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.
As the 43rd Annual Pure Michigan 400 came to a close, the race was anyone’s game with some of the top names in the sport racing for the lead position. Brad Keselowski held the lead with 10 laps to go, as five-time champion Jimmie Johnson was putting the pressure on him.
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.
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.
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.
NASCAR announced 90 minutes before the start of the Coke Zero 400 on Saturday that driver AJ Allmendinger would be temporarily suspended from competition after failing a drug test taken at Kentucky Speedway last weekend.
For the first time in 30 years it looked like Daytona was going to be swept. Matt Kenseth came within half a lap of winning the 2012 Daytona 500 and Coke Zero 400 before Tony Stewart passed him on the backstretch.
After suffering one of the worst slumps in his career since his rookie year back in 2010, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. continued his upward swing on Friday night at Daytona.
With every Daytona or Talladega event there are list of drivers who consistently are considered the favorites. In years past the likes of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart or even Kyle Busch were at the top of that list.
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.
