A little superstition goes a long way

Jimmie Johnson has his mojo working as he chases a third straight Cup title

Reminded that when qualifying was rained out last week at Richmond he won the race, Jimmie Johnson said he has recently received other good omens for his No. 48 Chevrolet Impala.

"My mom and dad were out in Southern California for [funeral] services for my grandmother [last month] and they went somewhere for lunch and his receipt was 48 bucks," Johnson said.

"Then he said they were on flight No. 148 or something like that and he had to call me and tell me and that warmed me up more than thinking about the rain [Friday]. So hopefully my dad's got that mojo right now and is on to something."

Johnson said he has his own superstitions as well. "My microwave, I'll start it at 48 seconds and stop it at one. Instead of getting up at 7:30, it's 7:48 and stupid things like that," he said.

Johnson comes into New Hampshire looking for his third consecutive win, which he hopes will launch him to his third consecutive Sprint Cup Series championship. With a good record at the track and a strong starting position (third) due to the cancellation of qualifying, he is in good position for both.

LABONTE LOOKING FOR STRONG FINISH: Bobby Labonte has said his goal over the last 10 races of the season is to get his No. 43 Petty Enterprises team into the top 15 in points.

So far this weekend, he is off to a good start as one of just three drivers to run in the top five of both practice sessions Saturday.

"We unloaded, and I don't think we changed a single thing to the car," Labonte said. "That will help us tremendously [today] because we won't spend so much time trying to catch up.

"I feel confident about our chances, but it won't be easy. We've got to pass a bunch of cars starting 20th, but I think I have a car underneath me to do it."

Labonte is 20th in points with one top-10 finish this season, a 10th at the July race here at New Hampshire.

HORNISH A VOICE FOR KIDS: Driver Sam Hornish Jr. will be the voice of "Roary the Racing Car," a new animated series designed for preschoolers that will premiere Oct. 13 on PBS Kids Sprout, the first 24-hour preschool destination available on demand and online.

Hornish, a former Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar Series champion, is in his first full season of competition in NASCAR's Cup series.

GOODYEAR GETS EARLY START ON 2009: Goodyear officials are getting an early start to the 2009 season with a tire test from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday next week at Daytona International Speedway in preparation for next year's Daytona 500.

Drivers David Ragan and Paul Menard -- neither of whom made the Chase, so they receive no extra testing time -- are scheduled to participate.

PRACTICE UPDATE: Everything seems to be pointing Clint Bowyer's way this weekend. He has led every practice session, including both on Saturday. He might have won the pole had qualifying not been rained out on Friday.

Not bad for the guy who won this race a year ago and has a shot at the championship. Jimmie Johnson and Bobby Labonte were the only other drivers to run in the top-five of both practice sessions Saturday.

ALTERNATIVE SUGGESTION: The Roush Fenway Racing team finalized its five-car lineup for next season with the announcement that UPS will move from David Reutimann's No. 44 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota to the No. 6 Ford of David Ragan in 2009.

Earlier this year, Roush Fenway announced that Office Depot will stay with Carl Edwards on the No. 99 and Greg Biffle will have sponsorship from 3M on the No. 16. DeWalt has another year with Matt Kenseth on the No. 17, as does Crown Royal on the No. 26 with Jamie McMurray.

No Cup team will be allowed to have more than four cars after 2009, so Roush will have to shed one of its entries.

Rush Racing President Geoff Smith said he has a better idea than simply restricting the teams to four cars.

"If they're worrying about restriction, tell the four manufacturers that they can't support more than 10 teams, as an example, and then let the teams fight out who gets up to 10," Smith said.

"That keeps the parity because it means Toyota can't have 20 [teams] and General Motors can't have 25. If you're a small organization, you need multiples [of cars] because you can't compete without the money. It's always been about the money, not about the number of teams."