RoushFenwayGuy

Well, another year is gone, now its time to look back, and guess.... what will happen next year? Here is my predictions for the upcoming year. (The numbers in parenthesis, in order, are wins projected, top 5s projected, and top 10s projected.)

1.) Jimmie Johnson  
Can he be stopped... who knows? This man has won four championships in a row, and the question isn't "Who can stop him?" but "Can anyone stop him?" He has just shown dominance throughout the chase since it started, losing the first one by only 8 points to Kurt Busch. So he is that close to having 5 of the 6 chase championships. Right now, its too hard to predict anyone that can get in his way, and who will it be? (8 - 16 - 25)

2.) Tony Stewart  After a dissapointing chase from what he did before the chase, you have to wonder if he will do it again, or can he rebound. Tony Stewart did exceptionally well during the pre-chase season, and remember, it was his first year in the car. From what people were saying about Stewart, about him might not even making the chase, one just has to up their projections for this year, and who knows what he will really do? (5 - 14 - 24)

3.) Jeff Gordon  Well if it isn't Mr. Bad luck in the chase Gordon. He is always a good competitor for the money, but never seems to pull it off. This year, its hard to project him to win the championship after a one win season, but a top 5 is almost a sure thing. Jeff Gordon will likely get more wins than he did last year, but the true question is, what track will throw away Jeff Gordon's hopes of winning the championship? (3 - 15 - 23)

4.) Carl Edwards  This guy was deviled up in 2009, to say the least, yet its hard to not project somewhat of a turnaround for Roush-Fenway, they are just too talented of a team to be down too long, and look at RCR, they started to work things out before the end of the season. RFR will likely start to come alive in 2010, its just the question of, "When does that happen?" Even if RFR comes back though, you can't expect Carl Edwards to immediately have a 9 win season like in 2008 though. (3 - 12 - 21)

5.) Kurt Busch  Kurt Busch had very similar stats compared to his winning year, except he had 1 win less and about 50 less points in 2009. During 2010, there are two questions about Kurt, 1.) "How will Kesolowski affect him as a team member?" and 2.) "How will Kurt do without Pat Tryson." These two questions make it really hard to put a pinpoint on how good Kurt will do, yet after this year, there just has to be some optimism for Kurt Busch to finish good this year as long as Penske doesn't focus too much on Kesolowski.      (2 - 12- 22)

6.) Denny Hamlin  How many times will this guy get bad luck in the chase, who knows!? All that can be said is that this guy is probably going to have bad luck in the chase somewhere, taking him out of the championship. This guy is really good in the car, its just that he has some huge hiccup somewhere in his chase, and throughout the whole year for that matter. Even at his best tracks, short tracks, he always seems to have some sort of problem with 20 or so laps to go. If this guy can snap his bad luck, he might stand a chance, but its all but a lock at least that he will make the chase.  (4 - 13 - 19)

7.) Mark Martin  So this old timer proved he can still race. The problem with Mark Martin, is how much longer can he make the magic last, and can he really keep it going into next year. Mark Martin fans are likely already putting him in for his first championship in 2010, yet its hard to say that. He had his best chance in 2009, and didn't make it. Although he may do better than 7th, there are so many teams that have the chance to redeem themselves, and its hard to project Mark Martin for another year like he just had.              (2 - 12 - 20)

8.) Jeff Burton  This guy, during the last 4 races of the chase, had all top 10s, the last two both being runner-up positions. Mr. Consistency might be coming back into business, so do not underestimate this guy by any means. He still might not put up a lot of wins, but expect his top 5s and especially 10s to go up next season. (1 - 8 - 18)

9.) Matt Kenseth  This guy started hot, getting his two races as wins, but its hard to project that he will start that hot again. Kenseth, however, never missed a chase before next year, and if RFR does get back on hits feet, its hard to say that Kenseth won't make the chase at least. (2 - 8 - 17)

10.) Juan Pablo Montoya  This guy proved that he does deserve to be in NASCAR, and with such a mediocre team! Things right now look pretty good for the guy, and he should make the chase yet again, but like 2009, he likely will be out of the running early in 2010. (1 - 6 - 17)

11.) Kyle Busch  He will win races, there is no doubt about that, but how many will he win? And will it be enough to overcome his inconsistency? Or could he possibly overcome his inconsistency? Kyle Busch is hard to spot, yet he will get his wins, and he will likely try hard to make it in the chase this year, just how good will he do once he gets there is the question? (3 - 10 - 15)

12.) Ryan Newman  In his first year with NHR, he made the chase, yet he wasn't extremely hot once he got there, and he can't seem to win. Still, Newman has a decent chance of making the chase again now that the team has a year of experience, its just, will there be more competition this year to stand in his way? (0 - 4 - 14)

13.) Kevin Harvick  After a year where he got 19th, its hard to project that he will make the chase. But hey! Kurt Busch did it, so why not Harvick? After a year like that though, Harvick's chances don't seem too great, and Jeff Burton was the only guy who truly started to shine from RCR at the end of the season, still, he should make his mark, just will it be enough to make the chase?               (1 - 5 - 12)

14.) Greg Biffle  Even with RFR struggling, eh still got a 7th place, and apart from losing two wins, he really didn't do that much worse this season. Greg Biffle has been known to miss chases though, both in 2006 and 2007, and if RCR and the other drivers of RFR get back on their feet, it begs the question, "Will Biffle be able to make the chase in 2010?" He also is known for getting 5 or even 6 DNFs in one season, so watch out for that. (1 - 7 - 14)

15.) Kasey Kahne  The main reason why Kasey Kahne made the chase, he avoided DNFs this season. From 2004-2007, he has had 6 or more DNFs in all of them, even a huge 9 in 2005! Although during the past two years he has pulled down his DNF totals, even with the 4 he had last year he didn't make the chase, and with Kahne, its hard to project another season where he has 2 or less DNFs. (0 - 6 - 13)

16.) Clint Bowyer  What an awful year he had... and unless he has a major turnaround, he likely won't make the chase. This guys killed others with his consistency, and he didn't have it in 2009. Even with a turnaround of RCR, Clint Bowyer doesn't seem great in this setup, and if they keep on doing the switching of part/crew they have done over the past year, they will likely send most of the goods to Harvick's and Burton's way. (0 - 5 - 15)

17.) Joey Logano  Throughout this whole year, he never really showed any true domination, so its hard to say he will become chase potential this year, but he is hard to predict, for he is a rookie who was amazing in the Nationwide series in 2008. They did rush this guy up to Sprint too soon though, and he might need another year before he is in full gear. He will likely improve a bit off last season though. (0 - 5 - 10)

18.) Dale Earnhardt Jr.  The toughest guy to project for me, he was 3rd before entering the chase in 2008, and in 2009, he didn't even make the top 20. While he should make the top 20 this year, HMS seems to care too much about the duo of Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, and Jr. might just not fit in that greatly here. He could make the chase, but I would need to see the first few races before believing that he can. (0 - 4 - 8)

19.) David Reutimann  He was so close to making the chase, once he got to the chase, he got 2 top 10s only though, and although he did get a lot of top 20s, he fell down to 16th in the standings. Michael Waltrip is supposively retiring, and he may put all his focus on Reutimann, so he could do better, but if RCR kicks up its gears, then Reutimann will likely fit right in around this area in the standings. (0 - 3 - 9)

19.) Brian Vickers  He made the chase!... then what...if you guessed not a single top 10 nor lap led in the chase, then you are correct! That chase was just pitiful compared to what he was doing, his consistency just left, and I don't see it coming back again for the start of this season. (0 - 3 - 6)

Other people of note:

David Ragan- After a 27th, Ragan's status that he gained from last year came down to the ground, and it left people wondering if last year was a one time thing. While its hard to project if he will make it into the top 20 if RFR comes back, things don't look too good right now for Ragan.

Martin Truex Jr.- He made the chase in 2007, but that's it, fact is that he can't get top 5s, apart from 2007, the most he has is three, and 2009 wasn't very kind to him. He won't be much of a factor this year.

Brad Kesolowski- He, like Logano, seems to be getting rushed into Sprint Cup racing, and although he did show he can hang with the big boys from time to time in 2009, he never ended on a high note, except for at Talladega. Assuming he doesn't pull on another Talladega win, which rarely comes twice, he might not be a huge factor this year, but could be a top 20 competitor, its hard to project these rookies.

A.J. Allmendinger- He seemed like he had some good moments, yet in the whole scheme of things he didn't do much in 2009. This guy has proven that he is an underdog at times, but you can't project him for that good coming off of a 1 top 5 season.

Marcos Ambrose- He had his good times as well, but they came at road courses and superspeedways for the most part. He may get in the top 20, but he doesn't seem like he will do much better from last season unless more road courses are added to the schedule.

Alright, first, before I announce the winner, let's go back throughout the whole competition and see how everyone stacked...

DNF- Justgreat and Bearthumb (were replaced by Superjags and Spikesgator)

21.) ynorocks (first man eliminated)

20.) Syfre

19.) Sford

18.) Plaid (first participator eliminated; Tobasco started streak of staying alive by a nose)

17.) Chicagolaw (where has he gone anyway)

16.) Spikesgator (Showed how a dominating person can go down fast in this game.)

15.) Bondkbond (Where has that fly gone?)

14.) Fsu1dogs (the dominator before elimination)

13.) Uscfannv (first to stay in top 5 after elimination in average)

12.) M56Nascar56 (The guy that showed that taking the 34 point penalty isn't that bad occasionally.)

11.) Mikeyfan (The guy who got eliminated for picking a driver who finished in 2nd place.)

(Tobasco Kat snaps bad streak and turns it to winning streak week 23.)
(The first tie occured between Tenacfan and Floridawhite in week 24.)
(In week 25 Floridawhite activated the only save.)
(RFG proclaimed that no tie-breaker would take place in the chase after week 26.)

10.) Superjags (first eliminated by chase)

9.) Tigersman (got eliminated by 3 points, sent Edwardsfan to final)

8.) Tobasco Kat (lost his streak in a big way)

7.) Section (last man to not make the final)


And now we get to the final standings...

In 6th place, with 621 points, was Tenacfan!!! The underdog of the whole competition didn't end up stacking too well in the end, but just that he defied the odds to make it all the way here was amazing.

In 5th place, with 623 points, just beating out Tenacfan by 2 points, was Berlyn! The Only girl in this competition, with the most session wins, looked like she was in good position, but just one race killed her from winning.

In 4th place, with 666 points, is Floridawhite. Mr. Consistency stayed consistent, but it wasn't a winning consistent for this last segment. He put up one heck of a fight though, just gliding into the final... and he had a save to use.

In 3rd place, with 684 points, is Edwardsfan. This guy has been up and down this season due to the struggling of his driver, and it was that driver that eliminated him from possibly winning the whole thing.

In 2nd place, with 755 points, is Bradman! Bradman kept this whole game interesting, choosing RF drivers at all the right times, and seeming to know exactly who to pick to stay in the upper pack, he also kept the final session a race to the wire.

And in 1st place, with a whopping 783 points, is your truly Roushfenwayguy! I won only once before this, yet I kept my head straight, and I drove to victory in the only part that mattered, the last part.

All you guys did a great job, and I'll likely be running this game next year. Hope to see a lot of new people, as well as everyone else that participated here, and with an eliminator, you just can't expect there to be the same winner twice.

Alright, the last race, the championship decider, Jimmie Johnson may have the Sprint Cup in his grasps but the Eliminator Cup is still up for grabs. Edwardsfan long conservation of Jimmie Johnson paid off, as he got the winner. There is just one more race, and that is Homestead, so lets see where the championship standings stand.


1.) Roushfenway-  633 (Got +10 off the bonus) (leader)

2.) Bradman-        631 (Got +20 off the bonus) (-2)

3.) Floridawhite-    564 (Got +5 off the bonus)   (-69)

4.) Edwardsfan-     563 (Got +15 off the bonus) (-70)

5.) Tenacfan-        474 (Got +5 off the bonus)   (-159)

6.) Berlyn-            448 (Got 0 off the bonus)     (-185)

Alright, this is as close as it gets people! Unless Both my and Bradman's driver finish below 10th, right next to eachother with mine on top, and Bradman's driver leads a lap (resulting in a tie) (not including leading most laps) it will come down to whichever one of us has the driver who is ahead of the other.

Of course Floridawhite and Edwardsfan will be duking it out hard if both me and Bradman have a hiccup, but it is incredibly close, this is must more interesting than the chase standings at least, lol.

Tenacfan is realistically out, for he would need me to finish last, Bradman next to last, and he would need the winner and that winner would need to lead the most laps (and this way Tenacfan would only win by 1 point). Berlyn is mathematically out, however, the fight for 5th place is still hot, and if florida/edwardsfan hiccup, then a podium finish is possible for you guys, especially if you get the winner.

Also congratulations to Bradman, who got the bonus pick right on the nose, which allowed for this 2 point difference.

10 handicap: 16th through 23rd

David Reutimann

 Macros Ambrose

Jeff Burton

Casey Mears

Joey Logano

Kevin Harvick

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Jaime McMurray


+20 handicap: 24th through 31st

A.J. Allmendinger

Elliot Sadler

Martin Truex Jr.

Sam Hornish Jr.

Reed Sorenson

Bobby LaBonte

David Ragan

David Stremme

(Brad Kesolowski whenever he races.)

+25 handicap: 32nd through 38th

Paul Menard

Robby Gordon

Michael Watrip

Scott Speed

John Andretti

David Gilliland

Regan Smith

+34 handicap (picked 2x in a session will make +0 2nd time)


There will be no bonus this week! This is just a free-for-all week. I do caution, however, that you may want to PST me your picks so that somebody up front doesn't take your pick and thus you won't be able to pass them. I will notify you if you PST me your pick if somebody in front of you takes that driver, unfortunately, that person who is behind will need to change their driver, since the person up front really won't have a motive to change. And I promised that I wouldn't make it so that only 1 person can pick 1 driver again.

For my last race, I saved Jeff Gordon for a reason, he get 4th and 4th his past two races here, and I'm hoping that after his Texas win, he can get his final winless track taken care of, and maybe put a bit of pressure on Johnson/ Martin. Also I can just say my pick since I don't really have to worry about anyone picking the same driver to stay ahead of me.




Bradman- Matt Kenseth     VS.     Roushfenway- Jeff Gordon

Edwardsfan-  Greg Biffle  VS. Floridawhite- Tony Stewart

Berlyn- Jeff Burton  VS.   Tenacfan- Kyle Busch 

(Lineups are subject to cross should a driver have a bad day.)


Common Picks (check if a competition has your pick):
No common picks, for the first week ever I believe!

Alright, just two more weeks to go... and nobody picked Kurt Busch, he never got a win here before, so it wasn't too predictable, on the podium is me, with a 3rd place, Bradman with an 8th, and Floridawhite with a 13th who luckily caught his Jimmie Johnson error before it was too late... he would have gotten 15 points for the week, which would have really sucked. As for the other three that aren't on the podium though, its not too much better for you, as this will dig a deep hole for you three that will need to be dug out of quick. Here are the standings as we head to Pheonix next week:

1.) Roushfenway- 468 (+180 for this week, got +15 off the bonus) (leader)

2.) Bradman-       446 (+152 for the week, got +10 off the bonus)  (-22)

3.) Floridawhite-    399 (+139 for this week, got +10 off the bonus) (-69)

4.) Edwardsfan-     353 (+51 for this week, got +5 off the bonus)     (-115)

5.) Berlyn-            333 (+59 for this week, got +10 off the bonus)    (-135)

6.) Tenacfan-        309 (+64 for this week, got +15 off the bonus)    (-159)

Well, unless me, Bradman and Florida all have a bad week, it might have just become a three race finish, of course like this week, anything can happen, so don't give up hope. The bonus went alright, I mean understood if anyone guessed Jimmie Johnson... well that wouldn't have happened. Anyway, stuff like this happens, and you would think that Talladega would have had a bigger impact, but infact this race did. Now we move to Pheonix... and one more thing, Edwardsfan is the only person left with a Jimmie Johnson pick!

10 handicap: 16th through 23rd

David Reutimann

 Macros Ambrose

Jeff Burton

Casey Mears

Joey Logano

Kevin Harvick

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Jaime McMurray


+20 handicap: 24th through 31st

A.J. Allmendinger

Elliot Sadler

Martin Truex Jr.

Sam Hornish Jr.

Reed Sorenson

Bobby LaBonte

David Ragan

David Stremme

(Brad Kesolowski whenever he races.)

+25 handicap: 32nd through 38th

Paul Menard

Robby Gordon

Michael Watrip

Scott Speed

John Andretti

David Gilliland

Regan Smith

+34 handicap (picked 2x in a session will make +0 2nd time)

So... bonus for this week... I'll have to go with one lap down. Its simple, guess the first person that is one lap down, (in other words the driver in the lucky dog pos. when the race ends.) and you get +20 points, guess anyone that is one lap down, get +15, if you guess anyone that gets 2 laps down, its +10, 3 or more laps down and you still get +5, if your driver doesn't go a lap down, you get nothing, however, if you pick a driver that gets a DNF, you get -10 points, so just watch out not to pick a DNF driver and you should be good. Again this is optional, but even drivers that crash will likely come back, so its worth taking a shot... just don't pick Dave Blaney or Nemechek, lol.

For me this week, I have to go with my man Kurt Busch, almost went with Martin, but after that win, I need to go with Kurt, and I feel as if bad luck may hit Martin this week.

Edwardsfan-  Jimmie Johnson (bonus = Jaime McMurray) 

Bradman- Denny Hamlin (bonus = Sam Hornish Jr.)    

Roushfenway- Kurt Busch (bonus = Robby Gordon)

Berlyn- Carl Edwards (bonus= Marcos Ambrose)          

Floridawhite- Mark Martin (bonus= John Andretti)

Tenacfan- Mark Martin  (bonus= Michael Waltrip)

Common Picks:

Mark Martin: 2

Alright, Talladega is finally done... so lets see... the best finisher of the non-backup drivers was... Jeff Gordon with 20th, followed by Mark Martin with 28th... all I can say is that people are saying, "Thank god I have a back-up..." Since the worse back-up racer finished... ummm.... 25th if you don't count Ambrose... better than the others I guess... anyway, this one still did seperate some people, yet not an awful lot since nobody got a person who finished better than 10th... Anyway, next week we will run at Texas, so get ready for that. Here are the standings...

1.) Edwardsfan-    302 (counted Jr.'s score.) (leader)

2.) Bradman-       294 (counted Ragan's score.) (-8)

3.) Roushfenway- 288 (counted Mears' score.)    (-14)

4.) Berlyn-           274 (counted Harvick's score.) (-28)

5.) Floridawhite-   260 (counted Kurt's score.)      (-42)

6.) Tenacfan-       245 (counted LaBonte's score.) (-57)


Well, things are still tight, that is fore sure. And the back-up rule turned out to be a huge success, saving all but Floridawhite from having a worse score... or maybe not as much so since if we didn't have the back-up, all of us would have been closer together in scores this week... wierd... well it still helped out Tenacfan a lot, which he needed to get back into this thing, and even with the back-up, only one person broke 300 over this two wee period, and that includes a bonus from last week as well. Scores should start to increase though as this session moves on as more bonuses come... I hope at least.

10 handicap: 16th through 23rd

David Reutimann

 Macros Ambrose

Jeff Burton

Casey Mears

Joey Logano

Kevin Harvick

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Jaime McMurray


+20 handicap: 24th through 31st

A.J. Allmendinger

Elliot Sadler

Martin Truex Jr.

Sam Hornish Jr.

Reed Sorenson

Bobby LaBonte

David Ragan

David Stremme

(Brad Kesolowski whenever he races.)

+25 handicap: 32nd through 38th

Paul Menard

Robby Gordon

Michael Watrip

Scott Speed

John Andretti

David Gilliland

Regan Smith

+34 handicap (picked 2x in a session will make +0 2nd time)

Anyone below 38th!

Alright, the bonus this week... lets see what I can carve up... hmm... can't really think of any new ideas that wouldn't make people wonder what the heck that bonus is, so simply pick the worse chaser this week. However, unlike last time driver's will be based on a scale. If your chaser finishes the worst, you get +20 points. If your chaser finishes 10-11th of all chasers, you get +15 points. 7-9th will get you +10. 5-6th will get you +5. 2-4th will get you nothing. The only downside, is that if you pick the best chaser, you will get -15 points! If you do guess the best chaser... then either you were way to risky... or some chaser did something huge. Anyway, this is optional, however, I don't know why you would skip it unless if you were really afraid that the driver that you picked to finish the worst actually finished the best...

For me this week, I'm taking a half-risk, half-safety with going with Matt Kenseth for Texas, which is not a chaser, and I believe this is the first non-chaser pick since the chase (except for maybe Kyle Busch once.)

Edwardsfan-  Carl Edwards (Bonus = Ryan Newman)  

Bradman- Greg Biffle (bonus= Vickers)    

Roushfenway- Matt Kenseth (bonus = JPM)

Berlyn- Jimmie Johnson (bonus= Vickers)          

Floridawhite-  Jeff Gordon (bonus = Brian Vickers)

Tenacfan-       Jimmie Johnson (bonus= JPM) 

Common Picks:

Alright, first, to explain about the bonus, I will put your original score first, then the bonus (pos. or neg.) then your final score in bold. I'll quote Berlyn by saying, "Wow. If i'm looking at it correctly at the people who got the bonus on the nose. Me, RFG, and Edwardsfan." Well actually there are only two, me and Edwardsfan. Berlyn you said that you wanted Tony Stewart for 10th, and he ended up in 9th ahead of Tony Stewart, so you were as close to nose as possible without actually being there.

Alright, but as far as the winner goes, nobody got him, but there are only 6 people, so I don't expect us to even get obvious winners anymore every race. Anyway, next week is Talladega, and I know what everyone is thinking... "oh crap, if my driver crashes I'm done, please don't let my driver crash." Don't worry, the bonus this week will lighten up those incidents hopefully. And we did get 3 people with the runner up man so nice job there, anyway, lets get to the standings shall we?

1.) Roushfenway-  175 (bonus = 20) =           195 (Just as if he got the winner.)

2.) Bradman-       175 (bonus = 10 - 3 = 7) = 182

Floridawhite -       175 (bonus =  10 - 3 = 7) = 182

4.) Berlyn-           160 (bonus = 10 - 1 = 9) =  169

5.) Edwardsfan-    147 (bonus = 20) =             167   

6.) Tenacfan-       103 (bonus = 5 - 7 = -2) =   101 

So everyone gained off that bonus... except for the person that needed it most. But Tenacfan is the underdog, so I'm sure he'll pull something out of the hat to get back into this. Roushfenway and Edwardsfan were the major beneficiaries of this, because although berlyn was just 1 away from her's, it made Edwardsfan get 11 points closer to her, and made the gap between them pretty much nothing. It also broke some of the ties with Johnson. Anyway, let's get to the handicaps, then the bonus.

10 handicap: 16th through 23rd (the bonus line)

David Reutimann

 Macros Ambrose

Jeff Burton

Casey Mears

Joey Logano

Kevin Harvick

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Jaime McMurray


+20 handicap: 24th through 31st

A.J. Allmendinger

Elliot Sadler

Martin Truex Jr.

Sam Hornish Jr.

Reed Sorenson

Bobby LaBonte

David Ragan

David Stremme

(Brad Kesolowski whenever he races.)

+25 handicap: 32nd through 38th

Paul Menard

Robby Gordon

Michael Watrip

Scott Speed

John Andretti

David Gilliland

Regan Smith

+34 handicap (picked 2x in a session will make +0 2nd time)

Anyone below 38th!

Alright, now for the bonus, you may notice that there is a (the bonus line) next to the +10 handicap. Well that has to do with the bonus this week. The bonus is that you get to choose a second driver, however, that driver must be on this +10 handicap list or higher. In addition that bonus pick will get -10 points, in other words, people that are exactly on the +10 handicap get their handicaps taken away.
Now hold on Roushfenwayguy, isn't this pretty much a second pick? The answer is no, for this driver will only be counted if he accumulates more points than your real pick, and your real picks points are then disregarded. In addition, this driver will count as you picking him for the segment! Used or not! I wanted to make that clear, however, I really don't think that will affect too many people too much, I don't believe many would pick Jeff Burton or Kevin Harvick or someone like that outside of this opportunity. If they would, then think carefully about who you choose for this bonus, for he may not even matter. Here are two examples of the bonus, however, I believe it is more clear cut this time:

Ex.1: Jimmie Johnson crashes and finishes 36th, getting 48 points, while your bonus pick, Robby Gordon, got 20th, racking up 103 points, and then he gets a +30 bonus, minus 10. Your Johnson pick would be disregarded in all aspects except being used up for the segment, and you get 123 points from Robby Gordon as your total score.

Ex.2: Jimmie Johnson finishes 10th, getting 140 points, while your bonus pick, Robby Gordon, got 20th, racking up 103 points, with +20 for bonuses... your Johnson pick would count for 140 points, and that would be your total. Robby Gordon would then be unusable by you for the rest of the segment.

This pick is optional if you don't want to waste a lower teir driver for the segment. However, you will not have any safety barrier, and thus, if your driver crashes, you could be done. Also if both of your driver's crash, there isn't much I can do, your pretty much toast, so make sure your pick counts. A pick that doesn't crash a lot would be ideal for a back-up, even if you don't think he will do the best.

Alright, your bonus picks will be in parenthesis, next to your real pick. As for me, I'm going to use my Smoke card right now in hopes that actually doesn't go up in smoke here. For my back-up pick, Casey Mears seems like the most consistent option from what he has done recently.

Berlyn- Mark Martin (back-up= Kevin Harvick)

Roushfenway- Tony Stewart (back-up= Casey Mears)

Edwardsfan- Jeff Gordon (back-up = Dale Earnhardt Jr.)

Bradman- Kurt Busch (David Ragan = back- up)

Floridawhite- Kurt Busch (back up = Marcos Ambrose)

Tenacfan- Tony Stewart (back up = Bobby LaBonte (+10 handicap))

Common Picks:

Tony Stewart - 2

Kurt Busch - 2

Alright, well that ticked me, off, I was almost done with this, which I worked on for a good 20 min. or more, then Windows, without telling me, restarts the computer for updateds... and now I need to start over... lets get this done quick, lol, we are moving to Martinsville next week for the final segment, and those eliminated should know who they are, anyway, here are the standings:

1.) Berlyn-          530

2.) Roushfenway- 506

Edwardsfan-         506

4.) Bradman-       494

5.) Floridawhite-    469

6.) Tenacfan-        452

---

7.) Section-          363

8.) Tobasco Kat-   348

So this week we say goodbye to Section, the person who has stayed in the competition, posssibly trying the hardest throughout, and Tobasco Kat, the person who was making the comback story of the century, cut short due to this segment... now there are only 6...

Berlyn, the only woman left in this competition, and the person who has won the most segments out of anybody, she is trying to make the phrase the last woman standings.

Roushfenway, the master of this game, and the person that had the highest average before the chase, he made it to the chase with flying colors. There was one mishap that some took for cheating, but most know that he would have done the same for all, since he makes the game and knows all the rules, he maybe the person with the highest odds to win.

Edwardsfan has been under the radar, being close to eliminated with some breakout performances from time to time, Edwardsfan didn't have much time in the middle of things, and has been struggling due to Carl Edwards' struggles, can he get a breakout now?

Bradman has the most wins and obviously knows how to pick a winning driver, the question is, can he do that here to help him charge up front and win this whole thing?

Floridawhite, he has been the most consistent, but he hasn't had much luck in the win column, is he really just holding it in like Johnson, and will he let it all out now, only time will tell!

Tenacfan is the underdog of this competition, with a broken back, he has passed all but 5 people on his path to victory, but can he pull through and come out the victor of it all?

Remember people, this is a 5 race segment! So just 1 mistake and you may not be out, and consistency is going to be the key to winning this whole thing, as 5 people will get eliminated, leaving only 1 left to win it all. Remember to plan accordingly as you can't choose the same driver twice for 5 races w/o a 34 point penalty.

10 handicap: 16th through 23rd

David Reutimann

 Macros Ambrose

Jeff Burton

Casey Mears

Joey Logano

Kevin Harvick

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Jaime McMurray


+20 handicap: 24th through 31st

A.J. Allmendinger

Elliot Sadler

Martin Truex Jr.

Sam Hornish Jr.

Reed Sorenson

Bobby LaBonte

David Ragan

David Stremme

(Brad Kesolowski whenever he races.)

+25 handicap: 32nd through 38th

Paul Menard

Robby Gordon

Michael Watrip

Scott Speed

John Andretti

David Gilliland

Regan Smith

+34 handicap (picked 2x in a session will make +0 2nd time)

Anyone below 38th!


Alright, now there are still extra rules like I have done throughout the chase, they will be random rules this time though, so make sure you look at the rules every week, and they may not bee so optional as they once were. This week the rule will be that you can't pick anyone from Hendrick Motorsports... j/k, I'm not that cruel with 5 races to differentiate things out. The real rule this week that you must pick a driver that is not your winner, any driver that is in the top 35 in points, and you must guess where they will finish. Where the driver actually finsihes, and where you chose him to finish will be made a difference and subtracted from your score. The other catch is bonuses for this, if you guess within 10 positions of where that driver actually finishes, you get 5 extra points. If you guess within 5 pos., then you get 10 extra points, if you guess exactly where they finish, then 20 points will come your way. If you do not answer, a random driver and pos. will be chosen, and will be added/subtracted from your score! Here are two examples:

Ex. 1: Roushfenway chooses Jeff Gordon to finish 2nd... Jeff Gordon finishes 5th, so: 5-2 = 3, plus 10 points added to your score since he was within 5 pos. of your guess, since the 3 is subratracted from your score, 10-3 = 7 points added to your score!

Ex. 2: Edwardsfan chooses Carl Edwards to finish 2nd... Carl Edwards finsihes 32nd, so : 32-2 = 30, no bonus, so 30 points would be subtracted from you score.

You can really maximize on this rule, and it could save you from a bad pick this week, it could also ruin a good pick, but make sure you answer it, its better than randomization. Also you can choose whichever driver you choose for the bonus as an actual pick, so if you want to pick Jeff Gordon for the bonus, and pick him for next race, that's fine, just make sure your pick isn't who you chose as your winner.

Bonuses (less optional): Roushfenway=Jeff Gordon (5th)... Berlyn= Tony Stewart (10th)... Floridawhite= Jeff Gordon (2nd)...     Tenacfan= Dale Earnhardt Jr. (22nd)... Bradman= Robby Gordon (34st)... Edwardsfan= Jimmie Johnson (2nd)

For me this week, I'm going and using Jimmie Johnson right now at Martinsville.

Berlyn- Jeff Gordon

Roushfenway- Jimmie Johnson

Edwardsfan- Mark Martin

Bradman- Jimmie Johnson

Floridawhite- Jimmie Johnson

Tenacfan- Carl Edwards

Common Picks:

Jimmie Johnson- 3

Alright, week 5 is now underway, just one more week until this session is over. Remember people, if you chose someone last week, or even the week before, you can't choose them now, if you weren't paying attention to me, tough luck, listen for once, lol. 34 point penatlies will be distributed and enforced accordingly, in fact I'll put lists down for every of who they can't use for this race at Lowe's. That means that 4/8 people can't choose Jimmie Johnson this race... that's 50%. With that in mind... wait a second... oh boy!!!!!!! Actually, only 3/8 people can't use Johnson, because we got a first. A person tried to get away with choosing Jimmie Johnson twice!! And who was the perpetraitor... none other than... Floridawhite!!! You almost caught me off-guard, but I will keep my word, Floridawhite will recieve -34 points to his total, but Johnson was the winner, so really it wasn't that bad, lol. Anyway, we had 2 people get the winner of Jimmie Johnson this week, so it was a good time to pick him, 1 of those obviously being Floridawhite. Anyway, to the standings! And both me and berlyn got the bonus with Brian Vickers.

1.) Bradman-      370 (All but secured himself a spot in the finals.) (+78)

2.) Berlyn-          335 (got the bonus) (+43)

3.) Tenacfan-      328 (and he is doing this with a hurt back.) (+36)

4.) Edwardsfan-   311 (+19)

Roushfenway-      311 (got the bonus)

6.) Floridawhite-   304  (+12)

---

7.) Tobasco Kat-  292 (-12)

8.) Section-         246 (Oh how the mighty have fallen...) (-58)

So there you have it, Bradman is starting to pull away, and remember 2 people get eliminated. Section also made a new record this week, as he is the first person to move from first to last in the standings, and unless if someone has a bad day, Section could be gone with the competition so tight. The numbers in parenthesis represent how many points you are either ahead of 7th, or behind 6th, 6th being the final spot that gets into the finals.

10 handicap: 16th through 23rd

David Reutimann

 Macros Ambrose

Jeff Burton

Casey Mears

Joey Logano

Kevin Harvick

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Jaime McMurray


+20 handicap: 24th through 31st

A.J. Allmendinger

Elliot Sadler

Martin Truex Jr.

Sam Hornish Jr.

Reed Sorenson

Bobby LaBonte

David Ragan

David Stremme

(Brad Kesolowski whenever he races.)

+25 handicap: 32nd through 38th

Paul Menard

Robby Gordon

Michael Watrip

Scott Speed

John Andretti

David Gilliland

Regan Smith

+34 handicap (picked 2x in a session will make +0 2nd time)

Anyone below 38th!


Alright, for the bonus, lets see...  the bonus for this week will give +10, and will break any ties, so make sure you answer this one... anyway, the question is... who will gain the most positions in the chase! And because this is the last week, no pentaly, so everyone should take a stab at it. If there is a tie, I.E., Tony Stewart and Brian Vickers both gain 3 spots, then everyone that chose Tony Stewart and Brian Vickers will get +10, however, if they end up tied, the tie breaker would go to whoever's bonus is higher in the standings, in this case Stewart would be, you can choose the same winner and bonus.

Bonuses: RFG: Jeff Gordon... Berlyn: Denny Hamlin... Floridawhite: Ryan Newman... Tobasco Kat: Kurt Busch... Section: Ryan Newman

As for me this week, I saved him for this race, Jimmie Johnson, remember you can choose a driver twice with a -34 penalty, Florida could try for the Johnson trifecta, lol.

Tenacfan- Tony Stewart

Tobasco Kat- Dale Earnhardt Jr. (+10 handicap)

Roushfenway- Jimmie Johnson

Berlyn- Jimmie Johnson

Bradman- Tony Stewart

Floridawhite- Jeff Gordon

Edwardsfan- Jimmie Johnson

Section_725- Mark Martin

Common Picks:

Jimmie Johnson- 3

Tony Stewart- 2

Alright, week 1/3 is over. And who got some checkered smoke... nobody??? What happened to the Tony Stewart support.... as well, at least someone picked 2nd place Jeff Gordon right... wait... not even him... obviously something's wrong when Tony and Gordon aren't picked, they had to prove us wrong... anyway, to the standings!

1.) Section_725- 185 (He was the only one to get the bonus)

2.) Bradman-      175

3.) Berlyn-          165

4.) Tenacfan-      153 (Got a free bonus due to back issues)

5.) Roushfenway- 151

Edwardsfan99-      151

---

7.) Floridawhite-     143

8.) Tobasco Kat-     127

Remember, two people will be eliminated, so make sure you think about not only beating last place, just 1 bad race could take you right out of this thing. And in addition, if there is a tie for 6th and 7th... then... oh that will be messy... well I'll have a seperate bonus for week 3 that will seperate that, so please make sure you guys check in on the bonuses, if you don't, especially week 3, you could tie, yet see your own demise come like a truck.

10 handicap: 16th through 23rd

David Reutimann

 Macros Ambrose

Jeff Burton

Casey Mears

Joey Logano

Kevin Harvick

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Jaime McMurray


+20 handicap: 24th through 31st

A.J. Allmendinger

Elliot Sadler

Martin Truex Jr.

Sam Hornish Jr.

Reed Sorenson

Bobby LaBonte

David Ragan

David Stremme

(Brad Kesolowski whenever he races.)

+25 handicap: 32nd through 38th

Paul Menard

Robby Gordon

Michael Watrip

Scott Speed

John Andretti

David Gilliland

Regan Smith

+34 handicap (picked 2x in a session will make +0 2nd time)

Anyone below 38th!

Alright, here we are at the auto club speedway! The bonus for this week, pick the chaser this week that gets the worst finish. Same philosophy as last week, where if your driver doesn't end up with the worst pos., you can't use him for the next race, so if you want to be safe, just go with some guy like Brian Vickers (hint at who I am picking).

Bonuses: RFG + Berlyn=Brian Vickers... Section + Bradman= Ryan Newman... Tobasco Kat= Denny Hamlin

Alright, now for actual picks, I'm going for the underdog, who begs the question as to how he is the underdog, he always seems to deliever at this track, I give you Carl Edwards!!!

Tenacfan- Jeff Gordon

Tobasco Kat- Mark Martin

Roushfenway- Carl Edwards

Berlyn- Tony Stewart

Bradman- Jimmie Johnson

Floridawhite- Jimmie Johnson

Edwardsfan- Tony Stewart

Section_725- Kasey Kahne

Common Picks:

Tony Stewart- 2

Jimmie Johnson- 2

Alright, first thing, I'm pretty sure I said this, but if I didn't, I said that if you get a random pick, you can get a non-chase driver,  in addition, even during these next 2 segments, random picks will earn you no handicap points... with that in mind, Superjags happened not to come in and pick from what I saw, please correct me if I'm wrong, anyway, Superjags ended up with Michael Waltrip. Due to thus, he is pretty much toast since he finished 36th. Sad way to go down, but that's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes, especially at this time of year. And congratulations to berlyn and myself, we beat everyone to the elusive Jimmie Johnson and got the win, also those that got to Mark Martin first are happy and those who wanted Mark Martin (Section at least) might not be as happy, but like I said, that was to get a point across from when Section started a trend where everyone picked Kyle Busch to auto-be saved. Now, lets get to the standings, and find out who was the second man to get eliminated.

1.) Tenacfan2-    338

2.) Tobasco Kat-  335

3.) Roushfenway- 322

4.) Berlyn-           321

5.) Bradman-       299

6.) Floridawhite-   298

7.) Edwardsfan-    297

8.) Section_725-   250

9.) Tigersman-     247 (the +20 bonus got him 1 position away....)

10.) Superjags-    220

And with 3 points, Tigersman is set asunder, along with Superjags who forgot to make picks this week, two tales, both end with a tragic end... but that's what's going to make this session fun, the chance to get bonus points, and to get those who choose to recieve earn big! Although, there is one more thing, the downside! Guesses of the Week starts now, and first you must guess who will be in 3rd in the points standings after this race. If you get it right, +10 is heading your way, but if you get it wrong, the driver that you choose for that category you will be unable to choose for the rest of the segment.

Also let me remind you that this is a 3 race segment. So if you pick Jimmie Johnson this week, you can't pick him for 2 more weeks, and if you want to pick who is 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the standings, if you get the bonus wrong this week, it could kill you. The bonus is by all means optional, you don't have to answer it and take the risk, but if you really don't have much hope for that driver after this race, go for it! And by the way guys, guess what, if you choose your winner to get to 3rd place in the points, you are making no risk, so for people like Bradman who chose Greg Biffle, go with Biffle for the bonus, you already used him, so it doesn't matter win or lose.

Oh, and one more thing, because Tenacfan2 is having back problems and won't be able to come back for a bit, he will automatically get +10 throughout this segment, in other words, he got 1 of the bonuses right, and the other 2 wrong, and nobody else can use the "I need to go away for awhile due to... something" excuse to try to not make risks and get 10 bonus points.

Handicaps are back, here they are:

10 handicap: 16th through 23rd

David Reutimann

 Macros Ambrose

Jeff Burton

Casey Mears

Joey Logano

Kevin Harvick

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Jaime McMurray


+20 handicap: 24th through 31st

A.J. Allmendinger

Elliot Sadler

Martin Truex Jr.

Sam Hornish Jr.

Reed Sorenson

Bobby LaBonte

David Ragan

David Stremme

(Brad Kesolowski whenever he races.)

+25 handicap: 32nd through 38th

Paul Menard

Robby Gordon

Michael Watrip

Scott Speed

John Andretti

David Gilliland

Regan Smith

+34 handicap (picked 2x in a session will make +0 2nd time)

Anyone below 38th!

Alright, now here is where picks will go, for Kansas, Carry On My Wayward... Oldest Man on the Circuit... anyway, I'm going with Mark Martin, I organized my 3 race plan already, so for my bonus, I am not afraid to go with Kurt Busch.

Tenacfan- Jimmie Johnson

Tobasco Kat- Kyle Busch

Roushfenway- Mark Martin

Berlyn- JPM

Bradman- Greg Biffle

Floridawhite- Jimmie Johnson

Edwardsfan- Mark Martin

Section_725- Greg Biffle

Common Picks:

Mark Martin- 2

Bonus Picks:

RFG= Kurt Busch... Section= JPM... Edwardsfan= no risk... Floridawhite= Tony Stewart...  Bradman= no risk... Berlyn= no risk
(And remember, 2 more will be eliminated this segment, not just 1.)

And make sure Tobasco that you at least make picks, lol, else you could be in trouble.

Gotta do this quick, gj to Tenacfan, picking the winner, if only this was one race before he would have +10 for all 3 sessions, now here we go with the standings:

1.) Tenacfan- 200

2.) Bradman-  175

Tobasco Kat- 175 (Good thing you misinterpreted the rules, lol.)

4.) Superjags-    165

5.) Tigersman-    138

6.) Floridawhite-   128

7.) Roushfenway-  127

Edwardsfan-           127

9.) Berlyn-           126

Section-          126

Ya, look at that mess, from 5 to 10th there is only 12 points of difference, that's what handicaps do for you, wow that's close! Will make for a really interesting week 2, and remember 2 people get eliminated, not 1.

Now for the rule, like I explained last week, you can only choose chase drivers, and only a maximum of 2 people can choose a chase driver, this is to avoid people picking the same driver as someone lower than them to secure themselves a place in the next round... well... only 1 person will be able to do it, if you feel threatened still, feel free to pst me VIA the post that leads to this blog, I will get to it and put it up as a ???. And for Tobasco, I was saying that I needed to reveal the rule so everyone got a fair shot, considering that you thought it was for last week though, it is likely that you will be the last one making picks and might lose out on a lot of the great drivers, lol. Pick fast people!

No handicaps for this race!

Here is where picks will go for this week, I will go with Jimmie Johnson for this race, as he is becoming hotter to try for a win.

Tobasco Kat- Kurt Busch

Section_725- Greg Biffle

Tenacfan2- Tony Stewart (+10 handicap next race, not this one)

Berlyn- Jimmie Johnson

Edwardsfan- Mark Martin

Bradman-  Greg Biffle

Tigersman-  Brian Vickers

Floridawhite- Mark Martin (10 on any pick next race, not this one)

Roushfenway- Jimmie Johnson

Superjags-

Common Picks:

Mark Martin- 2

Jimmie Johnson- 2

Greg Biffle- 2

(If you see anyone under common picks, it means you can't pick them, anyone that does will get that driver with a 34 point penalty induced, unless you are really confident in your driver, please don't go that route, I don't want to see people get eliminated that way.)

And also you can't pick the driver you picked last week, oh these restrictions are so much fun, lol, anyway, I put who you can't pick next to your name for your convienence.

And truly, I don't mean to be rude by this, I won't make wicked restrictions like this for the rest of the season.

And one more thing, the theme for next week until the final 5 races I will reveal now... it is... Guesses of the week- which will simply give bonuses for guesses made correctly, nothing major, but it will make sure you know your stuff, and if you don't respond to it, it won't really hurt you too much, which is really what I was looking for, more info on it later. I almost decided to go with Golf Points, but that would make anyone that picked someone that crashed fall into an even bigger hole.

Alright, I said I would do this once the chase came, and now here it is. I will put up all the chase drivers as predictions for the chase, explain a bit what they have done, and my power rankings for each driver during the second half of pre-chase.
_.) (Where I place this is based on their 2nd segment performance.) (The number in parenthesis is where I predict they will finish after all is said and done.)
1.) Jimmie Johnson  Yup, he's going to be the same that he was last year, at least most likely. Why do I believe that? Apart from 2 races where he had major problems, not once since late June did he finish below 13th, that's a pretty good bar. And let's not mention that he only gets better with the chase, as much as I wish someone else would win, and how many are saying he won't because we want someone new, I'm afraid nobody can stop him. Once he gets a win in the chase, he will be gone, which shouldn't take him that long. (1)

2.) Denny Hamlin-  I have to lay this man some props, 2 wins, 1 bad race, and a 15th, other than that all top 10s from mid-June, but then why didn't I rank him higher than Johnson, because he just hasn't been as dominant, he has just finished a bit better, barely, Denny Hamlin has 3 50+ leading lap performances since late-May, Johnson, 6, with only 1 being 100+ laps led perfomances from Hamlin, the most recent one, as compared to Johnson's 4. Now as far as the chase goes, there are 8 out of 10 races in the chase where we have raced this year, and how many of them did Denny Hamlin get a top 5 in... 1, which was 2nd place, how many as a top 10... 3, 2 of the other 5 were crashes. Fact of the matter is... Denny Hamlin doesn't have races that suit him as well in the chase, apart from Martinsville and maybe 1 or 2 others. Unlike last year, he will do better, but he will not live up to expectations. (8)

3.) Tony Stewart  From the very mid of May until late August, he never finsihed below 10th, that's quite a bit. The only reason why he is behind Johnson is due to his last 4 races, where he would finsih in the lead lap 3/4, indicating that he didn't have problems, but finsihed 11th, and 17th twice, just that could really kill him coming into the chase. Will he come back, most likely, but will he win the whole thing, unless he can win at New Hampshire, he will likely not have the momentum until later in the chase, when it is too late. (3)

4.) Jeff Gordon  Since June, he has had 3 bad races, that's still a bit of a number, because that can eliminate you in a chase, yet, he never finished below 10th, and then again, he never run during that stretch. But he won at Texas, a race he never won at before, and its in the chase, I don't think he will win there, but it may get him enough morale for a top 5, and that could be a nice gap there, if he really can get a top 5 there, which I believe he can, and get a win at least somewhere in the chase, then he could possibly win. (2)

5.) Mark Martin  Lets give the old man some props, he's the oldest guy out there, he won the most races during the regular season, he won 2 since mid June and also has 4 other top 5s in there, 3 of them being in the last 3 races run... but now here comes the bad news, during this time he had not 1, not 2, but 3 finishes outside the top 30, bad luck, and also another outside the top 2. Fact of the matter is, everyone would love for this guy to win, he is the guy that everyone wants to see win. But honestly, he just has too much of a chance to have at least 2 bad races, and just that will knock him out of contention. If he only has one finish outside the top 30, which seems very unlikely, he may stand a chance. Also from 8 chase tracks ran earlier in the season, 1 win, then just 3 in the top 10, and at least 2 crashes, he might win a race in the chase, but overall... (6)

6.) Kurt Busch  He's the true underdog in the chase, and this guy has the potential to possibly win, so long as he gets a win, first, lets talk about his second segment... since late may, he has 8 top 10s, but he also has 3 races outside the top 30, 1 outside the top 20, and 2 from 15th through 17th, doesn't seem like winning material... but now lets look at his performance at races in the chase. Out of the 8 races we have ran that are in the chase, 4 of them Kurt Busch finished in the top 5, and 6 of 8 in the top 10, and one he got lapped, Lowe's, but during the all-star race, he finished 3rd. The only race leftover is Martinsville, which he finsihed 18th, yet Kurt has been known to get good finishes there. All he needs is a win early, New Hampshire maybe, and he could get momentum back to be a threat to win, and remember, only 3 drivers, including him, know how to win a chase. (4)

7.) Carl Edwards  Since mid-may, 7 races in the top 5, one other in the top 10, and only 1 crash, yet, 7 have been between 10th and 20th, just indicating so-so performances, you can't do that in the chase, yet it is the chase, you can't count Carl Edwards out after last year, yet without a win so far, he might not be able to do it, he's pretty decent at chase tracks this year, but he will need a win and quick for momentum or his so-so finishes will be the death of him this year, don't expect more than 1 really bad finish though. (7)

8.) Kasey Kahne  He did better than most suspected in the 2nd half, getting a spot in the chase, but what did he do? Since late-May, he got 2 wins, and 6 other top 10s apart from those, here's the big stat, now a single race during this time did he finish below 30th, and only 1 race throughout the whole season did he finish below 30th! Watch out guys, for Kasey Kahne maybe bullet-proof going through the chase, I still believe he will have one bad one, likely where he did last time, Talladega. But if he can avoid all the bullets, he may get a top 5 in the chase, possibly even be a threat due to those 2 wins and his ability to stay out of DNFs this year, that has really been the big difference for him this year. (5)

9.) Brain Vickers  Wheather you like it or not, he made the chase, and for good reason. Since late May, he has 9 races in the top 10, including a win. And only once bad race since mid june, with only 3 outside the top 10 since then, he had 2 outside the top 20 before that though, and never led for more than 50 laps this whole season. the only thing is that during the chase tracks he hasn't done that well, and that will be his downfall during the chase, he may do better than most, but not by much, also take into consideration that this is his first chase, he stands next to no chance. (12)

10.) Ryan Newman  The only reason he is up here is due to consistency, how many laps did he lead during the second half... 22, that's it, no dominance is there, without dominance, you can't win a chase. Since late May though, he did have 6 finishes in the top 10, and that's not even great, but no finishes haven't been outside the top 30, which is why he is ahead of the other 2. Considering how he did during chase races too, I might be underestimating him, but considering the competition, he shouldn't have much fight for the championship. (9)

11.) Juan Pablo Montoya  He has 9 top 5s since late May, which is a pretty nice stat, and during this stretch, only 3 have been outside the top 20, that's really nice, yet he only had 1 dominant performance, which he ended up 11th in. He did decent in some chase races, yet he probably won't stand a good chance in the whole scheme of things in the chase, consisentcy don't cut it, and I don't see him getting a win. (10)

12.) Greg Biffle  He shouldn't be in the chase, at least that's what I believe. Since late May, only 6 have been in the top 10, true 5 were in the top 5, but he only led for 50+ laps during 1 race, and he has many below 15th during this time, he has been too inconsistent, and the only reason I rank him ahead from Vickers during the chase is because of his ability to be able to win, he also had 2 other 40+ lap led performances, so he can finish good, and possibly win a race or 2 like he did when he shocked the world last year as soon as the chase came up, but I don't think it will happen, and also he has more experience than Vickers. (11)

Chase Prediction List:

1.) Jimmie Johnson

2.) Jeff Gordon

3.) Tony Stewart

4.) Kurt Busch

5.) Kasey Kahne

6.) Mark Martin

7.) Carl Edwards

8.) Denny Hamlin

9.) Ryan Newman

10.) Juan Pablo Montoya

11.) Greg Biffle

12.) Brian Vickers

Now is the time we have all waited and strived for the chase, lets get through the standings quick so I can explain the mind popping rules shall we? And as you guessed, nobody picked the winner.

1.) Tobasco Kat- 320

2.) Section_725- 307

3.) Tenacfan2-    285

4.) Berlyn-           253

5.) Edwardsfan-    248

6.) Bradman-       244

7+8.) Tigersman and Floridawhite- 225

9+10.) Roushfenway and Superjags- 215

So it seems it is me vs. Superjags due to one position on the track, else it would have been all four of us, lol. Anyway, same thing as last week, no picking the same driver as me Section, which is a nice thing for me since I run this game, I get first pick .

And congratulations to Tobasco Kat, to having 4 consectutive weeks in the first place pos. he has moved from a non-competitior to a force to be reckoned with here in the chase...

Eh... we're just having a 10 driver chase, but the only thing I fear now is that Mikeyfan is going to be running into here screaming that he wants to be in the game again, lol.

Now, as for the final chase stretch, here is how it will run once again:

A regular 2 race segment in which at the end 2 people will be eliminated.

A 3 race segment in which at the end 2 people will be eliminated.

A 5 race segment with 6 people which will determine it all.


Now I also said that the chase would have a little extra too it, the 3 segments will run on themes, this segment's theme is chase drivers! We all anticipated driver in the chase, and wanted them to make it in, our driver, and now it is set. For the following two weeks, you will not be able to pick any drivers outside of the chase! (Doing so will result in a 10 point dock, and they do not have handicaps for these two races at least, so really, its not worth it.)

Now, for this week, you know how I said that the handicaps were void for the next 2 weeks, well, for this week, that's not true, take a look!


+0 handicap (1st through 6th pre-chase)

Tony Stewart

Jimmie Johnson

Jeff Gordon

Denny Hamlin

Kurt Busch

Mark Martin (correct me if I'm wrong on Martin, but I believe I am right.)
+10 handicap (7th through 12th pre-chase)

Carl Edwards

Kasey Kahne

Juan Pablo Montoya

Ryan Newman

Greg Biffle

Brian Vickers

That's right, if you thought handicaps were impossible on drivers like Kasey Kahne, Carl Edwards, and Greg Biffle, think again! You can pick these drivers for an extra 10 points, for this week only, next week will be a slightly different variation concering only chase drivers.

Win column will no longer be tracked, but the bonus points will be initialized as you will notice them when you go to make your picks.

Avg. finish I've grown too lazy to take care of, lol, and its chase time, it all starts over.

Tigersman will get a +20 handicap for his pick of Brian Vickers in the 12th spot.

Oh and one more thing, you will no longer get a bonus for the last 2 segments of the chase, your bonus is that you are still in the game during the toughest time of the year.

And here is where picks will go, I am very tempted to go with Carl Edwards, and decided that I'm switching off Johnson, I want those 10 bonus points:

Tobasco Kat (+10 on any pick for winning segment) 

Section_725- Tony Stewart

Tenacfan2- Mark Martin (+10 on any pick, this one and next)

Berlyn- Tony Stewart

Edwardsfan- Carl Edwards (+10 handicap)

Bradman- Denny Hamlin

Tigersman- Jeff Gordon (+20 on any pick this week)

Floridawhite- Jeff Gordon (+10 on any pick, this one and next)

Roushfenway- Carl Edwards (+10 handicap)

Superjags-

Common Picks:

Tony Stewart- 2

Carl Edwards- 2

Jeff Gordon- 2

And by the way, I decided I will reveal my new rule now, or else this won't be fair for some people if I don't, for next week, the restraint will still be on where you can only pick chase drivers, HOWEVER, each driver can only be chosen twice, there will be no handicaps, so if you want a driver, coming early will be your best chance of getting the driver, if the driver has already been picked by 2 people, tough twinkies, I'm looking for diversity, and this is more of a defense mechanism so Section doesn't go picking a driver that will make him auto get to the next round.

And in addition, putting up random picks now, because I am going to the race tomorrow, I won't update your driver picks on this page, but if you make them before the green flag, I will come back Monday, notice, and edit.

Wow that was a messy week, Smoke almost went down to a horrible finish, its a good thing Bradman changed out of Carl Edwards, and ya, it looks like all the 4 people that chose Jimmie Johnson will be the ones fighting for survival, including me and Floridawhite, now obviously he lost, which means he will activate the save. That means that neither I, Florida, or Superjags (the top 3 in avg. all picked Johnson,) can get a save, its going to be as tight here as it is in the Chase for the Chase. Let's just see how well everyone did, oh, and congratz to Kasey Kahne, he almost secured himself a spot in the chase (but really I wanted Harvick to win.. don't want to see Kahne in the chase.) And nobody picked Kahne of course, so no win column changes:

1.) Tobasco Kat- 165 (Can he win 3 segments in a row, becoming from what everyone thought to be the underdog to becoming one of the favorites to win this whole thing?)
2.) Section-        147 (Almost secured a chase spot, will he rub it in Mikeyfan's face... probably.)

3.) Bradman-      132 (Made a nice change, should make it now.)

4+5.) Tenacfan and Edwardsfan- 130  (These two shouldn't have much to worry about, just the chase.)

6.) Berlyn-           123 (Hopefully she starts making picks, else when the chase comes, she will not get their handicaps.)

7-10.) Roushfenway, Florida, Superjags and Tigersman- 60 (All the favorites to win this thing could go out this week, if Tigersman survives, he is the underdog of this competition.)

10 handicap: 16th through 23rd

Clint Bowyer

Jeff Burton (bait for Berlyn possibly?)

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Jaime McMurray

Macros Ambrose

Casey Mears

Joey Logano

Kevin Harvick


+20 handicap: 24th through 31st

Sam Hornish Jr.

Martin Truex Jr.

Reed Sorenson

Elliot Sadler

David Ragan


Bobby LaBonte

David Stremme


A.J. Allmendinger

(Brad Kesolowski whenever he races.)

+25 handicap: 32nd through 38th

Michael Watrip

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!

(Also, I won't change this next week, instead, I will wait until chase time to change it.)

Here is the win column, unchanged:

Floridawhite and Tenacfan- 3

Superjags, Edwardsfan, Tobasco Kat and Roushfenway- 2

Section, Bradman,  and Berlyn=1

Final list of bonuses:

RFG: JPM (very unlikely)  Floridawhite: David R.  (all but impossible) Bradman: Kyle B.  (could happen) Tigersman: Brain V.  (very well possible) Section: Kyle B. (could happen)  Remember, if you get the 12th place driver correct, you will win +20 for the first segment.

And now for picks, I need to hope my driver does well, and after seeing last week, anyone that is locked for the chase seems like a bad pick, so I need to go for a desperate man... at Richmond... so my choice is obvious, and this could be risky because he could crash, but I need to go for it... Kyle Busch:

Tobasco Kat-  Kyle Busch

Roushfenway- Kyle Busch

Edwardsfan- Carl Edwards

Tigersman- Mark Martin

Bradman- Tony Stewart

Berlyn- Jimmie Johnson

Superjags- Kyle Busch

Section- Kyle Busch

Floridawhite- Mark Martin

Tenacfan- Kyle Busch

Common Picks:

Kyle Busch: 5

Mark Martin: 2

Bradman, Berlyn and Edwardsfan, the honorable samuri, are the only ones that can get eliminated since all 4 at the bottom picked 2 for Kyle, 2 for Mark, they can't be eliminated at least this week.

Alright, I'll get standings done, unfortunately, I don't have enough time for avg. finish, and after this exiting Bristol, with troubles from Stewart, its ends up that nobody picked him, good job! Got to hurry, so don't have a lot of time for explaining, just remember next race is Atlanta, and it is an off-week this week.

1.) Tobasco Kat-  380

2.) Roushfenway- 311

3.) Edwardsfan-   259

4.) Tigersman-    253

5.) Bradman-       218

6.) Berlyn-           201

7.) Superjags-      190

8.) Section-              185

9-10.) Floridawhite/ Tenacfan- 168


And so you have it, yet again, Tobasco Kat makes us ask the question, where has he come from!? The guy that was in last place in the overall standings is up in first again, only having to survive 1 more segment, and he could start the chase in better pos. than most of us here... wow! Tigersman and berlyn, make sure to make picks next time, during the chase, I am enforcing a rule that will make anyone that misses picks w/o a logical escuse to get their random pick with no handicap, which can really hurt if you get a bad pick.

But all that aside, all that news is nothing compared to the fact that there is finally a tie for last! Two brains duked it out, and now we have our first tie, right before the chase, make sure to make the right picks guys or you could be gone, but wait, there's more, considering bradman got 5th, Flordia will be considered for 9th, and since we have run so many and there is over 1 avg. point between them, Florida can activate the save should he lose next week.

Here is how the tie will work, Tenacfan, since Floridawhite will be gone for the week, you will likely get first dibs on who you want, whoever you want Floridawhite won't be able to pick, any tie after that will go to whoever finished better, so there's one more thing, Floridawhite could choose to intentionally lose, however, your picks for Altanta's points will carry on into the Richmond, like a regular segment, so just giving it to him could cause you to get eliminated the very next round. There is the possibility that Florida could pick a driver that he thinks will finished good, but won't finish better than Tenac's driver, then if he can pick another good driver next week, you could both stay in, but I would reccomend Florida to just pick the driver you want most (or 2nd most if Tenac took him,) and play this honorably.

And one more thing, Floridawhite and Tenacfan are tied with picking 3 winners each, so if one of you gets eliminated, then you will get    +10 for all 3 segments of the chase if nobody else gets a win, if not, then both of you will get +10 for the first 2 segments.

10 handicap: 16th through 23rd

Clint Bowyer

Jeff Burton (bait for Berlyn possibly?)

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Jaime McMurray

Macros Ambrose

Casey Mears

Joey Logano

Kevin Harvick


+20 handicap: 24th through 31st

Sam Hornish Jr.

Martin Truex Jr.

Reed Sorenson

Elliot Sadler

David Ragan


Bobby LaBonte

David Stremme


A.J. Allmendinger

(Brad Kesolowski whenever he races.)

+25 handicap: 32nd through 38th

Michael Watrip

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!

(Also, I won't change this next week, instead, I will wait until chase time to change it.)

Roushfenwayguy- 5.6 (1 win) (Moves down .3 due to 2nd place! startin to pull away in avg.)
Floridawhite- 6.3 (Lost .3 due to the 9th place, ouch, could activate the save next week.)
Superjags-  6.6 (1 win) (Lost .1 again, starting to lose early season form.)
Bradman-  6.9 (1 win) (Moves to elite 6 section, closing on superjags.)
Berlyn- 7.2 (3 wins) (Moves down .1, just slowly moving down the avg. and staying in this game.)
Tenacfan- 8.4 (1 win) (Keeps avg. can likely lower avg. if he survives.)
Section-  8.6 (1 win) (Keeps same avg., slowly dropping to the bottom.)
Edwardsfan- 8.8 (1 win) (Moves down .5 due to 3rd, can see Section's bumper.)
Tigersman-  9.2 (Moves down .4, maybe he should think about working on Section.)
Tobasco Kat- 9.9 (2 wins)  (Moves down .8  due to his second win, finally in single digits, and working on getting out of last!)


Here is the win column, changed:

Floridawhite and Tenacfan- 3

Superjags, Edwardsfan, Tobasco Kat and Roushfenway- 2

Section, Bradman,  and Berlyn=1

Final list of bonuses:

RFG: JPM   Floridawhite: David R.   Bradman: Kyle B.   Tigersman: Brain V.   Section: Kyle B.


Here is where this week's picks will go, my pick... for Atlanta... I have to pick J.J., he is getting prime once again right before chase time:

Tobasco Kat-  Mark Martin (+10 on any pick)

Roushfenway- Jimmie Johnson

Edwardsfan- Tony Stewart

Tigersman- Jimmie Johnson

Bradman- Matt Kenseth (nice change!)

Berlyn- A.J. Allmendinger (+20 handicap) (random autopick)

Superjags- Jimmie Johnson

Section- Jeff Gordon

Floridawhite- Jimmie Johnson
 VS.
Tenacfan- Tony Stewart

Common Picks:

Tony Stewart: 2

Jimmie Johnson: 4

Tenacfan and Edwardsfan, escort yourself to the who will win page, there are no ballots for Smoke at this track, lol. And we got 1 vote for a non- smoke/ johnson, will there be more?