NASCAR Cup Series

We all saw it. Then we all saw it again and again and again. That, of course, would be Tony Stewart's helmet toss at Matt Kenseth's race car during the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at the Bristol Motor Speedway.

An on-track incident on lap 322 caused damage to the No. 36 SealWrap Chevrolet and relegated Dave Blaney to a 26th-place finish. The Tommy Baldwin Racing (TBR) team raced in the top-20 for most of the day before the contact cut an oil line and ended Blaney’s night early at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Following Saturday night’s Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth crash and Stewart’s subsequent helmet toss at Kenseth’s car, Atlanta Motor Speedway has created a promotion giving fans the opportunity to take advantage of a special post-incident ticket price while choosing side in who was at fault in the tangle.

With two races remaining before the 2012 Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship begins, the first drivers have been locked in. It was Denny Hamlin in Victory Lane for the first time at Bristol but he has yet to earn his spot, even with three wins this year.

Kyle Busch and the Bristol Motor Speedway are synonymous. Busch and Victory Lane at Bristol even more so. But following the two races he competed in this weekend, Busch couldn’t get out of Tennessee quick enough.

To say that the 2012 NASCAR season has been a steep learning curve for Danica Patrick is an understatement. In her first full season in the Nationwide Series, Patrick has had her share of ups and down as well her share of obstacles in making the transition from open wheel racing to stock cars.

Harvick ranks ninth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver championship point standings, trailing point leader Greg Biffle by 82 points with three races remaining until the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Menard ranks 17th, 72 markers outside of the final Chase position, while Burton ranks 20th, 169 points out.

Team Chevy driver Jimmie Johnson had a long way to go, but methodically raced his way through the field to score a second place finish in the Irwin Tools Night Race in his No. 48 Lowe's Dover White Chevrolet. Johnson started way back in 37th after qualifying was rained out on Friday, but locked up a spot in the 2012 Chase for the Championship with his runner-up finish. Johnson's Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Farm Ville/Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, was looking for his sixth win at the "World's Fastest Half Mile", but came up just short with a solid third-place finish.

Hamlin led the field five times for 70 laps (of 500) to claim his 20th career NSCS victory, his 17th win driving a Toyota and his inaugural NSCS win at the Tennessee 'bull ring.' Hamlin's victory marks the 200th NSCS win for the No. 11 car in NSCS competition.

Regan Smith brought home a battered race car to a 16th-place finish in Saturday night's Irwin Tools 500 Sprint Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway.