NASCAR Notebook: Head of VW racing has people talking

■ The head of Volkswagen's motorsports program is at Homestead-Miami Speedway, fueling speculation that the automaker is interested in joining Toyota as the second foreign manufacturer in NASCAR.

Top NASCAR officials confirmed to The Associated Press that Hans-Joachim Stuck plans to meet with the sanctioning body. The officials requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the meeting. The topic of the meeting was unclear.

Earlier this season, NASCAR chairman Brian France said the sanctioning body is open to accepting new manufacturers into the sport. The only requirement is that manufacturers must have production plants in the U.S.

Volkswagen has a plant under construction in Tennessee, and the complex is scheduled to build midsize sedans in 2011.

■ Denny Hamlin will have arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Wednesday. He will need about two weeks of recovery.

"When I get out of the car, it really is stiff and the joints really hurt a bunch," Hamlin said. "It's something that needs to be done for the long run."

Hamlin has three wins, qualified for the Chase and is in eighth place this season.

■ Jamie McMurray feels right at home at Earnhardt Ganassi Racing.

He should. He's been there before.

McMurray's ride for Roush Fenway Racing today will be his last after four years with the team. He signed this week with EGR, where he was reunited with Chip Ganassi, the owner who gave the driver his first Cup ride in 2002.

McMurray expressed no regret about signing with owner Jack Roush after the 2005 season. But he sometimes felt lost in the shuffle as part of the organization's five-car lineup, something he won't have to worry about next season.

"I remember telling him that day he was making the right decision, when he left us," Ganassi said. "Those were the days when it looked like he needed a big, four-car team. I hope our team has shown this year maybe you don't need to have all that to do well."

■ Juan Pablo Montoya's best season in NASCAR has made him a bigger hit with the Hispanic community.

"I think it's great to see the Latin community paying attention to what we're doing," he said.

Montoya, NASCAR's only Colombian star, has expanded the sport's popularity outside of the United States. He answers questions from the Hispanic media in Spanish, fans wave Colombian flags in the stands, and South Florida fans have made him the most popular driver this week.

It might be too much attention. Montoya, sixth in the points standings, has been crushed by ticket requests for the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

"It's actually a nightmare. It is," he said. "It's so many people."

Everybody wants tickets. Everybody wants this, everybody needs this. Everybody is your best friend."

Montoya had plenty of friends Thursday night when more than 700 people attended his fundraising gala in south Florida. He's proud of the increased awareness he's helped bring to NASCAR, but emphasized that's secondary compared to his racing.

"I'm not racing NASCAR to create Hispanic awareness about it, you know," he said. "I race NASCAR because I want to kick everybody's butt."

The former Formula One standout -- he also has an Indianapolis 500 win and CART championship on his resume -- has done more of that this year than his first two full seasons in Cup racing.

"I want to win races and everything, but the way we ran over the past few years against this year, it's been incredible," he said. "We got to be able to match the performance. I think that's the key thing for the team for the future."

■ Sebastian Vettel spent time at his first NASCAR weekend listening to racing advice from Juan Pablo Montoya.

No, Vettel isn't plotting a jump from Formula One to NASCAR like the one that Montoya pulled off.

After all, Vettel, 22, is just really getting going in his F1 career. He won the season's final race in Abu Dhabi to finish second in the championship standings in only his first season with Red Bull Racing.

"There's advice about the sport, how things work, what to look out for," Vettel said yesterday. "You can always learn."

Vettel was at Homestead-Miami Speedway and planned to watch part of the Nationwide Series race from the spotter's position.