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But a wild restart on lap 128 saw Newman drop from sixth to 11th place, which hampered his efforts in the closing laps of the race. He finished 12th.

"I told the guys that I just got too aggressive on that restart, and it ended up costing us some spots there," said Newman, who has eight top-15 finishes in the 2012 season. "At the end of the race, we just didn't have the track position that we needed, and we didn't get the top-10 finish that we felt we deserved."

Newman qualified 18th for the Pocono 400, and he felt after three days of practice in the Pennsylvania mountains that he had a solid racecar for Sunday's 400-mile event. And it looked that way, too, as Newman picked up five quick positions in the first 10 laps and was in 13th place when NASCAR displayed the caution flag at lap 14.

Newman told his crew that the Haas Automation Chevy was too loose, so he pitted for right-side tires, fuel, and air pressure and track bar adjustments. Thanks to varying pit strategies, Newman restarted the race in 19th place.

But Newman didn't stay there for long. By lap 25, Newman jumped to 11th place despite a loose handling condition in turn three.

Turn three of Pocono's distinct, triangular layout was the biggest challenge all day for Newman. He endured varied loose handling conditions throughout the race in the fastest corner of the 2.5-mile track.

So with each pit stop, the crew tried a variety of adjustments to get the handling of the Haas Automation Chevy to Newman's liking. Newman was able to keep the No. 39 in the top-10 for most of the 160-lap race until the restart at lap 128 following a caution flag.

Newman had pitted under caution for right-side tires and fuel. When he returned to the track, he restarted in sixth place. But just a lap later, Newman had dropped to 11th due to a wild restart that saw cars going three- and four-wide into turn one.

When the caution waved just a few laps later, Newman pitted again to get a splash of gas to ensure that he had enough fuel to get to the checkered flag. Following the pit stop at lap 138, Newman restarted in 18th place.

He was able to make one last run in the closing laps, but turbulent air from traffic and the lack of track position hurt his run. He fell just short of the top-10, ending up 12th.

Teammate Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet for SHR, finished third.

Joey Logano won the Pocono 400 to score his second career Sprint Cup series victory, first of the season and first at Pocono. His only other victory was on June 28, 2009 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon.

Mark Martin finished .997 of a second behind Logano in the runner-up spot, while Stewart, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-five. Clint Bowyer, Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Paul Menard and Jamie McMurray comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were seven caution periods for 35 laps, with 15 drivers failing to finish the 160-lap race.

With round 14 of 36 complete, Stewart continues to lead the SHR duo in the championship point standings. He is eighth and has 448 points, 75 back of new series leader Kenseth. Newman lost one position and now sits 14th with 398 points, which puts him 125 points behind Kenseth. Newman has the same number of points as 15th-place Logano but edges him in a tiebreaker. Both have one win apiece in 2012, but Newman's fourth-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway breaks a tie with Logano, whose next-best finish this season was eighth last week at Dover (Del.) International Speedway.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Quicken Loans 400 on Sunday, June 17 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. The race starts at 1 p.m. EDT, with live coverage provided by TNT beginning with its pre-race show at noon.

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