WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- Hendrick Motorsports has verbally agreed to a five-year contract with General Motors, keeping NASCAR's most powerful organization in Chevrolets through 2012.
"We're done," team owner Rick Hendrick said after Sunday's Nextel Cup race at Watkins Glen International. "We haven't signed it, but we've verbally agreed."
GM is in the last year of all of its contracts with teams in the Nextel Cup series. Re-signing HMS was key, particularly with speculation that Joe Gibbs Racing may be leaving for Toyota.
Richard Childress Racing and Dale Earnhardt Inc., GM's other top teams, remain in negotiations but are expected to re-sign.
HMS has won 10 of 22 races this season and Jeff Gordon has a 344-point lead in the points standings. Since 1995, HMS's six titles are more than any organization.
David Newton covers motorsports for ESPN.com.