Auto racing notes: Robby Gordon stays behind wheel in Baja 1000 (Everett Herald). Most drivers in NASCAR's Sprint Cup series are looking forward to getting some rest now that the 2008 season is over. Robby Gordon isn't among them.

Burkett's auto-matic (Richmond Times-Dispatch). Alfred Burkett won the drag racing championship in the Computech Raider ET Challenge. If Alfred Burkett, owner of Al's Auto Service in Highland Springs, always seems to have dark grease under his fingernails, you can understand why. He works on cars all day for a living. Then at night and on weekends, he works on cars many more hours, just for kicks.

Car bomb accused 'is a pacifist' (BBC News). An NHS doctor accused of masterminding car bomb attacks is a peaceful man, his barrister tells a court.

EU competition chief: avoid car subsidy race (AP via Yahoo! News). The European Union's competition chief said Friday that Germany and France should avoid entering a global "subsidy race" to bail out the ailing car industry.

Burkett's auto-matic (Richmond Times-Dispatch). Alfred Burkett won the drag racing championship in the Computech Raider ET Challenge. If Alfred Burkett, owner of Al's Auto Service in Highland Springs, always seems to have dark grease under his fingernails, you can understand why. He works on cars all day for a living. Then at night and on weekends, he works on cars many more hours, just for kicks.