Hamlin wins Dover Sat. a.m. practice

Denny Hamlin had only the seventh fastest single lap in Dover's morning session, but he posted the quickest average speed of 152.955 during 26 laps.

Our View Last week, he proved just how tough he is by sweeping victory lane at Darlington Raceway in the Cup and Nationwide Series. Dover is not his best track, but with the momentum he has this season, he should still be considered a favorite.

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Hurtin' Hamlin wins at Texas

Denny Hamlin's ACL surgery doesn't seem to be slowing him any: he held off the "cookie-cutter" king Jimmie Johnson to win the Samsung Mobile 500.

Our View Another late caution set up another wild finish. This time, a lap-311 yellow stacked the field up and contributed to a nine car accident that eliminated the dominant driver of the day when Jeff Gordon rubbed Tony Stewart in a three-wide incident that started the melee.

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Hurting, Hamlin at top of Phoenix speed chart

He may be hurting after his ACL surgery last week, but it certainly didn't mar Denny Hamlin's speed: he topped the fastest lap chart with a 131.210 mph circuit around the one-mile Phoenix International Raceway.
 
Our View Hamlin is a flat track master and at the start of the week, we suggested making him a race day decision. So far, it appears his knee is not slowing him any, but wait until this afternoon for the final determination.
 
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Arizona Author (and a friend):

Cold Black Hearts

Hamlin wins a Martinsville stunner

Four tires with less than 10 laps remaining gave Denny Hamlin the grip he needed in a green-white-checkered finish as the front of the field was characterized by a lot of bumping and banging to open a lane for the hometown driver.
 
Our View From the second row, Matt Kenseth bumped Jeff Gordon to get him a lane high, Denny Hamlin bumped Ryan Newman to knock him out of the way and then the No. 11 knocked the 17 around.
 
After the smoke cleared, it was a Joe Gibbs Racing one-two finish as Hamlin led Joey Logano across the line. Gordon finished third, Newman was fourth and a surprising Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the top-five.

Kenseth was the biggest loser. He finished 18th.

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Bill France Jr.: The Man Who Made Nascar

N'Wide: Harvick wins at Vegas

Kevin Harvick was happy with the result of the Sam's Town 300, but he was not happy with the crew's performance. Using a long green flag segment to finish the race, he scooted out to a 1.3 second lead over Denny Hamlin.

Our View Mistakes in the pit could have cost him the race, but Harvick's talent in the car made up the difference.

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Some chassis choices for Vegas

@DustinLong has identified some of the cars that will be used this week:

Among RCR, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton will have new cars this weekend; Clint Bowyer using same car he drove at Indy (21st) & Kansas (18th) last yearr.

Kurt Busch using same car @ Vegas that he won with at Texas last year and should have won with at Homestead.

Denny Hamlin will use this weekend @ Vegas has won in both its starts, winning at both Pocono and Martinsville last year.

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N'Wide: Logano dominates, Busch wins Stater Bros. 300

Joey Logano dominated the race but he was roughed up by Greg Biffle on the final restart. Kyle Busch exacted revenge, however, and passed Biffle in the run to the checkers.

Our View The best car doesn't always win and today, they finished fifth after getting knocked around by Biffle and Brad Keselowski—who must have thought Denny Hamlin was in the No. 20 this week.

Keselowski dumped Logano only a few yards from the finish line.

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Bliss crashes and takes out contenders in 150s Practice 2

At the 15 minute mark of the second practice for the Gatorade 150s, Mike Bliss spun by himself at the exit of turn four and collected Joey Logano. In the aftermath, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin also sustained some damage.

Our View Bliss and Logano will certainly have to go to backups. Johnson—who ran into the back of Hamlin in the stack up—will probably be able to make repairs. Hamlin's damage is also minimal.

Kyle Busch was nearly involved, but he made a masterful move around Logano and Bliss.

Update: Apparently the damage was greater than we thought: Johnson will have to go to a backup.

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Four drivers to backup Shootout cars, six wreck

Four drivers involved in a six-car accident in the final minutes of the first practice session for the Budweiser Shootout will be forced to roll out a backup. They are Mark Martin, Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle and Jamie McMurray. Joey Logano and Clint Bowyer (in Kevin Harvick's car) suffered minor damage but are not expected to go to their backups.

Our View The accident happened when Hamlin clipped the back of Martin's car and turned him sideways in front of the field. Both drivers accepted partial blame and there are no hard feelings as fallout.

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Hamlin/Keselowski tangle late in Able Body Labor 200

Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski tangled for the third time this year in the Able Body Labor 200 at Phoenix International Raceway. In this pushing and shoving match, Hamlin came out on the short end of the stick and spun out of winning contention while Keselowski finished fifth. Hamlin finished 12th.

Our View The incident follows previous shunts at Dover International Speedway and Auto Club Speedway this season and one at Watkins Glen International last year between the two.

Eventually, tempers are going to completely spill over and unfortunately, there is liable to collateral damage among other drivers. Don't look for the two to get together in this week's Cup Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500k by Pennzoil, however, because Hamlin has vowed to take out his revenge in next week's Nationwide season finale.

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Official tweets from the track

Top-10 Avg. Running Position: Talladega #NASCAR

Average Running Position
Sum of driver position on each lap - divided by the laps run in the race.
Number of Races: 9
AMP Energy 500 Pre-Race
For point-paying races in current and past four years, at this track.
Talladega Superspeedway

Rank	Driver	Average Finish	Average Place
1	Joey Logano	9.0	12.9
2	Tony Stewart	14.0	13.3
3	Denny Hamlin	18.9	13.6
4	Juan Montoya	18.6	13.6
5	Kurt Busch	11.2	14.7
6	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	21.8	15.2
7	Matt Kenseth	16.4	15.6
8	Brian Vickers	16.8	15.8
9	David Ragan	14.0	16.0
10	Elliott Sadler	20.2	16.1

Top-10 Driver Ratings: Talladega

Driver Rating
Formula combining the following categories: Wins, Finishes, Top-15 Finishes, Average Running Position While on Lead Lap, Average Speed Under Green, Fastest Lap, Led Most Laps, Lead-Lap Finish. Maximum: 150 points per race.
Number of Races: 9
AMP Energy 500 Pre-Race
For point-paying races in current and past four years, at this track.
Talladega Superspeedway

Rk.	Driver	Avg. Fin	Best Rating	Avg.
1	Brad Keselowski	1	98.9	98.9
2	Denny Hamlin	18.9	125	94.8
3	Tony Stewart	14	117.2	92.4
4	David Ragan	14	121.5	92.3
5	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	21.8	119	90.1
6	Brian Vickers	16.8	107.6	90.1
7	Joey Logano	9	88.8	88.8
8	Kurt Busch	11.2	107.3	87.7
9	Matt Kenseth	16.4	120.1	86
10	Jeff Gordon	20.6	135.5	85.9

Percentage Laps in top-10 and -5 at Talladega

The fewer drivers there are in front of your driver, the fewer there are to make a mistake.

Here is a list of the drivers who have spent the most time at the front of the pack:

Driver	Top-10 Laps	%	Top-5	%	Possible Laps
Dale Earnhardt Jr	585	62%	399	42%	946
Denny Hamlin	567	60%	373	39%	946
Tony Stewart	469	50%	348	37%	946
Kyle Busch	418	44%	278	29%	946
Juan Montoya	411	43%	205	22%	946
David Ragan	398	42%	172	18%	946
Brian Vickers	305	40%	152	20%	754
Joey Logano	76	40%	35	19%	188
Elliott Sadler	379	40%	163	17%	946
Kurt Busch	358	38%	175	18%	946
Jimmie Johnson	337	36%	194	21%	946
Jeff Gordon	322	34%	211	22%	946
Martin Truex Jr	309	33%	159	17%	946
Matt Kenseth	292	31%	119	13%	946
Ryan Newman	284	30%	142	15%	946
David Stremme	224	30%	93	12%	756
Brad Keselowski	53	28%	12	6%	188
Reed Sorenson	264	28%	74	8%	946
Jeff Burton	260	27%	131	14%	946
Paul Menard	243	26%	127	13%	946
David Reutimann	238	25%	97	10%	946
Casey Mears	233	25%	89	9%	946
Kasey Kahne	196	21%	83	9%	946
Jamie McMurray	188	20%	107	11%	946
Michael Waltrip	149	20%	50	7%	754
Kevin Harvick	156	16%	61	6%	946
Marcos Ambrose	29	15%	5	3%	188
Greg Biffle	129	14%	77	8%	946
Sam Hornish Jr	49	13%	17	5%	376
Clint Bowyer	122	13%	32	3%	946
Joe Nemechek	117	12%	43	5%	946
Bobby Labonte	113	12%	43	5%	946
Tony Raines	60	11%	28	5%	570
Regan Smith	77	10%	19	3%	758
Carl Edwards	84	9%	24	3%	946
Dave Blaney	29	8%	11	3%	378
Scott Speed	11	6%	6	3%	188
Michael McDowell	11	6%	0	0%	188
John Andretti	11	3%	4	1%	376
Mark Martin	5	3%	3	2%	188
Robby Gordon	19	2%	6	1%	946
A J Allmendinger	1	0%	1	0%	376
Max Papis	0	0%	0	0%	188

Martinsville Inspection Cleared

According to @dustinlong: Post-race inspection is done. All clear. Engines to R&D Center: Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch; Cars to R&D center: Denny Hamlin, Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin.

Hamlin wins in front of hometown crowd

Denny Hamlin held off Jimmie Johnson and Juan Montoya during a green-white-checkered finish to win his second race at Martinsville.

Our View Hamlin and Johnson have combined to win the last seven races and this spring they battled first and second with Johnson taking the victory.

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Auto Club Pit Stalls

Jayski has posted the pit stall selections, and as expected pole sitter Denny Hamlin has the first piece of real estate leaving pit road.

Our View Greg Biffle and Juan Montoya are the only other drivers with an opening in front of them, but the pits at Auto Club are wide enough so that there should not be any issues.

Notably, immediately in front of Biffle is Joey Logano. Those two drivers exchanged paint during the Nationwide race in a move that appeared to be a deliberate attempt to cripple Logano's car. The teenage sensation came back to win the race, while Biffle ultimately suffered more damage in a second tangle with Logano's teammate Denny Hamlin.

In addition to Logano, other drivers with openings behind them are Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon.

Since David Reutimann's speed was disallowed in qualification for illegal shocks, he lost the right to pick a stall early and finds himself in one of the center pits.

Complete Pit Stall Selection

N'Wide: Logano stages comeback to win

After Greg Biffle pinched Joey Logano into the wall early in the Copart 300 it appeared one of the dominant cars was out of contention. Joe Gibbs Racing worked on the No. 20 during the next several cautions and got it back up to speed, however. With fresh tires, Logano took the lead late in the going to win his second consecutive race and the sixth of his career.

Our View Logano taking the lead was only one of several great stories at the end. Denny Hamlin and Biffle crashed at the end of the race and a wild restart with a green-white-checkered finish made sure that fantasy owners stayed on the edge of their seat until the checkers waved.

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N'Wide: Logano on Copart 300 pole

Joey Logano and Kyle Busch make an all Gibbs front row for the Copart 300. Logano clocked in with a lap of 181.164 mph; Busch went 180.827.

Our View Those were the only two cars above 180 miles per hour, so fantasy players can expect those cars to dominate again this week like they did at Kansas.

Busch is feeling ill, however, so don't be surprised if he turns the No. 18 over to Denny Hamlin for relief.

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Hamlin wins Auto Club pole

Denny Hamlin posted a lap of 183.870 mph and will lead the field to green in the Pepsi 500. David Reutimann was the only other driver to break the 183 mark with a lap of 183.108.

Our View Hamlin is a flat track master and while this course is steeper than Pocono, New Hampshire and Phoenix, it fits well into his portfolio.

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Official tweets from the track

Hamlin wins NH Sat. am practice

Races are won during long runs and Denny Hamlin posted the quickest average speed of 128.303 during 43 laps.

Our View Hamlin was our pre-weekend favorite and his fourth-place qualification effort and this practice only confirms our opinion.

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Official tweets from the track