Full Throttle

Running without second and third gears for a restart with eight laps left in Saturday’s American Commercial Lines 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Kyle Busch nevertheless found enough muscle in his No. 51 Toyota to win the race.

Mark Martin claimed the top spot at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Friday night, making him the second-oldest pole winner in NASCAR Cup history.

The Chevrolets are moving to the front. The #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet driven by three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson turned the fastest lap of the weekend so far with a lap of 46.724/192.620 mph bettering the lap of Toyota’s Kyle Busch earlier Saturday.

The climax to the 2008 F1 World Championship could represent the peak for a sport that appears to be on the brink of fundamental change. But one thing will endure regardless of how the sport changes in the future, the spectacular images captured during 2008.

Day 2 of Champ Week featured Jimmie Johnson & Co. conducting photo shoots at various NYC landmarks, Honest, the landmarks are there. If you can see past the Sprint Cup trophy that seems to be the “star” of each image.

Champions Dinner at the Chef’s Table at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City on Monday night. The event kicked off Champions Week, which concludes Friday with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards Ceremony.

Jimmie Johnson moved closer to an historic third consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship. Following are images from Sunday’s Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

Photos: Saturday November 8, 2008 at Phoenix International Raceway