Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/National Wild Turkey Federation Chevrolet for SHR, finished 17th to end a five-race streak of top-five finishes in the non-points event.

Jimmie Johnson won the All-Star Race. It was his third All-Star Race win and his ninth Sprint Cup victory at Charlotte.

Brad Keselowski finished .841 of a second behind Johnson in the runner-up spot, while Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr., rounded out the top-five. Kevin Harvick, Marcos Ambrose, Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne and Newman comprised the remainder of the top-10.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series returns to point-paying racing Sunday, May 27 with the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. The longest race on the Sprint Cup schedule gets underway at 6 p.m. EDT, with live coverage provided by FOX beginning at 5:30 p.m.

NASCAR has also fined Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 51 car in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, $50,000 and placed him on NASCAR probation until July 25 for his actions during the race.

Kurt Busch violated Section 12-1 (Actions detrimental to stock car racing; reckless driving on pit road during the race; involved in an altercation with another competitor after the completion of the race) of the 2012 NASCAR Rule Book. Additionally, Craig Strickler, a crew member for the No. 51 team, has been fined $5,000 and placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31 for violating Section 12-1 (Actions detrimental to stock car racing; interfering with a member of the broadcast media).

“It was a good lap for the WIX Filters Chevrolet,” said Newman, who qualified on the pole for the 2003 Southern 500 at Darlington. “I was a little loose in (turns) one and two and the car got a bit sideways, but it hooked up the rest of the way and we ended up with a good spot for the race.”

Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, will start 17th after turning a lap of 27.515 seconds at 178.724 mph.

“We’re a lot better than what that lap showed,” said Stewart, who won the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Darlington but has just three top-five and 10 top-10 finishes in 19 career Sprint Cup starts at the venerable track. “I left some speed on table up there in (turns) one and two. We’ve got a good Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevy for tomorrow night.”

SHR driver Danica Patrick, who is driving the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for Tommy Baldwin Racing via a collaborative agreement with SHR, qualified 38th with a lap of 28.021 seconds at175.497 mph.

“It’s the best lap I’ve turned all day in the Cup car, so that’s a positive,” said Patrick, who will make her first Sprint Cup start at Darlington and just the second of her career when she takes the green flag for the Southern 500. “We were three-quarters of a second quicker, so for me that’s good. I don’t necessarily find a lot in qualifying from practice. I’m a pretty methodical driver, so that was good. And it shows that the Go Daddy crew did a good job of giving me a good car. It shows me what these Cup guys can do when it comes time to put it on the board. I know the starting spot won’t be great, but it was a step forward for me and those are the things I’m looking for along the way.”

Greg Biffle captured his 11th career Sprint Cup pole, his second of the season and his second at Darlington by posting a lap of 27.281 seconds at 180.257 mph.

Jimmie Johnson will start on the outside of row one as he timed in at 27.386 seconds at 179.566 mph, while Kasey Kahne was third at an identical time and speed of 27.386 seconds at 179.566 mph. Johnson was awarded the second position because he is higher in points than Kahne. Newman and Kyle Busch (27.404 seconds at 179.448 mph) rounded out the top five.

Forty-seven drivers attempted to qualify for the Southern 500. Those not making the cut in the 43-car field were Scott Riggs, Michael McDowell, Stephen Leicht and Mike Bliss.

As far as manufacturers went, Ford took the top spot via Biffle’s pole run. Chevrolet was next best at the hands of Johnson, while Toyota was the third-fastest make thanks to Busch. Fifteenth-quick Brad Keselowski (27.500 seconds at 178.822 mph) carried the flag for Dodge.

The Southern 500 gets underway at 7 p.m. EDT on Saturday with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with a pre-race show at 6:30 p.m.

“It’s pretty warm here today, but since they re-paved this track (in 2006), handling hasn’t been an issue,” said Stewart, who has one Sprint Cup victory at Talladega, earned in October 2008. “They did such a good job that the asphalt has a ton of grip in it. I wish I could say handling was going to be an issue, but unfortunately it’s not.”

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet for SHR, will start 14th after turning a lap of 50.383 seconds at 190.064 mph.

“We feel like we have a good racecar for tomorrow,” said Newman, who has a best Talladega finish of third, earned in April 2009. “We’ll just hope for some luck to be on our side and see what happens.”

Jeff Gordon captured his 71st career Sprint Cup pole, his first of the season and his third at Talladega by posting a lap of 49.973 seconds at 191.623 mph.

A.J. Allmendinger will start on the outside of row one as he timed in at 50.107 seconds at 191.111 mph. Marcos Ambrose was third (50.126 seconds at 191.039 mph), while Aric Almirola (50.141 seconds at 190.981 mph) and Kasey Kahne (50.196 seconds at 190.772 mph) rounded out the top five.

Forty-four drivers attempted to qualify for the Aaron’s 499. The lone driver not making the cut in the 43-car field was J.J. Yeley.

As far as manufacturers went, Chevrolet took the top spot via Gordon’s pole run. Dodge was next best at the hands of Allmendinger. Ford was the third-fastest make thanks to Ambrose, while ninth-quick Michael Waltrip (50.335 seconds at 190.245 mph) carried the flag for Toyota.

The Aaron’s 499 gets underway at 1 p.m. EDT on Sunday with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with a pre-race show at noon.

“It was actually really loose,” said Newman, who won at Kansas in October 2003. “I think our Haas Automation Chevrolet is pretty good. We didn’t have the ideal balance there in qualifying trim. It was a fairly decent lap. We’ll switch it back over for the race.”

Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet for SHR, will start 23rd after turning a lap of 31.009 seconds at 174.143 mph.

“We were pretty loose out there,” said Stewart, who has two Sprint Cup wins at Kansas (October 2006 and October 2009). “But in race trim, we’re pretty good. Sunday is the day that counts, and our Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevy will be ready.”

A.J. Allmendinger captured his second career Sprint Cup pole, his first of the season and his first at Kansas by posting a lap of 30.683 seconds at 175.993 mph.

Kevin Harvick will start on the outside of row one as he timed in at 30.726 seconds at 175.747 mph. Joey Logano (30.730 seconds at 175.724 mph) was third, while Denny Hamlin (30.740 seconds at 175.667 mph) and Mark Martin (30.772 seconds at 175.484 mph) rounded out the top-five.

Forty-six drivers attempted to qualify for the STP 400. Those not making the cut in the 43-car field were Tim Andrews, Jeff Green and Tony Raines.

As far as manufacturers went, Dodge took the top spot thanks to Allmendinger’s pole-winning effort. Chevrolet was next best at the hands of Harvick. The top Toyota was Logano, and carrying the flag for Ford was 17th-quick Greg Biffle (30.909 seconds at 174.706 mph).

The STP 400 gets underway at 1 p.m. EDT on Sunday with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with a pre-race show at 12:30 p.m.

Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1 Advanced Fuel Economy/Office Depot Chevrolet for SHR, finished 24th.

Greg Biffle won the Samsung Mobile 500 to score his 17th career Sprint Cup victory, his first of the season and his second at Texas.

Jimmie Johnson finished 3.235 seconds behind Biffle in the runner-up spot, while Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top-five. Pole-sitter Martin Truex Jr., Kasey Kahne, Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr., comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were two caution periods for 10 laps, with seven drivers failing to finish the 334-lap race.

With round seven of 36 complete, Stewart leads the SHR contingent in the championship point standings. He is seventh with 234 points, 39 behind series leader Biffle. Newman is ninth with 225 points, 48 out of first.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the STP 400 on Sunday, April 22 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City. The race starts at 1 p.m. EDT, with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with its pre-race show at 12:30 p.m.

“I had a good first lap, but I didn’t think that it was as good as it could be. So I tried to shine everything up, and I kind of overachieved and ended up getting loose in (turns) three and four on the second lap,” said Newman, whose best Sprint Cup finish at Martinsville is second, earned in October 2007. “But we’ll take fifth. I think we have a good Outback Chevy for tomorrow’s race. Hopefully, we’ll have some luck go our way too and come out of here with a top-10 so that everyone can go to Outback on Monday for a free Bloomin’ Onion®.”

Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet for SHR, will start 15th after turning a lap of 19.659 seconds at 96.322 mph.

“It was an ok lap for our Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevy,” said Stewart, who has three Sprint Cup wins at Martinsville (October 2000, April 2006 and October 2011). “We felt really good about how our practices went yesterday. We’ll work on it for tomorrow.”

Kasey Kahne captured his 24th career Sprint Cup pole, his second of the season and his first at Martinsville by posting a lap of 19.496 seconds at 97.128 mph.

Kevin Harvick will start on the outside of row one as he timed in at 19.512 seconds at 97.048 mph. Denny Hamlin was third (19.521 seconds at 97.003 mph), while Clint Bowyer (19.521 seconds at 97.003 mph) and Newman rounded out the top five. A tie for third on the grid between Hamlin and Bowyer was broken by the current Sprint Cup owner standings.

Forty-six drivers attempted to qualify for the Goody’s Fast Relief 500. Those not making the cut in the 43-car field were Tony Raines, Mike Bliss and Scott Speed.

As far as manufacturers went, Chevrolet took the top spot via Kahne’s pole run. Toyota was next best at the hands of Hamlin. Dodge was the third-best make thanks to seventh-fastest Brad Keselowski (19.572 seconds at 96.750 mph), while 12th-quick Marcos Ambrose (19.597 seconds at 96.627 mph) carried the flag for Ford.

The Goody’s Fast Relief 500 gets underway at 1 p.m. EDT on Sunday with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with a pre-race show at 12:30 p.m.

Stewart led twice for a total of 42 laps to score his 46th career Sprint Cup victory, his series-leading second of the season and his second at Fontana. He is now tied with 1956 and 1957 Sprint Cup champion Buck Baker for 14th on the all-time series win list.

This was the 15th point-paying Sprint Cup win for SHR since its inception in 2009. Making the victory extra sweet was that it came at the home track of Oxnard, Calif.-based Haas Automation, the largest CNC machine tool builder in the western world, which was founded by SHR co-owner Gene Haas.

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 U.S. Army ROTC Chevrolet for SHR, finished seventh to score his second top-10 finish of 2012 and his seventh top-10 in 18 career Sprint Cup starts at Fontana.

The last time both SHR cars finished in the top-10 was two races ago at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where Stewart won and Newman was fourth.

The race ran caution-free until rain brought out the yellow flag for the first time on lap 125, with the red flag flying on lap 129. NASCAR officials called the race shortly thereafter, 71 laps short of its scheduled 200-lap distance.

Finishing behind Stewart in the runner-up spot was Kyle Busch, who led twice for a race-high 80 laps. Dale Earnhardt Jr., was third, with Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards rounding out the top-five. Sprint Cup point leader Greg Biffle, Newman, Martin Truex Jr., Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson comprised the remainder of the top-10. Seven drivers failed to finish.

With round five of 36 complete, Stewart leads the SHR contingent in the championship point standings. He is fourth with 177 points, 18 behind series leader Biffle. Newman is 10th with 155 points, 40 out of first.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 on Sunday, April 1 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The race starts at 1 p.m. EDT, with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with its pre-race show at 12:30 p.m.

“We definitely want to give the U.S. Army ROTC Chevrolet a good run this weekend,” said Newman, who has six top-10 finishes in 17 career starts at Fontana. “When we put on the U.S. Army colors, it’s much like when our Army Strong soldiers wear their uniforms – it’s a symbol of strength, liberty and values. We always do our best to reflect that strength in all we do.”

Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, will start ninth after turning a lap of 38.880 seconds at 185.185 mph. Stewart recovered from getting extremely loose on his warm-up lap and nearly spinning out of control.

“I think I even got myself excited,” said Stewart, who won at Fontana in October 2010. “Not in a good way, either (laughs). I changed lines there and moved up and I just hit the seam and the seams are treacherous. So, driver-error on that one. But we’ve got a pretty good Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevy, so I’m pretty happy with where we’re at.”

The last time both SHR cars qualified in the top-10 was three weeks ago at Phoenix International Raceway when Stewart started second and Newman rolled of the grid sixth.

Denny Hamlin captured his 10th career Sprint Cup pole, his first of the season and his second at Fontana by posting a lap of 38.626 seconds at 186.403 mph.

Kyle Busch will start on the outside of row one as he timed in at 38.807 seconds at 185.534 mph. Mark Martin was third (38.807 seconds at 185.534 mph), while Greg Biffle (38.812seconds at 185.510 mph) and Kasey Kahne (38.812 seconds at 185.510 mph) rounded out the top-five. Ties for second and fourth on the grid were broken by the final 2011 Sprint Cup Series owner point standings.

Forty-six drivers attempted to qualify for the Auto Club 400. Those not making the cut in the 43-car field were Robby Gordon, Joe Nemechek and Timmy Hill.

As far as manufacturers went Toyota took the top three spots thanks to the runs of Hamlin, Busch and Martin. Ford was next-best at the hands of fourth-quick Biffle, while fifth-quick Kahne carried the flag for Chevrolet. Brad Keselowski was the top Dodge as he qualified 17th with a lap of 39.121 seconds at 184.044 mph.

The Auto Club 400 gets underway at 3 p.m. EDT on Sunday with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with a pre-race show at 2:30 p.m.

“It was a good run for the Quicken Loans Chevrolet,” said Newman, who has 12 top-10 finishes in 20 career Sprint Cup starts at Bristol. “We’ve been pretty decent since we unloaded, but we want to be first – that’s our goal. If we can’t do it on Friday, then we’ll just have to do it on Sunday.”

Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet Impala for SHR, will start 23rd after turning a lap of 15.541 seconds at 123.467 mph.

“We’re gaining on it, but we’ve still got a ways to go,” said Stewart, who won at Bristol in August 2001 and has led a total of 1,354 laps in 26 career Sprint Cup starts. “We’ve made some big gains today from where we started to where we’re at right now. Proud of Steve (Addington, crew chief) and our guys. They’ve worked hard today. We’ve got a pretty good Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevy.”

Greg Biffle captured his 10th career Sprint Cup pole, his first of the season and his first at Bristol by posting a lap of 15.324 seconds at 125.215 mph.

A.J. Allmendinger will start on the outside of row one as he timed in at 15.325 seconds at 125.207 mph. Newman was third, while Jeff Gordon (15.340 seconds at 125.085 mph) and Brad Keselowski (15.367 seconds at 124.865 mph) rounded out the top five.

Forty-four drivers attempted to qualify for the Food City 500. The lone driver not making the cut in the 43-car field was Timmy Hill.

As far as manufacturers went, Ford took the top spot thanks to Biffle’s pole-winning effort. Dodge was next best at the hands of Allmendinger. The top Chevrolet was piloted by Newman, and carrying the flag for Toyota was ninth-quick Joey Logano (15.392 seconds at 124.662 mph).

The Food City 500 gets underway at 1 p.m. EDT on Sunday with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with a pre-race show at 12:30 p.m.