Qualifying saw Kyle Busch extend his lead over second place due to the fact that neither Dale Earnhardt Jr or Carl Edwards managed to crack the top 17 in Richmond. In fact, there were just minor shuffling for the top 14 but Reed Sorenson stormed into the top 20 (15th) while Kevin Harvick and Juan Montoya join Reed to bump out Michael Waltrip and Matt Kenseth with Mike Skinner hanging in thanks to being tied for 20th with Juan. Possibly most interesting (for me anyway) was that now there's a three-way tie for 10th...interesting that all three guys scored points this week yet still manage to equal the others.
Tez's NASCAR Qualifying Championship - top 20 standings after 10 rounds:
The race was rather dull for the first 350 odd laps as Denny Hamlin showed his pole position was no fluke and he set about relighting Nigel Mansell's famous saying of "home race is always worth an extra couple of tenths a lap" (or something like that...apologies to Mr Mansell if you're reading this and know that's not the exact quote) by leading all but one lap. Unfortunately for Hamlin, but good for us watching, circumstances dictated that a slowly deflating tyre (yeah, yeah, I know I'll have to get used to the other spelling in a few weeks time) ruined his chances for a win and provided what should have been the second and third most talked about incident; Denny stopping on the track, Dale and Kyle having some fender bashing.
But, since Jr was involved, that incident jumped straight from three to #1 while the Michael Waltrip ramming Casey Mears thing got swept under the carpet...which I blame the commentators for doing that. Any other driver and Darrell would have been all over them but blood thicker than water and all that.
Anyway, Clint Bowyer snuck through the havoc to score his second Cup win while Kyle pulled out some more points on the field (again) by finishing right behind him. Amazingly, there's just one new face this week (Truex for Mears) but a few spots were swapped around which is possibly due to Richmond being the fourth 'half point' race as even with the green-white-chequered finish, it still didn't reach my 400 mile cut-off.
Tez's NASCAR Race Championship - top 20 standings after 10 rounds:
Righto, not much point in getting stuck into both races since they've been talked about on here for a few days (weeks in Phoenix's case) so I'll get straight to the standings.
Qualifying sees Jeff Gordon drop out of the lead while David Ragan relinquishes his top 10 spot as Tony Stewart moves up. Falling out of the top 20 completely are Aric Almirola, Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer, Bobby Labonte, David Reutimann and Kevin Harvick who are replaced with Elliott Sadler, Ken Schrader, Joe Nemechek, Jamie McMurray, Scott Riggs and Matt Kenseth. I suppose Nemechek is possibly the biggest surprise considering until Talladega, he had just the one point...might be worth picking him in Daytona in July for a good starting position.
Tez's NASCAR Qualifying Championship - top 20 standings after 9 rounds:
The RC sees Kyle Busch still leading over Edwards...but that's only half the story. Carl did overtake Kyle after Phoenix but due to his problems at 'dega, he couldn't keep Kyle behind him. Denny Hamlin moves from 11th to 6th while Gordon goes from 10th to 12th. New to the top 20 are Casey Mears and Juan Montoya at the expense of Elliott Sadler and Martin Truex Jr.
Tez's NASCAR Race Championship - top 20 standings after 9 rounds:
Well, after the washout in Bristol, the qualifying title headed to NASCAR's smallest track where Jeff Gordon proved, again, that he's rather handy around that place as he picked up his second pole position for the season. Dale Earnhardt Jr couldn't crack into the top 17 so Gordon extended his lead to more than a round (78 points), but as we saw last year, certainly not safe from being caught.
A few surprises in the top 10 with Aric Almirola, Jamie McMurray (after a horrid start to his 2008 campaign) and Ken Schrader all starting from the first five rows while Denny Hamlin continued his march up the pecking order as he lined up next to Gordon on the front row.
Texas saw a role reversal for the Hendrick boys as Dale Jr took the pole while Gordon failed to score any points. David Ragan's strong recent form stayed with him, qualifying seventh behind David Reutimann while Sam Hornish Jr picked up his first point of the year.
So, from Atlanta, no change at the top with Gordon leading Jr in a HMS 1-2 but Kyle Busch does manage to get past Carl Edwards for third. Michael Waltrip drops from outright seventh to equal 13th with Hamlin going the other way to move from equal 13th to outright sixth. Almirola, Ragan and Reutimann push out Casey Mears, Scott Riggs and Reed Sorenson to make up the top 20.
Oh, and I've given full points for qualifying unlike what I'm doing with the races...sort of hard to set a cut-off distance in qualifying.
Tez's NASCAR Qualifying Championship - top 20 standings after 7 rounds:
I shall put up the TNRC for both rounds tomorrow most likely...no pictures this week since both Jeff and Jr have had pikkies this season anyway so I didn't really see the point *shrugs*
Easy week for the QC as we had our second washout for the season. It looks like we're heading for a repeat of 2007 with those so maybe I should slap down a tenner on Jimmie going back-to-back...despite what frevr3 reckons on his blog.
To the race then; and what a cracking one it was!
Joe Gibbs were the team to beat once again, mirroring their early season pace of 2007, but failing to reach victory lane...hmm, better put it on Jimmie to win the RC too. Jeff Burton finally broke through to win his first Cup race in Bristol, backing up Clint Bowyer's win in the Nationwide race the night before. In a great day for Richard Childress, Kevin and Clint followed Jeff home to score a 1-2-3 finish.
Jeff takes his first win of the season...and also Chevy's first win. Who'd have thought that after 2007?
Carl Edwards dropped from equal second to outright sixth while Bowyer went from 19th to 14th. Bobby Labonte drops out of equal 20th as Denny Hamlin picked up points for finishing in sixth.
Tez's NASCAR Race Championship - top 20 standings after 5 rounds:
So what's all those half points for? Well, if you remembered my post in January explaining the new points system, then you'd know that I'm not giving full points for the races that are significantly shorter in distance than the majority. Tough bikkies if you are a Dale Earnhardt Jr fan and believe I'm sabotaging his points...if I'd wanted to do that, I'd have altered my system every week so Kasey Kahne would miraculously get the maximum points.
**ok, after much deliberating (ta JJD), this is how the points will go; races under 400 miles get half points, the rest get the full compliment. That means the races at Martinsville, Phoenix, Richmond, Loudon, Sonoma, and Watkins Glen will all be scored the same way this one was**
No race this weekend as the Cup guys enjoy some chocolate, assuming their trainers allow them, so we'll see in a fortnight if Martinsville can produce a similar race to this one.
Less than a week from having a huge shunt at Vegas, Jeff Gordon snared pole position and headed an all-HMS front row as Dale Earnhardt Jr had to settle for second. This also means that Jeff jumps up from third to first followed by Jr, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson round out the top five (Jimmie getting it over Mark Martin by dint of his Daytona pole).
Kurt Busch, Patrick Carpentier, Matt Kenseth and Elliott Sadler all fall out this week while Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr sneak their way into the top 20.
with his pole position, Jeff assumes the lead from his teammate, Dale Jr.
Tez's NASCAR Qualifying Championship - top 20 standings after 4 rounds:
After last weeks race, Carl's car failed post-race inspection and he was docked points from both his points standings as well as the bonus points he'd get for the win should he make the Chase...well, he might prefer reading my standings since I never bothered with taking points off a driver last year and am choosing to do the same; win on Sunday and get the points for TNRC, end of story.
Moving on, Atlanata saw Jr, Kyle, Clint Bowyer and Carl all take turns out front but Carl's visions of three in a row when up in smoke as he had to pull off with around 50 laps to go which all but gifted the win to Kyle...the first for Toyota. Tony Stewart backed up his teammate to finish second and jump from equal sixth to equal second overall while Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne dropped from third and fourth to seventh and eighth respectively.
Out completely this week are Robby Gordon and Travis Kvapil, making room for Clint Bowyer, Denny Hamlin and Bobby Labonte.
Kyle managed to translate his early season pace into a win.
Tez's NASCAR Race Championship - top 20 standings after 4 rounds:
Next week sees the series head to Bristol...and the Busch brothers have won the last two races there at this time of year so we'll have to see if that trend continues. Amazingly, this blog also happens to be done exactly a year to the date (snuck in by three minutes the timer reckons) that my first foxsports blog was posted...can't believe it's been that long already.
Fresh off winning the 2007 TNQC, Jimmie Johnson set about making sure he stayed on top by snagging pole position for the Daytona 500 with Michael Waltrip alongside him. Dale Earnhardt Jr and Denny Hamlin shared the second row of the grid as they quickly got to terms with their new rides for '08.
Rain was the main course at Fontana so the points from Daytona stood as they headed to Vegas. Hometown boy, Kyle Busch, showed that he's doing his best to prove to Rick Hendrick that he made a mistake by letting him go last year as he took the pole while Carl Edwards would start next to him. Dale Jr, by dint of Johson and Waltrip struggling to find the one lap pace to start near the front, leads the Qualifying Championship with Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Busch and Johnson nipping at his gearbox.
"I'm sorry, your name was Jimmie who again?"
Tez's NASCAR Qualifying Championship - standings after 3 rounds:
1 - Dale Earnhardt Jr, 81 points 2 - Carl Edwards, 78 points 3 - Jeff Gordon, 75 points =4 - Kyle Busch, 72 points (1 pole) =4 - Jimmie Johnson, 72 points (1 pole) 6 - Mark Martin, 66 points 7 - Michael Waltrip, 60 points =8 - Denny Hamlin, 45 points =8 - Casey Mears, 45 points =10 - Ryan Newman, 39 points =10 - Mike Skinner, 39 points =10 - Reed Sorenson, 39 points =13 - Greg Biffle, 36 points =13 - Tony Stewart, 36 points 15 - Scott Riggs, 33 points 16 - Kurt Busch, 27 points =17 - Kasey Kahne, 24 points =17 - Elliott Sadler, 24 points 19 - Patrick Carpentier, 15 points =20 - Bobby Labonte, 12 points =20 - Matt Kenseth, 12 points =22 - David Ragan, 9 points =22 - David Reutimann, 9 points 24 - Juan Montoya, 6 points 25 - Kevin Harvick, 4 points 26 - Dale Jarrett, 3 points 27 - Kenny Wallace, 1 point
After a rather unexpected victor in Ryan Newman won at Daytona, it looked like we were back to business with HMS being the team to beat as first Jeff Gordon and then Jimmie Johnson took turns at the head of the field. But it was to prove irrelevent in the end as the weather made the race go into Monday. And, it was the Roush team who ended up going to victory lane again at Fontana as Carl Edwards took the eighth win of his career.
He didn't have to wait long to win his ninth race either...just six days in fact. Now, there is a little black (fluid) cloud over his Vegas win so we'll see what happens with that. Vegas had me scrambling around for clarification over who finished sixth; Kasey Kahne or David Ragan. Sites were split as to who finished in front ofthe other while the foxtrax gave them the exact same time for crossing the line...but I've gone with Ragan in sixth and Kahne seventh, so tough bikkies if you lose out by two points at seasons end, Kasey.
With the win, Edwards flipped over Kyle Busch who is having a similar start to this season as last; having a great car but not closing the deal.
I still say one of these days he'll misjudge that.
Tez's NASCAR Race Championship - standings after 3 rounds:
So there we go, every driver who has scored points in both titles is there...I shall just list the top 20 each week after this I think. Thumbs up to Kvapil for a great finish at Vegas and thumbs down to no one mentioning it...guess that's due to not having a sponsor on the car which is a pathetic reason but very much in keeping with NASCAR.
No, I didn't forget about doing my TNQC and TNRC for Daytona...I just didn't really see the merit in posting them this week since the top 17 are, funnily enough, the top 17 qualifiers/finishers so I'll wait until after Fontana to put the list up here...congrats to the Penske bunch though.
So what is a Teretonga you may ask? I'll add two more words for you; Ruapuna and Timaru...no idea?
Well then I suggest you do some geography, or at least look to your right and read my profile...yep, those three are names of racetracks in New Zealand, South Island if I want to get picky. To get to Teretonga, you head towards Invercargill and keep going before you get to the sign which states that it is the southern-most FIA sanctioned track in the world...at least, I think that's what it said but the wind was howling and pushing the rain sideways so it was hard to make out at the time. Luckily the weather did clear up (well, the rain stopped at least) around lunchtime so I could confirm that's what it says.
2008 marked the first ever time, apparently, that NZ hosted a few of the CanAm cars...which strikes me as odd considering how much success Kiwis had during the nine seasons it was raced from 1966 to 1974. In fact, the series was often called the 'Bruce and Denny show' as Bruce McLaren (yes, the same McLaren as the F1 team...rather poor they don't play the NZ anthem when they win but you can't have everything I guess) and Denny Hulme (NZ's only F1 World Champion) pretty much thrashed everyone until the Porsches showed up in the last few years of them.
In the 58 events the duo entered, they collected a total of 39 wins...makes HMS effort of 18 from 36 rather poor really. Oh and another four races were won by drivers using McLarens bringing the total percentage of races won in the nine years to 60%.
A familiar scene...the two orange McLarens out front
CanAm managed to attract drivers from the world over including Mark Donohue, A.J. Foyt, Dan Gurney and Jackie Stewart just to name a few. So what made drivers want to race these things? I suppose it would be the tight restrictions on what you could race...anything goes.
Yep, the rules for CanAm were very simple; build anything that has wheel arches and you could race it. That meant turbos, superchargers, four-wheel-drive, ground effects, wings, super-fat racing slicks...basically anything nowdays that you can't use *laugh*
CanAm provided the biggest Ferrari V12 engine ever (though I don't think they actually raced it) as well as the turbocharged Porsche flat-12. By the end of the series, the cars were pushing 1300 hp and well capable of speeds over 240 mph. Probably the funniest story we got told was that in a recent race over in the States, there was a quick flip-flop at the end of a straight which everyone was lifting off for. One driver however told his crew that if they BLEEP more wing on, he'd be able to take it flat...and he did...at over 200 mph...rather him than me *hair rise*
Anyway, just thought I'd share that one here and would recommend going and seeing them if you get a chance (there were just five on display here so I can only imagine what 20 would be like)...I just wish the weather had been better than it was at Teretonga.
Ok, so the format for 2008 in my points will be changing. Last year I used purely the F1 style where only the top 8 score points and, low and behold, Jimmie Johnson managed to overhaul Jeff Gordon in the TNRC despite me not using a Chase format for it. He also won the Qualifying title too so, while the debate will linger within NASCAR fans about how a brilliant season by Gordon went unrewarded, the fact is that's motorsport; we love it because it's unpredictable.
Anyway, 2008...and here are the changes:
Out - F1 points system, no Chase for TNRC, two bonus points per pole at start of Chase in TNQC, two bonus points to the leader of the TNQC after round 26.
In - V8 Supercar points system for regular season, Chase for both titles, CART points system for both Chases, four bonus points per win/pole at Chase start, four bonus points to the leader per race/qualifying that he 'wrapped' up the regular season with (ie; if the rest can't catch him with one race to go, he gets 4 points, two races would be 8 and so on).
So let's have a look at these points systems so you guys and girls will actually have a clue of what I'm using. The V8 Supercars changed their points a couple years ago to reward the top 17 finishers in every race instead of scoring points for everyone. The benfit of this has seen the last two Championships go right down to the final laps of the final race instead of someone wrapping up the title with a handful of races remaining. They also weigh the points depending on the weekend format; you win one 30 lap sprint race and you get less points than if you win an endurance race.
This is how the points system goes for a sprint race:
And this is how I'm going to weigh them; those races that have a scheduled distance significantly less than 'normal', I'm halving the points. That means Martinsville and Bristol for a start and I'll have to see if there are any others. I'll be keeping the 75% threshold for rain-affected races however...if we get between 50% and 75% then only half points will be given as well.
For the Chase, as I said, the old CART system will be put into use. That rewards all 12 drivers and I will be keeping the seperate scoring for Chase drivers and the rest like I did for the TNQC last season:
Obviously this will make much more sense...well, I hope it does anyway...once the Chase starts and we'll see how much, if at all, this shakes up the actual Sprint Cup order.
Ahh, Homestead...site of Greg Moore's final victory in the old CART series before his death in Fontana during the final race.
But this NASCAR, where they race with roofs and stuff so you're not interested in openwheelers...well, ignoring Messrs Montoya, Carpentier, Hornish Jr and Villeneuve I guess. Anyway, Miami has basically been Greg Biffle's personal playground the last few years so I must say I was surprised that he didn't score any points in qualifying. The main battle was whether or not not Jeff Gordon could pinch this title off Jimmie Johnson. To do so, he needed to grab the pole and hope that Jimmie was behind five other qualy-chasers...well that certainly worked....assuming he and Jimmie swapped cars this weekend and Jeff is driving the #48.
No?
Well then I guess that means Jimmie can celebrate for the second week in a row having clinched my TNRC title last time out at Phoenix. A sterling effort from Johnson, continuing his red-hot form to nab pole from Ryan Newman while the 2008 Budman will line up third.
Tez's NASCAR Qualifying Championship - Chase for the Plate, final standings
1 - Jimmie Johnson, 79 points 2 - Jeff Gordon, 63 points 3 - Ryan Newman, 57 points 4 - Kurt Busch, 49 points 5 - Kasey Kahne, 47 points 6 - Denny Hamlin, 28 points =7 - Dale Earnhardt Jr, 23 points =7 - Carl Edwards, 23 points 9 - Juan Montoya, 21 points 10 - Elliott Sadler, 20 points (sorry mate...been spelling your name with one 't', my bad) 11 - Kyle Busch, 14 points 12 - Jamie McMurray, 9 points
Carl Edwards and Dale Earnhardt Jr end up tied in 7th with 1 pole each for the season...and I can't be bothered going through the whole season to figure out who had the better starting positions so they end up equal. I suppose the biggest story out of these 12 guys are the GEM boys of Kasey Kahne and Elliott Sadler. Compared to where they currently sit in the TNRC (Kahne in equal 22nd, Sadler in equal 31st), this has to be the best example of how big the difference is between getting a car to go fast for a few laps and a race distance...those guys just haven't had it in the races, maybe next year will be better.
So, another congratulations to Jimmie Johnson and the #48 bunch for winning the inaugural...I'm starting to sound like a broken record, sheesh *rolls eyes*...TNQC.
fine, so that's not a plate, but he still wins the TNQC anyway...and he's very pleased as you can see
Ok and here's the rest...I say preliminary since I have to check Mark's tally again.
Tez's NASCAR Qualifying Championship - Best of the Rest, preliminary standings
13 - Martin Truex Jr, 75 points (1 pole) 14 - Greg Biffle, 51 points (1 pole) 15 - Kevin Harvick, 42 points 16 - Bobby Labonte, 40 points 17 - Mark Martin, 36 points (must check this...he only had 25 in my post last week so maybe I stuffed up that number when I posted) 18 - Matt Kenseth, 35 points 19 - Scott Riggs, 34 points 20 - Clint Bowyer, 33 points (2 poles) 21 - Tony Stewart, 31 points 22 - Dave Blaney, 30 points (1 pole) 23 - Casey Mears, 29 points (1 pole) 24 - JJ Yeley, 28 points (1 pole) 25 - David Gilliland, 24 points (1 pole) 26 - Reed Sorenson, 21 points (1 pole) =27 - Jeff Burton, 19 points =27 - David Stremme, 19 points 29 - Ricky Rudd, 16 points 30 - Johnny Sauter, 15 points 31 - Michael Waltrip, 13 points (1 pole) 32 - David Ragan, 12 points 33 - Dale Jarrett, 10 points =34 - Joe Nemechek, 9 points =34 - Tony Raines, 9 points =36 - AJ Allmendinger, 8 points =36 - Robby Gordon, 8 points =36 - Brian Vickers, 8 points =39 - Sterling Marlin, 6 points =39 - Ken Schrader, 6 points =39 - Kenny Wallace, 6 points =42 - John Andretti, 5 points =42 - David Reutimann, 5 points =42 - Boris Said, 5 points 45 - Jacques Villeneuve, 3 points =46 - Ward Burton, 2 points =46 - Bill Elliot, 2 points =46 - Mike Skinner, 2 points 49 - Paul Menard, 1 point
And that's it until next year for this thing...thanks for (pretending to anyway *laugh*) being interested in it and I hope next years battle is as good as this one has been.
Ok so I haven't updated this since Talladega...urgh, great, five weekends ago *rolls eyes*
At that stage Jimmie Johnson had taken a good grip on the qualifying title and that hasn't changed. What has changed is that Jeff Gordon has moved up to second (how ironic since they're also 1-2 in the race standings; both NASCAR's and mine) with Ryan Newman dropping to third.
While Johnson has been on a tear in the races, doing a three-peat, it's been his consistancy that has seen him keep his points lead over Gordon. Not that Jeff hasn't been trying, he's outscored Johnson 39-31 over the last five races...he just let Jimmie get too far ahead at the start.
Tez's NASCAR Qualifying Championship - Chase for the Plate after Qualifying 9
So with one qualifying session to go, Jeff must outscore his teammate by nine points to win this thing outright and save me doing a countback...the bonus point for pole would be very helpful as would some bad luck for Jimmie. But, as this season has seen, those HMS cars are pretty much bulletproof so it's really Johnson's title to lose.
Down to two; only these guys can win the first TNQC title next week in Miami
To the rest then where, after this weekend, Martin Truex Jr has wrapped up 13th with Greg Biffle doing the same for 14th.
Tez's NASCAR Qualifying Championship - Best of the Rest after round 35
13 - Martin Truex Jr, 74 points (1 pole) 14 - Greg Biffle, 51 points (1 pole) 15 - Bobby Labonte, 40 points 16 - Kevin Harvick, 37 points 17 - Scott Riggs, 34 points 18 - Clint Bowyer, 33 points (2 poles) 19 - Dave Blaney, 30 points (1 pole) =20 - Casey Mears, 29 points (1 pole) =20 - Tony Stewart, 29 points 22 - JJ Yeley, 28 points (1 pole) =23 - Matt Kenseth, 25 points =23 - Mark Martin, 25 points =25 - David Gilliland, 21 points (1 pole) =25 - Reed Sorenson, 21 points (1 pole) 27 - David Stremme, 19 points 28 - Ricky Rudd, 16 points =29 - Jeff Burton, 15 points =29 - Johnny Sauter, 15 points 31 - Michael Waltrip, 13 points (1 pole) 32 - Dale Jarrett, 10 points =33 - Joe Nemechek, 9 points =33 - Tony Raines, 9 points =35 - AJ Allmendinger, 8 points =35 - Robby Gordon, 8 points =35 - Brian Vickers, 8 points =38 - Sterling Marlin, 6 points =38 - David Ragan, 6 points =38 - Ken Schrader, 6 points =38 - Kenny Wallace, 6 points =42 - John Andretti, 5 points =42 - David Reutimann, 5 points =42 - Boris Said, 5 points 45 - Jacques Villeneuve, 3 points =46 - Ward Burton, 2 points =46 - Bill Elliot, 2 points =46 - Mike Skinner, 2 points 49 - Paul Menard, 1 point
Well I have finally managed to become a true stats person...and have deleted my points system file by mistake *rolls eyes*
So...uh, I'll just put up the points for the last two weekends at once and only for the Chase as I will need to do another file up for the full points...got to love modern technology sometimes
Tez's NASCAR Qualifying Championship - Chase for the Plate after Qualifying 4
Well, well, not very surprising that Jimmie's taken a stranglehold on this thing as he's managed to nab two poles during the Chase races which has given him two extra points. His closest challenge is Ryan Newman who is proving once again that he can be the 'rocket man' when his car is hooked up. Kasey Kahne benefitted greatly from Talladega where he was the fastest Chaser...as did his teammate Elliot Sadler who started right behind him.
Looks like a battle between Jimmie and Ryan right now...should be a cracker.
It's a bit early to celebrate, Jimmie...still have 6 sessions to go, mate.
After dominating here last time out, Martin Truex Jr was one of the hot picks to take pole but it was a Chaser, Jimmie Johnson, who stuck his #48 Lowes Chevy on pole (and getting the bonus point for doing so) with Juan Montoya lining up beside him...could be some fireworks at the start of the race but we'll see. Montoya has slowly been making progress recently and the last time he started this far up the grid he managed to get a top five (at Indianapolis).
I'm starting to run out of pictures for Jimmie...not that he cares about that of course
Anyway, due to Jeff Gordon's rather poor showing, we have a lead change in the standings this week as Johnson takes charge and has a four point gap over Kurt Busch.
Tez's NASCAR Qualifying Championship - Chase for the Plate after Qualifying 2
The best non-chaser was Truex so he gets the ten points this week but won't be credited with a pole position. Since Clint Bowyer wasn't able to repeat his Loudon form, Truex now has a ten point lead over the rest for 13th overall. Scott Riggs made a jump from 23rd to 17th due to being the second best non-chase driver. Two drivers got off the mark this weekend; AJ Allmendinger and David Reutimann.
Tez's NASCAR Qualifying Championship - Best of the Rest after round 28
13 - Martin Truex Jr, 39 points 14 - Clint Bowyer, 29 points (2 poles) 15 - Tony Stewart, 28 points 16 - Greg Biffle, 25 points 17 - Scott Riggs, 23 points 18 - Kevin Harvick, 21 points =19 - Dave Blaney, 20 points (1 pole) =19 - Reed Sorenson, 20 points (1 pole) 21 - Bobby Labonte, 19 points 22 - David Gilliland, 18 points (1 pole) =23 - Mark Martin, 16 points =23 - Ricky Rudd, 16 points =25 - Casey Mears, 14 points (1 pole) =25 - JJ Yeley, 14 points (1 pole) =27 - Jeff Burton, 13 points =27 - David Stremme, 13 points 29 - Robby Gordon, 8 points 30 - Matt Kenseth, 7 points =31 - Sterling Marlin, 6 points =31 - David Ragan, 6 points =31 - Ken Schrader, 6 points =31 - Kenny Wallace, 6 points =35 - Boris Said, 5 points =35 - Johnny Sauter, 5 points 37 - Joe Nemechek, 4 points =38 - AJ Allmendinger, 2 points =38 - Bill Elliot, 2 points 40 - David Reutimann, 1 point
So for the first time since I've been keeping track of this, Jeff Gordon has relinquished his lead. However, this shouldn't be cause for alarm as he hasn't really had a bad run of performance this season so he'll probably bounce back with pole next week.
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.
After a mad dash back across the USA, the NASCAR group arrived in Richmond for the final race before the Chase starts. Qualifying wasn't washed out so we had a battle royale going on for the last spot in my Chase. Martin Truex Jr had the inside running by dint of scoring that solitary point last week which broke the tie we had for 12th but it wasn't enough to lock him in as both Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart scored points this week.
It's an all-Hendrick Motorsports front row with Jimmie Johnson securing his first pole of the season while Jeff Gordon assured that he'd get the bonus points for leading the title as it heads into the final 10 races.
Jimmie will start where he left off last time at Richmond...in front
Strange thing that was his first pole actually since Jimmie is noted to be a reasonably strong qualifier...and equally as strange is that there is just one RCR car in the top 15 so, despite being quite good in race trim, they're pretty much BLEEP in qualifying. Juan Montoya hangs on to make the Chase in his rookie season, a sterling effort from the Columbian.
Tez's NASCAR Qualifying Championship - Standings after round 26
And there we go, Tony misses out just like last year in the race Chase. If you have a problem with your driver missing out...tough, take it up with NASCAR for being wusses and having 3 qualifying sessions that were rained out which ruined a few drivers' chances. It's not my problem they can't reschedule.
Jeff Gordon sees his nine point lead over Ryan Newman cut to six as the Chase begins
Jeff Gordon will be hoping he can carry on the form he had over the first 26 races while the other 11 are all eager to be crowned the inaugural Qualifying King.
Might as well do both at the same time since I've got back into my GT Legends PC game and doing this seriously cuts into my playing time.
To the all-new-and-improved Bristol...where tradition demands tempers to run hotter than engines. Qualifying saw Kasey Kahne trundle (when compared to the Busch and Truck series anyway...the new car remember) around fastest of the lot and since Jeff Gordon couldn't get any points while Ryan Newman only managed two for starting in seventh, Kasey jumped past Ryan into second place and sits just 12 points behind Jeff. Juan Montoya also made a move and squeezes into the top ten for the first time since I started this idea.
Has Kasey finally managed to find his 2006 form?
Tez's NASCAR Qualifying Championship - Standings after round 24
With only two more chances to make the Chase for qualifying...chances are it'll get rained out so the field will now be set. Hope that doesn't happen since she's a battle royale for the final spot right now.
To the race then where, considering the season Kahne's been having, everyone was waiting for him to fade...and it came after leading 300 odd laps...and he only got passed by Carl Edwards...hmm, guess that's a mighty good 'fade'. Anyway, Carl got his second win of the year and was the only frontrunner to actually score any points of consequence really. Kurt Busch had yet another strong race as did Dale Earnhardt Jr, but it was Kasey who made the biggest jump going from equal 32nd to outright 20th.
Carl will look to build on the momentum going into the final 12 races
Since none of leaders scored points, it's the same as it was after Michigan for the top six.
Tez's NASCAR Race Championship (TNRC) Standings - after round 24
(* denotes half points only awarded as race did not reach 75% completion)
With the season heading into the final third, both titles are still wide open and if Jeff wants to get a clean sweep, then he better find the form that took him to the top of both standings in the first place. The rest of the field don't intend on rolling over and letting him win either championship.
Tez is a rare creature; an Australian living in New Zealand. He's also a Civil Engineer who generally spends his Monday to Friday sitting in front of a computer surfing the inter...uh, working hard for an Engineering Consultant. 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.
