Well, my first points post of the year so we'll list them all at this stage. Again, rainouts for qualifying are not counted so don't tell me I'm missing a pole position statistic. Also, races under 400 miles get half points, as per last year.

Link to points system can be found here.

Tez's NASCAR Qualifying Championship - standings after 9 rounds:

1 - Mark Martin, 339 points (3 poles)
2 - Jimmie Johnson, 279 points
3 - Kyle Busch, 258 points (1 pole)
=4 - Kurt Busch, 228 points
=4 - Jeff Gordon, 228 points
6 - David Reutimann, 216 points (1 pole)
7 - Greg Biffle, 204 points
8 - Tony Stewart, 174 points
9 - Juan Montoya, 171 points (1 pole)
10 - Brian Vickers, 148 points (1 pole)
11 - Jamie McMurray, 129 points
12 - Kasey Kahne, 126 points
13 - Martin Truex Jr, 123 points (1 pole)
14 - Ryan Newman, 111 points
15 - Regan Smith, 102 points
16 - David Ragan, 90 points
17 - Marcos Ambrose, 78 points
=18 - Denny Hamlin, 75 points
=18 - Sam Hornish Jr, 75 points
=18 - Scott Speed, 75 points
21 - Matt Kenseth, 64 points
22 - Kevin Harvick, 52 points
23 - Joey Logano, 51 points
=24 - Clint Bowyer, 39 points
=24 - Carl Edwards, 39 points
=24 - Brad Keselowski, 39 points
=27 - Bobby Labonte, 34 points
=27 - Reed Sorenson, 34 points
=29 - Dale Earnhardt Jr, 33 points
=29 - Paul Menard, 33 points
31 - Joe Nemechek, 31 points
=32 - AJ Allmendinger, 30 points
=32 - Dave Blaney, 30 points
34 - Jeff Burton, 24 points
=35 - Aric Almirola, 18 points
=35 - David Stremme, 18 points
37 - Robby Gordon, 15 points
=38 - David Gilliland, 9 points
=38 - Elliott Sadler, 9 points
=40 - Casey Mears, 6 points
=40 - Michael Waltrip, 6 points
42 - Todd Bodine, 3 points
=43 - Travis Kvapil, 1 point
=43 - Scott Riggs, 1 point


Tez's NASCAR Race Championship - standings after 9 rounds:

1 - Jeff Gordon, 285 points (1 win)
2 - Kurt Busch, 235.5 points (1 win)
3 - Matt Kenseth, 199 points (2 wins)
4 - Jimmie Johnson, 198 points (1 win)
5 - Tony Stewart, 191 points
6 - Greg Biffle, 181.5 points
7 - Clint Bowyer, 166.5 points
8 - Kyle Busch, 159.5 points (2 wins)
9 - Denny Hamlin, 141 points
10 - Jeff Burton, 132 points
11 - Kevin Harvick, 129 points
12 - Brian Vickers, 126 points
13 - Carl Edwards, 124 points
14 - Dale Earnhardt Jr, 121.5 points
=15 - Mark Martin, 109.5 points (1 win)
=15 - David Reutimann, 109.5 points
17 - Ryan Newman, 93 points
18 - Kasey Kahne, 91.5 points
19 - Juan Montoya, 81 points
20 - Brad Keselowski, 72 points (1 win)
=21 - AJ Allmendinger, 67 points
=21 - Marcos Ambrose, 67 points
23 - Martin Truex Jr, 58.5 points
24 - Jamie McMurray, 57 points
25 - Reed Sorenson, 53 points
26 - David Ragan, 52 points
27 - Michael Waltrip, 45 points
28 - Bobby Labonte, 40.5 points
=29 - Joey Logano, 39 points
=29 - Elliott Sadler, 39 points
=29 - Scott Speed, 39 points
32 - Paul Menard, 24 points
33 - David Stremme, 21 points
34 - Sam Hornish Jr, 17.5 points
35 - Casey Mears, 12 points
=36 - David Gilliland, 9 points
=36 - Joe Nemechek, 9 points
=38 - Robby Gordon, 6 points
=38 - Regan Smith, 6 points

I already know what Jeff is telling Mark; watch out for that blasted #48 who always comes on strong when we hit August.

So, once again, it's HMS leading the way in both titles...but we are only a quarter of the way through the season and the Chase will shake things up.

Well now, this will be interesting since my knowledge of NHL is about the same as my ability to decipher hieroglyphics. NASCAR is fine, but writing about ice hockey?

First time for everything and all that I suppose.

Or is it? Having lived over five years in New Zealand, I was inclined to become more interested in Rugby Union and, now that I am living in Vancouver, I felt the same had to be done for ice hockey. Now, I won't pretend to know all the rules since I doubt even the refs know them all, but I do know a half decent team to support when I see one.

The '2008 version' Vancouver Canucks reminded me very much of the Otago Rugby team; capable of surprising the 'elite' teams, maybe even stringing together a few wins on the trot, but never really a serious contender when it come to the run to the playoffs. I may have even told that to people I talked here...that backfired rather spectacularly since we clicked over to 2009.

January was a horrid month for them so my theory was working just fine...then along came February.

In the 31 games since Feb 1, they've gone 23 and 8 (you'll have to excuse my rookieness in lumping overtime games into both categories rather than splitting them up) and still have a shot at nabbing top spot in the Northwest division. It seems that the gamble on bringing Sundin to the Pacific is paying off.

Ok, so Mats hasn't done it all by himself, but his presense must surely have lifted the team. Luongo is having a stellar season, coming back strongly after injuring himself in November. The Sedin twins are either too busy scoring or setting up others, while Kesler and Burrows have been firing on all cylinders as well. I think the defence could still use some work...maybe they're relying too much on Luongo to save them which isn't a healthy stance to take in any sport with a net.

'Louie' is certainly playing a captains knock, but he will need more support if the team wants to win the Cup.

If guys like Salo, Ohlund and Bieksa can kick it up a notch, we may very well be seeing a Cup run by the Canucks...I just hope they don't meet a team from New York should they get there since history isn't on Vancouver's side if that happens *laugh*

However, that is looking too far ahead, the first step is to get passed whoever they meet in the first round. If they start to focus on the big prize too early, they'll be knocked out, no doubt about it...if there is one thing I have picked up from watching this season, it's that a two goal lead counts for squat until the clock gets to zero in the final period.

All that aside, I honestly believe that it's Sundin, and not Luongo, that holds the key to how far this team will go...after all; form is temporary, class is permanent.

"Mission accomplished" would be what was going through most of the people working on the #47 Camry this morning...no, not that stellar finish yesterday, but the fact that Marcos won't have to qualify on time from next week.

In fact, one could argue that Marcos has been the surprise of the season thus far. But for a blown engine and the tyre debacle at Atlanta the other week, he may very well have been in the top 20. Even so, to be sitting 24th, ahead of names like Newman, McMurray, Martin and Ragan is mighty impressive.

I think his form in qualifying has been more impressive at the moment, but that's not really a big surprise since Marcos has been doing that since he landed in the Truck series in 2006. Daytona is never a brilliant indication of how good the team is and Fontana he ran where I predicted he'd be by seasons' end; mid pack. His stunning qualy effort at Las Vegas was offset by the Toyota engine concerns and Elliott Sadler (granted, he was able to get one of his laps back when he blew by the leader on a restart but he had top 10 pace all day so it was disappointing to not take advantage of it).

We might start to see more TV time of this car after yesterday.

So we hit Bristol for the first short track of the year...Marcos doesn't like short tracks. Well, he may like them but he's never been able to get a good result at any.

I expected more of the same. He started off by being around 30th in practice so my thoughts were fine. Then came qualifying where he stuck his Camry onto row 7 and I was starting to scratch my head at where that pace came from. As for the race...well, who could have possibly predicted that?!

Good strategy had him up to 2nd by around lap 50 but everyone and their dog knew he'd fade...this was Bristol after all, and no rookie can survive 500 laps around that place, least of all an Australian with only three years oval experience, right?

He sure showed me up...badly.

Half distance came and went and not only was he capable of hanging with the leaders, he had the gall to pass renowned Bristol expert, Jeff Gordon. He then took about trying to pass Hamlin and after a bit of bumping, he gave the spot back to the #11...a wise choice I reckon since Denny isn't the calmest driver on the circuit and would surely remember this for future races had Marcos not let him back past.

Alas, his engine went down a cylinder with 200 laps to go and he dropped outside the top 5 for the first time since about when the race laps hit triple digits. He then lost another 50 laps after that so the Cinderella story of the day was starting to unravel. But Ambrose dug in and while his straight line speed was bad, his car worked brilliantly through the corners so he was able to sort of keep pace and held off Kurt Busch (you may have heard of him, he thoroughly dominated Atlanta and is very handy around Bristol) for the final top 10 spot, his first on an oval.

Marcos said after the race that this result went some way to prove he is more than a road ringer, he wants to show that he deserves his spot at the Cup level (I just hope that he makes the power rankings this week *laugh*). If he keeps that level of performance up, my prediction of him being top 25 will be smashed.

And if that happens, there's only one thing you can say to that; mission accomplished indeed.

 Well, after a layoff nearly as long as the drivers, I'm back...not much has changed since I've been gone really, just that outside has gotten colder and whiter I guess.

So let me get cracking on reviewing whether or not my fellow Australian will be up to snuff in the Cup series this season. After following my advice last year by sticking to the Nationwide series with a few Cup starts thrown in...Marcos, if you're reading this, my bank account has yet to reflect that cheque for my services, mate *whistles innocently*...he wound up in the top ten for the second straight season there and now steps up a level. Gone is the Ford logo that has adorned his racing overalls since 2001. Gone is the monkey that has been on his back ever since Montreal 2007 after his win at Watkins Glen last year, becoming the only driver to beat Kyle Busch on a road course might I add.

Oh yes, I fully expect Marcos to make some noise and mix it with the elite this year. Now, I'm not saying he'll come out, grab the pole and lead all 200 laps at Daytona, that would be stupid, but I am believing he is capable of pulling off what Kyle did last year and sweep both Cup road course races. The technical alliance between MWR and JTG Daugherty will work both ways since Marcos will, more than likely, be the lead driver at Sonoma and the Glen. Also, it should not be forgotten that he finished 18th and the highest MWR car at Phoenix...so the boy has been learning this 'turning left' thing.

Will this picture be repeated a year on? He will certainly be one of the favourites, that's for sure.

I think I'm right in saying that he will become the first Aussie to race in the 500 and, as was mentioned on 'Trackside', he can also claim to be the main (if not the only) reason Australia has decided to broadcast all the races and practice sessions. When he landed over there in 2006, he knew there was a strong chance of starting a few races and being chucked out for not being that great...remember that prior to 2006, he's had a grand total of zero laps on any oval track. But that hasn't happened and he appears to be one of those drivers whose results improve the higher up the ladder they climb. So gone also, and perhaps most crucially, is his expectation that he'd come back to Australia with his tail between his legs.

He's also a rather popular chap and I reckon that's down to one thing, a factor that most hardcore fans appreciate; he's got here without a silver spoon. There has never been an offer from a Mr Hendrick, a Mr Roush or a Mr Gibbs to drive one of their cars, he's had to claw his way up from the Truck series and people love a battler.

All the best for 2009, Marcos...let's see if you can get that #47 back in victory lane for the first time since (according to jayski) 1986.

I wrote this to mainly benefit those who want to know a bit about F1 and V8 Supercars.

Now, back in April, I posted a blog to help those who were miffed with the Formula 1 side of things for Will's trifecta weekends. From what I can gather after reading through it again, most of it will stay the same for 2009 with one exception; I honestly believe that Renault will make the jump from the second tier teams to the top flight...with Fernando being my tip to win his third title seeing how well that Renault improved over the course of the year.

Some things have changed; Vettel has replaced a retiring Coulthard at Red Bull, leaving an open seat at Toro Rosso and will certainly have the upper hand on Mark Webber considering Mark is currently in hospital with a broken leg having been hit by a car while riding his bike in Australia yesterday. The other main change is that, for the first time since 1997, the drivers will be using full slicks instead of the grooved ones.

The basic specs of an F1 car is as such; 2.4L V8 engine, restircted to rev at a maximum of 19000 rpm and producing around 750 bhp. Overall, the car weighs about 1350 lbs, including the driver and, given the chance, one can go from 0 to 100mph and back to 0 in roughly the time it take you to write out your full name.

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While F1 is worldwide, the same can't be said for the V8 Supercars (despite racing in NZ and Bahrain, they will probably always be considered exclusively Australian...the link is to their main site by the way). There are just two manufacturers; Ford and Holden (aka GM) and the field is usually around 30 cars. The compilation of the championship is a mix of sprint races (each lasting between half an hour to an hour) and the two endurance races where you have to use codrivers. The top teams include Holden Racing Team, Ford Performance Racing, Team Vodafone and the HSV Dealer Team. Drivers who always challenge for the title are Garth Tander, Rick Kelly, Jamie Whincup, Craig Lowndes and Mark Winterbottom.

 

On first glance, a V8 Supercar isn't terribly different from the current Cup car; both have a rear wing, both have a splitter and both have V8 engines...but that's about it. While NASCAR uses, basically, a shell that fits over the car, V8's are closer to being considered 'stock' with its headlights, brakelights and windshield wipers. Performance wise, the Cup car walks all over the V8's, as it should since it has the bigger engine (the V8's use a 5L one) and can reach a higher top speed (again, this is expected since it has about 200 more bhp), but the V8 Supercar weighs 400 lbs less so I'd imagine it would have better braking capacity.

Hope that helps a little bit.