NASCAR decides it will finish its season under green

Yellow-flag finishes are all but finished in NASCAR.

The sanctioning body said Thursday it will go to a green-white-checkered format, hoping all Nextel Cup and Busch series events will end with the cars racing.

The new rule will take effect with the races July 24-25 at New Hampshire International Speedway. The truck series already has the rule in place.”

The new format will not mean a race can’t finish under yellow. If there is another caution after a green-flag restart, the race will end immediately.

Four of the past 10 Cup races have ended under caution.

Some drivers are not in favor of the change to green-white-checkered finishes.

“All these race fans drinking beer and screaming and hollering have not been in a helicopter upside down with 30 tubes hanging out of you after going end-over-end 30 times like I’ve been before because of these green-white starts,” Rusty Wallace said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.

“It’s ridiculous and it’s unsafe.”

‘Papa Joe’ Hendrick dies

Joseph Hendrick Jr., father of Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick and company president John Hendrick, died Wednesday at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, the team said Thursday. He was 84.

Known as “Papa Joe,” Hendrick began his auto racing career in the early 1960s with longtime friend Frank Edwards, winning races throughout Virginia.

Over the years, Hendrick became a fixture at Hendrick Motorsports, most recently co-owning the No. 25 NASCAR Nextel Cup team and the No. 5 Busch Series team with grandson Ricky Hendrick. He also oversaw the organization’s show-car operation.

Interim crew chief named for Labonte

Brandon Thomas, a member of the Joe Gibbs Racing engineering department, was selected Thursday as the interim crew chief for Bobby Labonte’s No. 18 Chevrolet.

Thomas takes over for Michael “Fatback” McSwain, who was released Wednesday.