NASCAR Cup Series

Kansas Recap: Denny Hamlin finished seventh in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway, a solid finish for the FedEx team, placing them fifth in points after the first race of the Contender Round of the Chase. A two-tire pit strategy call by crew chief Darian Grubb and quick work by the FedEx crew had the #11 machine third in line for the restart with 33 laps to go, however, in the scramble for turn one on the restart, Hamlin got shuffled back to seventh where he would eventually finish in the 267-lap event won by Joey Logano.

The Sprint Cup Series doesn’t travel very far from where most of the industry resides this weekend. The drivers and crew visit Charlotte Motor Speedway, a short distance from most of the sports’ race shops.

Charlotte Motor Speedway: “Hopefully, we can take some of the things we learned at Kansas Speedway into Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend,” Allmendinger said. “Charlotte is a little bit different and a little bit rougher. We will see how it all goes. We tested there not long ago and we were happy with the test. Everybody at our shop has worked really hard on our mile-and-a-half program.

JENNIE LONG: We're joined by Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Kyle, thanks for joining us.

It’s not difficult to get Clint Bowyer excited. But if you want to see the NASCAR Sprint Cup driver get really excited, mention Martinsville Speedway.

Richard Petty Motorsports announced today that Sam Hornish Jr. will be the new driver for the No. 9 Ford Fusion in 2015, replacing Marcos Ambrose who announced last month that he was returning to his native Australia. Representatives from the team, along with Hornish, held a teleconference this morning.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie Michael Annett will pilot the No. 7 CypressHQ Chevrolet SS this Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He is looking for his 11th top-25 finish of the 2014 season.

CAMRY CHASERS CONTEND: All three Toyota Camry drivers are in the top-10 in points and within 20 points of the leader as race two of the 'Contender' round of this year's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) championship playoff rolls into Charlotte -- Kyle Busch (second-place, -6 points), Denny Hamlin (fifth, -11) and Matt Kenseth (seventh, -17). After Charlotte, the series will head to the high banks of Alabama's Talladega Superspeedway before another four drivers will be eliminated from moving on to the third round of the championship playoffs.

Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM) announced today that three-time IndyCar Series Champion turned NASCAR winner, Sam Hornish, Jr. will join the storied organization to drive the No. 9 Ford in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series full-time in 2015.

In the last three races at 1.5-mile race tracks, the No. 43 team has raced in the Top-Five and Top-10 but engine issues marred two of the starts resulting in just one Top-10 finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Earlier this season, Aric Almirola scored his best Sprint Cup Series finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway when he brought the No. 43 home in the 11th spot.