Oct. 26, 2014 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va.— On a day that saw two of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup favorites suffer potentially catastrophic problems, Dale Earnhardt Jr. stole a victory from the title contenders on Sunday, passing Tony Stewart for the lead with less than four laps left in the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville Speedway and pulling away for his fourth victory of the season. Ten years and one day removed from the tragic Hendrick Motorsports plane crash that claimed the lives of 10 people, including owner Rick Hendrick’s son Ricky, Earnhardt took…

Oct. 19, 2014 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service TALLADEGA, Ala.—In a must-win situation at Talladega Superspeedway, Brad Keselowski did exactly that, preserving his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship hopes with a victory in Sunday’s GEICO 500. With the right side of his car damaged in the wreck that brought out the first caution flag of the afternoon, Keselowski persevered, taking the lead during the first attempt at a green-white-checkered-flag finish and winning the race in the second overtime—after a wreck that ended the title run of Keselowski’s former boss, Dale Earnhardt Jr. “I can’t believe it,” Keselowski said in Victory Lane.…

Oct. 11, 2014 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service CONCORD, N.C.—The Closer finally closed the deal, and the door swung almost shut on Dale Earnhardt Jr., six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson and 2012 champion Brad Keselowski. With the dominant car in Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Kevin Harvick led 162 laps and survived a wild two-lap dash to the finish after the final caution en route to his third NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win of the season and a free pass into the Eliminator Round of the Chase. In a race that ended with…