NASCAR

Crew chief Ryan Pemberton has left Dale Earnhardt Inc., and the team says Doug Richert will replace him beginning today.

The owner of Lowe's Motor Speedway has received approval from a Concord city panel to build a drag strip near the speedway.

Before last week's NASCAR race at Talledega the chair of the Homeland Security Committee advised staffers to get immunized against hepatitis A, hepatitis B, tetanus, diphtheria and influenza.

Schedule: Thursday, qualifying (ESPN2, 7 p.m.); Saturday, race (ABC, 7 p.m.).
Track: Lowe's Motor Speedway (quad-oval, 1.5 miles, 24 degrees banking in turns).
Race distance: 501 miles, 334 laps.

Defending Nextel Cup champion Jimmie Johnson has his work cut out for him after a fiery crash knocked him out of the race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Dale Earnhardt Junior and Kevin Harvick have partnered with their respective Cup team owners.

Petty won a record 200 NASCAR Winston Cup races and seven Daytona 500 races. He won 27 races in 1967 alone, 18 races in 1970 and 21 in 1971. Since 2000, no driver has won more than eight in a season. Only the late Dale Earnhardt matched Petty's seven NASCAR championships.

A hospital spokeswoman says NASCAR driver Carl Edwards has been released from an Omaha hospital after being injured in a dirt track race.

NASCAR says the springs it confiscated from the Kyle Busch's Number Five Busch Series Chevrolet after last weekend's race at Daytona International Speedway are legal.

The cars driven by Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson failed initial inspection and won't be allowed to practice or qualify today for the NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Infineon Raceway.