In the closest finish in Indianapolis Motor Speedway history, Peter Dempsey beat Gabby Chaves to the finish line by .0026 seconds in a four-wide finish to win the Indy Lights Series Firestone Freedom 100 Friday afternoon.

Almost incredibly, Dempsey was fourth behind Carlos Munoz, Sage Karam and Chaves on the final lap. But when Munoz, Karam and Chaves went three-wide on the backstretch, the hole they created in the air allowed Dempsey to draft up to their bumpers.

The three stayed three-wide off of turn four when Dempsey got a run on the high side of the track and had just enough room to slingshot past the trio and nip Chaves at the line for the first Indy Lights win of his career.

"Enough (room) for an Indy Lights car to fit through," Dempsey said after the race. "It was tight, you know. I was just hoping they weren't going to move, because if the moved, there would have been a huge crash. I've seen too many big crashes over the years, so that's what

(Getty)

Throughout the week you can send us your best questions, jokes, rants and just plain miscellaneous thoughts to happyhourmailbag@yahoo.com or @NickBromberg. We'll post them here, have a good time and everyone's happy. Right? Oh who are we kidding, this is NASCAR. No one is ever happy.

Saturday's All-Star race was the most popular (non-NRA division) topic in my email inbox this week. Let's start with the format suggestions first.

After last night's snoozefest of an All Star Race, I decided to try and fix it with a new format. I know the race is suppose to be no points, no pressure, just pure fun but why not make each segment be worth a few points. It would put an emphasis on winning a race during the calendar year to be automatically locked into the event and it would make the showdown even more important to get one of those top two spots.

Showdown- Top 2 Advance. No Fan Vote
All Star Race:
- Segments 1-4 would be 20 laps long with 2 bonus points awarded to the winner.
- Average finish will

Denny Hamlin will start first Sunday night. (Getty)

Denny Hamlin knocked Kurt Busch off the provisional pole and will lead the field to green in Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

It was looking like it'd be Busch's third straight pole after he won the pole at Darlington and for the All-Star Race on Saturday, but Hamlin bested Busch and broke Busch's then-new track record with a lap of 195.624 MPH.

The 600 will be Hamlin's second points race since returning from a back injury that sidelined him for five races.

Hamlin's teammate Matt Kenseth starts third, Mark Martin is fourth and Clint Bowyer starts fifth, meaning that Toyotas have four of the top five spots. Kyle Busch, the driver of the other Joe Gibbs Racing car, was no slacker himself, qualifying eighth. .

Jimmie Johnson, winner of the All-Star Race, starts 12th. Mike Bliss was the only driver to fail to qualify.

Related coverage on Yahoo! Sports:
• Was it too soon for Dale Jarrett to make NASCAR's Hall of Fame?
• Happy Hour: NASCAR fans offer their suggestions for

It's the greatest spectacle in racing and we're live-chatting it. Join us at 11:45 AM ET on Sunday for the 97th Indianapolis 500. There may even be a special appearance by one Jay Busbee, who is rumored to be in Indianapolis for the race. We'll see you then!

A From the Marbles first! We're attempting the chat triple this year, and first up is the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Monaco Sunday at 7:45 AM ET. Grab your coffee and join us as we gaze in envy at the people sunbathing on the multi-million dollar yachts while watching the race.

These guys are heading to the Hall of Fame. (Getty)

Welcome to Warped Wednesday. On this, we'll put out the rush to judgment mat, go a little too far and have a little fun. Will it be funny? Sometimes. Will it be crazy and largely unbelievable? Probably. Will not everyone get it? Definitely.

Just days after his dominating win in the final segment of the Sprint All-Star Race, the NASCAR Hall of Fame voting panel made a statement about Johnson's NASCAR prowess during Wednesday's Hall of Fame voting.

The panel, led by a prominent NASCAR figure who shall remain nameless because of the secret nature of the vote, petitioned NASCAR officials to hold a vote on Johnson's election today. The panel argued that there is no better time to acknowledge Johnson's dominance  than while he was currently driving.

Also, the election of Johnson now saves the panel time down the road after Johnson's retirement. While Johnson has no plans of retiring anytime soon, any future Hall vote would be a formality, so this was simply a move to go through the

Another new Chrome Horn! And it's the All-Star edition. Join myself and Geoffrey Miller as we talk all things, well, all things.

Got any questions for us to use in the mailbag or the podcast? Hit us at HappyHourMailbag@Yahoo.com.

Click here to download the podcast or here to listen to in your browser. And we're now on iTunes! Find us in the Podcast section right here and subscribe. Listen!

Maurice Petty (L) and Dale Jarrett (R) were elected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame Wednesday. (Getty)

The 2014 NASCAR Hall of Fame Class was announced on Wednesday, and it's a very diverse list.

The class of five consists of Tim Flock, Jack Ingram, Dale Jarrett, Maurice Petty and Fireball Roberts. That means that current owners Richard Childress and Rick Hendrick, as well as Speedway Motorsports Inc.'s Bruton Smith must wait another year.

Jarrett is likely the most familiar face to NASCAR fans, as the 1999 Cup champion is an analyst on ESPN's Sprint Cup Series coverage. Jarrett won three Daytona 500s and two Brickyard 400s. His father, Ned Jarrett, who was also a broadcaster after his career was over, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2011.

Maurice Petty was the engine builder for Petty Enterprises and is the fourth member of the Petty Enterprises crew to make the Hall of Fame after cousin Dale Inman and younger brother Richard and father Lee.

Tim Flock won 39 races in 187 starts and his first championship was in 1952 driving the Hudson Hornet. And at Hickory Motor Speedway on May