1.) Tenacfan- 343
2.) Superjags- 320
3.) Bradman- 267
4.) Roushfenway- 257
5.) Floridawhite- 254
6.) Edwardsfan- 240
7-8.) Section + Berlyn- 232
9-10.) Tigersman + Tobasco- 204
11.) Mikeyfan- 175
12.) M56Nascar- 146
13.) Uscfann- 118
So this week we will say goodbye to Uscfannv, he started off bad, then rallie with more top 5s than anyone thought possible, then fell recently, and bombed with 2 unlucky drivers this week, but that is just what happens on superspeedways. Again though, congratulations to Tenacfan, he finally got a winner since who knows how long, and he will get the +10 bonus for winning a segment! Hopefully the next segment will be much smoother than this one.
10 handicap: 16th through 23nd
Clint Bowyer
Brian Vickers
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Jaime McMurray
Macros Ambrose
Casey Mears
Martin Truex Jr.
Kevin Harvick
+20 handicap: 24rd through 31th
Sam Hornish Jr.
Joey Logano
Reed Sorenson
Elliot Sadler
David Ragan
Bobby LaBonte
Michael Waltrip
A.J. Allmendinger
(Brad Kesolowski whenever he races)
+25 handicap: 32st through 38th
David Stremme
Paul Menard
Robby Gordon
Scott Speed
John Andretti
David Gilliland
Regan Smith
+34 handicap (picked 2x in a session will make +0 2nd time)
Anyone below 38th!
Here is the win column, changed:
Superjags and Tenacfan- 2
M56nascar, Mikeyfan, Floridawhite, Edwardsfan, Roushfenway, Uscfannv, Section, Bradman, and Berlyn=1
Remember, 1st place with winners gets +10 bonus for all 3 chase segments, 2nd place gets +10 for the first 2, and 3rd gets +10 for the first only. If there are ties, your bonus gets rounded down, therefore, Superjags and Tenacfan, as of now, would have +10 for the first 2 segments, everyone else would have nothing. And remember, a +10 handicap in 2nd, a +20 handicap in 3rd or 4th, a +25 handicap in 5th, or a +34 handicap with a 6th counts as a win, or positions above ones listed of course.
Floridawhite- 5.6 (Keeps avg. the same with a top 5) (0)
Superjags- 6.3 (1 win) (Moves avg. down .7 with 2nd place, catching Florida.) (0)
Roushfenwayguy- 6.7 (1 win) (Moves avg. down .3 with 4th place, almost securing 1-3rd place save law.) (0)
Bradman- 7.7 (1 win) (Moves avg. down .5 and jumps 2 people.) (+2)
Uscfannv- 7.8 (Eliminated) (Had 2 bad picks, and still is in top 5 for avg.) (-1)
Berlyn- 8.1 (2 wins) (Moves avg. down .1 or .2, whatever it was, to avoid that dreaded 8.3 avg.) (-1)
Section- 8.9 (1 win) (Moves avg. up .2, still has a comfortable gap to keep his pos. between Berlyn and Edwardsfan.) (0)
Edwardsfan- 9.6 (1 win) (Moves avg. up .4, pulls away from M56, now has to worry about Tenacfan.) (0)
Tenacfan- 9.7 (1 win) (Moves avg. up a whole point with first win, thanks to Stewart yet again!) (+2)
Tigersman- 10.2 (Moves up .2 from 9th place, has nowhere to go but up now.) (0)
M56Nascar- 10.4 (Loses only .1 for 12th place finsih, with 12 left, will start going up... hopefully) (-2)
Mikeyfan- 11.1 (Only one who keeps his avg., an 11th isn't going to help an 11.1 avg too much.) (0)
Tobasco Kat- 11.9 (Well, as long as he doesn't get eliminated, his avg. will go up.) (0)
Before I give out the driver eliminator for this week, I am putting up the list that will tell from last segment who can't pick whom:
Superjags- Can't pick Tony Stewart for this segment.
M56Nascar- Can't pick Jeff Gordon for this segment.
Floridawhite- Can't pick Jeff Gordon for this segment.
Alright, my driver eliminator... will be... Jimmie Johnson! Pick Johnson this week and you can't pick him next week or the segment afterwards.
Here is where picks will go, as for me, I was going to take Harvick... but he is only +10... I'll just go with good ol' Tony.:
Tenacfan- Jimmie Johnson (driver eliminator)
Superjags-
Bradman- Brain Vickers (+10 handicap)
Roushfenway- Tony Stewart
Floridawhite- Kyle Busch
Edwardsfan- Carl Edwards
Section-
Berlyn-
Tigersman-
Tobasco-
Mikeyfan- Carl Edwards
M56Nascar-
Common Drivers:
Carl Edwards: 2
Obviously, you had to see this one coming, I mean, this guy has been absolutely great this season, making up for lost time this season. Jeff Gordon is a lock for the chase already at this point, and now for this guy, we just have to worry what will happen then, if his chase luck continues, or if he can get his first chase championship. With a win and a monsterous 6/11 top 5s, and 500 laps led, its a surprise he hasn't won more races. Pre-chase finish= 2nd
He has just been performing great with his new team, and not including Talladega, his last 5 races have shown that, getting a 2nd through 4th in all of them, this guy better cool down, or else if he doesn't, not only will he get a win very soon (not including the All-Star race, but that does add a bit to his resume), but he gets even better after July... a truly fearsome thought for anyone who is not a Tony Stewart fan, only time will tell, he may surpass Gordon very soon, and in power rankings alike. Pre-chase finish=1st
Yup, Jimmie Johson is in the top 5 in power rankings, surprised?... didn't think so. Anyway, this guy has a win, and 5 top 5s, the only thing that is holding him back from Gordon is that he has 4 rocky finishes so far, if he can put those behind him, and stop getting into those bad races, we will see more of the same, just top 10 after top 10. Pre-chase finish= 3rd
America loves the underdog, and this is by far the biggest underdog in the chase. True he won a chase before, but since then he has fallen greatly, until this season. Kurt Busch is performing great, and a huge rebound from his 18th place season last season. With a win, 6 top 10s, and all but 1 finish in the top 20 (and that other one was a 23rd,) he is not having problems, and performing great, especially since at Atlanta he all but 96 laps, he is a possible threat to win the chase if he can keep this up. Pre-chase finish= 4th
This guy had a horrible beginning, but no more! After his beginning, and Talladega, his lowest finish has been seventh. Great stat to having going deeper in the season. Obviously for this guy, if he doesn't have bad luck, he does great. Even more, he has 2 wins so far, and he is over 50! This guy is obviously a threat now to win the cup, don't deny him, and he will move even farther up if he can stay away from bad luck like his beginning. Pre-chase finish= 6th
Some people may disagree with me, putting him in teir 2, but I believe he deserves it. Its true, he has 3 wins, and a 3rd... but... how about all the other races... 6 of the 7, he didn't even finish on the lead lap... that's bad! I mean I've heard of bad luck, but 7 finishes out of 11 not in the top 15 with a guy with 3 wins is just not tolerable. He is looking exactly like the chase of last season, just with wins, and unless if I see something else, I'm afraid this inconsistency will continue for the entire year. Pre- chase finish= 5th
The only person not in teir one with 6 top 10s, the only thing is that like Martin, he had a rough patch, his was through weeks 4-6, other than that, no finishes below 20th, he has 3 top 5s, and 4 of his last 5 finishes were in the top 10. The only thing with Biffle is that he hasn't won a race, nor has he won a runner up position, however, once he can start getting those, we may see him possibly crack top 5 in the standings before the chase starts. Oh, and he has 4 tracks where he led double digit laps, so he could be getting those wins soon. Pre-chase finish= 7th
Most people are wondering, where did he come from... from being about 20th or worse in the standings after week 4, to being in the chase, and after finishing 19th in the overall standings last year. Consistency from his new team is now kicking in! After the first 4 races, not being able to crack the top 20, all of his finishes have been in the top 20 to date. In addition, his last 3 races have been top 5s. Now the question is, can he do it at Lowe's? Where Ryan's last 5 finishes have been avg. at around 26.5... that's pretty bad, but he did get a top 5 here within the last 5 years, and if he can do it again, he will prove he may be a force to be reckoned with in this chase. He still needs to do a bit more though before I really believe he can finish top 10 in the pre-chase with the other competition. Pre-chase finish= 12th
Its true he is 5th in the standings, but that is just due to the fact that he hasn't had a bad race yet (Daytona maybe an exception, but I'm talking about finishes below 30th) 2 seconds and 2 sixths, other than that, he has been around the top 15 area. Now there is a chance that he could get better, but he just can't connect with wins, in 2 tracks he led more than 400 laps, and in those races, a 14th and a 2nd resulted, he can lead, but he just can't win. Its true he is 3rd in laps lead, but he behind everyone above him and then some in top 5s and 10s. He needs to bring in consistency, like Kyle Busch... and that might be the problem, Joe Gibbs is just not consistent this year. Pre- chase finish= 10th
Well here is Mr. Consistency, being as consistent as ever. After the first 2 races, no finish has been below 15th, however, other than 2 3rds, his best finish is 8th. Burton can finish well, but he can't contribute that to anything close to a win, only leading 1 track (Las Vegas), and he led 6 at the crapshoot Talladega. But other than those 2, which it should really only count as 1, he has not led a lap in any of them. I maybe ranking him too low, but everyone else is a theat to become better, right now Burton seems like he can't get any higher. Pre- chase finish= 11th
He came out with a bang at the beginnig of the season, but after that, he hasn't been too much to talk about, althought he does have another top 5, as well as a top 10 last track, and a runner- up at Lowes, he hasn't performed too well. However, his recent finishes, (17th, 13th, 10th, and 2nd all star) may show signs that he is slowly returning, and remember last year where he was in 21st in the standings after about 10 races, I believe he will start to improve very soon. Pre-chase finish= 8th
He had a good beginning, after 5 races, he was in second, and for the first 6 races, he got 3 top 5s and a top 10, but that was all he would get. After the first 6 races Clint Bowyer fell down to earth, and then broke about 20 bones in his body, ever since then, he has only 1 finish in the top 20! This guy has gotten in some bad luck, but its mostly due to just falling 1 lap down, and staying there. Clint Bowyer also lost his streak w/o a DNF, one away from the record. I do actually believe Clint Bowyer will start to make a rebound, but it will be nothing like the beginning of the year, those top 15s will start to show more and more, like usual, and keeping that lead may have been his only plea to making the chase. Pre-chase finish= 13th
Dissapointment of the year, no contest, goes to Carl Edwards. Its true that he is in the top 12, but barely. I mean, this guy had 9 wins last season, now look at him, only 1 top 5 at Atlanta, and 3 other top 10s, 2 of them 10th places. And other than that Atlanta race, no race has he led in double digit fashion. He seems to be no longer dominant, and though you know that he has to come back sometime, the question is, when? And will he be able to get back to his status of last year, sadly I have to say no to that question, but he will still be a top 10 driver by the end of this year. Pre-chase finish= 9th
Brian Vickers has hit a lot of bad luck, with 4 races he went down at least 3 laps. But if he doesn't have trouble, he has no finsih worse than 20th. This guy has had a lot of bad luck, and although he can't get a lot of top 5s like the people in front of him, he does have 4 top 10s through the season, and if he can stop getting this bad luck, we may see that number rise. Pre-chase finish= 16th
Unlike most people in front of Jr. in the standings, he actually has a top 5, a second at the crapshoot Talladega. Other than that, 2 other top 10s, and that's about it. He did also lead a nice 63 laps at Pheonix, but then fell 2 laps down, so Jr. has had some bad luck, and he just hasn't been very productive, yet he does have 2 races at least where it seemed like he could have won. Pre-chase finish= 14th
He has been posting a lot of finishes in the top 20, 8 out of 11 to be exact. Yet he has only led 8 laps throughout the season, 7 being at Talladega, and he has no top 5s, his best finish is seventh. For a person like Montoya, this is nice consistency, but it won't get him any higher up in the standings or anything like that. Pre-chase finish= 17th
He has 6 top 15 finishes, however, he only has a 4th and 8th to show for his best finishes. He did lead 40 laps at Texas though, so he has at least shown a bit of dominance, but his last 3 finishes haven't even been in the top 25. He seems to be cooling in a big way, as well as MWR in general. Pre-chase finish= 19th
From weeks 2-8, he had all top 20 finishes, but a 5th, 7th, and 45 laps led at Darlington before finishing 23rd is all he has to show. He has hit a combination of bad luck, and not so good driving anymore. We will have to see if he can pull something off at Lowe's like he sometimes does, but I wouldn't count on it this year, he seems even worse than last year. Pre-chase finish= 18th
Correction on that Carl Edwards being the biggest dissapointment, this might be, excluding Darlington, he had a 3 race streak of not finishing above 30th, he has a 4th and a 2nd, but that is all he has for top 5s and top 10s. In total, he has 6 finishes below 25th, and that is just too much. I expect him to get better, but he likely won't be chase material this year. Pre-chase finish= 15th
He has no top 5s, 3 top 10s, and 7 finishes below the top 20. So why is he in 20th in my rankings, because 1, there is not much else to choose from, but the main reason is because in his last 3 races, he has led 107 laps! More than a lot of people in front of him. Dominance maybe shining through and he maybe just having bad luck, with 2 of those 3 not being in the top 20, but most are pretty confident, as well as me, in saying that he may get better, but not much, he may reach the top 15 in points at the very best. Pre-chase finish= 21st
. He was actually doing pretty good until the crash... anyway, its looking like Brad Kesolowski got 2 top 10s now, one from Talladega, but this most recent race showed that he might be a force to be reckoned with, and a good +30 choice. But lets see... for the people that chose Martin, that number is a big 0! I guess that everyone freaked out when he lost his handicap. And nobody picked Johnson, I think this is the first week that has happened, and he gets second of course. The highest finisher chosen was Tony Stewart, picked by berlyn and uscfannv, making last second picks so that nobody knew who would actually do good. Anyway, lets get the standings for this first race up:
): (rounds to 1 digit) (ties broken by best finishing session) (Superjags and Spikesgator have 2 session less than everyone else.)
Obviously nobody got the improbable winner this week.
