Notes: Johnson looking for momentum after crash (cont'd)

As for Internet reports that he has already signed with Gibbs: "Absolutely nothing. We are nowhere," he said. "We don't have anything signed, we haven't signed anything, and we are not really that close to signing anything yet."

Busch was the odd man out when Hendrick added Dale Earnhardt Jr. for next season. He's taking his time to make what he calls a "career-defining" move, and one he doesn't want to make more than once.

"It's a pain in the neck, and it's not a lot of fun," he said. "But it's nice to see what's out there. It's nice to meet with different people. I've never met with [Gibbs president] J.D. Gibbs, [DEI president] Max Siegel, [owner] Ray Evernham. It's nice to meet with those guys. They've gotten a sense of my personality, and who I am. Obviously, with them still talking to me, they still like me. That's nice. It's definitely been a learning experience, but something you don't want to go through too many times."

Joining the 800 club

Kyle Petty's 800th Cup start won't be one for the record books. Petty was involved in the multi-car crash when Casey Mears and Elliott Sadler made contact on Lap 55.

Petty's car suffered heavy damage but returned to the track 17 laps down and wound up 32nd.

"I couldn't see what happened on that wreck, just a lot of smoke," Petty said. "We got caught up in the wreck and the damage pushed the radiator into the oil cooler and caused a leak."

As the sixth driver to reach 800 starts, Petty has recorded eight wins, eight poles, 52 top-five and 173 top-10 finishes. His father, Richard, leads all drivers with 1,184. Ricky Rudd is five starts away from 900.

Other drivers with more than 800 starts include Dave Marcis, Terry Labonte and Darrell Waltrip.

Have a post-race pop?

NASCAR officials called Kevin Harvick into the Nextel Cup hauler following the race to discuss his contact with Tony Stewart's winning car on the cool-down lap (watch video).

Harvick reportedly told NASCAR that the contact was to congratulate Stewart on his victory, not retaliation for what occurred a few laps earlier when the two cars got together while racing for the lead, which apparently satisfied those in charge.