He drives! He dances! He wins at both!

Who knew? Helio Castroneves. Indy 500 winner – twice. He can move more than his hands and feet. (Thanks to Penske Racing for the photo.)

Dancing With the Stars has been fun to watch, and may have gotten a few extra viewers because of Helio. And boy did his website pimp the show and voting.

So who’s next? Can’t be the Nextel, er, Sprint Cup guys, the Chase is underway during the Dancing With the Stars Competition. Hey, does anyone know if Dario Franchitti can act? His wife can.

Speaking of the NASCAR boys, they had the what’s become a traditional drive around Manhattan this morning, taking off from the Good Morning America studio at Times Square. Right after Helio showed off his moves.

ESPN Classic will air the annual NASCAR Nextel (yea, still Nextel) Cup Awards at 9 p.m. Friday from the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City. Dr. Jerry Punch will emcee the onstage event (yippee, didn’t we love him during the season, he’s so exciting.) It will rebroadcast at midnight on the Deuce.

Funnyman David Spade and singer Kelly Clarkson will perform during the awards program.

I have this feeling the NASCAR awards show won’t be as exciting as Dancing With the Stars. Oh well, racecar drivers are racecar drivers, just some have diverse talents.

King Jimmie

OK, I’ll say it.

Jimmie Johnson is the champion. I even have a photo to make all the JJ fans happy. Me with a JJ car flag.

It’s kind of like politics. You may not like the President of the United States, but you should respect the office.

Same thing with Jimmie. He may not be my cup of Coca-Cola, but he has the hardware and you have to respect that. Remember the commercial with Elliott Sadler? “Just a minute,” Jimmie says. The trophy shows up and he asks, “You were saying?”

Hendrick was the class of the field all season long. The teams combined for 10 wins, and pulled off the driver coup of the century. Hendrick drivers account for more than one-third of the season’s wins. Jimmie won with Chad Knaus, he won without Chad Knaus. Jeff Gordon fared well with and without Steve Letarte.

Now comes the really interesting part of the year. Drivers are looking for rides. Teams are being added and teams are being eliminated. Series sponsorships are changing to Nationwide and a name switch to Sprint. Junior will no longer drive for Budweiser (that’s going to Kasey Kahne). Dale Jarrett will quit driving after a handful of races. And Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch will drive Toyotas.

But, Jimmie Johnson is the champion. Long live the champ.

Freebies!

Jimmie Johnson may have won the championship, but Matt Kenseth won the race Sunday.

You know what that means?

Free Fries! That’s right. Take in the newspaper showing where Matt won the race Sunday and you get free fries at Arby’s. But it’s only for Monday, November 19, 2007. Arby’s has been doing this all season long.

The stipulation is you have to take in proof of the win, and that means the sports page (probably the standings on page B2).

Those fries will be a nice addition to your roast beef sandwich. And best of all, they’re free.

Of course Matt Kenseth won at Miami Homestead. He's a Roush Fenway driver and they RULE Miami Homestead. So sorry for The Biff, but it was still a Roush win. Enjoy the photo from the Associated Press of Jack Roush, Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth.