'87 Winston Cup 2016 Series - 18 Kentucky

We reach the halfway point of the series at a good old cookie cutter track here at Kentucky.  Quite a crowd all of a sudden as well as we swell our numbers back up a bit.  And Chad announcing he's out of retirement for a while.

After some technical glitches, we managed to line up, however, Mark disconnected thanks to an internet issue.  Sandy filled in the spot on the pole and humans lead the charge.

Sandy was set loose for the long run and had difficulty keeping the car steady in the opening salvo of laps, allowing me to slip by.

Things continued to be shaky as he slipped back the order and started taking out chunks of the safer barrier as souvenirs.

With only about 5 laps in, Zack's internet issues (which have post-since been resolved) plagued him once more and he found himself inside of Brett Bodine's 1 car.

Chad had no time or room to react as the maelstrom unfolded in front of him.

He almost cleared the 23 of Webster but just caught the front of his car and the engine was done, as was Zack.

Although, in his dying effort, Chad managed a fancy slide job coming to pit road and parked neatly in his pit stall.

Still early in the fuel run and both Darrel and Sandy stayed out to keep in front of the Joneses.

Eventually I worked my way back up to them and put a pass on Sandy...

...when suddenly the caution was out.

Back in the field, Scot was testing the waters and driving in a bit too deep.  This didn't help him or Derrick Cope.

This time, it was pit road for all.  Sandy and Darrel tussled a little over blocking of stalls but all got out OK.

Back under green, Darrel was fighting to get back some of the positions he'd lost on pit road and was pushing his car a little excessively.

The Bear was also struggling with his ride as some of the damage combined with fresher tires was giving him more than a handful.

And then it happened as Darrel came off of turn four.  He started to lose grip jumping on the gas and coming away from the wall when he contacted Rusty Wallace.

Shockingly, the two did little more than careen around the outside wall with little damage and no caution.  But many positions were lost by both drivers.

Sandy's woes only deepened as he started making contact with the turn walls.

Besides myself, many of the humans were dealing with various levels of damage and car problems.  We started into our first green flag lap window and many were on pit road when the dread caution happened.  Ken Schradder and Dale Jarrett couldn't agree on who had the line and Jarrett was knocked wide.

There may not have been a problem if Dale Earnhardt hadn't been there to send him back down the track, almost right into Darrel Hamilton who was making up ground.

While not a big one, there were more cars involved.

Including Mad Max!  Coming off of the corner, he had barely enough time to even register there was a car sitting on the track in his line.  Worn tires and high speed kept him from turning down and out of the way.

And yet more were smashed and out.

Because more than half the field pitted, we came to the green with a ton of cars on the end of the lead lap out in front of us.

It was a harrowing experience but I managed to work my way through them.

Darrel was working on the same thing when he managed to catch up to the rolling wreck-job, Bierschwale.

It wasn't pretty but it could have been worse.

Coming to the green, the lap cars had little concern for my safety, nearly bulling me over as I tucked down to the inside.  I'll point out that I was further back in the pack due to an error on my part.  I didn't come in on the first caution lap of pit stops thinking that the cars behind me were on the lead lap and staying out.  So I came in the second time.  But we were all still about 3-5 laps shy.

Regardless, there were few humans in the back with many lappers in front of us.

Darrel saw his opportunity to push hard to the front and clear the moving wall of cars.  But he couldn't judge the breaking zones of Ken Schradder and the two collided.

Darrel nearly rolled the car but managed to keep things together.  By this point, he was hurt badly and it would take a lot to try and stay on the lead lap.

Sandy picked up some points under caution by leading.

And then slunk to the back as we tore off for the final run of racing.  Once again, I had to deal with lap traffic as well as several cars for position.

This run to the front was almost as scary but I didn't have the 77 to get in the way.  Laps were ticking down and I finally made my way to Phil Parsons to battle for the lead.

He fought hard to hold on but I managed to overtake him with a few laps to go and bring home the win.

Next week is Loudon, New Hampshire.  Get your snoozers on for the most boring race to watch and run.

Results

Session: Practice

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	2	M Riggleman Jr	30.540
2	013	T Nadz	30.934
3	021	T Bear	31.047
4	029	M Max	31.463
5	061	D Hamilton	31.469
6	023	Z Webster	31.544
7	9	B Elliott	31.849
8	35	B Parsons	31.850
9	88	B Baker	31.862
10	3	D Earnhardt	31.864
11	20	C Ferguson	31.882
12	28	D Allison	31.897
13	75	N Bonnett	31.921
14	77	E Bierschwale	31.928
15	71	D Marcis	31.930
16	44	S Marlin	31.979
17	7	A Kulwicki	31.999
18	55	P Parsons	32.001
19	52	J Means	32.007
20	4	R Wilson	32.010
21	15	R Rudd	32.014
22	90	K Schrader	32.026
23	21	K Petty	32.028
24	27	R Wallace	32.034
25	19	D Cope	32.047
26	50	G Sacks	32.049
27	67	B Arrington	32.050
28	17	D Waltrip	32.056
29	8	B Hillin, Jr.	32.062
30	5	G Bodine	32.067
31	11	T Labonte	32.068
32	43	R Petty	32.079
33	33	H Gant	32.084
34	70	J McDuffie	32.091
35	64	R Combs	32.105
36	25	T Richmond	32.124
37	30	M Waltrip	32.128
38	18	D Jarrett	32.134
39	26	M Shepherd	32.161
40	62	S Christman	32.194
41	83	L Speed	32.218
42	22	B Allison	32.274
43	1	B Bodine	32.339

Weather: Cloudy, 74 °F, Northwest 5 mph

Session: Qualifying

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	2	M Riggleman Jr	31.302
2	013	T Nadz	31.655
3	021	T Bear	31.748
4	061	D Hamilton	31.806
5	11	T Labonte	32.028
6	3	D Earnhardt	32.043
7	9	B Elliott	32.130
8	26	M Shepherd	32.146
9	90	K Schrader	32.216
10	75	N Bonnett	32.228
11	27	R Wallace	32.241
12	44	S Marlin	32.243
13	35	B Parsons	32.254
14	33	H Gant	32.255
15	22	B Allison	32.277
16	21	K Petty	32.279
17	43	R Petty	32.311
18	15	R Rudd	32.317
19	8	B Hillin, Jr.	32.332
20	18	D Jarrett	32.352
21	28	D Allison	32.356
22	5	G Bodine	32.378
23	4	R Wilson	32.404
24	55	P Parsons	32.407
25	77	E Bierschwale	32.414
26	88	B Baker	32.415
27	7	A Kulwicki	32.431
28	30	M Waltrip	32.431
29	83	L Speed	32.446
30	67	B Arrington	32.458
31	71	D Marcis	32.462
32	25	T Richmond	32.465
33	50	G Sacks	32.468
34	70	J McDuffie	32.494
35	52	J Means	32.564
36	19	D Cope	32.576
37	64	R Combs	32.600
38	1	B Bodine	32.647
39	62	S Christman	32.655
40	17	D Waltrip	32.709
41	20	C Ferguson	32.859
42	029	M Max	--
43	023	Z Webster	--

Weather: Clear, 74 °F, North 5 mph

Session: Happy Hour

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	013	T Nadz	31.260
2	2	M Riggleman Jr	31.283
3	021	T Bear	31.303
4	061	D Hamilton	31.507
5	30	M Waltrip	31.928
6	43	R Petty	31.937
7	029	M Max	31.942
8	023	Z Webster	31.947
9	28	D Allison	31.975
10	3	D Earnhardt	31.987
11	75	N Bonnett	32.075
12	22	B Allison	32.109
13	90	K Schrader	32.134
14	55	P Parsons	32.145
15	7	A Kulwicki	32.148
16	1	B Bodine	32.195
17	5	G Bodine	32.228
18	50	G Sacks	32.233
19	11	T Labonte	32.238
20	9	B Elliott	32.247
21	18	D Jarrett	32.248
22	67	B Arrington	32.265
23	52	J Means	32.278
24	17	D Waltrip	32.292
25	8	B Hillin, Jr.	32.294
26	15	R Rudd	32.301
27	64	R Combs	32.301
28	70	J McDuffie	32.302
29	71	D Marcis	32.326
30	35	B Parsons	32.333
31	19	D Cope	32.336
32	26	M Shepherd	32.378
33	33	H Gant	32.379
34	25	T Richmond	32.389
35	21	K Petty	32.394
36	62	S Christman	32.399
37	83	L Speed	32.403
38	88	B Baker	32.449
39	44	S Marlin	32.502
40	20	C Ferguson	32.532
41	77	E Bierschwale	32.572
42	27	R Wallace	32.755
43	4	R Wilson	48.704

Weather: Cloudy, 80 °F, Northeast 10 mph

Session: Race

OFFICIAL STANDINGS

F	S	#	DRIVER	INTERVAL	LAPS	LED	POINTS	STATUS
1	2	013	T Nadz	122.766	67	40*	185	Running
2	24	55	P Parsons	-2.25	67	3	175	Running
3	6	3	D Earnhardt	-2.39	67	0	165	Running
4	40	17	D Waltrip	-2.53	67	0	160	Running
5	27	7	A Kulwicki	-2.93	67	11	160	Running
6	14	33	H Gant	-3.79	67	2	155	Running
7	26	88	B Baker	-4.02	67	0	146	Running
8	19	8	B Hillin, Jr.	-4.49	67	0	142	Running
9	12	44	S Marlin	-5.14	67	0	138	Running
10	22	5	G Bodine	-6.75	67	0	134	Running
11	21	28	D Allison	-6.87	67	0	130	Running
12	18	15	R Rudd	-7.30	67	0	127	Running
13	39	62	S Christman	-7.37	67	0	124	Running
14	7	9	B Elliott	-7.56	67	1	126	Running
15	16	21	K Petty	-8.07	67	0	118	Running
16	35	52	J Means	-8.42	67	0	115	Running
17	17	43	R Petty	-9.08	67	0	112	Running
18	3	021	T Bear	-25.66	67	1	114	Running
19	23	4	R Wilson	-1L	66	0	106	Running
20	28	30	M Waltrip	-1L	66	0	103	Running
21	29	83	L Speed	-1L	66	0	100	Running
22	11	27	R Wallace	-1L	66	0	97	Running
23	38	1	B Bodine	-1L	66	0	94	Running
24	8	26	M Shepherd	-1L	66	0	91	Running
25	5	11	T Labonte	-1L	66	0	88	Running
26	13	35	B Parsons	-1L	66	0	85	Running
27	30	67	B Arrington	-1L	66	0	82	Running
28	9	90	K Schrader	-1L	66	0	79	Running
29	25	77	E Bierschwale	-1L	66	0	76	Running
30	4	061	D Hamilton	-1L	66	8	78	Running
31	15	22	B Allison	-2L	65	0	70	Running
32	10	75	N Bonnett	-2L	65	1	72	Running
33	31	71	D Marcis	-2L	65	0	64	Running
34	37	64	R Combs	-35L	32	0	61	Accident
35	20	18	D Jarrett	-36L	31	0	58	Accident
36	33	50	G Sacks	-36L	31	0	55	Accident
37	42	029	M Max	-36L	31	0	52	Accident
38	32	25	T Richmond	-36L	31	0	49	Accident
39	36	19	D Cope	-36L	31	0	46	Accident
40	34	70	J McDuffie	-37L	30	0	43	Accident
41	43	023	Z Webster	-63L	4	0	40	Accident
42	41	20	C Ferguson	-63L	4	0	37	Accident

Caution Flags: 5 (18 laps)

Lead Changes: 10 (8 drivers)

Weather: Cloudy, 79 °F, Southwest 3 mph

Pitstop Frequency: 3x

AI Strength: 95%

PENALTIES

LAP	#	INFRACTION	PENALTY
5	20	Entering closed pits	Go to end of longest line
5	023	Entering closed pits	Go to end of longest line
8	029	Unsafe pit exit	Go to end of longest line
34	061	Speeding in pits	Go to end of longest line