Brad Keselowski

Flyers center Jeff Carter was among the 60,000-plus sun-baked fans who were treated to a rare NASCAR doubleheader at Dover International Speedway yesterday, with enough on-track skirmishes to mangle a garage full of sheet metal and strain at least one team's camaraderie. "This is wild, this is the best," Carter said from a suite above the start/finish line. Even the sight of Brian Keselowski's No. 26 black Dodge Charger - carrying the Detroit Red Wings logo on the hood, "Go Wings" on the rear quarterpanels, and "Hockeytown" across the back bumper - couldn't put a damper on Carter's enthusiasm.

THIS WEEK'S RACE Aaron's 499 Talladega Superspeedway Talladega, Ala. When: Sunday, 1 p.m. TV/Radio: Fox/WNPV (1440-AM) Race course: 2.66-mile oval Race distance: 188 laps/500 miles Race forecast: cloudy, low 70s Last year's winner: Brad Keselowski Last year's pole winner: Jeff Gordon, 191.623 mph Track qualifying record: with restrictor plates, Bill Elliott, 199.388 mph (May 1990); without restrictor plates, Elliott, 212.809 mph (April 1987)

THIS WEEK'S RACE Pocono 400 presented by #NASCAR Pocono Raceway Long Pond, Pa. When: Sunday, 1 p.m. TV/Radio: TNT/WNPV (1440-AM) Race course: 2.5-mile tri-oval Race distance: 400 miles/160 laps Race forecast: chance of thunderstorms, low 80s Last year's winner: Jeff Gordon Last year's pole winner: Kurt Busch, 171.579 mph Track qualifying record: Kasey Kahne, 172.533 mph (June 2004)

TUMS Fast Relief 500 Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville Va. When: 1:30 p.m. Sunday TV/Radio: ESPN/WNPV (1440-AM) Race course: .526-mile oval Race distance: 500 laps/263 miles Race forecast: sunny, high 50s Last year's winner: Denny Hamlin Last year's pole: Hamlin Track qualifying record: Tony Stewart (98.083 mph), October 2005 Wins: Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick, 4 each; Brad Keselowski, Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, 3 each; Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson, 2 each; Carl Edwards, Trevor Bayne, Regan Smith, Denny Hamlin, David Ragan, Ryan Newman, Paul Menard, Marcos Ambrose, Clint Bowyer, 1 each.

LOUDON, N.H. - Tony Stewart made it 2-for-2 in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, pulling ahead when Clint Bowyer ran out of gas with two laps left to win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway yesterday. Stewart is on a roll when the season matters most, following last week's Chase opening victory at Chicagoland Speedway with another strong performance at New Hampshire. Both of his victories this season have come in the Chase and have propelled him to the top of the points standings.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. - That'll teach everyone to count out Jimmie Johnson. The five-time defending Cup champion dominated yesterday at Kansas Speedway, weathering a series of late cautions and holding off Kasey Kahne to win for the first time since April. Johnson stumbled through the first two races in NASCAR's version of a postseason, and was 10th in the standings heading to Dover. A second-place finish last weekend gave Johnson confidence, and his first win since Talladega moved him into third in the Chase behind Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick.

THIS WEEK'S RACE Aaron's 499 Talladega Superspeedway Talladega, Ala. When: Sunday, 1 p.m. TV/Radio: Fox/WNPV (1440-AM) Race course: 2.66-mile oval Race distance: 188 laps/500 miles Race forecast: cloudy, low 70s Last year's winner: Brad Keselowski Last year's pole winner: Jeff Gordon, 191.623 mph Track qualifying record: with restrictor plates, Bill Elliott, 199.388 mph (May 1990); without restrictor plates, Elliott, 212.809 mph (April 1987)

NASCAR's justice department threw a one-two heavyweight punch at Penske Racing on Wednesday. Penske drivers Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano were docked 25 championship points, because their cars failed inspections before Saturday's race in Texas. Crew chiefs Paul Wolfe (Keselowski) and Todd Gordon (Logano) were fined $100,000 each, suspended for the next six races and put on probation until Dec. 31. The loss of points drops Keselowski, the reigning Sprint Cup champion, from second to fourth in the standings, while Logano slides from ninth to 14th.

Rutgers has its sights set on hiring former 76ers coach Eddie Jordan soon for its vacant head coaching position and will interview the former Scarlet Knight this weekend, according to multiple reports. Jordan, who helped lead Rutgers to the Final Four in 1976, told the Times of Trenton: "I believe it makes complete sense for me to be the next Rutgers coach. " The seven-year NBA player, now an assistant with the Los Angeles Lakers, coached the 76ers to a 27-55 record in 2009-10.

BRISTOL, Tenn. - Kasey Kahne's bumper-banging battle with Brad Keselowski was just the warm-up act in an action-packed race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Former teammates Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano exchanged words after the race - in person and on Twitter - because Hamlin spun Logano as Logano was racing for the lead. A flat tire knocked Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth out of the race while they were running 1-2. Typical Bristol, right? It looked that way as Kahne and Keselowski staged a spectacular battle for the lead, only for a caution to put them side-by-side for a restart with 39 laps to go. Keselowski had an issue, he either spun his tires or the Hamlin-Logano feud disrupted his start, and Kahne sailed away for his first career victory at Bristol.

AVONDALE, Ariz. - Carl Edwards pulled away on a late start to snap a 70-race winless streak Sunday, the second long drought he's ended at Phoenix International Raceway. Edwards broke the longest slump of his career by winning at Phoenix in 2010. He won for the first time since Las Vegas in 2011 by leading the final 78 laps on the 312-mile race around PIR's odd-shaped oval. Coming off a miserable week at Daytona, where he wrecked five cars, Edwards got a push from defending Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski on the restart with two laps left.

Kyle Busch led 142 laps at Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Ariz., on Saturday en route to victory in the Dollar General 200 to end a 24-race winless streak in the Nationwide Series. Brad Keselowski was second. NASCAR will look at the placement of gates at its tracks after a Nationwide Series car crashed through the fence at Daytona.   NASCAR is sending suspended Nationwide Series driver Jeremy Clements , 28, to a sports-diversity expert after MTV News said he made a racially insensitive remark during an interview.

AVONDALE, Ariz. - Carl Edwards pulled away on a late start to snap a 70-race winless streak Sunday in the Subway Fresh Fit 500, the second long drought he has ended at Phoenix International Raceway. Edwards broke the longest slump of his career by winning at Phoenix in 2010. He won for the first time since Las Vegas in 2011 by leading the final 78 laps on the 312-mile race around PIR's odd-shaped oval. Coming off a miserable week at Daytona, where he wrecked five cars, Edwards got a push from defending Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski on the restart with two laps left.

HOMESTEAD, Fla. - Here's a tweet for Brad Keselowski: NASCAR champion. Roger Penske must like the sound of that, too. The kid who stole the show at the season-opening Daytona 500 ended the year under the biggest spotlight of them all Sunday, beating five-time champion Jimmie Johnson to deliver the first Sprint Cup championship to Penske Racing. It's a trophy that had eluded Penske since he first entered NASCAR in 1972. Although his motorsports organization is considered the gold standard of IndyCar racing - 15 Indianapolis 500 wins - and his empire has made Penske one of the most successful businessmen in America, his NASCAR team operation was always just average.

HOMESTEAD, Fla. - Dodge said goodbye to NASCAR on Sunday. And got the ultimate parting gift. Dodge driver Brad Keselowski won the Sprint Cup championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway, giving longtime NASCAR owner Roger Penske his first series title and setting off a wild celebration in Victory Lane. Penske Racing's rising star finished 15th in the season finale, but he clinched the title when his closest contender, Jimmie Johnson, had a catastrophic gear issue with 43 laps remaining.