Denny Hamlin: After qualifying 32nd, Hamlin charged to the front at Loudon and took the lead on lap 94. He led 193 of 300 laps and won for the fifth time this year.
Keselowski won the Geico 400, taking round 1 of the Chase For The Cup after holding off Jimmie Johnson at Chicagoland. Keselowski leads the point standings, three ahead of Johnson.
Hamlin beat Martin Truex, Jr. out of the pits on the race’s final caution, and then held off Jeff Gordon to win the AdvoCare 500. Hamlin’s fourth win of the year will give him the top seed in the Chase in two weeks, barring a win atRichmondby Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, or Brad Keselowski.
Johnson finished second at Bristol and clinched a spot in the Chase For The Cup. He moved up two places to second in the Sprint Cup point standings, 11 behind Greg Biffle.
After passing Brad Keselowski on lap 191, Johnson was poised to capture his series-best fourth win of the year. But a blown engine just four laps later ended Johnson’s day, and his 27th-place finished dropped him to fourth in the point standings.
The summer tour continues this week in the rolling hills of Michigan for the 43rd Annual Pure Michigan 400. The new racing surface at Michigan International Speedway, produced speeds upwards of 210 mph and sent Goodyear's engineers back to the drawing board.
Johnson finished third at Watkins Glen, posting his Sprint Cup series-best 11th top-5 result. Johnson jumped three spots to the top of the points standings, and leads Greg Biffle by one.
How did you become a spotter? "Well, I used to drive late models and modified’s in the NASCAR touring division. I first drove to Charlotte in 1996. I became a General Manager since I have a good business background and we needed a spotter one day for the Cup race with Bill Elliott when I was a general manager there so I just started doing it and I’ve been doing it ever since 12-13 years ago."
Johnson led heading to a lap 91 restart, but got loose upon accelerating and slid into the path of Matt Kenseth. Denny Hamlin slammed into Kenseth while Jeff Gordon took the lead. Ran ended the race two laps later, and Johnson was left with a disappointing 14th-place finish.
In a race delayed by rain at the start and then called later for severe thunderstorms, one driver weathered the storms to collect his first victory of the season.
