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

Weekly Pull List 4/29/2015

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

Image
Invincible #119

DC
Batman #40

Marvel
Daredevil #15
Fantastic Four #645
Inhuman #14
Moon Knight #14
New Avengers: Ultron Forever #1
Nova #30
Princess Leia #3
Silk #3
Silver Surfer #11
Spider-Man and the X-Men #6
Superior Iron Man #8
Wolverines #16
X-Men #26

Busch Dominates in Richmond

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Kurt Busch picked up his first victory of the season in Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 from Richmond International Raceway.  
 

Photo courtesy Daniel Shirey/Getty Images

Busch dominated the race, leading 291 of 400 laps.  Busch said this win was what his team was working towards all season.

“It’s a total team effort, and the way that everything came together, it just seemed like we were building…towards a great finish like this,” Busch said.  

Busch clinched a spot in NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup with his victory.  Busch missed the first three races of the season while serving a suspension for a domestic violence incident.  He said it was an incredible feeling to be in victory lane after a rough start to the season.

“I have this opportunity because of [co-owner] Gene Haas,” Busch said.  “Everyone that’s a part of our family at Stewart-Haas, it’s an unbelievable feeling when you pull deep from within and to go through troubles.”

“Your personal life doesn’t need to affect your business life, and I’m here in victory lane and it feels great to do it in Richmond.”

Busch’s teammate Kevin Harvick finished second, and said he might have been able to win the race if it wasn’t for a bad set of tires.

“What we really needed was all the tires to be the same,” Harvick said.  “We put that one set of tires on and…it just got us way behind.”

“Just really happy for everyone at Stewart-Haas and Kurt and everybody on the 41.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kurt Busch

2. Kevin Harvick

3. Jimmie Johnson

4. Jamie McMurray

5. Joey Logano

6. Kasey Kahne

7. Matt Kenseth

8. Jeff Gordon

9. Clint Bowyer

10. Martin Truex Jr.

11. Ryan Newman

12. Kyle Larson

13. AJ Allmendinger

14. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

15. Paul Menard

16. Chase Elliott

17. Brad Keselowski

18. Justin Allgaier

19. Carl Edwards

20. Aric Almirola

21. Greg Biffle

22. Denny Hamlin

23. David Ragan

24. Trevor Bayne

25. Danica Patrick

26. Landon Cassill

27. Austin Dillon

28. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

29. Brett Moffitt

30. Casey Mears

31. David Gilliland

32. Alex Bowman

33. Michael Annett

34. Reed Sorenson

35. Sam Hornish Jr.

36. Cole Whitt

37. Matt DiBenedetto

38. Jeb Burton

39. Alex Kennedy

40. Jeff Green

41. Tony Stewart

42. Josh Wise

43. Joey Gase

Photo courtesy Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images