Johnson: 7 titles? 'Just too tough'

CONCORD -- -- Fans might be about two months away from a new talking point for reigning Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson.

If Johnson can overtake Mark Martin in the standings and win his fourth straight championship, he'll be more than halfway toward tying the record seven titles won by Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.

"I don't think that's possible," Johnson said Wednesday at a news conference at Lowe's Motor Speedway. "I think getting to seven is just too tough. Jeff Gordon's got four and he hasn't gotten his fifth one.

"I hope I can maybe prove people wrong, but winning four more seems insane."

Johnson is second in the standings, trailing Martin by 10 points. After dominating Sunday at Dover, Del., he'll be among the favorites at this weekend's Price Chopper 400 at Kansas Speedway.

"There's no record that's ever been set that can't be broken," said Petty. "I don't know if it's any harder or easier to do it these days. The equipment we had wasn't that good, but the guys (Johnson) is running against now aren't any tougher than who I ran against or who Earnhardt ran against."

Notes

'Homecoming' for fall race: Lowe's Motor Speedway is calling the NASCAR Banking 500 on Oct.17 a "homecoming, NASCAR-style."

With a vast majority of the sport's teams located nearby, the track crowned Petty the race's "homecoming king" Wednesday.

LMS will keep with the theme by having marching bands - from schools such as Garinger High and N.C. A&T - and high school cheerleaders - including East Mecklenburg, Northwest Cabarrus, Hopewell and Butler - perform on race day. D.S.

NFL doesn't do it for Smith: Monday night's NFL game between the Dallas Cowboys and Carolina Panthers didn't hold the attention of LMS President Bruton Smith.

"I watched an NFL game on Monday for a little while," he said. "Then I fell asleep. Why? It was so bad."

Smith was talking about the NFL's television ratings, which have outstripped NASCAR's during the first three weeks of the season.

"They have their problems, we have ours," said Smith. "I think a lot of what they've got going is people wanting to see things like Dallas's new stadium for Jerry Jones. That all plays a part." D.S.

Kligerman to debut this weekend: Penske Racing development driver Parker Kligerman will make his Nationwide Series debut this weekend, driving the No.22 Dodge during Saturday's Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway. He also will compete in the Nov.21 race at Homestead, Fla.

Kligerman leads the Automobile Racing Club of America series with seven wins this year and is second in the standings with two races remaining.

"It's definitely going to be a challenge, but I know the team will give me a great car," he said. "Penske Racing has a lot of experience and this will definitely help us as we prepare to go to the next level." Jim Utter

Gilliland doing three races for Gibbs: Driver David Gilliland will attempt to make three Cup series starts for Joe Gibbs Racing in its No.02 Toyota beginning with the Oct.17 race at Lowe's Motor Speedway. He also will attempt the Nov.8 race at Texas and Nov.22 season finale at Homestead.

Gilliland is in his fourth Cup season, having accumulated 112 starts. He has started 25 races this season, driving primarily for TRG Motorsports. J.U.

Fan day at Penske: Penske Racing will host Fan Appreciation Day on Oct.16 when it will open its shop in Mooresville and have its NASCAR and IndyCar series drivers on hand.

Penske Cup drivers Kurt Busch, Sam Hornish Jr. and David Stremme, Nationwide driver Justin Allgaier and development driver Kligerman will join IndyCar drivers Helio Castroneves, Ryan Briscoe and Will Power and four-time Indy 500 winner Rick Mears in attendance.

The nearly 425,000-square foot Penske facility is at 200 Penske Way. It houses all of Penske's motorsports programs - Cup, Nationwide, Grand-Am Sports Car and IndyCar teams. J.U.

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