Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Weekly Pull List: 11/29/2017

All the comics available this week can be found on ComicList, and any comic book news is on CBR,

Marvel
Spider-Gwen #26
Star Wars Jedi of the Republic Mace Windu #4
Star Wars Poe Dameron #21
Venom #158

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Weekly Pull List: 11/22/2017

All the comics available this week can be found on ComicList, and any comic book news is on CBR.

BOOM! Studios
Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers #21

Marvel
Amazing Spider-Man Renew Your Vows #13
Spider-Gwen #25
Spider-Man Deadpool #24
Star Wars #39
Thanos #13

Sunday, November 19, 2017

Martin Truex Jr. Wins Championship with Homestead Victory

Martin Truex Jr. won the Ford 400 on Sunday afternoon at Homestead-Miami Speedway to win the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship.

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
Truex led 78 laps on Sunday, but was not the dominant car throughout the race.  A late caution ruined Kyle Busch’s pit strategy, and that allowed Truex to take the lead for good.  He was able to hold Busch off in the closing laps to win his eighth race of the season.

Truex said he was sure Busch would pass him in the closing laps.

“At 20 to go, I thought I was done,” Truex said.  “I found a line that I could use.  I found a lane that was blocking enough of the air that they couldn’t really use it.”

Truex, the regular season champion, dominated on the track all season, but had to persevere through struggles off the track; Truex’s longtime girlfriend Sherry Pollex has been battling cancer, a crew member passed away before the Kansas race, and team owner Barney Vissar suffered a heart attack two weeks ago.

Throughout all the struggles, Truex and his team never gave up.

“A lot of it was for her, a lot of it was for me, a lot of it was for this team,” Truex said.  “I was a wreck just thinking about all the rough days, the bad days, the times where I thought my career was over with.  The times when I didn’t think anyone believed in me…but the people who mattered did.”

“I’ve been wanting this since I was a kid racing go-karts.  I never thought this day would come.”

Busch had the fastest car all day, but he was caught off-sequence from the other leaders when a caution affected their pit strategy.

Busch said he believed he could have beaten Truex if he had more time.

“Just unfortunate for us that that caution came out and kind of ruined our race strategy,” Busch said.  “We weren’t able to get back to where we needed to be.”

Chris Graythen/Getty Images
“They deserved it on probably every other race but today; I thought we were better…but they were out front when it mattered most.  Congratulations to the 78.”

The race was also the final Cup Series race in Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s career.  Earnhardt finished 25th on Sunday, but he said he hoped his fans enjoyed his final season.

“I hope all the fans enjoyed this season,” Earnhardt said.  “I know it’s not everything we wanted on the racetrack, but we sure had fun off of it.”

“Sure going to miss everybody, but we’ll be back.  We’ll be back at the racetrack a little bit with our Xfinity stuff next year…we’ll be around.  We definitely want to be a part of this sport no matter what.”

Unofficial results:
1. Martin Truex Jr.
2. Kyle Busch
3. Kyle Larson
4. Kevin Harvick
5. Chase Elliott
6. Joey Logano
7. Brad Keselowski
8. Matt Kenseth
9. Denny Hamlin
10. Ryan Newman
11. Austin Dillon
12. Clint Bowyer
13. Jamie McMurray
14. AJ Allmendinger
15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
16. Paul Menard
17. David Ragan
18. Aric Almirola
19. Trevor Bayne
20. Chris Buescher
21. Erik Jones
22. Kurt Busch
23. Landon Cassill
24. Michael McDowell
25. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
26. Ty Dillon
27. Jimmie Johnson
28. Cole Whitt
29. Ryan Blaney
30. Matt DiBenedetto
31. Corey LaJoie
32. Jeffrey Earnhardt
33. Kasey Kahne
34. Daniel Suarez
35. Reed Sorenson
36. David Starr
37. Danica Patrick
38. Ray Black Jr.
39. Joey Gase

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Weekly Pull List: 11/15/2017

All the comics available this week can be found on ComicList, and any comic book news is on CBR.

Marvel
Amazing Spider-Man #791
Ben Reilly The Scarlet Spider #10
Deadpool Vs. Old Man Logan #2
Guardians of the Galaxy #147
Peter Parker The Spectacular Spider-Man #297
Punisher #218
Spider-Men II #4
Star Wars Darth Vader #8
Star Wars Doctor Aphra #14

Sunday, November 12, 2017

Kenseth Wins at Phoenix, Keselowski Clinches Final Playoff Spot

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Matt Kenseth won the Can-Am 500 from Phoenix Raceway on Sunday afternoon.

Kenseth chased down Chase Elliott in the closing laps, and he was able to get around the young driver to pick up his 39th career victory.

Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images
Kenseth, who is stepping away from the sport following next weekend’s season finale, said he was glad he could go out with a victory.

“I wasn’t sure I was quite ready for this to move on…it’s been an incredible journey,” Kenseth said.  “There’s no way you could write it any better than this…what a storybook ending.”

Needing a victory, Elliott raced hard to get to the front of the field to get into the final round of the playoffs.  With Kenseth’s victory, Elliott was eliminated from playoff contention.

After finishing second on Sunday, Elliott said he was disappointed to miss the championship round of the playoffs by one spot.

“We fought really hard today, and gave ourselves a chance,” Elliott said.  “I was telling my guys that I’ll get it right sometime.  We’ve had so many good opportunities, we’ve just got to close.”

Elliott made contact with Denny Hamlin on his way to the front, and the contact caused Hamlin to cut a tire and hit the wall.  The wreck ended Hamlin’s championship hopes, and it was the second time in this round that the two drivers got together.

Hamlin wrecked Elliott while the two raced for the win at Martinsville two weeks ago, and Elliott said he raced Hamlin the same way Hamlin chose to race him at Martinsville.

“I’m going to race guys how they race me and keep a smile on my face regardless,” Elliott said.  “Happy to race guys how they choose to race me…that’s the way I see it.”

Elliott’s runner-up finish allowed Brad Keselowski to make the final round of the playoffs as the final driver to the round of four. 

Keselowski said he hopes to go to Homestead with a fast enough car to compete with the dominant Toyotas of Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr.

“I don’t know if we’re the favorite by any means, but we’re going to go there and give it our best,” Keselowski said.  “It’s a tough competition, but to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best.”

“Hopefully we can be as fast as we were at Texas, maybe a little bit more, and we’ll have a shot at it.”

Unofficial results:
1. Matt Kenseth
2. Chase Elliott
3. Martin Truex Jr.
4. Erik Jones
5. Kevin Harvick
6. Jamie McMurray
7. Kyle Busch
8. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
9. Aric Almirola
10. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
11. Ty Dillon
12. Joey Logano
13. Clint Bowyer
14. Austin Dillon
15. Paul Menard
16. Brad Keselowski
17. Ryan Blaney
18. Daniel Suarez
19. Kasey Kahne
20. Ryan Newman
21. Kurt Busch
22. Michael McDowell
23. AJ Allmendinger
24. Landon Cassill
25. Danica Patrick
26. DJ Kennington
27. Matt DiBenedetto
28. David Starr
29. Jeffrey Earnhardt
30. Joey Gase
31. Corey LaJoie
32. Derrike Cope
33. David Ragan
34. Kyle Weatherman
35. Denny Hamlin
36. Cole Whitt
37. Chris Buescher
38. Trevor Bayne
39. Jimmie Johnson
40. Kyle Larson

Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Weekly Pull List: 11/8/2017

All the comics available this week can be found on ComicList, and any comic book news is on CBR.

Marvel
Despicable Deadpool #289
Gwenpool the Unbelievable #22
Spider-Man Deadpool #23
Star Wars #38
Venom #157

Sunday, November 5, 2017

Harvick Wins at Texas, Will Race for Championship at Homestead

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kevin Harvick won the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday to lock himself into the championship round of the playoffs.

Martin Truex Jr. had a dominant car throughout the day, but Harvick was able to chase down the 78 to pick up the victory in the closing laps.
Sarah Crabill/Getty Images

Harvick said he was happy to finally win at Texas.

“It’s been a long time coming…I’m happy to finally get to victory lane here,” Harvick said.  “I knew we had a really good car…to be able to beat the 78 today, for us, is quite an accomplishment.”

Harvick’s victory locked him into the final round of the playoffs, and he said his team has what it takes to win their second championship in two weeks at Homestead.

“Our cars have improved so much since the playoffs have started,” Harvick said.  “To be here in November winning at Texas for the first time, and to have a chance to go to Homestead and race for the championship is really a huge credit to our people.”

“It’s been a lot of work to get to where we are today.  Really proud of everyone at Stewart-Haas for the things they’ve done, and hopefully we can do it again at Homestead.”

Truex finished second on Sunday, but it was enough to lock himself into the final round of the playoffs.

Truex said he believes his team can continue to dominate and that they can win the championship at Homestead.

“It’s been an amazing season; I love this team,” Truex said.  “We’re really excited about Homestead…we had a good test down there.  I look forward to going down there and getting another win.”

Unofficial results:
1. Kevin Harvick
2. Martin Truex Jr.
3. Denny Hamlin
4. Matt Kenseth
5. Brad Keselowski
6. Ryan Blaney
7. Joey Logano
8. Chase Elliott
9. Kurt Busch
10. Erik Jones
11. Kasey Kahne
12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
13. Austin Dillon
14. Daniel Suarez
15. Aric Almirola
16. AJ Allmendinger
17. Danica Patrick
18. Jamie McMurray
19. Kyle Busch
20. Ryan Newman
21. Michael McDowell
22. Chris Buescher
23. Paul Menard
24. Ty Dillon
25. Matt DiBenedetto
26. Landon Cassill
27. Jimmie Johnson
28. Trevor Bayne
29. Cole Whitt
30. David Ragan
31. Reed Sorenson
32. Joey Gase
33. Jeffrey Earnhardt
34. Ray Black Jr.
35. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
36. Clint Bowyer
37. Kyle Larson
38. David Starr
39. Corey LaJoie
40. Gray Gaulding

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images