The first round of the Chase has ended and it is official: Only one human has made it to the Contender Round. Scot and Darrel both did not receive enough points to clear the 12th place position and were eliminated along with Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton. It was a tough race for everyone and well fought, regardless.

Good start after a mulligan with me at pole and Darrel and Sandy close behind.

Close racing down the order until, 10 laps in, Scot bumped into some old friends.

While there were minor scuffles and skirmishes on the track, the first tragedy came when Darrel was running around second. He got shuffled back slightly and then coming out of turn four, Truex Jr. bounced him into the outside wall.

Darrel then proceeded to be steamrolled by Kahne and many others.

The wreck was rather large and was the turning point for Darrel's chase dreams, even though a few other chasers were out.

On the restart, Chad and I led the charge, even though Chad was a little heavy on the gas.

He held onto it nicely and was doing fine until Ryan Newman caught him on the back stretch and took him down. Well, Chad wasn't out yet...

More bad news about a third of the race in as Scott Hagerty got punished by Mr. Truex Jr. Truex got caught in the mess and there were a few fatalities from this. Hagerty could have continued on but after struggling with a damaged, near undrivable car all race, he eventually would park it.

And during this set of cautions, Chad had some trouble getting his crew to work. Gratuitous boob shot.

Once we were back to racing, we all were finding these restarts to be very torque heavy and difficult to manage. Stewart got by me and I fought back hard to catch him, nearly taking us both out.

Chad takes out frustrations on the 18!

At roughly the halfway point, Sandy took the lead while almost all of the field pitted.

He even stayed out despite the fact he would be a bit short on fuel. But he was willing to gamble. However, fate had different designs for the Microsoft team. On the restart, some crowding and the slightest bump from Kenseth (plus a lead foot from Sandy) caused a quick spin.

One which I narrowly avoided.

And most of the field did not.

Can you say bottle neck?

Back to racing and the battles were intense all over the track. Here I was trading paint with Edwards.

Our next yellow came out when Chad forgot which way to turn.

Oh damn! Looks like two contenders are out for the rest of this one.

Racing to the line and these bone heads tried to make it 5-wide!

But my buddy, the wall, pushed me right back into their formation.

And sent these clowns into the dirt.

They even collected a few more before the end of it.

But my little victory was short lived. I guess I had some damage, bad tires, and who knows what else for I simply lost it into turn one.

I didn't suffer much damage, but I guess Scot felt the need to punish the wall? Actually, he was coming up fast on Sandy and tapped the breaks, sending the car sliding.

Short on laps now, we were getting down to the final 20 and I was pushing my way through the field.

I wasn't the only one. Scot knocked Cassill well up the track.

While we had a brief caution for Cassill's incident, it was still green after these two got body slammed out wide.

Around the same time (about 5 or 6 to go), I had caught and passed Edwards for the lead.

Good thing too as Scot caught Michael McDowell and fed him to the safer barriers.

The remaining humans celebrated with a majestic dance. Despite Chad's great efforts, Darrel and Scot could not stay in the Chase. But they are doing well in their current positions which you can view from the Current Standings link. Next is Kansas.

Results

Session: Practice

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	013	T Nadz	22.504
2	061	D Hamilton	22.710
3	029	M Max	22.916
4	20	M Kenseth	22.969
5	055	C Ferguson	23.061
6	16	G Biffle	23.086
7	021	T Bear	23.104
8	48	J Johnson	23.113
9	41	K Busch2	23.119
10	31	R Newman	23.121
11	27	P Menard	23.129
12	1	J McMurray	23.141
13	5	K Kahne	23.142
14	2	B Keselowski	23.165
15	78	M Truex Jr	23.203
16	18	K Busch	23.205
17	11	D Hamlin	23.233
18	88	D Earnhardt Jr	23.233
19	15	C Bowyer	23.247
20	4	K Harvick	23.289
21	22	J Logano	23.293
22	14	T Stewart	23.299
23	66	J Burton	23.324
24	9	M Ambrose	23.326
25	99	C Edwards	23.365
26	47	A Allmendinger	23.371
27	35	E McClure	23.373
28	34	D Ragan	23.384
29	32	T Kvapil	23.384
30	24	J Gordon	23.421
31	43	A Almirola	23.485
32	55	B Vickers	23.497
33	13	C Mears	23.512
34	40	L Cassill	23.523
35	77	D Blaney	23.547
36	30	D Stremme	23.550
37	52	B Labonte	23.553
38	38	D Gilliland	23.554
39	21	T Bayne	23.560
40	95	M McDowell	23.561
41	17	R Stenhouse Jr	23.607
42	98	J Wise	23.643
43	051	S Hagerty	24.974

Weather: Cloudy, 89 °F, Northwest 9 mph

Session: Qualifying

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	013	T Nadz	22.321
2	14	T Stewart	22.784
3	24	J Gordon	22.808
4	20	M Kenseth	22.827
5	31	R Newman	22.838
6	5	K Kahne	22.850
7	88	D Earnhardt Jr	22.853
8	15	C Bowyer	22.891
9	061	D Hamilton	22.891
10	021	T Bear	22.924
11	78	M Truex Jr	22.943
12	2	B Keselowski	22.957
13	18	K Busch	22.963
14	22	J Logano	22.989
15	16	G Biffle	23.010
16	66	J Burton	23.021
17	11	D Hamlin	23.076
18	35	E McClure	23.092
19	27	P Menard	23.098
20	41	K Busch2	23.129
21	77	D Blaney	23.143
22	13	C Mears	23.176
23	1	J McMurray	23.257
24	4	K Harvick	23.259
25	9	M Ambrose	23.260
26	38	D Gilliland	23.265
27	99	C Edwards	23.279
28	30	D Stremme	23.337
29	47	A Allmendinger	23.346
30	17	R Stenhouse Jr	23.386
31	55	B Vickers	23.399
32	21	T Bayne	23.449
33	34	D Ragan	23.453
34	43	A Almirola	23.488
35	48	J Johnson	23.612
36	95	M McDowell	23.620
37	32	T Kvapil	23.625
38	52	B Labonte	24.039
39	40	L Cassill	24.179
40	98	J Wise	24.340
41	051	S Hagerty	27.216
42	029	M Max	37.343
43	055	C Ferguson	--

Weather: Cloudy, 89 °F, North 9 mph

Session: Happy Hour

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	013	T Nadz	22.495
2	061	D Hamilton	22.877
3	029	M Max	23.036
4	15	C Bowyer	23.063
5	021	T Bear	23.069
6	99	C Edwards	23.069
7	48	J Johnson	23.125
8	78	M Truex Jr	23.129
9	1	J McMurray	23.132
10	20	M Kenseth	23.161
11	16	G Biffle	23.169
12	055	C Ferguson	23.186
13	22	J Logano	23.225
14	41	K Busch2	23.225
15	5	K Kahne	23.243
16	31	R Newman	23.245
17	27	P Menard	23.260
18	11	D Hamlin	23.269
19	24	J Gordon	23.335
20	9	M Ambrose	23.379
21	4	K Harvick	23.385
22	52	B Labonte	23.393
23	14	T Stewart	23.399
24	43	A Almirola	23.430
25	40	L Cassill	23.458
26	34	D Ragan	23.464
27	2	B Keselowski	23.466
28	18	K Busch	23.484
29	30	D Stremme	23.499
30	66	J Burton	23.532
31	32	T Kvapil	23.542
32	13	C Mears	23.567
33	98	J Wise	23.570
34	38	D Gilliland	23.574
35	95	M McDowell	23.587
36	47	A Allmendinger	23.624
37	88	D Earnhardt Jr	23.648
38	77	D Blaney	23.727
39	35	E McClure	23.728
40	55	B Vickers	23.734
41	21	T Bayne	23.788
42	17	R Stenhouse Jr	23.873
43	051	S Hagerty	24.410

Weather: Cloudy, 72 °F, West 11 mph

Session: Race

OFFICIAL STANDINGS

F	S	#	DRIVER	INTERVAL	LAPS	LED	POINTS	STATUS
1	1	013	T Nadz	97.526	80	44*	185	Running
2	27	99	C Edwards	-1.13	80	12	175	Running
3	17	11	D Hamlin	-1.39	80	16	170	Running
4	7	88	D Earnhardt Jr	-1.67	80	0	160	Running
5	15	16	G Biffle	-1.94	80	0	155	Running
6	3	24	J Gordon	-2.25	80	0	150	Running
7	2	14	T Stewart	-2.55	80	5	151	Running
8	20	41	K Busch2	-2.92	80	0	142	Running
9	24	4	K Harvick	-3.21	80	0	138	Running
10	12	2	B Keselowski	-3.52	80	0	134	Running
11	8	15	C Bowyer	-3.83	80	0	130	Running
12	42	029	M Max	-4.84	80	0	127	Running
13	31	55	B Vickers	-7.50	80	0	124	Running
14	23	1	J McMurray	-15.62	80	0	121	Running
15	10	021	T Bear	-24.05	80	3	123	Running
16	34	43	A Almirola	-1L	79	0	115	Running
17	26	38	D Gilliland	-2L	78	0	112	Running
18	36	95	M McDowell	-3L	77	0	109	Running
19	39	40	L Cassill	-3L	77	0	106	Running
20	38	52	B Labonte	-27L	53	0	103	Retired
21	11	78	M Truex Jr	-29L	51	0	100	Retired
22	14	22	J Logano	-30L	50	0	97	Accident
23	5	31	R Newman	-30L	50	0	94	Retired
24	25	9	M Ambrose	-31L	49	0	91	Accident
25	40	98	J Wise	-31L	49	0	88	Retired
26	19	27	P Menard	-31L	49	0	85	Accident
27	32	21	T Bayne	-32L	48	0	82	Accident
28	28	30	D Stremme	-32L	48	0	79	Retired
29	4	20	M Kenseth	-32L	48	0	76	Accident
30	21	77	D Blaney	-34L	46	0	73	DQ
31	43	055	C Ferguson	-36L	44	0	70	Accident
32	29	47	A Allmendinger	-37L	43	0	67	Retired
33	13	18	K Busch	-41L	39	0	64	Retired
34	41	051	S Hagerty	-47L	33	0	61	Retired
35	16	66	J Burton	-64L	16	0	58	Retired
36	6	5	K Kahne	-64L	16	0	55	Accident
37	18	35	E McClure	-64L	16	0	52	Retired
38	9	061	D Hamilton	-65L	15	0	49	Accident
39	35	48	J Johnson	-65L	15	0	46	Accident
40	33	34	D Ragan	-65L	15	0	43	Accident
41	30	17	R Stenhouse Jr	-65L	15	0	40	Accident
42	37	32	T Kvapil	-65L	15	0	37	Accident
43	22	13	C Mears	-65L	15	0	34	Retired

Caution Flags: 9 (32 laps)

Lead Changes: 7 (5 drivers)

Weather: Cloudy, 72 °F, Northwest 16 mph

Pitstop Frequency: 2x

AI Strength: 97%

PENALTIES

LAP	#	INFRACTION	PENALTY
12	021	Speeding in pits	Go to end of longest line
22	051	Speeding in pits	Go to end of longest line
23	055	Unsafe pit exit	Go to end of longest line
46	029	Speeding in pits	Go to end of longest line
52	029	Speeding in pits	Go to end of longest line

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Nascar Sprint Cup Championship 2014 - 29 Dover