Spencer Neff

Twitter:@NeffOnSports11

Hope you had a great weekend. Here are the top stories in racing this weekend.

1. Denny Hamlin punched his ticket to the Contender 12 in the Chase for the Sprint Cup with a win at Chicagoland on Sunday. Hamlin pulled away from Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch on a late restart. The streak of wins by the Penske and Gibbs teams is now 10 races. Though there are certainly several drivers outside of those teams capable of contending over the next nine weeks, it is all but officially a two-team fight.

After the race, Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson were involved in an alteraction ending with Harvick, upset with earlier contact, shoving Johnson. Rivalries in NASCAR are often overblown, but with two intense competitors like Harvick and Johnson running near the front, it could be a major storyline later on as the two battle for a championship.

2. NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship began today in Charlotte, with Pro Stock points leader Erica Enders-Stevens winning her third race in a row, while Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Del Worsham (Funny Car) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won to take the points lead in their respective classes.

The common link between the current points leaders is that they have all won championships in a professional NHRA class before. Although some may not have been the dominant driver, their past experience and early success will make each of them a major contender over the remaining five events.

3. Sebastian Vettel dominated in Singapore to take his third win of the season and break a tie with Ayrton Senna in career wins, as he now has 42. It may be too late for Vettel to make a run at Lewis Hamilton for the championship, but if he and Ferrari can build upon some of this weekend’s success, he could easily return to the form that won him four straight titles from 2010-2013 at Red Bull.

Have a great night and see you soon.