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With two races left in the regular season NASCAR Sprint Cup series points leader, Greg Biffle, has been thinking about an empty spot in his trophy case which would complete a sweep of the three-top series.

Many NASCAR fans forget that Biffle, who drives a Ford Fusion for Roush Fenway Racing, already has been a Truck Champion and a Nationwide Series Champion. He hasn't.

“I don't think about it week to week because it consumes me when I do think about it or talk about it or daydream about it for five or 10 minutes,” said Biffle in NASCAR's weekly teleconference. “Or when you are driving down the road - it puts you in a special spot in the sport.

Greg Biffle (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)

Because of my background and where I came from and how I did it, all of the things that go into that make it pretty overwhelming to think about to be in that position. I try not to think about it a lot. It is always right there when somebody mentions it but I am just thinking about how can I win it this year? That is what it comes down to. How can I do it?  That is what I am focused on mostly.”

The how is a big question especially considering that five-time champion; Jimmie Johnson, appears to be ready to peak when the Chase starts at Chicagoland Speedway later in September.

Under current NASCAR rules a win in the regular season is worth bonus points in the Chase. So now that he's locked into the Chase his team can afford to be more aggressive and race for wins. Or can it?

“We have been decent in the points so we have kind of tried to step out of the box and do some things to try and learn for the Chase and really be more aggressive with the setup and go for the win and say, ‘Hey, if it doesn't work we won't cry over spilled milk,'” said Biffle.

“That is all you can do. You can't flip a switch. We are already running as hard as we can. The thing we can do is take some more chances on the setup, whether it might work for the race or not is basically what we have been doing. Obviously it didn't work Saturday night at Bristol and we are hoping that at Atlanta it turns out more like Indy and Michigan for us than what Bristol did.”

Whatever happens in the next two Sprint Cup races Biffle is not getting ahead of himself with Championship dreams.

“Oh yeah. I don't want to jinx myself and actually I haven't done it yet. I am not superstitious but I have a spot picked out and have always said that I am going to build a trophy case with the center one missing and all of that but I am going to make it a special place when I do have the third one. I will proudly display my trophies. We are always kind of changing things around with a little addition on my shop here and there. I can't wait for the day to complete that trophy case.”

From GMM

Force India's drivers may have gone without pay so far in 2012, according to rumours.

Austria's Sportwoche reports speculation that Nico Hulkenberg and Paul di Resta are the latest victims of team owner Vijay Mallya's struggling Indian airline Kingfisher.

As the 2011 season kicked off, German Hulkenberg said the airline's high profile financial problems have "nothing to do with us".

"This is formula one, not an airline," he insisted.

Business Book GP 2012 estimates Hulkenberg and his Scottish teammate di Resta's salaries this year at EUR 500,000 and 200,000 respectively.

But Sportwoche cited more than one paddock source in suggesting that the duo have not been paid anything yet.

The magazine said only the payments from title partner Sahara are keeping the Silverstone based team afloat.

The wait is finally coming to an end: The all-new 2014 Mazda6 is set to make its debut at the Moscow Auto Show, which kicks off on Wednesday.

To keep fans drooling until the big event, the Japanese automaker has released another new picture of its completely redesigned midsize sedan.

The 2014 Mazda6 is the second vehicle to feature the full suite of SKYACTIV technologies, but the first to use Mazda's i-ELOOP regenerative braking system.

2014 Mazda6 (Photo: Mazda)

From GMM

McLaren may also be preparing a 'double DRS'-like system for this weekend's Belgian grand prix.

We reported early this month that the British team looked set to follow Mercedes and Lotus' lead in developing an iteration of the straightline speed-boosting concept.

"It's not like the Lotus one, but we are studying such a system," McLaren's sporting director Sam Michael was quoted as saying.

Mercedes debuted the concept early this season, and after practicing with a similar system at recent races, Lotus' technical boss James Allison revealed this week that the black and gold E20 could race its "device" for the first time at Spa.

And Brazilian correspondent Livio Oricchio now reports that, while the news is much quieter than Lotus', McLaren has similar plans to run a double-DRS at the high speed Belgian track.

The O Estado de S.Paulo journalist said it is not clear how McLaren's system differs to those fielded by Mercedes and Lotus.

After a recent performance dip, Lewis Hamilton entered the August break as F1's last-start winner, having secured his second victory of the 2012 season in Hungary.

"I think it's still difficult to predict accurately who'll win the next grand prix, but I reckon the coming few weeks ought to give us a much clearer idea of the destination of the world title," the McLaren driver said last Friday.

"There's no team with a clear advantage, although we're all pushing hard to catch Fernando (Alonso) in the drivers' championship, so there's still everything to play for," he added.

DTM reigning champion and BMW driver Martin Tomczyk was given a five-place grid penalty ahead of the next race, in Oschersleben, for his move on Gary Paffett during the wet race of Zandvoort.

Tomczyk and Paffett (Mercedes-Benz) were fighting when, on lap 28 at the approach of the Tarzan corner, Tomczyk collided with Paffett, spinning the Brit around.

Tomczyk was apologetic after the race, and accepted both the blame and the penalty.

"My wheel locked as I braked into the corner. I wanted to go round Gary Paffett but didn't manage it[.] I feel sorry for Gary. I am a fair sportsman and immediately apologized to Norbert Haug, who accepted the apology," said the 2011 champion after the race.

"Afterwards I also went to see Gary. Personally I think the penalty is too harsh, but I accept it."

Paffett, meanwhile, deeply regretted the incident that costed him a potential podium finish since, as a result of the spin, since it meant he finished behind championship rivals Jamie Green (Mercedes-Benz) and Bruno Spengler (BMW), and saw his lead in the standings shrink accordingly.

"Seventh place is not the outcome I had planned for this weekend at Zandvoort," admitted Paffett. "I was extremely disappointed after the contact with Martin Tomczyk and the subsequent incident when I spun, but at least we did a little catching up in the closing stages to limit the damage."

Navistar International replaced CEO Daniel Ustian with former Textron CEO Lewis Campbell on an interim basis, after the truck maker's bet on a new generation of diesel engines failed to live up to its promise.

Toyota's manufacturing company for the United States has accused a fired computer worker of cracking into its proprietary plans for parts prices and designs, downloading the information and sabotaging Toyota's internal computer software.

GM plans to idle the plant where it assembles the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid for four weeks starting next month, two people familiar with the plans said. GM will close its Detroit-Hamtramck plant from Sept. 17 until Oct.

Also in this episode: Spyker makes headlines, info on the new Porsche Carrera 4 and

Wary of getting caught in the political crossfire as the presidential campaign heats up, Chrysler and GM have banned campaign appearances at their plants. 'This fall, Chrysler will not host campaign events inside its facilities.

An Ohio court has upheld a Nissan dealer's legal position that a nearby Chevrolet vehicle assembly plant is hurting his performance.

GM, said to be exploring as much as another $5 billion in short-term credit, is seeking to secure low borrowing costs as it pours billions in cash into new products and pension obligations.

Dany Bahar, fired from his job as CEO at money-losing British sports car maker Lotus, filed a 6.7 million pounds ($10.6 million) claim against the automaker and its Malaysian parent, DRB-Hicom, for wrongful dismissal.

Workers at Fiat's Grugliasco plant outside Turin are poised to return to their jobs in September to start building a sleek Maserati Quattroporte model, but colleagues elsewhere may not be so fortunate.

Ford's Australian-based Performance Vehicles operation has unveiled its fastest car to dateand#8212;the Falcon-based FPV GT R-spec.

Fiat's new 500L minivan will be launched as scheduled in September despite possible infrastructure delays at the automaker's plant in Serbia, where the model is being built.

Think a 1.0-litre petrol engine, even one that's turbocharged, would be inadequate for a C-segment car? Think again, as I have had to do, after driving the Focus 1.0 EcoBoost.

What is it?

The Canadian Auto Workers has authorised strike action by hourly workers at General Motors, Ford and Chrysler plants.

In the early years of Ferrari's existence, the company experimented with all sorts of engine types, especially for its sports cars. In 1954, it focused mostly on four-cylinder engines.