Nascar

News Corp.'s Fox is putting the pedal to the metal and renewing its rights deal with NASCAR at a sizable increase in cash. Despite some ratings declines, Fox has agreed to an eight-year, $2.4-billion contract to keep NASCAR on its broadcast network through 2022, people with knowledge of the pact said. That averages out to about $300 million annually -- a 33% jump over the $225 million Fox is currently paying for stock car racing. The new deal takes effect in 2015. As part of the agreement, Fox will now be able to offer NASCAR races on mobile devices including tablets and phones.

NASCAR and five-time Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, along with Johnson's team and one of his main sponsors, are helping send relief to victims of super storm Sandy. Johnson, who's racing for a sixth title this season, felt the impact of Sandy first-hand because the lower floors of his New York apartment were flooded and the building remained closed. "So it's impacted us in a small way, to many others in a much greater capacity," Johnson told reporters Friday at Texas Motor Speedway, site of Sunday's next Sprint Cup race.

Lightning killed one man and injured several other people at a Pennsylvania racetrack after NASCAR called off the event due to violent storms that swept through the eastern United States on Sunday. The storms also caused what may have been a tornado near Binghamton, in upstate New York. The Pennsylvania incident occurred at the Pocono Raceway, after NASCAR called off the Sprint Cup race after 98 of its scheduled 160 laps had been completed. A witness, Kyle Manger, told the Sporting News that he and a friend had fled to his truck as the weather turned foul.

NASCAR on Wednesday suspended Jimmie Johnson's crew chief and car chief for six races, and docked Johnson 25 title points, after the car driven by the five-time Sprint Cup Series champion failed opening-day inspection for the Daytona 500. The sanctioning body found that the No. 48 Chevrolet had an unapproved C-post -- the sheet of metal connecting the roof and rear quarter panel -- that might have improved the car aerodynamically. Johnson's team, Hendrick Motorsports, said it would appeal the suspension levied against crew chief Chad Knaus and car chief Ron Malec, and both can remain at races during the appeal starting with Sunday's race at Phoenix International Raceway.

After being fined $25,000 by NASCAR for criticizing the sport's new race car, driver Denny Hamlin is digging in his heels -- with support from fans on social media. After last Sunday's race at Phoenix International Raceway, NASCAR levied the fine for what it termed "disparaging remarks" by Hamlin that were "detrimental" to the sport. Among other things, Hamlin -- who finished third in the race in his No. 11 Toyota -- complained that the new car made it difficult to pass other drivers.

Jimmie Johnson's crew chief, Chad Knaus, said Friday that his Hendrick Motorsports team was surprised by the stiff fines it drew from NASCAR after Johnson's car failed opening-day inspection for the Daytona 500. Johnson, a five-time champion, was docked 25 Sprint Cup Series points and Knaus and car chief Ron Malec were suspended for six races after NASCAR found unapproved body work on Johnson's No. 48 Chevrolet. But Knaus and Malec remained with the team as it prepared for Sunday's race at Phoenix International Raceway because they're appealling the penalties.

Mitt Romney, in a tight race against Rick Santorum for next week's Michigan primary, took a side trip from Michigan campaigning to Daytona Beach, Fla., to attend the 54 th running of the premier stock-car racing event of the season, the Daytona 500. It's a regular pilgrimage for both past presidents and presidential contenders trying to solidify their standing with NASCAR dads, the bloc of patriotic, blue-collar voters with a history of voting Republican....

Kyle Busch , already forced to miss two NASCAR races last weekend in Texas, also was fined $50,000 and given a stern warning by NASCAR on Monday. The sanctioning body put Busch on probation until Dec. 31 and said that if the driver makes another on-track move in that time deemed "detrimental to stock car racing or to NASCAR" or "disruptive to the orderly conduct of an event," then Busch "will be suspended indefinitely. " NASCAR's top-tier Sprint Cup Series has two more races this season: at Phoenix on Sunday and at Homestead-Miami (Fla.)

It's official: Danica Patrick will take on NASCAR's good ol' boys. Patrick, who became one of the most recognizable figures in sports as a driver of Indy-type race cars, announced Tuesday that she will also try her hand at NASCAR stock-car racing next season. Patrick, 27, said she would drive a No. 7 Chevrolet in a "limited number" of races in NASCAR's Nationwide Series -- the second-tier race circuit below its premier Sprint Cup Series -- in a car owned by JR Motorsports, a team co-owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR's most popular driver.

NASCAR on Tuesday announced competition changes for 2013 that include the elimination of the top-35 qualifying rule and a reduced field size in the Nationwide Series. Starting next season, the top 35 cars in owners points will no longer be guaranteed a spot in the Sprint Cup field. NASCAR will use a 36-6-1 format in which the fastest 36 cars make the race on speed. The next six highest-ranking cars in owners points not already qualified then earn a starting spot, followed by the most recent eligible past champion driver.