Hamlin Wins Chase Opener

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Denny Hamlin won the myAFibRisk.com 400 from Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Hamlin stayed out when most of the leaders pitted following a caution with 10 laps to go, and he took the lead when the race restarted with six laps to go.  Hamlin said he thought he had a 50/50 chance of holding off the cars behind him on fresh tires.

 

Photo courtesy Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

“I was going to drive in there and hope that everything worked out,” Hamlin said.  “We stretched it out at the end, even with no tires.”

Hamlin had an eventful race before ending up in victory lane.  Hamlin found himself a lap down early after spinning on lap 2.  Hamlin said his team stayed calm following the incident and his car was fast enough to overcome the early mistake.

“I knew there couldn’t have been that many cars on the lead lap and luckily that one caution came out that allowed us to get the wavearound,” Hamlin said.  “We had a fast car and that’s the important thing.”

With Hamlin’s victory, he is now locked into the next round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup.  Hamlin is now the only driver who can rest easily over the remaining two races of the Challenger Round.

“Great way to start the Chase.  Takes the pressure off us.  We’re ready to go have some fun.”

Unofficial results:

1. Denny Hamlin

2. Carl Edwards

3. Kurt Busch

4. Ryan Newman

5. Matt Kenseth

6. Joey Logano

7. Kyle Larson

8. Brad Keselowski

9. Kyle Busch

10. Aric Almirola

11. Jimmie Johnson

12. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

13. Martin Truex Jr.

14. Jeff Gordon

15. David Ragan

16. Jamie McMurray

17. Paul Menard

18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

19. Clint Bowyer

20. Casey Mears

21. Greg Biffle

22. Brian Scott

23. Justin Allgaier

24. Kasey Kahne

25. Tony Stewart

26. Danica Patrick

27. Landon Cassill

28. Trevor Bayne

29. Cole Whitt

30. Sam Hornish Jr.

31. Brett Moffitt

32. David Gilliland

33. Josh Wise

34. Michael Annett

35. J.J. Yeley

36. AJ Allmendinger

37. Alex Bowman

38. Jeb Burton

39. Matt DiBenedetto

40. Reed Sorenson

41. Timmy Hill

42. Kevin Harvick

43. Austin Dillon

Photo courtesy Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Weekly Pull List: 9/16/2015

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

DC
Harley Quinn #20

IDW
D4VE2 #1
Godzilla in Hell #2

Image
Invincible #123
Sex Criminals #12

Marvel
Agent Carter S.H.I.E.L.D. 50th Anniversary #1
All-New Hawkeye #5
Armor Wars #5
Guardians of Knowhere #4
House of M #3
Infinity Gauntlet #4
Lando #4
Secret Wars Journal #5
Spider-Island #4
Spider-Verse #5
Star Wars #9

Kenseth Wins at Richmond

Matt Kenseth won the Federated Auto Parts 400 from Richmond International Raceway on Saturday night.

Photo courtesy Rainier Ehrhardt/Getty Images

Kenseth led a race-high 352 of 400 laps on Saturday.  Kenseth said the win gives his team a lot of confidence going into the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

“I was glad I didn’t make any mistakes tonight and was able to get the win,” Kenseth said.  “It’s good for all of our confidence…especially mine.”

Kenseth had to hold off Joey Logano and Aric Almirola following a late caution with 20 laps to go.  Kenseth had a good restart that helped propel him to the victory.

“I knew for sure I wasn’t going to go late,” Kenseth said.  “I knew I had to have…a good restart and some good distance to hold on because the short run was not our strong suit.  I knew it was going to be important to make sure we were clear when we got to turn one.”

Unofficial results:

1. Matt Kenseth

2. Kyle Busch

3. Joey Logano

4. Aric Almirola

5. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

6. Denny Hamlin

7. Jeff Gordon

8. Brad Keselowski

9. Jimmie Johnson

10. Clint Bowyer

11. Carl Edwards

12. Kyle Larson

13. Jamie McMurray

14. Kevin Harvick

15. Kurt Busch

16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr

17. David Ragan

18. Kasey Kahne

19. Danica Patrick

20. Ryan Newman

21. Casey Mears

22. Brian Scott

23. Trevor Bayne

24. AJ Allmendinger

25. Justin Allgaier

26. Paul Menard

27. Austin Dillon

28. Sam Hornish Jr.

29. Tony Stewart

30. Landon Cassill

31. Greg Biffle

32. Martin Truex Jr.

33. David Gilliland

34. J.J. Yeley

35. Brett Moffitt

36. Matt DiBenedetto

37. Alex Bowman

38. Cole Whitt

39. Jeb Burton

40. Jeffrey Earnhardt

41. Reed Sorenson

42. Michael McDowell

43. Michael Annett

Photo courtesy Jonathan Moore/Getty Images

Weekly Pull List: 9/9/2015

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

DC
Batman #44
Harley Quinn Road Trip Special #1

Image
The Walking Dead #146

Marvel
Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #5
Civil War #4
Darth Vader #9
Giant-Size Little Marvel AvX #4
Journey to Star Wars the Force Awakens: Shattered Empire #1
Korvac Saga #4
Mrs. Deadpool and the Howling Commandos #4
Planet Hulk #5
Quake S.H.I.E.L.D. 50th Anniversary #1
Red Skull #3
Secret Wars 2099 #5
Siege #3

Titan
Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor #11

Edwards Wins Throwback Southern 500

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Carl Edwards won Sunday night’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 from Darlington Raceway.

Photo courtesy Robert Laberge/Getty Images

Edwards took the lead late in the race after his team got him out of the pits first during the final pit stop.  Edwards said it was his team that got him to victory lane.

“[Crew chief] Darian [Grubb] did a great job tonight,” Edwards said.  “Our guys never quit.  JGR is unbelievable; these guys have been working so hard.”

Darlington was the second race this season to use the new low-downforce package that NASCAR has tested.  Edwards, who was a major supporter of the package, said this is the direction NASCAR needs to go in the future.

“I loved it,” Edwards said.  “This is as good as it gets.  This is the style of racing that I love.  If there’s any chance we can run this in the Chase, I hope we do it.”

Unofficial results:

1. Carl Edwards

2. Brad Keselowski

3. Denny Hamlin

4. Joey Logano

5. Kevin Harvick

6. Kurt Busch

7. Kyle Busch

8. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

9. Martin Truex Jr.

10. Kyle Larson

11. Aric Almirola

12. Kasey Kahne

13. Ryan Newman

14. Jamie McMurray

15. Tony Stewart

16. Jeff Gordon

17. Clint Bowyer

18. Greg Biffle

19. Jimmie Johnson

20. Landon Cassill

21. Matt Kenseth

22. Austin Dillon

23. AJ Allmendinger

24. Alex Bowman

25. Matt DiBenedetto

26. Paul Menard

27. David Gilliland

28. Sam Hornish Jr.

29. Casey Mears

30. Ryan Blaney

31. Jeb Burton

32. Mike Bliss

33. Justin Allgaier

34. JJ Yeley

35. Trevor Bayne

36. Brett Moffitt

37. TJ Bell

38. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

39. Michael Annett

40. David Ragan

41. Chase Elliott

42. Danica Patrick

43. Cole Whitt

Photo courtesy Jerry Markland/Getty Images

Weekly Pull List: 9/2/2015

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

DC
Detective Comics #44
Green Arrow #44

Marvel
Age of Apocalypse #3
Age of Ultron vs. Marvel Zombies #4
Daredevil #18
Deadpool vs. Thanos #1
Future Imperfect #5
Groot #4
House of M #2
Silk #7
Silver Surfer #14
Spider-Island #3
Star-Lord and Kitty Pryde #3

Titan
Doctor Who: Four Doctors #4
Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor #15