Kyle Larson Wins at Michigan

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kyle Larson won the FireKeepers Casino 400 from Michigan International Speedway on Sunday afternoon for his second-consecutive victory at the track.

Larson started on the pole, and led 96 of the 200 laps on Sunday.  Larson had to beat Kyle Busch on a late restart to take the lead, and then had to hold off other top drivers to get to victory lane. 

Chris Trotman/Getty Images

Larson got a push from Ryan Blaney to take the lead, and he said he was able to use that to get to victory lane.

“Ryan Blaney gave me a heck of a push, so I really got to thank him a ton,” Larson said.  “To withstand a few restarts over some tough competitors was really important.  I knew the Penske cars took off good, so I was happy to see [Blaney] behind me.”

Larson picked up his second victory of the year on Sunday, but he said he and his team still need to work on closing out races.

“We’ve been so close to so many other wins…we’ve had six second-place finishes,” Larson said.  “Could have 30 more bonus points, but good season all-in-all.  We’ll continue to keep building on what we’ve got.”

Chase Elliott finished second on Sunday, and he came close to becoming the fourth driver to pick up their first career victory in 2017.  Elliott said he was happy with his third-career runner-up finish at Michigan after a rough start to the weekend.

“From where we started the day to where we ended up, I’m just really proud of our efforts,” Elliott said.  “I really think we overachieved today with what we had Friday and Saturday.”

“We put ourselves in position to rely on some late-race restarts…had a couple opportunities to get the lead and unfortunately it just didn’t work out.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kyle Larson

2. Chase Elliott

3. Joey Logano

4. Denny Hamlin

5. Jamie McMurray

6. Martin Truex Jr.

7. Kyle Busch

8. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

9. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

10. Jimmie Johnson

11. Matt Kenseth

12. Kurt Busch

13. Erik Jones

14. Kevin Harvick

15. Ryan Newman

16. Brad Keselowski

17. Trevor Bayne

18. AJ Allmendinger

19. Darrell Wallace Jr.

20. Ty Dillon

21. Kasey Kahne

22. Paul Menard

23. Michael McDowell

24. Daniel Suarez

25. Ryan Blaney

26. Clint Bowyer

27. Austin Dillon

28. Matt DiBenedetto

29. David Ragan

30. Corey LaJoie

31. Cole Whitt

32. Landon Cassill

33. Ryan Sieg

34. Reed Sorenson

35. Jeffrey Earnhardt

36. Chris Buescher

37. Danica Patrick

Sarah Crabill/Getty Images

Weekly Pull List: 6/14/2017

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

IDW
Back to the Future #20

Marvel
Amazing Spider-Man Renew Your Vows #8
Ben Reilly The Scarlet Spider #3
Deadpool #32
Gwenpool the Unbelievable #17
Secret Empire #4
Secret Empire United #1
Star Wars #32
Thanos #8
Venom #151

Blaney Picks Up First Victory at Pocono

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Ryan Blaney won his first career race on Sunday afternoon in the Axalta Presents the Pocono 400 from Pocono Raceway.

Blaney took the lead from Kyle Busch in the final 10 laps, and he had to hold off Kevin Harvick in the closing laps to get to victory lane.

Chris Trotman/Getty Images

Blaney said he was excited to beat two of the best to get to victory lane.

“First we had to pass Kyle, and that was tough,” Blaney said.  “He was on older tires…and we were able to get up under him.  Then we had to hold Kevin off; he was really fast all day.  I want to thank him for racing me really clean.”

Blaney, in his second full-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, said he was excited to finally return Wood Brothers Racing to victory lane.

“We got Motorcraft and Ford back into victory lane, Wood Brothers’ 99th win…that was just a lot of fun,” Blaney said.  “We locked ourselves into the Chase; that was awesome.”

Harvick said his car just wasn’t able to drive through the corner as good as Blaney’s.

“I think there at the end we just couldn’t get in the corner like we needed to all day,” Harvick said.  “He could charge the corner, so I needed for him to make a mistake.”

“Never made a mistake, and did a great job.  Ended up winning the race.”

Unofficial results:

1. Ryan Blaney

2. Kevin Harvick

3. Erik Jones

4. Kurt Busch

5. Brad Keselowski

6. Martin Truex Jr.

7. Kyle Larson

8. Chase Elliott

9. Kyle Busch

10. Matt Kenseth

11. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

12. Denny Hamlin

13. Austin Dillon

14. Ryan Newman

15. Daniel Suarez

16. Danica Patrick

17. Clint Bowyer

18. Ty Dillon

19. Chris Buescher

20. Paul Menard

21. Trevor Bayne

22. AJ Allmendinger

23. Joey Logano

24. Michael McDowell

25. David Ragan

26. Darrell Wallace Jr.

27. Landon Cassill

28. Corey LaJoie

29. Gray Gaulding

30. Cole Whitt

31. Reed Sorenson

32. Matt DiBenedetto

33. Derrike Cope

34. Jeffrey Earnhardt

35. Kasey Kahne

36. Jimmie Johnson

37. Jamie McMurray

38. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

39. Cody Ware

Jerry Markland/Getty Images

Weekly Pull List: 6/7/2017

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

Marvel
All-New Guardians of the Galaxy #3
Amazing Spider-Man #28
Daredevil #21
Iceman #1
Nova #7
Secret Empire Brave New World #1
Spider-Man #17
Spider-Man Deadpool #18
Star Wars Darth Vader #1
Star Wars Rogue One Adaptation #3

Johnson Makes History With Dover Victory

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Jimmie Johnson picked up his 11th victory at Dover International Speedway in the AAA Drive for Autism 400 on Sunday afternoon.

The race was dominated by two drivers; Kyle Larson led the most laps and Martin Truex Jr. won both stages.  Johnson had to work his way through the field after he was forced to start the race from the back of the pack, but he had worked his way up to the top 10 by the end of the first segment.

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Johnson passed Larson for the lead on the final restart, and the race ended when Ty Dillon made contact with Ryan Newman to start a big wreck coming out of turn 2.  Johnson was able to pass the overtime line entering turn 3 before the caution came out, and the race finished under yellow.

Johnson picked up his 83rd career victory, which tied him with NASCAR Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough.  Johnson said he was excited to win while driving with a Yarborough-inspired helmet.

“I was a big Cale Yarborough fan,” Johnson said.  “To tie him at 83 wins…we just got the tribute helmet.  I wasn’t sure how quickly we’d get it done.”

Larson controlled the final restart as the leader, but he said Johnson did a better job at executing with the race on the line.

“He did what he had to do to get a fast launch like he did,” Larson said.  “He just took off better than I did.”

“He’s a seven-time champion for a reason…and he’s really good at executing.  I just got to get better at that.”

Unofficial results:

1. Jimmie Johnson

2. Kyle Larson

3. Martin Truex Jr.

4. Ryan Newman

5. Chase Elliott

6. Daniel Suarez

7. Jamie McMurray

8. Denny Hamlin

9. Kevin Harvick

10. Danica Patrick

11. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

12. Austin Dillon

13. Matt Kenseth

14. Ty Dillon

15. Erik Jones

16. Kyle Busch

17. Kasey Kahne

18. AJ Allmendinger

19. Michael McDowell

20. Ross Chastain

21. Trevor Bayne

22. Cole Whitt

23. Chris Buescher

24. Gray Gaulding

25. Joey Logano

26. Ryan Sieg

27. Jeffrey Earnhardt

28. Timmy Hill

29. Matt DiBenedetto

30. David Ragan

31. Clint Bowyer

32. Ryan Blaney

33. Paul Menard

34. Regan Smith

35. Cody Ware

36. Landon Cassill

37. Kurt Busch

38. Brad Keselowski

39. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

Weekly Pull List: 5/31/2017

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

BOOM! Studios
Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers 2017 Annual #1

IDW
Back to the Future Biff to the Future #5
D4VEocracy #4

Image
Saga #43
Sex Criminals #19

Marvel
Cable #1
Deadpool #31
Deadpool Vs. The Punisher #4
Gamora #5
Gwenpool the Unbelievable #16
Secret Empire #3
Secret Empire Uprising #1
Spider-Gwen #20
Star Wars Doctor Aphra #7
Thanos #7

Austin Dillon Takes the 3 Back to Victory Lane in the Coca-Cola 600

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Austin Dillon won his first career race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600.

Jerry Markland/Getty Images

Dillon ran in the top 10 most of the night, but he needed to use fuel mileage to get to victory lane.  Dillon stayed out when most of the leaders pitted, and when Jimmie Johnson ran out of fuel coming to the white flag, Dillon took advantage.

“I was just trying to be patient with the 48 [of Johnson], I could see him up there saving,” Dillon said.  “I thought I had saved enough early that I could attack at the end, but I was trying to wait as long as possible.”

Dillon said winning at his home track made his first career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory more special.

“Never thought I’d be here in Coke 600 victory lane,” Dillon said.  “It’s hasn’t sunk in, I can’t believe it.”

Dillon, who drives for his grandfather Richard Childress, said it was special to take the No. 3 car back to victory lane.

“My pit crew’s the best on pit road; I love it for them.  Got to thank my grandfather, he’s put a lot into me.  I complain a lot, but they got me to victory lane tonight.”

Martin Truex Jr. led a race-high 233 laps, but he came up short and finished third.  Truex said his car lost the handling over the final run as he chased down the cars who gambled on fuel.

“Fuel mileage didn’t play out our way,” Truex said.  “We were a little loose that last run as well, but I think we would might have been able to have caught him on the last lap.”

“Last three years, that’s two of them we’ve lost on fuel mileage, so that kind of stinks.  But big-picture-wise, it was a good night.”

Unofficial results:

1. Austin Dillon

2. Kyle Busch

3. Martin Truex Jr.

4. Matt Kenseth

5. Denny Hamlin

6. Kurt Busch

7. Erik Jones

8. Kevin Harvick

9. Ryan Newman

10. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

11. Daniel Suarez

12. Jamie McMurray

13. Paul Menard

14. Clint Bowyer

15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

16. Trevor Bayne

17. Jimmie Johnson

18. AJ Allmendinger

19. Michael McDowell

20. Chris Buescher

21. Joey Logano

22. Regan Smith

23. David Ragan

24. Ryan Blaney

25. Danica Patrick

26. JJ Yeley

27. Gray Gaulding

28. Landon Cassill

29. Timmy Hill

30. Reed Sorenson

31. Derrike Cope

32. Corey LaJoie

33. Kyle Larson

34. Cole Whitt

35. Kasey Kahne

36. Ty Dillon

37. Matt DiBenedetto

38. Chase Elliott

39. Brad Keselowski

40. Jeffrey Earnhardt

Sarah Crabill/Getty Images