Dale Earnhardt Jr. Wins Wet, Weird Phoenix Race

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the rain-shortened Quicken-Loans 500 from Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday night.

 

Photo courtesy Chris Trotman/Getty Images

Earnhardt won after the race was stopped following rain at lap 219.  The start of the race was delayed by 6.5 hours earlier in the day due to rainstorms throughout the day.  Earnhardt took the lead by pitting before the final caution came out, and he said his team’s strategy got him to victory lane.

“My team guys are very proud of this because they gave me a great car,” Earnhardt said.  “It is a rain-shortened race…a win’s a win.  You’ll take it and put it in the record book.”

Following the race, four drivers were eliminated from the Chase for the Sprint Cup.  The four drivers eliminated were Carl Edwards, Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano.  

Next weekend at Homestead, the Sprint Cup Series championship will be decided among four drivers.  Whoever finishes first among Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. will be crowned the 2015 Sprint Cup Series champion. 

Unofficial results:

1. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

2. Kevin Harvick

3. Joey Logano

4. Kyle Busch

5. Jimmie Johnson

6. Jeff Gordon

7. Kurt Busch

8. Denny Hamlin

9. Brad Keselowski

10. Aric Almirola

11. Ryan Newman

12. Carl Edwards

13. Paul Menard

14. Martin Truex Jr.

15. Jamie McMurray

16. Danica Patrick

17. Justin Allgaier

18. David Ragan

19. Erik Jones

20. Austin Dillon

21. Kyle Larson

22. Casey Mears

23. Clint Bowyer

24. AJ Allmendinger

25. Greg Biffle

26. Kasey Kahne

27. Tony Stewart

28. Matt DiBenedetto

29. J.J. Yeley

30. David Gilliland

31. Sam Hornish Jr.

32. Michael Annett

33. Cole Whitt

34. Trevor Bayne

35. Landon Cassill

36. Brett Moffitt

37. Ryan Preece

38. Alex Bowman

39. Jeb Burton

40. Ryan Ellis

41. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

42. Joey Gase

43. Timmy Hill

Photo courtesy Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

Weekly Pull List: 11/11/2015

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

DC
Batman #46
Batman and Robin Eternal #6

IDW
Back to the Future #2
D4VE2 #3

Image
The Walking Dead #148

Marvel
All-New Hawkeye #1
Carnage #1
Chewbacca #3
Darth Vader #12
Secret Wars #7
Spider-Gwen #2
Spider-Man 2099 #3
Web Warriors #1

Jimmie Johnson Wins at Texas

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Jimmie Johnson won the AAA Texas 500 from Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday.

Johnson raced hard with Brad Keselowski over the final 20 laps, and finally took the lead with six laps to go.  Johnson said the handling of his car came in at the right time.

Photo courtesy Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

“I could see [Keselowski] was tight and his car wasn’t ideal and then he moved up and had the high lane covered,” Johnson said.  “I just kept working on him and working on him…and he got real loose off of [Turn] 2 and I had a big run off the top.”

Keselowski led 312 laps on Sunday, the most of any driver.  Keselowski’s runner-up finish leaves him 22 points behind the final cutoff spot for the championship finale at Homestead heading into Phoenix next weekend.  Keselowski said his team will have to win next weekend at Phoenix.

“Still a lot to be proud of,” Keselowski said.  “My team did a hell of a job…we’ll have a great shot of winning next week as well.”

Tire troubles almost ruined Kevin Harvick’s day as he looked to make the championship round.  Harvick had numerous tires go down throughout the race, but he was able to bounce back to finish third and put himself in good position to make the finale at Homestead.

Joey Logano, another Chase driver, came into Texas needing a victory to make the championship finale.  Logano cut down a tire early on in the race, and that ruined his team’s chances to pick up the victory.  Unlike Harvick, Logano was unable to bounce back from the early adversity and finished 40th, putting himself in a large hole heading into Phoenix where he must win to advance.

Unofficial results:

1. Jimmie Johnson

2. Brad Keselowski

3. Kevin Harvick

4. Kyle Busch

5. Carl Edwards

6. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

7. Kurt Busch

8. Martin Truex Jr.

9. Jeff Gordon

10. Jamie McMurray

11. Austin Dillon

12. Erik Jones

13. Paul Menard

14. Brian Scott

15. Clint Bowyer

16. Danica Patrick

17. AJ Allmendinger

18. Aric Almirola

19. Greg Biffle

20. Kasey Kahne

21. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

22. Ryan Newman

23. David Ragan

24. Sam Hornish Jr.

25. Landon Cassill

26. Casey Mears

27. Cole Whitt

28. Justin Allgaier

29. David Gilliland

30. Brett Moffitt

31. Michael Annett

32. Jeb Burton

33. J.J. Yeley

34. Michael McDowell

35. Matt DiBenedetto

36. Ryan Preece

37. Kyle Larson

38. Denny Hamlin

39. Trevor Bayne

40. Joey Logano

41. Alex Bowman

42. Tony Stewart

43. Ryan Blaney

Photo courtesy Tim Bradbury/Getty Images

Weekly Pull List: 11/4/2015

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

Boom! Studios
Klaus #1

DC
Batman and Robin Eternal #5
Detective Comics #46
Green Arrow #46

Dynamite
James Bond #1

Image
Sex #25

Marvel
Amazing Spider-Man #3
Deadpool #1
Doctor Strange #2
Drax #1
Extraordinary X-Men #1
Howard the Duck #1
Invincible Iron Man #3
Nova #1
Spider-Gwen #0
Star Wars #11
Star Wars Lando #3
Uncanny X-Men #600
Vision #1

Titan
Doctor Who: The Eighth Doctor #1
Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor Year 2 #2

Jeff Gordon Wins at Martinsville, Clinches Spot in Championship Round

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Jeff Gordon won the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 from Martinsville Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Gordon clinched a spot into the championship finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway by winning on Sunday.  Gordon was emotional in victory lane after picking up his first victory of the season.

Photo courtesy Todd Warshaw/Getty Images

“Wow, we’re going to Homestead and I can’t believe it,” Gordon said.  “This is the sweetest, most amazing feeling.”

Gordon’s team came through under pressure late in the race after a late-race pit stop.  Gordon said a lot of this victory is due to his team.

“I am so proud of this team,” Gordon said.  “People don’t give this team enough credit and we seized this opportunity right there.”

The race did finish with some controversy for the second week in a row.  While leading, Joey Logano was spun by Matt Kenseth, ending the race for both drivers.  

Many people, including Logano, thought Kenseth’s actions were payback for a spin two weeks ago at Kansas that put Kenseth in a difficult spot heading into last weekend’s race in Talladega.

“It’s just a complete coward move, especially for a championship racecar driver,” Logano said.  “Just a chicken-you-know-what move to completely take out the leader when your race is over.  We just got to win.” 

Kenseth said his car was damaged from an earlier incident and he blew a tire down going into the corner.

“We had so much damage on the right front, I should have probably just put it in the garage,” Kenseth said.  “Just got into [Turn} 1 and couldn’t get it to turn and ran Joey over.”

Kenseth didn’t want to focus on the possibility that the wreck was payback for Kansas when he was asked following the race.

“I don’t have any comments for that.”

Unofficial results

1. Jeff Gordon

2. Jamie McMurray

3. Denny Hamlin

4. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

5. Kyle Busch

6. Martin Truex Jr.

7. Ryan Newman

8. Kevin Harvick

9. Kasey Kahne

10. Tony Stewart

11. AJ Allmendinger

12. Jimmie Johnson

13. Justin Allgaier

14. Carl Edwards

15. Paul Menard

16. Aric Almirola

17. Casey Mears

18. Austin Dillon

19. Kyle Larson

20. Cole Whitt

21. Landon Cassill

22. Alex Bowman

23. Michael Annett

24. David Gilliland

25. David Ragan

26. Greg Biffle

27. Jeb Burton

28. Sam Hornish Jr.

29. J.J. Yeley

30. Matt DiBenedetto

31. Trevor Bayne

32. Brad Keselowski

33. Alex Kennedy

34. Kurt Busch

35. Brett Moffitt

36. Timmy Hill

37. Joey Logano

38. Matt Kenseth

39. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

40. Danica Patrick

41. Kyle Fowler

42. Ryan Preece

43. Clint Bowyer

Photo courtesy Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images