When I saw the name of NASCAR's CEO Brian France trending on Twitter, I knew something wasn't right -- he's not famous enough to trend unless he did something completely off the reservation.

And when I clicked on it, I was right -- he (along with racers Bill Elliott, Ryan Newman, Chase Elliott and David Ragan) had publicly endorsed Donald Trump, giving the world the impression that the sport and its fans are supporters of a guy who has support from white supremacist groups and has openly denounced most minority groups in one way or another. ... Not exactly a good PR move for the sport you're supposed to be attempting to grow the audience. Despite NASCAR's assertion that this is a "private personal decision by Brian," it appears quite the opposite to everyone in the world who read about it.

Here are the facts:

-- Jimmie Johnson has tied Dale Earnhardt on the all-time wins list with his 76th race win. He will most certainly win many more and possibly approach triple digits in race wins before he retires.
-- Jimmie Johnson has six Cup titles, and one more will tie him with Earnhardt (and he's now in the Chase and could do it as soon as this year.)
-- It's possible Jimmie Johnson will not only tie Earnhardt and Petty's 7 titles, but blow past it and win 8 or more. He's just as strong a driver now as he was when he started fifteen years ago.

After the win Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Johnson honored Earnhardt on track and was humble about his accomplishment:

"I entered the sport just hoping I could win a race and keep a job for a few years, and to have 76 and tie Dale Earnhardt Sr is something I'm very, very proud of. I didn't have a chance to race against him, unfortunately, but today ‑‑ there's been a big void in my mind about not having that chance to race against him, and it was literally a handful of months away from having that opportunity. So to tie him today, for myself personally, it gives me a little something ‑‑ it's a little bit of attachment to the great Dale Earnhardt and something I'm very proud of," Johnson said.

TONY STEWART, Co-Owner, Stewart-Haas Racing – CAN YOU EXPAND ON THE DECISION TO SWITCH TO FORD IN 2017?  “First and foremost, I want to recognize our relationship and successes with Chevrolet.  They’ve been an awesome partner and we’ve done a lot of special things together, including two championships and a ton of races.  We hope to do that again this year.  As far as moving forward, this is a constantly evolving sport.  From our side with the ownership and senior management we try to make decisions that best position us for the future, so we consider our partners, our drivers, and our employees when we think of these strategies.  We feel this future relationship with Ford provides us with a bright future, great stability for SHR, and an opportunity to compete at a very top level in the sport.  We’re obviously very excited about it.

For the fourth consecutive year, a Chevrolet SS will lead the field to the green flag for the season-opening Daytona 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway. This year, Rookie of the Year contender, Chase Elliott, put the Bowtie Brand in the top spot for the Great American Race with a lap of 45.845 seconds/ 196.314 mph in his No. 24 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet SS.

“This is a very, very cool day,” said Elliott.  “I don’t know that this opportunity has sunk in yet, much less sitting on the pole for the Daytona 500. So this is very cool. I think the big thing is just the team and the Daytona 500 qualifying is about the team guys and the effort they put into these cars and it’s nothing special I did, it’s really what kind of work they did this off-season to make it happen.  Jeff (Gordon) knows all about that and I just wanted to give a big thanks to NAPA Auto Parts and all of our partners at HMS on this No. 24 Chevrolet. This is very special and a great way to start the season.”

Elliott becomes the sixth rookie to win the pole for the Daytona 500 and the youngest at 20 years, two months and 20 days of age.  This is the third time in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series history that the iconic No. 24 Chevrolet SS will start from the first starting position for the Daytona 500.