Denny Hamlin saved his best effort for the stretch run in Saturday’s Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, and his persistence paid off with the No. 11 team’s third win of the season in 24 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.

“It’s Bristol — I don’t know what to say, man,” Hamlin said as he crossed the finish line. “I’m so damn happy.”

But it wasn’t the same Bristol that played to half-empty grandstands in March. On the contrary, grinding two degrees of banking off the outside lane — a project orchestrated after the March race — helped produce an abundance of action, but perhaps not in the way track owner Bruton Smith intended.

After a heated battle, Hamlin passed Carl Edwards for the lead on Lap 462 but didn’t clear the No. 99 Ford until both drivers traded shots. As Edwards faded, Hamlin pulled away to beat Jimmie Johnson to the checkered flag by 1.103 seconds.

Jeff Gordon ran third, followed by Brian Vickers and Marcos Ambrose.

Greg Biffle (19th Saturday), Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (12th) clinched berths in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

On the newly ground surface at the .533-mile short track, the race featured 13 cautions and plenty of emotion, as drivers began to rubber-in the outside groove and discovered it was the fastest way around.

To Hamlin, the racing was similar to the old Bristol — just that cars ran single-file in the top groove instead of on the bottom of the track.

“It’s just a different kind of racing,” said Hamlin, who won the 20th Cup race of his career and the record 200th for the No. 11. “There’s nothing (Smith is) going to do that’s going to make us run the bottom, if that’s not the fastest way around the track. But it was the same thing — we were all running in a line. You’re just waiting for the next guy to screw up to get around (him).

“That’s what we had to do with the old Bristol, and that’s exactly how we had to race today. The slide job was an option to pass, which won us the race. I don’t think we saw as much side-by-side racing, but you didn’t see side-by-side racing with the old Bristol. You just saw a bunch of cars in line, waiting for someone to get knocked out of the way or to mess up.”

There were plenty of flare-ups to punctuate the racing. Juan Pablo Montoya wrecked his old nemesis, Ryan Newman, and dropped him out of a provisional wild-card spot. Brad Keselowski’s Dodge with the throwback paint scheme pinballed between three different cars before wrecking.

Contact from Regan Smith sent Danica Patrick hard into the frontstretch wall.

“The pace was fast,” said Gordon, who inched closer to a wild-card spot in the Chase but still trails Kyle Busch by 16 points for the second of two positions. “You’d fly up around the top like that with all that rubber down. . . . It was fast, and it was intense.

“The only way you could pass was to just dive on in there and slide-job the guy, and sometimes you don’t complete that. And when you don’t complete that, it definitely will get you frustrated and (you) lose positions, and if you hit the guy, it’s going to fire him up.”

No wreck was more significant to the outcome of the race — or to the Cup standings, for that matter — than Tony Stewart’s dust-up with Matt Kenseth on Lap 332. Stewart had the faster car, but Kenseth had the race lead, and their cars collided as they powered through Turn 4, with Stewart to the outside.

Repeated contact between the cars turned both sideways as they crossed the start/finish line. Kenseth’s Ford careened into the inside wall at the end of the frontstretch, with Stewart’s Chevrolet slamming into Kenseth’s car.

Kenseth’s car was wounded, but he drove away from the wreck. Stewart climbed from his car and slung his helmet squarely into the nose of Kenseth’s car.

“We weren’t that great of a race car, but we were definitely faster than that (Kenseth’s car) after that restart (on Lap 329),” Stewart said while his car spent 25 laps in the garage for repairs. “I checked up twice to not run over him, and I learned my lesson there.

“I’m going to run over him every chance I’ve got from now till the end of the year — every chance I’ve got.”

Stewart finished 27th and dropped a spot to 10th in the standings, 16 points ahead of Kasey Kahne in 11th. If Stewart should drop out of the top 10, he won’t get bonus points for his three victories when the Chase starts.

Kenseth finished 25th and fell two spots to fourth in points, but he clinched at least a wild-card berth in the Chase.

The wreck with Smith on Lap 434 relegated Patrick to 29th in her fourth Cup start. Patrick, who was sandbagged by a sneaker in last week’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Montreal, was running on the lead lap in the top 20 before the other shoe finally dropped.

“We believe the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule will once again provide fans with what they’ve come to expect every season – the world’s most exciting and competitive form of motorsports,” said Brian France, NASCAR chairman and CEO. “Next year’s schedule has a few adjustments that we think will be good for the fans and good for the overall flow of the season. One thing will remain constant, however, and that’s the intense competition we see week in and week out from our drivers and race teams.”

One of those adjustments takes place during NASCAR’s playoffs – the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup – and could affect the strategy during the championship run. Talladega Superspeedway’s Chase event moves up two weeks to Oct. 7, becoming the fourth race in the Chase. Often labeled as the wild-card track in the Chase, Talladega’s grueling test is now staged during the first half of the Chase.

Talladega swaps its Chase date with Kansas Speedway (Oct. 21) to accommodate Kansas’ repave, scheduled for after the track’s spring event. As such, Kansas’ spring date has also been moved. Kansas now will be the eighth race of the season on April 22. Talladega’s spring event moves to May 6, and Dover International Speedway’s spring event returns to its traditional spot on June 3.

As previously announced, the season-opening Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway will start one week later with the running of the preseason “non-points” Shootout at Daytona on Feb. 18. The 54th annual Daytona 500 will run on Feb. 26.

The race dates for Phoenix International Raceway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway have likewise been moved a week later, to March 4 and March 11, respectively.

Two other featured adjustments to the 2012 schedule:

Texas Motor Speedway’s spring date will be moved to April 14, to accommodate the traditional open week for the Easter holiday.

Daytona’s summer event and Kentucky Speedway’s race will swap weekends in 2012, as the July 4th holiday falls mid-week next year. Kentucky’s race will be June 30; Daytona will run on July 7.

As in past years, FOX will broadcast the first 13 races of next year’s schedule. TNT will follow, broadcasting the next six. ESPN/ABC will broadcast the final 17 events. Race start times will be announced at a later date.

NASCAR will also release the 2012 schedules for the NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at a later date.

2012 NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES SCHEDULE

Keselowski took the lead on the last restart with 80 laps to go, holding off Martin Truex Jr and Jeff Gordon for the win.  Since injuring his ankle at a Road Atlanta test crash at the beginning of August, he has finished first at Pocono, second at Watkins Glen, third at Michigan, and first at Bristol.

He has climbed from 23rd to 11th in the point’s standings over the last five races and currently sits in the top wild card spot.  He is a virtual lock for the Chase with two races to go and three victories. Don’t be surprised if at Richmond International Raceway he cracks the Top 10 in points.  If he were to make the Chase by virtue of points, that would open the wild card up to drivers like Paul Menard, David Ragan, Marcos Ambrose or Regan Smith.

Truex Has A Good Run

Martin Truex Jr hasn’t been a driver talked about much this season, but he definitely gave us something to talk about Saturday night.  Truex took two tires on his last pit stop, putting him in second place.  He had a hard battle with Jeff Gordon over the last 20-laps, but he was able to hold off the four-time champion to finish in second position.

“We’ve had a real up-and-down season,” Truex said. “We’ve had some bright spots; we’ve had some really tough days. So it’s really nice to come here and have a good finish.”  Chad Johnson took over crew chief duties for the No. 56 team in June and we are slowly but surely seeing the results from it.

Gordon Wants NASCAR To Fix Pit Road Advantage

Jeff Gordon may have been happy with his third place finish, but he certainly wasn’t happy with the way some drivers were speeding down pit road.   Some drivers would speed entering and exiting their pit box, and then slow back down to pit road speed right before the scoring timer.  Although this isn’t considered a penalty, Gordon found that it was an unfair advantage for position.

“It’s a joke,” he said, “that somebody can leave pit road and run that fast down pit road and then slam on the brakes. Kenseth drove by four cars and so did the 2 car when he left his pit stall. I just don’t understand it.”  Director of the Sprint Cup Series, John Darby, said that NASCAR will address the situation and install more scoring loops on pit road.

Johnson, Busch Tied For Points Lead

Kyle Busch remains the point’s leader, tied with Jimmie Johnson, who is in second position based on his number of wins this season.  Kevin Harvick dropped two spots to fifth, putting Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards in third and fourth position, respectively.  Gordon, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr and Tony Stewart round out the Top 10.

We head to Atlanta Motor Speedway next weekend where the Sprint Summer Showdown will conclude.  The showdown drivers consist of Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Paul Menard and Marcos Ambrose.  If one of them were to win the race, the driver, his charity of choice, and one lucky fan will each recieve $1 million.  The two fans that picked Keselowski to win at Pocono and Bristol will split the $1 million.  Tune into the race September 4th to see who comes out on top!

Hamlin held off a hard-charging Jimmie Johnson and finished second.

Top 5: Busch, Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, and Kasey Kahne.

Mark Martin, Ryan Newman, Jeff Burton, Juan Montoya, and Marcos Ambrose rounded out the top 10.

Notables: Kurt Busch (11th), David Reutimann (12th), Clint Bowyer (13th), Dale Earnhardt Jr (14th), Carl Edwards (15th), Tony Stewart (17th), Bobby Labonte (22nd), Brian Vickers (29th), Kevin Harvick (30th), Matt Kenseth (33th), and Greg Biffle (39th).

Harvick has won three times in the Camping World Truck series in KHI machines, but until today, he had yet to win in NASCAR’s more prestigious Nationwide series.

Kyle Busch had the domainant car of the day, but on his final pit stop, his team let a tire roll away, and he was penalized, taking him out of contention.

Top 5: Harvick, Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, Matt Kenseth, and Justin Allgiaer.

Kyle Busch, Steve Wallace, Scott Speed, Joey Logano, and Jason Leffler rounded out the top 10.

Notables: Brad Keselowski (12th), Kenny Wallace (14th), David Ragan (19th), and Scott Wimmer (22nd).

Top 5: Martin, Newman, Jimme Johnson, Greg Biffle, and Kasey Kahne.

David Reutimann, Reed Sorenson, Dave Blaney, Jamie McMurray, and Jeff Gordon will roll off sixth through 10th, respectively.

Notables: Tony Stewart (15th), Kyle Busch (19th), Denny Hamlin (24th), Kevin Harvick (30th), Clint Bowyer (31st), Kurt Busch (32nd), Matt Kenseth (33rd), Dale Earnhardt Jr (34th), Carl Edwards (38th), and Jeff Burton (40th).

Did Not Qualify: Scott Riggs and Jeremy Mayfield.

Biffle injured his ribs in a fall he took after fishing with friends on Tuesday. He attempt to jump from a dock to a boat, and lost his footing.

He said that he had felt progressively better in the days following the fall.

Earlier this week, he sat in his Martinsville car, as his Bristol car was already headed to the track. He said that sitting in the racing seat felt comfortable:

Its hard foam and it’s molded so it doesn’t create any pressure points.

Biffle indicated that he could have driven the car in the Nationwide race, but decided to skip it rather than risking further injury if he sustained a crash during the race.

The No. 5 Chevy will be split among team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr, all-time series wins leader Mark Martin, Ryan Newman, Tony Stewart, and Scott Wimmer.

Jr will drive at Texas Motor Speedway in April, Talladega Superspeedway in April, Lowe’s Motor Speedway in May, Daytona International Speedway in July and Atlanta Motor Speedway in Sept. in Chevys that will be sponsored by Fastenal, Godaddy.com, and Unilever.

Martin will drive the Chevy at Richmond International Raceway in May with Lipton as a sponsor. Tony Stewart will drive at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Oct. with Delphi as a sponsor. Stewart already has one victory in the series this season, winning the Camping World 300 at Daytona in a Hendrick Motorsports Chevy.

Newman will drive the No. 5 Fastenal Chevy in four races: Dover International Speedway in May, Chicagoland Speedway in July, Michigan International Speedway in Aug., and Kansas Speedway in Oct.

Wimmer will also pilot the No. 5 Fastenal Chevy for six races: Darlington Raceway in May, The Milwaukee Mile in June, O’Reilly Raceway Park in July, Iowa Speedway in Aug., Bristol Motor Speedway in Aug., and Richmond International Raceway in Sept.

Wimmer said in a JR Motorsports press release:

I am really excited to be associated with JR Motorsports and a great sponsor like Fastenal. I will be running at tracks that have been good for me in the past and look forward to my first event with JR Motorsports at Darlington in May. Hopefully, we can get the Fastenal car in the Winners Circle.

The announcement leaves two races without a named driver — the road-course events at Watkins Glen and Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, both in Aug. Drivers for those races will be announced at a later date. Last season, Ron Fellows drove the No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevy to victory in the NAPA Auto Parts 200 presented by Dodge at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, so he may be considered for that race.

Earnhardt Jr. drove at Watkins Glen last year, presumably to get more experience at road courses, so he may take one of those races.

Also, anytime you mention road courses, you have to mention Boris Said’s name. He could also be considered.

Earnhardt Jr said:

This No. 5 team carries a strong tradition and a lot of expectations, and we are fortunate to attract such quality talent to help carry on that tradition. We had a similar set-up with this team last year, and we were able to go to Victory Lane twice. Obviously with this driver line-up, there’s no reason we can’t exceed last year’s win total.

Busch has been on fire of late, sitting third in points and coming off his dominating win at Atlanta Motor Speedway last weekend.

The older Busch brother is seeing a resurgence. He’s got one win, two top fives, and three top 10s in four races this season. He hasn’t finished worse than 23rd, no small feat considering that some of NASCAR’s bigger names have seen their share of misfortune (see Mark Martin, Jimmy Johnson, Carl Edwards, and Kyle Busch).

Busch has got to be exciting going into Bristol, a track he’s won at five times. Seven of his 19 career victories in the Cup series have come at short tracks. And, no one can argue that he seems much more comfortable in the car, and with his team than he ever has before.

The rest of Sprint Cup garage has to be taking notice, and rightfully so.

It’s still early, but perhaps Kurt Busch is returning to championship form.

Window World will be on the car at Auto Club Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway , Atlanta Motor Speedway, and Bristol Motor Speedway.