Autoweek in review: What you might have missed

The rain-delayed Daytona 500 provided multiple headlines this year: Matt Kenseth won the big race, while Juan Pablo Montoya crashed into a jet dryer under caution and Brad Keselowski tweeted from his race car. It was a 500 to remember as NASCAR went prime-time on Fox on Monday night. Click here for all of the Daytona 500 coverage.

In other NASCAR news, Autoweek was the first to report that Penske will be switching from Dodge to Ford for the 2013 NASCAR season. What does it mean for the Dodge NASCAR effort?

One of the hottest stories of the week was the reveal of the new Ferrari F12 Berlinetta prior to the Geneva motor show next week. The new Italian GT car pumps out 730 hp and 509 lb-ft of torque from the naturally aspirated V12. Check out the F12 photo gallery and click here for a video of Ferrari Formula One drivers Fernando Alonso Fernando and Felipe Massa driving the new F12.

The 2012 Detroit Autorama crowned a custom 1955 Ford Thunderbird as the Ridler Award winner. From Texas, Dwayne Peace and his sons helped to build their family car into the show winner with a little bit of help.

Last year at the Geneva motor show we saw the Lamborghini LP-700-4 Aventador. And now the Italian supercar manufacturer is testing a roadster version of the exotic Aventador in the snows of Sweden. Check out our spy shots here.

Straight from the pages of Autoweek magazine, editors examined the 2012 Buick Regal GS sedan in our latest Autofile car review, complete with details, specifications and owner reviews.

Ivan “Ironman” Stewart returns for a short drive in his restored Baja 2000 truck right before it goes up for sale. Check out the full story, history and video on this record-breaking truck from West Coast editor Mark Vaughn.

The famed Milhous collection, auctioned by RM Auctions, concluded with more then $38 million in sales. An Oldsmobile sold at $3.3 million, the highest sale price for the marque. It was just one of 29 classic cars to cross the block.

Mini threw off the covers on its latest, an all-wheel-drive Countryman John Cooper Works. The four-door Mini gets a newly developed engine that puts out 211 hp and 207 lb-ft of torque.

Also before the Geneva motor show, Volkswagen released images of its production-trim drop-top version of the Golf GTI cabriolet. Don’t get too excited though; the car will not be seen in the United States.

Stay tuned next week for full 2012 Geneva auto show coverage straight from Switzerland.

By David Arnouts