Big Ones result in the One

Gory details are here.

Van's Bums reassurted itself as the team to beat, rebuilding a near 100-point lead over the field. So much for the blog post prior to Talladega.

Van's also posted the top score this week, its RMFN-best fourth victory of the season. Van's surge was boosted by the fact that the rest of the field stunk. Our average of 167 was the lowest of the season and the 28 sub-200-point scores (including our eight defectors) were the most at a track this season (I missed joining the club by just 1 point). Three other teams - yduck, Sarge's Squad and No right turns - scored more than 300.

OVERALL

Van's score also vaulted it to No. 1 in the Yahoo Second Half standings and a spot in the Single Elimination championship. Last week's post about folks catching Van's got a lot less pointless after Talladega.

CHASE

Van's opened a 172-point lead over BLOWINSMOKE, helped by the 50-point bonus for this week's top score. Much like the real Chase, this is looking like a three-team race; fourth-place No right turns is more than 200 points back.

SINGLE ELIMINATION

Rolling Thunder's 200 points at Talladega were enough to beat TURBO by 10 points in the semifinals; Van's big score helped it knock off Rev-A-Lusions by 37. The championship and third-place matches run through the final race at Homestead.

Rolling Thunder went through RacingAngel, Longs Gap, Beer Belly, Black Bear and TURBO to reach the final. Rolling averaged 201.8-point victories, but its closest was the last one against TURBO.

Van's Bums eliminated Hendrick Express, hardbody, Dirt Runners, Barrie Lang and Rev-A-Lusions to reach the final. Van's averaged 142.6-point victories, and in addition to the close win over Rev, it defeated Barrie Lang by 22 in the quarterfinals.

DOUBLE ELIMINATION

Top-seeded testcar (209 points at Talladega) advanced to the championship against Van's with an 85-point win over Longs Gap. Van's defeated testcar by 99 in the last Winners' Bracket matchup in Round Seven, which covered three races. This round also covers three races, and testcar will need to win to force a winner-take-all final over the last three races.

Van's and testcar were seeded and had first-round byes.

Van's defeated RoadRage, gordon hater, No right turns, Team Parski and testcar en route to the finals. It was largely an easy road with an average win over 184.6, and the closest matchup against testcar.

testcar defeated Crash & Burn, need4speed, Team Lester, Yabos (twice) and Longs Gap to reach the finals; it also lost to Van's. Five of its matches were decided by less than 100 pionts, including a 21-point win over Lester, and 15- and 18-point wins over Yabos. It's average win: 38.1 points.

WORLD CUP

Halfway through the semifinals, Cooter leads Team Lester by 27 points and RacingAngel holds a 71-point cushion over Barrie Lang. This round runs through race 32 (Martinsville); the championship and third-place matchups run to the final race at Homestead.

HEAD TO HEAD

Team Lester held its four-game lead over No right turns and five-game lead over TURBO. After that there are 14 teams within five games of each other.

Eliminated: The defectors (8), Longs Gap, photo finish, Chevy's Redneck and gonzo; large group is on the bubble.

Standings

1. Team Lester 63-19-0

No right turns 59-24-0

TURBO 57-21-3

Rubbins Racin, 55-22-3

yduck, KLA Sadler 55-24-2

BLOWINSMOKE 55-26-0

Cooter 54-26-3

Rolling Thunder 54-26-1

10. need4speed 54-28-0

Rev-A-Lusions 53-27-3

Sarges Squad 52-27-1

reckhard 52-39-0

3WIDE, Van's Bums 52-30-0

speedracer 51-28-2
Team Parski 50-31-0

FC Newman 50-32-1

20. AFTER BURNER, RacingAngel 49-31-2

FORDFUCUS 49-31-3

testcar 49-32-2

Barrie Lang 49-32-1

Black Bear 49-32-0

CHK 49-33-0

nstag8rs 47-30-3

KitchenPass 46-34-1

Gordon #1 46-36-1

RAZN 46-35-0

30. AERO PUSH 46-37-0

Team Wyoming 45-35-2

Smokin Aces 45-35-1

Crash & Burn 45-36-1

RoadRage 45-37-0

Dirt Runners 45-38-0

hardbody 44-37-2

RugRatRacers 44-38-1

gonzo 43-39-0

Chevys Redneck 41-35-5

40. photo finish 40-41-0

Longs Gap 36-43-2

Yabos, Junior, asian assassins, Canyon County, Beer Belly, DWI, gordon hater, Hendrick Express, Kntky 0-82-16

Charlotte schedule

Chevys Redneck v. nstag8rs
No right turns def Junior
RAZN v. reckhard
Rev-A-Lusions v. hardbody
BLOWINSMOKE def asian assassins
Dirt Runners def Canyon County

Sarges Squad v. TURBO

CHK v. testcar

RoadRage def Beer Belly

Barrie Lang v. RugRatRacers

Rubbins Racin v. gonzo

3WIDE v. Gordon #1

Black Bear v. Team Lester

Vans Bums v. FORDFUCUS

yduck v. speedracer

Cooter v. Team Wyoming

RacingAngel v. Rolling Thunder

AERO PUSH def gordon hater

need4speed def Yabos

AFTER BURNER v. KLA Sadler

Smokin Aces v. Team Parski

Crash & Burn def Hendrick Express
Longs Gap v. FC Newman
KitchenPass def Kntcky
photo finish def DWI
Smokin Aces v. nstag8rs
Longs Gap v. reckhard
No right turns v. hardbody
RAZN def asian assassins
Rev-A-Lusions def Canyon County

BLOWINSMOKE v. TURBO

Dirt Runners v. testcar
Sarges Squad v. RoadRage
CHK v. RugRatRacers
gonzo def Beer Belly
Barrie Lang v. Gordon #1

Rubbins Racin v. Team Lester

3WIDE v. FORDFUCUS
Black Bear v. speedracer
Vans Bums v. Team Wyoming
yduck v. Rolling Thunder
Cooter def gordon hater
RacingAngel def Yabos
AERO PUSH v. KLA Sadler
need4speed v. Team Parski

AFTER BURNER def Hendrick Express

FC Newman def Junior

Crash & Burn v. KitchenPass

Chevys Redneck v. photo finish

Kntcky tied DWI