Quaker State Motor Oil, which has been under the hood of Hendrick Motorsports cars since 1996, will be on top of a hood for four races next year.

Denny Hamlin started chasing the championship during qualifying Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Rick Hendrick has made a crew chief change before when one of his drivers has failed to qualify for NASCAR's season-ending Chase. But right now, the car owner said Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Lance McGrew will remain together on the No. 88 team.

Atlanta Motor Speedway has always had a reputation for being tough on tires, and that should hold true again in Sunday night's Emory Healthcare 500. But factor in a different tire composition for this weekend -- and practice and qualifying during the day -- and teams find themselves having to make their best guesses at the correct set-up.

Before getting a job offer over the phone from Richard Childress as he worked at his job in a body shop in his hometown of Emporia, Kan., Clint Bowyer was a champion at one of the Midwest's top dirt short tracks.

Here's a look at the top five drivers in the Cup Series standings and five drivers to watch in Sunday night's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN). All statistical references are for Cup races at Atlanta unless otherwise indicated. Driver Rating is based on the past 11 races at the track.

Race No. 25: Emory Healthcare 500 from Atlanta Motor Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPN). Green flag at 7:46 p.m. ET.

Last week, NASCAR fans saw a lot of fresh faces in the Nationwide and Truck series races. In part, that was because the cars ran on the road course in Montreal and the trucks were part of an ARCA doubleheader at Chicagoland.

Furniture Row Racing on Thursday announced that Regan Smith has signed a contract extension through the 2012 season to drive the team's No. 78 Chevrolet in the Sprint Cup Series.

Dave Blaney will be in the driver's seat next week at Atlanta Motor Speedway, taking the wheel of the No. 38 Ford for Front Row Motorsports. Blaney will practice and attempt to qualify the car for the Emory Healthcare 500, a race that the No. 38 team must make on speed.

Car owner Richard Petty didn't mince words Tuesday when he was asked to assess the 2010 season of driver A.J. Allmendinger.

NASCAR fans can attend four days of racing activities at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sept. 3-6 for $69, arguably making this the most-affordable race weekend on the NASCAR circuit.

Jamie McMurray took a night that could have literally been the pits and turned it into a third-place finish in the Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

When this race weekend began, David Reutimann was flat on his back in bed, fighting some sort of horrible stomach issue.

Check off a major accomplishment from Kyle Busch's bucket list.

On the assumption Brian Vickers will return to the No. 83 Toyota next season, Red Bull faces a choice between adding a third team to accommodate the signing of Kasey Kahne for one year or replacing Scott Speed with Kahne and continuing to operate as a two-car team.

After having surgery to close a hole in his heart this summer, Brian Vickers fully expects to be back in a Sprint Cup car by the start of the 2011 season.

Jimmie Johnson has won the pole for Saturday's race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Heading into Saturday's Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, half of the top 12 drivers currently occupying the Cup Series point standings have yet to win a race this season.

David Gilliland paced Friday's first Sprint Cup Series practice at Bristol Motor Speedway, which might have come as a bit of a surprise to the competition. But after he backed that up with another solid effort in Happy Hour for Saturday's Irwin Tools Night Race, everybody was well aware of the No. 38 Ford.