Denny Hamlin faced adversity before he even had a chance to live up to his billing as the popular pick to unseat Jimmie Johnson as Sprint Cup champion.

Denny Hamlin went from last to first to the top seed in NASCAR's race for the Sprint Cup championship.

Tony Stewart went to Atlanta Motor Speedway mired in a 31-race winless streak and an afterthought, at best, on the list of championship contenders.

Tony Stewart raced to his first victory of the year, pulling away from Carl Edwards off the final restart at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

With a nondescript 19th-place finish at Michigan International Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr. all but ensured he'll miss the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship for the third time in four years.

Kasey Kahne's future has been settled. The present doesn't look too bad for him, either.

Although it's not official, Speed Channel flashed on its screen during coverage of Friday's Sprint Cup practice that the 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup title would begin at Chicagoland instead of New Hampshire.

NASCAR appears ready to give its 2011 Sprint Cup schedule a facelift.

Drew Brees was the big winner at the ESPY Awards, collecting four trophies, including male athlete of the year on Wednesday night.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is on a roll, at least by his recent standards, as he returns to Daytona International Speedway this week.

Kurt Busch tried to bump-and-run past Jimmie Johnson for a win.

Marcos Ambrose was easily in command at Infineon Raceway when his crew tried to tell him what a good job he was doing circling the scenic road course.