Weekly Pull List: 10/19/2016

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 Pink #4

IDW
Back to the Future #13

Marvel
All-New X-Men #14
Amazing Spider-Man #20
Carnage #13
Civil War II: Kingpin #4
Deadpool: Back in Black #2
Deadpool: Too Soon #1
Death of X #2
Silk #13
Spider-Gwen #13
Spider-Woman #12

Kevin Harvick Makes a Statement with Win in Kansas

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

  

 Kevin Harvick won the Hollywood Casinos 400 from Kansas Speedway on Sunday to lock himself into the next round of the Chase.

Harvick came into the race needing a good run following a poor finish at Charlotte.  Harvick said his team didn’t prepare for this race any differently than they normally would.

Chris Trotman (Getty Images)

“The best thing is that we prepare the same for every race,” Harvick said.  “These races are hard to win and these guys are just so good at the details.  You put their backs against the wall and they get better.”

Harvick’s win continued an impressive streak: he is the only driver who has never been eliminated from the Chase for the Sprint Cup.  Harvick said it’s a testament to the team that has been built over the past few years.

“It’s hard to keep yourself motivated and perform at a high level, and to be able to do this for three years now…I think that says a lot about the character of this team and the things that they do.”

Harvick had to hold off Carl Edwards on a late restart, but once he cleared the No. 19, he pulled away to get to victory lane.

“I just got two good restarts against the 19…I knew I just needed to go for it, and that’s really the mindset that I had.”

Edwards said his car was better than Harvick’s, but that they just ran out of time at the end of the race.

“I felt like we had the race under control if it had kept going green,” Edwards said.  “We really had something fast there.”

“I got racing with Kyle [Busch], and that really let Kevin get out ahead.”

Next weekend, the Sprint Cup Series heads to Talladega Superspeedway with Chase elimination on the line.  Heading into Talladega, Joey Logano and Austin Dillon are tied for the final spot in the next round, with Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski within seven points of the final spot. Chase Elliott sits 25 points out of 12th following bad luck in both Round 2 races, and will most likely need a win at Talladega to move on.

Unofficial results:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Carl Edwards

3. Joey Logano

4. Jimmie Johnson

5. Kyle Busch

6. Austin Dillon

7. Alex Bowman

8. AJ Allmendinger

9. Matt Kenseth

10. Kasey Kahne

11. Martin Truex Jr.

12. Ryan Newman

13. Kurt Busch

14. Ryan Blaney

15. Denny Hamlin

16. Tony Stewart

17. Trevor Bayne

18. Danica Patrick

19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

20. Paul Menard

21. Chris Buescher

22. Michael McDowell

23. Casey Mears

24. Matt DiBenedetto

25. Greg Biffle

26. Clint Bowyer

27. Landon Cassill

28. Brian Scott

29. Regan Smith

30. Kyle Larson

31. Chase Elliott

32. Michael Annett

33. Cole Whitt

34. Reed Sorenson

35. Joey Gase

36. David Ragan

37. Jamie McMurray

38. Brad Keselowski

39. Josh Wise

40. Aric Almirola

Brian Lawdermilk (Getty Images)

Weekly Pull List: 10/12/2016

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

Marvel
Civil War II: Ulysses #3
Clone Conspiracy #1
Daredevil #12
Darth Vader #25
Deadpool #20
Howard the Duck #11
Power Man and Iron Fist #9
Punisher #6
Star Wars: Han Solo #4
Unbelievable Gwenpool #7

Jimmie Johnson Wins at Charlotte, Chase Drivers Falter

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Jimmie Johnson locked himself into the Round of 8 following a victory in Sunday’s Bank of America 500 from Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Johnson returned to victory lane after a 24-race winless drought.  Johnson and his team have shown speed the last few weeks, which hasn’t been the case for Hendrick Motorsports throughout the year.

Jared C. Tilton (Getty Images)

“When you drive for Rick Hendrick and have all the great people at Hendrick Motorsports working for you…I just knew it was taking way too long,” Johnson said.  “We knew we’d get back; it was slower than we wanted it to be.”

Johnson led 155 of 334 laps on Sunday.  After restarting on the outside most of the day, Johnson said the track conditions changed before the final restart.

“The track got so slick that I found out that restarting on the inside turned out to be a little bit better,” Johnson said.  “I was able to throw it inside of [Kenseth] in Turn 3 and made the pass.”

Five Chase drivers stumbled at Charlotte, putting themselves in a hole for the rest of the second round.  Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin had engine failures, while Joey Logano made hard contact with the wall and had to spend time in the garage.  Austin Dillon and Chase Elliott were involved in a big accident on a restart with 80 laps to go, leaving them outside the top 30.

Unofficial results:

1. Jimmie Johnson

2. Matt Kenseth

3. Kasey Kahne

4. Ryan Newman

5. Kyle Larson

6. Kyle Busch

7. Brad Keselowski

8. Kurt Busch

9. Tony Stewart

10. Jamie McMurray

11. Danica Patrick

12. Carl Edwards

13. Martin Truex Jr.

14. Michael McDowell

15. Aric Almirola

16. Chris Buescher

17. Clint Bowyer

18. Trevor Bayne

19. Landon Cassill

20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

21. Regan Smith

22. Brian Scott

23. David Ragan

24. Michael Annett

25. Matt DiBenedetto

26. Jeffrey Earnhardt

27. Cole Whitt

28. Reed Sorenson

29. Josh Wise

30. Denny Hamlin

31. Ryan Blaney

32. Austin Dillon

33. Chase Elliott

34. Paul Menard

35. Greg Biffle

36. Joey Logano

37. AJ Allmendinger

38. Kevin Harvick

39. Alex Bowman

40. Casey Mears

Jerry Markland (Getty Images)

Weekly Pull List: 10/5/2016

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

Image
The Walking Dead #159

Marvel
Amazing Spider-Man #19
Champions #1
Deadpool and the Mercs for Money #4
Deadpool: Back in Black #1
Death of X #1
Jessica Jones #1
Spider-Man 2099 #16
Spidey #11
Uncanny X-Men #14

Dillon Hopes to Spoil Round 2 as Underdog

Austin Dillon advanced to the second round of the Chase on Sunday after finishing eighth in the Citizen Soldier 400 from Dover International Speedway.

Dillon had a strong car on Sunday, and spent most of the day inside the top 10 after starting 14th.  Dillon said the car was one of the fastest his team has ever brought to the track.

“I’m proud of this team for building a fast car,” Dillon said.  “There’s countless hours on this racecar, and we were able to make it to the next round.”

Sarah Crabill (Getty Images)

Dillon came into the race five points behind Kyle Larson for the final transfer spot, tied with Jamie McMurray for 13th in points.  Both Larson and McMurray had trouble early on, and it allowed Dillon to play defense for most of the race.  After finishing 11 points ahead of Tony Stewart in 13th, Dillon said he was happy to make the next round.

“I was just glad, I didn’t care how much it was.  11, 2, 1 [point], as long as we’re on to the next round.”

Dillon said he was conservative because he was racing for a Chase spot, but that his car was strong enough to run up front.

“I wanted to get more, but I knew what was at stake.  We probably could have had a top-5 car pretty simple there, I just didn’t want to hurt our chances of making the Chase.  I feel like we had a little bit of a right-front issue, so I didn’t want to push it too hard.”

Dillon finished outside the top 10 in the first two races in round 1, but he was able to finish strong in the final race to get into the next round.  Dillon hopes to continue to play the spoiler in the next round and knock out some of the top contenders.

“Now it’s time to knock some of these guys out, because we’ve got this opportunity.  We’re going to be the underdog in this next round, so let’s go do it.”

Round 2 of the Chase begins next Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway before heading to Kansas Motor Speedway on October 16th.  The round will end at Talladega Motor Speedway on Oct. 23rd, in what most drivers consider to be the wildcard of the entire Chase.