2015 NASCAR Thread

[BDKJMU]

Prediction:

Eliminated Challenger Round
12. McMurray
14. Newman
15. Menard
16. Bowyer

Eliminated Contender Round:
9. Keselowski
10. Truex
11. Hamlin
13. Gordon

Eliminated Eliminator Round
1. Johnson
6. Earnhardt
7. Kurt Busch
8. Edwards

Final 4/Homestead
2. Kyle Busch
3. Kenseth
4. Logano
5. Harvick

Champion
Kenseth

Way to go with the chalk.

Not really, because the seeds are a little mis leading. Having Earnhardt and Johnson in the Final 8 might is probably homer. The last 2 1/2 months JGR has dominated (they introduced a new engine/Chassis package at Charlotte), followed closely by Penske (more Logano than Keselowski). The only 1 up there with them has been Harvick. Hendrick has totally slumped.
-Johnson may be #1 seed, but all 4 wins came in the 1st 13 (of 26) races. The last 9 he has 0 top 5...
-I got JR in the Final 8 only because I'm banking on him winning Talladega, where he won the 1st race this past May, his 6th career win there.

If I wanted to go with the Chalk, I wouldn't have a JGR and a Penske going out in the round of 12. For the Final 8, 7 of them would be all 4 JGR, both Penske, Harvick, and 1 of the 3 among Kurt Busch/Johnson/Earnhardt..

[89Hen]

ESPN power rankings has Busch, Kenseth, Logano and Harvick as 1, 2, 3, 5. Your only real "going out on a limb" is Keselowski bowing out early. I'm just giving you a hard time anyway.

[BDKJMU]

A of 3 races through Challenger round

"Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Chase cut line; Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch in trouble

Matt Kenseth clinched a spot in the second round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup and took the lead in the points standings, but the focus squarely was on the stars in trouble entering the first-round elimination race at Dover International Speedway.

After running out of fuel on the final lap at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr. (25th) is in the 12th and final transfer position in the standings. He is one point ahead of Kyle Busch (37th after a midrace crash at New Hampshire) and 22 points ahead of Kevin Harvick (21st after running out of fuel while leading with three laps remaining).

Harvick, the defending series champion, faces a virtual must-win scenario at Dover, where the playoff field will be reduced fro 16 to 12 drivers."

http://nascar.nbcsports.com/2015/09/27/ ... n-trouble/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[BDKJMU]

Pretty good radioactive from Sunday:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLEa3k- ... DmfvwjzrP5[/youtube]

[93henfan]

Not sure if it was posted, but Tony Stewart announced he is retiring after 2016 season.

There's a career that faded fast. Although I don't like what happened on the dirt track last year, I always enjoyed Stewart's style of racing. The incident really put a damper on things.

A few years down the road, once all the lawsuits are settled, that's going to make a good 30 for 30 episode, though I'm not sure if Stewart would agree to participate. Just my opinion, but I think he tried to kick it out a bit to scare the kid and fucked up and he is carrying a ton of guilt inside.

[BDKJMU]

Not sure if it was posted, but Tony Stewart announced he is retiring after 2016 season.

There's a career that faded fast. Although I don't like what happened on the dirt track last year, I always enjoyed Stewart's style of racing. The incident really put a damper on things.

A few years down the road, once all the lawsuits are settled, that's going to make a good 30 for 30 episode, though I'm not sure if Stewart would agree to participate. Just my opinion, but I think he tried to kick it out a bit to scare the kid and **** up and he is carrying a ton of guilt inside.

Yep. Agreed on Stewart.

In a year period NASCAR will have lost 2 drivers (both I think are 44 years old now) that have a combined 140 career wins (92 Gordon, 48 Stewart) and 7 Championships (4 Gordon, 3 Stewart). Gordon is #1 in wins among active drivers, Stewart is #3...

Hopefully Stewart will finish on a better season than this year..

Bowyer takes over his ride in 2017..

[93henfan]

All track activities, including Sprint Cup practice and qualifying, cancelled today.

Field for Sunday will be set by current point standings.

[93henfan]

Didn't realize until just now that tomorrow's race doesn't start until 2:45 pm.

That is absolutely absurd. The races always started at 12:01 pm at Dover when I was a kid. It was the earliest they could start due to blue laws. Now the slavery to television has them starting a 400 mile race on a caution-prone track just four hours before dark on a potentially rainy day.

[93henfan]

OK, Rosie Perez? Uppity hispanic New Yorker who starred in Do The Right Thing.

That's who NASCAR has give the command to start engines at Dover?

Da fuck? Maybe she built a beach house in Rehoboth.

[93henfan]

OOF! Jimmie Johnson heads to garage with right rear wheel trouble.

Unless one or more of the Top 12 also get knocked out of the race and he makes some laps, he is eliminated.

Richard Petty and Dale Sr's ghost look safe with 7 championships for now.

[93henfan]

I let my youngest son go to the race with my dad today. Jeb Burton's car caught on fire right in front of where we sit. My son loves crashes and fires. Winning.

[93henfan]

First round eliminations:

13. McMurray
14. Johnson
15. Menard
16. Bowyer

Dale Jr. ties McMurray and gets in on tiebreaker. Whew!

[93henfan]

Advancing:

Matt Kenseth
Denny Hamlin
Kevin Harvick
Joey Logano
Carl Edwards
Martin Truex Jr.
Jeff Gordon
Kurt Busch
Brad Keselowski
Kyle Busch
Ryan Newman
Dale Earnhardt Jr.

[BDKJMU]

First round eliminations:

13. McMurray
14. Johnson
15. Menard
16. Bowyer

Dale Jr. ties McMurray and gets in on higher finish at Dover. Whew!

Holy Shit! That was an intense last 80 or so laps..Only 6 points separated 6th-13th in the Chase standings, and McMurray is the odd man out. Thank you Matt Dibendetto(sp?) for that next to last caution when Jr had a loose wheel. Came in the nick of time, even though McMurray got by Jr on pit road after taking 2 tires and Jr took 4. And for the last caution with under 20 to go that allowed Jr to get back by McMurray. That was a nice move by Jr to get that pass on Kenseth & McMurray for 3rd.

McMurray came in in 11th, 1 finished 4th. If someone had told me before the race that McMurray would finish 4th I would have bet the paycheck, the mortgage, everything that McMurray would move on. The fact thet Jr came in 12th and had to finish 3rd to barely move on is amazing.

Ironically, if Johnson hadn't had the issue with the axle seal and had to go to the garage, then his Hendrick teammate Jr wouldn't have made it...

[93henfan]

And Harvick had to win to advance and did.

He was freaky fast.

[Ivytalk]

I let my youngest son go to the race with my dad today. Jeb Burton's car caught on fire right in front of where we sit. My son loves crashes and fires. Winning.

I ushered in section 215 today.

The Curse of Jimmie Johnson was broken today!

[93henfan]

Charlotte race only half over and Dale Jr. will likely need a win at Kansas or Talladega to advance.

Jr. smacks the wall early after coming down the track in front of Edwards. I'll have to see replays later. Looked like one of those deals where Edwards could have eased up, but wasn't necessarily obliged to.

[93henfan]

Jr. smacks wall again after NASCAR fails to clear track of fluid during a caution. Sam Hornish does the same.

Jr's only hope to advance now is a win at Kansas or Talladega.

[BDKJMU]

Results from Charlotte (12 Chase Drivers bolded)
1#22 Joey Logano- locks himself into the Elimintaro Round (Final 8)__________________________
#4 Kevin Harvick
3#78 Martin Truex Jr.
4#11 Denny Hamlin
5#41 Kurt Busch
6#19 Carl Edwards
7#3 Austin Dillon
8#24 Jeff Gordon
9#2 Brad Keselowski
10#43 Aric Almirola
11#15 Clint Bowyer
12#1 Jamie McMurray
13#17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
14#21 Ryan Blaney Ford 16
15#31 Ryan Newman
16#47 AJ Allmendinger
17#9 Sam Hornish Jr.
18#13 Casey Mears
19#10 Danica Patrick
20#18 Kyle Busch
21#42 Kyle Larson
22#6 Trevor Bayne
23#40 Landon Cassill
24#16 Greg Biffle
25#46 Michael Annett
26#14 Tony Stewart
27#38 David Gilliland
28#88 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
29#83 Matt DiBenedetto
30#34 Brett Moffitt
31#95 Michael McDowell
32#7 Alex Bowman
33#26 J.J. Yeley
34#33 Alex Kennedy
35#98 Reed Sorenson
36#27 Paul Menard
37#55 David Ragan
38#35 Cole Whitt
39#48 Jimmie Johnson
40#51 Justin Allgaier
41#23 Jeb Burton
42#20 Matt Kenseth
43#5 Kasey Kahne

[BDKJMU]

Jr. smacks wall again after NASCAR fails to clear track of fluid during a caution. Sam Hornish does the same.

Jr's only hope to advance now is a win at Kansas or Talladega.

Likely, but he still has a chance with back to back Top 5s at Kansas and Talladega and 3 of those in 2nd-11th having mechanicals or wrecks (esp getting caught up in the "big one" at Talladega).The only one with really no hope of advancing without a win is Kenseth..

[93henfan]

NASCAR's decision to modify the rules to do only one green-white-checkered finish bites it in the ass, as Dale Jr. is prevented from getting a chance to race for the win.

Dale Jr. finishes second at Talladega and is eliminated from the Chase. Ratings will suck as 50% of the fanbase no longer cares.

[93henfan]

Eliminated today:

Ryan Newman
Denny Hamlin
Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
Matt Kenseth

[93henfan]

Final 8:

1. Joey Logano
2. Carl Edwards
3. Jeff Gordon
4. Brad Keselowski
5. Kurt Busch
6. Martin Truex, Jr.
7. Kevin Harvick
8. Kyle Busch

[93henfan]

Some grumbling that Harvick intentionally wrecked Trevor Bayne to preserve his spot in the Chase. His car had an engine slowly letting go and he knew he would be at the back of the field after a lap under green. He also knew that freezing the field with Earnhardt Jr. in 2nd would eliminate Jr. from locking an auto qualifier with the win.

I'm with the grumblers. Very shady.

[89Hen]

Logano a whiney bitch on the radio after the first "non-attempt" when his checking up basically wrecked the field behind him. LOVED the booos he got during his victory lap and pulling into the circle.