NASCAR

INDIANAPOLIS -- With Danica Patrick in North Carolina racing stock cars, the Indianapolis 500 will go off on Sunday without an American woman in the field for the first time since 1999.

That's just one of the problems facing her former series, but it's not really her problem.

Patrick has moved on to NASCAR, and can't worry about what she left behind.

CONCORD, N.C. -- Kurt Busch thought he and Ryan Newman were friends. He's learned the hard way this week that he was mistaken.

Maybe that's how it goes between drivers looking to lock down jobs for next year?

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Johanna, meet Danica. Danica, Johanna.

Danica Patrick and 19-year-old rookie Johanna Long, NASCAR's two female drivers, compete on the race track in an otherwise male-dominated sport. Someday they might even get acquainted.

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.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- There's no way to figure out just how much Andy Hillenburg has put into Rockingham Speedway, the track he bought at auction for $4.4 million with no guarantee he'd ever return racing to "The Rock."

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Greg Biffle fell two laps down at Martinsville, clawed his way to a 13th-place finish, then headed to the Bahamas as NASCAR's points leader.