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.