Johnson Dominant in Texas

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Jimmie Johnson won the Duck Commander 500 from Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday night.

Johnson had a dominant car throughout the race, leading a race-high 128 laps.  

After a late caution shook up the running order, Johnson went from eighth to first in just a few laps, ending with a strong move around Kevin Harvick and Jamie McMurray.

Photo courtesy Sean Gardner/Getty Images

“They brought me a fast racecar,” Johnson said in victory lane.  “It was fast all weekend.”

Johnson said this win was big for his team, who he said have been strong all season but haven’t gotten the victories to prove it.

“We’ve had an awesome start to the year, I know the results don’t show it,” Johnson said.  “I think the off-week was good for us.”

Harvick finished second after leading 96 laps.  He said his car couldn’t keep up with Johnson’s on the final restart.

“Jimmie was really fast for those first couple laps and got around us,” Harvick said.  “I got loose coming off [turn] 4 and then I got in the wall just trying to hang on to where I needed to be.”

Harvick beat Johnson’s teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. to the line for second place.  Earnhardt said he had a chance to keep the top two finishers behind him on the final restart.

“I had Harvick cleared off of [turn] 2,” Earnhardt said.  “I had a hard time on the top so I wanted to try the bottom in 3 and 4 and he beat me around there.”

“We weren’t as good as the 48 [of Johnson] or the 4 [of Harvick] early in the race, but we definitely improved it.”

Unofficial results:

1. Jimmie Johnson

2. Kevin Harvick

3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

4. Joey Logano

5. Brad Keselowski

6. Jamie McMurray

7. Jeff Gordon

8. Kasey Kahne

9. Martin Truex Jr.

10. Carl Edwards

11. Denny Hamlin

12. Ryan Newman

13. David Ragan

14. Kurt Busch

15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

16. Danica Patrick

17. Greg Biffle

18. Trevor Bayne

19. Aric Almirola

20. Austin Dillon

21. AJ Allmendinger

22. Clint Bowyer

23. Matt Kenseth

24. Tony Stewart

25. Kyle Larson

26. Sam Hornish Jr.

27. Casey Mears

28. David Gilliland

29. Brett Moffitt

30. Chris Buescher

31. Michael McDowell

32. Landon Cassill

33. Alex Bowman

34. Matt DiBenedetto

35. Cole Whitt

36. Mike Bliss

37. Alex Kennedy

38. Josh Wise

39. Justin Allgaier

40. Michael Annett

41. Paul Menard

42. Ryan Blaney

43. JJ Yeley

Photo courtesy Chris Graythen/Getty Images

NASCAR '15 Given Release Date

The newest NASCAR video game will be released on May 22, developer DM Racing announced on Friday.

The new title, NASCAR '15, is a standalone update to the previous game, NASCAR '14.  Developer DMi Games took over the NASCAR license in January.

NASCAR '15 will not be a completely new game, but will instead be a glorified update to NASCAR '14.  The game will feature the current lineup of Sprint Cup Series drivers, the 2015 schedule and rules changes, along with over 60 paint schemes.  There will also be DLC content in the future.

After DMi Games took over the NASCAR license from developer Eutechnyx, the company promised to bring a new NASCAR sim racer to current-gen consoles.  The company announced Friday it is hard at work on that game, which should hit PS4, Xbox One and PC sometime in 2016.

NASCAR '15 will be available on May 22 for PS3 and Xbox 360 for $19.99, exclusively at Gamestop.  The game will be available digitally on the Xbox Live Marketplace and Playstation Store, as well as on PC via Steam. 

You can now preorder the game on PS3 and Xbox 360 on Gamestop's website.

What do you think of NASCAR '15? Will you be jumping behind the wheel on May 22?

Weekly Pull List: 4/8/2015

For all the comics available this week, head to Comixology.  Any breaking comics news is on Comic Book Resources.

Image
Saga #27
The Walking Dead #140

DC
Convergence #1
Convergence: Batman and Robin #1
Convergence: Harley Quinn #1
Convergence: Nightwing/Oracle #1
Convergence: Speed Force #1
Batman: Arkham Knight #2

Marvel
All-New Hawkeye #2
Angela: Asgard's Assassin #5
Ant-Man #4
Captain Marvel #14
Darth Vader #4
Deadpool #45
Guardians 3000 #7
Howard the Duck #2
Hulk #14
Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man #12
Spider-Man 2099 #11
Spider-Woman #6
Storm #10

Weekly Pull List: 4/1/2015

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

Titan
Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor #1.1

DC
Arkham Manor: Endgame
Batman and Robin Annual #3
Batman Eternal #52
Harley Quinn #16

Marvel
Amazing Spider-Man #17
Avengers: Ultron Forever #1
Cyclops #12
George Romero's Empire of the Dead: Act Three #1
Guardians Team-Up #4
Iron Fist: The Living Weapon #11
Return of the Living Deadpool #3
Rocket Raccoon #10
Spider-Gwen #3
The Punisher #17
Uncanny Inhumans #0
Wolverines #13

Voting for 2016 Hall of Fame Now Open

The fan vote for the NASCAR Hall of Fame is now open.  Fans are allowed to choose five nominees from the list of 20.  The top five with the most votes will be submitted as the Fan Ballot on Voting Day.

Voting Day this year will take place on Wednesday, May 20 at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.  Later that day, the Class of 2016 will be announced live from the Hall of Fame on NBC Sports Network.

Below is my ballot, which should totally be your ballot.

Mark Martin

Mark Martin
This one is a serious no-brainer.  I could not push the vote button faster.  I even made sure I selected him first, even though he's way down on the list.  Seriously, with 96 NASCAR wins across the top three touring series, Martin deserves to be in the Hall of Fame regardless of his lack of championship or Daytona 500 victory. 

Raymond Parks
I have been a huge supporter of getting Parks in the Hall of Fame.  NASCAR may have been built by Bill France, but it was funded by Parks.  If not for Parks' moonshine money, NASCAR may have been bankrupt in those early years.  In my opinion, there is no one more deserving of the Hall of Fame on this list.

Red Byron
Speaking of Raymond Parks, his driver Red Byron should be in the Hall of Fame as well.  Byron won the sanctioning body's first race on the Daytona Beach road course in 1948, and went on to become the sport's first Strictly Stock champion.  Plus, this guy drove with a special brace after being wounded in World War II.  Talk about tough.

Raymond Parks

Benny Parsons
Benny Parsons was a champion in everything he did.  He won 21 races and ran up front most of the time, finishing in the Top 10 an astonishing 54% of the time.  After he retired from driving, he became a commentator for NBC and TNT.  As a major voice of the sport, Parsons remained a commentator until his death in 2007 at the age of 65.

Bobby Isaac
Bobby Isaac won 37 races in his career and the 1970 championship, but it may be his prowess in qualifying that sets him apart.  His 49 poles put him 10th on the all-time list, including 19 in 1969 alone.  19 poles in a single season is still a record, an impressive mark considering that only 38 drivers have 19 or more poles in their entire careers.  In September 1971, he also set 28 world-class records on the Bonneville Salt Flats in his Dodge.  I don't know what that means, but it sounds impressive.



To vote, head here before May 20 to submit your ballot.

Hamlin Wins STP 500 in Martinsville

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Denny Hamlin won the STP 500 from Martinsville Speedway on Sunday.
 

Hamlin took the lead on a late restart and held off Brad Keselowski for the victory.  

Hamlin, who many believed had the strongest car this weekend, said he was happy to pick up his fifth Martinsville victory.

Photo courtesy Nick Laham/Getty Images

“I feel like I’ve missed out on so many grandfather clocks [Martinsville Speedway’s unique trophy] here because of mechanical issues and stuff, we just weren’t going to be denied today,” Hamlin said in victory lane.

Hamlin raced hard with Keselowski over the final 20 laps, with Keselowski getting right to Hamlin’s bumper.  Hamlin said he was glad Keselowski raced him cleanly at the end of the race.

“Hats off to Brad,” Hamlin said.  “He had an option and he took the latter, so I thank him for that.”

Keselowski had his best career finish at Martinsville on Sunday, and he said his car just came in at the right time.

“It just seemed like some runs were good on the long run and some runs we were good on the short run, and at the end we were good at the right time,” Keselowski said.  “I just couldn’t quite make the move I needed to complete the pass but I was right there.”

Keselowski said he and his team are looking forward to returning to the short track later in the season following Sunday’s strong run.  Martinsville will host the first race in the third round of NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup in November.

“This is the best we’ve ever been here,” Keselowski said.  “[Crew chief] Paul Wolfe and the guys have been working to get us a little better here.  It’ll be in the Chase…and this is a good sign coming back.”

Unofficial results:

1. Denny Hamlin

2. Brad Keselowski

3. Joey Logano

4. Matt Kenseth

5. David Ragan

6. Martin Truex Jr.

7. Danica Patrick

8. Kevin Harvick

9. Jeff Gordon

10. Jamie McMurray

11. Kasey Kahne

12. Aric Almirola

13. Clint Bowyer

14. Kurt Busch

15. Casey Mears

16. Regan Smith

17. Carl Edwards

18. Trevor Bayne

19. Greg Biffle

20. Tony Stewart

21. Landon Cassill

22. Cole Whitt

23. Paul Menard

24. Chris Buescher

25. David Gilliland

26. J.J. Yeley

27. Ryan Newman

28. Brett Moffitt

29. Jeb Burton

30. Josh Wise

31. Matt DiBenedetto

32. Sam Hornish Jr.

33. Alex Kennedy

34. Mike Bliss

35. Jimmie Johnson

36. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

37. Alex Bowman

38. Chase Elliott

39. Michael Annett

40. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

41. Austin Dillon

42. Justin Allgaier

43. AJ Allmendinger

Photo courtesy Nick Laham/Getty Images

Weekly Pull List: 3/25/2015

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

Image
Chew #47
Invincible #118
The Walking Dead #139

Titan
Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor #10

DC
Arkham Manor #6
Batman and Robin #40
Batman Eternal #51
Flash #40
Gotham Academy #6
Gotham by Midnight #5

Marvel
Amazing X-Men #18
Daredevil #14
Darth Vader #3
Deadpool #44
Guardians of the Galaxy #25
Inhumans #13
Legendary Star-Lord #10
Nightcrawler #12
Nova #28
Powers #2
Thanos vs. Hulk #4
Uncanny X-Men #32
Wolverines #12