Hamlin Wins Sprint All-Star Race

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Denny Hamlin won the Sprint All-Star Race from Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday night.

The race, split up into four 25-lap segments and a final, 10-lap segment, came down to a final round of pit stops.  After the fourth segment, the field was re-ordered by the average running position at the end of all four segments.  The field had to make a mandatory four-tire pit stop, and Hamlin’s crew got him out front.

 

Photo courtesy Drew Hallowell/Getty Images

“That pit crew, that’s all I can say,” Hamlin said.  “They carried me all day long, and they got us this victory.”

The win was the first All-Star victory for Hamlin, Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing.  Hamlin said winning this race puts you among NASCAR’s elite.

“You want to win the Daytona 500…and you want to be an All-Star,” Hamlin said.  “Can’t say enough about this whole FedEx Express team.  Everyone from Toyota, getting their first All-Star victory as well.  It’s just an unbelievable experience.”

Clean air was the topic of the day, with many drivers critiquing NASCAR’s current rules package.  Brad Keselowski won the second and third segments, but he said he couldn’t compete with who was out front.

“Whoever gets the clean air with this format and this rules package is going to drive away,” Keselowski said.  “The 41 [of Kurt Busch] and the 4 [of Harvick] were probably 3 to 4 tenths faster, but without clean air it doesn’t matter.”

Harvick ran on Hamlin’s back bumper for most of the final segment, but he lost all his ground with three laps to go.  He said Hamlin saw him coming and made an adjustment.

“He saw us coming there and I was really good in the middle lane,” Harvick said.  “But I needed all the air on the front of the car…my car just took off up the racetrack and lost all the ground I made up.”

One of the biggest stories coming into the weekend was the return of Kyle Busch, who had been sidelined since a crash in the Xfinity Series race at Daytona in February.  Busch, who finished sixth, said the race was a good way to get back in the car with NASCAR’s longest race coming up next week.

“It was definitely progress for what’s going to happen next week,” Busch said.  “We’re looking forward to running 400 laps around here, 600 miles, and trying to get a strong finish.”

Unofficial results

1. Denny Hamlin

2. Kevin Harvick

3. Kurt Busch

4. Jeff Gordon

5. Matt Kenseth

6. Kyle Busch

7. Kasey Kahne

8. Joey Logano

9. Brad Keselowski

10. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

11. AJ Allmendinger

12. Clint Bowyer

13. Greg Biffle

14. Aric Almirola

15. Jimmie Johnson

16. Jamie McMurray

17. Carl Edwards

18. Ryan Newman

19. Tony Stewart

20. Danica Patrick

Photo courtesy Jerry Markland/Getty Images

Field Set for Sprint All-Star Race

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer and Danica Patrick became the final drivers to qualify for Saturday’s Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Biffle and Bowyer won the first and second segments of Friday night’s Sprint Showdown, respectively.  The Showdown included all the drivers who have not won a race in the past season, made last season’s Chase for the Sprint Cup or have never won a Sprint All-Star Race.

Photo courtesy Stewart-Haas Racing Facebook page.

Biffle jumped out to the lead in the first segment when the green flag fell, and he never looked back.  He ran away from the field and won the first segment by over 1.5 seconds.  Following the segment, he took his car to the garage and did not race in the second segment.

Bowyer took four tires during the caution between segments, and it turned out to be the winning move.  After a caution early in segment two, Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Larson raced side-by-side for the lead.  Bowyer took the duo three-wide into Turn 1, took the lead, and pulled away from the field over the final 15 laps of the second segment.

Patrick was the winner of the fan vote, which NASCAR said had the smallest margin between first and second place in All-Star Race history.  Patrick also became the first driver to win the fan vote more than once, after winning the fan vote in 2013.

Qualifying for the Sprint All-Star Race will be Saturday afternoon.  The race will be Saturday night at 9:25 EST.

This year’s All-Star Race will feature five segments.  The first four segments will be 20 laps, and then a final, 10-lap shootout to decide the winner.  The Sprint All-Star Race, one of only two non-points events during the NASCAR season, pays the winner $1 million.

Below are the drivers who will make up the field for Saturday’s 90-lap event.  

#1 – Jamie McMurray

#2 – Brad Keselowski

#4 – Kevin Harvick

#5 – Kasey Kahne

#10 – Danica Patrick (Sprint Fan Vote Winner)

#11 – Denny Hamlin

#14 – Tony Stewart

#15 – Clint Bowyer (Sprint Showdown Segment 2 Winner)

#16 – Greg Biffle (Sprint Showdown Segment 1 Winner)

#18 – Kyle Busch

#19 – Carl Edwards

#20 – Matt Kenseth

#22 – Joey Logano

#24 – Jeff Gordon

#31 – Ryan Newman

#41 – Kurt Busch

#43 – Aric Almirola

#47 – AJ Allmendinger

#48 – Jimmie Johnson

#88 – Dale Earnhardt Jr

Weekly Pull List: 5/13/2015

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

Image
Saga #28
The Walking Dead #141

Titan
Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor #10

Marvel
Angela: Asgard's Assassin #6
Captain Marvel #15
Darth Vader #5
Guardians 3000 #8
Howard the Duck #3
Legendary Star-Lord #12
Magneto #18
Secret Wars #2
Silk #4
Spider-Man 2099 #12
Storm #11
Wolverines #18

Johnson Wins SpongeBob SquarePants 400

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Jimmie Johnson won the SpongeBob SquarePants 400 from Kansas Speedway on Saturday night.

Photo courtesy Adam Niemeyer

Johnson picked up his series-leading third victory of the season at Kansas.  The win followed another disappointing qualifying session for the No. 48 team.  Johnson said he used his experience to get past the disappointing starting positions.

“We tried so hard to get our qualifying under control and we put a huge effort into it again,” Johnson said.  “To be 19th…it really stunk.”

Rain delayed the event for over two hours following a caution on lap 94.  When the race restarted, the track was very different from the start of the race.  Johnson said everyone struggled with handling throughout the night.

“A long hard night of racing and fighting for track position,” Johnson said.  “Once we got up front we were able to hang on to it.”

“These guys just worked so hard and I’m proud of everybody.”

Unofficial results:

1. Jimmie Johnson

2. Kevin Harvick

3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

4. Jeff Gordon

5. Joey Logano

6. Matt Kenseth

7. Brad Keselowski

8. Kurt Busch

9. Martin Truex Jr.

10. Ryan Newman

11. Aric Almirola

12. Greg Biffle

13. Jamie McMurray

14. AJ Allmendinger

15. Kyle Larson

16. Sam Hornish Jr.

17. Kasey Kahne

18. Paul Menard

19. Casey Mears

20. Carl Edwards

21. Clint Bowyer

22. Austin Dillon

23. Michael Annett

24. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

25. Matt DiBenedetto

26. Ty Dillon

27. Danica Patrick

28. Josh Wise

29. Landon Cassill

30. Justin Allgaier

31. Trevor Bayne

32. David Gilliland

33. David Ragan

34. Brett Moffitt

35. Cole Whitt

36. Michael McDowell

37. J.J. Yeley

38. Joey Gase

39. Tony Stewart

40. Erik Jones

41. Denny Hamlin

42. Jeb Burton

43. Alex Bowman

Photo courtesy Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Big thanks to friend and fellow CLNS Radio contributor Adam Niemeyer for the photo of Johnson's burnout. Check out his blog here.

Weekly Pull List: 5/6/2015

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

Marvel
All-New Captain America Special #1
Amazing Spider-Man #18
Ant-Man #5
Guardians Team-Up #5
Hulk #16
Inhuman Annual #1
Return of the Living Deadpool #4
Rocket Raccoon #11
Secret Wars #1
Spider-Gwen #4
Spider-Woman #7
The Punisher #18
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #5
Wolverines #17

Earnhardt Dominates at Talladega

Originally written for CLNS Radio. 

Dale Earnhardt Jr. returned to victory lane after winning Sunday’s Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

 

Photo courtesy Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Earnhardt’s last victory at Talladega came in 2004.  Always a threat to win at the track, he won a record four-straight races between 2001 and 2003.

 The victory was the sixth of Earnhardt’s career at Talladega, tying Jeff Gordon as the active leader at the track.  Earnhardt said he had been bothered with his long winless streak.

“It’s been a long time since I won here, we’ve run so good here,” Earnhardt said.  “To not win here in so many races, it just bothers you.”

Over the final ten laps, Earnhardt picked up debris on his grille that causes his car to overheat.  Earnhardt was unsure whether his car could hold up to the heat and a potential challenge from eventual runner-up, and teammate, Jimmie Johnson.

“I didn’t know what [Johnson] had up his sleeve,” Earnhardt said.  “We had a real strong car and I didn’t know if my motor was going to last, but I had faith in it that it would because we build fast cars and they’re tough.”

Earnhardt said this victory, which locks his team into the Chase, will change the way they run races over the summer.

“We weren’t winning races, and now we’re locked into that Chase,” Earnhardt said.  “Now that we’re locked into that, we can call these races so differently for now so maybe we’ll have more wins on the way.”

Unofficial results:

 

1. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

2. Jimmie Johnson

3. Paul Menard

4. Ryan Blaney

5. Martin Truex Jr.

6. Sam Hornish Jr.

7. Ryan Newman

8. Kevin Harvick

9. Denny Hamlin

10. Josh Wise

11. Jamie McMurray

12. Kurt Busch

13. Cole Whitt

14. J.J. Yeley

15. Aric Almirola

16. Alex Bowman

17. AJ Allmendinger

18. Matt DiBenedetto

19. Tony Stewart

20. David Gilliland

21. Danica Patrick

22. Brad Keselowski

23. Justin Allgaier

24. Chris Buescher

25. Matt Kenseth

26. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

27. Bobby Labonte

28. Casey Mears

29. Michael Annett

30. Clint Bowyer

31. Jeff Gordon

32. Carl Edwards

33. Joey Logano

34. Kasey Kahne

35. Austin Dillon

36. Michael Waltrip

37. Greg Biffle

38. David Ragan

39. Landon Cassill

40. Brendan Gaughan

41. Trevor Bayne

42. Kyle Larson

43. Brian Scott

Photo courtesy Jerry Markland/Getty Images