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Kahne signs 3 year extension with Hendrick: Hendrick Motorsports and Kasey Kahne have agreed to a three-year contract extension that will keep the driver with the #5 Chevy SS team through the end of the 2018 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.
"It's extremely gratifying to work with a driver like Kasey," said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports. "I think the world of him both as a driver with championship-level talent and an overall terrific young man. Our whole organization has a great deal of respect for how hard he works, the professionalism he displays with our partners and the way he carries himself every day. We're committed to winning races and competing for titles with him for many years to come."
Kahne, 34, originally signed with Hendrick Motorsports in April 2010 and officially joined the team's four-car stable for the 2012 season. Over the past three years (2012-14), he ranks among the top-10 drivers in Sprint Cup wins (5), pole positions (4), top-five finishes (26) and laps led (1,177). The Enumclaw, Washington, native has 17 career wins in NASCAR's top division.
"I've found a home at Hendrick Motorsports," said Kahne, who since 2012 has earned at least one victory each season while securing three consecutive Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup berths. "We have incredible people and partners supporting us, and I couldn't be more excited about the direction we're headed as a team and a company. It's the right place for me, and I'm looking forward to being here for a long time." Kahne's contract with Hendrick Motorsports was set to expire following the 2015 NASCAR season.(Hendrick Motorsports)(11-20-2014)

Greensboro Leads ESPN's NASCAR Ratings for 2014 Season: For the seventh time in eight years, the Greensboro, N.C., television market led the nation's metered markets with the highest average rating for ESPN's 17 weeks of NASCAR Sprint Cup telecasts, according to Nielsen Media. The 2014 season concluded Nov. 16 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The Greensboro market averaged an 8.5 rating for the 17 NASCAR Sprint Cup races on ESPN's schedule (including three Saturday night races that aired on ABC), edging out Greenville, S.C., (8.4) for the top spot. Indianapolis was third with a 7.7 average rating, followed by Birmingham, Ala., at 6.3 and Charlotte, N.C., at 6.2. Rounding out the top 10 markets were Raleigh-Durham, N.C., 6.0; Richmond, Va., 5.8; Knoxville, Tenn., and Nashville, Tenn., tied for eighth at 5.5; and Orlando, Fla., Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla., and Norfolk, Va., tied for 10^th at 5.1.
Over the eight years of ESPN's NASCAR TV contract, which expired at the end of this season, Greensboro led the nation with the highest average rating every year but 2009, when Knoxville, Tenn., took the top spot. Greensboro slipped to fifth that year but bounced back the following year and led every year afterward.
The Greensboro market also led the nation with the highest average rating this year for the 10 races in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, averaging an 8.2 rating. Greenville, S.C., was again second at 7.7, with Indianapolis (6.6), Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham (tied at 6.0) completing the top five.
ESPN averaged a 2.9 U.S. household rating for its 17-race NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule for the fourth straight year in 2014, while the Chase averaged a 2.7 U.S. household rating for the third straight year.(ESPN)(11-20-2014)