When you're pushed into a corner and need to win a race (or completely out-perform your rivals), can you do it? That was the question for Kasey Kahne, as he was the only Hendrick Motorsports driver not in the chase. He answered with a thrilling victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway Sunday night.
On the back bumper of Kevin Harvick's No. 4 Jimmy Johns Chevrolet, it says 'freaky fast'. Those words played true for the sixth time this year as Harvick scored his sixth pole of the season in qualifying for the Oral-B USA 200. Harvick would post a lap of 29.118 seconds for his 12th career pole, and his first at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
It has been a fantastic season for Dale Earnhardt Jr., arguably one of his best in many years. Saturday night, the Irwin Tools Night Race, however, left a little to be desired.
Kevin Harvick captured his fifth pole of the season at Bristol Motor Speedway with a record speed of 131.362 mph, setting a new track record. It is his 11th career pole in the series.
On a restart with 17 laps to go, Jeff Gordon kept even with Joey Logano on the restart and was able to clear him off of turn two to take the lead. From there, Gordon would hold off Logano's attempt to pass him with 16 laps to go before cruising away from the field for the victory. It marks Gordon's third victory of the 2014 season and the 91st victory of his Sprint Cup Series career.
This weekend in Michigan Gordon broke the track record in the final session of qualifying with a lap of 206.558 miles per hour. The speed is the seventh fastest qualifying speed in NASCAR history and the only one not on a super speedway. It is Gordon’s sixth pole award at Michigan and the 76th of his storied career.
With drivers racing with heavy hearts following the tragic incident involving Tony Stewart and Sprint Car driver Kevin Ward, Jr. The world's best stock car drivers knew they had to put on a great show to allow the fans to forget about the events that occurred, even if it was for just a few hours.
Gordon was ecstatic after winning the pole and dedicated it to his son saying, “Luckily I got three shots at it today with this format and that last one was just a really, really solid lap. Today’s my son’s birthday so this is just an awesome way to give him a birthday present.”
In 2006 it was Denny Hamlin. This time around, it was Dale Earnhardt Jr. who won for the second time this year at Pocono Raceway, effectively sweeping the season. Earnhardt picked up his third win of the season and his 22nd career victory in NASCAR’s most elite series. The last time he was able to take the credit for sweeping a race, was in 2002 at Talladega Superspeedway.
