NASCAR

NASCAR placed Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards on probation for the next six races of the Sprint Cup Series after the two traded intentional bumps following Saturday's Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee.

After a wild night of racing at the Bristol Motor Speedway last Saturday, the Sprint Cup Series will run under the lights again this Labor Day weekend at the Auto Club Speedway. The Nationwide Series will join the Sprint Cup in Fontana, Ca, while the IndyCar Series heads to "Motown" for a date at The Raceway at Bell Isle in Detroit.

Next year's Budweiser Shootout at Daytona will have a new format. NASCAR officials announced Tuesday the pre-season, non-points race at the Daytona International Speedway will feature the top-six teams from Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford and Toyota, based on the final 2008 car owner points. The field will no longer be based on the previous year's pole winners.

Gillett Evernham Motorsports announced Tuesday that Reed Sorenson has signed a multi-year contract to join the team, starting with the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.

Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards sparked NASCAR's next great rivalry Saturday night at the Bristol Motor Speedway, and while the two are currently first and second in the Sprint Cup Series point standings, the feud could escalate heading into the championship "Chase."

Joe Gibbs Racing named 18-year-old Joey Logano as driver of the No.20 Toyota in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2009. Logano will replace Tony Stewart, who is leaving JGR at the end of the season to serve as driver and co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing.

Team owner Richard Childress announced changes within his organization for the 2009 season Saturday at the Bristol Motor Speedway. Casey Mears will drive the No.07 Chevrolet starting next year, while Clint Bowyer will move to Childress' new No.33 Chevrolet team.

Kyle Busch put on one of his most dominating performances, leading a career-high 415 laps, but Carl Edwards grabbed the lead from Busch with 31 laps to go and held it for his second-straight Sharpie 500 victory at the Bristol Motor Speedway. Edwards recorded his sixth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory of the season and the 13th of his career. He also clinched the second seed in the championship "Chase," which begins September 14th at New Hampshire.

Carl Edwards' winning momentum during the month of August continued Friday as he captured the pole for the Sharpie 500 at the Bristol Motor Speedway. The No.60 Roush Fenway Racing driver circled the 0.533-mile, high-banked oval in 15.746 seconds (121.860 m.p.h.).

NASCAR came down hard on Joe Gibbs Racing Wednesday for cheating during Saturday's Nationwide Series race.