Jimmie Johnson’s win at Martinsville; qualifies for final race

Oct. 30, 2016 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Mr. Martinsville is back – and with him, a realistic shot at a record-tying NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship. Winless at the .526-mile short track since the spring race of 2013, Jimmie Johnson ended his “drought” on Sunday with a victory in the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 and earned a berth in the Championship 4 race, set for Nov. 20 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. In winning for the ninth time at Martinsville, the fourth time this season and the 79th time in his career, Johnson didn’t take the lead until he…

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Logano advances with win at Talladega; Chase field cut to eight

October 23, 2016 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service TALLADEGA, Ala. – If Joey Logano’s victory in Sunday’s Hellman’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway was decisive—in relative terms—the race between Denny Hamlin and Austin Dillon for the final spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup’s Round of 8 was anything but. In an overtime race that went four laps past its scheduled distance, Logano surged ahead after a restart on Lap 191 at the 2.66-mile track and beat runner-up Brian Scott to the finish line by .124 seconds. Hamlin’s margin over Dillon for the eighth spot in the Round of 8 was…

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Kevin Harvick saves his Chase with impressive victory at Kansas

October 16, 2016 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS CITY, Kan. – He did it again. Last in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings and faced with an uphill struggle to make the Round of 8, Kevin Harvick and his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing team did what they do best—win with their backs to the wall. Moments after a restart on Lap 238 of 267, Harvick cleared Carl Edwards for the lead through Turns 1 and 2 at Kansas Speedway and pulled away to win Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 by 1.183 seconds. With his second victory at Kansas, his…

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Jimmie Johnson triumphs at Charlotte as five Chase drivers fall on hard times

Oct. 9, 2016 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service CONCORD, N.C. – After Sunday’s victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Jimmie Johnson can proclaim justifiably “The Boys are Back in Town.” But for five other Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers, all of whom finished 30th or worse in the rain-delayed Bank of America 500, the race ended in a medley of dire straits. Taking the lead from Matt Kenseth after a restart on Lap 317 of 334, Johnson pulled away to win by 1.474 seconds over the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Johnson put his No. 48…

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Harvick gets stress-relieving Chase victory at New Hampshire

Sept. 25, 2016 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service LOUDON, N.H. – Remember last week, when Kevin Harvick was trapped a lap down at Chicagoland Speedway, finished 20th and fell out of the top 12 in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings? Remember last year, when Harvick crashed at Chicagoland and ran out of fuel while leading at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and had to win at Dover to advance in the Chase? That’s all moot, now that Harvick redeemed himself with a victory in Sunday’s Bad Boy Off Road 300 at New Hampshire, the second race in the Chase.…

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