Dale Earnhardt Jr. in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Lead

Reinforcing the fact that positions on a racetrack can change in the blink of an eye, the wreck involving Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano on the final lap of the NASCAR Auto Club 400 at Fontana on Sunday put Kyle Busch…

Reinforcing the fact that positions on a racetrack can change in the blink of an eye, the wreck involving Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano on the final lap of the NASCAR Auto Club 400 at Fontana on Sunday put Kyle Busch in the lead for his first Sprint Cup win of the 2013 season. It also shifted Dale Earnhardt Jr. into second place, putting him at the top of the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings with 199 points. Following his victory at Saturday’s Nationwide Series race, the Auto Club 400 victory on Sunday was Kyle Busch’s 25th NASCAR win.

Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano made contact in the final lap of the Auto Club 400, sending Logano into the outside wall and Hamlin into the inside wall. Hamlin was initially attended to in an ambulance, but was airlifted to a hospital where he remained overnight for observation. In off the track drama, Tony Stewart reportedly confronted Logano following the race, most likely related to the fact that Logano had blocked Stewart out of a late restart, resulting in the Sprint Cup series champion finishing the Auto Club 400 in 22nd place. Earnhardt started in 15th place, working his way up the field, but dropping to 22nd place during the race, hampered by a slow pit stop, before making his way back to fourth place and ending in second place after the Hamlin and Logano wreck. /p>

The top ten in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings are:

1. Dale Earnhardt Jr – #88 Chevrolet – 199 points

2. Brad Keselowski – #2 Ford – 187 points

3. Jimmie Johnson – #48 Chevrolet – 183 points

4. Carl Edwards – #99 Ford – 164 points

5. Greg Biffle – #16 Ford – 164 points

6. Kyle Busch – #18 Toyota – 163 points

7. Kasey Kahne – #5 Chevrolet – 159 points

8. Paul Menard – #27 Chevrolet – 154 points

9. Joey Logano – #22 Ford – 146 points

10. Denny Hamlin – #11 Toyota – 145 points