Another one down as we get ever closer to the Chase. The usual suspects reporting. I thought Scott Hagerty would be joining us but work circumstances prevented that. Rob and Bill were also out. Perhaps the two week break coming up will allow us to regroup.

On our second round to the great northern track, the qualifying results were a mixed bag. I took pole with Sandy and Chad about mid pack. Scot and Darrel held back at the rear. Darrel actually disconnected almost immediately. We're not sure why as he never returned. Hopefully things are OK with his son after he had a pretty brutal accident of his own. Speaking of...

Sandy was actually doing fairly well holding his own until Almirola ran over him going into turn one.

This took out a few not including Sandy. But his race would be slow and steady the rest of the day.

About nine laps in, Scot came up on Stremme and very gently spun him up the track for our second caution.

Not long before we were under caution again. This time, Scot went for the double play.

About a quarter of the way into the 60 lapper and the restart brought some slow trouble for Chad. He wasn't in gear when it came time to go and the log jammed the field. Despite the evasive chaos, no cautions or contact even.

Scot would not sit idle through another green flag stretch. While diving deep into turn three, he didn't quite clear Ambrose and those two were up the track.

Scot caught the 9 car again and took them both out coming around the tri-oval

Around halfway, Chad got punted by Burton racing back around. This would hurt him but he wasn't out.

Scot brought out the next caution with some help from cheating Hamlin.

Scot had done a fantastic job of saving the car and keeping it off the wall...just in time for Chad to come flying into the back of him. In Chad's defense, he tried to read where Scot would be and probably didn't think Blanely and Scot would make contact. That sent Scot almost directly in Chad's path and would pretty much end Chad's hopes of a good finish.

A quarter of the race to go, the field caught Chad and he got snagged by the 31. This put him in the wall and he would have been fine...

...had he not been flung out into the grass and back into turn three and four.

This wreck ended the day for quite a few drivers, but no humans. Danica would end up being the only other car to drop out of the race (fuel maybe?). Scot unexpectedly disconnected from the server with a couple laps left. He will be placed 21st

I took my 10th win here and went to celebrate in fashion when Sandy decided to help with my angular momentum. Thank you.

We will return in two weeks to Bristol. I'm sure we won't see too many upsets in the points after this one...

Results

Session: Practice

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	013	T Nadz	37.742
2	061	D Hamilton	38.210
3	18	K Busch	38.285
4	88	D Earnhardt Jr	38.356
5	021	T Bear	38.416
6	24	J Gordon	38.559
7	20	M Kenseth	38.564
8	15	C Bowyer	38.571
9	99	C Edwards	38.637
10	055	C Ferguson	38.640
11	22	J Logano	38.652
12	14	T Stewart	38.663
13	5	K Kahne	38.672
14	78	M Truex Jr	38.683
15	4	K Harvick	38.697
16	1	J McMurray	38.703
17	27	P Menard	38.747
18	2	B Keselowski	38.757
19	66	J Burton	38.760
20	31	R Newman	38.795
21	16	G Biffle	38.815
22	34	D Ragan	38.841
23	48	J Johnson	38.886
24	32	T Kvapil	38.900
25	35	E McClure	38.944
26	9	M Ambrose	38.972
27	11	D Hamlin	39.010
28	40	L Cassill	39.048
29	029	M Max	39.054
30	52	B Labonte	39.144
31	38	D Gilliland	39.209
32	43	A Almirola	39.214
33	47	A Allmendinger	39.228
34	17	R Stenhouse Jr	39.292
35	41	K Busch2	39.310
36	55	B Vickers	39.314
37	77	D Blaney	39.351
38	95	M McDowell	39.395
39	30	D Stremme	39.399
40	13	C Mears	39.501
41	98	J Wise	39.547
42	21	T Bayne	39.605
43	10	D Patrick	39.751

Weather: Clear, 90 °F, Southeast 4 mph

Session: Qualifying

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	013	T Nadz	37.811
2	20	M Kenseth	38.211
3	15	C Bowyer	38.276
4	11	D Hamlin	38.278
5	16	G Biffle	38.282
6	18	K Busch	38.410
7	78	M Truex Jr	38.439
8	5	K Kahne	38.448
9	31	R Newman	38.449
10	9	M Ambrose	38.503
11	4	K Harvick	38.563
12	48	J Johnson	38.566
13	88	D Earnhardt Jr	38.573
14	41	K Busch2	38.635
15	24	J Gordon	38.638
16	27	P Menard	38.641
17	14	T Stewart	38.728
18	021	T Bear	38.776
19	2	B Keselowski	38.796
20	34	D Ragan	38.826
21	1	J McMurray	38.849
22	66	J Burton	38.856
23	47	A Allmendinger	38.899
24	22	J Logano	38.948
25	055	C Ferguson	38.957
26	99	C Edwards	39.023
27	13	C Mears	39.034
28	35	E McClure	39.072
29	95	M McDowell	39.115
30	43	A Almirola	39.120
31	52	B Labonte	39.207
32	77	D Blaney	39.244
33	38	D Gilliland	39.325
34	30	D Stremme	39.339
35	32	T Kvapil	39.354
36	17	R Stenhouse Jr	39.368
37	55	B Vickers	39.483
38	061	D Hamilton	39.602
39	40	L Cassill	39.648
40	98	J Wise	39.722
41	10	D Patrick	39.732
42	21	T Bayne	39.851
43	029	M Max	48.922

Weather: Clear, 90 °F, Northwest 1 mph

Session: Happy Hour

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	013	T Nadz	38.007
2	061	D Hamilton	38.195
3	029	M Max	38.203
4	021	T Bear	38.235
5	20	M Kenseth	38.259
6	48	J Johnson	38.404
7	14	T Stewart	38.422
8	24	J Gordon	38.537
9	99	C Edwards	38.626
10	16	G Biffle	38.677
11	5	K Kahne	38.685
12	15	C Bowyer	38.708
13	9	M Ambrose	38.709
14	11	D Hamlin	38.773
15	22	J Logano	38.775
16	4	K Harvick	38.788
17	66	J Burton	38.806
18	41	K Busch2	38.843
19	31	R Newman	38.856
20	18	K Busch	38.881
21	1	J McMurray	38.889
22	78	M Truex Jr	38.897
23	2	B Keselowski	38.929
24	88	D Earnhardt Jr	38.986
25	34	D Ragan	39.002
26	27	P Menard	39.029
27	055	C Ferguson	39.078
28	43	A Almirola	39.083
29	35	E McClure	39.101
30	38	D Gilliland	39.127
31	47	A Allmendinger	39.139
32	32	T Kvapil	39.155
33	21	T Bayne	39.222
34	52	B Labonte	39.262
35	40	L Cassill	39.336
36	77	D Blaney	39.422
37	13	C Mears	39.436
38	55	B Vickers	39.449
39	10	D Patrick	39.603
40	95	M McDowell	39.618
41	30	D Stremme	39.646
42	98	J Wise	39.759
43	17	R Stenhouse Jr	39.771

Weather: Clear, 87 °F, East 5 mph

Session: Race

OFFICIAL STANDINGS

F	S	#	DRIVER	INTERVAL	LAPS	LED	POINTS	STATUS
1	1	013	T Nadz	121.856	60	41*	185	Running
2	8	5	K Kahne	-6.52	60	0	170	Running
3	9	31	R Newman	-6.62	60	0	165	Running
4	5	16	G Biffle	-7.03	60	9	165	Running
5	3	15	C Bowyer	-7.17	60	0	155	Running
6	6	18	K Busch	-7.32	60	0	150	Running
7	2	20	M Kenseth	-7.76	60	6	151	Running
8	19	2	B Keselowski	-9.78	60	0	142	Running
9	13	88	D Earnhardt Jr	-9.90	60	0	138	Running
10	4	11	D Hamlin	-10.14	60	1	139	Running
11	16	27	P Menard	-10.45	60	0	130	Running
12	24	22	J Logano	-10.68	60	0	127	Running
13	14	41	K Busch2	-10.90	60	0	124	Running
14	7	78	M Truex Jr	-11.14	60	0	121	Running
15	12	48	J Johnson	-11.40	60	0	118	Running
16	21	1	J McMurray	-13.34	60	0	115	Running
17	35	32	T Kvapil	-19.01	60	0	112	Running
18	15	24	J Gordon	-19.19	60	0	109	Running
19	11	4	K Harvick	-19.32	60	0	106	Running
20	39	40	L Cassill	-19.73	60	0	103	Running
21	43	029	M Max	-20.00	60	0	73	Running
22	10	9	M Ambrose	-22.73	60	0	100	Running
23	42	21	T Bayne	-22.75	60	0	97	Running
24	31	52	B Labonte	-24.74	60	0	94	Running
25	40	98	J Wise	-25.72	60	0	91	Running
26	33	38	D Gilliland	-25.83	60	0	88	Running
27	34	30	D Stremme	-34.01	60	3	90	Running
28	37	55	B Vickers	-34.19	60	0	82	Running
29	32	77	D Blaney	-35.36	60	0	79	Running
30	18	021	T Bear	-1L	59	0	76	Running
31	41	10	D Patrick	-5L	55	0	70	Retired
32	17	14	T Stewart	-16L	44	0	67	Retired
33	20	34	D Ragan	-17L	43	0	64	Accident
34	22	66	J Burton	-17L	43	0	61	Accident
35	28	35	E McClure	-18L	42	0	58	Accident
36	29	95	M McDowell	-18L	42	0	55	Accident
37	25	055	C Ferguson	-19L	41	0	52	Accident
38	36	17	R Stenhouse Jr	-38L	22	0	49	Accident
39	23	47	A Allmendinger	-39L	21	0	46	Retired
40	26	99	C Edwards	-57L	3	0	43	Retired
41	30	43	A Almirola	-59L	1	0	40	Retired
42	27	13	C Mears	-59L	1	0	37	Retired
43	38	061	D Hamilton	-59L	1	0	34	Disco

Caution Flags: 7 (25 laps)

Lead Changes: 6 (5 drivers)

Weather: Clear, 87 °F, East 7 mph

Pitstop Frequency: 2x

AI Strength: 95%

PENALTIES

LAP	#	INFRACTION	PENALTY
11	055	Unsafe pit exit	Go to end of longest line
21	055	Unsafe pit exit	Go to end of longest line

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Nascar Sprint Cup Championship 2014 - 23 Michigan