IndyCar Series

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Greg Biffle regained the lead when he charged under Jimmie Johnson with 30 laps left Saturday night, then pulled away to end his 49-race winless streak while giving owner Jack Roush another NASCAR Sprint Cup victory in Texas.

Johnson led 156 of the 334 laps while going for owner Rick Hendrick's 200th career victory. But he never recovered, even scraping hard into the wall trying to catch up after Biffle drove under him in Turn 3 and completed the pass before the start-finish line.

Biffle, the season points leader, went on to win the fastest Cup race at the 1 1/2-mile, high-banked Texas track. His average speed of 160.577 mph put his Ford 3.2 seconds ahead of the Chevrolet driven by Johnson.

A list of drivers who were on the move for 2012:

AJ Allmendinger

Allmendinger, 30, moved to Penske Racing after three seasons with Richard Petty Motorsports. Allmendinger has made 152 career starts in five years for second-tier teams, and this is his best opportunity for success.

CONCORD, N.C. -- Danica Patrick, the highest-finishing woman in the Indianapolis 500, will skip the race this season and instead enter NASCAR's longest event of the year.

Patrick said Monday she's added the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway to her schedule. She'll drive for Stewart-Haas Racing, and team owner Tony Stewart said the decision to sit out the Indianapolis 500 was Patrick's decision.

"We didn't tell her she couldn't run the 500. It was left up to her," Stewart said. "It shows how dedicated she is to making this transition."

Patrick has left the IndyCar Series for a full-time move to NASCAR. She's running the second-tier Nationwide Series for JR Motorsports, and 10 races in the elite Sprint Cup Series for Stewart. She had previously announced eight Cup races, and the Coca-Cola 600 is her ninth announced event.

MILWAUKEE -- When, we ask, is the right time to wrap up a year that won't end? Because that pretty much sums up 2011 in motorsports.

Starting with a head-shaker of a Daytona 500, it included more monumental highs and heartbreaking lows than in any other in years. Maybe decades. With a sour economy continuing to play havoc with such a sponsor-driven industry, continuous deal-making and deal-scrambling have all but wiped out the off-season.

In most years, a 20-year-old winning his sport's biggest event could carry a season. That's almost an afterthought in a year that had a little of everything from A to Z, or at least from Bayne to Wheldon.

Mindful of holiday overindulgence, we'll try to break the year down into digestible bites:

The IndyCar Series officially removed Brian Barnhart as head of race control Wednesday after a controversial season in which drivers publicly questioned his decisions.

IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard said Barnhart will remain president of operations and oversee everything from officials to safety development and event logistics. Bernard is actively searching for a new race director, who will serve as the senior official in race control and regulate all on-track activity.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Track owner Bruton Smith said Friday he would welcome IndyCar back to Las Vegas Motor Speedway if the series wants to return.

Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon was killed in the opening laps of the Oct. 16 season finale at Las Vegas. It was IndyCar's first visit to the track since 2000.