Sunday, August 22, 2010

The Right Turn at Bristol

Turn Right Once In Awhile appears to have the overall title locked up. Based on eliminations and TROIA's advancements after Bristol in the single, double and World Cup competitions, can anyone see a way it isn't a done deal? 50th in the fall season maybe?

More comments later this week (also fist-bump to me for a 300; about damn time).




nascar10.bristol2

Monday, August 16, 2010

Michigan, part II

MICHIGAN
The second visit to Brooklyn produced one of our worst race weekends of the season - just one 300 score (congrats to Caravan Driver with a 330), seven below 200 and a near-embarrassing average of 249 (so says the guy with a season average of ... 252).
The last visit here wasn't much better - two scores above 300 and an average of 257.
All of that sets up what is traditionally an exciting Saturday night at Bristol. The last time we were here, 12 teams topped 300 and we averaged 252 (sigh). Given that, we'll have eliminations in five of our competitions. Time to go for broke.


OVERALL
Turn Right Once In Awhile held the top spot, 0.7 ahead of BLOWINSMOKE.


CHASE
Caravan's win at Michigan vaulted the team from 20th to 13th and currently into the Chase field in the last spot. It looks like the teams just on the outside will need wins in the remaining three races to make the playoffs.


SINGLE ELIM - BRACKET
Bassman and Damn Sunday appear headed to the next round; the other two spots are up for grabs. The quarterfinals end at Bristol.


SINGLE ELIM - HEAT
3 Virgins leads Tony is the Man for the final of four semifinal spots by just 5 points. Last place Al Briggs is just 50 points behind 3 Virgins. The quarterfinals end at Bristol.


DOUBLE ELIM - BRACKET
yduck holds a slight lead in the remaining winners' bracket matchup; the three losers' bracket pairings have margins of less than 100. The seventh round ends at Bristol.


DOUBLE ELIM - HEAT
Damn Sunday and #3 Dale Earnhardt are separated by just 4 points in the winners' heat heading into the final race of the seventh round. In the losers' group, Rolling Thunder leads Sunday Money by 11 points for the final advancing spot. Last place Tony is the Man is 52 behind Rolling. The seventh round ends at Bristol.


WORLD CUP
The higher seeds lead four of the eight matchups, and the top seed (Sunday Money) is among those facing deficits. Al Briggs and Damn Sunday appear headed to the quarterfinals; the round of 16 ends at Bristol.




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Monday, August 9, 2010

The Glen

My love-hate relationship with Tony Stewart continues ... if B.Said has a decent finish, I sniff the 300 level again. But Tony is/was Tony, and that wasn't going to happen this year. To the stuff that matters ...


OVERALL
We have our first change atop the leaderboard for the first time since the first race at Pocono. BLOWINSMOKE held the top spot for seven races, but Turn Right Once In Awhile took the lead for the first time this season after the Glen.
For those interested, a look at how's led for how many weeks in this competition: BLOWINSMOKE (8), Damn Sunday Drivers (4), CLOWN CAR RACING (3), Monster (3), Stone Cold (2), Revalusions (1), and Turn Right (1)
And BLOWIN has also blown away my theory that a fast start to the season is required to win this competition. After Daytona in February, BLOWIN stood in 44th place.


CHASE
I forgot to change the labels for the cutoff on the right side of this page before uploading the stats. However, I can tell you that the current cutoff is 12 teams - as of now, 3 Virgins would be in and Go Daddy would be out. We'll reset the points, add the regular season win bonuses and stagger the points based on standings - all after the Richmond race.


GLEN
The RMFN surge continues - 19 300+ scores and just three below 200. Monster's Glen-best 360 was the second highest top score of the season behind BLOWIN's 380 at Sonoma (RMFN also combined for 24 300+ scores at Sonoma).


SINGLE ELIM BRACKET
Two races to go in the quarterfinals - SNAPPY, Rolling and Bassman hold OK leads; Damn Sunday appears headed for the semifinals.


SINGLE ELIM HEAT
After four of six races in the quarterfinals, the eight teams are separated by just 83 points, and spots two through six by just 36 points. Hang on, fellas ...


WORLD CUP
Two races left in this round, which will produce our quarterfinalists. Two of the eight spots appear to belong to Al Briggs and Damn Sunday.


DOUBLE ELIM - BRACKET & HEAT
After one of three races in the seventh round, not much has been decided.



nascar10.watglen

Monday, August 2, 2010

Penn 20 too long ...

I really could have used some rain with Hornish in the lead ... instead I settled with the 295 and am still without a 300-point race this year. I blame global warming.


OVERALL
Our leaders haven't fared that great in the second half (25th and 32nd, respectively), but the lead for BLOWINSMOKE and Turn Right Once in Awhile could be too much for the contenders to covercome. They'll need some advancements in the elimination competitions and some losses by the leaders to move up and make the final weeks interesting.


CHASE
With six races remaining before the cutoff, 14 teams are currently eligible for the title in this competition. With 18 300+ scores at Pocono (a season high for the league), moving up has been a tall order of late. Over the last three races, RMFN has combined for 35 300+ scores and just five below 200. The group's average of 285 was 1 point behind the season best at Sonoma.


DOUBLE ELIM BRACKET
yduck posted a 62-point win over BLOWINSMOKE in the winners bracket to secure a top-5 finish, as did the Cinderella of the field - Gotta Love Jr. GLJ is the No. 32 seed in this competition and barely advanced out of the first round - an 11-point lead over "~" relative Abbie Knows. Since then, GLJ has mostly cruised aside from a 7-point win over Bassman in the Third Round. GLJ beat Turn Right by 60 to advance.
In the losers' bracket, Sunday Money, 3 Virgins (the lowest seed left here at No. 34), Monster, and Stone Cold round out the rest of the field.


DOUBLE ELIM HEAT
The winners' bracket is all about the 30s. No. 35 Damn Sunday and No. 37 #3 Dale Earnhardt advanced over BLOWINSMOKE and Turn Right. They are joined by Sunday Money, Tony is the Man, Rolling Thunder and Bassman in the seventh round losers bracket.


SINGLE ELIM BRACKET
Halfway through the quarterfinals. SNAPPY LOBSTA, Damn Sunday Drivers, Rolling Thunder and Bassman lead; the overall leaders are currently trailing their matchups.


SINGLE ELIM HEAT
Halfway through the quarterfinals. BLOWINSMOKE needs to make up 36 points to move into the top 4, and Turn Rich nees to make up 59 - both over the next three races.


WORLD CUP
After the first of four races in this round, just one item to note - Damn Sunday will likely advance to the quarterfinals after building a 135-point lead over No right turns. The other seven matchups are within 55 points.













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