As the laps dwindled down in Saturday afternoon's NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Chicagoland Speedway, teams and fans alike were brought to the attention of suspicious radio communication between Austin Dillon, driver of the No. 3 Richard-Childress Racing Chevrolet, and crew chief Danny Stockman.
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 99 of 160 laps at Indianapolis, powering to the win in the Brickyard 400, his fourth career Brickyard triumph. He remained fourth in the Sprint Cup point standings, 27 behind Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
Gaughan dominated the American Ethanol 225 only to come up short on a green-white-checkered finish. He had been leading the restart previous before spinning his tires and handing the win to James Buescher.
With the championship Chase looming and all the talk focusing on other drivers like Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards potentially scrapping their way in, one driver, Paul Menard, sits quietly in contention.
Stewart zoomed past the Roush Fenway duo of Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle to win the Coke Zero 400, Stewart’s fourth Coke Zero win and 18th overall at Daytona.
Austin Dillon’s weekend at the Daytona International Speedway started with him defending his Kentucky win after his car failed post race inspection. It ended with him again having to defend his team after another failed inspection.
Johnson led 21 laps at Kentucky and finished sixth in the Quaker State 400, as Hendrick Motorsports drivers claimed four of the top six positions, led by Kasey Kahne’s second.
