2012 NASCAR Cup Series

The 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was the 64th season of professional in the United States and the 41st modern-era Cup series. The season started on February 18, 2012 at Daytona International Speedway, with the Budweiser Shootout, followed by the Daytona 500 on February 27. The season continued with the Chase for the Sprint Cup beginning on September 16 at Chicagoland Speedway and concluded with the Ford EcoBoost 400 on November 18 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

During the 2011 season, NASCAR announced the Sprint Cup Series would be changing to fuel injection from carburetors, which had been used since NASCAR's founding in 1949. Sprint Nextel announced at the 2011 Awards Ceremony that they had extended their sponsorship of the series until 2016. Roger Penske won the Owners' Championship, while Brad Keselowski won the Drivers' Championship at the final race of the season. Chevrolet won the Manufacturers' Championship with 249 points. Despite starting his season late, Stephen Leicht was the 2012 NASCAR Rookie of the Year after beating Josh Wise. 2012 also saw the final season of Dodge's participation in the highest levels of NASCAR bringing an end to parent company Chryslers involvement that streteched back to the beginnings of the sport.

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