- Kyle Busch's new crew chief knows what's coming.
Dave Rogers also knows that it won't do any good to worry about being on the receiving end of the demanding driver's first tirade.
"I'm probably going to take some beatings from him," Rogers said. "We all know that he can be verbal, and I'm probably going to have a give a few back. It's going to be a good working relationship."
Busch and Rogers will make their debut in today's Sprint Cup race at Texas. Joe Gibbs Racing announced last week that Steve Addington would be replaced as Busch's crew chief after last weekend's event at Talladega.
Addington and Busch, known for berating his crew when he doesn't like his car or the pit efforts, won 12 times in 68 races since the start of 2008. That included four wins this year, but they narrowly missed the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.
"I'm disappointed for Steve. I'm humbled," Rogers said. "I'm slightly surprised but not really. Everything changes so fast around here."
Rogers has been with the Gibbs team for years, serving on Tony Stewart's Cup championship team in 2002.
- Toyota's withdrawal from the Formula One circuit will not affect the manufacturer's commitment to NASCAR, a company executive said yesterday.
Lee White, the president and general manager of Toyota Racing Development, said that the operations are separate financially.
"It should have no effect whatsoever on our NASCAR program and our NASCAR plan and our NASCAR future," White said.
Toyota said Wednesday that it was withdrawing from F1 to cut costs and focus on its core business. White said that the money saved by withdrawing from F1 will not result in an expansion of the NASCAR program.
- Jimmie Johnson's commanding Sprint Cup series lead makes it possible for him to become the first driver in the Chase era to clinch the title before the finale.
Johnson can wrap it up next week in Phoenix, but that's not the way he's thinking.
"I feel like if we start focusing on average position where we need to finish, do some things that are different than what the 48 car does, we will set ourselves up for a problem," Johnson said. "I'm certainly not going to do stupid things on the track, take a lot of unneeded risk. But I've always been a believer of playing offense."
Johnson enters the Texas race with a 184-point lead.
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