Nascar Sprint Cup Championship 2014 - 11 Kansas

Despite the amazing amount of destruction we rained down upon the midwestern state, most of us survived.  The fab 5 ran tonight with Lee and Rob out taking care of family and friends.  Odie was also absent.  We still miss him.  Also, a new challenger is arriving next week.  Shall be interesting.

Practice was a little crunched which probably didn't matter too much.  After finding the night version of Kansas, I made the last second switch and we were all pretty much blank slate.  Qualifying was all over with most of us towards the rear.

Race started off flawlessly and we went about half a dozen laps...

 ...when trouble started.

Darrel was fighting Danica Patrick for position when he got caught on her bumper, flinging into the wall.

Scot, Sandy and Chad all scrambled to avoid Darrel as he slowed and drifted down the track a little.  The first yellow came out and I was running first when Cousin Carl blatenly spun me out.  Under caution, coming up to the pace car.

I didn't think this caused much damage, but I was wrong and discovered my car was now much looser upon restarting.

The nice thing about being at the front of the field during the crash is you get a good look at all the other cars that are coming towards you.

If you're lucky, like me, you can bounce from one to the next, slowing down while taking only minor damage.

After a good chunk of the field was scrapped and we reformed, we returned to racing, a little less than halfway through the race.

Chad scuppered the wall a bit and got loose returning to the racing line.  He managed to slow up a bunch of the field allowing Scot and I to pass several cars.

But it would be Harvick who would do him in coming off of turn four and bringing out another yellow.

Shortly after getting back to green, Darrel made a pass on Vickers which seemed to really put him out of sorts, despite it being a clean pass.  He got hung up on Truex Jr. and wrecked good.

Gilliland smacked into Vickers and Sandy slowed up to avoid him.  Unfortunately, Chad didn't slow up as much and blasted Sandy a bit.  Both still carried on.  In fact, Sandy would eventually land himself in first after some successful pit strategies and luck.

On the restart, while leading, Sandy got caught behind Kasey Kahne who had held up Scot and me before when we were at the front, costing Scot the lead.  This time, Sandy was forced high going into one and two and before coming out of the corner, Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran up the track and took him out.

Sandy was fine for a few seconds but like any wreck in front of the field, it rarely ends well.  Scot and I were running side by side about half a stretch back and tried fanning out to avoid the inevitable blow back of cars towards the infield.  Scot would not be over quite far enough to avoid Stremme, who actually turned in to hit Sandy's spinning car.

This crushed Scot and bounced him off of several others, upside down, inside out, and through several other dimensions.  The engine then died and he would be the first and only human victim.  However, thanks to his heroic sacrifice, a healthy portion of the field was now DNFed.

After coming back to race speed, Darrel found his car was quite a bit looser than normal and had a minor conflict with Jeff Burton.

Closing in on the last 10 laps, I was working through the field when Jeff Gordon overdrove the corner and completely blasted me into the next race (Lowes).

Under caution, I felt obliged to point out to Mr. Gordon where some of his paint had chipped after his offense.  I think he was pleased I helped him out.

The humans finished 14-17th even after all of that.  Definitely some good runs with many of us humans getting extra points for leading a lap.  They all count.  Because we are not doing a silly All-Star race, we will catch up to the real Sprint Cup Series, back ahead one race when we go to Charlotte next week.  We may have 8 racers total.  By the way, the last cup race we had here, we reached an unmatched (in regular competition racing) 35 DNFs.  No problems at all.

Results

Session: Practice

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	061	D Hamilton	28.697
2	013	T Nadz	28.891
3	48	J Johnson	29.066
4	20	M Kenseth	29.096
5	029	M Max	29.151
6	16	G Biffle	29.187
7	15	C Bowyer	29.191
8	22	J Logano	29.232
9	021	T Bear	29.239
10	31	R Newman	29.253
11	66	J Burton	29.283
12	11	D Hamlin	29.338
13	99	C Edwards	29.369
14	24	J Gordon	29.427
15	88	D Earnhardt Jr	29.428
16	52	B Labonte	29.490
17	47	A Allmendinger	29.520
18	5	K Kahne	29.540
19	32	T Kvapil	29.548
20	34	D Ragan	29.549
21	2	B Keselowski	29.580
22	78	M Truex Jr	29.580
23	1	J McMurray	29.590
24	4	K Harvick	29.604
25	41	K Busch2	29.608
26	18	K Busch	29.611
27	14	T Stewart	29.612
28	27	P Menard	29.626
29	55	B Vickers	29.640
30	38	D Gilliland	29.668
31	9	M Ambrose	29.678
32	055	C Ferguson	29.697
33	40	L Cassill	29.747
34	77	D Blaney	29.768
35	13	C Mears	29.819
36	35	E McClure	29.834
37	43	A Almirola	29.889
38	10	D Patrick	29.894
39	17	R Stenhouse Jr	29.925
40	98	J Wise	29.942
41	95	M McDowell	29.969
42	30	D Stremme	30.049

Weather: Cloudy, 76 °F, North 15 mph

Session: Qualifying

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	013	T Nadz	28.733
2	99	C Edwards	28.902
3	14	T Stewart	29.062
4	20	M Kenseth	29.080
5	4	K Harvick	29.099
6	2	B Keselowski	29.131
7	31	R Newman	29.143
8	41	K Busch2	29.144
9	78	M Truex Jr	29.146
10	88	D Earnhardt Jr	29.157
11	24	J Gordon	29.180
12	34	D Ragan	29.188
13	15	C Bowyer	29.224
14	061	D Hamilton	29.271
15	11	D Hamlin	29.342
16	5	K Kahne	29.347
17	9	M Ambrose	29.367
18	1	J McMurray	29.383
19	66	J Burton	29.410
20	27	P Menard	29.430
21	47	A Allmendinger	29.459
22	48	J Johnson	29.475
23	35	E McClure	29.570
24	13	C Mears	29.572
25	40	L Cassill	29.588
26	16	G Biffle	29.592
27	30	D Stremme	29.636
28	18	K Busch	29.666
29	77	D Blaney	29.678
30	52	B Labonte	29.700
31	22	J Logano	29.777
32	055	C Ferguson	29.805
33	95	M McDowell	29.847
34	10	D Patrick	29.910
35	55	B Vickers	29.936
36	17	R Stenhouse Jr	29.976
37	43	A Almirola	30.017
38	32	T Kvapil	30.027
39	98	J Wise	30.592
40	38	D Gilliland	30.681
41	021	T Bear	45.869
42	029	M Max	--

Weather: Cloudy, 76 °F, North 15 mph

Session: Happy Hour

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	061	D Hamilton	29.024
2	48	J Johnson	29.111
3	013	T Nadz	29.153
4	029	M Max	29.232
5	5	K Kahne	29.239
6	18	K Busch	29.241
7	055	C Ferguson	29.276
8	16	G Biffle	29.285
9	11	D Hamlin	29.317
10	22	J Logano	29.325
11	15	C Bowyer	29.337
12	1	J McMurray	29.374
13	31	R Newman	29.404
14	4	K Harvick	29.407
15	20	M Kenseth	29.443
16	27	P Menard	29.482
17	021	T Bear	29.508
18	9	M Ambrose	29.521
19	13	C Mears	29.560
20	88	D Earnhardt Jr	29.598
21	47	A Allmendinger	29.603
22	55	B Vickers	29.606
23	14	T Stewart	29.633
24	34	D Ragan	29.636
25	24	J Gordon	29.640
26	40	L Cassill	29.645
27	35	E McClure	29.674
28	2	B Keselowski	29.682
29	66	J Burton	29.687
30	99	C Edwards	29.719
31	32	T Kvapil	29.737
32	41	K Busch2	29.761
33	52	B Labonte	29.780
34	38	D Gilliland	29.826
35	77	D Blaney	29.833
36	98	J Wise	29.857
37	95	M McDowell	29.931
38	30	D Stremme	30.018
39	43	A Almirola	30.021
40	10	D Patrick	30.039
41	17	R Stenhouse Jr	30.054
42	78	M Truex Jr	30.106

Weather: Cloudy, 68 °F, Northwest 17 mph

Session: Race

OFFICIAL STANDINGS

F	S	#	DRIVER	INTERVAL	LAPS	LED	POINTS	STATUS
1	28	18	K Busch	100.936	54	25*	185	Running
2	7	31	R Newman	-0.02	54	8	175	Running
3	4	20	M Kenseth	-0.18	54	0	165	Running
4	26	16	G Biffle	-0.35	54	0	160	Running
5	15	11	D Hamlin	-0.82	54	0	155	Running
6	11	24	J Gordon	-1.04	54	1	155	Running
7	13	15	C Bowyer	-1.18	54	0	146	Running
8	10	88	D Earnhardt Jr	-1.45	54	0	142	Running
9	20	27	P Menard	-1.76	54	0	138	Running
10	3	14	T Stewart	-1.93	54	0	134	Running
11	25	40	L Cassill	-2.04	54	0	130	Running
12	30	52	B Labonte	-2.36	54	0	127	Running
13	19	66	J Burton	-2.52	54	0	124	Running
14	32	055	C Ferguson	-4.29	54	0	121	Running
15	1	013	T Nadz	-4.87	54	7	123	Running
16	41	021	T Bear	-6.09	54	3	120	Running
17	14	061	D Hamilton	-6.60	54	0	112	Running
18	31	22	J Logano	-1L	53	0	109	Running
19	16	5	K Kahne	-2L	52	0	106	Running
20	17	9	M Ambrose	-2L	52	0	103	Running
21	2	99	C Edwards	-23L	31	0	100	Retired
22	18	1	J McMurray	-23L	31	0	97	Piston
23	22	48	J Johnson	-23L	31	0	94	Retired
24	5	4	K Harvick	-23L	31	0	91	Camshaft
25	23	35	E McClure	-24L	30	0	88	Retired
26	9	78	M Truex Jr	-24L	30	0	85	Retired
27	24	13	C Mears	-24L	30	0	82	Retired
28	21	47	A Allmendinger	-24L	30	0	79	Accident
29	12	34	D Ragan	-24L	30	0	76	Accident
30	42	029	M Max	-25L	29	10	78	Accident
31	33	95	M McDowell	-25L	29	0	70	Accident
32	34	10	D Patrick	-25L	29	0	67	Accident
33	36	17	R Stenhouse Jr	-25L	29	0	64	Accident
34	27	30	D Stremme	-28L	26	0	61	Retired
35	35	55	B Vickers	-30L	24	0	58	Camshaft
36	40	38	D Gilliland	-31L	23	0	55	Header
37	6	2	B Keselowski	-46L	8	0	52	Retired
38	37	43	A Almirola	-46L	8	0	49	Retired
39	8	41	K Busch2	-46L	8	0	46	Retired
40	29	77	D Blaney	-47L	7	0	43	Accident
41	39	98	J Wise	-47L	7	0	40	Accident
42	38	32	T Kvapil	-47L	7	0	37	Accident

Caution Flags: 8 (32 laps)

Lead Changes: 5 (6 drivers)

Weather: Cloudy, 68 °F, West 16 mph

Pitstop Frequency: 2x

AI Strength: 97%

PENALTIES

LAP	#	INFRACTION	PENALTY
32	021	Dropping Debris	Pit for repairs
32	013	Speeding in pits	Go to end of longest line
48	013	Speeding in pits	Go to end of longest line