Sprint

The black NASCAR truck with a white "54" on the side gleamed on pit road as its driver walked up for the night's race, prompting three dozen photographers and well-wishers to edge closer. The attraction was 19-year-old Darrell Wallace Jr. As Wallace posed for the cameras at Daytona International Speedway, the public address announcer called out his name and added: "That's a driver many people are waiting to see. " Indeed they are - especially the executives who run NASCAR - because Wallace is an African American.

Eager T-Mobile customers wait no more: The iPhone 5 is finally on sale. The big pink carrier began accepting pre-orders for the super-popular Apple smartphone on Friday. Over the last few years, the iPhone has been available on all other major U.S. networks except T-Mobile, but that is set to change. Pre-orders for the T-Mobile iPhone 5 are to arrive to users on April 12, the same day it goes on sale in stores. PHOTOS: The top smartphones of 2013 Users can head to T-Mobile's website to pre-order the device starting at $99.99 plus 24 payments of $20, for a total of $579.99, for a 16-gigabyte version of the Apple smartphone.

The HTC One smartphone, which has been receiving critical acclaim in the lead-up to its release, has finally received a U.S. launch date: April 19. The flagship HTC phone will be available in stores from AT&T on that date, but users will be able to pre-order the device starting Thursday at 11 a.m. PDT. AT&T will sell the smartphone starting at $199 for a 32 GB model or $299 for a 64 GB model. AT&T says it will be the only carrier to offer a 64 GB version of the device at its launch.

Kyle Busch led at the halfway point of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana. Busch, who won the Nationwide Series race on the same track a day earlier, was just ahead of teammate Denny Hamlin in the Auto Club 400. Joey Logano was third, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was running fourth and Matt Kenseth, a three-time winner at Auto Club Speedway, was fifth. Brad Keselowski had climbed to 13th in his No. 2 Ford after the reigning Sprint Cup champion was forced to start at the rear of the 43-car field because of an engine change.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. still hasn't won at Auto Club Speedway, but he left the Fontana track Sunday leading the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings. Earnhardt finished second in the Auto Club 400 after the last-lap crash knocked out leaders Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin , giving Earnhardt his fifth top-10 finish in as many races this season. "I was just glad to get through" the wreck "and get a good run," Earnhardt said. "We had a good car all day. " Earnhardt started 15th and struggled at times but rebounded in the closing stages after his Hendrick Motorsports team made adjustments to his No. 88 Chevrolet.

It took about 10 minutes of listening to Brad Keselowski to ponder whether NASCAR really appreciates what it has. First, he can drive. He is no big mouth with nothing to back it up. He is the defending Sprint Cup champion and will try to build on his points lead in Sunday's Auto Club 400 in Fontana. But, wow, can he talk. The phrases turn faster than the Miller Lite Ford he drives. And there is substance. This is not Floyd Mayweather Jr. spewing macho claptrap for the sole benefit of Floyd Mayweather Jr. The world of big-time stock-car racing certainly knows this, but to those of us who wouldn't know a lug nut from a hickory nut, it is fascinating, even startling.

Danica Patrick was talking about racing at Martinsville Speedway next month when a reporter asked whether she also would eat one of the Virginia track's famous hot dogs. "I will at least have half of a hot dog," she said Friday. "I'm a half person. I have half of a cookie, half of a brownie, half of a hot dog. " A more pressing issue is how soon the struggling Patrick again will be racing with the front half of the field as she continues her first full season in NASCAR's top-tier Sprint Cup Series.

Tony Stewart is known for sometimes starting sluggishly when the NASCAR season opens and then picking up steam as the weather gets warmer. This year is no exception — at least as far as his slow start is concerned. Stewart is 24th in the title standings as the three-time Sprint Cup Series champion arrives for the race Sunday at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana. But Stewart is the defending winner of the Auto Club 400; last year he did get off to a good early start. And another strong showing on the two-mile Fontana oval could help the veteran driver get back into championship contention.

Pietro Mennea, 60, an Olympic sprint champion from Italy who held the world record in the 200 meters for 17 years, died Thursday at a hospital in Rome, the Italian Olympic Committee said. The cause was not disclosed. On Sept. 12, 1979, Mennea, competing in the World University Games at the high altitude of Mexico City, set the 200 world record of 19.72 seconds. He broke U.S. sprinter Tommie Smith's record of 19.83, set on the same track at the 1968 Olympics. Mennea's record stood until Michael Johnson ran 19.66 on June 23, 1996, at the U.S. Olympic trials.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is enjoying one of the strongest starts of his 14-year career, but can the popular NASCAR driver finally win in Southern California? Earnhardt mostly has struggled at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana but might have one of his best opportunities to reach Victory Lane this year as the Sprint Cup Series returns Sunday for the Auto Club 400. Adapting well to the new Gen-6 car used in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series, Earnhardt is second this season in the title standings, nine points behind leader and reigning Cup champion Brad Keselowski.