The latest auto news, reviews, prices, product and vehicle releases. Sep
3rd
Stay connected Subscribe to our RSS feed
After his second win in-a-row Denny Hamlin is firmly in the spotlight as a Sprint Cup Chase favorite.
Winning a charge out of the pits, on a green-white-checkered restart with two laps to go, at the 1.5 mile Atlanta Motor Speedway oval - his fourth this year - put the Virginian native as top seed in the Chase which will commence after Richmond next week.
And it was on Hamlin's mind.
"First, I wanted to win to be the No. 1 seed," Hamlin said. "Second is that was going to knock my teammate out of the Chase, and we couldn't afford that. I'm a Joe Gibbs blood guy for life. We need Kyle (Busch) in there, and if Jeff won that race, it was going to be all over."
Gordon, the four-time Champion gave a ten-tenths effort but came up short.
"I got everything I could ask for, got the restart I wanted, and Denny made a mistake off (turn) two, and I got a run, and I made a bad decision," said Gordon, who is in a battle with Hamlin's teammate Busch for the final wild-card spot in the Chase. "I should have just run in the back of (Hamlin) in (turn) three. This Chase is too important for me not to make a move like that. I wouldn't have wanted to wreck him, but I would have liked to have that one over again."
While Brad Keselowski finished third, Martin Truex Jr. who finished fourth may have been Sunday night's biggest loser. Truex, who just announced a three-year contract extension at Michael Waltrip Racing, had the race in the bag until a final caution which caused the green-white-checkered finish. Then he spun his wheels in third gear. “That never happens,” Truex said.
Truex had taken the lead with 40 laps to go, from Hamlin, and was cruising until that final caution when Carl Edwards' engine blew just about taking last year's Chase runner-up out of this year.
With one race to go in NASCAR's “regular season,” the field of 12 Chaser's is just about locked up except for the two Wild Card entries.
The top two drivers, in the top 20 in points, can win the Wild Card into the Chase based upon wins. Kasey Kahne - who has two wins, 11th in the points, 18 behind 10th place Tony Stewart - has the first Wild Card spot based on those two wins.
Next up is Kyle Busch, with one win, is in 12th place five points behind Kahne. Then Gordon who is 13th, 12 points behind Busch with one win. A second win on Saturday night would have put him ahead of Busch.
Edwards is 14th, but, has no wins. So the driver who lost the Championship in a tie-breaker to Tony Stewart has to win and hope his rivals like Busch and Gordon have a terrible finish in Richmond next Saturday evening to have a hope of making the Chase.
Marcos Ambrose and Ryan Newman, who are 16th and 17th respectfully, could get the second Wild Card with a victory in Richmond because they have one win apiece.
Winning a charge out of the pits, on a green-white-checkered restart with two laps to go, at the 1.5 mile Atlanta Motor Speedway oval - his fourth this year - put the Virginian native as top seed in the Chase which will commence after Richmond next week.
And it was on Hamlin's mind.
"First, I wanted to win to be the No. 1 seed," Hamlin said. "Second is that was going to knock my teammate out of the Chase, and we couldn't afford that. I'm a Joe Gibbs blood guy for life. We need Kyle (Busch) in there, and if Jeff won that race, it was going to be all over."
 |
| Denny Hamlin leading the race. (Photo: NASCAR) |
Gordon, the four-time Champion gave a ten-tenths effort but came up short.
"I got everything I could ask for, got the restart I wanted, and Denny made a mistake off (turn) two, and I got a run, and I made a bad decision," said Gordon, who is in a battle with Hamlin's teammate Busch for the final wild-card spot in the Chase. "I should have just run in the back of (Hamlin) in (turn) three. This Chase is too important for me not to make a move like that. I wouldn't have wanted to wreck him, but I would have liked to have that one over again."
While Brad Keselowski finished third, Martin Truex Jr. who finished fourth may have been Sunday night's biggest loser. Truex, who just announced a three-year contract extension at Michael Waltrip Racing, had the race in the bag until a final caution which caused the green-white-checkered finish. Then he spun his wheels in third gear. “That never happens,” Truex said.
Truex had taken the lead with 40 laps to go, from Hamlin, and was cruising until that final caution when Carl Edwards' engine blew just about taking last year's Chase runner-up out of this year.
 |
| Ryan Newman drives his car towards the garage after he was knocked out of the race. (Photo: NASCAR) |
With one race to go in NASCAR's “regular season,” the field of 12 Chaser's is just about locked up except for the two Wild Card entries.
The top two drivers, in the top 20 in points, can win the Wild Card into the Chase based upon wins. Kasey Kahne - who has two wins, 11th in the points, 18 behind 10th place Tony Stewart - has the first Wild Card spot based on those two wins.
Next up is Kyle Busch, with one win, is in 12th place five points behind Kahne. Then Gordon who is 13th, 12 points behind Busch with one win. A second win on Saturday night would have put him ahead of Busch.
Edwards is 14th, but, has no wins. So the driver who lost the Championship in a tie-breaker to Tony Stewart has to win and hope his rivals like Busch and Gordon have a terrible finish in Richmond next Saturday evening to have a hope of making the Chase.
Marcos Ambrose and Ryan Newman, who are 16th and 17th respectfully, could get the second Wild Card with a victory in Richmond because they have one win apiece.