Hendrick Durham Auto Mall will do its part to help you get to the polling place Nov. 4. Need a ride? No problem. Just give us a call at 1-866-883-2563 by Nov. 1 to reserve your ride to your voting location.

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Hendrick Durham Auto Mall finished fourth in last week's demolition derby at the N.C. State Fair. The drivers and service professionals who worked on the cars and got them ready to compete were optimistic about their chances going up, but there proved to be a real "bang-up" field of competitors.

As evidenced by these photos, there was not much left of the RHC Pontiac that batled in the 4-cylinder division.

Here are some results, according to the official blog of the N.C. State Fair:

#In the 4-cylinder feature heat, Tony Camptella of Raleigh finished first in the Moonshine Express, eliminating Jimmy Goodman of Topsail Beach.

#In the 6-cylinder feature heat, Ricky Cooke of Jamestown was the winner. Topsail Beach's Goodman again finished second.

#In the 8-cylinder feature heat, Chris Lane defeated fellow Goldsboro driver Donald Stokes for the championship.

#In the women's feature, Nikki Goins of Goldsboro beat Wendy Thornton of Mt. Olive to take the title.

Hendrick Durham Auto Mall will do its part to help you get to the polling place Nov. 4. Need a ride? No problem. Just give us a call at 1-866-883-2563 by Nov. 1 to reserve your ride to your voting location.

HAMPTON, Ga. (NASCAR.com) -- Even after winning Sunday's Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Carl Edwards looked deflated after he was told that Hendrick Motorsports driver Jimmie Johnson had finished second.

"Are you kidding me?" Edwards asked incredulously after taking the checkered flag more than two and a half seconds ahead of Johnson. "Man, Jimmie's magic."

By finishing second, Johnson -- who fell a lap down at one point after a penalty for speeding on pit road -- extended his NASCAR Sprint Cup points lead to a seemingly insurmountable 183 with just three races remaining. Edwards was left to exclaim that he's got to win all of the remaining events and "hope for the best" if he intends to keep Johnson from winning his third straight championship.

Edwards jumped two spots into second place in the standings with his seventh victory of the season. But no driver has overcome more than a 50-point deficit to win with just three races remaining.

Edwards took the lead from third-place finisher Denny Hamlin moments after a restart on lap 310 of 325 on the 1.54-mile track. Hamlin spun his tires coming to the start/finish line, allowing Edwards to pass to the outside through the first and second turns, and Edwards held the lead through a caution for debris on lap 312.

Johnson, meanwhile, fell to 11th -- giving up three positions -- when Knaus called him to pit road for new tires on lap 314. Johnson restarted 11th on lap 318, but by the end of that circuit, he had passed four cars.

"Having those new tires versus those other guys, that was a great call," Johnson said. "It was a risky call, but that shows you how (crew chief) Chad (Knaus) is, that we're here to race."

Working his way toward the front, Johnson passed Hamlin for second through the third turn on the final lap to cut his points loss to Edwards to a minimum.

It was a remarkable rally for the Hendrick Motorsports driver. On lap 89, Johnson had smoked his tires entering pit road and was nailed with a speeding penalty that dropped him to 30th in the running order.

By the time the field restarted on lap 115, after a caution for debris, Johnson was 20th -- the first car one lap down. When caution flew again on lap 131 for Kasey Kahne's spin off turn 4, Johnson got a free pass to the lead lap as the "Lucky Dog."

Up until a few years ago, drivers who were a lap down would race back to the start/finish line when a caution flag came out in an effort to get back on the lead lap. But NASCAR officials deemed that too dangerous and changed the rule so that the first car a lap down automatically would get the lap back when the yellow flag came out and be called the "Lucky Dog."

That was Johnson on Sunday, who seemed as disbelieving as Edwards was about the final results.

"I'm just as shocked as he is," Johnson said. "I thought we were going to finish ninth or 10th. That last caution came out there, and I give Chad credit for making the call and playing the strategy right. It worked out well for us."

Labels: Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon Jimmie Johnson, Labels: Hendrick Chevrolet, Lucky Dog, NASCAR Sprint Cup

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) - Jimmie Johnson is on a roll again, and -- while everyone else in NASCAR is chasing him -- he's chasing history.

Johnson led 339 laps Sunday en route to victory, and he and his Hendrick Motorsports teammates again dominated at Martinsville Speedway.

The two-time defending Sprint Cup champion padded his lead in his quest for a record-tying third championship in a row with four races remaining.

Cale Yarborough, from 1976-78, is the only driver to win three straight championships in stock-car racing's premier series. It appears likely Johnson will be the second.

With a 149-point lead following his sixth victory of the season, Johnson heads to next weekend's race in Atlanta with the largest lead in the history of the Chase for the Cup at this point in the season.

"I'm going to have to answer those questions one of these days, aren't I?" Johnson said of taking a position beside Yarborough in history.

"There's a lot of great teams that were huge in the sport," Dale Earnhardt, Jr. said, lumping Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus in with his father and Richard Petty, both seven-time champions, and Hall of Famers David Pearson, Yarborough and Junior Johnson."To pack it in three years and just dominate like that, there's only a half a dozen teams that have ever done anything like that, been that strong consistently."

And it could only be the beginning of another big finish for Johnson. It was a year ago that this race started a four-race winning streak for Johnson.

He said he's not planning on letting up at all.

"As long as I can stay scared and on my heels and worried about losing this thing, the better this team's going to be," Johnson said. "If we start getting comfortable and complacent, we're going to stub our toes, make mistakes. We're trying to keep our eye on the prize."

So are the rest of the contenders, even if it's getting further and further away.

"We're going to come and get them," said Greg Biffle, who climbed to second in points. "We've got four more chances, so they better be on their 'A' game. I'm still confident we can catch them."

So are Jeff Burton, 152 points back, and Carl Edwards, fourth and 198 behind.

"He could have any sort of trouble the next two races and be right back there with us," Edwards said, lumping himself with Biffle and Burton. "It can happen to anyone."

But at Martinsville, as always, no driver had a way to stop Johnson. It was his third consecutive fall victory here and fourth in the last five races on NASCAR's shortest oval.

Earnhardt, Jr., was second, followed by Edwards and Jeff Gordon, giving Hendrick three of the top four spots. Denny Hamlin was fifth, and Casey Mears -- the fourth Hendrick driver -- was sixth.

The 1-2 finish was the 23rd for Hendrick Motorsports and third at Martinsville. It was sealed in a two-lap sprint to the finish after the 12th caution flew on lap No. 499.

"I didn't have anything for Jimmie; that car was so awesome," Earnhardt, Jr., said.

Johnson led seven times in all, passing Gordon for the top spot with 209 laps to go, then making quick work of Matt Kenseth, who stayed out on the track under caution with 38 to go.

Labels: Hendrick Motorsports, Jimmie Johnson, Martinsville

The 2008 Chevy Tahoe Hybrid has earned more recognition for its environmentally friendly technology and focus.

It has been voted 2008 Green Car of the Year by Green Car Journal.

Besides being a car that emits far fewer pollutants than many of today's vehicles, the Tahoe Hybrid has returned a stunning mileage, which was 30 percent higher than that of other V8s. It beat competitors Malibu, Saturn Aura, Mazda Tribute and Nissan Altima.

The 2008 Tahoe Hybrid's improved mileage is more than just a number. To the discerning buyer, the vehicle offers the best deal one can expect. It gives the best mileage in conditions in which most of its driving is done - on city roads. Here, its mileage went up by 50 percent. What makes the improved mileage possible is hybrid technology.

The jury that awarded this title was selected from leading names in the environment and industry.

Labels: 2008 Chevy Tahoe Hybrid, 2008 Tahoe, Chevrolet Dealership, Chevrolet Malibu

The 2009 Chevrolet Traverse is GM's first 8-passenger crossover SUV. It shares the same design platform as siblings GMC Acadia, Buick Enclave and Saturn Outlook. The 2009 Chevrolet Traverse comes in LS, LT and LTZ trim levels.

Powering the Traverse is a 3.6-liter, V-6, 286 horsepower engine with direct fuel injection which allows for improved power and gas mileage. Standard transmission is a six-speed automatic; front-wheel drive is standard; all-wheel drive is optional. EPA estimated mileage is 24 mpg highway, the best highway fuel economy of any 8-passenger crossover. The Traverse has sporty, four-wheel-independent suspension, for on-road comfort.

The Chevrolet Traverse receives a stacked grille, similar to the one on the redesigned Chevy Malibu. SUV features a high beltline and tall roof and comes with an optional panoramic moonroof. The cabin is roomy with ample space for eight passengers and best in-class cargo volume. Second and third row seats fold flat for cargo space of 116.4 cubic feet; cargo volume behind the third row is 26.1 cubic feet.

Standard safety features include front, side-impact and side curtain airbags; antilock brakes, an electronic stability system, and OnStar standard with one year directions and connections plan are also standard as is turn by turn navigation. The 2009 Traverse earned a 5-Star safety crash rating.

Labels: 2009 Chevrolet Traverse, Chevrolet Malibu, Chevrolet SUV, Chevrolet Malibu, Chevrolet Traverse

CONCORD (NASCAR.com) -- Hendrick Motorsports driver Jimmie Johnson has been in charge at Lowe's Motor Speedway, considering his past success at the track.

Therefore, last weekend's sixth-place finish at the "house that Jimmie built" was not acceptable for the driver with six victories at the North Carolina track.

After Saturday night's Bank of America 500, Johnson was visibly upset as he walked into the post-race news conference with a bowed head and morose tone.

"The first two-thirds was good for us, then we were junk at the end," said Johnson, who led twice for a race-high 67 laps -- accumulating 10 bonus points toward his lead in the race for the Sprint Cup points championship.

Johnson's No. 48 team -- chasing its third straight championship -- has maintained the points lead for three straight weeks over Roush-Fenway Racing drivers Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle. But now Jeff Burton, who won Saturday's race, also is hot on Johnson's tail.

"We took a lot of risks trying to get as many points as I could on (Biffle) and trying to hang with (Burton) and get by him," Johnson said. "Damn near threw it away a couple times. Just hate the last third of the race. We got out in left field and couldn't get it back."

Burton and Johnson raced side-by-side for the lead Saturday nearing the final laps when the No. 48 Chevrolet took fresh right-side tires on the last round of pit stops.

"That's what put me on pace with him," Johnson recalled of the tires. "The old characteristics showed back up in the car, what we were dealing with. But, for sure, it's frustrating not being able to complete the pass."

"I thought I was going to clean us both out. Fortunately, that didn't happen. But I was certainly frustrated slipping back through the field. You don't know how important those points are going to be until the end of the year."

This season, few of Johnson's five victories have come down to side-by-side finishes. At Auto Club Speedway in August, Johnson led 228 of the 250 laps, and thst has been a victory trend he is comfortable with.

"I had to take a lot of chances (Saturday) to get the results we did," Johnson said. "I don't like putting myself in that situation. I almost lost the car a handful of times.

"That frustration of being on pins and needles out there, trying to run as hard as you can, watching positions slip by. . . I've got a good hour of being upset in me. It will take a little while to get it out of my system."

Looking at the point standings, Burton and Biffle -- who finished third Saturday -- are less than 100 points back of Johnson. Edwards is 168 points behind in fourth.

Despite his tumultuous night, Johnson said the championship chase may have narrowed to the top three drivers.

"It's such a relative situation," he said. "If we have problems, those guys are right back in it.

"As we get down to fewer races on the schedule, I think that margin becomes more comfortable. That's a decent margin. But it took other guys having problems to let me into it."

Heading to Martinsville Speedway next week, Johnson remains optimistic. He has four Sprint Cup Series wins at the short track.

"Right now, I'm pissed about (Saturday)," Johnson said last weekend. "But, you know, tomorrow, Tuesday, whatever it is, I think we'll be real good over there.

"(Martinsville) has been a great track to us."

Labels: Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Hendrick Motorsports, Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon Jimmie Johnson, Lowe's Motor Speedway, Martinsvile, Sprint Cup

The staff and management at Rick Hendrick Durham Auto Mall extend their best wishes to the Tampa Bay Rays as they open their American League Championship Series against the Boston Red Sox.

The Rays, parent club of the class AAA Durham Bulls, are in the Major League Baseball playoffs for the first time. The team is powered by several former Bulls who gained fame in Durham by posting victories and hitting home runs just down the street from RHC's downtown dealership.

Outfielders B.J. Upton, Carl Crawford and Jonny Gomes are three of the most popular players in Bulls history. They should be seeing significant action against the Red Sox alongside another famous Durham slugger, rookie infielder Evan Longoria.

Other former Bulls on the Rays' roster are Gabe Gross, Fernando Perez and Rocco Baldelli

Perez and Gomes played in Durham as recently as this season. Rays pitchers David Price and Scott Kazmir also both pitched this season in Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

The Rays, prior to this season one of the worst teams in the majors, finished this season as champions of the American League East division -- beating out perennial favorites the Red Sox and New York Yankees.

No doubt, Durham and the Bulls will receive attention and recognition during the Rays' potential run to the World Series. Rick Hendrick Chevrolet is proud to support its community and its minor-leaguers.

Click here for complete up-to-the-minute coverage of the ALCS.

Click here for complete coverage of the Phillies-Dodgers National League series

Labels: American League, Boston Red Sox, Durham Bulls, Major League Baseball, Rick Hendrick Chevrolet, Tampa bay Rays

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Jimmie Johnson used good fortune, good driving and good work by his pit crew Sunday to widen his lead in the NASCAR Sprint Cup points standings and close in on his third consecutive championship for Hendrick Motorsports.

Having fallen a lap down in just the first 25 laps, Johnson came back to finish ninth in tho Amp Energy 500 -- somehow dodging a major wreck that wiped out half of the Chase field and putting himself in the driver's seat for a possible Sprint Cup three-peat.

Tony Stewart, in his last race at Talladega for Joe Gibbs Racing, won the race to get his first victory of the season and end a 43-race winless streak. But perhaps none of the drivers was happier or more relieved after the final results than Johnson.

Click here for complete results and standings.

Team owner Rick Hendrick -- who also owns Hendrick Durham Auto Mall -- beamed from atop Johnson's pit box as his driver safely crossed the finish line just moments after the large wreck left only a handful of drivers competing for the final laps.

As Johnson opened a 72-point lead in the standings with just six races remaining in the season, his top challengers for the title -- Roush Racing teammates Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards -- loaded wrecked racecars on their haulers.

An incident on lap 174 took out a total of 12 cars, including Hendrick Motorsports driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch.

"When you look at the trouble that Chasers had (Sunday), that's what we all feared," Johnson said. You get all these guys together racing for the win, and stuff happens.

"I don't know how I got through, to be honest with you. But it was a solid day and an awesome finish."

Johnson's day was not without misfortune. In fact, it started with Johnson's team deciding to inspect the engine's cylinder walls, to figure out why the No. 48 Chevrolet did not seem quite right in Saturday's qualifying. That put Johnson at the tail end of the field at the start, and he promptly lost the draft right off the bat.

"I'm mentally drained," Johnson told reporters after the race. "It started with qualifying. We weren't sure what was going on, and (Sunday), the car was pretty flat still. I lost the draft at the start of the race because I couldn't hang on, and then from there, we got our lap back and dodged wrecks and raced really hard."

Crew chief Chad Knaus felt the pressure, as well. As the team troubles seemed to compound toward the end of the race, Knaus was joined in his box by Hendrick. And together, they showed the resolve that has resulted in back-to-back titles, kept the team and driver focused.

"Obviously, it was a very stressful day," Knaus said. "It was a day of survival. Jimmie did a great job of missing all the wrecks, and the pit crew did a great job of making adjustments on the car. We didn't create any more problems than what we'd already had.

"Heck, I think we made up points on just about everybody, so that was a day well done."

Johnson had an opportunity to put even more ground between himself and the Chase contenders. But when the car would not respond on the final restart, he decided to take what he could get.

"I couldn't even accelerate and hang on to the cars in front of me," Johnson said. "So I was kind of in no-man's land, and they came thundering by, and the next thing you know, I'm the last car in that lead draft. And I was hanging on just to stay there. I don't know why the car wouldn't suck up and go."

Even though Johnson will enter Saturday's race outside Charlotte 72 points ahead of Edwards and 77 in front of Biffle, he said the championship remains up for grabs.

"I've realized in the past that the whole sport falls into a comfort zone and thinks that 60, 80, or 100 points is a big gap," he said. "But truly, that can go away in a hurry.

"I'm happy that it is what it is, but I know there is a lot of racing ahead of us. If I had a (72-point) lead going into Homestead (for the final race), I'd feel a lot better. But with six to go, there's plenty of racing left."

Labels: Carl Edwards, Chad Knaus, Charlotte, Eale Earnhardt Jr., Greg Biffle, Hendrick Motorsports, Jimmie Johnson, Labels: Rick Hendrick Chevrolet, NASCAR Sprint Cup, Talladega, Tony Stewart