Down to the final 8 as we wrap up the Contender Round at Talladega. Comers and goers here and Chad has proven that his most hated tracks are his best.

Qualifying polarized the humans with me on pole and everyone else at the back. But it would not stay like this forever, oh no.

We were without incident for about 5 laps when I tapped the 48 coming to the line.

He collected a few but only a handful dropped out, and not even good ones at that.

Most of those in the back decided to hit the pits for tires and fuel. Scott should have asked for brakes as he didn't have any coming to his stall. This was all Sandy saw from the side as he innocently attempted his own stop. Fortunately no one was terribly hurt although Darrel's car would not be nearly as fast for the rest of the night.

That pit stop was where Sandy's luck would end. Coming to take the green, Mr. Downshift took out his engine trying to engine break approaching the field. His day was done and this would be the second 'Dega that killed his engine without a scratch on the paint.

We got going green a lap later and it took some time but the field was plowing away. Here, Darrel barely escaped the swarm as they came by.

While battling for position, I basically got a side draft off of Mears and went sideways. Not a lot of damage and no one else was really involved. But I too wasn't running right afterward.

Not long after the restart, Scott was DQed for not honoring the black flag. I guess there was a speeding penalty he didn't realize he had. Too bad.

By about halfway, when the field caught me, I was doing my best to stay on the lead lap when I drifted in front of Kenseth.

And held on for what I thought was the big one.

It was actually quite innocuous as wrecks go and only a select few VIPs got to be involved.

Including Mr. Dillon who felt it necessary to T-Bone my car as I was trying to get righted, post-wreck. Notice the angle of his vehicle, facing out towards the track, indicating he turned up to hit me deliberately. This will not be forgotten. The 3 and 15 have received black spots on their Facebook walls.

But one human was still in the running and it was Chad. Taking the restart with about six or seven to go, Chad started blazing a trail.

He drove hard and earned a deserving 10th place.

To celebrate, I sacrificed a Kahne to the NASCAR gods on my whiteflag lap.

We now go from biggest to smallest at Martinsville. I'll post any updates as necessary. It should be an awesome start to the Elimination Round.

Results

Session: Practice

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	20	M Kenseth	48.633
2	16	G Biffle	48.810
3	66	J Burton	48.839
4	2	B Keselowski	48.927
5	013	T Nadz	48.929
6	99	C Edwards	48.953
7	13	C Mears	48.993
8	48	J Johnson	49.044
9	14	T Stewart	49.060
10	24	J Gordon	49.142
11	35	E McClure	49.163
12	88	D Earnhardt Jr	49.187
13	18	K Busch	49.203
14	9	M Ambrose	49.221
15	27	P Menard	49.234
16	77	D Blaney	49.303
17	95	M McDowell	49.409
18	32	T Kvapil	49.429
19	22	J Logano	49.461
20	34	D Ragan	49.515
21	47	A Allmendinger	49.544
22	98	J Wise	49.560
23	5	K Kahne	49.570
24	38	D Gilliland	49.570
25	41	K Busch2	49.684
26	055	C Ferguson	49.689
27	15	C Bowyer	49.691
28	061	D Hamilton	49.696
29	021	T Bear	49.727
30	17	R Stenhouse Jr	49.772
31	31	R Newman	49.818
32	4	K Harvick	49.839
33	52	B Labonte	49.860
34	78	M Truex Jr	49.897
35	3	A Dillon	49.916
36	55	B Vickers	49.950
37	30	D Stremme	50.067
38	43	A Almirola	50.374
39	40	L Cassill	50.406
40	1	J McMurray	50.420
41	11	D Hamlin	50.467
42	051	S Hagerty	51.145
43	21	T Bayne	51.609

Weather: Cloudy, 66 °F, South 6 mph

Session: Qualifying

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	013	T Nadz	49.155
2	99	C Edwards	49.167
3	20	M Kenseth	49.223
4	48	J Johnson	49.293
5	88	D Earnhardt Jr	49.317
6	15	C Bowyer	49.324
7	4	K Harvick	49.367
8	22	J Logano	49.378
9	18	K Busch	49.396
10	24	J Gordon	49.397
11	2	B Keselowski	49.412
12	78	M Truex Jr	49.442
13	5	K Kahne	49.462
14	31	R Newman	49.534
15	11	D Hamlin	49.537
16	41	K Busch2	49.548
17	34	D Ragan	49.550
18	14	T Stewart	49.574
19	16	G Biffle	49.599
20	9	M Ambrose	49.618
21	1	J McMurray	49.633
22	27	P Menard	49.674
23	66	J Burton	49.730
24	38	D Gilliland	49.766
25	47	A Allmendinger	49.785
26	55	B Vickers	49.980
27	13	C Mears	49.987
28	95	M McDowell	50.068
29	52	B Labonte	50.075
30	40	L Cassill	50.141
31	17	R Stenhouse Jr	50.214
32	35	E McClure	50.230
33	32	T Kvapil	50.279
34	77	D Blaney	50.283
35	43	A Almirola	50.315
36	21	T Bayne	50.364
37	98	J Wise	50.424
38	3	A Dillon	50.510
39	30	D Stremme	50.578
40	055	C Ferguson	50.745
41	021	T Bear	50.817
42	061	D Hamilton	50.974
43	051	S Hagerty	52.245

Weather: Cloudy, 66 °F, East 11 mph

Session: Happy Hour

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	48	J Johnson	49.149
2	47	A Allmendinger	49.278
3	2	B Keselowski	49.289
4	15	C Bowyer	49.296
5	9	M Ambrose	49.324
6	11	D Hamlin	49.342
7	31	R Newman	49.564
8	4	K Harvick	49.617
9	16	G Biffle	49.628
10	32	T Kvapil	49.666
11	34	D Ragan	49.667
12	20	M Kenseth	49.727
13	27	P Menard	49.742
14	14	T Stewart	49.814
15	99	C Edwards	49.826
16	1	J McMurray	49.859
17	24	J Gordon	49.953
18	41	K Busch2	49.977
19	95	M McDowell	49.992
20	35	E McClure	50.105
21	17	R Stenhouse Jr	50.114
22	66	J Burton	50.126
23	88	D Earnhardt Jr	50.156
24	3	A Dillon	50.173
25	30	D Stremme	50.434
26	77	D Blaney	50.455
27	055	C Ferguson	50.457
28	40	L Cassill	50.462
29	55	B Vickers	50.514
30	013	T Nadz	50.638
31	21	T Bayne	50.684
32	13	C Mears	50.685
33	98	J Wise	50.742
34	22	J Logano	50.750
35	52	B Labonte	50.852
36	5	K Kahne	50.860
37	061	D Hamilton	50.862
38	78	M Truex Jr	51.171
39	18	K Busch	51.183
40	051	S Hagerty	51.280
41	43	A Almirola	51.345
42	38	D Gilliland	51.866
43	021	T Bear	59.783

Weather: Cloudy, 71 °F, North 6 mph

Session: Race

OFFICIAL STANDINGS

F	S	#	DRIVER	INTERVAL	LAPS	LED	POINTS	STATUS
1	10	24	J Gordon	158.016	47	2	180	Running
2	19	16	G Biffle	-0.05	47	0	170	Running
3	7	4	K Harvick	-0.08	47	11	170	Running
4	5	88	D Earnhardt Jr	-0.16	47	12*	170	Running
5	15	11	D Hamlin	-0.31	47	0	155	Running
6	23	66	J Burton	-0.36	47	0	150	Running
7	22	27	P Menard	-0.60	47	0	146	Running
8	11	2	B Keselowski	-6.90	47	0	142	Running
9	33	32	T Kvapil	-7.13	47	0	138	Running
10	40	055	C Ferguson	-7.29	47	0	134	Running
11	18	14	T Stewart	-7.42	47	0	130	Running
12	24	38	D Gilliland	-7.52	47	0	127	Running
13	12	78	M Truex Jr	-12.72	47	0	124	Running
14	28	95	M McDowell	-12.88	47	0	121	Running
15	32	35	E McClure	-14.04	47	0	118	Running
16	2	99	C Edwards	-15.09	47	9	120	Running
17	17	34	D Ragan	-19.56	47	0	112	Running
18	16	41	K Busch2	-22.74	47	0	109	Running
19	8	22	J Logano	-22.99	47	0	106	Running
20	39	30	D Stremme	-23.09	47	0	103	Running
21	6	15	C Bowyer	-30.89	47	1	105	Running
22	13	5	K Kahne	-55.00	47	0	97	Running
23	9	18	K Busch	-1L	46	0	94	Running
24	35	43	A Almirola	-1L	46	0	91	Running
25	31	17	R Stenhouse Jr	-1L	46	0	88	Running
26	25	47	A Allmendinger	-1L	46	0	85	Running
27	1	013	T Nadz	-1L	46	5	87	Running
28	42	061	D Hamilton	-1L	46	0	79	Running
29	14	31	R Newman	-11L	36	5	81	Retired
30	3	20	M Kenseth	-12L	35	2	78	Retired
31	34	77	D Blaney	-13L	34	0	70	Retired
32	38	3	A Dillon	-14L	33	0	67	Retired
33	43	051	S Hagerty	-25L	22	0	64	Retired
34	29	52	B Labonte	-32L	15	0	61	Header
35	41	021	T Bear	-40L	7	0	58	Header
36	26	55	B Vickers	-41L	6	0	55	Valve
37	20	9	M Ambrose	-42L	5	0	52	Retired
38	21	1	J McMurray	-42L	5	0	49	Retired
39	27	13	C Mears	-42L	5	0	46	Retired
40	30	40	L Cassill	-42L	5	0	43	Retired
41	36	21	T Bayne	-42L	5	0	40	Retired
42	37	98	J Wise	-42L	5	0	37	Retired
43	4	48	J Johnson	-43L	4	0	34	Retired

Caution Flags: 3 (13 laps)

Lead Changes: 17 (8 drivers)

Weather: Cloudy, 70 °F, West 6 mph

Pitstop Frequency: 1x

AI Strength: 94%

PENALTIES

LAP	#	INFRACTION	PENALTY
6	061	Speeding in pits	Go to end of longest line
7	051	Unsafe pit exit	Go to end of longest line
7	061	Passing under yellow	Held for 10 seconds
17	051	Speeding in pits	Go to end of longest line
18	051	Unsafe pit exit	Go to end of longest line
20	051	Passing on the inside	Stop and go
24	051	Not honoring the black f	DQ'd: Scoring is ended

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Nascar Sprint Cup Championship 2014 - 32 Talladega