Sandy carried the torch for us human folk at the track Too Tough to Tame trademark. Practice times were looking good with us all towards the front. Come to qualifying, Sandy had a minor slip which sent him to the back where Chad was floating about. Darrel and I were up in 3rd and 2nd respectively behind Kyle Busch.

About 4 laps in and Greg Biffle scrapped the wall through turn two, getting collected by Keslowski and others.

This resulted in a fairly large wreck. Sandy and Chad rolled up to it slowed down quite a bit. From the looks of the replays, Chad was moving down the inside of the mess and was looking ahead towards what was happening on the apron in front of him going towards turn three. Then, all of a sudden, Kenseth popped out of the smoke in the middle of the track and swung out in front of Chad, causing him to roll.

Amazingly enough, Chad limped it back to the pits while several others were completely dead. But he was done for sure once he got to his stall. To note, while he was officially placed 43rd, I adjusted points for him to be ahead of the four cars that died at that corner. He legitimately should have scored higher considering his car traveled further on its own. 4 points is 4 points.

Next caution happened shortly after the restart when Darrel was running out in front of Hamlin. Denny was pretty close and looks like he may have taken air off his spoiler which caused Darrel to fight it up the track. He got stuck on the wall, as is required, and came back into Legano. He actually got it straight again, but by the second bounce, the field rushed up to meet him, starting with Kyle Busch and from there, it was a giant pile. I don't have a shot of it, but Sandy made a superb play but coming to a stop at the epicenter of the wreck. Had he tried to keep going, he would have wrecked for certain. No where to go. Safe Hands award goes to The Bear for this race.

Here's a guy who definitely wasn't safe. First lap on the restart, I ran it high off of three and four and broke loose. Miraculously, when I came back up against the wall pointing towards traffic, no one hit me. Shocked.

We all licked our wounds under caution and came back fighting for a rather lengthy green run. Caution came as Denny Hamlin ran out of gas on the back stretch. Not entirely sure how, but it happens.

At this point, the race was down to the final 30+ laps. Sandy made a bold move and stayed out to lead a lap, earning another precious point. I opted for right sides only and would resume the lead on the restart.

Bowyer and I held bumper to bumper for several laps while I tried to keep my tires, and Clint's runs for the lead, in check. Disaster came while trying to pass Darrel. Out of position going through turn three, I glued myself to the wall from being tight and came back down the track. The #13 ran me over. However, Darrel would later have an altercation that would inadvertently cause Bowyer to get stuck on the grade of the track and loose a lap. I finished just ahead of him here. Thanks, Darrel.

Sandy and I were now lined up at the back, ready to take on the field with Darrel ready to pick up the pieces from anything that came his way. And it would with less than 20 to go. After frustratingly working to pass Keslowski and others, I botched a run into three and went three-wide. Clearly didn't work out and I was hurt.

And I took it out on Kurt Busch on the last lap. While I made it up to 15th after certain disaster, it was Sandy with an impressive 13th who would show off the talent tonight. He definitely played this race with the long view in mind and even could have gotten more with a few less yellows and a few more laps left. Darrel also kept it together after his early accidents and came in just out of the top twenty. Scot was out tonight but should be back soon.

Next week will be our favorite 3/4 miler, Richmond. Lots of good, fast racing to be had here. It'll be fun for sure.

Results

Session: Practice

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	013	T Nadz	28.819
2	061	D Hamilton	28.997
3	055	C Ferguson	29.310
4	20	M Kenseth	29.351
5	2	B Keselowski	29.372
6	31	R Newman	29.389
7	99	C Edwards	29.399
8	15	C Bowyer	29.416
9	27	P Menard	29.429
10	16	G Biffle	29.432
11	11	D Hamlin	29.445
12	66	J Burton	29.454
13	18	K Busch	29.463
14	021	T Bear	29.484
15	22	J Logano	29.523
16	5	K Kahne	29.562
17	9	M Ambrose	29.564
18	14	T Stewart	29.582
19	1	J McMurray	29.614
20	4	K Harvick	29.677
21	48	J Johnson	29.684
22	78	M Truex Jr	29.706
23	41	K Busch2	29.709
24	88	D Earnhardt Jr	29.714
25	34	D Ragan	29.716
26	38	D Gilliland	29.774
27	52	B Labonte	29.780
28	24	J Gordon	29.800
29	77	D Blaney	29.808
30	47	A Allmendinger	29.882
31	13	C Mears	29.891
32	55	B Vickers	29.891
33	35	E McClure	29.924
34	43	A Almirola	29.959
35	32	T Kvapil	29.963
36	3	A Dillon	30.030
37	95	M McDowell	30.074
38	98	J Wise	30.077
39	10	D Patrick	30.084
40	40	L Cassill	30.093
41	21	T Bayne	30.094
42	17	R Stenhouse Jr	30.098
43	36	R Sorenson	30.296

Weather: Cloudy, 78 °F, Southeast 11 mph

Session: Qualifying

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	18	K Busch	29.120
2	013	T Nadz	29.129
3	061	D Hamilton	29.175
4	14	T Stewart	29.195
5	11	D Hamlin	29.213
6	16	G Biffle	29.224
7	22	J Logano	29.228
8	27	P Menard	29.243
9	48	J Johnson	29.290
10	2	B Keselowski	29.310
11	78	M Truex Jr	29.325
12	31	R Newman	29.339
13	99	C Edwards	29.358
14	24	J Gordon	29.381
15	1	J McMurray	29.399
16	66	J Burton	29.429
17	15	C Bowyer	29.473
18	41	K Busch2	29.484
19	5	K Kahne	29.486
20	9	M Ambrose	29.503
21	34	D Ragan	29.635
22	35	E McClure	29.689
23	55	B Vickers	29.732
24	43	A Almirola	29.736
25	13	C Mears	29.738
26	32	T Kvapil	29.802
27	47	A Allmendinger	29.823
28	38	D Gilliland	29.865
29	20	M Kenseth	29.902
30	52	B Labonte	29.908
31	77	D Blaney	29.926
32	98	J Wise	30.003
33	40	L Cassill	30.027
34	95	M McDowell	30.028
35	17	R Stenhouse Jr	30.158
36	3	A Dillon	30.170
37	055	C Ferguson	30.212
38	10	D Patrick	30.219
39	36	R Sorenson	30.312
40	88	D Earnhardt Jr	30.537
41	4	K Harvick	30.918
42	21	T Bayne	31.817
43	021	T Bear	--

Weather: Clear, 78 °F, South 11 mph

Session: Happy Hour

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	013	T Nadz	29.154
2	061	D Hamilton	29.665
3	20	M Kenseth	29.724
4	48	J Johnson	29.740
5	24	J Gordon	29.857
6	055	C Ferguson	29.904
7	88	D Earnhardt Jr	29.953
8	34	D Ragan	29.965
9	22	J Logano	29.979
10	5	K Kahne	30.007
11	11	D Hamlin	30.019
12	99	C Edwards	30.021
13	35	E McClure	30.060
14	4	K Harvick	30.078
15	1	J McMurray	30.116
16	2	B Keselowski	30.151
17	9	M Ambrose	30.152
18	27	P Menard	30.189
19	41	K Busch2	30.198
20	15	C Bowyer	30.201
21	13	C Mears	30.245
22	66	J Burton	30.287
23	18	K Busch	30.304
24	021	T Bear	30.311
25	31	R Newman	30.337
26	47	A Allmendinger	30.341
27	14	T Stewart	30.353
28	32	T Kvapil	30.357
29	52	B Labonte	30.382
30	38	D Gilliland	30.396
31	21	T Bayne	30.421
32	16	G Biffle	30.428
33	55	B Vickers	30.451
34	43	A Almirola	30.483
35	17	R Stenhouse Jr	30.554
36	78	M Truex Jr	30.566
37	95	M McDowell	30.579
38	3	A Dillon	30.805
39	77	D Blaney	30.861
40	10	D Patrick	30.865
41	40	L Cassill	31.141
42	98	J Wise	31.153
43	36	R Sorenson	31.200

Weather: Clear, 86 °F, Southeast 15 mph

Session: Race

OFFICIAL STANDINGS

F	S	#	DRIVER	INTERVAL	LAPS	LED	POINTS	STATUS
1	8	27	P Menard	104.718	74	4	180	Running
2	14	24	J Gordon	-2.36	74	19	175	Running
3	7	22	J Logano	-4.30	74	0	165	Running
4	1	18	K Busch	-5.37	74	0	160	Running
5	16	66	J Burton	-5.84	74	0	155	Running
6	13	99	C Edwards	-7.06	74	0	150	Running
7	22	35	E McClure	-8.41	74	0	146	Running
8	5	11	D Hamlin	-9.17	74	0	142	Running
9	15	1	J McMurray	-9.67	74	0	138	Running
10	21	34	D Ragan	-9.85	74	0	134	Running
11	20	9	M Ambrose	-10.84	74	0	130	Running
12	24	43	A Almirola	-11.80	74	0	127	Running
13	43	021	T Bear	-11.90	74	1	129	Running
14	42	21	T Bayne	-12.98	74	0	121	Running
15	2	013	T Nadz	-14.46	74	28*	128	Running
16	18	41	K Busch2	-26.81	74	7	120	Running
17	17	15	C Bowyer	-1L	73	15	117	Running
18	27	47	A Allmendinger	-1L	73	0	109	Running
19	35	17	R Stenhouse Jr	-1L	73	0	106	Running
20	23	55	B Vickers	-1L	73	0	103	Running
21	34	95	M McDowell	-1L	73	0	100	Running
22	3	061	D Hamilton	-4L	70	0	97	Running
23	10	2	B Keselowski	-12L	62	0	94	No Fuel
24	25	13	C Mears	-13L	61	0	91	Retired
25	12	31	R Newman	-13L	61	0	88	Header
26	4	14	T Stewart	-60L	14	0	85	Retired
27	32	98	J Wise	-60L	14	0	82	Retired
28	41	4	K Harvick	-61L	13	0	79	Retired
29	39	36	R Sorenson	-61L	13	0	76	Retired
30	11	78	M Truex Jr	-61L	13	0	73	Accident
31	9	48	J Johnson	-61L	13	0	70	Accident
32	19	5	K Kahne	-62L	12	0	67	Piston
33	38	10	D Patrick	-62L	12	0	64	Retired
34	36	3	A Dillon	-62L	12	0	61	Piston
35	30	52	B Labonte	-62L	12	0	58	Header
36	28	38	D Gilliland	-71L	3	0	55	Retired
37	26	32	T Kvapil	-71L	3	0	52	Retired
38	6	16	G Biffle	-71L	3	0	49	Accident
39	31	77	D Blaney	-72L	2	0	46	Accident
40	33	40	L Cassill	-72L	2	0	43	Accident
41	29	20	M Kenseth	-72L	2	0	40	Accident
42	40	88	D Earnhardt Jr	-72L	2	0	37	Accident
43	37	055	C Ferguson	-72L	2	0	34	Accident

Caution Flags: 7 (24 laps)

Lead Changes: 8 (6 drivers)

Weather: Clear, 85 °F, Southeast 10 mph

Pitstop Frequency: 2x

AI Strength: 95%

PENALTIES

LAP	#	INFRACTION	PENALTY
14	061	Entering closed pits	Go to end of longest line
14	061	Speeding in pits	Go to end of longest line
63	013	Speeding in pits	Go to end of longest line

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Nascar Sprint Cup Championship 2014 - 8 Darlington