TOP PICKS:
1st Place Jeff Gordon - Picked by Empty and A-Game. Gordon had a solid weekend in practice and qualifying... and when it meant the most he took home the checkered flag. Empty gets locked in and is now out of the Chase Health analysis category below... trust me, he's happy. A-Game gets on the board with his 1st win of the season. He still needs 2 more wins to make the Chase, but I now hear a pulse from our League's newest team. Well done guys!
4th Place Matt Kenseth - Picked by Graziano and Kiss. Graziano takes the lead; thus ending Chonk's 15 race run at the top. With only one win, these are valuable points for Graziano to gain as we enter the Chase... can he maintain the lead??? Locked in Chaser Kiss gets a little closer to 7th and those valuable Bonus Points.
8th Place Kevin Harvick. Picked by Piston, Penguin, and Rasta. Piston holds on to 3rd and gets a little breathing room from the 4-9 pack, but this battle is still going to be interesting to watch. Penguin gains a little of his lost ground back (now 37 points back from 7th), but needed Harvick to win the race from the pole for sure. Rasta needed this win as well. 8th feels like a Dutch Oven for Penguin and Rasta this week...
EH:
11th Place Ryan Newman. Picked by Asleep, Ideal and Shepard. All 3 teams are in that pack of teams from 3rd -9th who are fighting for those valuable Bonus points they would receive if they begin the Chase as one of the Top 7 teams. Asleep stays in 4th with his 4 wins. Ideal jumps up 2 spots to 5th (still 15 points clear of 8th). With only one win, he, like Graziano, needs to stay strong and grab as many qualifying bonus points as possible. Shepard is now only 5 points away from 7th... and has 2 wins. Will he get that final win and lock in or will he qualify on points... or both???
12th Place Brad Keselowski. Picked by Rusty. The Truck needs a win and he has 6 races left to do it. Keselowski was a solid pre-race pick. I thought if Harvick didn't do it... the red hot Keselowski would. That show you what I know... 49 points away from 7th... Rusty is still in the "I need to get a win in the last 6 races" mode. I know he will get it.*
*I don't really know that he will, but I'm hoping.
DOOTW (Honey Badger Edition):
17th Place Tony Stewart. Picked by Chonk, Skid, and Rowdy. They don't give a shit...*
*Okay maybe they do... Rowdy will start the Chase with 1000 points, but Skid and Chonk are in the hunt to get anywhere from 2-14 Bonus points... It hurts to keep reminding you guys that last year's Championship was decided by 1 f*cking point... 1 f*cking point. <window opens... penguin leaps out>
BSOTW (Honey Badger Edition):
23rd Place Juan Pablo Montoya. Picked by Dust, Pursuit and Beef. They also don't give a shit...*
*Okay maybe they do... Beef will most likely start the Chase with 1000 points as well... Dust has the 7th place spot and Pursuit is only 30 points out... 1 F*cking point.... <gun cocks... loud Bang>
Other Ramblings:
6 Races to go before the Chase; just in case you still aren't paying attention.
Pocono on Sunday.
Another awesome race for the Nascar fan in me... I love seeing Gordon's success this year. As a player in this league, well... that's a different story.
As we wait to see how the last several races will play out before the Chase, I'm finding it tough to navigate these waters. The old reliables and locked in Chase drivers seem to be playing around with different things and not really fighting to finish well...
Maybe that's not exactly true, but it seems to me this year that if a driver doesn't have the goods when the Green flag drops, they don't really strive to get a decent points day like they used to.
Having said that, a few of us poor suckers will still have to use our stuff up, so to speak, and come up with a good pit strategy to get in contention... and if successful, we'll then need to have enough left to vie for the Crown.
We now have 9 teams locked into the Chase and still only 3 teams with less than 3 wins occupy a top 7 qualifying spot. Things to keep an eye on over the next 6 races:
- Battle for 1st between Graziano and Chonk
- Battle for 3rd through 7th positions - Piston, Dust, Asleep, Skidmarks, and Ideal... valuable Bonus points are up for grabs. 1 f*cking point... <Penguin flies to Jonestown... Drinks the Kool-Aide>
- Battle for a qualifying spot between Ideal and Shepard.
- Strategies for the 2 win teams both inside and outside the top 7
- Strategies for the 1 win teams both inside and outside the top 7
- Will the 0 win team
smake a move, or will we see some eliminations before the 6 races are completed???
So here are the scenarios I have in my small brain right now for those of us not locked into the Chase:
- Graziano needs 6 solid points weeks or 2 more wins or both... 56 points ahead of 8th, he can probably recover from a DOOTW or BSOTW. CHASE HEALTH
- Team Piston continues to perform at a high level. They need 6 solid points weeks or only 1 more win. CHASE HEALTH
- Ideal stays solid again this week but is only 15 points away from 8th. He needs to continue this run over the next 6 races or grab 2 more wins. CHASE HEALTH
- Shepard has another good week and needs to continue the trend or grab 1 more win (GREEN). 6 more solid weeks may also grab one of the qualifying spots... only 5 points out (YELLOW). CHASE HEALTH
- Penguin finally got out of the stinky sheets, but is still in a shitload of trouble. He made up a little ground and is now 37 points away from 7th (RED). Needs 2 more wins in the last 6 races (RED). CHASE HEALTH
- Rusty is now 49 points away (RED) from a qualifying spot, but only 1 win away (GREEN) from making the Chase. CHASE HEALTH
- Rasta and will need to win 3 races of 6 to make the Chase. CHASE HEALTH
- A-Game gets a win but will need 2 more in the last 6 races. CHASE HEALTH
Good luck to all... especially Fat Penguin!
Cheers!
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