Weekly Pull List: 11/1/2017

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

Marvel
Astonishing X-Men #5
Guardians of the Galaxy #146
Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man #6
Spider-Man #234
Star Wars Darth Vader #7

Busch Survives Wild Finish to Win at Martinsville

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kyle Busch won the First Data 500 from Martinsville Speedway on Sunday afternoon to punch his ticket to the Championship finale at Homestead in three weeks.

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Throughout the final run, multiple lead drivers got together to set up for an exciting finish.  Busch was able to take the lead on the final restart, and he was able to hold off Martin Truex Jr. in the final corner as the rest of the field wrecked behind them.

Busch said his team gave him a good car for the weekend and that they were able to work on it throughout the race.

“Our guys did an awesome job preparing this car,” Busch said.  “We weren’t the best all day, but we put ourselves in the right spots there at the end with all the chaos ensuing.  None of it was our fault; we just came out on the right end of the stick.”

With the victory, Busch became the first driver to clinch a spot in the Championship round of the Playoffs at Homestead-Miami Speedway.  Busch said he’s excited to not worry about points for the next two weeks.

“We can go out there and race for wins; let everyone else worry,” Busch said.  “Not give everyone else a chance to breathe and keep their heads on their shoulders going into that week at Homestead.”

In the closing laps, Denny Hamlin spun Chase Elliott racing for the lead.  The two got together on the cool-down lap and talked about their run-in.

Hamlin said the move wasn’t intentional, but that he was trying to get to Homestead to race for a championship.

“Trying to get a race win, but everybody wrecked everyone at the end; it was complete…chaos,” Hamlin said.  “He didn’t make the corner because I had his back end jacked up; I got in there too hot and I got in the back of him.”

Elliott said he wasn’t pleased with Hamlin’s explanation for the way he raced at the end.

“He said someone was pushing him, and it wasn’t two car lengths between him and the other guy,” Elliott said.  “It’s definitely 100 percent unnecessary and uncalled for.”

“My mom always said if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say nothing at all.  He’s not even worth my time.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kyle Busch

2. Martin Truex Jr.

3. Clint Bowyer

4. Brad Keselowski

5. Kevin Harvick

6. Trevor Bayne

7. Denny Hamlin

8. Ryan Blaney

9. Matt Kenseth

10. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

11. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

12. Jimmie Johnson

13. Austin Dillon

14. Ryan Newman

15. Daniel Suarez

16. Kasey Kahne

17. Danica Patrick

18. Aric Almirola

19. Michael McDowell

20. Paul Menard

21. Chris Buescher

22. Kurt Busch

23. Landon Cassill

24. Joey Logano

25. Cole Whitt

26. Erik Jones

27. Chase Elliott

28. David Ragan

29. Jamie McMurray

30. Ty Dillon

31. Gray Gaulding

32. Reed Sorenson

33. Corey LaJoie

34. Hermie Sadler

35. Kyle Weatherman

36. Carl Long

37. Kyle Larson

38. Jeffrey Earnhardt

39. Matt DiBenedetto

40. AJ Allmendinger

Stacy Revere/Getty Images

Weekly Pull List: 10/25/2017

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 #20

IDW
Back to the Future #24

Marvel
Amazing Spider-Man #790
Ben Reilly the Scarlet Spider #9
Despicable Deadpool #288
Punisher #17
Star Wars Jedi of the Republic Mace Windu #3
Thanos #12

Truex Wins at Kansas in Round 2 Finale

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Martin Truex Jr. won the Hollywood Casino 400 from Kansas Speedway on Sunday afternoon to close out the second round of the Playoffs.

Chris Trotman/Getty Images

Truex had a strong car on Sunday, but a few pit miscues caused him to fall behind early.  After working his way back up front, Truex took the lead on the final restart and held off Kurt Busch and Ryan Blaney to pick up his seventh victory of the season.

While under a red flag for a big accident late in the race, Truex called his shot and told his team they would win the race.

Truex said the victory was a testament to his team’s ability to continue pushing through adversity.

“It’s crazy how these things work out,” Truex said.  “Just got to give the best effort all the time; never give up and just push as hard as you can.  That’s what we did today and it worked.”

Truex and his team were racing with heavy hearts on Sunday following the sudden death of a crew member on Saturday night.  Fabricator Jim Watson died following a heart attack on Saturday, and Truex said the race was challenging following the sudden loss.

“I can’t believe how this day went; racing with heavy hearts,” Truex said.  “I know he’d want to be here celebrating with me right now.”

“Today was definitely a challenge, but fast cars prevail.”

Kansas was the cutoff race for Round 2 of the NASCAR Playoffs, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Jamie McMurray, Matt Kenseth and Kyle Larson were eliminated.

Kyle Busch finished 10th and was able to clinch the final transfer spot.  Busch said he needed other drivers to have misfortune following poor finishes in the first two races.

“I wouldn’t have thought a 29th, a 27th and a 10th would have made it through; obviously a lot of other guys had to have trouble for that to happen,” Busch said.

Busch now begins Round 3 as the second seed in the Playoffs, and he said he thinks he can lock himself into the final round by winning next Sunday.

“We’re going to Martinsville next week, and it’s going to really good for us,” Busch said.  “Hopefully I can punch my ticket to Homestead and take two weeks off…and race everybody like heck for that championship.”

Unofficial results:

1. Martin Truex Jr.

2. Kurt Busch

3. Ryan Blaney

4. Chase Elliott

5. Denny Hamlin

6. Chris Buescher

7. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

8. Kevin Harvick

9. Aric Almirola

10. Kyle Busch

11. Jimmie Johnson

12. Paul Menard

13. Brad Keselowski

14. Austin Dillon

15. Kasey Kahne

16. Ty Dillon

17. David Ragan

18. Michael McDowell

19. Clint Bowyer

20. Trevor Bayne

21. Joey Logano

22. Matt DiBenedetto

23. Landon Cassill

24. Cole Whitt

25. Reed Sorenson

26. Jeffrey Earnhardt

27. Corey LaJoie

28. Gray Gaulding

29. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

30. BJ McLeod

31. Brett Moffitt

32. AJ Allmendinger

33. Ryan Newman

34. Jamie McMurray

35. Erik Jones

36. Daniel Suarez

37. Matt Kenseth

38. Danica Patrick

39. Kyle Larson

40. Derrike Cope

Sarah Crabill/Getty Images

Weekly Pull List: 10/18/2017

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

BOOM! Studios
Go Go Power Rangers #4

Marvel
Deadpool Vs. Old Man Logan #1
Journey to Star Wars The Last Jedi Captain Phasma #4
Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man #5
Spider-Gwen #25
Star Wars Poe Dameron #20
Venom #156

Keselowski Survives Wild Talladega Finish

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Brad Keselowski won the Alabama 500 from Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday afternoon in his 300th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start.

Keselowski had to survive a wild finish, one that saw three major accidents collect most of the field in the final 17 laps.  With the field cut to about only 10 cars, Keselowski was able to pass Ryan Newman on the final lap to pick up his fifth victory at Talladega.

Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

Keselowski said he was excited to survive and move on to the next round of the Playoffs.

“What a special day…I survived,” Keselowski said.  “We haven’t been as good as we’ve needed to be on the [1.5 mile tracks], so we knew we had to come to Talladega and get it done.”

Keselowski said a late block on his teammate Joey Logano helped propel him past Newman on the final lap.

“I just had to make all the right moves…right at the end I put the block on my teammate…and it was just enough to get the momentum to win at the start/finish line,” Keselowski said.  “You’ve got to have a little bit of luck to win these races…we got through some big wrecks there.”

“To be able to win and get to the next round of the Playoffs and not have to deal with any of that…this is one we really needed.”

Newman finished second, but said he was disappointed he couldn’t close out a victory while leading late in the race.

“When there’s only that many cars left running, you want to be the guy…I’m really disappointed we didn’t win,” Newman said.  “I don’t think there was a car out there that didn’t have any damage.”

“We’ll take it for what it’s worth and we’ll keep digging.  Wish we were still in the Playoffs, but we’re not.  We’ll keep moving our way up if we can.”

Unofficial results:

1. Brad Keselowski

2. Ryan Newman

3. Trevor Bayne

4. Joey Logano

5. Aric Almirola

6. Denny Hamlin

7. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

8. Kasey Kahne

9. Gray Gaulding

10. David Ragan

11. Ty Dillon

12. Paul Menard

13. Kyle Larson

14. Matt Kenseth

15. Daniel Suarez

16. Chase Elliott

17. Chris Buescher

18. Ryan Blaney

19. Brandan Gaughan

20. Kevin Harvick

21. Danica Patrick

22. AJ Allmendinger

23. Martin Truex Jr.

24. Jimmie Johnson

25. Kurt Busch

26. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

27. Kyle Busch

28. Landon Cassill

29. Austin Dillon

30. Michael McDowell

31. Matt DiBenedetto

32. Joey Gase

33. DJ Kennington

34. Cole Whitt

35. Clint Bowyer

36. Erik Jones

37. Jamie McMurray

38. Jeffrey Earnhardt

39. Mark Thompson

40. Justin Marks

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Weekly Pull List: 10/11/2017

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

IDW
Back to the Future #23

Marvel
Amazing Spider-Man #789
Amazing Spider-Man Renew Your Vows #12
Despicable Deadpool #287
Gwenpool the Unbelievable #21
Rocket #6
Star Wars Doctor Aphra #13

Truex Continues to Dominate, Wins at Charlotte

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Martin Truex Jr. won the Bank of America 500 from Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon for his sixth victory of the season.

Truex led 91 laps on Sunday on his way to victory lane, but had to hold off Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick in the closing laps after two late cautions set up an overtime finish.

Truex said his team came through in the clutch with fast pit stops at the end of the race.

Mike Comer/Getty Images

“Everybody on this team is amazing,” Truex said.  “The pit crew was flawless; got us track position and we were able to keep it.”

Final practice was cancelled on Saturday due to rain, so teams had very little on-track time to prepare for Sunday’s race.  After qualifying 17th, Truex and crew chief Cole Pearn had no following track time to work on their car.

Truex said he and his crew chief did a good job working on the car to prepare it for Sunday.

“It’s one of those weekends with a lot of pressure,” Truex said.  “We qualified poorly, and I was mad about it and Cole was mad about it.”

“This time of year you want to click on all cylinders, and today we did.  We just did everything right with no mistakes.  We just never gave up on it, and we just kept digging.”

Harvick finished third after challenging late for the lead, but he couldn’t catch Truex on the final restart.

Harvick said his car was good, but that he couldn’t compete with how fast Truex was.

“It’s about where we were going to run, second or third,” Harvick said.  “I would get close and then I would get loose…kind of lost what I had at the beginning of the race.”

Unofficial results:

1. Martin Truex Jr.

2. Chase Elliott

3. Kevin Harvick

4. Denny Hamlin

5. Jamie McMurray

6. Daniel Suarez

7. Jimmie Johnson

8. Ryan Blaney

9. Kasey Kahne

10. Kyle Larson

11. Matt Kenseth

12. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

14. Trevor Bayne

15. Brad Keselowski

16. Austin Dillon

17. Erik Jones

18. Chris Buescher

19. Paul Menard

20. AJ Allmendinger

21. Ty Dillon

22. Kurt Busch

23. Matt DiBenedetto

24. Aric Almirola

25. Landon Cassill

26. Joey Logano

27. Clint Bowyer

28. Corey LaJoie

29. Kyle Busch

30. Jeffrey Earnhardt

31. Reed Sorenson

32. BJ McLeod

33. Timmy Hill

34. Cole Whitt

35. Michael McDowell

36. Gray Gaulding

37. David Ragan

38. Danica Patrick

39. Brett Moffitt

40. Ryan Newman

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Weekly Pull List: 10/4/2017

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

Marvel
All-New Guardians of the Galaxy #11
Astonishing X-Men #4
Journey to Star Wars the Last Jedi Captain Phasma #3
Spider-Man #21
Spider-Man Deadpool #22
Star Wars #37
Venom #155
Venomverse #5

Busch Wins at Dover in Round 1 Finale

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kyle Busch won the Apache Warrior 400 from Dover International Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Busch capped off the first round of the Playoffs with his second victory of the round, after passing Chase Elliott for the lead with two laps to go.

Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

Busch said he gave his everything in the final run to try and run down Elliott.

“That was hard fought…that was everything I had,” Busch said.  “I was trying to get there, and I got stuck for a few laps.  I wasn’t sure if I would make it all the way, and then I had to try the top.”

Elliott, who is still looking for his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory, dominated the final stage of the race, but lost the lead after getting slowed down by lapped traffic.

Busch said he could understand Elliott’s frustration with the runner-up finish.

“I know Chase is hungry…he’s been trying a couple years to get his first Cup Series win,” Busch said.  “Fortunately we had a little bit fresher tires than he did and it drug us right to him.”

“I saw that carrot hanging out there, and I wanted to go get it.”

Elliott led a race-high 138 laps, but he was visibly disappointed after coming so close to his first victory.  Elliott said it was his fault that he couldn’t get to victory lane.

“I’m so disappointed in myself; couldn’t have had it any easier,” Elliott said.  “Appreciate our team and their efforts today; our pit stops were great and it kept us in the ballgame, and I didn’t.”

“When you look back, I obviously would have done something different, but I didn’t.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kyle Busch

2. Chase Elliott

3. Jimmie Johnson

4. Martin Truex Jr.

5. Kyle Larson

6. Clint Bowyer

7. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

8. Daniel Suarez

9. Jamie McMurray

10. Brad Keselowski

11. Matt Kenseth

12. Erik Jones

13. Ryan Newman

14. Kasey Kahne

15. Joey Logano

16. Austin Dillon

17. Kevin Harvick

18. Danica Patrick

19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

20. Kurt Busch

21. David Ragan

22. Ty Dillon

23. Ryan Blaney

24. Trevor Bayne

25. Aric Almirola

26. Paul Menard

27. Michael McDowell

28. AJ Allmendinger

29. Landon Cassill

30. Chris Buescher

31. Matt DiBenedetto

32. Cole Whitt

33. Brett Moffitt

34. Corey LaJoie

35. Denny Hamlin

36. BJ McLeod

37. Jeffrey Earnhardt

38. Ross Chastain

39. Reed Sorenson

40. Timmy Hill

Sean Gardner/Getty Images