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Will Power came into this weekend's race knowing that he had no chance of claiming the title this year. But in many ways, a more important and personal prize was at stake.

Will Power purged old demons with a dominating run to the chequered flag at Auto Club Speedway, with the season finale and title decider turning into a gruelling war of attrition.

Veteran Cup driver Mark Martin is to move into the Joe Gibbs Racing #11 Cup race seat while Denny Hamlin recovers from his compression fracture.

Lotus announces seven young drivers who will make up the new Lotus F1 Junior Tean

Ed Carpenter won the race as Ryan Hunter-Reay survived a thrilling end to the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series season to take the championship by a narrow margin over Will Power.

Mike Conway's decision to step down from his race seat at AJ Foyt Racing because he no longer felt comfortable racing on ovals received broad support from his fellow racers on pit lane on Friday.

Ryan Hunter-Reay didn't get off to the best of starts at Auto Club Speedway, Fontana when he spun the #28 Andretti Autosport car and crashed early in testing on Wednesday.

The IZOD IndyCar Series will not be replacing the abandoned China street race and will instead remain at 15 races for the 2012 season, organisers have announced.

Neil Hodgson has been released from hospital a week after sustaining injuries in a motorcross accident.

Best known for the title role in House , the hit medical series, 49-year-old Englishman Hugh Laurie was an elite oarsman in his younger days at Eton and Cambridge.

The handshake was only just beginning to cool after Yates Racing and David Gilliland announced that they were amicably terminating their relationship, when the driver popped in a lap good enough to qualify the #71 TRG Chevrolet for Sunday's Auto Club 500.

1. Brian Vickers #83 Red Bull Toyota Red Bull Racing 183.439mph 39.250secs 2. Jimmie Johnson #48 Lowes/Kobalt Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports 183.164mph 39.309secs

The pressure hasn't lifted completely from AJ Allmendinger's shoulders - he still must qualify on speed for the first five events of the Sprint Cup season - but after a third-place finish in last Sunday's Daytona 500, you can sense the relief in his voice.

With the Daytona 500 now out of the way, Marcos Ambrose will turn his focus to remaining inside the top 35 in owner points as the NASCAR Sprint Cup heads to Fontana this weekend for the Auto Club 500.

Ryan Newman has backed the #39 Stewart Haas Racing crew to emerge as a strong team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup following the way they bounced back from the problematic week of action at Daytona.