-coming drivers. Evernham announced Tuesday that he acquired the East Lincoln Speedway in Stanley from Ralph and Joanne Nantz, who opened the 3/8-mile dirt track in 1990. The sale price was not disclosed.

LAST WEEK’S QUESTION Whose Cup championship three-peat do you consider to be the more impressive: Cale Yarborough’s or Jimmie Johnson’s? Why?

Ten things that make Ralph and Randy thankful for racing.

Ralph and Randy look at the end of NASCAR’s season and the prospects for 2009.

Former Cup champions Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth ended the season winless. For four-time champ Gordon, it was the first time since 1993, his rookie year, that he has not won. Kenseth’s last victory came here a year ago. “We need to be better,“ said Gordon, who finished fourth yesterday in the Ford 400. “There are just moments of greatness. We just can’t ever pull it all together. That’s where we know we’ve got to get better and that’s what we’re focusing on in the offseason.“

Nothing could stop Jimmie Johnson’s drive into the NASCAR record books. Not even a final, furious push by Carl Edwards. Edwards led a race-high 157 laps, ran out of gas as he crossed the finish line but still won yesterday’s season-ending race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. His series-high ninth win of the year wasn’t enough to wrest away the Sprint Cup title.

A two-tire stop and a late decision to stay on track during a caution period were just enough to give Johnny Benson the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series title by seven points over Ron Hornaday last night in a race that went to overtime. Todd Bodine won the Ford 200, but all eyes were on the championship contenders as Hornaday tried desperately to make up ground after falling behind in the pits during the final caution at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

David Reutimann won his first pole in time trials for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race, but yesterday’s qualifying efforts of Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards overshadowed Reutimann’s effort. Edwards—the only driver who has even a mathematical chance to catch Johnson in the chase for the Cup championship—qualified fourth. Johnson’s time-trial lap put him in the 30th starting spot, increasing the possibility that the points leader could get tangled up in an early crash.

NASCAR has suspended all testing at its sanctioned tracks next season in a cost-cutting measure aimed to help teams save several million dollars in 2009. The moratorium, which includes the traditional preseason testing at the Daytona International Speedway, is for NASCAR’s top three divisions. Teams cannot test at any track where a Sprint Cup, Nationwide Series or Truck Series event is held.

Are today’s NASCAR stars wimps compared to the brawlers of yesteryear?

NASCAR chairman Brian France doesn’t believe Jimmie Johnson’s last major steps toward a third straight points title had to be relegated to cable TV.

Trailing by 141 points in the Sprint Cup Chase, Carl Edwards knows he needs a miracle to deny Jimmie Johnson his third straight championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway next week. Edwards lost ground yesterday at Phoenix International Raceway, finishing fourth as Johnson won the race. “The thing we’ve got to do is we just have to keep our heads up and go to Homestead,“ Edwards said.

a closer look No longer is Denny Hamlin satisfied with making the Chase for the Cup. He wants to position himself to win his first Sprint Cup championship. Hamlin has qualified for NASCAR’s version of the playoffs in each of his three seasons. Yet, he has nothing to show for his efforts, in part, because he has endured a number of postseason setbacks.