Johnson followed his win at Dover with a runner-up at Kansas, second only to race winner Greg Biffle. Johnson also took the lead in the Sprint Cup point standing, and leads Denny Hamlin by eight.
Hamlin survived a tussle with Carl Edwards with 88 laps to go and charged late, nearly catching Clint Bowyer for the win but settling for the runner-up spot in the Sylvania 400.
Denny Hamlin: Hamlin led 251 of 400 laps at Richmond, erasing the memory of 34th and 43rd-place finishes in his last two races to grab the top seed in the Chase For The Cup.
Kevin Harvick: Harvick won for the third time this year, conquering the Carfax 400 in Michigan while becoming the first driver to clinch a spot in the Chase For The Cup.
Harvick was running sixth before suffering a flat tire on the final lap at Watkins Glen, spoiling a certain top-10 finish. He surrendered five positions on the final lap, and was nipped at the line for tenth by Jeff Gordon, his closest pursuer in the point standings.
Noah Gragson will make his second NASCAR Cup Series start at Homestead-Miami Speedway when he takes the green flag for Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 400.
TRICON Garage driver Corey Heim was made available to the media on Friday after winning the pole position for the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Cole Custer, driver of the No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Stewart-Haas Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, enters this weekend’s race third in the playoff standings, 16 points above the cut line.
Justin Allgaier and cornerstone partner BRANDT Professional Agriculture are returning to JR Motorsports in a multi-year renewal that will run through the 2026 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.
