NASCAR 2008

Post by **Labbie** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 12:29 am

Top-35 in Owner Points and guaranteed a starting spot at Richmond International Raceway:
#84-Allmendinger jumps up to 31st, #7-Robby Gordon falls to 35th, and #77-Hornish falls out of the top 35.

The teams are locked in for Richmond.
31) #84-Allmendinger/Red Bull Racing: 1935, +42
32) #22-Blaney/Bill Davis Racing: 1932, +39
33) #66-Riggs/Haas CNC Racing: 1931, +38
34) #55-Waltrip/Waltrip Racing: 1930 +37
35) #7 -Gordon/Robby Gordon Motorsports: 1911 18 points ahead of 36th

these teams/ drivers must qualify by speed but are close to the top-35:
36) #77-Hornish/Penske Racing: 1893, 18 points out of 35th
37) #00-McDowell/Waltrip Racing: 1856 -55
38) #10-Carpentier/Gillett Evernham Motorsports 1622 -289
For the owner points standings, see my Drivers/Owners Points Standings page.(8-31-2008)

Post by **Labbie** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 1:42 am

A couple of hilarious stories regardng ESPN personnel. Of course, I doubt they think they're funny.

Little, Spake Make TV History As Broadcast Duo

“I think we’re known as hard-nosed journalists. We cover both sides of the story equally,” Little said.

Dr. Jerry Punch, The Voice Of NASCAR

Meanwhile, Punch said he’s tried to temper his on-the-air enthusiasm, mainly to give his fellow in-the-booth announcers space to analyze and fill broadcasts with fan-first insight.
.
.
.
“That’s one of the reasons that I get so emotional at times in this sport,” Punch said. “I try to let that emotion shine through. And sometimes I think my bosses try to get me not to show as much emotion, because I do have to do be the voice of reason up [in the booth] at times.”

And make sure you go back to the previous page to see the entry list for Richmond.

Post by **Labbie** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 8:58 pm

I'm going out of town again tomorrow, won't be back until Sunday or Monday, so consider this your final warning to set your picks.

Yahoo locks in the wee hours Friday morning, FoxSports locks at 6 EDT Friday afternoon.

The race is scheduled to run Saturday night on ABC, but it probably doesn't matter anyway, Hannah is likely to wash it all out until Monday or Tuesday anyway.

Post by **Labbie** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 1:13 pm

Hey Buga (or anyone else interested), TSN's Season 3 of the Pick 3 game is ready. The league has been created, no password is required.

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/st ... plash.show

Post by **Labbie** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 1:21 pm

ESPN has a new game for the chase too, Race For The Cup.

It is like the Pick'em game from last year. You choose between groups of two drivers on which one will finish better.

http://games.espn.go.com/raceforthecup/frontpage

The league has been created, and I made it public so there is no password.

Post by **Labbie** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 3:54 pm

Make sure you see my previous two posts regarding new games for the Chase. Anyone is welcome to join.

Well, the Chase field is set. I missed the race due to traveling (you'd think that somewhere along a 650 mile run that at least ONE radio station would be covering it, but NOOOOO!!), so I don;t know if ESPN had a good broadcast or not. Wait, I do know it sucked because of this article on The Daly Planet, Time For ESPN To Make A Change and the In Race Comments. I didn't watch or read the NW in race comments, but I would bet that that broadcast was even worse, unless Punch just took a nap during it.

Anyway, Johnson won again, putting him squarely in the favorite spot (IMO) to win it all. If he does win the Cup, he would be only the second driver to win 3 consecutive championships, Cale Yarborough was the first in 1976, 1977, and 1978. Stewart was pissed at being second and apparently gave Zippy an earful over the radios, and then Zippy gave Tony an earful back.

The Chase field is set, Bowyer hung on and took the final spot over Kahne and Ragan. The Shrub has a 30 point lead over Edwards and it goes down from there. There are 4 or 5 drivers in the Chase that do not have a win, including Gordon, Stewart, and Kenseth. (I'm too lazy to look right now.

)

On to the leagues...On ESPN KM won the week with a 672, I was second with a 556, and Buga third with a 446. KM took second place in the overall standings from me, but is less than 20 points ahead.

And KM won the week on CBS too. He had a 733 with Buga close on his heels with a 708, and I sucked (again) with a 484. KM probably retook second in the segment from me here too, but it isn't posted yet.

On FoxSports, I had a 443 and Buga scratched with a 347. I dropped to second by 20 points and Buga remains mired in seventh almost 500 points back. Maybe he's saving the best drivers for the Chase?

I won the week on Yahoo with a 316, Buga was second with a 258 and Daniel was third with a 218. Daniel, you have a driver that is no longer eligible, so you need to make a change before the Friday.

On the TSN Pick 3 game, I won the week (and the segment) over Buga with a race score of 360 to 340 and an overall total of 4033 to Buga's 3740. The overall winners had 4408, so we weren't that far behind. I ended up 468th out of 9749 total participants, Buga was 2885th.

It must be KM's week, because he won on the TSN Full Season game too. He had a 635 to my 629 and Buga's 590. Nice close week for all of us. No qualifying scores were given due to the rainout. That means that so far, KM is 3 for 3 for the games he is participating in.

And on NASCAR.com's Burn The Competition game, Buga breaks KM's streak with a 875 to KM's 844 and my 821. Guess we all kinda stunk there this week. I fell back 59 spots to 335th overall, Buga dropped 19 to 596th, and KM moved up 50 spots to 2006th.

And in the NASCAR.com WTF game, I won and took back the lead in the points from greatnate, KM lost but broke the tie with JBPhillips and is now fifth in both win-loss and points. Buga lost and is in seventh in both categories.

That's all for now. After I've rested up and gotten a few things done elsewhere I'll post the Chase contenders and the top 35 Owner's standings.

Post by **Knightmare** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 4:04 pm

WOOHOO!!!!

About time I had a good week...lmao

Post by **Labbie** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 5:29 pm

Labbie wrote:ESPN has a new game for the chase too, Race For The Cup.

It is like the Pick'em game from last year. You choose between groups of two drivers on which one will finish better.

http://games.espn.go.com/raceforthecup/frontpage

The league has been created, and I made it public so there is no password.

Just noticed that this games has real prizes. You can't win if you don't play.

http://games.espn.go.com/raceforthecup/ ... cup\prizes

Post by **Labbie** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 9:11 pm

Make sure you see my previous posts regarding new games for the Chase. Anyone is welcome to join.

Well, I screwed this post up once, so here we go again...

The Chase field is set. Personally, I think Johnson is peaking at the right time to pull off a three-peat. Here are the seedings:

1. Kyle Busch 5080
2. Carl Edwards 5050 (has 6 wins but lost the bonus points for one for rule infractions)
3. Jimmie Johnson 5040
4. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 5010
5. Clint Bowyer 5010
6. Denny Hamlin 5010
7. Jeff Burton 5010
8. Tony Stewart 5000 *
9. Greg Biffle 5000 *
10. Jeff Gordon 5000 *
11. Kevin Harvick 5000 *
12. Matt Kenseth 5000 *

(* = no wins)

Kahne currently holds the Million Dollar 13th spot, but Ragan is only 8 points behind. Vickers (15th), Newman (16th), and Truex (17th) all have realistic shot at the 13th spot, but you just never know. Truex is currently 229 points out of 13th.

Non-Chasers with wins are Kahne (2), Newman (1), and Kurt Busch (1).

The Top 35 Owner's Points battle could be more interesting than the Championship battle down the stretch. The list from 29th to 38th is:

29. #01 Regan Smith 2130 (probably safe)
30. #41 Reed Sorenson 2071 (I hear he may be going to GEM before the season is over)
31. #22 Dave Blaney 2029
32. #55 Michael Waltrip 2009
33. #66 Scott Riggs 2001
34. #84 AJ Allmendinger 1969
35. #00 Michael McDowell 1959
36. # 7 Robby Gordon 1948
37. #77 Sam Hornish Jr. 1942
38. #10 Patrick Carpentier 1767 (safely out)

Just 87 points separate 31st from 37th, just 27 between 34th and 37th. 27 points is just nine positions in a race.

Robby is out this week and McDowell moved back in. Drivers have been in and out almost weekly for a few weeks.

Post by **Labbie** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 10:49 pm

Entry List for New Hampshire.

McDowell in the #00 is LOCKED in.

Robby Gordon in the #7 has to qualify on time for the first time this season.

Almirola is subbing for Martin in the #8 this week.

Awesome Bill is in the #21 this week and is the only Past Champion, so he's in.

Petty is listed as the driver for the #45, but yesterday Chad McCumbee was shown.

Carl Long is attempting in the #46 Romeo Guest Construction Dodge.

Sauter is in the #70.

And Joey "Sliced Bread" Logano (or as some have been calling him, JoLo) is in the #96 for Hall of Fame Racing. Yesterday Schrader was listed as the driver and JoLo was listed in the #02. But Gibbs withdrew the #02 after the #96 allowed Home Depot to be put on the car. But he still has to qualify in time.

Two cars will go home.

Get your picks set, Yahoo locks overnight Thurs/Fri, FoxSport locks at 3pm EDT Friday.

Remember to sign up for the new Chase games if you'd like.

Post by **Buga1** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 10:53 pm

I think I got into them all. LOL.

Have to double check.

Rick

Post by **Labbie** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 11:05 pm

Don't forget (KM) that the ESPN game has to be reset for the start of the third segment.

Post by **Knightmare** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 3:14 am

Got it Labbie. Thanks.

If the team I managed to put together doesn't score some pretty damn good points for me...I'll just quit with the fantasy games...lmao

1) Kyle Busch
2) Jimmie Johnson
3) Jeff Gordon
4) David Ragan
5) Regan Smith

Post by **Labbie** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 3:38 am

Right now I have:

Kyle Busch
Johnson
Edwards
Kenseth
Sauter

And if Sauter doesn't make the race, I'll have to change it.

Post by **Knightmare** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 5:36 am

Labbie wrote:Right now I have:

Kyle Busch
Johnson
Edwards
Kenseth
Sauter

And if Sauter doesn't make the race, I'll have to change it.

Oh sure...take the top 3 guys....lol

What a " front runner " you are...lmao

Not to mention...when you take the top 3 guys...you wind up with Sauter....LMFAO

I actually made a conscious effort to NOT wind up with a really crappy pick for the last guy.

I figured Regan Smith has been running relatively well...so he seemed to be a pretty good option to round out the picks.

Post by **Labbie** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 9:59 pm

Qualifying rained out, but they did get to practice today. Here's the lineup.

I recorded the practice since I wasn't home and was able to skip thru a 90 minute broadcast in 30 minutes by only watching the action on the track. The rest of the show was commercials, shots of the booth or the Tech Center or the garage area. What a waste of airtime.

Well KM, Sauter made the race but I made a couple of changes on ESPN anyway. I won't tell you who I now have, but I dropped Kenseth and Sauter and picked up two others that both had practice speeds in the top 10. And it will probably change again after tomorrow's practice, if they can practice tomorrow.

Hey Buga, you're no longer in last place on FoxSports. Still seventh, but not last. Someone who hadn't played yet in the second segment put an entry in this week. You're 2000+ points ahead of someone!!!

And for Daniel, you need to look at your Yahoo team and make sure that the expired driver (Johnson) and the driver not entered (Martin) are not active. You can't get rid of those two completely right now, but you can deactivate them and activate drivers that will actually earn some points.

Post by **danielmid** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 10:43 pm

Noted, and changed. Thanks Labbie!

Post by **Labbie** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 3:11 pm

Well KM, after perusing the final two practice session stats, past performance at Loudon (in the COT), tea leaves, and driver's astrological charts, Johnson is the only driver still left on my ESPN team.

And just to show ESPN's fascination with JoLo...the kid may be the greatest thing since sliced bread (thus the nickname), but he hasn't even turned a lap (or even a qualifying lap) in Cup and ESPN has his value at 14.7. That is ahead of Robby Gordon, Hornish, Regan Smith, Riggs, Allmendinger, Carpentier, etc., guys that have been driving their hearts out all season long. It's just not fair.

Oh yeah, JoLo is the fifth driver on my ESPN team.

The others? They either have a better average finish than Johnson at Loudon are have the same number of Top 5's at Loudon or dominated practice, or all three.

Post by **Knightmare** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 6:25 pm

Labbie wrote:Well KM, after perusing the final two practice session stats, past performance at Loudon (in the COT), tea leaves, and driver's astrological charts, Johnson is the only driver still left on my ESPN team.

And just to show ESPN's fascination with JoLo...the kid may be the greatest thing since sliced bread (thus the nickname), but he hasn't even turned a lap (or even a qualifying lap) in Cup and ESPN has his value at 14.7. That is ahead of Robby Gordon, Hornish, Regan Smith, Riggs, Allmendinger, Carpentier, etc., guys that have been driving their hearts out all season long. It's just not fair.

Oh yeah, JoLo is the fifth driver on my ESPN team.

The others? They either have a better average finish than Johnson at Loudon are have the same number of Top 5's at Loudon or dominated practice, or all three.

I'm thinking I am gonna be completely screwed this week cuz both The Shrub and Edwards are not running well at all in practice.

Hopefully the crew chiefs can make some adjustments and at least get decent finishing spots.

Post by **Labbie** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 12:30 am

The first race of the Chase is over, and Da Biff takes the checkers with Johnson on his heels. KyBusch has mechanical problems and is not a factor, however, KuBusch finishes 6th.

I had way too busy a day for a Monday to get real creative, so here are the scores.

On ESPN, Buga edged me by 10 with a 668 to my 658, and KM brings up the rear with a 540.

In the new ESPN game, I had 6 correct picks to Buga's 5.

KM wins the week at CBS again with a 680, I was second with a 616, and Buga brings up the rear with a 609. Buga beats me by 10 on ESPN, I beat him here by 7.

On FoxSports, Buga had a 381 but still lost ground to 6th place, who scratched. I scratched and remain in second.

On Yahoo, I won the week with a 340, Daniel was next with a 304 (bet you're glad I reminded you, huh?), and Buga comes home third with a 190.

On the main TSN game, I won the week with a 653, Buga was next with a 626, and KM had a 567.

In the other TSN game, we have an interloper in the new league, unless someone wants to 'fess up as being the player FORESIGHT with a team named Magnetic Death. If it's not someone from here, he probably thought he could come into a small league and dominate. Too bad for him. I had a 402, to FORESIGHT's 218 and Buga's 215. I didn't make the top 50, but was close, 444 was the cutoff that was listed.

And finally, the NASCAR.com games. My, we have a bunch of these now. In the WTF game, I won, Buga and KM both lost. Buga lost to the guy in second place, while KM lost to the guy in first, namely ME!!!. And found out why KM's had so much trouble over the last couple of weeks. He still has Yeley as an active member of his team. Regan Smith is still available to draft, he is in the available list. At least he is racing and is in the Top 35, so he'd be the best catch to replace Yeley.

In the Burn The Competition game, KM and Buga decided they didn't need to pick a team this week, so they both dropped dramatically, while I had a 944 and moved up to 301st place.

In the new 3 Wide For The Chase game, Buga is giving us a head start by not playing this week and starting at the bottom in 5146th place. I led the way with a 612 and I am in 190th place overall. KM did make picks on this game and had a 533 and is in 1362nd place.

I think that's all, if I forgot anything please let me know.

Post by **Knightmare** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 3:45 am

Oh FFS!!! I totally forgot about the Burn The Competition Game when I was setting up the other one!!!

Post by **Labbie** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 6:12 pm

Entry List for Dover.

Martin is back in the #8 and Sauter is attempting in the #08.

Ambrose is back in the #21 and the #34 is still listed as TBA.

Petty is back in the #45 after taking last week off to avoid unpleasant memories of Loudon where son Adam was killed a few years ago in a practice crash.

Raines is in the #70 and Schrader is back in the #96.

The top 35 race has changes again.

Top-35 in Owner Points and guaranteed a starting spot at Dover:
#7-Gordon moves back in and #84-Allmendinger drops out
The teams are NOT locked in past the next race as the owners points change after each race.
31) #66-Riggs/Haas CNC Racing: 2107 +89
32) #55-Waltrip/Waltrip Racing: 2097 +79
33) #22-Blaney/Bill Davis Racing: 2093, +75
34) #00-McDowell/Waltrip Racing: 2046 +28
35) #7-Gordon/RGM: 2033 15 points ahead of 36th
these teams/ drivers must qualify by speed but are close to the top-35:
36) #84-Allmendinger/Red Bull Racing: 2018, 15 points out of 35th
37) #77-Hornish/Penske Racing: 2015 -18
38) #10-Carpentier/GEM: 1837 -196

All games are now open for driver selection and/or changes to your team.

KM, if you're going to make a trade in the NASCAR.com WTF game, you should do it earlier than later.

Qualifying is Friday at 3 EDT.

Post by **Knightmare** » Thu Sep 18, 2008 3:28 am

I don't have anyone available that is any better than what I have ( if it's on the game I am thinking of ) because the only other person I have is Joe Nemecheck.

I have Ricky Rudd there too ( for some damn reason ) but he hasn't run at all so his presence is pointless.

Did I miss something on the TSN game?? I don't have a team there anymore????

Post by **Labbie** » Thu Sep 18, 2008 12:12 pm

You still have the same TSN team that you've had all season, but there is another TSN game that you did not sign up for.

On the main TSN game, I won the week with a 653, Buga was next with a 626, and KM had a 567.

And in the NASCAR.com WTF game, there are some available drivers that are not already on any team. Look for the "Drivers" link on the right side of the page.

Post by **Knightmare** » Thu Sep 18, 2008 4:25 pm

Dammit. I haven't gone to the TSN game in a long time, and now I can't remember my ID and password there...sheesh.

Post by **Labbie** » Thu Sep 18, 2008 5:00 pm

Knightmare wrote:Dammit. I haven't gone to the TSN game in a long time, and now I can't remember my ID and password there...sheesh.

I think your ID is Knightmare2112, have no idea of the password.

Post by **Knightmare** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 3:14 am

Well..I only use two passwords...so it's gotta be one of the two.

Nope. Neither of them worked. Dammit.

No matter what I do, it says I'm not registered at all on TSN.

Post by **Labbie** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 2:00 pm

Knightmare wrote:Well..I only use two passwords...so it's gotta be one of the two.

Nope. Neither of them worked. Dammit.

No matter what I do, it says I'm not registered at all on TSN.

There isn't a "Forgot my password" link? Cause you've got Skinner on your team there and he ain't racin'.

Post by **Knightmare** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 9:55 pm

Nope. No link like that.

Post by **Labbie** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 10:10 pm

Try clicking here: http://register.sportingnews.com/crs/ad ... sword.html

It's on the page where it tells you that you FAILed. And it isn't really obvious. Well, not very obvious anyway. Although it is just below that failure message. With a cyan background. And has the words "Forgot password? Click here".

Post by **Knightmare** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 1:09 am

Go figure. I did that, and the password hasn't been sent as of yet.

It's been about 2 1/2 hours since I clicked to get a new password.

Post by **Labbie** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 1:30 am

They're probably going to make you wait until Monday, just for disturbing their weekend.

Post by **Knightmare** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 1:45 am

Prolly....lmao

Post by **Labbie** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 2:59 pm

Not a new league, but thought you might be interested in a sweepstakes from Dodge.

Dodge's 60 To Go contest will give 60 prizes in the last 60 laps at 'Dega. Take the link for the list of prizes, then enter if you want to.

www.nascar.com/dodge60togo

Post by **Knightmare** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 5:32 pm

Cool. I entered just for the heck of it.