NASCAR 2011

[Lavabe]

52 laps to go
Order:
Blech, Kenseth, Biffle, Edwards, Kahne, Dinger, MM, Harvick, Kurt, Hamlin.
Vickers 12
Newman 13
Smoke 14
Burton 19
Ambrose 15
JamieMac 22
Jr 21
Truex 29
C list race: Ragan 17, Bayne 23, Smith 24

Kurt Busch is apoplectic on the radio.

[Lavabe]

47 laps to go. Some folks MAY want to make this their last pit stop, although that might be pressing the mileage a bit too far.
Green flag pit stopping begins now.

KAHNE ran out of fuel, and the car refused to fire. What should have been a 16 second stop turned into a 58 second one. He is toast.
Vickers in the pit.

42 laps to go: CAUTION: JPM spins out after running out of fuel.
Lally had some front end damage.

Lots of changes to the order as a result.

Biffle is Lucky Dog.
Other people who already pitted will come in again to top off the fuel.
VERY complicated. We'll see what happens now.

[Lavabe]

36 laps to go: Green Flag racing again; Some WILL be able to make it to the end without a stop
25 laps to go:
Order:
Edwards, Hamlin, Kenseth, Menard, Newman, Stewart, Blech, Smoke, Newman, JG, Kurt, Bowyer.
Burton 15
Jr 13
Harvick 18
Vickers 17
Dinger 19
Ambrose 20
JamieMac 24
Kahne 30
Truex 26

C list race: Ragan 22, Bayne 23, Smith 12

Harvick had problems on the restart.

[Lavabe]

15 laps to go: Kenseth doesn't have enough fuel to make it all the way; Edwards will be pushing it too; Hamlin is pushing it too.

Boy, that last caution in the middle of green flag pitting screwed things up BIG time.

Order:
Edwards, Hamlin, Kenseth, Menard, Stewart, Blech, Newman, Smoke, Newman, JG, Biffle, Kurt.
Both Harvick and Jr have tagged the wall, but are still functioning.
Jr 12
Burton 19
Vickers 18
Harvick 21
Dinger 17
Ambrose 23
JamieMac 24
Truex 25
Kahne 30

C list race: Smith 13, Ragan 20, Bayne 22.

[Lavabe]

9 laps to go: CAUTION: Jr had a cut tire.

Everyone pits!!

[Lavabe]

5 laps to go: Boy, that pit stop changed a LOT in the race.

Order:
Hamlin, Kenseth, Edwards, Menard, Stewart
Blech, Newman, Kurt, MM, Vickers.

[Lavabe]

3 to go: Regan Smith makes it into the top 10, then gets a flat.

It's OVER!!!

Hamlin wins!!

Order of finish:
1-5: Hamlin, Kenseth, Blech, Menard, Edwards
6-10: Newman, Smoke, Bowyer, MM, Vickers
11-15: Kurt, Cassill, Dinger, Harvick, Biffle
16-20: Bayne, JG, Logano, JamieMac, Ragan
21-25: Jr, Labonte, Ambrose, Burton, Kes
26-30: Truex, JJ, Kahne, Gilliland, JPM
Smith 33

[YmoBeThere]

Ugh, that was a horrific ending...for my fantasy team.

[Lavabe]

Looks like colchar, Tilly, and Marvin were in a tight battle for the win this week.
I believe that Ymo and I scored nearly the same.
Usul should be next after Ymo and me.

[Lavabe]

MM cut in front of Jr, causing Jr to tag the wall late.

Jr is pissed at MM.
I am also pissed at MM!

[Lavabe]

15 laps to go: Kenseth doesn't have enough fuel to make it all the way; Edwards will be pushing it too; Hamlin is pushing it too.

Boy, that last caution in the middle of green flag pitting screwed things up BIG time.

Order:
Edwards, Hamlin, Kenseth, Menard, Stewart, Blech, Newman, Smoke, Newman, JG, Biffle, Kurt.
Both Harvick and Jr have tagged the wall, but are still functioning.

Sometimes things get crazy during the race. Apologies for the confusion with Newman.

[Lavabe]

The Duchess, Tilly Galore, wins this week over colchar by two points. Congratulations Duchess!
King Marvin was 7 points further back in 3rd.
I came in 4th, some 40 points behind Marvin.
Ymo and Usul were another 15 points behind me.
The other three in the league did not appear to enter any picks.

How does this affect the season standings?
Ymo now leads by a mere THREE points over Marvin.
I am 86 points further back.
Usul is 59 points behind me in fourth.
Tilly is 199 points further behind Usul.
Colchar is 26 points behind the Duchess.
mph is 196 points further back.

On to Wine Country!!

[knights68]

The Duchess, Tilly Galore, wins this week over colchar by two points. Congratulations Duchess!
King Marvin was 7 points further back in 3rd.
I came in 4th, some 40 points behind Marvin.
Ymo and Usul were another 15 points behind me.
The other three in the league did not appear to enter any picks.

How does this affect the season standings?
Ymo now leads by a mere THREE points over Marvin.
I am 86 points further back.
Usul is 59 points behind me in fourth.
Tilly is 199 points further behind Usul.
Colchar is 26 points behind the Duchess.
mph is 196 points further back.

On to Wine Country!!

Nice Summary!
I am still in a spinout, but recovering.
Tilly slingshoted (is that a word?) past all others this week (I am ssoooo proud!)
And now Ymo and I are neck -n- neck in overall standings, with DukeU and Lavabe drafting right behind, with Tilly revving up on the outside.

What will happen next race fans? Will the Duchess reign in the end?
Will Ymo take the wider lead? Will Marvin snatch defeat from the jaws of victory?
What a tight race it has become!

:batman:Stay tuned next week, race fans. Same bat time... same bat channel! lol

[colchar]

It seems some drivers are looking forward to changes to the cars that are scheduled for the 2013 season:


http://www.torontosun.com/2011/06/19/ha ... -tinkering

[Lavabe]

It seems some drivers are looking forward to changes to the cars that are scheduled for the 2013 season:


http://www.torontosun.com/2011/06/19/ha ... -tinkering

Yes, after the race, Edwards came off REALLY whiney with the bit about downforce. I wonder how much of the downforce issue is a result of his airborne adventure at Talladega a couple of years ago.

Seriously, this was the first time I ever heard Edwards sound so whiney. I wonder if he is prepared to call into question how downforce affected some of his own victories.
;)

What was really interesting in the article, colchar, was the bottom story about Joe Gibbs Racing trying to get Edwards (probably to replace Joey Logano). THAT would be interesting!!

[DevilWearsPrada2.0]

I can read Lavabe's comments about the race, and know about the whole race in 5 minutes. Thanks for the updates, and keeping everyone up to date with Nascar Happenings and Musings.

[Lavabe]

I can read Lavabe's comments about the race, and know about the whole race in 5 minutes. Thanks for the updates, and keeping everyone up to date with Nascar Happenings and Musings.

Thanks, DWP!

I was a little concerned yesterday, as everything fell apart in the last 1/4 of the race. WAY too many changes going on, especially in the last 15 laps.

I really do suspect that Mark Martin received a whole lot of grief from Hendrick Motor Sports for his insane cutoff of Jr. Jr probably also got a minor reprimand for saying "PISSED OFF" on national TV. All in all, a very BAD day for Hendrick (JJ, JG, MM, Jr).

[Lavabe]

The AP (and linkable through ESPN.GO.COM) is reporting that Red Bull is pulling out of NASCAR Sprint Cup at the end of the year. What does this mean?

1) Kasey Kahne is due to go to Hendrick next year to replace MM. Kahne will be sponsored there by Farmer's Insurance. GoDaddy (currently with MM) is holding out a bit until Danica rises to Sprint Cup level.
2) Brian Vickers will be looking for a ride. I wonder if he'll go where Edwards doesn't go.

[Lavabe]

Sonoma and Infineon practicing and qualifying. On Speed, most of the discussion is about whether drivers will be seeking revenge on Jeff Gordon for JG's nasty accident-causing style from last year.

[YmoBeThere]

I forgot to properly set up my team for this week's race...