'87 Winston Cup 2016 Series - 28 New Hampshire

After an unplanned week off thanks to technical issues, we finally got back to it to finish the least anticipated track in the series (twice), New Hampshire.  As we wind down the season, things are really starting to heat up between Sandy and Zack for championship points.  Let's see how they did.

After two weeks of practice, a few of us got some really great starting positions towards the front.

Eventually, and after much toiling, Zack, Darrel and I broke away.

Prior to that, Sandy had a turn of fortunes and was knocked to the apron by Rick Wilson on the first lap, shuffling him back to the end of the field where he'd start his hill climb.

After 10 laps of hard racing with Darrel consistently less than a second behind (and slowly closing) he got into the marbles and the back end came around on him.

Being awkwardly a third through the first fuel run, the field was split on pitting.

Another 10 laps of green and we had another caution as Chad sailed it hard into the side of Combs.

Combs did a pirouette off of the wall and nearly caught Sandy as he came by.

On this restart, all humans except Zack were in the back, trying to play to some fuel strategy or fixing damage.

I was looking to try and get through some of the field and came up on Chad looking racy.

I pulled back thinking it wouldn't be a good idea this early on to accidentally get into it but I had already distracted Chad somewhat and he cranked it into three, taking out Marcus and Yarborough.

Only mild damage but it was unfortunate as Chad had a strong car and just needed pit stops to line up for a good run.

Sandy felt so bad, he spun out in front of Chad to show that it can happen to any one.

The pits were once again split among drivers.

Darrel and I came back in to hopefully make it to the end on fuel, although it would be extremely close.

Just over halfway, Sandy spun it going through one of the turns as the back end kicked out for no apparent reason.

It was the worst spot as Chad was the only car behind him and he couldn't see him as he approached.  The two could continue but they were hurt.

Further up the track and happening simultaneously, Zack was racing hard but jumped the throttle/got unsettled on the apron and started to come around.

It was a fiasco and there were many cars involved with much damage.

I happened to ram into Rick Wilson who was an idiot and slammed Lake Speed for no cause whatsoever.  Darrel squeaked by on the inside and avoided damage.

On the restart, it was the three humans back at the front again and we were ready for some good racing despite minor scuffs we'd all suffered.

As Darrel counted down his start to try and jump away from the field, he came together with Yarborough on the inside which didn't do much damage to anyone but caught poor Chad in the middle of the field as everyone went by.  He was two laps down, but it was still scary.

We finally got going and Darrel wasn't too far down but didn't get a great start and was right in the middle when Marlin and Petty came beating on his door.

Darrel spun and only smacked the wall a little.  In fact, you can see his tire marks up to the right.  From there, he came down to the infield and threw it in reverse to about here.  NASCAR thought that was too far in the wrong direction and tossed his ass right out.  Really unfortunate way to end after making a strong comeback.

We got going again and Zack started second with hopes of just holding cars up as long as possible as his ride was not riding well.

He was actually managing this task quite well, making a double-wide conga line of bumper-to-bumper AI and only losing a few spots over several laps and close calls.

With under 10 to go, Chad wiped out in much the same way Sandy had earlier in the race, just losing the back end.

But it was right in front of Zack and the two collided.

Zack came back up the track and was railed by several cars, Alan Kulwicki with the killing blow.

So close to the end and he was done.  And what was worse is that more cars were out or damaged which helped Sandy earn more points, giving Zack a stronger challenge going into the next few races.

We were racing again with only a couple left and Sandy was performing a similar feat as Zack, just trying to hold back cars when Bill got a nose in under him.

He managed to catch it off the wall with only a few spots lost and minor jostling of cars.

But another time around and it was Tnadz with the win.

We'll now take a trip to the high banks of Dover where all of us have had some great finishes and even greater wrecks.

Results

Session: Practice

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	013	T Nadz	30.253
2	023	Z Webster	30.389
3	52	J Means	30.462
4	021	T Bear	30.469
5	35	B Parsons	30.470
6	17	D Waltrip	30.488
7	22	B Allison	30.603
8	061	D Hamilton	30.615
9	21	K Petty	30.618
10	3	D Earnhardt	30.657
11	43	R Petty	30.661
12	11	T Labonte	30.689
13	20	C Ferguson	30.699
14	77	E Bierschwale	30.735
15	5	G Bodine	30.739
16	83	L Speed	30.754
17	15	R Rudd	30.755
18	67	B Arrington	30.825
19	4	R Wilson	30.855
20	18	D Jarrett	30.880
21	62	S Christman	30.908
22	75	N Bonnett	30.909
23	71	D Marcis	30.932
24	30	M Waltrip	30.937
25	7	A Kulwicki	30.943
26	88	B Baker	30.966
27	33	H Gant	31.053
28	70	J McDuffie	31.074
29	1	B Bodine	31.076
30	19	D Cope	31.086
31	29	C Yarborough	31.144
32	26	M Shepherd	31.150
33	28	D Allison	31.160
34	25	T Richmond	31.210
35	81	M Potter	31.250
36	55	P Parsons	31.283
37	90	K Schrader	31.332
38	9	B Elliott	31.356
39	8	B Hillin, Jr.	31.426
40	64	R Combs	31.457
41	27	R Wallace	31.490
42	44	S Marlin	31.505
43	50	G Sacks	43.082

Weather: Cloudy, 86 °F, North 14 mph

Session: Qualifying

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	013	T Nadz	29.845
2	5	G Bodine	30.205
3	22	B Allison	30.214
4	061	D Hamilton	30.224
5	023	Z Webster	30.227
6	26	M Shepherd	30.243
7	75	N Bonnett	30.253
8	28	D Allison	30.273
9	11	T Labonte	30.300
10	27	R Wallace	30.380
11	9	B Elliott	30.390
12	7	A Kulwicki	30.405
13	35	B Parsons	30.417
14	44	S Marlin	30.429
15	21	K Petty	30.432
16	50	G Sacks	30.436
17	18	D Jarrett	30.460
18	90	K Schrader	30.464
19	3	D Earnhardt	30.502
20	52	J Means	30.522
21	17	D Waltrip	30.545
22	29	C Yarborough	30.547
23	55	P Parsons	30.549
24	71	D Marcis	30.550
25	83	L Speed	30.563
26	43	R Petty	30.578
27	25	T Richmond	30.584
28	33	H Gant	30.607
29	70	J McDuffie	30.626
30	81	M Potter	30.665
31	8	B Hillin, Jr.	30.666
32	64	R Combs	30.708
33	15	R Rudd	30.730
34	67	B Arrington	30.753
35	77	E Bierschwale	30.805
36	30	M Waltrip	30.815
37	021	T Bear	30.853
38	88	B Baker	30.878
39	4	R Wilson	30.897
40	19	D Cope	30.911
41	62	S Christman	30.927
42	20	C Ferguson	30.962
43	1	B Bodine	31.058

Weather: Cloudy, 86 °F, North 14 mph

Session: Happy Hour

P	#	DRIVER	TIME
1	013	T Nadz	30.205
2	061	D Hamilton	30.615
3	023	Z Webster	30.636
4	55	P Parsons	30.778
5	15	R Rudd	30.854
6	11	T Labonte	30.880
7	90	K Schrader	30.886
8	27	R Wallace	30.890
9	21	K Petty	30.890
10	9	B Elliott	30.892
11	26	M Shepherd	30.897
12	8	B Hillin, Jr.	30.901
13	17	D Waltrip	30.902
14	35	B Parsons	30.902
15	28	D Allison	30.906
16	5	G Bodine	30.911
17	3	D Earnhardt	30.912
18	71	D Marcis	30.923
19	75	N Bonnett	30.943
20	021	T Bear	30.955
21	43	R Petty	30.957
22	7	A Kulwicki	30.984
23	67	B Arrington	30.989
24	83	L Speed	30.995
25	20	C Ferguson	30.999
26	1	B Bodine	31.012
27	30	M Waltrip	31.021
28	33	H Gant	31.031
29	88	B Baker	31.058
30	22	B Allison	31.061
31	77	E Bierschwale	31.085
32	52	J Means	31.117
33	44	S Marlin	31.140
34	4	R Wilson	31.151
35	62	S Christman	31.170
36	50	G Sacks	31.201
37	29	C Yarborough	31.203
38	70	J McDuffie	31.208
39	18	D Jarrett	31.214
40	25	T Richmond	31.260
41	81	M Potter	31.333
42	19	D Cope	31.425
43	64	R Combs	31.441

Weather: Clear, 79 °F, South 4 mph

Session: Race

OFFICIAL STANDINGS

F	S	#	DRIVER	INTERVAL	LAPS	LED	POINTS	STATUS
1	1	013	T Nadz	81.668	60	35*	185	Running
2	14	44	S Marlin	-3.61	60	0	170	Running
3	6	26	M Shepherd	-3.88	60	0	165	Running
4	3	22	B Allison	-4.78	60	0	160	Running
5	9	11	T Labonte	-4.86	60	0	155	Retired
6	38	88	B Baker	-5.69	60	0	150	Running
7	19	3	D Earnhardt	-7.86	60	0	146	Running
8	28	33	H Gant	-8.18	60	0	142	Running
9	18	90	K Schrader	-8.50	60	0	138	Running
10	36	30	M Waltrip	-8.80	60	0	134	Running
11	39	4	R Wilson	-9.10	60	0	130	Running
12	15	21	K Petty	-9.39	60	0	127	Running
13	25	83	L Speed	-9.67	60	0	124	Running
14	30	81	M Potter	-9.95	60	0	121	Running
15	40	19	D Cope	-10.22	60	0	118	Running
16	29	70	J McDuffie	-10.49	60	0	115	Running
17	8	28	D Allison	-10.75	60	0	112	Running
18	23	55	P Parsons	-11.00	60	3	114	Running
19	24	71	D Marcis	-13.63	60	0	106	No Fuel
20	11	9	B Elliott	-13.67	60	3	108	Running
21	27	25	T Richmond	-14.15	60	0	100	Running
22	17	18	D Jarrett	-14.66	60	0	97	Running
23	37	021	T Bear	-15.13	60	0	94	Running
24	10	27	R Wallace	-15.72	60	13	96	Running
25	2	5	G Bodine	-16.38	60	0	88	Running
26	33	15	R Rudd	-17.06	60	0	85	Running
27	32	64	R Combs	-17.56	60	0	82	Running
28	16	50	G Sacks	-1L	59	0	79	Running
29	20	52	J Means	-1L	59	0	76	Running
30	12	7	A Kulwicki	-1L	59	0	73	Running
31	42	20	C Ferguson	-3L	57	0	70	Running
32	31	8	B Hillin, Jr.	-5L	55	0	67	Running
33	13	35	B Parsons	-6L	54	0	64	Retired
34	21	17	D Waltrip	-7L	53	0	61	Accident
35	5	023	Z Webster	-7L	53	1	63	Accident
36	26	43	R Petty	-8L	52	0	55	Accident
37	43	1	B Bodine	-8L	52	0	52	Accident
38	35	77	E Bierschwale	-8L	52	0	49	Accident
39	22	29	C Yarborough	-8L	52	0	46	Retired
40	4	061	D Hamilton	-19L	41	2	48	Retired
41	7	75	N Bonnett	-22L	38	3	45	Piston
42	34	67	B Arrington	-23L	37	0	37	Retired
43	41	62	S Christman	-28L	32	0	34	Accident

Caution Flags: 8 (28 laps)

Lead Changes: 9 (7 drivers)

Weather: Clear, 78 °F, West 6 mph

Pitstop Frequency: 3x

AI Strength: 90%

PENALTIES

LAP	#	INFRACTION	PENALTY
12	023	Unsafe pit exit	Go to end of longest line
26	20	Entering closed pits	Go to end of longest line
27	20	Failure to pit	Go to end of longest line
27	20	Unsafe pit exit	Go to end of longest line
30	061	Unsafe pit exit	Go to end of longest line
37	013	Passing under yellow	Held for 1 seconds
39	20	Unsafe pit exit	Stop and go
42	061	Reckless driving	DQ'd: Scoring is ended