Nascar Sprint Cup Championship 2014 - 12 Lowes

The first third of the series is over and the track that lets few survive until the end did not disappoint.  At least as far as DNFs go.  Sadly not all of us breathing drivers made it to the end but we all fared well with all 5 placing the top 16.

On a quick side note, I'd like to offer my sympathies to Rob and my step mother, Sherry.  Rob lost his grandmother recently which was part of the reason he was out last week and Sherry has lost her aunt which is why Sandy could not make it tonight.  Our thoughts are with them and their families.

A lighter note, the blog has now broken 4000 views!  Congratulations on all your hard work.  I'd like to thank all the Russian brides who tune in for these ridiculous recaps.  On to the recraps.

Practice went well with all of us eventually finding our setups.  Rob managed to eek one out through Chad's tutelage while Scot did the thing Scot does: Dropping in and calling it good.  Qualifying went well with me, Darrel, and Chad top 3.  Scot and Rob hung out at the back and would prove again that starting position means little.

The race started off with just barely a single lap in before...

Ryan Newman and Paul Menard tried to take out the turn 4 wall.  They would not be the last...

The restart went a few more laps before Darrel found himself in traffic and in trouble.  Hot out of two, he tapped the wall and came in on Bowyer.

This ended the day for several AI drivers but the humans kept swinging.

Not long after the restart, Darrel made a move to pass Eric McClure on the outside out of four.  While Darrel did keep it off the wall, McClure didn't leave him jack for room and the two came together.

Scot was on them in a heartbeat and they collided.  Both kept going while more of the cup regulars broke and hit the garage.

Back under green, we started to close in on the first pit window when Blaney decided not to give me room into three.

More competition destroyed.  I got lucky and wasn't slammed by more cars, especially as Chad was not far behind this.  OK, so only about 25% of the race finished and half the field gone.  So far so good.

Green flags go again and I came up on Darrel through turn one.  He gave me plenty of room as seen here but Edwards thought he should have a go through the gap.  This forced Darrel up more and he got caught against the wall.  And we know what happens when you get stuck in that fly trap.

The 61 came down and was missed by all, until Chad came on the scene.

Unable to avoid, the two collided collecting even more victims.  Rob almost crapped himself as he went low thinking it would be safe.  He managed to get away with only a mild scrape with Darrel.  The 170mph T-bone to Darrel's driver door was too much for the old car to take.  He would be the first human victim of the night.

About halfway through and around a dozen cars remaining.  Again, about par for the course and on track to beat the 35 DNF record.  Scot and I were quite racey through this pack until his car kept catching the apron and throwing him up the track.

After too much of that, he bounced it off of four and caused only a small accident.  I think there were more DNFs though.

Things got even more exciting on the restart.  I had gone in for fuel and tires for the rest of the race and started behind Rob who was up the order.  Rob was working traffic when his car kept running up the hill in the corners.  Eventually he over-corrected coming off of two and pounded the outside wall.  Coming back across he collected another car and headed right for me.  Now it was my turn to shit my pants.  Fortunately, no major harm done and another few AI out.

Later, Scot was running with some other cars for top ten places when Edwards tapped his rear panels, sending him up the track.

Chad came up too fast and slammed the poor Crash Dummies car.  Chad would not be able to drive away from this one.  Rob almost was involved but again managed to barely skirt by...

But even then, he wouldn't be free from danger.  After returning to green with about a dozen or so laps remaining, he simply got tangled up with Jamie Mac.

While Rob would hold out to finish 6th, Scot would bring out the final caution with a blown, oil-spewing, engine.  A shame too as he lost two positions from this.  So far but just not quite far enough.

So we sailed into the sunset behind the pace car.  Technically we did make 36 DNFs as Rob's connection dropped him right at the end.  But officially, we'll have to be tied for the record.  While we all could have had better races, I think everyone was at least somewhat satisfied with their places.  Next week is Dover where we stand to have one of the largest racing groups yet.

Results

Session: Practice

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	013	T Nadz	29.982
2	061	D Hamilton	30.585
3	055	C Ferguson	30.613
4	20	M Kenseth	30.863
5	31	R Newman	30.985
6	5	K Kahne	31.132
7	48	J Johnson	31.195
8	15	C Bowyer	31.195
9	78	M Truex Jr	31.255
10	22	J Logano	31.331
11	88	D Earnhardt Jr	31.345
12	24	J Gordon	31.360
13	34	D Ragan	31.370
14	14	T Stewart	31.442
15	18	K Busch	31.570
16	27	P Menard	31.669
17	2	B Keselowski	31.677
18	43	A Almirola	31.795
19	55	B Vickers	31.808
20	17	R Stenhouse Jr	31.843
21	32	T Kvapil	31.869
22	47	A Allmendinger	31.939
23	52	B Labonte	31.948
24	99	C Edwards	31.971
25	3	A Dillon	32.006
26	40	L Cassill	32.076
27	95	M McDowell	32.175
28	10	D Patrick	32.225
29	16	G Biffle	32.529
30	4	K Harvick	32.758
31	062	R Cook	33.654
32	77	D Blaney	35.102
33	029	M Max	40.311
34	9	M Ambrose	44.344
35	11	D Hamlin	45.051
36	1	J McMurray	45.671
37	66	J Burton	47.199
38	13	C Mears	47.245
39	30	D Stremme	47.881
40	35	E McClure	47.897
41	41	K Busch2	47.985
42	38	D Gilliland	2:25.806

Weather: Cloudy, 81 °F, North 6 mph

Session: Qualifying

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	013	T Nadz	29.599
2	061	D Hamilton	30.362
3	055	C Ferguson	30.588
4	27	P Menard	30.833
5	99	C Edwards	30.869
6	31	R Newman	30.901
7	15	C Bowyer	30.908
8	16	G Biffle	30.935
9	48	J Johnson	30.946
10	14	T Stewart	30.954
11	5	K Kahne	30.978
12	18	K Busch	31.005
13	78	M Truex Jr	31.008
14	20	M Kenseth	31.063
15	11	D Hamlin	31.118
16	41	K Busch2	31.122
17	24	J Gordon	31.123
18	9	M Ambrose	31.155
19	1	J McMurray	31.227
20	88	D Earnhardt Jr	31.228
21	22	J Logano	31.237
22	4	K Harvick	31.322
23	2	B Keselowski	31.350
24	66	J Burton	31.378
25	13	C Mears	31.404
26	35	E McClure	31.409
27	77	D Blaney	31.420
28	95	M McDowell	31.447
29	30	D Stremme	31.567
30	98	J Wise	31.588
31	40	L Cassill	31.594
32	32	T Kvapil	31.603
33	47	A Allmendinger	31.618
34	34	D Ragan	31.620
35	52	B Labonte	31.622
36	38	D Gilliland	31.640
37	43	A Almirola	31.699
38	55	B Vickers	31.717
39	17	R Stenhouse Jr	31.736
40	10	D Patrick	31.970
41	3	A Dillon	31.984
42	062	R Cook	32.279
43	029	M Max	41.469

Weather: Cloudy, 81 °F, North 6 mph

Session: Happy Hour

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	013	T Nadz	30.311
2	061	D Hamilton	31.027
3	055	C Ferguson	31.325
4	99	C Edwards	31.530
5	2	B Keselowski	31.728
6	22	J Logano	31.768
7	16	G Biffle	31.852
8	78	M Truex Jr	31.880
9	77	D Blaney	31.914
10	20	M Kenseth	31.946
11	35	E McClure	31.964
12	47	A Allmendinger	31.976
13	15	C Bowyer	31.981
14	27	P Menard	31.989
15	11	D Hamlin	32.020
16	34	D Ragan	32.029
17	18	K Busch	32.032
18	31	R Newman	32.064
19	24	J Gordon	32.097
20	029	M Max	32.131
21	9	M Ambrose	32.159
22	5	K Kahne	32.183
23	40	L Cassill	32.235
24	52	B Labonte	32.282
25	38	D Gilliland	32.367
26	13	C Mears	32.377
27	55	B Vickers	32.407
28	1	J McMurray	32.453
29	10	D Patrick	32.524
30	3	A Dillon	32.737
31	17	R Stenhouse Jr	32.931
32	41	K Busch2	32.943
33	95	M McDowell	33.171
34	48	J Johnson	33.363
35	43	A Almirola	33.665
36	14	T Stewart	41.196
37	4	K Harvick	47.937
38	32	T Kvapil	48.827
39	30	D Stremme	49.502
40	062	R Cook	56.202

Weather: Clear, 84 °F, North 8 mph

Session: Race

F	S	#	DRIVER	INTERVAL	LAPS	LED	POINTS	STATUS
1	1	013	T Nadz	101.641	80	54*	185	Running
2	13	78	M Truex Jr	-0.52	80	12	175	Running
3	5	99	C Edwards	-0.78	80	0	165	Running
4	19	1	J McMurray	-1.04	80	0	160	Running
5	17	24	J Gordon	-1.29	80	0	155	Running
6	42	062	R Cook	-2.06	80	0	150	Running
7	23	2	B Keselowski	-1L	79	0	146	Running
8	41	3	A Dillon	-1L	79	0	142	Running
9	16	41	K Busch2	-2L	78	8	143	Camshaft
10	15	11	D Hamlin	-2L	78	0	134	Camshaft
11	7	15	C Bowyer	-2L	78	0	130	Accident
12	43	029	M Max	-4L	76	4	132	Accident
13	3	055	C Ferguson	-23L	57	2	129	Accident
14	14	20	M Kenseth	-34L	46	0	121	Retired
15	36	38	D Gilliland	-45L	35	0	118	Retired
16	2	061	D Hamilton	-46L	34	0	115	Accident
17	9	48	J Johnson	-49L	31	0	112	Accident
18	8	16	G Biffle	-49L	31	0	109	Accident
19	20	88	D Earnhardt Jr	-50L	30	0	106	Accident
20	21	22	J Logano	-50L	30	0	103	Accident
21	22	4	K Harvick	-50L	30	0	100	Accident
22	27	77	D Blaney	-54L	26	0	97	Accident
23	18	9	M Ambrose	-61L	19	0	94	Ignition
24	26	35	E McClure	-62L	18	0	91	Clutch
25	24	66	J Burton	-62L	18	0	88	Retired
26	28	95	M McDowell	-63L	17	0	85	Accident
27	25	13	C Mears	-72L	8	0	82	No Fuel
28	40	10	D Patrick	-72L	8	0	79	Ignition
29	10	14	T Stewart	-72L	8	0	76	Accident
30	12	18	K Busch	-72L	8	0	73	Retired
31	4	27	P Menard	-72L	8	0	70	Accident
32	11	5	K Kahne	-72L	8	0	67	Accident
33	39	17	R Stenhouse Jr	-73L	7	0	64	Accident
34	34	34	D Ragan	-73L	7	0	61	Retired
35	33	47	A Allmendinger	-73L	7	0	58	Retired
36	31	40	L Cassill	-73L	7	0	55	Retired
37	29	30	D Stremme	-77L	3	0	52	Retired
38	35	52	B Labonte	-77L	3	0	49	Retired
39	37	43	A Almirola	-77L	3	0	46	Retired
40	32	32	T Kvapil	-77L	3	0	43	Accident
41	38	55	B Vickers	-77L	3	0	40	Retired
42	6	31	R Newman	-78L	2	0	37	Accident
43	30	98	J Wise	-78L	2	0	34	Accident

Caution Flags: 0 (0 laps)

Lead Changes: 6 (5 drivers)

Weather: Clear, 83 °F, North 7 mph

Pitstop Frequency: 2x

AI Strength: 97%