NASCAR chair: GM will stay but more support sought

BROOKLYN, Mich.

NASCAR chairman Brian France said he believes General Motors will remain in the sport "for many, many years" but acknowledged that series officials have had talks with other auto manufacturers.

France would not say what car companies NASCAR has had talks with but noted that "those aren't something where we turn the light switch on tomorrow morning and it would happen."

As for General Motors, which is making NASCAR-wide cuts in the support it provides teams, France admits it won't be easy for those organizations.

"Now individual teams at all levels are going to feel it and that's not the best-case scenario for us, but that's the reality of where we are and we'll deal with it," he said before Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Michigan International Speedway.

France also said he's encouraged by the racing and the car doing what series officials hoped. He also said that series officials likely will make some changes to the car, based, in part, on feedback from competitors at the recent town hall meeting held by series officials.

"They won't be wholesale changes," France said.

France also said that suspending a Nationwide crew chief for uttering a racial slur at driver Marc Davis, who is African-American, at last week's race in Nashville, shows how serious series officials are about issues of race.

"It's unacceptable," France said of the crew chief's actions. "I think (NASCAR president) Mike Helton made that clear that zero tolerance in that area is zero tolerance. We're not going to let one incident... affect where the sport is going. That doesn't reflect what we're doing. It's disappointing and we dealt with it."

Gordon: 'We were solid'

Jeff Gordon said his second-place finish Sunday at Michigan makes him feel better about his title hopes even if he gained a couple of spots late when Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle both ran out of fuel while in the lead.

"I felt like we were solid all through the race," Gordon said. "We have more days like today, we're going to be able to do what we need to do to win this championship."

Better luck for Hamlin

Denny Hamlin's third-place finish was his first in the top10 since April.

"We definitely need to get back on track," Hamlin said. "We need to start building. We've got to get back to solid finishes and make sure we solidify our place in the Chase and we don't have to race our way in going into Richmond."

Hamlin climbed two spots to 10th in the points with his performance.

Benson injured

Defending truck champion Johnny Benson was hospitalized after a crash in a super modified race Saturday night at Berlin (Mich.) Raceway.

Benson's car had contact with another car on the first lap of the feature and caught fire. He was taken to a local hospital, where he was listed in serious but stable condition.

No date likely

Bruton Smith told reporters Saturday night he admits it is unlikely Kentucky Speedway will get a Cup date for next season. NASCAR has stated it won't consider the track for a Cup date until a suit by the former track owners against NASCAR is dropped.

PIT PASSES

Mark Martin's victory gave Chevrolet only its third win in the last 21 races at Michigan.... Juan Pablo Montoya's sixth-place finish was his third top-10 finish in the last four races.... Clint Bowyer's 10th-place finish was his first top-10 since Martinsville in March.... Tony Stewart retains the points lead after his seventh-place finish.

- Dustin Long