“We believe the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule will once again provide fans with what they’ve come to expect every season – the world’s most exciting and competitive form of motorsports,” said Brian France, NASCAR chairman and CEO. “Next year’s schedule has a few adjustments that we think will be good for the fans and good for the overall flow of the season. One thing will remain constant, however, and that’s the intense competition we see week in and week out from our drivers and race teams.”

One of those adjustments takes place during NASCAR’s playoffs – the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup – and could affect the strategy during the championship run. Talladega Superspeedway’s Chase event moves up two weeks to Oct. 7, becoming the fourth race in the Chase. Often labeled as the wild-card track in the Chase, Talladega’s grueling test is now staged during the first half of the Chase.

Talladega swaps its Chase date with Kansas Speedway (Oct. 21) to accommodate Kansas’ repave, scheduled for after the track’s spring event. As such, Kansas’ spring date has also been moved. Kansas now will be the eighth race of the season on April 22. Talladega’s spring event moves to May 6, and Dover International Speedway’s spring event returns to its traditional spot on June 3.

As previously announced, the season-opening Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway will start one week later with the running of the preseason “non-points” Shootout at Daytona on Feb. 18. The 54th annual Daytona 500 will run on Feb. 26.

The race dates for Phoenix International Raceway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway have likewise been moved a week later, to March 4 and March 11, respectively.

Two other featured adjustments to the 2012 schedule:

Texas Motor Speedway’s spring date will be moved to April 14, to accommodate the traditional open week for the Easter holiday.

Daytona’s summer event and Kentucky Speedway’s race will swap weekends in 2012, as the July 4th holiday falls mid-week next year. Kentucky’s race will be June 30; Daytona will run on July 7.

As in past years, FOX will broadcast the first 13 races of next year’s schedule. TNT will follow, broadcasting the next six. ESPN/ABC will broadcast the final 17 events. Race start times will be announced at a later date.

NASCAR will also release the 2012 schedules for the NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at a later date.

2012 NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES SCHEDULE

While most of us would stop short of saying that he’s out of it, his chances right now don’t look good. Regardless of what happened to that Joe Gibbs Racing team’s dominance, one thing is certain: Busch better win the Cup this year.

Why, you ask?

Busch started off this season with something to prove. After being booted from last year’s super-team in favor of NASCAR’s prodigal son, Busch had a chip on his shoulder. No one could argue that he wasn’t the weakest link (performance-wise) on Hendrick Motorsports, yet he still got the axe.

So, he set out to prove, “I’m better than Hendrick; I’m better than Junior; I’m better than everyone!” And, for the first 26 races, he did just that. He won eight of the first 26 Sprint Cup races, eight Nationwide races, and three Craftsman Truck Series races in a team that finished second once, and no better than 10th any other time with J.J. Yeley behind the wheel last season.

If he doesn’t turn it on and somehow pull of a comeback that would be nothing short of miraculous, do you think he won’t have any even bigger chip on his shoulder next season?

If he finishes anywhere in the points besides first, he’ll come back next season, more focused, driven, and bitter, which as we’ve all seen, doesn’t bode well for the other drivers.

So, unless you want to see Kyle Busch win 16+ races next season, he better win the championship this season.

At the drop of the green flag, Jimmie Johnson began sliding back from his third place starting position. He dropped all the way to seventh, by lap two. By lap 66, Johnson passed Edwards to take the lead. On lap 89 he relinquished the lead to teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. Later in the race, Johnson is leading with about 11 laps to go, when Greg Biffle made a surprise pass to the inside for the lead. The move surprised everyone, including Johnson, as most thought Biffle did not have a car to beat Johnson. As the laps wound down, Biffle pulled away and took the checkered flag. Johnson finished second.

Greg Biffle had a solid car in the beginning of the day, running in the top 10 for most of the early part of the race. On lap 154, Biffle made a green flag stop, and inhereted the lead, capitalizing on Dale Earnhardt Jr’s minor mistake on pit road. Jr and Biffle traded the lead a couple of times. As the race wound down, Biffle looked to have a strong car, but not strong enough to take the lead from Johnson. On a retart on lap 287, Biffle was running behind race-leader Johnson. Two laps later, he made a surprising move, passing Johnson and pulling away. Some thought he might have been conserving fuel, making his car look a little slower than it acutally was. He won the race by about a half of a second.

Dale Earnhardt Jr‘s first race in the Chase was pretty much the same as most of his races this season. Early on, Jr had a solid car, running in the top 5. On lap 89, Jr took the lead and pulled away from the field. He appeared to have the car to beat. But, he struggled to put cars a lap down. Still, his car was good enough to hold the lead. On lap 158, Jr pitted. His jackman and front tire changer bumped into each other throwing the rhythm of the pit stop off slightly. This allowed Biffle to take the lead when pit stops cycled through. After the stop, Jr managed to regain the lead for 10 laps, but then his tires started to go away. He dropped to eigth position by lap 198. The team made the car better, but it was not as dominant as it had been. He finished fifth.

Jeff Burton had a pretty quiet day. He ran in the top 10 most of the day, and was virtually unnoticed until the end of the day, when he and Jr bumped in the closing laps, as the two raced for fourth. Burton held the position and finished the race there.

Denny Hamlin also had a pretty quiet day. He flew under the radar most of the day running in the low teens and the top 10. Under caution on lap 224, Hamlin gave up second to make a pit stop to top off on fuel. Most of the field could not make to the end at that point. The gamble, however, did not pay off as most of the drivers did not come down pit road because they got enough cautions to make it. Hamlin finished ninth.

Tony Stewart had an interesting day to say the least. Under caution at lap 83, Stewart and Johnny Sauter got together on pit road, causing a fender rub for Stewart. He had to come back down pit road to get it fixed. This pushed him back to 35th. On his pit stop on lap 159, Stewart was penalized for too fast exiting pit road, and had to come back in. He was one lap down scored in 29th position. He rallied, though, to finish eighth.

Kyle Busch, the driver favored to win the Sprint Cup championship, had a catastrophic first race in the Chase. His sway bar broke just after the race began and he started dropping back. The team opted to wait for the competition caution at lap 35, rather than bringing him to pit road under green. He nursed the car until the caution came out, nearly wrecking at least once. He lost two laps while the team worked on the car, but they never got it right. On lap 83, Busch spun out, but managed to avoid hitting anything. But, David Ragan and Jamie McMurray also got together, and McMurray slammed into Busch’s car, which was resting on the straightaway following his spin. He sustained heavy damage. He wound up finishing 34th.

Clint Bowyer had two dominating practice sessions and many thought he had the car to beat. But, when the green flag dropped, he was never really a factor. He did run up front, hanging in the top 10 but was never a serious threat to win. He finished outside the top 10 in 12th.

Kevin Harvick had an up and down day. In the early going he dropped back to 20th with an ill-handling racecar. He ran in the teens for the middle part of the race and was never a factor. He rallied to finish 10th.

Jeff Gordon also had an up and down day. His car was a little off, and he hung around the top 10 most of the day. Pit stops were a problem for Gordon because he had to keep backing up to exit his pits because Robby Gordon was pitting far back in his box. This happened a few times. Gordon finished 14th.

Matt Kenseth was the only Chase driver to have a worse day than Kyle Busch. He too had a middle-of-the-pack car, but managed to hang around in the teens for a good portion of the day. On lap 229, however, Kenseth’s day would come to an end. Chad McCumbee got loose and spun up the track, making contact with Kenseth’s left front, ripping the fender. Kenseth made contact with the wall. Right after that David Gilliland t-boned Kenseth. He finished 40th.

Johnson, who won the last two races in a row, finished second behind Biffle.

Top 5: Biffle, Johnson, Carl Edwards, Jeff Burton, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Kurt Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick finished sixth through 10th, respectively.

Notables: Kasey Kahne (11th), Clint Bowyer (12th), Jeff Gordon (14th), Joey Logano (32nd), Kyle Busch (34th), and Matt Kenseth (40th).

The win is his fifth of the season, but second place finisher Johnny Benson maintained his points lead.

Top 5: Hornaday, Benson, Travis Kvapil, Erik Darnell, and Rick Crawford.

Kyle Busch, David Starr, Brian Scott, Jack Sprague, and TJ Bell rounded out the top 10.

Notables: Matt Crafton (12th), David Reutimann (13th), Mike Skinner (15th), Dennis Setzer (16th), and Todd Bodine (19th).

With seven laps to go David Starr spun out Bodine. After the race ended, Bodine bumped Starr, then pulled next to him. On pit road, tempers flared and the two crews mixed it up. Bodine, stepped back and seemed to stay out of it.

Bodine said:

[Starr] just doesn’t know when to choke down the reins and slow down a bit.

Starr said:

I don’t have a problem with a driver coming over and wanting to come over and talk to me. But a crew member coming over and putting a finger in my face? That’s a totally different deal. I don’t play that way. To have a crew member come and put my window net down and put a finger in my face, I don’t play that game.

Watch: The spin. The fight.

Coleman has been a test driver for the team since late last year.

P.J. Jones will be in the car at this weekend’s race at Watkins Glen International.

Other than a third place finish at the LENOX Industrial Tools 301, which was the result of staying out when the caution came out for rain at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Yeley has posted no finish better than 24th. He also missed the race at Infineon Raceway.

The team is currently 38th in owner’s points, 196 points behind 35th place, which means Jones and Coleman will have to qualify on time.

Kobalt Tools, a Lowe’s brand, is said to be the leading candidate to sponsor the truck series. Craftsman, a Sears brand, will not renew its sponsorship of the series.

Stanley Tools and NAPA have been rumored to be potential sponsors as well.

Should Kobalt reach and agreement to sponsor the series, it would replace Craftsman as the official tool of NASCAR. Lowe’s could also become the official home improvement store of NASCAR, replacing Home Depot.

Anheuser Acquired By InBev

Anheuser-Busch has agreed acquired by InBev for $52 billion. Under the deal, which will create the world’s largest brewer, Anheuser will receive two seats on the board of the new company. The takeover also contains a provision that requires either side of the agreement to pay a “breakup” fee of $1.25 billion if it was responsible for the breakup.

The deal shouldn’t affect the company’s NASCAR sponsorship. Budweiser has signed a multiyear agreement to remain as sponsor of the Budweiser Shootout.

Budweiser will also become primary sponsor on Kasey Kahne’s World of Outlaws team.

GM Woes Trickle Down To NASCAR

Chevrolet will not renew sponsorship agreements with two tracks that host Sprint Cup races next season. The company is also evaluating all levels of its motorsports operations.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway are the two tracks. GM has contracts with 12 of the 22 tracks where the Cup series races and is the title sponsor for the fall race at Richmond International Raceway. GM also is the official vehicle provider for Daytona International Speedway.

SK Telecom In Talks To Acquire Sprint

SK Telecom would solicit the help of private equity firms, which would provide the cash for the deal.

Sprint has been contemplating a sale as it struggles with subscriber losses and remaining competitve with Verizon, which recently acquire Alltel. Should Sprint decide against a sale, SK will not pursue on, sources say.

Stewart took two tires on his final pit stop under caution. He came out of the pits in third, and took over the lead three laps after the restart. He led the remaining 64 laps, with his JGR teammates, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch chasing him.

Stewart said:

That last stop is what won the race for us. To get track position and be able to stay up front and not have to overdrive the car or abuse the tires was the key to the win.

How ironic. Pit strategy led him to victory on Saturday and cost him the win on Sunday.

Stewart clearly had the car to beat for most of the LENOX Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. He led a race-high 132 laps, and appeared to be cruising to his first Sprint Cup win of the season and 33rd of his career.

But then… everything changed.

While Dale Earnhardt Jr. slowed to pit under green, Jamie McMurray rear-ended him like he was in one of Kasey Kahne’s Allstate commercials. ”Super-sorry about your car, Junior.”

That brought out the caution with about 30 laps to go. Stewart, like many of the other leaders pitted, while others with nothing to lose, Kurt Busch, Michael Waltrip, and J.J. Yeley rolled the dice and stayed out. Stewart lined up in 13th on the final restart.

Shortly after the restart, Sam Hornish and Clint Bowyer got together brining out the caution, as the rain began to fall. NASCAR red flagged the race, and called it shortly thereafter, leaving Stewart with the best damn 13th place car I’ve ever seen.

In his interview shortly after the red flag was waved, you could hear the disappointment and frustration in Stewart’s voice:

This has been the oddest year for this race team. It’s the worst string of bad luck I’ve ever seen. But a percentage of this industry is luck, and you can’t change it.

The dejection in Stewart’s voice was a clear indication that Saturday’s win was long forgotten. What a difference one day makes.

Bobby Labonte, Scott Riggs, Kevin Harvick, and Dale Earnhardt Jr will roll off second through fifth, respectively.

Reed Sorenson, Dario Franchitti, Martin Truex Jr., Matt Kenseth and AJ Allmendinger round out the top 10 starters.

Notables: Denny Hamlin (12th), Kasey Kahne (14th), Greg Biffle (15th), Carl Edwards (17th), Clint Bowyer (18th), Jeff Gordon (19th), Jimmie Johnson (23rd), Kyle Busch (27th), Tony Stewart (28th), Jeff Burton (31st), and David Ragan (35th).

Tony Raines and Marcos Ambrose did not make the show.