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NASCAR: Rule changes to be clarified

The 29th annual NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Media Tour opens on Monday in the Charlotte, N.C., area. It's a four-day smorgasbord of announcements, team-shop tours, optimistic predictions and the unveiling of new race-car paint schemes, team members and sponsorships. More than 150 writers, broadcasters and photographers will get a steady diet of claims such as “we're excited,” “we've been working harder than ever,” “we feel we've got everything in place” and “we can't wait to get started.” The tour will visit almost every team that plans to run the full series schedule in 2011, teams such as Earnhardt-Ganassi, Stewart-Haas, Penske, Michael Waltrip, Richard Childress, Kevin Buckler's TRG, Team Red Bull, Furniture Row, Richard Petty, Hendrick, Roush-Fenway and Joe Gibbs.

Year-end discounts on 2012 models

Dealerships are working to get rid of the remaining 2012 models as the year comes to an end, so there are plenty of incentives on 2012 cars, pickups and SUVs. Here are our picks for the best deals: Chrysler 300 Chrysler is offering up to $5,500 cash back to buyers of select 2012 Chrysler 300 models. The most steeply discounted models include both the rear-wheel and all-wheel-drive versions of the 300C, 300C Luxury Series and 300S V8, as well as the 300S Mopar 12 rear-wheel-drive model.

Who's Where: Christopher Weil becomes head of Mini exterior design, Marcus Syring head of Rolls-Royce exteriors

An internal reshuffle in Munich has seen Christopher Weil appointed head of exterior design for Mini, replacing Marcus Syring who takes up a similar position at Rolls-Royce. The changes see Weil return to Munich after just over a year as director of automotive design at BMW DesignworksUSA in LA. His portfolio includes the BMW 328 Hommage, F30 3 Series, 5 Series GT, current 7 Series and 4 Series.