The start of the second half of the season began on a track know for its flat blandness. Yet, this race was anything but. A full crew tonight, even Rob joined. Would still love to have more though. And the prowess shown on this course proves we can do it, though some of the results may not suggest it. Still, I think we all had fun at one point or another.

Qualifying was a rare treat as all humans started in the back, save one: The Bear. He would start up at the top of the field in 3rd.

Sandy charged forward and put some big pressure on Jr. and Johnson early.

While the rest of us laid back to catch any scraps that came our way. Almost like a classic game of 500. Classic.

We got about 10 laps in before Rob got into trouble. An unsettled chassis sent him up to the wall where he took on damage and fell off pace.

As he got caught and fell down the order, Almirola got into him as he was getting passed up on both sides.

Almost everyone was able to avoid Rob. Even Darrel barely swung it left to miss by microns.

But Trevor Bayne, in his usual fashion, couldn't help but caber toss poor Mr. Cook down the backstretch. This wouldn't end his night, but it would put him way off pace and later susceptible to a blown engine.

Not satisfied with the damage done, Trevor Bayne caught up to me after I got slipped up coming to the line and launched me into the inside wall. Fortunately, he would be out soon after this.

Back under green and several more laps in, Scot sent ol' Austin Dillon on a ride up the track. Deservingly so.

But we stayed green until Sandy ran a bit hard into 3. He may have been fine if not for Biffle also sailing it in hard and unsettling his car. Amazingly, he saved it. I don't know how.

Under this caution, Josh Wise gave Scot a little love tap. Par for the course. And look at the cute couple at the lower right. I could make several classless jokes, but I'll let your mind wander.

Upon the restart, Darrel and I had been working our way up the order and he found himself having to drop anchors into one, still tearing into the back of Cassill and I into Almirola.

And I still had enough momentum to hit Darrel. Fortunately, he was straightened out and we all kept going.

Yes, well...nothing to see here.

Further along and about halfway into the race, Chad got it loose off of turn four just as Sandy was going around the outside.

Rob, still running off pace, caused a bit of a bottle neck in the field. Darrel swept low to keep out of danger and I took the high road. As I usually do.

After this cloister, Darrel ended up running it out a tad wide through turn three, first bouncing off the 52 and then into Harvick.

And then came the fatal mistake. Upon spinning up the track, Darrel was left facing oncoming traffic at the high side. For whatever reason, he turned down to point back the right way...right in front of Landin Cassill.

Poor Cassill had nowhere to go and ended Darrel's day.

After the restart, Rob and others were going for it through the thick of things. Rob was hot off the corner and piled up into Burton and a few others.

Just up ahead of that whole mess, Scot ran Logano up into Kahne. They ran out of yellow flags they had to wave so many.

Right so, closing in on the last third of the race. On the restart, I replicated my turn one performance with Darrel earlier in the race. This time with Sandy.

And through sheer skill and determination, he saves it yet again! That was like 3 or 4 major ones through this race.

In fact, I ended up getting pumped up the track by stupid Martin Truex Jr. while I was so stunned by the save.

We stayed green up until Scot sent Edwards right into the wall.

And Josh Wise was once again sent flying.

Racing back, Scot made a pretty deliberate dive on Logano, again sending him out wide. To his credit, Scot was playing a strong defensive strategy and just holding the competition at bay through the top ten. He must have got bored.

And he wasn't the only one in the thick of it running back for the caution. Sandy got tapped by Kyle Busch and nearly creamed the inside wall. But he made another brilliant save and kept going.

On this restart, Chad pulled to the inside to stay out of the way. Almirola overreacted to the maneuver and bounced off Burton.

Sandy was out wide avoiding cars he was battling with when he ran up on Aric. He only suffered minor scrapes and loss of positions.

Back on the charge, Scot and I were tearing up through the field as we started in on the last dozen laps or so.

Then coming off of turn four, he bounced off the wall and Kvapil sent him flying. This would put him well back in the field. Very sad.

With only three laps remaining, Chad charged hard into turn one and slowed up too much for Dillon's taste. He sent Chad right into the wall to bring out the race-ending yellow.

In a desperate play for position, Sandy dug deep into the final corners only to outbreak himself and several others.

He may have been OK to finish, but Josh Wise, who at this point has pretty much made contact with everyone and everything in New Hampshire, destroyed the 21.

We brought it home under yellow while those who were still running caused some minor forms of mischief.

Really disappointing to see such good performances for the whole race but a lack of matching results. Hopefully we turn that around next week at the Brickyard in Indy. If I recall, we tend to perform well there. Good luck!

Results

Session: Practice

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	013	T Nadz	29.663
2	021	T Bear	29.673
3	061	D Hamilton	29.834
4	15	C Bowyer	30.055
5	20	M Kenseth	30.086
6	24	J Gordon	30.117
7	14	T Stewart	30.118
8	18	K Busch	30.155
9	16	G Biffle	30.169
10	5	K Kahne	30.177
11	4	K Harvick	30.192
12	99	C Edwards	30.213
13	88	D Earnhardt Jr	30.266
14	66	J Burton	30.270
15	41	K Busch2	30.281
16	31	R Newman	30.293
17	27	P Menard	30.317
18	11	D Hamlin	30.332
19	9	M Ambrose	30.332
20	78	M Truex Jr	30.337
21	2	B Keselowski	30.339
22	22	J Logano	30.397
23	48	J Johnson	30.403
24	47	A Allmendinger	30.456
25	1	J McMurray	30.479
26	38	D Gilliland	30.552
27	34	D Ragan	30.564
28	35	E McClure	30.567
29	55	B Vickers	30.629
30	13	C Mears	30.633
31	40	L Cassill	30.663
32	32	T Kvapil	30.721
33	77	D Blaney	30.748
34	52	B Labonte	30.776
35	43	A Almirola	30.835
36	055	C Ferguson	30.868
37	029	M Max	30.885
38	10	D Patrick	31.036
39	98	J Wise	31.073
40	3	A Dillon	31.080
41	21	T Bayne	31.212
42	17	R Stenhouse Jr	31.273
43	062	R Cook	33.205

Weather: Clear, 78 °F, North 2 mph

Session: Qualifying

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	48	J Johnson	29.741
2	88	D Earnhardt Jr	29.875
3	021	T Bear	29.927
4	24	J Gordon	30.110
5	15	C Bowyer	30.146
6	4	K Harvick	30.147
7	18	K Busch	30.191
8	16	G Biffle	30.217
9	20	M Kenseth	30.217
10	27	P Menard	30.233
11	22	J Logano	30.259
12	5	K Kahne	30.261
13	1	J McMurray	30.293
14	78	M Truex Jr	30.340
15	9	M Ambrose	30.365
16	14	T Stewart	30.370
17	66	J Burton	30.414
18	99	C Edwards	30.443
19	31	R Newman	30.486
20	11	D Hamlin	30.501
21	2	B Keselowski	30.510
22	47	A Allmendinger	30.523
23	41	K Busch2	30.541
24	55	B Vickers	30.585
25	13	C Mears	30.707
26	34	D Ragan	30.760
27	77	D Blaney	30.765
28	3	A Dillon	30.820
29	40	L Cassill	30.829
30	32	T Kvapil	30.848
31	52	B Labonte	30.974
32	43	A Almirola	30.995
33	055	C Ferguson	31.009
34	38	D Gilliland	31.068
35	10	D Patrick	31.098
36	35	E McClure	31.099
37	98	J Wise	31.138
38	17	R Stenhouse Jr	31.170
39	21	T Bayne	31.349
40	062	R Cook	31.416
41	061	D Hamilton	34.107
42	029	M Max	38.335
43	013	T Nadz	39.814

Weather: Clear, 78 °F, Northeast 4 mph

Session: Happy Hour

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	013	T Nadz	29.621
2	021	T Bear	29.805
3	061	D Hamilton	29.985
4	5	K Kahne	30.158
5	27	P Menard	30.160
6	99	C Edwards	30.185
7	48	J Johnson	30.217
8	18	K Busch	30.251
9	16	G Biffle	30.275
10	029	M Max	30.325
11	11	D Hamlin	30.335
12	4	K Harvick	30.348
13	34	D Ragan	30.424
14	78	M Truex Jr	30.427
15	2	B Keselowski	30.442
16	35	E McClure	30.463
17	22	J Logano	30.470
18	41	K Busch2	30.473
19	1	J McMurray	30.477
20	9	M Ambrose	30.477
21	20	M Kenseth	30.502
22	31	R Newman	30.507
23	66	J Burton	30.507
24	47	A Allmendinger	30.560
25	14	T Stewart	30.568
26	24	J Gordon	30.584
27	88	D Earnhardt Jr	30.718
28	43	A Almirola	30.726
29	77	D Blaney	30.766
30	32	T Kvapil	30.774
31	15	C Bowyer	30.780
32	13	C Mears	30.796
33	38	D Gilliland	30.797
34	55	B Vickers	30.836
35	21	T Bayne	30.886
36	055	C Ferguson	30.905
37	40	L Cassill	30.912
38	52	B Labonte	30.971
39	98	J Wise	31.168
40	17	R Stenhouse Jr	31.200
41	10	D Patrick	31.254
42	3	A Dillon	31.309
43	062	R Cook	31.372

Weather: Clear, 82 °F, West 15 mph

Session: Race

OFFICIAL STANDINGS

F	S	#	DRIVER	INTERVAL	LAPS	LED	POINTS	STATUS
1	1	48	J Johnson	84.869	75	67*	185	Running
2	43	013	T Nadz	-0.97	75	4	175	Running
3	19	31	R Newman	-1.27	75	0	165	Running
4	4	24	J Gordon	-1.38	75	0	160	Running
5	26	34	D Ragan	-1.78	75	0	155	Running
6	9	20	M Kenseth	-2.99	75	0	150	Running
7	16	14	T Stewart	-3.39	75	0	146	Running
8	23	41	K Busch2	-3.79	75	0	142	Running
9	21	2	B Keselowski	-4.19	75	0	138	Running
10	18	99	C Edwards	-4.59	75	0	134	Running
11	7	18	K Busch	-4.99	75	0	130	Running
12	14	78	M Truex Jr	-5.40	75	0	127	Running
13	20	11	D Hamlin	-5.81	75	0	124	Running
14	8	16	G Biffle	-6.22	75	0	121	Running
15	6	4	K Harvick	-6.69	75	0	118	Running
16	13	1	J McMurray	-7.16	75	0	115	Running
17	5	15	C Bowyer	-7.66	75	0	112	Running
18	11	22	J Logano	-8.20	75	0	109	Running
19	25	13	C Mears	-8.84	75	0	106	Running
20	31	52	B Labonte	-9.46	75	0	103	Running
21	34	38	D Gilliland	-10.06	75	0	100	Running
22	27	77	D Blaney	-10.90	75	0	97	Running
23	24	55	B Vickers	-12.12	75	0	94	Running
24	42	029	M Max	-16.58	75	4	92	Running
25	35	10	D Patrick	-13.22	75	0	91	Running
26	17	66	J Burton	-13.61	75	0	88	Running
27	28	3	A Dillon	-13.99	75	0	85	Running
28	22	47	A Allmendinger	-15.86	75	0	82	Running
29	30	32	T Kvapil	-16.48	75	0	79	Running
30	36	35	E McClure	-22.27	75	0	76	Running
31	38	17	R Stenhouse Jr	-22.85	75	0	73	Running
32	29	40	L Cassill	-23.53	75	0	70	Running
33	15	9	M Ambrose	-1L	74	0	67	Retired
34	32	43	A Almirola	-1L	74	0	64	Running
35	33	055	C Ferguson	-1L	74	0	58	Running
36	2	88	D Earnhardt Jr	-1L	74	0	55	Running
37	10	27	P Menard	-1L	74	0	52	Running
38	12	5	K Kahne	-1L	74	0	49	Retired
39	37	98	J Wise	-2L	73	0	46	Retired
40	3	021	T Bear	-2L	73	0	43	Running
41	40	062	R Cook	-18L	57	0	40	Camshaft
42	41	061	D Hamilton	-49L	26	0	37	Accident
43	39	21	T Bayne	-66L	9	0	34	Retired

Caution Flags: 9 (34 laps)

Lead Changes: 3 (3 drivers)

Weather: Clear, 81 °F, Northwest 15 mph

Pitstop Frequency: 2x

AI Strength: 90%

PENALTIES

LAP	#	INFRACTION	PENALTY
12	055	Speeding in pits	Go to end of longest line
18	021	Speeding in pits	Go to end of longest line
27	061	Entering closed pits	Go to end of longest line
54	062	Passing under yellow	Held for 3 seconds
58	062	Smoking Engine	Pit for repairs
70	029	Dropping Debris	Pit for repairs
76	029	Passing under yellow	Held for 1 seconds

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Nascar Sprint Cup Championship 2014 - 19 New Hampshire