Weekly Pull List: 6/1/2016

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

BOOM! Studios
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Pink #1

IDW
Godzilla Oblivion #3

Image
The Walking Dead #155

Marvel
Amazing Spider-Man #13
Civil War II #1
Deadpool #13
Invincible Iron Man #10
Moon Knight #3
Punisher #2
Spider-Man 2099 #11
Spider-Woman #8
Spider-Woman Omega #1

Titan
Doctor Who: The Fourth Doctor #3

Martin Truex Jr. Dominates the Coca-Cola 600

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Martin Truex Jr. won the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, dominating NASCAR’s longest race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Truex led 588 of 600 miles, which is a record for the most miles led by a driver in any race.

Photo courtesy Rainier Ehrhardt/Getty Images

Truex was overcome with emotion in victory lane after winning his first race since June of last year.

“Just kind of sinking in now that we won the 600,” Truex said.  “It’s a big day, we’ve got the troops on the cars; a special weekend.  A whole lot of emotion.  It’s a weekend you dream about.”

Truex has had his share of misses this season, coming close to victory lane on numerous occasions.  He said he was inspired to keep going because of his longtime girlfriend Sherry Pollex, who has battled cancer over the past few years.

“Sherry, she gives me a lot of inspiration,” Truex said.  “We always keep fighting, we never give up.  We never quit, and we always keep digging.”

Jimmie Johnson raced with Truex for most of the night, and the six-time champion was impressed by how good Truex’s car was.  

“I kind of felt like he was playing with us,” Johnson said.  “He was so fast.  I would flat-foot turns 1 and 2, and have a nose on him.  He would drive right back by me going into turn 3.”

“I’m happy for Martin.  That team…worked awfully hard to get where they’re at.  It was very impressive.”

Unofficial results:

1. Martin Truex Jr.

2. Kevin Harvick

3. Jimmie Johnson

4. Denny Hamlin

5. Brad Keselowski

6. Kurt Busch

7. Matt Kenseth

8. Chase Elliott

9. Joey Logano

10. Ryan Newman

11. Greg Biffle

12. Austin Dillon

13. Kyle Larson

14. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

16. AJ Allmendinger

17. Paul Menard

18. Carl Edwards

19. Jamie McMurray

20. Ryan Blaney

21. Danica Patrick

22. Kasey Kahne

23. Clint Bowyer

24. Tony Stewart

25. Trevor Bayne

26. Aric Almirola

27. Landon Cassill

28. Regan Smith

29. Brian Scott

30. Casey Mears

31. David Ragan

32. Matt DiBenedetto

33. Kyle Busch

34. Michael McDowell

35. Cole Whitt

36. Michael Annett

37. Chris Buescher

38. Josh Wise

39. Jeffrey Earnhardt

40. Reed Sorenson

Photo courtesy Todd Warshaw/Getty Images

Mark Martin Named to 2017 Hall of Fame Class

Mark Martin is among the five nominees for the 2017 Hall of Fame class, the NASCAR Hall of Fame announced on Wednesday.

Martin is joined by Benny Parsons, Rick Hendrick, Raymond Parks and Richard Childress in the 2017 class.

Martin, who was nominated for the second-straight year, is regarded as one of the greatest drivers to never win a championship.  He has five runner-up finishes in the championship standings to four current and future Hall of Famers: Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson.

Photo courtesy NASCAR

Throughout a career that spanned parts of four decades, Martin had 40 career Sprint Cup Series victories and 56 career Sprint Cup poles.  Martin, however, never won NASCAR's biggest events, the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400.  He came close in 2007, finishing second to Kevin Harvick by .002 seconds in the Daytona 500.

Martin also had 49 career Xfinity Series victories, even though he never raced a full season in the series.  He held the record for most Xfinity Series wins before Kyle Busch won race No. 50 in 2011.  Along with 7 Truck Series victories, Martin has 96 NASCAR victories across the three national touring series, which puts him seventh on the all-time list behind Richard Petty, Busch, David Pearson, Gordon, Darrell Waltrip and Earnhardt.

Martin made his Sprint Cup debut on April 5, 1981.  After running off-and-on in the Sprint Cup Series for most of the decade, Martin teamed up with Jack Roush to become the first driver for Roush Racing in 1988.

Martin originally announced his retirement in 2005, with that year deemed his "Salute to You Tour."  But Roush needed a driver to fill the seat of the No. 6 car for 2006, so Martin returned for another full season.  Martin left Roush following 2006, and he raced a partial schedule for Ginn Racing and Dale Earnhardt Inc. in 2007 and 2008.

In 2009, Martin returned to a full-time schedule with Hendrick Motorsports for the next three years.  In 2009, Martin picked up his final five career victories, and was part of a 1-2-3 team finish in the championship standings with Johnson and Gordon.

Martin retired following the 2013 season, after running a partial schedule for Michael Waltrip Racing in 2012 and 2013. 

Weekly Pull List: 5/25/2016

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

IDW
Back to the Future #8

Marvel
Amazing Spider-Man #1.5
Captain Marvel #5
Carnage #8
Daredevil #7
Deadpool #12
Doctor Strange #8
Drax #7
Extraordinary X-Men #10
Obi-Wan and Anakin #5
Spider-Man Deadpool #5
Star Wars #19
Totally Awesome Hulk #6
X-Men: Worst X-Man Ever #4

Titan
Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor #2
Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor Year 2 #10
Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor Year 2 #6

Joey Logano Wins the Sprint All-Star Race

Originally written for CLNS Radio. 

Joey Logano won the Sprint All-Star Race on Saturday night from Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Logano had to chase down Kyle Larson over the final 13 laps, and got by after Larson got loose and ended up slamming into the outside wall.  Logano said his car hadn’t shown the speed it was capable of until the end of the race.

 

Photo courtesy Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

“This Shell-Pennzoil Ford was fast from when we unloaded, but never showed our full potential the whole race,” Logano said.  “Eventually had a good restart and was able to get up towards the front and able to race with Kyle.”

“I knew he was going to run me hard, and I had to run him hard,” Logano said.

Larson said he thought he had the race won when he took the lead on the final restart, but that his car got too loose.

“I got clear right away, and I thought I could cruise,” Larson said.  “I was just getting looser throughout the race.”

“Just got loose and Joey caught me, he did a really good job side-drafting me.  I tried to hang on his quarter there, kind of like I did to Chase [Elliott] earlier today [in the Sprint Showdown], and I just got really loose as soon as I got into the corner.”

The race featured a new format, the brainchild of driver Brad Keselowski.  The race was split up into two 50-lap segments, with a mandatory 2-tire green flag pit stop during each segment, and then a final, 13-lap segment to decide the winner.  Before the final segment, the first 11 cars were forced to make a 4-tire pit stop, while the other cars on the lead lap were forced to stay out on old tires.  

The format confused some in the middle of the event, but Logano stressed the importance of being able to win the race, regardless of format.

“This is a race you always want to have on your resume, it’s just so special to say you’ve won the All-Star Race,” Logano said.  “It’s nice just to breakthrough and get a win.  I know it’s not for points, but it’s a nice momentum-builder going into the Coca-Cola 600.”

Unofficial results:

1. Joey Logano

2. Brad Keselowski

3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

4. Carl Edwards

5. Kurt Busch

6. Chase Elliott

7. Trevor Bayne

8. Greg Biffle

9. Denny Hamlin

10. Kyle Busch

11. Kevin Harvick

12. Jimmie Johnson

13. Ryan Newman

14. Martin Truex Jr.

15. Danica Patrick

16. Kyle Larson

17. Jamie McMurray

18. Matt Kenseth

19. Kasey Kahne

20. Tony Stewart

Photo courtesy Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

NASCAR Heat Evolution Announced, Given Release Date

Dusenberry Martin Racing announced the newest NASCAR video game, NASCAR Heat Evolution, during a press conference at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Friday.

The new game, which will be the first NASCAR game available on next-gen consoles, will be available September 13, 2016.

The game will be developed by Monster Games, who created the original NASCAR Heat and NASCAR: Dirt to Daytona games, which were two of the most well-recieved NASCAR games of all-time.  Monster Games has built this game from the ground up.

The game will feature different game modes, including a career mode and a Chase mode.  The game will also feature a new AI and Speed Rating system, which will adapt to the player's skill level.

DM Racing also announced that the cover driver will be the top-finishing Toyota driver in Saturday's Sprint All-Star Race.

For more information on NASCAR Heat Evolution, and to preorder the game on PS4 and XBox One, head to NASCARHeat.com.

Weekly Pull List: 5/18/2016

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

DC
Harley Quinn #28

Image
Invincible #128

Marvel
Astonishing Ant-Man #8
Civil War II #0
Deadpool and the Mercs for Money #4
Deadpool: Last Days of Magic #1
International Iron Man #3
Power Man and Iron Fist #4
Spider-Man #4
Spider-Woman #7
Spidey #6
Star-Lord #7

Titan
Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor Year Two #9

Kenseth Wins Wild AAA 400

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Matt Kenseth won the AAA 400 from Dover International Speedway on Sunday afternoon to pick up his first victory of 2016.

Photo courtesy Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Kenseth had to hold off Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott over the final run of the race, with Larson getting within striking distance of Kenseth on numerous occasions.  Kenseth said he had to hold off Larson with a very loose race car.

“We were tight all night on restarts, then five laps into that last run we got so loose that I thought Kyle was going to get right by me,” Kenseth said.  “Just buried the trackbar and kept digging the best I could and tried to hold him off.”

A restart with less than 50 laps to go changed the outlook of the race, when Jimmie Johnson caused an 18-car pileup at the front of the field that took out some of the best cars.  Kenseth said he was able to capitalize on the other front-runner’s misfortune.

“Obviously we got fortunate when some of the good cars got in accidents.  But Kyle gave me everything I wanted, and then some.”

Larson raced Kenseth clean over the final run, but said he could have moved Kenseth to get to victory lane.

“I was trying all I could do to get by him without getting into him,” Larson said.  “I probably could have bumped him there a little once in the middle of one and two.  I was just trying to be patient, I knew I was better than he was.”

“I got another shot at him there at the end.  Came up a little too short, maybe just a little too patient there.”

Unofficial results:

1. Matt Kenseth

2. Kyle Larson

3. Chase Elliott

4. Kasey Kahne

5. Kurt Busch

6. Brad Keselowski

7. Denny Hamlin

8. Ryan Blaney

9. Martin Truex Jr.

10. Trevor Bayne

11. Paul Menard

12. Clint Bowyer

13. Danica Patrick

14. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

15. Kevin Harvick

16. Ryan Newman

17. David Ragan

18. Chris Buescher

19. Landon Cassill

20. Michael McDowell

21. Jamie McMurray

22. Joey Logano

23. AJ Allmendinger

24. Brian Scott

25. Jimmie Johnson

26. Casey Mears

27. Cole Whitt

28. Carl Edwards

29. Greg Biffle

30. Kyle Busch

31. Aric Almirola

32. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

33. Austin Dillon

34. Tony Stewart

35. Jeffrey Earnhardt

36. Josh Wise

37. Michael Annett

38. Reed Sorenson

39. Regan Smith

40. Matt DiBenedetto

 

Photo courtesy Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images