Jimmie Johnson wins at Dover for the tenth time

Thanks to a series of late cautions, Jimmie Johnson was able to take the lead late and then hold off the other leaders on restarts to win his fourth Sprint Cup race of 2015, and his tenth at Dover International Speedway. The win came as he and his team are preparing to appeal a penalty given due to a rules violation at Charlotte last week. Before Johnson pulled away from the rest of the field, Kevin Harvick in the #4 Chevrolet led some laps. The leader of the most laps once again was Martin Truex Jr. in the #78 Chevrolet, but he fell back to sixth on the final two-lap green-white-checkered run to the finish.

Many drivers encountered problems including polesitter Denny Hamlin, who led during much of the opening green-flag run, but got caught up in a late wreck with the #41 Chevrolet of Kurt Busch. Hamlin's Joe Gibbs teammate, Matt Kenseth in the #20 Toyota, suffered mechanical problems as did the #17 Roush Ford of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Another one of Hamlin's teammates, Kyle Busch (#18) wrecked with Brian Scott after a long late green run. Stenhouse's teammate Trevor Bayne (#6) also got caught up in a wreck along with the #51 Chevrolet of Justin Allgaier. Bayne was called to the NASCAR hauler for walking onto the track under yellow flag conditions with cars still passing by on the track.

One driver who had a particularly interesting day was Dale Earnhardt Jr. He changed the rear gear on his #88 Hendrick Chevrolet and had to move from 16th to the rear for the start, worked his way up to 26th and then got lapped by Truex, then got back on the lead lap when he was the last to pit during green flag stops only to have to pit under yellow from the lead when Stenhouse brought out the caution. Earnhardt then got from 22nd all the way to seventh before being penalized during the next set of green flag stops for entering pit road to fast (Carl Edwards in the #19 Toyota was also penalized). Earnhardt got back down to about 25th place and lost two laps, before finishing a lap down in 14th place behind the #55 Toyota of David Ragan. Next week the series heads to Pennsylvania's Pocono Raceway, where Earnhardt swept both Cup races in 2014.

Race Results:

1. (14) 48-Jimmie Johnson - Chevrolet - 405 laps, led 23 laps
2. (6) 4-Kevin Harvick - Chevrolet - 405 laps, led 91 laps
3. (3) 42-Kyle Larson - Chevrolet - 405 laps
4. (25) 5-Kasey Kahne - Chevrolet - 405 laps
5. (23) 43-Aric Almirola - Ford - 405 laps
6. (2) 78-Martin Truex Jr. - Chevrolet - 405 laps, led 131 laps
7. (11) 1-Jamie McMurray - Chevrolet - 405 laps
8. (18) 27-Paul Menard - Chevrolet - 405 laps
9. (20) 15-Clint Bowyer - Toyota - 405 laps, led 1 lap
10. (22) 24-Jeff Gordon - Chevrolet - 405 laps

Chris Buescher wins Dover Xfinity race in controversial fashion

Chris Buescher took his #60 Roush Ford to his second Xfinity Series win in the last three races at Dover on Saturday, stretching his fuel and also bumping the #6 Ford of his teammate Darrell Wallace Jr. to steal the lead. Wallace and Buescher had stared the 200-lap race next to each other on the front row. Other leaders throughout the race included the Joe Gibbs Toyotas of Matt Kenseth (#20) and Erik Jones (#54) as well as the #33 Richard Childress Chevrolet of Austin Dillon. The race also featured a number of wrecks, including one in which Ryan Blaney, driving the #22 Team Penske Ford, hit the #2 RCR Chevrolet of Brian Scott, sending him into the wall and then back onto the track where Jamie Dick, experiencing brake problems, also hit Scott and sent him into the infield, while Dick's car stopped in the middle of the track. Dick had been involved in a lap 3 incident with Ryan Sieg (#39) and Blake Koch (#8).

Tyler Reddick wins truck race at Dover

Tyler Reddick won Friday's Lucas Oil 200 at Dover International Speedway after a late pass on the #4 Toyota of Erik Jones. It was the second victory in the trucks for the 19-year-old driver of the #19 Brad Keselowski-owned Ford. The race had plenty of good racing, but also a high rate of attrition, with several crashes including an early one that took out the #97 of Jesse Little, making his series debut, as well as John Wes Townley in the #05 Chevrolet; plus single-car incidents involving Spencer Gallagher, John Hunter Nemechek and Justin Boston.

Stenhouse's mullet will be missed

This week, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was spotted during an autograph session at Dover International Speedway having cut his signature mullet.

Jimmie Johnson to appeal post-Coke 600 penalty

Jimmie Johnson and his crew will appeal the P1 written-warning penalty given to them following Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. Two other drivers, Jamie McMurray and Justin Allgaier, also Chevrolet drivers like Johnson, were penalized for actions detrimental to stock car racing.

Landon Cassill impresses with 14-mile run after Coke 600

Immediately after Sunday night's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Hillman-Circle Sport driver Landon Cassill got out of his #40 Chevrolet and began a 14-mile run from the Concord, North Carolina track to the NASCAR Hall of Fame building in downtown Charlotte. Running is one of Cassill's hobbies outside of NASCAR, and 14 miles is nearly a mile more than the distance of a half-marathon. He completed the run at the Hall of Fame, escorted by professionals the whole time, just after 1:00 Monday morning.

Carl Edwards survives fuel-mileage gamble to win Coke 600

Carl Edwards successfully stretched his fuel during a late green-flag run to bring the #19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to victory in Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It was Edwards' first win with Gibbs since leaving his longtime team Roush Fenway Racing at the end of 2014, and he carried over his signature victory backflip, something last seen in Sonoma, California last June. Edwards' teammate Matt Kenseth had started on the pole in the #20 Toyota, and the other two Gibbs drivers, Denny Hamlin (#11) and Kyle Busch (#18), in his return to points racing, led some laps as well. The leader of the most laps was Martin Truex Jr., whose #78 Chevrolet led 131 circuits.

Edwards beat his former Roush teammate Greg Biffle in the #16 Ford as well as the #88 Hendrick Chevrolet of Dale Earnhardt Jr., who pitted for fuel and four tires during the last caution following the spin of Michael Annett's #46 Chevrolet in an attempt to possibly steal the win, as all of the other leaders would have to make green flag stops before the race was over. Earnhardt's strategy mostly worked, as he gained 11 positions to go from 14th to third between the last restart and the checkered flag. Unlike last week's All-Star Race won by Hamlin, there was more action on Sunday evening during the 400 laps around the 1.5-mile quad-oval, something expected by fans after another thrilling Indianapolis 500 earlier in the day, won by one-time NASCAR driver and race winner Juan Pablo Montoya.

Race Results:

1. (3) 19-Carl Edwards - Toyota - 400 laps, led 25 laps
2. (4) 16-Greg Biffle - Ford - 400 laps
3. (15) 88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Chevrolet - 400 laps
4. (1) 20-Matt Kenseth - Toyota - 400 laps, led 26 laps
5. (10) 78-Martin Truex Jr. - Chevrolet - 400 laps, led 131 laps
6. (19) 31-Ryan Newman - Chevrolet - 400 laps
7. (6) 2-Brad Keselowski - Ford - 400 laps, led 3 laps
8. (5) 11-Denny Hamlin - Toyota - 400 laps, led 53 laps
9. (8) 4-Kevin Harvick - Chevrolet - 400 laps, led 26 laps
10. (14) 41-Kurt Busch - Chevrolet - 400 laps, led 118 laps

Austin Dillon conquers Xfinity race at Charlotte

Austin Dillon took the #33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet to his second win of the season in the Xfinity Series Hisense 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday. Dillon led 163 of 200 laps on the 1.5-mile quad-oval. Dillon lost the lead on a set of pit stops during the final caution and got down to fourth after a restart with 35 laps to go, but soon caught and passed Denny Hamlin in the #54 Toyota to retake the lead.

Race Results:

1. (1) 33-Austin Dillon - Chevrolet - 200 laps, led 163 laps
2. (4) 54-Denny Hamlin - Toyota - 200 laps, led 19 laps
3. (8) 5-Kasey Kahne - Chevrolet - 200 laps, led 1 lap
4. (15) 7-Regan Smith - Chevrolet - 200 laps
5. (2) 6-Darrell Wallace Jr. - Ford - 200 laps, led 1 lap
6. (19) 18-Daniel Suarez - Toyota - 200 laps, led 1 lap
7. (9) 3-Ty Dillon - Chevrolet - 200 laps
8. (16) 9-Chase Elliott - Chevrolet - 200 laps
9. (11) 1-Elliott Sadler - Ford - 200 laps
10. (12) 22-Ryan Blaney - Ford - 200 laps

Jeff Gordon to join Fox Sports Sprint Cup telecasts in 2016

Jeff Gordon, already a commentator for some of Fox's Xfinity Series races this year on their sister channel Fox Sports 1, will join the broadcaster's Sprint Cup team when he leaves the driver's seat at the end of this season. Fox NASCAR has featured commentators Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip from the start in 2001, Current Hollywood Hotel personnel include Chris Myers, Jeff Hammond and Michael Waltrip. Matt Yocum, Jamie Little and Chris Neville currently serve as pit reporters, as did Dick Berggren and the late Steve Byrnes in previous years. Fox also has a "rules analyst," which is ESPN carry-over Andy Petree, this year. This is the team that Gordon will be a part of starting next year.

NASCAR Hall of Fame 2016 inductees announced

The latest class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame was announced on Wednesday evening. The five inductees for 2016 are NASCAR track owner and businessman Bruton Smith, old-school driver and 17-time race winner Curtis Turner, former modified champion Jerry Cook, 1984 and 1996 Cup champion Terry Labonte, and 1970 Cup champion Bobby Isaac. Among the nominees not inducted were former crew chief and team owner Ray Evernham, 1992 Cup champion Alan Kulwicki and 40-time Cup race winner and five-time championship runner-up Mark Martin.

All-Star Race to start earlier next year?

Complaints from fans about Saturday night's 9:42 pm ET start for the Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway has led NASCAR to consider moving up the start to an earlier time starting next year.

Chris Buescher wins Xfinity race at Iowa

Chris Buescher took advantage of a late-race caution during Sunday's Xfinity Series race at Iowa Speedway, taking his #60 Roush Fenway Racing Ford with fresh tires past the #9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet of Chase Elliott as well as his teammate, the #16 Ford of Ryan Reed in a green-white-checkered finish to his second series win. Besides the dramatic finish, the race was also marked by a pair of incidents involving J.J. Yeley and Brennan Poole, which got Poole parked for his "revenge" on Yeley.

Race Results:

1. (4) 60-Chris Buescher - Ford - 259 laps, led 94 laps
2. (6) 9-Chase Elliott - Chevrolet - 259 laps, led 114 laps
3. (1) 20-Erik Jones - Toyota - 259 laps
4. (3) 2-Brian Scott - Chevrolet - 259 laps
5. (13) 22-Ryan Blaney - Ford - 259 laps, led 1 lap
6. (8) 6-Darrell Wallace Jr. - Ford - 259 laps
7. (14) 88-Ben Rhodes - Chevrolet - 259 laps
8. (5) 33-Brandon Jones - Chevrolet - 259 laps
9. (10) 1-Elliott Sadler - Ford - 259 laps
10. (11) 62-Brendan Gaughan - Chevrolet - 259 laps

Denny Hamlin wins All-Star Race, $1 million

Denny Hamlin took the #11 Toyota to his first win in the Sprint All-Star Race on Saturday evening at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. It was also the first All-Star win for his team, Joe Gibbs Racing as well as Toyota. He won from the pole, having turned the fastest laps during qualifying earlier in the evening, and got $1 million for his win, as is customary for the All-Star Race. Hamlin inherited the lead when Brad Keselowski, driving a throwback scheme on his #2 Team Penske Ford that resembled the 1997-2000 variation of Rusty Wallace's "Blue Deuce" Miller Lite machine in honor of the 25 years of the Miller-Penske partnership, was caught speeding on pit road during the last set of pit stops, along with Hamlin's teammate, Carl Edwards in the #19 Toyota.

Keselowski led the most laps in the 110-lap, five segment event, which also saw Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick out front for long stretches. Second-place starter Greg Biffle and defending race winner Jamie McMurray also led a couple of circuits around the 1.5-mile quad-oval. The first four segments consisted of 25 laps, with a final ten-lap sprint to the finish to close it out. After segment 1, all drivers made pit stops, with some drivers such as Dale Earnhardt Jr., with a special Mountain Dew Baja Blast scheme on his #88 Chevrolet, opting for two tires instead of four, and consequently getting shuffled back several spots when the green flag came out for segment 2. Earnhardt's teammate Kahne led at the end of segment 1, Keselowski after segment 2 and 3, and Kurt Busch after segment 4. During segment 3, fan vote winner Danica Patrick lost power on her #10 Stewart-Haas Racing Mobil 1/Aspen Dental Chevrolet and lost 32 laps getting repairs in the garage. Early in the fourth segment, Joey Logano nearly spun the #22 Team Penske Ford and fell from sixth to 16th. There were no cautions during any of the 110 scheduled laps.

Next week, the Sprint Cup Series remains at Charlotte, where many of the sport's top teams are based, for the equally prestigious Coca-Cola 600, held the Sunday before Memorial Day, May 24 in the evening after IndyCar's Indianapolis 500. It is the longest race in any NASCAR series at any level and is considered a real test of skill and endurance, and just like the All-Star Race is not to be missed.

Race Results:

1. (1) 11-Denny Hamlin - Toyota - 110 laps, led 26 laps
2. (20) 4-Kevin Harvick - Chevrolet - 110 laps
3. (16) 41-Kurt Busch - Chevrolet - 110 laps, led 24 laps
4. (9) 24-Jeff Gordon - Chevrolet - 110 laps
5. (17) 20-Matt Kenseth - Toyota - 110 laps
6. (19) 18-Kyle Busch - Toyota - 110 laps
7. (5) 5-Kasey Kahne - Chevrolet - 110 laps, led 11 laps
8. (11) 22-Joey Logano - Ford - 110 laps
9. (3) 2-Brad Keselowski - Ford - 110 laps, led 49 laps
10. (7) 88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Chevrolet - 110 laps
11. (13) 47-A.J. Allmendinger - Chevrolet - 110 laps
12. (4) 15-Clint Bowyer - Toyota - 110 laps
13. (2) 16-Greg Biffle - Ford - 110 laps
14. (8) 43-Aric Almirola - Ford - 110 laps
15. (12) 48-Jimmie Johnson - Chevrolet - 110 laps
16. (14) 1-Jamie McMurray - Chevrolet - 110 laps
17. (10) 19-Carl Edwards - Toyota - 110 laps
18. (18) 31-Ryan Newman - Chevrolet - 110 laps
19. (15) 14-Tony Stewart - Chevrolet - 110 laps
20. (6) 10-Danica Patrick - Chevrolet - 78 laps (32 laps down)

Kasey Kahne battles his way to truck victory

Kasey Kahne became the second straight driver to deny Kyle Busch Motorsports driver Erik Jones a win in the Camping World Truck Series on Friday, as he beat the #4 Toyota by five one-thousandths of a second in a green-white-checker finish to win the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Friday evening. Kahne was driving the #00 Chevrolet owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. in his first series start in nearly three years (also a win, in nearby Rockingham). It was Earnhardt's first win as a truck owner after just a handful of starts. Kahne and Jones, who were supposed to start on the front row, had to move to the rear of the field prior to the start of the race and raced their way back up front. In the last few laps, which featured two cautions prompted by Mason Mingus spinning in the #15 Chevrolet and then Daniel Hemric crashing to set up the overtime finish, Kahne and Jones, who had the dominant truck during much of the race, were battling side-by-side for the lead.

Biffle, Bowyer win Sprint Showdown segments; Patrick takes Fan Vote

The Sprint Showdown was held on Friday evening, a 40-lap last-chance race for drivers not already locked into Saturday night's Sprint All-Star Race. Both events are at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina and no championship points are involved. This year, a change in the format was introduced, namely the leader at the end of the first of two 20-lap segments automatically transferring into Saturday's main event. Paul Menard won the pole, which was determined by each driver taking three laps around the 1.5-mile quad-oval and making a pit stop with no speed limit on pit road.

Greg Biffle, driving the #16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford, led after 20 laps and went to the garage while everyone else made pit stops under the competition caution and got ready for the second half of the race. After two laps of the second segment, J.J. Yeley spun his #23 Toyota and brought out a caution. Yellow flag laps did not count in the second segment, so after the restart there were still 18 green flag laps left. Martin Truex Jr. in the #78 Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet was the inital leader on both restarts after segment 1, but Clint Bowyer, Paul Menard and Kyle Larson soon joined him in a fierce battle for the lead. Bowyer eventually pulled away to take his #15 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota to the main event from the Showdown for the second straight year. A few minutes later, Danica Patrick, driving the #10 Mobil 1/Aspen Dental Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing, was announced as the winner of the Sprint Fan Vote for the second time in three seasons, Josh Wise having won in between driving a Dogecoin-sponored #98 Phil Parsons Ford. Biffle, Bowyer and Patrick will join 17 other drivers who have all won races or past All-Star Races in the 31st running of the Sprint All-Star Race on Saturday evening.

Leavine Family Racing moving into Penske shop following fire

Leavine Family Racing will temporarily move into the building which houses the shops of fellow Ford team Team Penske in Mooresville, North Carolina following a fire that caused significant damage to the Leavine shop, including the loss of four of the team's Sprint Cup Ford Fusions. Leavine's driver Michael McDowell and his crew were practicing at Kansas Speedway on Friday when the fire broke out. The team still competed in the Cup race on Saturday night and then returned to their Concord, North Carolina facility to assess the damage. Team Penske's building contains the shops of the #2 and #22 Ford Fusions driven by Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano, as well as the famous Wood Brothers #21 car, currently driven part-time by Penske development driver Ryan Blaney. Leavine said they expect to return to their own shop eventually.

Kyle Busch to return at All-Star Race

Kyle Busch, who suffered a compound leg fracture in a hard hit to a wall without a SAFER barrier during February's Xfinity Series opener at Daytona, will make his racing return on Saturday evening at the non-points All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. Busch himself announced the news through a short clip on Twitter. In Busch's absence, Matt Crafton, David Ragan and Erik Jones piloted the #18 M&M's Crispy Toyota, which is owned by Joe Gibbs. Jones, Denny Hamlin and Boris Said took turns driving Busch's Xfinity Series #54 Toyota during the same period.

A.J. Allmendinger resigns with JTG Daugherty through 2020

A.J. Allmendinger has extended his contract with JTG Daugherty Racing to drive their #47 Chevrolet in the Sprint Cup Series through the end of the 2020 season. Allmendinger, who debuted in NASCAR's top series in 2007, was reinstated following a suspension for failing a drug test in 2012, resulting in his dismissal from the Team Penske #22 Dodge. He took over the #47 car, then a Toyota, from veteran Bobby Labonte midway through 2013, and took it to his first Cup win at the Watkins Glen road course last August.

Jimmie Johnson steals Cup race at Kansas

Jimmie Johnson got the good end of a fuel mileage battle in Saturday evening's Sprint Cup race at Kansas, winning the rain-delayed SpongeBob SquarePants 400, which was filled with characters from the Nickelodeon show. Five drivers - Greg Biffle, Ty Dillon, Michael McDowell, Casey Mears and David Ragan - had paint schemes inspired by these characters on their cars. Finishing second and third, respectively, were the Hendrick-powered Stewart-Haas #4 Chevrolet of Kevin Harvick and Johnson's teammate, the #88 Chevrolet of Dale Earnhardt Jr. Johnson now has three wins to Harvick's two and six other drivers' one, and has passed Harvick to top the Chase grid.

Polesitter Joey Logano led the first several laps before Harvick and then Martin Truex Jr. in the #78 Furniture Row Chevrolet took over. Johnson almost crashed a few laps into the race and had to head to pit road to sort out issues on his car. There was a caution on lap 8 for BK Racing teammates Jeb Burton and J.J. Yeley getting together, and then a competition caution after 25 laps. On lap 93, Burton spun again, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. getting the free pass and most of the rest of the field taking the wave-around during pit stops. Logano was penalized after his stop and ended up in 16th behind Earnhardt and Johnson, who had fought his way back to the lead lap. A line of rain showers had been on its way to the Kansas City area from the start of the race, and during this third caution the skies opened up, prompting a red flag at lap 98. After the Air Titans dried the track, the cars got back racing following just over two hours of stoppage.

Another pair of quick cautions followed, including one delayed caution following an incident in which Denny Hamlin hit the backstretch wall with the #11 Toyota. His teammate for the race, Erik Jones in the #18 Toyota, making his first series start, had a good run during much of the race and even led a lap earlier during green flag pit stops, but crashed late in the race and finished 40th. David Ragan also spun his SpongeBob-themed #55 Toyota into the rain-soaked infield. There was a somewhat long green-flag run near the end that resulted in Truex (who led the most laps - 95 of 267) and Kyle Larson having to pit from the lead after running low on fuel. Besides Truex, Harvick and Brad Keselowski also led high numbers of laps throughout the race. After one last caution during which some of the leaders skipped pit road, Earnhardt tried to take the lead at the lap 261 restart but was passed by Johnson and Harvick. Johnson was surrounded by SpongeBob characters in victory lane and got a cool SpongeBob trophy. There was also a Johnson-Harvick-Earnhardt top three at 1.5-mile quad-ovals Atlanta and Texas earlier this year.

The Cup series will now head back home to Charlotte, North Carolina for the next two weeks. The non-points All-Star Race will be contested at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord next Saturday, preceded by the Sprint Showdown and Fan Vote the night before which will place three last drivers into the main feature. The week after that will be the Coca-Cola 600, held on Sunday late afternoon and evening following the Indianapolis 500 earlier in the day.

Race Results:

1. (19) 48-Jimmie Johnson - Chevrolet - 267 laps, led 10 laps
2. (6) 4-Kevin Harvick - Chevrolet - 267 laps, led 53 laps
3. (17) 88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Chevrolet - 267 laps
4. (11) 24-Jeff Gordon - Chevrolet - 267 laps
5. (1) 22-Joey Logano - Ford - 267 laps, led 29 laps
6. (18) 20-Matt Kenseth - Toyota - 267 laps, led 1 lap
7. (3) 2-Brad Keselowski - Ford - 267 laps, led 43 laps
8. (8) 41-Kurt Busch - Chevrolet - 267 laps, led 20 laps
9. (4) 78-Martin Truex Jr. - Chevrolet - 267 laps, led 95 laps
10. (15) 31-Ryan Newman - Chevrolet - 267 laps

Matt Crafton stuns Kansas Truck field with win

Matt Crafton took the #88 ThorSport Toyota to a surprising win in the Toyota Tundra 250, a Camping World Truck Series race at Kansas Speedway on Friday night. Crafton, the defending series champion, inherited the lead when Erik Jones, who led 151 of 167 laps, was caught speeding off pit road in the #4 Kyle Busch Toyota during very late stops when drivers were running out of fuel as a result of a long green flag run. Jones' teammate Daniel Suarez (#51) led briefly before he too ran out of fuel, and Crafton took the win with a low tank himself. Crafton's teammates, Johnny Sauter (#98) and Cameron Hayley (#13) finished third and fifth. Cup driver Ryan Newman finished behind Crafton in the Joe Nemechek-owned #8 Chevrolet. There were a few single-truck incidents during the race involving Brandon Jones, Austin Theriault (in a backup Brad Keselowski Ford along with teammate Tyler Reddick) and Spencer Gallagher. The series next races at Charlotte on the eve of the Sprint Cup All-Star Race next Friday, May 15.

Race Results:

1. (2) 88-Matt Crafton - Toyota - 167 laps, led 6 laps
2. (4) 8-Ryan Newman - Chevrolet - 167 laps, led 2 laps
3. (7) 98-Johnny Sauter - Toyota - 167 laps
4. (12) 17-Timothy Peters - Toyota - 167 laps
5. (8) 13-Cameron Hayley - Toyota - 167 laps
6. (10) 51-Daniel Suarez - Toyota - 167 laps, led 1 lap
7. (9) 54-Justin Boston - Toyota - 166 laps
8. (11) 31-Scott Lagasse Jr. - Chevrolet - 166 laps
9. (13) 15-Mason Mingus - Chevrolet - 166 laps
10. (6) 14-Daniel Hemric - Chevrolet - 166 laps

Talladega qualifying provided a mix of old, new school

Josh Wise, #98 Cup car moving to Premium Motorsports

Josh Wise, the driver of what was until yesterday the #98 Phil Parsons/Mike Curb-owned Ford, is moving to Premium Motorsports, a Cup team that this year evolved out of Jay Robinson Racing following an unsuccessful attempt to bring the Tommy Baldwin #36 Chevrolet to that team. Wise moved to Phil Parsons Racing from fellow Ford team Front Row Motorsports following the 2013 season, and got attention at this time last year when his car got sponsorship from the Reddit community Dogecoin, with the help on the subreddit r/NASCAR, who coined the name "Dogecar" for Wise's machine. He drove the Dogecar at both Talladega races last year and was also voted into the All-Star Race at Charlotte by Reddit members.

Premium Motorsports also fields the #62 Chevrolet with Richard Childress Racing development drivers Brendan Gaughan and Brian Scott having had time behind the wheel of that car in 2015. The #98 car will also become a Chevrolet and will likely receive the same RCR technical support and equipment.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. ends Talladega Cup winless streak

Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the #88 Chevrolet to victory in the GEICO 500 at Talladega on Sunday, leading 67 of 188 laps. Earnhardt, who has enjoyed success at restrictor plate tracks during much of his career, had not won a Talladega race since October of 2004; before that, he had five Sprint Cup wins to his credit at the Alabama superspeedway, a sister track to Daytona, where he and his father Dale Earnhardt (a ten-time Talladega winner) have also both recorded numerous victories.

Earnhardt's teammates Jeff Gordon (#24) and Kasey Kahne (#5) shared the front row and Gordon, Earnhardt and Stewart-Haas Racing driver Tony Stewart led the opening laps.  Fourth Hendrick Motorsports driver Jimmie Johnson (#48) then held the lead during much of the middle of the race. The first caution came out on lap 19 for a crash entering turn 2 caused by Brian Scott blowing the engine of his #33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet and hitting Michael Waltrip, driving his own #55 Toyota. The famous Talladega "Big One" struck on lap 47 and took out Trevor Bayne, David Ragan, Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, Matt DiBenedetto, Greg Biffle and many others. SHR teammates Danica Patrick (#10) and points leader Kevin Harvick (#4) got a piece of the wreck but were able to stay on the lead lap. The wreck brought out a red flag for cleanup.

On lap 92, the RCR-aligned #62 Premium Motorsports Chevrolet of Brendan Gaughan ran into trouble. After pit stops, Johnson retook the lead, followed by Earnhardt again. Late in the race the #3 RCR Chevrolet of Austin Dillon blew its engine approaching the start/finish line, sparking a decent-sized fire. Gordon led some more laps before getting a penalty for speeding during the last set of pit stops. Earnhardt took the lead once again on the lap 163 restart and never looked back. Underdogs like Justin Allgaier, Bobby Labonte, David Gilliland, Josh Wise and Cole Whitt led briefly under caution as the leaders made pit stops. In addition, part-time driver Ryan Blaney took the #21 Wood Brothers Ford to a fourth-place finish. Many of the green-flag runs featured single-file racing.

Kevin Harvick remains the points leader, but Joey Logano has dropped two spots from second to fourth as a result of the big crash. Martin Truex Jr. now has the #78 Furniture Row Chevrolet in second, and Jimmie Johnson third in the standings. Earnhardt has gained three positions, from eighth to fifth. The series is now headed to Kansas City, Kansas for another Saturday night race on May 9.

Race Results:

1. (4) 88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Chevrolet - 188 laps, led 67 laps
2. (5) 48-Jimmie Johnson - Chevrolet - 188 laps, led 51 laps
3. (7) 27-Paul Menard - Chevrolet - 188 laps
4. (3) 21-Ryan Blaney - Ford - 188 laps
5. (36) 78-Martin Truex Jr. - Chevrolet - 188 laps
6. (12) 9-Sam Hornish Jr. - Ford - 188 laps
7. (18) 31-Ryan Newman - Chevrolet - 188 laps
8. (24) 4-Kevin Harvick - Chevrolet - 188 laps, led 1 lap
9. (17) 11-Denny Hamlin - Toyota - 188 laps, led 5 laps
10. (34) 98-Josh Wise - Ford - 188 laps, led 1 lap

Joey Logano wins Xfinity Series race at Talladega

Joey Logano took the #22 Team Penske Ford to victory lane in the Winn-Dixie 300 Xfinity Series race at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, beating the Fords of Chris Buescher (#60) and Elliott Sadler (#1) and the #2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet of Brian Scott in the final laps.