Kovalainen was left without a seat at Renault when two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso returned to Renault (from McLaren) last week.

"We had a number of options open to us and as always we want to make sure that we have the most competitive driver line-up and I think that Lewis and Heikki will be a formidable combination," said McLaren chief executive Martin Whitmarsh. "I am confident they'll work well together." McLaren's 2007 season was filled by a squabble between Hamilton and Alonso that almost tore the team apart and certainly cost them a championship. They were also kicked out of the manufacturer's championship after receiving and using documents detailing Ferrari's race car.

That's the good news.

The bad news is that Franchitti and three-time series champion Sam Hornish Jr.

The Spaniard signed a two-year deal after one tumultuous season with McLaren- Mercedes.

It is rumored to be a $51.1 million deal, however Renault would not confirm the numbers.

"They were found to be in breach of article 151c, but there is no penalty," said an International Automobile Federation (FIA) spokesman.

The ruling, which will be published in detail on Friday, opens the way for Renault to resign two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso to drive in 2008. The French manufacturer is one of three teams interested in having the Spaniard drive next season.

McLaren-Mercedes was fined $100 million and kicked out of the manufacturers championship after they were found to have pages upon pages of Ferrari data in their possession. Ferrari mechanic Nigel Stepney, accused of supplying those documents to the rival team, was subsequently fired. McLaren chief designer Coughlan was suspended.

Further, two-time F1 World Champion Fernando Alonso testified, after given immunity, that the team did indeed have and use the Ferrari data.

For Johnson, winning the championship included more than just the Sprint Cup trophy presentation and post-race media obligations at Homestead.

"Left the track around midnight, with the obligation, post-race obligations and stuff like that," Johnson said. "And then went out with my guys, went to a bar and they had a big party to celebrate the year and saw a bunch of drivers and team folks there and all my guys were there as well.

Menard spent his first two years in Sprint Cup competition driving the No.15 Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt Inc., but is leaving the racing organization and bringing sponsorship from his family-owned chain of hardware stores to Yates.

"I'm really looking forward to starting this new chapter of my life with Yates Racing and behind the wheel of the No.98 Ford Fusion," Menard said.

Johnson finished 15th in the season-ending Ford 400, and clinched his third title in a row, finishing the season 69 points ahead of Carl Edwards, who won at Homestead for his series-leading ninth victory of the year. Johnson became just the second driver in NASCAR's 60-year history to win three straight titles, matching Cale Yarborough's 30-year-old record.

"Right now we've been fortunate to win three," Johnson said. "So over the off season I'm going to be drooling about a fourth. It's not really where I fall into the books. It's more about what I want to be as a champion." Johnson ended t

Carl Edwards gambled on fuel late in the race as he "coasted" his way to victory, his series-leading ninth of the season.

Kevin Harvick finished second, and Jamie McMurray was third. Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top-five.

Edwards held off Kyle Busch in a four-lap shootout to the finish to capture his seventh Nationwide victory of the season and the 20th of his career.

Busch finished second. Brad Keselowski came in third, and Jason Leffler was fourth.

The pole victory was Logano's third in 19 career Nationwide starts.

"I'm pretty excited about that," Logano said. "It was a good pick me up, and we needed that as a race team. We're going to go out there tonight and try to stay up there and get that (owner) championship." The JGR No.20 team currently holds a 28-point owner lead over the Richard Childress Racing No.2 team with Clint Bowyer as their driver.

Meanwhile, Todd Bodine won at Homestead, holding off Brian Scott in a green- white-checkered finish. The victory was Bodine's third of the season and the 15th of his Truck Series career.

Scott finished second, and Kevin Harvick was third.

"When they brought the spacer plate along, it's now at these big race tracks where everybody is holding it wide open," Skinner said. "And Homestead is one of those race tracks it's hard to hold wide open, and we were able to do it. I guess that's why we're on the pole." Meanwhile, the battle for the championship will be settled at Homestead as Johnny Benson enters the race with only a three point lead over defending series champion Ron Hornaday, Jr., making it the closest margin heading into the season-finale.

Hornaday, Jr. will s

Reutimann's first pole came in his 63rd start. He becomes the fourth first- time pole winner in the series this year, joining Travis Kvapil (Talladega), Paul Menard (Daytona) and Patrick Carpentier (New Hampshire).

"I think we sat on the outside pole at Bristol and came close a couple of other times," Reutimann said. "It feels really good to see the 44 up there, and it shows all of the guys at the shop and on the team that they've been working hard all year long and doing a great job." Scott Speed, in just his fifth Sprint Cup start, secured the outside pole with

NASCAR informed teams Friday morning at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, where the Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Craftsman Truck Series will wrap up their seasons.

The ban includes pre-season testing for the Daytona 500, and it means teams will not be permitted to test at any track where NASCAR's national touring series compete.

Briscoe joins two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves on Penske's two-car.

"The IndyCar Series is where I really wanted to be next year," said Briscoe.

Brawn left Ferrari at the end of 2006 to take a sabbatical.

"I am very excited to be joining the Honda Racing F1 Team, said Brawn. "Honda has a proud heritage in Formula One and the opportunity to help the team to realize its potential represents a fantastic new challenge for me in the sport.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Ford 400 - Homestead-Miami Speedway - Homestead, FL After winning last Sunday's race in dominating fashion at Phoenix, Jimmie Johnson practically wrapped up this year's "Chase for the Sprint Cup" championship.

Johnson led 217 of 313 laps and held off a hard-charging Kurt Busch in a green-white-checkered finish to record his seventh victory of the season.

ABC made the decision to continue its coverage of the race on their sister network in order to air an episode of "America's Funniest Home Videos" at 7:30 p.m. (et). The race remained on ABC in the Mountain and Pacific time zones.

"After two red flags, rain in Phoenix and 4 1/2 hours on ABC, we were still 34 minutes from the end of the telecast as it turned out," ESPN spokesman George McNeilly said in a statement. "We told fans in the East and Central from the second red flag on that the

Johnson led 217 of 313 laps and held off Kurt Busch in a green-white-checkered finish.

The victory was Johnson's seventh of the season and the 40th of his Sprint Cup career.

Johnson, the two-time defending Sprint Cup Series champion, led 217 of 313 laps and held off a hard-charging Kurt Busch in a green-white-checkered finish.

Johnson now holds a 141-point lead over Carl Edwards, who finished fourth. If Johnson finishes 36th or better in next weekend's season-finale at Homestead, regardless of Edwards' performance, he will clinch his record-tying third consecutive Cup title.

The victory was Edwards' sixth of the season and the 19th of his Nationwide career.

Kevin Harvick came in third, while Bowyer overcame a wreck midway through the race to finish fourth. Bowyer holds a 56-point lead heading into next week's season-finale at Homestead.

The pole victory was Hamlin's first of the season and the 12th of his Nationwide career.

"It was a good lap for us at that time of the day," Hamlin said. "I would have liked to gone earlier to see how fast we could have really gone." Carl Edwards will start second after posting a time of 27.161 seconds. Edwards is currently 91 points behind Clint Bowyer with just two races to go.

All three of Harvick's career victories in the series have come at Phoenix.

Busch finished second, with Todd Bodine, Brian Scott and Mike Skinner rounding out the top-five.

The pole victory was Johnson's sixth of the season and the 19th of his Sprint Cup career.

Johnson has won the last two races at Phoenix, and is looking to become the first driver to win three in a row there.