Kevin Harvick Wins Sprint Cup Championship

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Kevin Harvick won the Sprint Cup Championship on Sunday by winning the Ford Ecoboost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

 

Photo courtesy Chris Trotman/Getty Images

With the new Chase format, Harvick came into the race needing to beat the other three drivers in the title hunt.  With no points on the line for the top four drivers, the first driver to cross the finish line would be the champion.  

Harvick’s team made a late-race call that ultimately won him the race with four tires against runner-up Ryan Newman’s two.  Harvick said he was worried about dropping to fourth with just 15 laps to go.

“That came down to a pit call and I was like, ‘man, we are in trouble here,’” Harvick said.  “[Crew chief] Rodney Childers and all these guys that have put together these teams have just done an amazing job.”

Harvick said he was extremely happy to have the support of his team owners and fellow drivers leading up to Sunday’s race.  He said he remembered advice Tony Stewart told him before he got in the car all race long and that it helped get him to victory lane.

“Been trying for 13 years, really want to thank Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson for helping me through this week.  Jimmie Johnson was in my trailer about as much as any of my teammates and calling me and on the phone…telling me all the things I would need to do today.”

“I was going to hold the pedal down and hope for the best.”

Following the race, NASCAR also announced that Kyle Larson was the 2014 Rookie of the Year.

Unofficial results:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Ryan Newman

3. Brad Keselowski

4. Paul Menard

5. Jamie McMurray

6. Matt Kenseth

7. Denny Hamlin

8. Clint Bowyer

9. Jimmie Johnson

10. Jeff Gordon

11. Kurt Busch

12. Kasey Kahne

13. Kyle Larson

14. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

15. Justin Allgaier

16. Joey Logano

17. Martin Truex Jr.

18. Danica Patrick

19. Aric Almirola

20. Casey Mears

21. Michael McDowell

22. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

23. Brian Vickers

24. Reed Sorenson

25. Austin Dillon

26. Cole Whitt

27. Marcos Ambrose

28. Brian Scott

29. Landon Cassill

30. David Ragan

31. David Gilliland

32. Josh Wise

33. Alex Bowman

34. Carl Edwards

35. Michael Annett

36. Brett Moffitt

37. J.J. Yeley

38. Blake Koch

39. Kyle Busch

40. AJ Allmendinger

41. Greg Biffle

42. Trevor Bayne

43. Tony Stewart

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Weekly Pull List: 11/12/2014

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

BOOM!
Clockwork Angels #6

Image
The Walking Dead #134

DC
Batman #36
Batman Eternal #32

Marvel
All-New Ultimates #10
Avengers & X-Men: Axis #5
Axis: Hobgoblin #2
Captain Marvel #9
Death of Wolverine: The Logan Legacy #4
George Romero's Empire of the Dead: Act Two #3
Guardians 3000 #2
Hawkeye vs. Deadpool #2
Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man #7
Nightcrawler #8
Nova #23
Savage Hulk #6
She-Hulk #10
Silver Surfer #7
Spider-Verse #1
Superior Iron Man #1

Harvick Wins at Phoenix, Championship Round Set

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Kevin Harvick won the Quicken Loans 500 on Sunday from Phoenix International Raceway to clinch his spot in the Championship Round at Homestead.

Photo courtesy Tom Pennington/Getty Images

Harvick needed a win to compete for the Championship next weekend.  Harvick said this may have been one of the biggest wins of his career.

“I guess that’s what it feels like to hit a walkoff in extra innings,” Harvick said.  “Both races here have just been bad to the bone.  Everyone on our Budweiser team has been great.”

Harvick dominated the race, leading 264 of 312 laps.  The class of the field, he ran away from Jeff Gordon on the final restart.  Gordon needed to win the race to move on to the Championship Round.  Instead, he finished one point behind Ryan Newman following his last-lap comeback.

Newman stayed out during a late caution, but he quickly fell into the danger zone.  On the final lap, Newman and Kyle Larson made contact going into Turn 3.  Newman was able to pick up the spot and the point he needed to get past Gordon.

Next week, the Sprint Cup Championship will be decided between Harvick, Newman, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin.  The rules are simple: whoever finishes first of those four drivers becomes the Sprint Cup Champion.

Unofficial results:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Jeff Gordon

3. Matt Kenseth

4. Brad Keselowski

5. Denny Hamlin

6. Joey Logano

7. Kurt Busch

8. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

9. Greg Biffle

10. Marcos Ambrose

11. Ryan Newman

12. Martin Truex Jr.

13. Kyle Larson

14. Jamie McMurray

15. Carl Edwards

16. AJ Allmendinger

17. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

18. Aric Almirola

19. Brian Vickers

20. Tony Stewart

21. Kasey Kahne

22. Danica Patrick

23. Paul Menard

24. David Gilliland

25. David Ragan

26. Michael Annett

27. Ty Dillon

28. Reed Sorenson

29. Landon Cassill

30. J.J. Yeley

31. Michael McDowell

32. Alex Bowman

33. Joey Gase

34. Kyle Busch

35. Casey Mears

36. Mike Wallace

37. Justin Allgaier

38. Austin Dillon

39. Jimmie Johnson

40. Clint Bowyer

41. Josh Wise

42. Cole Whitt

43. Mike Bliss

Photo courtesy Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Weekly Pull List 11/5/2014

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

Image
Chew #44

Titan
Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor #4

DC
Batman Eternal #31
Detective Comics #36
Grayson #4
Green Arrow #36
Green Lantern #36

Marvel
Amazing Spider-Man #9
Avengers & X-Men: Axis #4
Deadpool's Art of War #2
Death of Wolverine: Life After Logan #1
Death of Wolverine: The Weapon X Program #1
Hulk #8
Legendary Star-Lord #5
Rocket Raccoon #5
Spider-Verse Team-Up #1
X-Men #21

Be sure to pick up...

Amazing Spider-Man #9
Spider-Verse is finally here!!  I'm pretty excited for this new storyline.  All the Spider-Man from all the worlds must come together to fight Morlun!  Seriously, go pick this up. Like, right now.

Thanks for reading!  Leave a comment below with the books you're picking up this week!

Johnson Wins at Texas, Chasers Brawl

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Jimmie Johnson won at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday to pick up his fourth victory of the season.
 

Photo courtesy Todd Warshaw/Getty Images

Johnson had a dominant car throughout the day, leading 191 of 341 laps.  Johnson said his team has continued to work hard even after being eliminated from the Chase.

“We’re not in the Chase and we’re not where want to be, fighting for the championship,” Johnson said.  “We’ll always keep fighting and trying to make our cars better.”

Johnson’s victory, however, will not be the most talked about part of the race.  During the first green-white-checkered finish, Brad Keselowski and Jeff Gordon made contact fighting for the lead.  The contact cut down Gordon’s left-rear tire, and relegated him to a 29th-place finish.

Photo courtesy ESPN.

After the race, Gordon confronted Keselowski on pit road.  After Kevin Harvick came over and shoved Keselowski, a fight between Gordon and Keselowski’s teams broke out.  Both drivers were left with bloody and bruised faces.

Johnson said the high emotions in the garage are a part of the new Chase format.

“We’re all in the position to win the championship and this is what happens.  I’m sure it was highly entertaining today.”

Unofficial results:

1. Jimmie Johnson

2. Kevin Harvick

3. Brad Keselowski

4. Kyle Busch

5. Jamie McMurray

6. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

7. Kyle Larson

8. Kurt Busch

9. Carl Edwards

10. Denny Hamlin

11. Tony Stewart

12. Joey Logano

13. Greg Biffle

14. AJ Allmendinger

15. Ryan Newman

16. Brian Vickers

17. Paul Menard

18. Casey Mears

19. Martin Truex Jr.

20. Justin Allgaier

21. Austin Dillon

22. Michael Annett

23. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

24. Aric Almirola

25. Matt Kenseth

26. Cole Whitt

27. Marcos Ambrose

28. Clint Bowyer

29. Jeff Gordon

30. Michael McDowell

31. J.J. Yeley

32. David Ragan

33. Reed Sorenson

34. David Gilliland

35. Timmy Hill

36. Danica Patrick

37. Joey Gase

38. Kasey Kahne

39. Trevor Bayne

40. Brett Moffitt

41. Josh Wise

42. Alex Bowman

43. Landon Cassill

Photo courtesy Chris Graythen/Getty Images