Keselowski took charge of the point standings with a win at Phoenix, while Jimmie Johnson crashed hard into the wall late. With one race remaining, Keselowski leads Johnson by 22 points.
Phoenix brings back a lot of memories. It takes me back to 1992 when the championship was down to three drivers in many pundit’s opinions—Bill Elliott, Davey Allison, and Alan Kulwicki. All drove Fords, but Allison had the upper hand with a lead and with the Robert Yates Racing team’s stout engines.
Keselowski survived the last-lap pileup at Talladega intact and finished seventh. He remained on top of the Sprint Cup point standings and leads Jimmie Johnson by 14.
Brad Keselowski, driving the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge for Penske Racing, not only tamed the Monster Mile with his first ever win at Dover International Speedway, but also took the points lead, now five points over Jimmie Johnson.
At a track that has been admittedly been monstrous in the past to him, Denny Hamlin pulled off the fastest qualifying lap of his Monster Mile career, scoring his first ever pole at Dover International Speedway.
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.
From daylight to darkness over the Labor Day holiday weekend, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 53rd annual Advocare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
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 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.
