Wow! What a week for the League! A lot of diversity in this week's selections (13 different drivers selected this week) have produced a great deal of diversity in the results. For the most part, this week was a week for the Haves... the Have Nots took a huge kick in the balls. I am writing to you guys today with teary eyes and an ice pack on my stones.
TOP PICKS:
1st Place Brad Keselowski - Picked by Asleep. There were a few moments during the race where it looked like another team could win the race, but mostly it was a dominate performance by the #2 car. More importantly, Asleep gets his 4th win and jumps up 4 spots from 8th to the 4th place qualifying spot. Now for Asleep, it will be important to hold firm in the top 7 so that he can cash in on those valuable bonus points. Congratulations Asleep!
2nd Place Kyle Busch - Picked by Piston, Pursuit, Rusty. Our most popular pick this week, the Pole Sitter just didn't have enough for the #2 car, but a nice points day nonetheless. Piston jumps up 2 spots to 3rd and is looking strong as we near the Chase.. Locked in Chaser, Pursuit, gets a little closer to 7th and will need to keep having strong showings over the next 7 races if he wants to cash in on the bonus points. Rusty needs one more win to qualify for the Chase. I do not think that 58 points is impossible to make up and qualify on points alone... but a win is what he wanted from his Kyle Busch pick.
4th Place Matt Kenseth. Picked by Beef. It was a solid day for locked in Chaser, Beef. He inches a couple of points closer to 7th, but either way the next 7 races should be pretty relaxing for this team.
6th Place Clint Bowyer. Picked by Ideal. Ideal continues to perform at a high level. He stays in 7th this week, but is only 7 points away from 3rd. With only one win, Ideal will need to continue performing at a high level over the next 7 races in order to be around for the Postseason.
7th Place Tony Stewart. Picked by Shepard. Shepard moves up a spot to 8th and is only 15 points away from a qualifying spot. One more win and he will be locked in, but he is also in the hunt to grab a few Bonus points to boot. Shepard and Ideal have been neck and neck this season... Will they both make it to the Chase? Will one team's dream come to an end while the other moves on? Will they both fall??? I am excited to see how this battle plays out.
8th Place Denny Hamlin. Picked by Dust and Rowdy. These 2 locked in Chasers have different needs over the next 7 races. 4th place Team Dust is fighting for position in the top 7 and is eligible to receive Bonus points if he stays up there. While Rowdy "Honey Badger" Wreckers is chillin' in the back of the pack 106 points out of 7th, and just waiting to bring the pain when the Chase begins. She jumps up 2 spots to 14th this week, BTW.
EH:
11th Place Kasey Kahne. Picked by A-Game. Not the result our last place team expected or needed. 0 wins with 7 races to go... this must feel like a BSOTW for this team. I'm pulling for A-Game to make it interesting and somehow grab a win or two in the next few weeks.
13th Place Carl Edwards. Picked by Graziano. A good day for Graziano overall, but it could have been even better. Graz is now only 4 points away from the top spot and the valuable Bonus points for the Chase, but a better finish in this race would have meant he would have taken that spot. We will settle this over the next 7 races... and I cannot wait to see how this battle plays out as well.
16th Place Jamie McMurray. Picked by Chonk. Top team Chonk did not get the finish he was hoping for this week, but he still maintains his grip on the #1 spot. 15 weeks in a row now he has led. 4 wins under his belt, and looks to be a lock for the #1 or #2 qualifying spot when we enter the Chase... plus he still has his top drivers available... I don't want to gay this thing up or anything... not that there is anything wrong with that, but Chonk is looking hot!
21st Brian Vickers. Picked by Skidmarks. Skid took last year's winner who had a disappointing finish. Skid slides back 3 spots to 6th and is in that 5 team fray battling for positions 3rd through 7th. Awesome stuff!
DOOTW:
30th Place Kevin Harvick. Picked by Kiss. Locked in Chaser Kiss slides out of the top 7 this week to 9th, but is only 23 points away from getting back in. If he stays out of the oven and the shitty sheets over the next 7 races, will he end the hopes of one of our not locked in teams???
BSOTW:
40th Place Joey Logano. Picked by Empty. Now we get to the true Have Nots this week. Logano was strong this race, but a late wreck gave Empty the shared BSOTW Award. Empty still has 2 wins, but absolutely needs a win over the next 7 races to move on.
42nd Place Jimmie Johnson. Picked by Penguin, Rasta. It could be worse Empty... just look at these 2 teams. JJ starts 2nd and finishes 42nd... Are you f*cking kidding me?!?!?!?!?! Penguin and his 1 win drops even further away from 7th; 51 points out, but it feels like 1000 at the moment. 2 wins in 7 races are what is needed... since I have been trying to get a win pretty much every week for the last 12 races + or -, it is not looking good for the Fat Penguin. Rasta is in worse condition as this needed to be his 1st win of the season... 3 wins in 7 races are a must for our defending Champ.
Other Ramblings:
7 Races to go before the Chase; just in case you aren't paying attention.
Indy this week.
I have enjoyed and needed the week off to try to regroup from my bad luck. 4 races ago, I was sitting in 2nd and knocking on Chonk's door (1 point away from 1st). Now I'm in 11th; 51 points away from 7th and only 1 win to my credit. I did say that this could happen a few weeks ago, but I was talking about one of you guys. I honestly did not even think about it happening to me... but it did. 3 BSOTWs in a row must be some sort of record.
We still have 8 teams locked into the Chase at the moment and only 3 teams with less than 3 wins occupy a top 7 qualifying spot. Things to keep an eye on over the next 7 races:
- Battle for 1st between Chonk and Graziano
- Battle for 3rd through 7th positions - Piston, Dust, Asleep, Skidmarks, and Ideal... valuable Bonus points are up for grabs. 1 point was the difference last year...
- Battle for 7th 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 teams make a move, or will we see some eliminations before the 7 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 7 solid points weeks or 2 more wins or both... can probably recover from a DOOTW or BSOTW. CHASE HEALTH
- Piston continues to perform at a high level. They need 7 solid points weeks or only 1 more win. CHASE HEALTH
- Ideal has been solid the last several weeks but needs to continue this run over the next 7 races or grab 2 more wins. CHASE HEALTH
- Shepard continues to climb and needs to continue or grab 1 more win (GREEN). 7 more solid weeks may also grab one of the qualifying spots... only 15 points out (YELLOW). CHASE HEALTH
- Penguin did not recover from last week's BSOTW or the BSOTW the week before and had another BSOTW... 3 BSOTW's in a row!?!?! F*ck me... now 51 points away from 7th (RED). Needs 2 more wins in the last 7 races (RED). CHASE HEALTH
- Rusty is now 58 points away (RED) from a qualifying spot, but only 1 win away (GREEN) from making the Chase. CHASE HEALTH
- Empty is now 109 points out (RED), but 1 more win (Green) and he can sleep easy. CHASE HEALTH
- Rasta and A-Game will need to win 3 races of 7 to make the Chase. CHASE HEALTH
Good luck to all... especially Fat Penguin!
Cheers!
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