Righto, NHIS kicks off round one of the Chase for the Plate with Jeff Gordon looking to extend his points lead over the other 11 drivers. Now, first things first; my Chase format.
Similar to what JJD is using, but mine will focus purely on qualifying since I'm not doing a race one this season. Now, I have tallied up the top 12 drivers' performances and have given them 2 points for each pole position they scored during the opening 26 races (the exception being the 3 rainouts we had). Jeff gets an additional 2 points for being top of the pile after last week.
Why am I dishing them out in 2 points you ask? Because that's the gap between first (10) and second (8).
The other thing I'm doing is to cut out the Chase guys from the rest...so I'll have two points systems going and will give a Chaser and additional point if they manage to start the race from pole instead of just being the fastest Chase driver. So yes, two points standings, both using the same system (F1), but assume Jeff Gordon starts one of these ten races from pole, he gets 11 points. But if, say Kevin Harvick lines up next to him, he gets 10 points for the 'Best of the Rest' title.
Clear as mud? Meh, you'll soon pick it up since you're all clever so let's get on with qualy 1 of 10 and 27 of 36.
Clint Bowyer took great offence to the fact that he missed the Qualifying Chase by sticking his #07 Jack Daniels chevy on pole, denying any of the Chasers that bonus point. It was Clint's second pole of the season, and also keeps him as the only RCR driver to score a pole. Starting alongside Clint will be Martin Truex Jr who got bumped out of the Chase last week by Carl Edwards.
Clint takes his second pole of the season
The best Chaser is Kurt Busch who will start in third and gets the 10 points for being the best of the 12. Jeff keeps his lead but Ryan Newman has closed the gap from six points to one. Jimmie Johnson also jumps up the order by dint of being the second fastest Chase driver while Kasey Kahne went the other way and drops from third to sixth in the standings. Ironically, his teammate, Elliot Sadler, made the biggest move going from twelfth (equal ninth if you want to get picky) to fifth.
Tez's NASCAR Qualifying Championship - Chase for the Plate after Qualifying 1
To the rest then, where Clint and Martin make the jumps from 15th and 14th to equal 13th...had Clint made the Chase, he'd now be sitting pretty in third place, one point behind Ryan but he didn't so the best he can hope for is to stay where he is in 13th.
Tez's NASCAR Qualifying Championship - Best of the Rest after round 27
=13 - Clint Bowyer, 29 points (2 poles) =13 - Martin Truex Jr, 29 points 15 - Tony Stewart, 28 points 16 - Greg Biffle, 21 points =17 - Dave Blaney, 20 points (1 pole) =17 - Reed Sorenson, 20 points (1 pole) 19 - David Gilliland, 18 points (1 pole) =20 - Kevin Harvick, 16 points =20 - Mark Martin, 16 points =20 - Ricky Rudd, 16 points 23 - Scott Riggs, 15 points =24 - Casey Mears, 14 points (1 pole) =24 - JJ Yeley, 14 points (1 pole) =24 - Bobby Labonte, 14 points =27 - Jeff Burton, 13 points =27 - David Stremme, 13 points 29 - Robby Gordon, 8 points =30 - Sterling Marlin, 6 points =30 - David Ragan, 6 points =30 - Ken Schrader, 6 points =30 - Kenny Wallace, 6 points =34 - Boris Said, 5 points =34 - Johnny Sauter, 5 points =36 - Matt Kenseth, 4 points =36 - Joe Nemechek, 4 points 38 - Bill Elliot, 2 points
Well, well, the battle for 13th appears to be just as hot as the one for the overall lead. Jeff stays out front and can thank the sole point he scored this week...could be the difference after Miami.
I think some of the chase drivers are getting into the play it safe mode from last year or thet really have their cars set up for the race in traffic. Not set up for qualifying well it looks like.
Tez is a rare creature; an Australian who was living in New Zealand before moving to Canada. He's also a Civil Engineer who is hoping to spend his Monday to Friday sitting in front of a computer surfing the inter...uh, working hard for an Engineering Consultant or Contractor when he finds a job. His heart is torn between his two loves; F1 and NASCAR.
Due to his high interest in those, his blogs will likely focus on them with the occasional foray into sports that don't get much (if any) mention on this website. All blogs and/or comments will more than likely have his usual dollop of sarcasm and general Aussie spin on them.
Amazingly, he also managed to score 2 MiB nominations on consecutive days (August 5 & 6, 2007) after announcing he had been keeping track of them...he's considering hiding under his bed as a result.
