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Above all the pomp of Sunday’s season-finale hung an air of uncertainty and, in some cases, sheer panic. Team members quietly passed around resumes, looking to latch on at stable organizations. Others worried that the checkered flag at the end of the race would also signify the end of a steady paycheck.

Mass layoffs are expected throughout NASCAR this week, as team owners from all three national series adjust to the economic crisis.

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“We’ve raced a long time, we’re both from the Midwest and he’s (Edwards) a good competitor. He’s last year’s champion and it feels really good to beat him.”

Edwards wrested the lead from Kyle Busch late in the race and stayed out front to the end of the 200-lap event at Homestead-Miami Speedway, earning his seventh Nationwide victory and keeping Busch from recording a record 11th Nationwide victory.

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Duke — which hasn’t lost the first game at its notoriously noisy arena since 1982, and won its ninth straight season opener overall — denied Presbyterian its first road victory in 24 tries at this level.

Golf: Course designer Dye joins Hall of Fame

Course architect Pete Dye , 82, was among those inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Fla.

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Not wanting to use a calculator in the cockpit of his Chevrolet, Johnson will simply run hard and see where he is at the checkered flag.

“My goal is to outrun those guys,” Johnson said. “My goal’s to win the race, try to lead the most laps, gain points on those guys so that we go to Homestead with as many points as we can. That’s truthfully the goal. I hope it works that way. No telling it will.

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• Brewers make offer to Sabathia: The Brewers have opened up the bidding for free-agent left-hander CC Sabathia .

General manager Doug Melvin said the team made a contract proposal to Sabathia over the weekend but wasn’t willing to discuss terms of the offer or assess the team’s chances of keeping its prize pitcher.

Sabathia, who went 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA for the Brewers after he was traded from the Indians on July 7, filed for free agency over the weekend and is expected to draw interest from big-market teams that could outbid the Brewers.

(More in ‘Briefs: Galarraga is Tigers’ top rookie’…)

Motor sports

Crew chief Lance McGrew was asked last week what his NASCAR Sprint Cup driver, Brad Keselowski , should be for Halloween.

“A first-time Sprint Cup driver,” McGrew said.

Keselowski, the 24-year-old from Rochester Hills, didn’t have to get dressed up. Instead, he spent his Halloween qualifying the No. 25 GoDaddy.com for Sunday’s Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, fulfilling McGrew’s wish.

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Kodak said it is also ending a four-year sponsorship of Penske Racing at year end.

Since it signed on with NASCAR in 1986, Kodak-sponsored cars have won the Daytona 500 four times — with Ryan Newman ’s car this year, Sterling Marlin ’s in 1994 and 1995 and Ernie Irvan ’s in 1991.

Baseball:Rockies pitcher cited for DUI

Rockies pitcher Luis Vizcaino was arrested in Tampa, Fla., after police said he was driving under the influence.

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With a masterful final drive to the checkered flag, the two-time defending champion rallied from a rare penalty to finish second and stretch his points lead to a commanding 183 points over Edwards with three races remaining in the Chase for the championship.

“Are you kidding me?” a deflated Edwards asked when told Johnson had finished second. “You’ve rained on my parade. I could have done without that one.

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“Making changes at this point would likely cause teams to have to further make adjustments to their adjustments and that’s not productive.”

NASCAR’s research and development division began planning and designing the bigger, bulkier CoT shortly after the sport’s biggest star, Dale Earnhardt, died in a crash during the 2001 Daytona 500.

It first competed at Bristol in March 2007 and was used in 16 races that season before running all the races this year — a year earlier than originally planned.

(More in ‘Tomorrow has arrived: No changes planned in 2009 for NASCAR vehicle’…)

“I’m going to have to answer those questions one of these days, aren’t I?” Johnson said of the ones about Yarborough and taking a position beside him in history.

Johnson’s sixth victory of the year extended his points lead from 69 to 149, and while his closest challengers vowed that the Chase race isn’t over, the plaudits keep coming, too.

“There’s a lot of great teams that were huge in the sport,” Dale Earnhardt Jr.

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