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Kodak said it is also ending a four-year sponsorship of Penske Racing at year end.

Since it signed on with NASCAR in 1986, Kodak-sponsored cars have won the Daytona 500 four times — with Ryan Newman ’s car this year, Sterling Marlin ’s in 1994 and 1995 and Ernie Irvan ’s in 1991.

Baseball:Rockies pitcher cited for DUI

Rockies pitcher Luis Vizcaino was arrested in Tampa, Fla., after police said he was driving under the influence.

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With a masterful final drive to the checkered flag, the two-time defending champion rallied from a rare penalty to finish second and stretch his points lead to a commanding 183 points over Edwards with three races remaining in the Chase for the championship.

“Are you kidding me?” a deflated Edwards asked when told Johnson had finished second. “You’ve rained on my parade. I could have done without that one.

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“Making changes at this point would likely cause teams to have to further make adjustments to their adjustments and that’s not productive.”

NASCAR’s research and development division began planning and designing the bigger, bulkier CoT shortly after the sport’s biggest star, Dale Earnhardt, died in a crash during the 2001 Daytona 500.

It first competed at Bristol in March 2007 and was used in 16 races that season before running all the races this year — a year earlier than originally planned.

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“I’m going to have to answer those questions one of these days, aren’t I?” Johnson said of the ones about Yarborough and taking a position beside him in history.

Johnson’s sixth victory of the year extended his points lead from 69 to 149, and while his closest challengers vowed that the Chase race isn’t over, the plaudits keep coming, too.

“There’s a lot of great teams that were huge in the sport,” Dale Earnhardt Jr.

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But both are currently mired in long losing streaks.

Kenseth hasn’t won in 31 races, dating back to last year’s finale at Homestead. Gordon just hit the one-year anniversary of his last victory, which came at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

“It’s a big deal to win, and it’s really hard to win,” Kenseth said. “If we don’t win a race this year, I’ll be really disappointed in that. But I can’t do anything special to try to get a win.

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“No one’s ever proven to me why you can’t do at 41 what you could do at 23,” Burton said. “We’re lucky to be in a sport that you can be successful in your 40s. You can convince yourself you’re too old to do it. Trust me, a lot of people will try to convince you you’re too old to do it.

“But with age comes a lot of advantages, too. And we’ll try to take those advantages every chance we get.”

Burton’s peak started 11 years ago, when he started a string of five consecutive multiple-win seasons.

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Stewart, a two-time Cup champion, returns to Lowe’s this weekend looking for redemption and fresh off his first victory of the season — a dramatic one Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway. His track record shows Stewart could very well make it two in a row.

One of the streakiest drivers in NASCAR, Stewart has a knack for grabbing momentum and turning it into multiple victory.

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Hamlin was 39th in the race and fell to 12th in the Chase standings.

“It’s been a long day. It’s been an emotional day, obviously,” he said. “I am not guilty.”

With that, Castroneves hopped into a waiting car and headed for a flight to Atlanta to participate in this weekend’s Petit Le Mans race. Terms of Castroneves’ release allow him to travel for work in the United States but not abroad, meaning he likely will miss a race later this month in Australia, said his attorney, Mark Seiden.

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He called it a “great opportunity” at Yates, where his sponsorship will come from his father’s hardware chain.

Without Menard, DEI has just one full sponsor, Bass Pro Shops, for Martin Truex Jr. He recently agreed to a one-year extension with DEI that takes him through 2009.