The Final Lap with Kerry Murphey

PHOTO CREDIT: NASCARMEDIA

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Nov. 13, 2011) – Only one finish guarantees Carl Edwards his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship – a victory in Sunday’s season-finale Ford 400.

Just three points separate points leader Carl Edwards and second-place Tony Stewart, a margin so tight, no other finish would clinch the title for Edwards regardless of where Stewart finishes.
Stewart owns the tie-breaker (best finishes), and therefore could tie and win his third series championship.
All other drivers are officially eliminated from championship contention.
Edwards’ three-point lead roughly translates to 13 points under the previous points system. That makes it the closest margin between first and second going into the final race in Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup™ history, and third-closest since the inception of the position-based points structure in 1975.

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By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(October 29, 2011)

MARTINSVILLE, Va.—Making excellent use of a fresh set of tires, Denny Hamlin drove through the field after a pit stop on Lap 134 and won Saturday’s Kroger 200 Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway in his only start this year.

Ron Hornaday Jr. ran second to make a small dent in the advantage on series points leader Austin Dillon, who finished third. Johnny Sauter ran fourth, followed by rookie Joey Coulter and Kevin Harvick.

The victory was Hamlin’s first in the series in 12 starts, adding the driver of the No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota to the list of drivers, now 23 in number, who have won at least one race in each of NASCAR’s top three series.

“It’s a big deal for me, more than what people probably think,” said Hamlin, who has run one truck race per year in 2009, 2010 and 2011. “When they think we go down to these different series—Nationwide and truck—and we’re just going down there to try to get wins, from my standpoint, it’s very, very tough.

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By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(October 22, 2011)

TALLADEGA, Ala.—In his first Camping World Truck Series start since 2009, Mike Wallace won Saturday’s Coca-Cola 250 at Talladega Superspeedway, as Kevin Harvick Inc. teammate Ron Hornaday Jr. pushed him across the finish line.

Hornaday ran second, followed by James Buescher, who made a dent in the series points lead of Austin Dillon. Dillon scrambled to a seventh-place finish after he was demoted to 18th for not maintaining pace under the final caution of the race. The recovery enabled Dillon to stay ahead of Buescher in the standings.

The victory was the fifth overall for Wallace, who was substituting for Elliott Sadler, whose wife, Amanda, is expecting the couple’s second child. Wallace won in the truck series for the first time since 2000. The victory was his first in any of NASCAR’s top three touring series since he won a Nationwide race at Daytona in July 2004.

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1 31 James Buescher Bad Boy Mowers Chevrolet 53.896 SEC / 177.676
2 8 Nelson Piquet Jr. # tagg/Qualcomm Chevrolet 54.149 SEC / 176.845
3 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet 54.232 SEC / 176.575
4 4 Ricky Carmichael Monster Energy Chevrolet 54.274 SEC / 176.438
5 2 Ron Hornaday Jr. Bad Boy Buggies Chevrolet 54.368 SEC / 176.133
6 33 Mike Wallace(i) Anderson’s Maple Syrup Chevrolet 54.504 SEC / 175.694
7 22 Joey Coulter # Rip It Energy Fuel Chevrolet 54.508 SEC / 175.681
8 20 * Johanna Long # Panhandle Grading & Paving Toyota 54.598 SEC / 175.391
9 29 Parker Kligerman # Penske Truck Leasing Dodge 54.654 SEC / 175.211
10 60 Cole Whitt # Fuel Doctor/Red Bull Chevrolet 54.727 SEC / 174.978
11 32 Blake Feese AccuDoc Solutions Chevrolet 54.760 SEC / 174.872
12 88 Matt Crafton Menards/Certain Teed Chevrolet 54.769 SEC / 174.843
13 81 David Starr BuildYourFuture.org/Zachry Toyota 54.826 SEC / 174.662
14 84 * Chris Fontaine Glenden Enterprises Toyota 54.848 SEC / 174.592
15 17 Timothy Peters NTB/Service Central Toyota 54.888 SEC / 174.464

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