A dark day for the human drivers in the desert sun. All DNFs for us and sadly not much of the rest of the field. Practice was promising enough with us all making some decent laps and having cars to race with. Qualifying pushed me and Darrel to the front with Sandy and Chad sandbagging. After several failed attempted starts, we got going and went 6 laps before disaster. Chad had actually spun a lap before with no caution. Coming out of 2, he oversteered the car again and was running right up to the gators when Darrel and I came upon him. I misjudged which direction he was headed and sideswiped him hard.

This would be the start of the human downfall. Darrel managed to avoid the team TMR debacle (and no that doesn't mean Trainable Mentally Retarded, thank you very much). But he was slowed up enough that Biffle would run up beside him and knock him sideways.

After the restart and some repaid time in the pits, we got going again. Not long after, Ragan Smith and I got together going into 3.

More yellow laps, pits, and back to racing. The next incident would come shortly after the restart as Darrel found himself caught outside of Junior and hit the wall past the dogleg. This caused him to bungle into traffic a bit leading to the most massive accident for the night.

For Darrel, this was the end. Engines don't work well upside down.

Being damaged myself, I started getting tight back under racing and another few laps would be when I got tangled with Harvick entering turn 3.

Despite the abuse, I kept going and got fixed as much as I could. Starting back with the likes of Gilliland and company would ultimately set me up for failure. After restarting and running a lap or two, these selfish backmarkers couldn't get out of the way and I was once again flung out. This time, my car would die in the pits.

Chad's exit from the race was much less spectacular and really disappointing compared to previous routes. A blown engine right on the restart would quietly end Chad's night.

Chad really needs a nick name like Le Miserable or Bad Lucky. He managed to get back on the lead lap after going two laps down before this happened. And that was after the large amounts of abuse and clean racing over most of the race.

Anyway, it was now down to Sandy who was giving the top 30 drivers a run for their money. Closing in to the final 5 laps, he was making a run on Annett when he pushed wide coming out of 4.

He bounced off the number seven, kept off the inside wall and was clipped by Ken Schrader. This set him facing the pits where he was quickly smacked by Casey Mears.

He wasn't dead yet, but, sure enough, Reutimann put the nail in the coffin and blasted the driver side, ending Sandy's race, and making him a virtual quadriplegic.

He couldn't even die in piece as the rest of the field came around and started piling in.

The four remaining laps would wrap up under caution with Casey Mears somehow winning even though his car had no business running at the end of the race.

So we go to high banks and fast black top of Las Vegas. See you all next week.

Results

Session: Practice

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	013	T Nadz	29.308
2	99	C Edwards	30.491
3	7	M Annett	31.089
4	22	J Logano	31.328
5	36	J Yeley	31.432
6	30	D Stremme	31.609
7	1	J McMurray	31.615
8	10	D Patrick	31.675
9	32	K Schrader	31.687
10	93	T Kvapil	32.014
11	35	J Wise	32.217
12	87	J Nemechek	44.283
13	17	R Stenhouse Jr	44.650
14	21	T Bayne	45.277

Weather: Clear, 75 °F, Northwest 12 mph

Session: Qualifying

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	013	T Nadz	28.960
2	061	D Hamilton	29.700
3	16	G Biffle	29.875
4	88	D Earnhardt Jr	29.877
5	4	K Harvick	29.923
6	41	K Busch2	29.961
7	48	J Johnson	30.068
8	18	K Busch	30.075
9	24	J Gordon	30.079
10	99	C Edwards	30.104
11	14	T Stewart	30.109
12	20	M Kenseth	30.137
13	11	D Hamlin	30.232
14	31	R Newman	30.232
15	5	K Kahne	30.251
16	9	M Ambrose	30.282
17	22	J Logano	30.303
18	27	P Menard	30.332
19	34	D Ragan	30.368
20	15	C Bowyer	30.403
21	2	B Keselowski	30.425
22	1	J McMurray	30.613
23	47	A Allmendinger	30.631
24	56	M Truex Jr.	30.632
25	13	C Mears	30.724
26	55	B Vickers	30.738
27	87	J Nemechek	30.838
28	30	D Stremme	30.855
29	021	T Bear	30.922
30	83	D Reutimann	30.944
31	38	D Gilliland	30.952
32	43	A Almirola	30.953
33	93	T Kvapil	31.067
34	21	T Bayne	31.133
35	10	D Patrick	31.212
36	36	J Yeley	31.223
37	7	M Annett	31.256
38	26	M Waltrip	31.306
39	35	J Wise	31.400
40	32	K Schrader	31.407
41	33	B Scott	31.465
42	17	R Stenhouse Jr	31.479
43	055	C Ferguson	31.612

Weather: Clear, 75 °F, Northeast 9 mph

Session: Happy Hour

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	013	T Nadz	29.651
2	48	J Johnson	29.796
3	4	K Harvick	30.033
4	061	D Hamilton	30.121
5	41	K Busch2	30.291
6	24	J Gordon	30.318
7	021	T Bear	30.340
8	16	G Biffle	30.341
9	15	C Bowyer	30.344
10	88	D Earnhardt Jr	30.371
11	5	K Kahne	30.402
12	20	M Kenseth	30.405
13	31	R Newman	30.448
14	14	T Stewart	30.470
15	1	J McMurray	30.513
16	11	D Hamlin	30.525
17	18	K Busch	30.564
18	47	A Allmendinger	30.570
19	99	C Edwards	30.606
20	27	P Menard	30.756
21	34	D Ragan	30.760
22	7	M Annett	30.829
23	13	C Mears	30.859
24	83	D Reutimann	30.879
25	56	M Truex Jr.	30.887
26	2	B Keselowski	30.902
27	22	J Logano	30.915
28	9	M Ambrose	30.996
29	55	B Vickers	31.020
30	30	D Stremme	31.079
31	38	D Gilliland	31.163
32	43	A Almirola	31.300
33	26	M Waltrip	31.338
34	10	D Patrick	31.338
35	93	T Kvapil	31.354
36	87	J Nemechek	31.373
37	36	J Yeley	31.389
38	21	T Bayne	31.450
39	35	J Wise	31.453
40	32	K Schrader	31.473
41	17	R Stenhouse Jr	31.534
42	055	C Ferguson	31.577
43	33	B Scott	31.620

Weather: Clear, 83 °F, Northeast 4 mph

Session: Race

OFFICIAL STANDINGS

F	S	#	DRIVER	INTERVAL	LAPS	LED	POINTS	STATUS
1	20	15	C Bowyer	73.649	63	15	180	Running
2	15	5	K Kahne	-0.45	63	0	170	Running
3	7	48	J Johnson	-0.90	63	7	170	Running
4	11	14	T Stewart	-1.36	63	0	160	Running
5	14	31	R Newman	-1.81	63	0	155	Running
6	12	20	M Kenseth	-2.26	63	0	150	Running
7	4	88	D Earnhardt Jr	-2.72	63	18*	156	Running
8	18	27	P Menard	-3.64	63	5	147	Running
9	3	16	G Biffle	-4.10	63	13	143	Running
10	17	22	J Logano	-4.57	63	0	134	Running
11	31	38	D Gilliland	-5.03	63	0	130	Running
12	13	11	D Hamlin	-5.50	63	0	127	Running
13	9	24	J Gordon	-5.97	63	0	124	Running
14	5	4	K Harvick	-6.45	63	0	121	Running
15	21	2	B Keselowski	-6.93	63	0	118	Running
16	19	34	D Ragan	-7.41	63	0	115	Running
17	25	13	C Mears	-7.89	63	0	112	Running
18	10	99	C Edwards	-8.36	63	0	109	Running
19	28	30	D Stremme	-8.84	63	0	106	Running
20	27	87	J Nemechek	-9.31	63	0	103	Running
21	35	10	D Patrick	-9.79	63	0	100	Running
22	37	7	M Annett	-10.27	63	0	97	Running
23	42	17	R Stenhouse Jr	-10.76	63	0	94	Running
24	40	32	K Schrader	-11.25	63	0	91	Running
25	32	43	A Almirola	-11.74	63	0	88	Running
26	23	47	A Allmendinger	-13.05	63	0	85	Running
27	41	33	B Scott	-1L	62	0	82	Running
28	30	83	D Reutimann	-1L	62	0	79	Running
29	6	41	K Busch2	-3L	60	0	76	Retired
30	24	56	M Truex Jr.	-3L	60	0	73	Retired
31	8	18	K Busch	-3L	60	0	70	Retired
32	29	021	T Bear	-5L	58	0	67	Accident
33	43	055	C Ferguson	-24L	39	0	64	Header
34	1	013	T Nadz	-25L	38	5	66	Header
35	16	9	M Ambrose	-40L	23	0	58	Retired
36	26	55	B Vickers	-40L	23	0	55	Piston
37	22	1	J McMurray	-40L	23	0	52	Ignition
38	34	21	T Bayne	-41L	22	0	49	Retired
39	33	93	T Kvapil	-41L	22	0	46	Retired
40	38	26	M Waltrip	-41L	22	0	43	Retired
41	36	36	J Yeley	-41L	22	0	40	Retired
42	39	35	J Wise	-41L	22	0	37	Camshaft
43	2	061	D Hamilton	-41L	22	0	34	Accident

Caution Flags: 8 (30 laps)

Lead Changes: 6 (6 drivers)

Weather: Clear, 83 °F, East 1 mph

Pitstop Frequency: 2x

AI Strength: 90%

PENALTIES

LAP	#	INFRACTION	PENALTY
4	055	Entering closed pits	Go to end of longest line
5	055	Speeding in pits	Go to end of longest line
9	061	Speeding in pits	Go to end of longest line
23	055	Speeding in pits	Go to end of longest line
29	055	Speeding in pits	Go to end of longest line
39	013	Dropping Debris	Pit for repairs
39	013	Smoking Engine	Pit for repairs

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Nascar Sprint Cup Championship 2014 - 2 Phoenix