NASCAR Weekly News Headlines * Week 13, 2012

Bristol Will Make Immediate Changes To Track

Changes Made To NASCAR's All-Star Race

The race will consist of four 20-lap preliminary segments, culminating in a 10-lap shootout. The field will make a mandatory final stop before the final leg of the race, then will line up according to the order in which they leave pit road. This year, though, winners of the four preliminary portions will enter pit road first, giving them an edge for the final segment. In the event one driver wins multiple preliminary segments, the second-place driver in a given 20-lap run would receive the benefit. "It makes you really want to get one of those first four 20-lap races," said Kasey Kahne, the 2008 All-Star winner. "The way you come off pit road for that final 10 is (whether) you have a shot to win or not."

For crew chiefs, the stakes will be just as high, with the strategy of whether to take two tires, four tires, fuel only or a mere stop-and-go on the final stop potentially determining the outcome. "I think it's pressure on everybody," said Steve Addington, crew chief for Tony Stewart. "Everybody wants to win that race, but you can throw caution to the wind, so it's up to the call from the top of the pit box as to how much pressure (you put) on them or yourself. But if you call for a tire change, they're going to have to be spot-on."

In addition to the leaving the seven-figure winner's payout unchanged, race organizers made no tweaks to driver eligibility. The field will consist of race winners from 2011 and the 2012 season up to May 12, plus any past champions of the all-star event or NASCAR Sprint Cup Series from the past 10 years. Additionally, three transfer spots are left open before the main event. The top two finishers in the 40-lap Sprint Showdown earlier in the evening will qualify for the race. Another driver will be selected on the basis of fan votes cast online or through mobile devices. (NASCAR Wire Service)

Earnhardt Jr. Surprised His Rivals Weren't Better Weather Men

Jimmie Johnson Gets A Gift

Stewart Wins Rain-Shortened California Cup Race

But that move -- staying out and running slow caution laps before NASCAR stopped the race on Lap 129 -- proved decisive for the defending NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, who claimed his second victory of the season, his second at Fontana and the 46th of his career, tying him with Buck Baker for 14th on the career victory list. Kyle Busch, who stayed out with Stewart, finished second, with Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards completing the top five.

Greg Biffle ran sixth, followed by Ryan Newman, Martin Truex Jr. and Kurt Busch, all of whom gambled on protracted rain and stayed on the track during the initial shower. Jimmie Johnson and polesitter Denny Hamlin came to pit road and finished 10th and 11th, respectively. "I don't think that I faked him out," Stewart said of Hamlin. "I'm sure he had made his decision already -- looked good, though."

In Johnson's case, the top-10 was a godsend, given that the No. 48 Chevrolet developed an oil line problem as the cars circled the two-mile track under caution. Johnson's car began smoking and he kept it rolling on the apron until NASCAR stopped the race. The event ran caution-free for 124 laps, until rain in Turns 3 and 4 brought out the first yellow flag of the afternoon. Stewart had retained the lead through a third cycle of green-flag pit stops, with Hamlin chasing him.

Hamlin had made a run at the leader when the rain began to fall, but he and Johnson opted to give up positions in the top five and come to pit road, after Stewart made his feint toward the pits but remained on the racetrack. Feint or not, Hamlin was committed to the trip to pit road, and he explained the decision. "We were planning on the race going back to green, and if it doesn't, we'll lose some spots, but if we chose to stay out there, we would have to be behind all the cars that pitted (if the race restarted)," Hamlin said as the rain intensified. "(In that case), your chance of winning decreases greatly. So you could give up a few spots if it finishes up here and lose a chance to win in the grand scheme of things -- we had finally gotten to (Stewart's) bumper when the rain came."

That left Busch in second place. The driver of the No. 18 Toyota had led 80 laps to that point, but Busch had rubbed the wall in traffic before the halfway point, and the handling of his car deteriorated thereafter. (NASCAR Wire Service)

Joey Logano Gives JGR 8th Consecutive Nationwide Win At California

The victory was Logano's first of the season, second at Fontana and the 10th of his career. Logano is the first Sprint Cup Series regular to win a Nationwide race this season. Brad Keselowski ran third, followed by Brian Scott and rookie Austin Dillon. Brad Sweet, Kenny Wallace, Kyle Busch, series leader Elliott Sadler and Brendan Gaughan completed the top 10. After debris punctured the radiator of her No. 7 Chevrolet, Danica Patrick retired with an engine failure and finished 35th.

By the time Sam Hornish's wild spin in Turn 4 brought out the second caution of the race on Lap 91, Logano had led 54 laps, but the yellow flag bunched the field and made for dramatic racing at the front. Logano, Stenhouse, Busch, Gaughan and Allgaier all made runs at the top spot before a caution for debris in Turn 4 on Lap 104 slowed the field and brought a round of pit stops for the lead-lap cars.

Busch, who restarted sixth on Lap 109, was the only driver exiting pit road in the top 10 who took tires on the pit stop. Busch's crew chief, Mike Beam, opted for right-side rubber, while the cars that restarted ahead of him took fuel only. Within three laps, Busch was in the lead, passing Logano for the top spot on Lap 112, with Keselowski in pursuit. The 2009 Nationwide champion kept the 2010 Nationwide champion at bay until Lap 125, when Keselowski moved around him for the lead.

Logano soon rejoined the battle and took over the top spot on Lap 129, a position he held until Blake Koch's Lap 133 spin in Turn 4 necessitated the fourth caution and set up a final round of pit stops, with Trevor Bayne leaving pit road with the lead, thanks to a two-tire call. A slow pit stop cost Busch 14 positions, but he rallied to post the first top-10 finish of the season for his new Nationwide team. (NASCAR Wire Service)

Appeal Over, But Dispute Over Jimmie Johnson's "C" Posts Still Rages

NASCAR president Mike Helton would take issue with that statement. In Helton's view, when NASCAR's chief appellate officer, John Middlebrook, upheld a $100,000 fine to Johnson's crew chief, Chad Knaus, that vindicated the inspection problem that uncovered the alleged violation. "We believe in our inspectors," Helton told reporters Friday at Auto Club Speedway. "We think that the decision that was made this week supports the inspection process, because the elements of the penalty that were upheld indicate that the inspection process, or the inspectors, did their job correctly."

In upholding the fine and leaving Knaus and car chief Ron Malec on probation, while rescinding six-race suspensions to Knaus and Malec and 25-point penalties against Johnson and car owner Jeff Gordon, Middlebrook made no comment about the nature of the violation itself. He simply altered the punishment. So were the "C" posts legal or not? Asked whether they would be confiscated again if the 48 car featured the same "C" posts at Talladega, Helton said, "I would hope so."

Legal or not, Johnson, Knaus and team owner Rick Hendrick expressed confusion over the rescission of some penalties and the upholding of others. "I'm not totally happy with the decision," said Johnson, who climbed from 17th to 11th in the Cup standings after his 25 points were restored. "I'm pleased that the big issues had come down, but I share confusion as well. "I think our message -- I know our message all along through Hendrick Motorsports and myself -- we didn't feel that a penalty was warranted in the first place. We're just as curious." (NASCAR Wire Service)

NASCAR Hotpass Lineup At Auto Club Speedway