Sonoma Results - No Bonus Points for Anybody This Week - Hamlin is Top Pick for Sexy Chicken!!! It's CHASE HEALTH Time!!!

Sonoma seems to always be an interesting race for our little League and last week was no different.  We also are down to 10 races to go before the Chase begins in Chicago on September 17th.  How do you feel about your chances to win it all this year???

Nobody earned Bonus points this week, but Sexy Chicken took Hamlin for the TOP PICK and grabbed 46 points.  Sexy Chicken remains in 15th and gains 22 points on 8th but is still 80 points away from the Elite 8 pack.  With only 1 win and a DQ week where he had to burn his 2nd Larson pick, Sexy will need to go on a run to get into the Chase.  I am rooting for you rookie.  Congrats on a good week!  CHASE HEALTH

OTHER TOP PICKS:

Spinning has a nice points day from Blaney who earned 39 points.  Spinning remains in 2nd and is now only 2 points away from 1st.  Spinning has 1 win, but has only been out of the Elite 8 for 1 race this season... and that was race 2.  Look out for this Sophomore... she is definitely a contender!  CHASE HEALTH

Skidmarks took Bowyer who earned 36 points and jumps Skidmarks up 4 spots to 5th.  Skid ran up front early this year, but then a tough Bristol race knocked him down to 10th where he spent 7 races.  He moved up to 9th in Michigan and bounded into the Elite 8 after the Sonoma dust cleared.  He has 2 wins and now is back up front.  We have seen this before haven't we?  CHASE HEALTH

Shepard took Dale Jr who also got him 36 points and moves up 2 spots to 4th with 2 wins.  Shepard has only been out of the Elite 8 for 3 races this season and they were the 1st 3 races of the season.  Shepard is looking strong this year!  CHASE HEALTH

Fast got 32 points from Kyle Busch.  These rookies have spent 11 of the 16 races thus far in the top spot and they are locked in!  They are the top contender in their 1st year in the League...  CHASE HEALTH

Rudd and Chonk got 30 points from Kurt Busch.
Rudd moves up a spot to 13th and is 63 points away from the Elite 8 with no wins.  Rudd has not been in the Elite 8 so far this year.  CHASE HEALTH
Chonk stays in 16th, 110 points out of the Elite 8 but has 2 wins.  Chonk has not been higher than 16th so far this year.  CHASE HEALTH

EH...:

Pursuit, Dust and Piston earned 27 points from McMurray.
Pursuit jumps up a spot to 3rd with 2 wins and is only 18 points off the lead.  Pursuit has run in the Elite 8 for 10 of the 16 races and 3rd is his highest spot so far this year.  Pursuit is looking very strong!  CHASE HEALTH
Dust jumps up a spot to 8th and also has 2 wins.  Dust has been in and out of the Elite 8 this year and has been as high as 5th.  Those 2 wins in a row have him looking like a major contender this year.  CHASE HEALTH
Piston stays in 12th and 54 points away form the Elite 8 with 1 win.  Team Piston spent the 1st 3 races in the Elite 8 but fell out in Phoenix and has run in the back ever since.  They are just a long run away from getting back into this thing, so we'll have to see how they navigate the races to come.  CHASE HEALTH

Graziano took Suarez and received 21 points.  Graziano is in last with no wins and 132 points out of the Elite 8.  Graziano has never been in the Elite 8 this year and seems to be saving his stuff for a strong run to the finish...  I'm very interested in seeing when he will kick it into high gear and make a run for the Chase.  CHASE HEALTH

DOOTW/BSOTW:

Rusty, Kiss, Penguin, Lets Go, Beef, and Ideal took the sucker pick Allmendinger who stank up the sheets with 11 points.
Rusty drops 3 spots to 6th and has 1 win.  He has spent 12 races in the Elite 8 and has been as high as 3rd.  Rusty is looking strong again this year, but so does the competition... CHASE HEALTH
Kiss also drops 3 spots and is now in 7th with 2 wins.  Another strong contender, Kiss has spent 13 of the 16 races in the Elite 8 and has been as high as 3rd.  CHASE HEALTH
Penguin drops 2 spots to 9th with 1 win.  Penguin had spent 13 of 16 races in the Elite 8 (Including 2 races in 1st place) and now has to figure out how to get back in.  Just goes to show you how things can turn in this league.   CHASE HEALTH
Lets Go drops 2 spots to 10th with 2 wins.  Spending 10 of 16 races in the Elite 8, Lets go is in a similar spot as Penguin... but those 2 wins make his Chase probability a little higher.  We'll see what this rookie has left in the tank in the upcoming push to the Chase.   CHASE HEALTH
Beef stays in 11th just 30 points away from the Elite 8 with 2 wins.  Our defending Champ has not been in the Elite 8 all year but is steadily making his way through the pack.  I have a feeling we will be seeing him in the Chase again this year.   CHASE HEALTH
Ideal drops 2 spots to 14th and is locked in.  Ideal spent the 1st 5 races in the Elite 8 but fell out and has not been back in since.  He did manage to get 3 wins though and should have some fun determining how to play the remaining races while getting ready for the Chase.  CHASE HEALTH

OTHER RAMBLINGS:

Daytona Coca-Cola 400 this Saturday.

This will be Dale Jr.'s last race at Daytona and he's usually a popular pick at this track... and he has had a great career at this track.  He's a legend and the track is legendary.  Let's see if he will try to lock himself into the Chase this weekend and go out in style.

Happy 4th of July and good luck on Saturday!

Cheers!

Fat Penguin

Michigan Results - Larson Grabs the Win - Chonk, Pursuit, and Piston Do the Happy Dance!!!!

The commish has been sucking on the updates, but I live in a lake house in Sofa King Hot, Texas and this year it seems that everyone wants to come visit and go out on the boat.  #commishsux #notahotelpeople #youdonthavetogohomebutyoucantstayhere

Here's the Bonus Points update though... Larson gets the win and look at Pursuit jumping into the Elite 8 and now has 2 wins... in a row!!  Piston gets their 1st win and climbing up a little, and will you take a fng look at Chonk?  Chonk gets off the bottom and is in 16th but now has 2 wins... winning 2 of the last 3 races!!!  Awesome!

Skidmarks looked like he would lock in with his Truex pick.  He gets 2 Bonus Points for the Stage 1 & 2 wins, but that win would have been nicer.

Check out the leaderboard to see all of the movement... Spinning jumps up 4 spots to 2nd, Fast has yet another week in the lead, Pappa Rusty is not far behind, Penguin, Lets Go, and Dust drop the most spots... good times.

On to Sonoma today... how many Allmendingers are we going to have today?  Truex is looking strong and Bowyer may surprise... Larson is on the pole and looking like a contender this year.  

Good luck everyone!

Cheers!

Fat Penguin

Pocono Results - Blaney gets 3 Teams a Win!!!!

Sorry guys, I've been trying to find time to blog all week... tonight is no different so I'm going to post the Bonus Points and our Leaderboard.  Fast gets their 4th win!  Pursuit gets on the board with his 1st 3 bonus points and 1st win!  Beef gets win #2!

Everyone had a solid points day with not much movement in the standings going on.  Penguin and Piston earn a stage 1 win bonus Point!

Good luck in Michigan on Sunday!

Cheers!

Fat Penguin

Dover Results - Johnson Steals the Win from Larson - 3 Teams Picked Him - Ideal is Locked In!!!!!

Not sure if you remember but I predicted someone would lock in this week, and I was right.  I admit that I didn't have to stick my neck out far to make that prediction, but on a week where I couldn't have been more wrong with my race pick... I will take this small victory.  We are at the midway point of the regular season and this race had plenty of action.  Let's get to it.

The TOP PICK was Jimmy Johnson who stole the race from Larson who battled Truex all day for this win.  They always say champions win at Dover and guess what?  They were right.  So was Ideal who gets his 3rd win and is in the Chase!  Ideal stays in 12th and now has options on how he will play the rest of the season.  Dust also picked him and he moves up 3 spots to 6th and now has 2 wins.  Chonk picked him as well.  He stays in 17th but gets that important 1st win.  Let's see what he does the rest of the way.  55 points and 3 Potential Bonus Points and a win!  Congratulations Guys!

Truex and Larson were the other TOP PICKS.  Fast and Rudd took Truex who earned 54 race points and grabbed 2 potential Bonus Points.  Fast retakes the lead and has a 21 point lead while Rudd jumps up 2 spots to 13th.  Rudd is 68 points out of the Elite 8, but we have all seen how the points can change hands in this League.  Rusty, Skidmarks, and Beef took Larson who raced his arse off and almost got the win, but it wasn't meant to be.  50 points though is an awesome day.  Rusty jumps up 4 spots to 4th, and Skid and Beef stay in 10th and 11th respectively.  Skid is only 13 points out of the Elite 8 and Beef is only 23 points out.   Great week Boys and Girls!

EH...:

Kenseth earned a solid 39 points for Lets Go and Piston.  Lets Go jumps up 3 spots to 2nd (Nice job rookie!) and Piston stays in 14th.

Suarez brought home 32 points for Spinning and Sexy.  Spinning moves up 1 to 5th and Sexy moves up 1 to 15th.

Kiss was expecting big things from Kyle Busch but some early pit/missing tire issues set him back.  He still rallied back but had nothing for the top 3 guys when it was all said and done.  30 points was enough to move Kiss up a spot to 3rd... just 27 points away from the leaders.

Pursuit got 27 points from Erik Jones.  Pursuit drops a spot to 8th, but it could be worse...

DOOTW/BSOTW:

Penguin and Shepard free fall out of 1st and 2nd... 6 spots to 7th and 8th respectively.  They picked a strong pre-race driver in Kurt Busch, but tire issues gave them the stinky sheets.

Graziano took Stenhouse Jr. who took a risk staying out during a caution and needless to say, it didn't pay off.

Both drivers earn us poor bastards 1 measly point.  FML.

OTHER RAMBLINGS:

Pocono this week on Sunday.

I thought I would hear more from some of you fools on the message board

Good luck everyone!

Cheers!

Fat Penguin

Charlotte Results - Dillon Gets His 1st Win, but Nobody Picked Him - Beef and Pursuit Have a Huge Points Day Nonetheless!

As we near the midway point of the non-Chase races, we do not have many questions answered.  Okay... Fast Wheels is in and there are a couple of other teams that are just a win away.  There are a couple of teams that will need to have a huge turnaround or a winning streak to factor into this thing.  A few teams off to a nice start... a few teams struggling... some with some nice potential Bonus Points accumulating... others with very little.  But when I see a 59 point differential between the TOP PICK and the BSOTW, the feeling I get is that anything can happen this year.  I'm sure we will be singing a different tune next week, but for now not much has been decided.

Beef took TOP PICK Truex who earned him 60 huge points and a Bonus Point for winning stage 2.  Beef jumps up a spot to 11th, but that is only part of the story.  Before Charlotte, he had just jumped up 3 spots to 12th with his win in Kansas.  He was still 51 points out of the Elite 8 and 126 points away from 1st.  After Charlotte he is 41 points away from the Elite 8 and now 85 points out of 1st!  41 points gained on the leader is not too shabby and News Flash!  Our 2016 Champ is on the move!

Pursuit earned 55 points with his Kenseth pick he moves up a spot to 7th and is now 39 points away from the leader.  Kiss and Graziano took Hamlin who got them 43 points and a nice Bonus Point for his Stage 3 win.  Kiss moves up 1 to 4th just 21 points off the lead and Graz jumps up 2 to 13th.

Great week guys!

EH...:

Harvick was solid but still finished 19 points behind Truex with 41 and no stage wins, so we'll give him an Eh+ this week.... thank you.  Spinning stays put in 6th, Dust drops a spot to 9th, and Piston moves up 2 spots to 14th.

Shepard had a nice day from Erik Jones!  He loses 21 points to Truex, but Shepard still moves up a spot to 2nd.

Penguin, Rusty, and Skidmarks took Johnson who gambled and ran out of fuel on the final lap.  They get 36 points but Penguin jumps back into 1st for the 2nd time this year, Rusty falls 1 to 8th, and Skid remains in 10th just 31 points out of the Elite 8.

Lets Go got 31 points out of McMurray and drops 1 spot to 5th and still in really good shape.

DOOTW:

Ideal (-1 to 12th) took Blaney who looked very strong early but in a freaky accident he breaks an axle on a pit stop... really bad luck, but he showed some pretty good determination and came in 25th.  He still loses 43 points to our top pick this week.

Larson started from the back and moved quickly to the front finishing in the top 10 in stage 1 & 2.  He crashed out of the race during stage 3... Retired Rudd (-3 to 15th) and Chonk (17th) get held under the covers this week.

BSOTW:

I think Kahne and Elliott went out during that fluid on the track incident.  Elliott caught on fire and Kahne hits the wall... ending their day and giving Sexy Chicken and Fast Wheels the stinky sheets.  They each fall 2 spots... Fast to 3rd and Sexy to 16th.  Tough week, but this thing is far from over.

OTHER RAMBLINGS:

Dover this week on Sunday.

I think we will see a team or 2 lock in this week.

Cheers!

Kans-Assss Results!!! Truex Comes Up Big for 4 Teams!! - Others Have Strong Days as Well!!

Hola amigos and amigas!  As crappy a place as Kansas sounds*... it sure produces some interesting results for our little League.  What a crazy crash with Logano, Danica, and Almirola.  Almirola getting the worst of it and thankfully he is kind of okay.  We had winners, some very solid picks, some pretty good eh... picks, some pretty bad eh... picks a rough Dutch Oven pick, and Logano got 1 team the Bed Pooper Award.  Hell, I may be wrong about Kansas... it may have it all!

*no offense

TOP PICK:
If you chose Truex Jr. you are basking in the glory for the next 2 weeks.  I always like it when I have a great pick during an off weekend... but does it kill the momentum?  Who knows...  All I know is Lets Go moves up 2 spots to 4th, Dust (8th) moves up 1 spot and into the Elite 8, Ideal moves up 2 spots to 11th, and Beef jumps up 3 spots to 12th!  Lets Go and Ideal grab their 2nd wins while Dust and Beef get their 1st win of the season.  57 points as well as Truex finished 2nd and 3rd in the stages.  Congratulations guys!

STAGE WINNERS:
Blaney also had a strong day with 51 points and was our most popular pick.  He came in 4th, finished 3rd in stage 1 and won stage 2 picking up a nice Bonus Point for Shepard (+2 to 3rd), Rusty (stays in 7th), Skidmarks (stays in 10th), Rudd (+2 to 12th) and Graziano (+1 to 15th).

Kyle Busch had a strong car and won stage 1 and finished 5th in the race and stage 2 for Chonk who remains in 17th.  Chonk grabs 48 points this week and needs to continue to perform like this in order to get back in this thing.

Booyah!!!!

EH...:
If you chose Harvick, you finished 3rd in the race, 7th in stage 1, and 14th in stage 2 and grabbed 38 points.  But that gives you an 11th place finish in our League and you were 19 points behind the Truex pickers... crazy.  This was a strong Eh... pick though and Kiss drops 1 spot to 5th and Pursuit stays in 8th.

Penguin took Stenhouse for the 2nd race in a row with 2 very different results.  26 points is okay but it is 31 points away from the top pick.  Stenhouse rallied for a decent finish, but did nothing in the stages.  Penguin stays in 2nd but a lot more teams are within reach than there were last week.

Fast had a similar experience with their Hamlin pick except that Hamlin finished poorly, but had decent stage finishes... still 35 points less than the top pick allows for more teams to be in striking distance.  Fast stays in 1st place for the 4th week in a row and has owned the top spot now for 7 out of 11 races.  Their Dad Rusty had a similar experience in 2016 and brought it home in 3rd... but he wasn't a rookie so I think this is more impressive.

Sexy Chicken got a 19 point effort from Kurt Busch and drops 3 spots down to 14th.  Sexy's bounce back from the DQ in Texas is delayed a bit, but he is only 53 points away from the Elite 8.  ...and we have seen some huge point swings under the new system.

DOOTW:
Spinning took Elliott who had early trouble in a pit road accident during stage 1 that basically ruined his and her day.  Spinning only earned 8 points for the race and drops 3 spots to 6th.  She is still solidly in the Elite 8 and can still see the leaders.  I expect a nice rebound in Charlotte for Spinning.

BSOTW:
Given Logano's winning history in Kansas, I was surprised more of us didn't pick him last week.  Unfortunately, Piston did and that nasty wreck also caused the Piston boys to soil their sheets in Kansas.  Logano earned 2 points and loses 55... 55?!?! 55 points to this week's leaders.  holy moly... Piston drops 4 places down to 16th.  They have no wins and are 79 points out of the Elite 8.  Nobody is out of this thing yet, but these guys will need to right the ship very soon to have a chance to get back in the mix.

OTHER RAMBLINGS:
Charlotte next Saturday so enjoy your week off and the All-Star Race.
 
We now have 5 teams with 2 wins... will we see more teams locked into the Chase after the checkered flag waves next week?

Those Stage and Race Win Bonus Points are starting to pile up for some of you... I think it will be a huge advantage to help get through Round 1 of the Chase this year... and they may be significant enough to propel you through the other rounds as well.  How far will they take you?  1st you have to finish the regular season in the Elite 8.  This will be yet another interesting thing to watch this year as the story unfolds.

Cheers everyone!

Fat Penguin

Talladega Results - Stenhouse Gets a Win and Locks 1 Team in!!!!

Hola Amigos... I'm just sitting her watching my Astros put another beat down on the Yankees... not sure why that is important to the NASCAR League, but it just has a nice ring to it.  Let's get to it.

In the crap shoot that is Talladega we had 4 teams choose TOP PICK Stenhouse and saw him get his 1st win... 3 of our teams Penguin, Spinning, and Sexy get their 1st win this year and Fast gets their 3rd win and is already locked and loaded for this year's Chase!  Pretty impressive rookies!  Congrats to the other 3 as well.  Fast, Penguin, and Spinning run 1,2,3 at the moment and Sexy jumps up 3 spots to 11th.  Look at all that green on the board... 3 bonus points are earned to boot!

OTHER TOP PICKS:

Shepard grabs a bonus point by picking stage 1 winner Keselowski who earned 40 race points and keeps Shepard in 5th place.  Hamlin gets Beef a Bonus Point for his Stage 2 win.  Beef moves up 1 to 15th and has some work to do, but we have plenty of races to go before any of this is settled.  Nice job on the stage wins Boys!

Pursuit took Kurt Busch who brought it home in 6th place.  Pursuit jumps up a spot and into the Elite 8!  Lets Go took Menard who had a solid top ten finish.  Lets Go remains in 6th and seems to be poised to hang around the Elite 8 from the looks of it so far.

EH...:

Harvick and Bowyer each earned Kiss and Rusty 23 points.  Kiss drops a spot to 4th and Rusty hangs on to 7th, so not all that bad considering.

DOOTW:

Talladega and Dale Jr. go hand and hand, but the most popular pick and Vegas favorite had a disappointing 19th place finish.  Dust, Skid, Ideal, Rudd, and Graziano get held under the covers and dusted this week.  Dust (no pun intended) drops out of the Elite 8 to 9th... just 1 spot.  Skid stays in 10th while Ideal (13th), Rudd (14th), and Graziano (16th) each drop 1 spot this week.

BSOTW:

Piston and Chonk get the stinky sheets this week by taking 39th place finisher Blaney who at least earned some nice stage 1 and 2 points... I know this is no consolation for these 2 struggling out of the gate teams.  Piston drops a spot to 12th, but is only 43 points out of the Elite 8... Chonk however has seemed to have lost the draft.  History will tell you not to count Chonk out of this thing just yet.

OTHER RAMBLINGS:

Kansas tomorrow night!

The track looks pretty slick... even though it is Kansass, this may get interesting with conditions like this.

Cheers!

Fat Penguin