AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Jimmie Johnson won’t plan any parties this week, or waste a minute pondering his place in NASCAR history.

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Jimmie Johnson sat in his car going nowhere for more than an hour, his NASCAR Sprint Cup lead shrinking with every passing lap.

TALLADEGA, Ala. - NASCAR demanded drivers be on their best behavior at Talladega Superspeedway, where a ban on bump-drafting sanitized what’s usually one of the most spectacular races of the season.

Denny Hamlin felt a little déjà-vu in the closing laps at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Jimmie Johnson should consider making some room in his trophy case.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s nightmarish season rolled on, or, more precisely, continued limping along into the wall as Little E struggled to a 29th-place finish in the TUMS Fast Relief 500 on Sun-day at Martinsville Speedway.

CHARLOTTE - Bill France Sr., NASCAR’s founder, headlines stock-car racing’s first Hall of Fame class, but the group drew mixed reactions with the inclusion of France’s son instead of driver David Pearson.

FONTANA, Calif. (AP)—Jimmie Johnson insists NASCAR’s Chase for the championship isn’t over. That his dominating victory in Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Auto Club Speedway doesn’t mean his fourth straight title is in the bag.

FONTANA, Calif.—Jimmie Johnson is back in control of NASCAR’s Chase for the Championship.

Daniel Herrington is making his mark as an open-wheel driver from stock-car country.

From a historical perspective that really doesn’t have much history to it, Tony Stewart may have been better off not winning NASCAR’s regular season.

Denny Hamlin, a first-time winner in Richmond, has 10 top-10 finishes in his last 12 starts.

Experience was once the most prized commodity in NASCAR.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson had the gas to get to the White House on Wednesday, where President Barack Obama honored the 2008 winner as well as auto racing.

Bristol Motor Speedway officials had 160,000 reasons to celebrate Tuesday morning.

SoBo track officials say Greg Dejarnette was black flagged and parked for rough driving. Dejarnette didn’t take that news well.

So far this season, Northern drivers have been a force on the Southern tour.

After weeks of negotiations, International Speedway Corp. officials announced yesterday that the Indy Racing League event won’t return next year to Richmond International Raceway.

If only numbers mattered, Denny Hamlin’s fourth Sprint Cup season would be something to brag about.

It’s about 5:45 on a Friday night and the tower at Southside Speedway is starting to come alive. Score keepers are arriving and setting up the electronic keypad for the scoreboard overlooking turn three; drivers and teams are mulling around the infield; and the controlled scramble is on to get concession stands up and running. Co-race directors Chris Stefi and Gary Fox are just sitting down to hash out some last minute notes for the drivers’ meeting at 6 p.m. and catching one last moment of solitude before a night where they will have to deal with everything from storms to wrecks, to technical difficulties and the inevitable unhappy driver.

They called him “Happy Harvick” at the start of his NASCAR career, when success came so easy that Kevin Harvick had a seemingly perpetual smile. It’s been quite some time since the nickname fit.

NASCAR asked a federal judge Monday to reverse the ruling that lifted driver Jeremy Mayfield’s indefinite suspension for failing a random drug test.

Joey Logano isn’t apologizing for getting a lucky win. Especially when it’s his first one — and it made him the youngest winner in the history of the Sprint Cup series.

SONOMA, Calif. — Richard Petty Motorsports has made news this season for all the wrong reasons. Caught in the financial crunch of Chrysler’s bankruptcy, the team had a recent round of layoffs and companywide salary reductions.

When Mark Martin got the opportunity to return to NASCAR Sprint Cup racing full time this season, he and wife Arlene had a couple of heart-to-heart talks.

DOVER, Delaware (AP) — Jimmie Johnson nosed past Tony Stewart with two laps left in a thrilling battle to the finish and won the NASCAR Autism Speaks 400 at Dover International Speedway.

Timothy Peters can now say with certainty that he is racing all the way through Homestead.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Dale Earnhardt Jr. stayed loyal to his cousin and crew chief through last year’s frustrating finish and this year’s slumping start.

BY RALPH N. PAULK

Media General News Service

BRISTOL, Tenn. - Drag racing is fueled by a potent mix of courage, nitromethane, high-octane racing fuel - and money.