NASCAR Cup 2011: Official CHASE for the Cup Thread

[Paradise City]

Great win for Smoke who had a poor car during the race. Done him a world of good in the chase.

[St00ge]

I really don't like this "legal" speeding in pit row **** due to the timing loops..

[fieldodreams79]

Even with the Chase, I struggle to stay focused on the relentless Cup series schedule towards the end of the year.


Some guy named "Smoke" passed some guy named "5-time" on the outside after a late restart this past Sunday to take home a Grandfather clock. No clue what I am talking about? I am either happy or sad for you; too late in the day to figure it out.

Next up; Texas, where everything is bigger except for their NASCAR track.

2011 Sprint Cup Driver Championship Chase Points Standings:
[after Martinsville, race 33 of 36 and Chase race 7 of 10]
1) #99-Carl Edwards [1 win], 2273
2) #14-Tony Stewart [3 wins], 2265, -8
3) #29-Kevin Harvick [4 wins], 2252, -21
4) #2-Brad Keselowski [3 wins], 2246, -27
5) #17-Matt Kenseth [3 wins], 2237, -36
6) #48-Jimmie Johnson [2 wins], 2230, -43
these drivers are more then a race out:
7) #18-Kyle Busch [4 wins], 2216, -57
8) #22-Kurt Busch [2 wins], 2215, -58
9) #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. [0 wins], 2200, -73
10) #24-Jeff Gordon [3 wins], 2197, -76
top 10 go to the banquet in Vegas
11) #11-Denny Hamlin [1 win], 2193, -80
12) #39-Ryan Newman [1 win], 2184, -89
(ties broken by 1sts, 2nds, 3rd, etc)

^Points courtesy of Jayski

[fieldodreams79]

The Bif grabs the pole for the AAA 500 at Texas Motorspeedway. Followed by Ragan, Kenseth, Menard and Stewart.

FULL LINEUP

Micheal McDowell replaces Kyle in the 18 car following the incident in Friday night's truck race.

Green flag at 3pm EST. Chance of showers tomorrow afternoon in the Fort Worth area.

[Paradise City]

Stewart and Edwards, one and two. It wasn't the most entertaining race but the championship is on a knife edge. I must admit I'd prefer it the otherway around.

[FordCosworthPanoz]

2 Races, 2 Drivers, 3 Points.

Hopefully Stewart ends up beating Edwards.

[HJJ]

Interesting if true.

Kyle Busch out of ride for rest of 2011? on the website, tireball.com is reporting.....the rumors and if they are true, like they appear to be, then Kyle Busch is out of a ride until Daytona and now without sponsorship. Busch was parked this [last] week at Texas due to actions in the Camping World Truck Series when he wrecked fellow competitor Ron Hornaday under caution.(tireball.com).
AND in Twitter, SceneDaily's Bob Pockrass reports in a few Tweets:
NASCAR has given Kyle the OK to race. It's in the hands of the sponsor and the team.
On Kyle Busch: JGR still hasn't confirmed if he'll race Cup at PIR. I lean toward he'll race but wouldn't be surprised either way.
For those asking about Kyle and PIR, I think more likely he races than not, but JGR has yet to confirm that he will race.
AND II the weekly race preview for JGR/Kyle Busch has not been released as of yet when it usually comes out on Tuesday.
for all the information, statements, and updates on NASCAR's parking of Busch over the weekend, see the #18 team news page.(11-10-2011)

.

[fieldodreams79]

Awwww. ^That's too bad.

[MJ_N_09]

Kyle has to learn his lesson now, or else he'd drive himself out of Nascar. Does he want to end up the next Shame Hmiel?

[fieldodreams79]

Kyle has gotten too much attention....
There is a fabulous race for the championship, in case we forgot to notice.

Three points separate Carl and Tony, followed fairly close by Harvick and Kenseth.

The newly "reconfigured" PIR is the site for Round 9 of the Chase. The new pavement/banking (I think that's all as I am not sure exactly what they did) should make things very interesting. Not sure if I like trying out a new track at this point in the middle of a championship fight, but may make for some good drama. Then again, could be detrimental....time will tell.

JAYSKI Race Page

Track opens today for two practice sessions with q-ing tomorrow (Saturday).

Green Flag 315 pm EST

2011 Sprint Cup Driver Championship Chase Points Standings:
[after Texas, race 34 of 36 and Chase race 8 of 10]
1) #99-Carl Edwards [1 win], 2316
2) #14-Tony Stewart [4 wins], 2313, -3
3) #29-Kevin Harvick [4 wins], 2283, -33
4) #17-Matt Kenseth [3 wins], 2278, -38
these drivers are more then a race out:
5) #2-Brad Keselowski [3 wins], 2267, -49
6) #48-Jimmie Johnson [2 wins], 2261, -55
7) #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. [0 wins], 2237, -79
8) #24-Jeff Gordon [3 wins], 2235, -81
9) #22-Kurt Busch [2 wins], 2229, -87
These drivers are officially eliminated:
10) #11-Denny Hamlin [1 win], 2217, -99
top 10 go to the banquet in Vegas
11) #18-Kyle Busch [4 wins], 2216, -100
12) #39-Ryan Newman [1 win], 2213, -103

[joeb]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

The newly "reconfigured" PIR is the site for Round 9 of the Chase. The new pavement/banking (I think that's all as I am not sure exactly what they did) should make things very interesting. Not sure if I like trying out a new track at this point in the middle of a championship fight, but may make for some good drama. Then again, could be detrimental....time will tell.

I'm just excited to see Adrian Fernandez drive the pace car (or whatever he is doing instead of driving the Aston in China) That will be the highlight for me....

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by joeb

I'm just excited to see Adrian Fernandez drive the pace car (or whatever he is doing instead of driving the Aston in China) That will be the highlight for me....

Wow....thanks for the reminder that they are still racing sportscars in 2011, joeb.

[St00ge]

Another strong qualifying from Ambrose in third, hopefully he can keep on the pace all race and have a strong top ten finish.. #17 on pole with #43 second..

[fieldodreams79]

The speeds are up on the tight little track, but the new PIR has some slippery surfaces and seen some nasty pile ups in the NW race and the K&N series race. Wondering what kind of action we'll see with the Cup guys today...their opinions of the new PIR are mixed.

[HJJ]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

...their opinions of the new PIR are mixed.

Ruined is the first words that come to my mind.

[fieldodreams79]

Congrats to Kasey Kahne and RBR-NA. Good for those guys to take one before they depart at the end of the year.

Results

Holy crap! Tony and Carl are making the rest of 'em look like they are missing something here in the Chase. After 500k on a relatively unknown track, they finished 2 and 3 and are still separated by only 3 points. On to Homestead.

Originally Posted by HJJ

Ruined is the first words that come to my mind.

Well, I can respect that as many people liked it the way it was. It produced some good races and was a good track for both types of speedway cars, but with the Idiot Racing League leaving, I think they changed it to suit their main draw. And what a setting for a racetrack! Vally of the Sun!

I was never that big of a fan of the old PIR as I've never particularly cared for flat tracks for stockcars (except for shorttracks), but in the last few years, PIR has grown on me because it was something different. Now, it's faster and produced some decent side-by-side racing even with sketchy outside lanes; I think it'll be great in a couple of years, and being able to use the apron at the dogleg was kinda crazy looking, too. It reminds me of a " big short track", like a Concord short track on steroids. And it is pretty damned fast for a mile.

[JHamilton]

I love flat tracks and they have ruined Phoenix and therefore you are wrong.

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by JHamilton

I love flat tracks and they have ruined Phoenix and therefore you are wrong.

I'll fix you.

[gomick]

Anything happen to Vickers are punting Kenseth at Phoenix?

[fieldodreams79]

Ford Championship Weekend

Jayski

And then there were 2.

Track opened today and it started to rain. Practice 1 delayed because of the weather.

Rain chances diminish as we move through the weekend, but possible throughout.

Q-ing currently scheduled for 240pm EST Saturday

Green Flag 316pm est Sunday.

Go Smoke.

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by gomick

Anything happen to Vickers are punting Kenseth at Phoenix?

Nope

http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/cup...ot-retaliation

[FIRE]

Double standards...

[fieldodreams79]

Rain washed everything out on Friday. Schedule been revised to include two practice session and q-ing today, pending Mother Nature,course.

http://www.jayski.com/news/races/201...=6457496#event

[fieldodreams79]

Edwards grabs the pole and Smoke is back down in 15th. Advantage: Edwards, in a big way, IMO. Still, 400 miles of racing ahead of them....

Truex, Kahne, Kurt and Keso round out the top five starters.

FULL LINEUP

There is a possibility of rain throughout the day...

[fieldodreams79]

Race underway and the first caution is for rain (sprinkles really). Carl out front after the pit stops and Tony had trouble with a hole in the grill-Tony restarted 38th.

Even though its early, that doesn't bode well for the 14 team, IMO.