NASCAR Chairman Brian France told the Arizona Republic last weekend that the series is examining ways to be more environmentally friendly, saying, “it’s going to vary from the actual fuel we use to power the cars to looking at a green series.”

France said series officials are working on a prototype vehicle. Brett Bodine, NASCAR’s director of cost research, says that officials are looking at various options such as how to power the vehicle.

“We haven’t committed to anything, we’re still doing research,” Bodine said. “Is it a hybrid? Is it an ethanol situation? Is it a diesel situation? There’s a lot of things other than racing fuel to power a vehicle.”

Bodine said officials started work on this more than a year ago. Some might question why not go immediately with a car that runs on ethanol, but Bodine says that’s not possible.

“We’ve got some manufacturers that aren’t ready to do that with their product,” he said. “We’ve got a big garage area that we’ve got to be prepared to make sure we make the right decisions for everybody.”

Staying put

Mike Brown, general manager for Bill Davis Racing, says the team is not looking to move to the Charlotte area.

The team, based in High Point, N.C., is one of the few Cup teams based outside the Charlotte area. Petty Enterprises announced last week it would move from Level Cross to Mooresville, N.C., after this season, in part to be able to be closer to the Charlotte area in hopes of attracting more crew members.

“I understand what the Pettys are doing and if that’s right for them, that’s good,” Brown said. “Right now, we don’t see that as something that we’re entertaining.”

Brown estimates that 25 percent of the team’s 300 employees are based in the Charlotte area. “We’re really happy with where we’re at,” Brown said.

Minor changes

 While some drivers have said that Goodyear needs to change the tires to help teams with the Car of Tomorrow, a Goodyear official says changes for next season will be slight.

Rich Heinrich, product manager for Goodyear, says that tires will be slightly softer to provide more grip at intermediate tracks.

The Car of Tomorrow, which ran in 16 races this season, did not run on such tracks this season. Heinrich said that the tire company is likely to keep the same tires that were used at COT races this year for next season.

Streaking

Among the streaks on the line this weekend in the season finale at Homestead: Dale Earnhardt Jr. has won at least a race in each of the past seven seasons. He’s winless this year. Gillett Evernham Motorsports has won at least one race each of the past six years but is winless this season.

Tight race

The closest points race heading into the season finale at Homestead is in the Craftsman Truck series. Mike Skinner leads Ron Hornaday Jr. by 29 points. Carl Edwards has already clinched the Busch title, and Jimmie Johnson leads Jeff Gordon by 86 points for the Nextel Cup crown.

Pit stops

Todd Bodine will replace Ward Burton this weekend for Morgan-McClure Motorsports. … NASCAR Illustrated has selected Jeff Burton as its 2007 Person of the Year for his charitable efforts. … Bobby Labonte is looking to give the Pettys their first top-20 points finish since 1999. Labonte enters this weekend 18th in the points. … Kevin Harvick has completed all but 100 of the 10,315 laps run this season (99.9 percent), which is best in Cup. … A record 23 drivers are eligible to compete in next year’s Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway. The race is for pole winners and former winners of that event.