Nascar Cup 2011 Race 31 - Lowes

Our second trip to Charlotte was bitter sweet.  The first disappointment was that we failed to break our last DNF record of 35.  This race was a measly 25 DNFs.  I was impressed by Chad's Jedi mind trick on Jeff Gordon to make him drop from 2nd to 14th a lap down.  Darrel's night was fraught with more glitchy behavior.  We're going to have to set you up with a T1.  Or just bomb your neighbors off the side of the mountain to free up some bandwidth.  The nicer thing to do would be to invite them over to watch.  I imagine anyone living close to Darrel is either a racing fan, is becoming a racing fan, or is moving away.  We also had some stupid AI that managed to wreck in some very awkward spots that caused headaches for Chad and Sandy (and almost me).  We did see some very positive things however.  Darrel and I put up some blazing fast speeds under the 30 second mark.  Chad was leading for a bit and when he wasn't, he was easily keeping pace with me at the front.  This was also his second best finish of the season.  A definite improvement, though, fortunately, it hasn't affected your ability to cause devastating carnage.

Coming into the last 5 races and we are all in positions to hit milestones.  They will be tough but all situations are possible.  Look at Scot; Pulled off two wins at Bonecrusher in exactly the same fashion.  Amazing.  Next is Talladega, Martinsville (eugh), Texas, Pheonix, and Homestead.

Track: LOWE'S MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Date: 10/26/11

Session: Practice

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	013	T Nadz	30.083
2	061	D Hamilton	30.306
3	021	T Bear	31.066
4	055	C Ferguson	31.412
5	24	J Gordon	31.579
6	029	M Max	31.595
7	48	J Johnson	31.667
8	31	J Burton	31.818
9	14	T Stewart	31.860
10	33	C Bowyer	31.875
11	17	M Kenseth	31.894
12	29	K Harvick	31.966
13	19	E Sadler	31.985
14	18	K Busch	31.989
15	56	M Truex Jr.	32.029
16	99	C Edwards	32.039
17	88	D Earnhardt Jr.	32.042
18	39	R Newman	32.050
19	2	K Busch2	32.057
20	9	K Kahne	32.090
21	5	M Martin	32.100
22	11	D Hamlin	32.127
23	16	G Biffle	32.138
24	90	C Mears	32.183
25	1	J McMurray	32.201
26	00	D Reutimann	32.272
27	42	J Montoya	32.310
28	83	B Vickers	32.328
29	98	P Menard	32.331
30	55	M Waltrip	32.361
31	71	B Labonte	32.393
32	7	R Gordon	32.395
33	32	R Sorenson	32.417
34	87	J Nemechek	32.431
35	6	D Ragan	32.477
36	43	A Allmendinger	32.478
37	78	R Smith	32.498
38	38	T Kvapil	32.607
39	26	D Stremme	32.614
40	47	M Ambrose	32.617
41	37	D Gilliland	32.623
42	34	T Raines	32.663
43	12	B Keselowski	32.841

Weather: Clear, 80 °F, North 7 mph

Session: Qualifying

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	013	T Nadz	29.864
2	061	D Hamilton	30.191
3	021	T Bear	30.910
4	48	J Johnson	31.504
5	29	K Harvick	31.593
6	2	K Busch2	31.658
7	24	J Gordon	31.701
8	16	G Biffle	31.702
9	33	C Bowyer	31.717
10	31	J Burton	31.721
11	9	K Kahne	31.723
12	5	M Martin	31.728
13	17	M Kenseth	31.757
14	14	T Stewart	31.758
15	11	D Hamlin	31.775
16	99	C Edwards	31.821
17	18	K Busch	31.865
18	1	J McMurray	31.947
19	71	B Labonte	31.982
20	90	C Mears	31.984
21	42	J Montoya	31.985
22	56	M Truex Jr.	31.998
23	88	D Earnhardt Jr.	32.067
24	83	B Vickers	32.072
25	39	R Newman	32.088
26	19	E Sadler	32.136
27	7	R Gordon	32.174
28	00	D Reutimann	32.217
29	38	T Kvapil	32.220
30	26	D Stremme	32.267
31	98	P Menard	32.316
32	6	D Ragan	32.323
33	43	A Allmendinger	32.357
34	87	J Nemechek	32.385
35	37	D Gilliland	32.389
36	12	B Keselowski	32.529
37	34	T Raines	32.538
38	32	R Sorenson	32.559
39	55	M Waltrip	32.651
40	78	R Smith	32.675
41	055	C Ferguson	32.692
42	47	M Ambrose	32.700
43	029	M Max	49.206

Weather: Clear, 80 °F, North 15 mph

Session: Happy Hour

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	061	D Hamilton	30.330
2	013	T Nadz	30.385
3	021	T Bear	31.067
4	055	C Ferguson	31.514
5	48	J Johnson	31.631
6	029	M Max	31.691
7	24	J Gordon	31.849
8	88	D Earnhardt Jr.	31.911
9	33	C Bowyer	31.921
10	29	K Harvick	31.927
11	9	K Kahne	32.022
12	16	G Biffle	32.060
13	11	D Hamlin	32.064
14	5	M Martin	32.092
15	18	K Busch	32.113
16	56	M Truex Jr.	32.120
17	17	M Kenseth	32.165
18	1	J McMurray	32.167
19	39	R Newman	32.169
20	31	J Burton	32.178
21	90	C Mears	32.221
22	99	C Edwards	32.227
23	98	P Menard	32.227
24	83	B Vickers	32.340
25	42	J Montoya	32.361
26	19	E Sadler	32.420
27	2	K Busch2	32.444
28	87	J Nemechek	32.483
29	71	B Labonte	32.486
30	32	R Sorenson	32.504
31	00	D Reutimann	32.512
32	37	D Gilliland	32.581
33	7	R Gordon	32.616
34	14	T Stewart	32.619
35	26	D Stremme	32.619
36	78	R Smith	32.642
37	38	T Kvapil	32.660
38	55	M Waltrip	32.680
39	6	D Ragan	32.684
40	43	A Allmendinger	32.697
41	12	B Keselowski	32.831
42	47	M Ambrose	32.837
43	34	T Raines	33.456

Weather: Clear, 74 °F, Northwest 9 mph

Session: Race

OFFICIAL STANDINGS

F	S	#	DRIVER	INTERVAL	LAPS	LED	POINTS	STATUS
1	1	013	T Nadz	94.391	60	46*	185	Running
2	10	31	J Burton	-0.60	60	5	175	Running
3	4	48	J Johnson	-0.89	60	0	165	Running
4	9	33	C Bowyer	-1.18	60	0	160	Running
5	23	88	D Earnhardt Jr.	-1.47	60	3	160	Running
6	22	56	M Truex Jr.	-1.77	60	0	150	Running
7	16	99	C Edwards	-2.07	60	0	146	Running
8	15	11	D Hamlin	-2.38	60	0	142	Running
9	19	71	B Labonte	-2.99	60	0	138	Running
10	18	1	J McMurray	-3.31	60	0	134	Running
11	39	55	M Waltrip	-3.66	60	0	130	Running
12	26	19	E Sadler	-4.88	60	0	127	Running
13	35	37	D Gilliland	-5.33	60	0	124	Running
14	7	24	J Gordon	-1L	59	0	121	Running
15	33	43	A Allmendinger	-1L	59	0	118	Running
16	12	5	M Martin	-2L	58	0	115	Running
17	32	6	D Ragan	-2L	58	0	112	Running
18	3	021	T Bear	-2L	58	1	114	Running
19	29	38	T Kvapil	-5L	55	0	106	Retired
20	31	98	P Menard	-14L	46	0	103	Camshaft
21	11	9	K Kahne	-25L	35	0	100	Header
22	24	83	B Vickers	-25L	35	0	97	Piston
23	41	055	C Ferguson	-26L	34	5	99	Accident
24	25	39	R Newman	-29L	31	0	91	Accident
25	28	00	D Reutimann	-34L	26	0	88	Retired
26	40	78	R Smith	-41L	19	0	85	Accident
27	38	32	R Sorenson	-41L	19	0	82	Accident
28	30	26	D Stremme	-41L	19	0	79	Valve
29	21	42	J Montoya	-41L	19	0	76	Accident
30	17	18	K Busch	-41L	19	0	73	Accident
31	43	029	M Max	-42L	18	0	70	Accident
32	2	061	D Hamilton	-44L	16	0	67	Accident
33	37	34	T Raines	-45L	15	0	64	Retired
34	27	7	R Gordon	-46L	14	0	61	Retired
35	14	14	T Stewart	-46L	14	0	58	Radiator
36	6	2	K Busch2	-52L	8	0	55	Header
37	36	12	B Keselowski	-53L	7	0	52	Retired
38	20	90	C Mears	-53L	7	0	49	Retired
39	13	17	M Kenseth	-53L	7	0	46	Retired
40	8	16	G Biffle	-54L	6	0	43	Retired
41	5	29	K Harvick	-54L	6	0	40	Retired
42	34	87	J Nemechek	-54L	6	0	37	Accident
43	42	47	M Ambrose	-56L	4	0	34	Accident

Caution Flags: 8 (28 laps)

Lead Changes: 8 (5 drivers)

Weather: Clear, 73 °F, West 13 mph

Pitstop Frequency: 3x

AI Strength: 95%

PENALTIES

LAP	#	INFRACTION	PENALTY
4	029	Unsafe pit exit	Go to end of longest line
9	061	Unsafe pit exit	Go to end of longest line
15	029	Speeding in pits	Go to end of longest line
14	061	Unsafe pit exit	Go to end of longest line
47	021	Entering closed pits	Go to end of longest line
48	021	Speeding in pits	Go to end of longest line