League News and Notes
Phoenix recap: Elishabeth Draughon wins again, but it's Thomas Tolber who wins the championship
November 10, 2024
Race Recap:
Pretty calm race. Phoenix isn't particularly exciting. Joey Logano held off Ryan Blaney on the final 60 lap green flag run, and won his 3rd Cup Championship. There really wasn't any drama. Blaney drove him down and got within a quarter of a second, but Logano is a master of air blocking, and Blaney could never get around him. Logano becomes the 10th driver to win 3 or more Cup Championships. He has a pretty good argument for least deserving Championship season ever. Yes, he won 4 races, but his average finish was terrible. If not for the Bowman DQ, he's eliminated in the Round of 12.
Have to give a shout out to Bobby Allison who passed away this week. Allison was an incredible driver who is so often overlooked because he only won 1 Championship. He was a fierce as anybody on the track, and he ran until he literally couldn't anymore, and never really slowed down. He will be missed.
Race Rating: C
Race Finish: B
Best Battle: The Pace Car vs. the Sand Barrels
Fight Rating: No Fights
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta/Kansas
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
Final pole of the year goes to Elisabeth Draughon. Elisabeth ties with several others for the most this year, with 3.
Stage Results
Stage 1: Elisabeth Draughon (3)
Stage 2: Larry Braswell (2)
Manish Nagpal has the most Stage wins this season.
Race Results
Another lady in victory lane this week. Elisabeth Draughon gets her 3rd win of the season, tying her with Miranda Brown for the most wins this year. Her margin of victory this week was the largest all season. Quite a way to finish out the season!
Segment Results
Final Segment of the year goes to Elisabeth Draughon.
Standings update
What a great championship battle. Thomas Tolbert wins his 2nd BFNL Championship, passing Nick Prytula in the final race. Thomas becomes the 5th multiple time champion, joining Brandon Braswell, Justin Braswell, Bob Francis, and Michael Byrom. This was Thomas' first podium since 2017.
Nick Prytula finishes runner-up. By far his best ever BFNL finish. His previous best finish was 17th, last season.
Kevin Steele rounds out the podium with 3rd place. This was Kevin 3rd podium finish, and first since 2006. It was also the first time Kevin finished in the top 10 since 2013.
BFNL Chase
Tiffany Steele wins the 2024 BFNL Chase.
BFNL Survivor
Final Elimination this week: Steele Norman
Alan Ross is the 1st BFNL Survivor winner
Track Type Championships
Chris Burfield wins the Short Track Championship
Miranda Brown wins the Intermediates Championship
Manish Nagpal wins the Road Course Championship.
Alan Ross wins the Super Speedway Championship.
The Summer Shootout
Nick Prytula was the 2024 Champion.
The Braswell Million
Greg Camden is the winner
BFNL Roto League
Jeremy Steele wins the Roto League, holding off Dustin Draughon and Alan Ross.
Looking ahead...
That's it for 2024. It was a great season. We had a lead change in the final race, and more lead changes than any other season in BFNL history. Thank you to everyone for playing this year. I hope you had a great time.
Martinsville recap: Tiffany Steele doesn't need to manipulate the finish to score a win
November 3, 2024
Race Recap:
Things just always have a way of working out for Team Hendrick don't they? Guess they must just be lucky!
Ryan Blaney passed Chase Elliott with about 25 laps to go, and cruised to the victory, locking himself in the Championship 4. It was a pretty good race, much better than the last few Martinsville races. Goodyear brough a tire that had some wear, and there were some strategy calls that mixed up the field here and there. Really a pretty solid race. That should be it, right? Nope.
With it obvious that either Elliott or Blaney was going to win their way in, William Byron and Christopher Bell were battling for the 4th spot. Byron was fading on old tires and losing spots. He could not afford to give up another spot. It just so happened that two Team Chevy drivers were the next ones behind Byron. They fought so hard to pass Byron, but just couldn't get it down. Right? Wrong. Austin Dillon, no stranger to race manipulation, and Ross Chastain ran blocker for Byron over the last 20 laps. Clogging up both lanes and making not attempt to pass.
This mean that Bell had to pass someone. But who? Oh is that Bubba Wallace talking about maybe having a flat tire? Does Bubba also drive a Toyota? Hmm. Bell charged into turn 3 to get around Wallace. He got up into the wall in the middle of the turn, and gassed it up, riding the wall out of 4. He didn't actually gain any positions, other than the pass on Wallace into 3. But NASCAR deemed it a safety violation (riding the wall) after 20 minutes of dilberation. The moved Bell back a couple spots and gave Byron the final spot in the Championship 4.
Honestly, there were not winners to be had in either outcome there. But Chevy and Toyota were blatantly guilty of manipulating the finish. How can you reward Byron and punish Bell? If Bell doesn't charge into turn 3 and ride the wall off 4, would NASCAR have even acknowledged what Chevy was doing? It's just another black eye for the sport, and another example of why this playoffs format falls flat. Kyle Larson, 6 wins, is not part of the Championship fight. Chase Elliott, by far the best average finish all season, is not part of the Championship fight. Joey Logano, who has 6 top 5 finishes in 35 races, can win the Championship next week.
Race Rating: A-
Race Finish: M for Manipulation
Best Battle: NASCAR vs. Legitimacy
Fight Rating: No Fights
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta/Kansas
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
The pole this week goes to Kevin Steele. Kevin gets his 2nd pole of the season, his 26th career pole, and his 1st at Martinsville.
Stage Results
Stage 1: Kevin Steele (1)
Stage 2: Manish Nagpal (5)
Manish takes over the most Stage wins this year.
Race Results
The Queen of Playoff Wins gets another one this week. Tiffany Steele scored her 2nd win of the year this week. Tiffany now has 27 career wins, 12 of which have come in the playoffs, breaking a tie with Michael Byrom for the most all-time.
Segment Results
One race left this year, and it's all Braswell's in the final segment. Brandon leads Larry and Jennifer.
Standings update
Well, we got ourselves quite a battle going into Phoenix. Nick Prytula retakes the points lead by 35 points over Thomas Tolbert. Kevin Steele remains in 3rd place, only 225 points out. All 3 could win next week at Phoenix.
BFNL Chase
The Championship 4 are set.
Kevin Steele, Tiffany Steele, Chris Burfield and Andrew Brown.
BFNL Survivor
Final Elimination this week: Steele Norman
Alan Ross is the 1st BFNL Survivor winner
Track Type Championships
Chris Burfield is leading the Short Track Championship with 1 race left (Phoenix).
Miranda Brown wins the Intermediates Championship
Manish Nagpal wins the Road Course Championship.
Alan Ross wins the Super Speedway Championship.
The Summer Shootout
Nick Prytula was the 2024 Champion.
The Braswell Million
Greg Camden is the winner
Looking ahead...
One race left folks. Next Sunday at Phoenix.
Homestead recap: John Regan breaks through for a win
October 28, 2024
Race Recap:
That would have been a pretty good Championship race. Too bad the real one will be at Phoenix, again. Tyler Reddick locked himself into the Championship 4 with a big win on Sunday at Homestead. It was a pretty good race all around. Chase Elliott and Tyler Reddick took turns leading a lot of laps, but neither really drove off too far away from the field. There were good battles throughout the field. Really can't ask for much more, honestly.
Reddick was looking doomed by the pit strategy they chose, until Kyle Larson made an unforced error (how often do I say that?), trying to pass Ryan Blaney for the lead. Larson tried to stick it 3-wide between Blaney and Austin Dillon (lapped car), and there wasn't quite enough room. Larson made contact with Blaney, got loose, and spun. Blaney was pretty lucky to escape without any damage. The caution was exactly what Reddick needed. It put him back on equal ground with the leaders, and gave him the lead on the restart.
Blaney took the lead off the restart and looked like he was going to clinch his chance at repeating as Champion. Instead, going into turn 4, Blaney inexplicably took a lower line, giving Reddick the outside. Reddick always prefers the higher line, and Blaney gave him the exact opening he needed. Reddick motored past Blaney easily and stole the win. Blaney has basically no shot to make the Champ 4 unless he wins, and I'm sure this one will haunt him. Chase Elliott and the 9 car faded for a 5th place finish. It was obvious that Alan Gustaffsson didn't keep up with the track, like usual. Elliott will be in the same boat as Blaney, needed a win at Martinsville.
In the spring, Hendrick went 1-2-3 with Larson, Byron and Elliott. An Elliott win would probably be disasterous for Larson. Larson and Hamlin are both in precarious positions going into the penultimate race. Christopher Bell is in the best position to point his way in.
Race Rating: A-
Race Finish: A
Best Battle: Blaney vs. Reddick wasn't much of a battle, since Blaney just laid down. Elliott vs. Hamlin was good racing.
Fight Rating: No Fights
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta/Kansas
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
The pole this week goes to Mike Williams. Mike gets his 2nd pole of the season. This was Mike's 10th career pole, and first at Homestead.
Stage Results
Stage 1: Andrew Campbell (3)
Stage 2: Bob Francis (3), Roger Harris (1)
Race Results
John Regan returns to victory lane this week, getting his first win of 2024. This was John's 3rd career win, and first at Homestead.
Segment Results
Two races to go, and it's Jennifer and Brandon Braswell leading.
Standings update
We have a point lead change. Thomas Tolbert slips back into the lead, passing Nick Prytula. This is the 17th lead change of the season. The first two races of Segment 9 have not been kind to any of the leaders really. Kevin Steele remains in 3rd place with Alan Ross in 4th. Chris Burfield rounds out the Top 5.
BFNL Chase
One race left in the Elite 8.
BFNL Survivor
One Elimination this week: Chris Burfield
Only 2 players left. Martinsville will decide the winner.
Alan Ross & Steel Norman
Track Type Championships
Chris Burfield is leading the Short Track Championship with 2 races left (Martinsville & Phoenix).
Miranda Brown wins the Intermediates Championship
Manish Nagpal wins the Road Course Championship.
Alan Ross wins the Super Speedway Championship.
The Summer Shootout
Nick Prytula was the 2024 Champion.
The Braswell Million
Greg Camden leads with 1 race left (Martinsville fall)
Looking ahead...
Only two races left. Martinsville next Sunday to set the Championship.
Las Vegas recap: Elisabeth Draughon makes it 2 in a row for the Draughon's
October 21, 2024
Race Recap:
Yesterday's race was pretty much worst case scenario for Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott fans. Martin Truex Jr. pushed up coming off turn 4, causing him to get into Chase Elliott, which pushed him up into Tyler Reddick, who was inexplicably on the outside, causing a wreck that took out Elliott, Reddick, Blaney and Keselowski. Reddick managed to flip on the front stretch, adding to the count of cars that have flipped this year. Elliott and Blaney are now firmly in must win territory. Elliott hasn't shown the speed to win all season (minus Texas) so it seems unlikely he will make it to the round of 4.
The same cannot be said for Joey Logano. Logano wins his way into the Championship 4 again, thanks to some fuel saving, and his teammate drafting him (and also doing a little blocking on the last lap). I wonder how Blaney feels knowing he helped a guy possibly keep him out of the opportunity to repeat as Champion. The last 20 laps were pretty decent, as we watched to see if Christopher Bell (who dominated the race) would catch Logano on older tires.
Race Rating: C
Race Finish: B+
Best Battle: n/a
Fight Rating: No Fights
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta/Kansas
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
The pole this week goes to Andrew Brown. Andrew gets his 2nd pole of the season.
Stage Results
Stage 1: Jennifer Braswell (1)
Stage 2: Brandon Braswell (1)
Race Results
Another Draughon victory this week. This time Elisabeth goes back into victory circle, with her 2nd win of the season.
Segment Results
Segment 9 starts off with Elisabeth Draughon leading.
Standings update
The top 5 had awful weeks, allowing Miranda Brown back in the discussion. Nick Prytula still leads but the lead has shrunk.
BFNL Chase
Two races left in the Elite 8.
BFNL Survivor
One Elimination this week: Shawn White
Only 3 players left.
Alan Ross, Chris Burfield, & Steel Norman
Track Type Championships
Chris Burfield is leading the Short Track Championship with 2 races left (Martinsville & Phoenix).
Miranda Brown is leading the Intermediates Championship with 1 races left (Homestead)
Manish Nagpal wins the Road Course Championship.
Alan Ross wins the Super Speedway Championship.
The Summer Shootout
Nick Prytula was the 2024 Champion.
The Braswell Million
Greg Camden leads with 1 race left (Martinsville fall)
Looking ahead...
Three races to to in 2024...next week is Homestead.
The Roval recap: Dustin Draughon avoids DQ on The Roval
October 14, 2024
Race Recap:
Last week was carnage. This week was pretty quiet. Kyle Larson got his 6th win of the season with little to no drama to concern himself with. Stage Points were the order of the day for the guys that were not locked into the Round of 8. That meant guys like Reddick, Logano and Elliott had to stay out and ensure maximum points, and not make the pit stops that would be better for the actual race win. That allowed Larson and Bell to play the right strategy and stay out in front. SVG, who won his 1st ever pole, led laps early, but Larson took the lead in Stage 2 and didn't really ever give it up. Bell was close at the end, but Larson never had any heat.
Reddick had a big scare in the mid race, getting up off the ground and running into his boss. It could have been an ugly moment for 23XI and Gibbs, but ultimately it will just be a footnote. Reddick was able to pit late and get better tires, which allowed him to pass enough cars to get ahead of Logano on points. Elliott was able to drive to a top 5 finish and move into the round of 8.
The big news came after the race. Alex Bowman's car was under weight and was disqualified. It was a huge penalty which knocked him out of the round of 8, and moves Logano back in. Logano has been feasting on luck this year. He got in the playoffs thanks to a 5 overtime race that he had no business winning. And he was eliminated today, but put back in thanks to the DQ. Hendrick will of course appeal, but I doubt it will make any difference.
The changes to the track were mostly overblown. But to be fair, there was not any late race cautions. I think it's time to move back to the Oval going forward. NASCAR has enough road courses on the schedule, and the Charlotte oval has been been fantastic. Why not take advantage of the car where you can?
Race Rating: C
Race Finish: C-
Best Battle: Alex Bowman's team versus the rule book
Fight Rating: No Fights
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta/Kansas
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
The pole winner this week was Dustin Draughon. Dustin gets his 1st pole of the season, and his 10th career pole.
Stage Results
Stage 1: Andrew Campbell (2)
Stage 2: Jason House (3)
Race Results
Returning to victory lane this week was Dustin Draughon. Dustin gets his 1st win of 2024, his 9th career win, and his 1st on The Roval.
Segment Results
Segment 8 goes to Tiffany Steele in an upset. Tiffany gets her 1st Segment win since 2007! Wow.
Standings update
No changes in the top 5 this week. Nick stretches out the points lead.
BFNL Chase
The Chase is down to the final 8.
| Tom Kerr |
| Tiffany Steele |
| Nick Prytula |
| Andrew Brown |
| Keith Williams |
| Chris Burfield |
| Dennis Williams |
| Kevin Steele |
BFNL Survivor
One Elimination this week: Adam English
Only 4 players left.
Alan Ross, Chris Burfield, Shawn White & Steel Norman
Track Type Championships
Chris Burfield is leading the Short Track Championship with 2 races left (Martinsville & Phoenix).
Chris House is leading the Intermediates Championship with 2 races left (Las Vegas & Homestead)
Manish Nagpal wins the Road Course Championship.
Alan Ross wins the Super Speedway Championship.
The Summer Shootout
Nick Prytula was the 2024 Champion.
The Braswell Million
Greg Camden leads with 1 race left (Martinsville fall)
Looking ahead...
The final segment of the season kicks off Sunday at Las Vegas. 4 races left for you to get a win.
Talladega recap: Nick Prytula escapes the biggest wreck in NASCAR history to win
October 7, 2024
Race Recap:
This might be a controversial opinion, but that wasn't a particularly good race. Certainly not by Talladega standards. I know, I know, they ran 4-wide for like 15 laps in Stage 1. But they weren't racing. They were just riding. It was a really neat visual, and it certainly could have still gone bad, but they were content to just ride around like that. Not that anyone could really do anything anyway. The frustrating part about these cars on this track is, yeah they are drafting but you can't really pull out of line and just pass. You need someone glued to your bumper pushing you. As soon as you break the air seal you slow dramatically. So yeah, the finish looked really good, but there really wasn't any way for anyone to make a move.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. got his 4th career win, much to the delight of his 1 fan, Tim Hodge. Technically he should have been required to come down pitroad because his door was damaged and the foam was falling out. But NASCAR wasn't particularly beholden to the rule book this week. They towed several cars back to pit road, which is supposed to end thier day, but they let them continue to race. NASCAR's DVP (Damaged Vehicle Policy) is a disaster. This car is build tough except for 2 places. The paper mache toe-links, and the tires that have no inner liners. When the tires go flat, you can't drive the car back generally. The car might be perfectly fine otherwise. But if you get towed, you are out. So there were several drivers trying to hold the safety workers at bay from taking the window nets down. It was a bad look all around. NASCAR has to address this, and make some changes.
The Stenhouse win locks him into the All Star race, so he can get some revenge on Kyle Busch.
Race Rating: C
Race Finish: C
Best Battle: NASCAR vs. The NASCAR Rule Book
Fight Rating: No Fights
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta/Kansas
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
Your pole winner this week was Jeremy Steele. Jeremy gets his 2nd pole of the season, his 45th all-time, and his 2nd at Talladega.
Stage Results
Stage 1: Adam English (2)
Stage 2: Tiffany Steele (2)
Race Results
Big win this week for Nick Prytula. Nick picked a great time to get his 1st win of the season. Most of the other contenders had bad weeks, so he moves back into the points lead. This was Nick's 4th career win, and his 1st at Talladega.
Segment Results
Tom Kerr moves into 1st after Talladega.
Standings update
Another lead change this week. Nick Prytula moves back into 1st, over Thomas Tolbert.
BFNL Chase
Other than Tom Kerr, it's pretty much wide open going into The Roval. It's very, very close from 2nd to 16th. Only the top 8 advance.
BFNL Survivor
One Elimination this week: Larry Braswell
Only 6 players left.
Adam English, Alan Ross, Chris Burfield, Shawn White & Steel Norman
Track Type Championships
Alan Ross is the 2024 Superspeedway Champion. The Road Courses will be decided next week.
The Summer Shootout
Nick Prytula was the 2024 Champion.
The Braswell Million
Greg Camden leads with 1 race left (Martinsville fall)
Looking ahead...
Next Sunday is the final road course race of the season. The Roval at Charlotte has been slightly re-configured, so it will be interesting to see how that changes things.
Kansas recap: Chris House breaks out the broom at Kansas
September 30, 2024
Race Recap:
After last weeks snoozer at Bristol, it was nice to get back to just a regular race. It certain wasn't the amazing race we saw in the spring, but it was perfectly fine. Christopher Bell looked strong early, bur Ross Chastain had the right strategy at the right time. He was also aided by Kyle Busch making a really bad decision trying to pass Chase Briscoe on the outside with no margin for error. Busch spun out and lost another chance to extend his streak of winning at least 1 race each season. Briscoe caught a little flak on the radios, given the way that Busch raced him at Darlington, when he could have just wrecked him and got himself in the playoffs. Busch played it clean, but was not given much courtesy in this situation. Briscoe was fighting to stay on the lead lap, but his car was dogwater. He was getting lapped with 30 to go.
Chase Elliott started last and found away to salvage a top 10 finish this week. The 9 car has been allergic to stage points all year, and it will likely make advancing to the round of 8 difficult. He sits right on the bubble after 1 race. Kyle Larson managed to piss away his advantage in the round, thanks to a tire puncture. He rallied to get a top 25, but with Talladega looming, he could find himself in trouble going into The Roval in a couple weeks unless his plate track luck changes.
Race Rating: B
Race Finish: B
Best Battle: Busch vs. His Win Streak
Fight Rating: No Fights
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta/Kansas
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
The pole winner this week was Joey Cochran. Joey gets his 1st pole of 2024, his 33rd career pole, and his 2nd at Kansas.
Stage Results
Stage 1: Thomas Tolbert (2)
Stage 2: John Regan (1)
Race Results
No first time winner this week. Call him Kansas Chris. Chris House wins his 2nd race of the year, and his 2nd career race. He sweeps Kansas in 2024.
Segment Results
Steel Norman leads after Kansas, with Chris House and Tom Kerr chasing.
Standings update
We have another lead change this week. Thomas Tolber zooms out into the lead. Tolbert was the only member of the top 10 to finish in the top 10 at Kansas. Kevin Steele and Nick Prytula both had big stumbles. Thomas has his best track coming up next week, so he could put some major distance on the competition if things break right.
BFNL Chase
We are into the Round of 16 this week. After 1 race, Tom Kerr is on top. The Steele contingency took a lot of lumps this week, as well as Nick Prytula. They will have 2 races to make up ground and get into the Top 8.
BFNL Survivor
One Elimination this week: Randy Thompson
Only 6 players left.
Adam English, Alan Ross, Chris Burfield, Larry Braswell, Shawn White & Steel Norman
Track Type Championships
Kevin Steele's big lead on the intermediates is gone. Chris House moves to the top..
The Summer Shootout
Nick Prytula was the 2024 Champion.
The Braswell Million
Greg Camden leads with 1 race left (Martinsville fall)
Looking ahead...
Next Sunday is Talladega. NASCAR is considering a new fin to keep the cars on the ground. No idea if they will change the racing. The big one looms.
Bristol Night recap: Steel Norman wins an awful Bristol race
September 22, 2024
Race Recap:
Maybe they should put dirt back on Bristol. That was possibly the worst Bristol Night race I've ever watched. The biggest "event" of the night was a speeding penalty that doomed Martin Truex Jr. to be eliminated from the playoffs. Passing was minimal. Kyle Larson dominated, leading 465. But honestly, if you had put him at the end of the line like Truex, he would have never gotten back up to the front. Without some other variable, this car on the regular concrete at Bristol is awful.
Now let's talk about the tires. Somebody is lying. Either Goodyear brought the wrong tire to Bristol in the spring, or they changed the tire for this race. The 3rd alternative is, they are completely incompetent and have no idea how their tires are going to perform from week to week. In the spring the teams couldn't run 40 laps without failures. Last night, they probably could have run all 500 laps without changing them. So what gives?
Race Rating: F
Race Finish: F
Best Battle: Goodyear & NASCAR vs. Legitimacy
Fight Rating: No Fights
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta/Kansas
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
Your pole winner this week was Andrew Brown. Andrew gets his 1st pole of 2024, and his 2nd career pole (1st at Bristol)
Stage Results
Stage 1: Andrew Brown (2)
Stage 2: Steel Norman (1)
Steel Normal gets his 1st ever Stage win.
Race Results
We had a 1st time winner this week. Steel Norman dominated the race, and picked up his first BFNL win. His 1,230 points were the highest total of the season. Steel becomes the 106th different BFNL winner.
Segment Results
Steel Norman jumps out to the lead in Segment 8. 3 races left.
Standings update
We have a new points leader. Nick Prytula takes the points lead for the 1st time ever. Nick becomes the 61st person to lead the points in BFNL history. Thomas Tolbert drops back to 3rd place. Steel's big weekend moves him up to 8th in points.
BFNL Chase
The bottom 16 have been eliminated, leaving 16 players left. The 2nd round will eliminate 8 more players after The Roval.
BFNL Survivor
One Elimination this week: Brandon Braswell
Only 7 players left.
Adam English, Alan Ross, Chris Burfield, Larry Braswell, Randy Thompson, Shawn White & Steel Norman
Track Type Championships
Chris Burfield still leads the Short Tracks, but Steel Norman is not far behind now.
The Summer Shootout
Nick Prytula was the 2024 Champion.
The Braswell Million
Greg Camden leads with 1 race left (Martinsville fall)
Looking ahead...
Off to Kansas they go next week.
Watkins Glen recap: Brad Calhoun easily wins at The Glen
September 15, 2024
Race Recap:
With the Panthers season basically already over. It will be easy to focus on the remaining 8 races in the NASCAR Cup season.
Goodyear brought another new tire to the track this week. Lots of talk about fall off and how tires were going to make a difference. Guess what? They didn't really. You still couldn't pass. Guys with new tires couldn't really make up ground unless it was towards the end of the run when the tires were really bad.
Ross Chastain led most of the race, but got with an untimely caution that put him out of sequence. He and Shane van Gisbergen made up the lost ground and were battling with Chris Buescher and *checks notes* Carson Hocevar for the win at the end. Like usual, an unneccesary caution led to bad restarts with everyone just driving over top of everyone else. William Byron somehow got on top of Brad Keselowski, with his nose scarily close to the window net of the 6, not to mention how close Byron was to going over the armco barrier.
On the final restart, SVG got past Chris Buescher with a gentle nudge, and it looked like he would coast to victory. However, Buescher stayed with him and going into the bus-stop on the final lap, van Gisbergen made a big mistake, hitting the inside wall and geting his car loose. It was the opporunity Buescher needed and he took advantage. He re-paid the bump in turn 1 and got past SVG for the win. Both bumps were totally fair, and good clean racing. Neither caused the other guy to wreck, they just moved them. The opposite of Austin Dillon.
Race Rating: C-
Race Finish: A
Best Battle: SVG vs. Buescher
Fight Rating: No Fights
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta/Kansas
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
Pole winner this week was Brad Calhoun. Brad gets his 1st pole of 2024, his 10th career pole, and his 1st at Watkins Glen
Stage Results
Stage 1: Lauren Hodge (2)
Stage 2: Keith Williams (4)
Keith makes it 3 out of 4 Stages with a win, and now is tied for the most this season.
Race Results
The winner this week was Brad Calhou. Brad gets his 2nd win of the year, and his 9th career (1st at Watkins Glen). Brad's margin of victory this week was the largest of the season (249 points).
Segment Results
Segment 7 goes to Dennis Williams by a slim 20 points over Miranda Brown.
Standings update
No change at the top, but things are heating up behind points leader Thomas Tolbert. Nick Prytula moves up into 2nd place, Kevin Steele drops to 3rd. Miranda Brown is back, moving up to 4th place, ahead of Chris Burfield in 5th. The Top 5 are all within 400 points with 8 races left.
BFNL Chase
Two races into the first round of the BFNL chase, and a lot of top contenders are in trouble. Keith Williams leads. The bottom 16 will be eliminated.
BFNL Survivor
One Elimination this week: Bob Francis
Only 8 players left.
Adam English, Alan Ross, Brandon Braswell, Chris Burfield, Larry Braswell, Randy Thompson, Shawn White & Steel Norman
Track Type Championships
Brad Calhoun's big win moves him into 1st place in the Road Course race..
The Summer Shootout
Nick Prytula was the 2024 Champion.
The Braswell Million
Next Braswell Million race will be the Bristol Night race.
Looking ahead...
Next Saturday night they will run the Bristol Night race. It will be an elimination race for the 1st round of the NASCAR Cup Playoffs. Denny Hamlin in trouble.
Atlanta recap: Brooks Deaton starts the playoffs with a win
September 8, 2024
Race Recap:
How bout those Panthers, huh? #KeepPounding
No surprise winner this week. Joey Logano starts off the playoffs with a win at Atlanta. Logano has had a lot of succes in the playoff format, and he usually comes out of the box strong, this year seems to be no exception.
It was kind of a weird race. Not a lot of passing up front for most of the race. Austin Cindric led 92 laps, more laps that he has ever led in his career. Kyle Larson had a nasty crash at the end of the 1st stage. He got loose, overcorrected and hit the wall at a terrible angle. Most of his hard earned points lead was washed away, but he will probably be fine.
Ty Gibbs, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch and Daniel Saurez took turns looking like they might take the win. But in the end Joey Logano locks himself into the Round of 12.
Race Rating: B
Race Finish: B
Best Battle: Hard to pick one really.
Fight Rating: No Fights
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta/Kansas
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
The pole winner this week was Tim Laney. Tim gets his 3rd pole of the year, tying him for the most. Tim now has 15 career poles and 1 at Atlanta.
Stage Results
Stage 1: Keith Williams (2)
Stage 2: Keith Williams (3)
Keith sweeps both Stages.
Race Results
Your winner this week was Brooks Deaton. Brooks get his 2nd win of 2024, and his 7th career win (1st at Atlanta).
Segment Results
After 3 races, Dennis still holds the lead but Brooks Deaton is not far behind.
Standings update
Thomas Tolbert remains the points lead for the 5th straight week. This is the longest we have gone this year without a lead change. Kevin Steele moves up into 2nd place, only 93 points behind. Nick Prytula is 3rd.
BFNL Chase
Atlanta is the 1st race of the BFNL Chase. Brooks Deaton becomes the points leader over Keith Williams. 2 races remain before the bottom 16 will be eliminated.
BFNL Survivor
One Elimination this week: Kyle Zaepful
Only 9 players left.
Adam English, Alan Ross, Bob Francis, Brandon Braswell, Chris Burfield, Larry Braswell, Randy Thompson, Shawn White & Steel Norman
Track Type Championships
Jason House takes the lead in the Super Speedwawy category with only Talladega remaining.
The Summer Shootout
Nick Prytula is the 2024 Summer Shootout champion. He easily defeats Chris Faulk in the finals. Congratulations!
The Braswell Million
Next Braswell Million race will be the Bristol Night race.
Looking ahead...
Next Sunday they head north to Wakins Glen to run the 2nd race of the 1st round of the playoffs.
Southern 500 recap: Elisabeth Draughon steals the last spot in the BFNL Chase with a win
September 2, 2024
Race Recap:
Three straight weeks with a surprise winner. While the broadcast focused mostly on Bubba Wallace and Chris Buescher during the night, Chase Briscoe quietly ran in the top 5 looking for his opportunity. It turns out desperation gave him the chance he needed. Kyle Larson had been dominant all night. He led more laps in the race than his teammates have led all season. But a late race caution gave Ross Chastain the chance to do the funniest thing possible. Chastain stayed out on old tires. He got just enough in the way to allow Briscoe to make daring 3-wide pass going into turn 3. The clean air was all Briscoe needed. Even with another restart, Briscoe was able to hold off a suddenly racey Kyle Busch. Briscoe's win eliminated both Chris Buescher and Bubba Wallace (who was already effectively eliminated by a wreck he got caught up in. Shoutout Noah Gragson with the absolute ARAC brakes just piling into the crash).
Buescher essentially ended up missing the playoffs by the 1 inch he lost at Kansas to Kyle Larson. Reddick's bonehead move at Darlington in the spring didn't help either. For a team that won 3 races last year, and looked dominant at times, this was a very dissapointing season. Ditto to Ross Chastain, who is only 2 years removed from making the Championship race. Trackhouse has taken a big step backwards, and without a lucky win by Saurez at Atlanta would have been shutout of the playoffs.
Tyler Reddick ended up winning the regular season championship by 1 point over Kyle Larson. Larson's decision to run the Indy 500 caused him to miss the Coca Cola 600 and score 0 points. Larson's Hendrick teammate Chase Elliott, who was also battling for the regular season title, was invisible all night. Elliott has not run particularly well the this summer. Outside of the win at Texas, he really hasn't led any laps or looked like a threat to win any races.
Race Rating: A
Race Finish: A
Best Battle: Briscoe holding off Busch over the final 15 laps was good
Fight Rating: No Fights
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta/Kansas
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
The pole winner this week was Elisabeth Draughon. This was Elisabeth's 2nd pole of the season, and her 4th career (1st at Darlington).
Stage Results
Stage 1: Elisabeth Draughon (1)
Stage 2: Greg Camden (4)
Greg joins Manish and Dean with 4 stage wins.
Race Results
Elisabeth Draughon gets her 1st win of the 2024 season, and locks herself into the BFNL Chase. This was Elisabeth's 4th career win, and her 1st at Darlington, and her 1st Crown Jewel win.
Segment Results
After 2 races, Dennis still holds the lead.
Standings update
Thomas Tolbert holds on to the lead, but it is shrinking. Nick Prytula moves up into 2nd place, with Greg Camden moving into 3rd. Kevin Steele drops to 4th. Miranda Brown re-emerges in 5th place.
BFNL Chase
Elisabeth becomes the 24th different winner of the season (2 ties), and sneaks into the field.
BFNL Survivor
One Elimination this week: Roger Harris
Only 10 players left.
Adam English, Alan Ross, Bob Francis, Brandon Braswell, Chris Burfield, Kyle Zaepful, Larry Braswell, Randy Thompson, Shawn White & Steel Norman
Track Type Championships
Kevin Steele's lead in the Intermediates has shrunk dramatically, with Greg Camden charging.
The Summer Shootout
We have our final matchup...
Nick Prytula vs. Chris Faulk
With only Atlanta left, Chris Faulk will need a huge week to overcome Nick's lead.
The Braswell Million
Next Braswell Million race will be the Bristol Night race.
Looking ahead...
Next Sunday afternoon the NASCAR playoffs will start at Atlanta.
Daytona recap: Dennis Williams flips his way into victory lane
August 25, 2024
Race Recap:
Can't say I saw that one coming. Harrison Burton, who was dead last (34th) in points among all full-time drivers, scores his first career win at Daytona. In doing so, Burton effectively eliminated Kyle Busch from the playoffs, unless he scores a surprise win at Darlington next week. Burton and Busch were among a handful of drivers who escaped most of the nights carnage. This race will be notable for having 2 cars get airborne, only 1 week after Corey Lajoie got up in the air at Michigan. NASCAR made a change to the rear of the car with hopes to prevent the kind of crashes we saw tonigh, so obviously those changes were ineffective. Both drivers escaped injury in scary crashes. Michael McDowell got hit by Joey Logano in the door and flipped up almost into the catch fence, eerily close to a crash Ricky Craven had in the mid-90's at Talladega. Josh Berry's crash was even more frightening becuse he was sliding on his roof when he went head first into the inside wall. Any time the announcers booth goes quiet you know it's a bad wreck. Thankfully Berry emerged unscathed, if not dissapointed that his best shot to win was ruined.
With Atlanta in 2 week, and another Talladega race looming NASCAR will most likely have to make further changes to the car. The NextGen does some things really well, but has a lot of shortcomings that need to be addressed.
Race Rating: B+
Race Finish: A
Best Battle: NASCAR vs. Keeping Cars on the Ground
Fight Rating: No Fights
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta/Kansas
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
A rain free weekend so we actually got qualifying in. Tim Laney gets his 2nd pole of the season. This was Tim's 14th career pole and his 2nd at Daytona.
Stage Results
Stage 1: Manish Nagpal (4)
Stage 2: Dennis Williams (1)
Manish is now tied with Dean Paxton for the most Stage wins this year.
Race Results
The Williams family goes back to back. Dennis Williams makes it a father-son repeat, scoring his 1st win of the year one week after son Keith Williams won at Michigan. This was lucky win #13 for Dennis in his BFNL career, and his 1st at Daytona.
Segment Results
One race into Segment 7 and Dennis leads.
Standings update
No change up front, Thomas Tolbert still on top, but Kevin Steele had the best weekend of the leaders and got back within 100 points. Nick Pytula, Greg Camden, Chris Burfield and Alan Ross are all still within 500 points of the lead.
BFNL Chase
Dennis locks himself into the Chase, and takes away another spot from the at-large folks. Tom Kerr and Brandon Braswell hold the last two at-large spots going into the last race of the regular season. Dustin Draughon and Mike Williams are the 1st two out.
BFNL Survivor
One Elimination this week: Dustin Reynolds
Only 11 players left.
Track Type Championships
Alan Ross moves to the top of the board on the Super Speedways.
The Summer Shootout
We have our final matchup...
Nick Prytula vs. Chris Faulk
Nick takes an early lead over Chris. 2 races left.
The Braswell Million
Next week the Southern 500 will be the next Million race.
Looking ahead...
Next Sunday will be the Southern 500 at Darlington. It will be the last race of the regular season and will set the playoff field.
Michigan recap: Keith Williams wins on a Monday at Michigan
August 19, 2024
Race Recap:
After last weeks controversial race at Richmond, NASCAR needed to get back to normalcy. And so they did at Michigan. By which I mean, it rained. They got 1 Stage in on Sunday before they had to pack up and come back on Monday. Monday's usually mean Martin Truex Jr wins, but not today. Tyler Reddick scored the win and took the points lead. Kyle Larson, "best driver in the world" caused a big wreck by *checks notes* getting loose and spinning out without contact. Corey Lajoie, soon to be out of the Cup Series, wrecked on the backstretch and surprisingly flipped. Jeff Burton was very vocal about his concern that the car flipped.
Chase Elliott and the 9 team took a top 5 car and managed to finish 15th, which was impressive.
Race Rating: B
Race Finish: B-
Fight Rating: Alan Gustaffson vs. Making Adjustments. Alan takes an L again.
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta/Kansas
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
Qualifying was rained out, so the starting lineup was set by the dreaded "Metric". Alan Ross is credited with his 3rd pole of the year, tying him with Tucker Lovelace for the most.
Stage Results
Stage 1: Tiffany Steele (1), Miranda Brown (3)
Stage 2: Tom Kerr (1)
Race Results
The winner this week was Keith Williams. Keith gets his 1st win of 2024, and his 21st career win. This was his 1st at Michigan.
Segment Results
Jessica Coleman wins Segment 6. Her first Segment win ever, following up a Segment Loss (worst team) earlier in the year.
Standings update
No change up front this weeke. Thomas Tolbert's top 10 gives him a nice cushion as we head into a dangerous Segment 7.
BFNL Chase
Keith locks himself into the Chase, and takes away another spot from the at-large folks.
BFNL Survivor
One Elimination this week: Jeremy Steele
Down to the Dirty Dozen after this week.
Track Type Championships
The Superspeedways are a pretty tight battle. Dean Paxton remains on top, but Tucker Lovelace is close.
The Summer Shootout
We have our final matchup...
Nick Prytula vs. Chris Faulk
Three races to decide the winner.
The Braswell Million
No race this week.
Looking ahead...
Next Saturday night they will race at Daytona. Segment 7 will open there. Teams will be due Friday before qualifying.
Cookout 400 recap: Alan Ross wins a controversial Richmond race
August 12, 2024
Race Recap:
NASCAR is back baby! Haha. After a two week break for the Olympics, NASCAR returned to the track last night at Richmond. To say there was not a lot of buzz about going to Richmond would be an understatement. However, NASCAR was trying the option tire they first rolled out at North Wilkesboro, so there was a glimmer of hope. And you know what? It was pretty good! The option tire actually worked pretty well. Daniel Saurez took advantage of it to win a stage. I think it's definintely something they will need to run at Martinsville and Phoenix.
For 398 laps, the story of the race was RCR's shocking speed, and a redemption arc for Austin Dillon. Dillon had passed Denny Hamlin easily, took the lead and was driving away. He had about a 3 second lead with 2 laps to go. And then Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Preece wrecked, seemingly randomly. There had not been a caution or an incident on track all night. Dillon's crew had been great all night, and they once again came through, getting him out 1st. Rick Allen was quick to note Dillon had been awful on restarts all year, and right on cue, he allowed Logano to beat him into Turn 1.
Everybody at the track, and watching on TV knew what was going to happen next. Dillon didn't slow down and cleaned Logano out going into 3 on the last lap. Not a very skillful move, but pretty much accepted in NASCAR with this car. It was the next part that got everyone riled up. Denny Hamlin went low and was passing Dillon, who had slowed because of the spinning Logano. Dillon immediately turned left and right hooked Hamlin into the wall and barely got the line before Tyler Reddick. The man who was 32nd in points coming into the night, was the winner, and locked himself into the playoffs. But will it stand? NASCAR didn't do anything in the immediate aftermath. Dillon went to victory lane, Hamlin and Logano said their peace to the TV guys and NASCAR said they will "review" the incident.
Chase Elliott notably got suspended for the same move on Hamlin last year, one which angered a lot of the 9 cars fans. Bubba Wallace was similarly suspended for doing the same thing to Kyle Larson the year before. Neither of those drivers won the race. The both wrecked out. Dillon did win. He has no hope of making the playoffs without that win. A suspension wouldn't necessarily change his status if they follow precedent and grant him a waiver, like they did Elliott last year. If they don't grant him a waiver, it makes Elliott, and by extension Hendrick Motorspots, look like the golden boy/company of NASCAR. Tough spot for NASCAR, but one they put themselves in with the playoffs and the "win and you're in" rules. It will be interesting to see what they do.
Race Rating: B
Race Finish: A
Fight Rating: There should have been 2 fights, or one big one. But Dillon had his kids on the track immediately after the race, so no funny business.
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta/Kansas
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
The pole winner this week was Elisabeth Draughon. Elisabeth gets her 1st pole of 2024, and her 3rd career pole.
Stage Results
Stage 1: Shawn White, Alan Ross (2)
Stage 2: Alan Ross (3)
Race Results
The winner this week was Alan Ross. Alan gets his 2nd win of the season, and starts to move himself back up into the championship conversation. This was Alan's 6th career win, and 1st at Richmond.
Segment Results
Alan Ross takes over the top spot with 1 race left.
Standings update
Kevin Steele and Thomas Tolber trade the points lead again. Thomas moves back out front, but only by a slim margin.
BFNL Chase
Alan was already locked in.
BFNL Survivor
One Elimination this week: Tom Kerr.
Only 13 players remain alive.
Track Type Championships
Chris Burfield holds onto the lead on Short Tracks, but Thomas Tolbert is close.
The Summer Shootout
We move on to the Final Four after this week....
Dustin Draughon vs. Chris Faulk
Chris Burfield vs. Nick Prytula
Faulk and Prytula have the leads after 2 races. Michigan will decide the Final matchup.
The Braswell Million
No race this week.
Looking ahead...
Next Sunday they will finish out the segment at Michigan.
Brickyard 400 recap: Jeremy Steele wins his 3rd Brickyard 400
July 22, 2024
Race Recap:
NASCAR returned to the Brickyard 400 on the oval for the first time since 2020. I would say the mood was mixed, coming on the hells of Pocono last weekened. Why NASCAR continues to force Pocono and Indianapolis to be back to back weekends, when they are such similar tracks, is beyond me. Anyway, despite the fact that this car is woefully slow on such a huge flat track, the racing was not appreciably different from the last time they raced on the big track. It was mostly single file, and passing was difficult at best, and impossible at worse. There was some different fuel strategies, which mixed up the field occasionally so that helped.
At the end it was Brad Keselowski trying to stretch his fuel and hold off Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson. The field mostly ran around running fuel saving laps for a good 15-20 laps, which was really annoying. Watching guys intentionally run 3 seconds off the pace is not very compelling. Larson took advantage and passed his way up to 3rd. It looked like he might be stuck behind Blaney, but a caution came out. Keselowski would have won the Brickyard 400, but they ended up running the Brickyard 417, so as they were coming to get the green flag, Keselowski pulled off into the pits. This moved Larson up to the front row on the inside beside Blaney. It was a HUGE advantage for Larson. Blaney was rightfully pissed. Larson kinda jumped the restart. It was super unclear who the control car was. He cleared Blaney into turn 1, but yet another caution came out. NASCAR really should have waived off the restart and re-picked the choose. Blaney obviously would have taken the inside line if given the choice, since no one had passed anyone on the outside all day. Larson was effectively given the lead because of Keselowski's goof.
However, that wasn't the most frustrating issue with the finish. After the clean up and red flag, they finally restarted. Ryan Preece spun out in turn 2, and obviously had a flat tire. He initially got the car moving, but came to a stop pretty quickly. Quick enough that NASCAR had at least 30 seconds to watch him not really moving and to wait for Larson to come around and take the white flag. After Larson crosed the line and headed into turn 1, NASCAR threw the caution and ended the race. NASCAR's inconsistency with rules and cautions is legendary, but it's never not infuriating. Yes, Larson was going to win the race regardless. Blaney could not keep up with him. But that's not the point. You throw the caution because you should throw the caution, not because it suits your narrative, or your TV window.
Race Rating: C
Race Finish: F
Fight Rating: n/a
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta/Kansas
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
The pole winner this week was Jessica Coleman. This was Jessica's first ever BFNL pole. Congrats!
Stage Results
Stage 1: Jeremy Steele (1)
Stage 2: Shawn White (1)
Race Results
The Brickyard is back, and so is Jeremy Steele in victory lane. Jeremy wins his record breaking 3rd Brickyard 400. It was the 41st career win for Jeremy, and his 1st this season. This was Jeremy's 11th win in the Crown Jewel races. He now has 3 wins in each of the Brickyard 400, Coca Cola 600 and Bristol Night race. No one else has 3 wins in more than 1 of the Crown Jewel races.
Segment Results
Two races into the Segment and Mason Steele has a slight advantage over Chris Burfield.
Standings update
No change at the top, but Kevin Steele's lead shrinks back to 40 points.
BFNL Chase
Jeremy's win this week locks him in as the 21st winner, leaving 11 spots for non-winners. Only a few more races left.
BFNL Survivor
One Elimination this week: Andrew Campbell
Track Type Championships
Dean Paxton maintains his lead on the Super Speedways.
The Summer Shootout
We move on to the Final Four after this week....
Dustin Draughon vs. Chris Faulk
Chris Burfield vs. Nick Prytula
The Braswell Million
Dean Paxton holds a slim lead over Tucker Lovelace after the Brickyard.
Looking ahead...
No race next week, or the week after beause of the Olympics. After the sour ending at the Brickyard it's probably not a bad time for a break. See you in 3 Sunday's at Richmond.
Pocono recap: Tiffany Steele steals a win at Pocono
July 14, 2024
Race Recap:
NASCAR had a Cup race at Pocono and it didn't rain! Amazing. They even got qualifying in, which is rare. Ryan Blaney got his 2nd win of the season, holding off Denny Hamlin (who else) at Pocono. Chase Elliott seemed to have a car capable of running with Blaney and Hamlin, but he got his first speeding penalty in 92 races on the final pitstop and had to settle for 9th, and retaking the regular season points lead.
Not a bad race overall. Probably a preview of what we are going to see next week at Indianapolis as the NextGen's hit the Brickyard oval for the first time.
Race Rating: C
Race Finish: C+
Fight Rating: n/a
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta/Kansas
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
Your pole winner this week was Tucker Lovelace. Tucker gets his 3rd pole of the season, giving him the most so far. This was Tucker's 5th career pole, and his 2nd at Pocono.
Stage Results
Stage 1: Gary Bolen (1)
Stage 2: Dean Paxton (4)
Gary gets his 1st Stage of the year, and Dean now has the most with 4.
Race Results
A little bit of a surprise winner this week. Last place Tiffany Steele, who is having her worst year ever, breaks through for her 1st win of the season. This was Tiffany's 26th career win, and her 2nd at Pocono.
Segment Results
Only one race into Segment 6, so Tiffany is on top.
Standings update
No change in points lead this week. Kevin Steele extends his lead to over 100 points.
BFNL Chase
Tiffany Steele becomes the 20th player locked into the BFNL Chase, leaving only 12 spots open. Mike Williams and Randy Thompson are the last two who would qualify on points if the regular season ended today. Anyone in points behind Mike Williams, without a win, would not qualify.
BFNL Survivor
One Elimination this week: Chris House
Track Type Championships
Dean Paxton drafts past Andrew Campbell to take the lead on the Super Speedways.
The Summer Shootout
We move on to the Final Four after this week....
Dustin Draughon vs. Chris Faulk
Chris Burfield vs. Nick Prytula
The Braswell Million
Next race is not until the Brickyard 400.
Looking ahead...
Next week they will return to the Brickyard and run the oval. Last race before the Olympics break.
Chicago Street recap: Justin Braswell wins rain soaked and shortened street race
July 8, 2024
Race Recap:
NASCAR returned to the Chicago Street course for the 2nd year, and for the 2nd year the event was plagued by rain. To be fair, the rain does add an interesting element to the strategy and I do think it helps with the racing as well. But the sitting around and waiting is a bummer. NASCAR's rain tire doesn't work on puddles, so the puddles have to be removed before they can race. Starting the race at 4pm local time, at a track with no lights is also questionable. I get they want to have a festival atmosphere, but at what cost? Yesterday's race was very short. The shortest race of the last 25ish years. That's not super exciting for fans.
Shane Van Gisbergen shocked the NASCAR world last year with his win, and looked to be well on his way to repeating until Chase Briscoe blew a turn and knocked him into the wall, ending his day. Kyle Larson, the media proclaimed best driver in the world, drove headfirst into the wall and finished 39th. Chase Elliott's streak of 19 straight races with Top 20 finishes ended thanks to a dual bad strategy call from Alan G, and Daniel Saurez bulldozing the 9 on the last lap.
Alex Bowman and the 48 team held on to get the win. The stategy call to stay on the wet tires worked out. Mostly thanks to Christopher Bell getting wrecked, and Tyler Reddick pulling a Larson-style last lap choke job. That puts all 4 Hendrick cars in the Playoffs this year. Unsure if the Street race will return next year, but I would be surprised if it did not.
Race Rating: B
Race Finish: B+
Fight Rating: Saurez and Elliott had a discussion, but not fight. Bummer.
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta/Kansas
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
The pole this week went to Roger Harris. Roger gets his 2nd pole of the year, and 16th career pole, moving him into a tie for 15th all-time with Danny Faulk.
Stage Results
Stage 1: Andrew Brown (1)
Stage 2: Greg Camden (3)
Race Results
This week's winner was Justin Braswell. Justin gets his 1st win of 2024, and his 37th win all-time.
Segment Results
The low scoring week helped Larry Braswell lock up his Segment win. This was Larry's 3rd career Segment win, and first since 2001! Wow. That was also the year Larry won his Championship. Worth watching.
Standings update
Another points lead change. Kevin Steele and Thomas Tolbert trade the lead again, with Kevin moving back into first.
BFNL Chase
Justin locks himself in.
BFNL Survivor
One Elimination this week: Thomas Tolbert.
Track Type Championships
Manish Nagpal leads the "Road Course" standings after 3/5 races.
The Summer Shootout
The Elite 8 matchups are set...
Scott Trull vs. Dustin Draughon
Chris Faulk vs. Bob Francis
Kevin Steele vs. Nick Prytula
Chris Burfield vs. Chris House
The Braswell Million
Next race is not until the Brickyard 400.
Looking ahead...
Next week they will run at Pocono, which will kick off Segment 6. New driver values are posted and teams are due July 13th at Noon.
Nashville SS recap: Brad Calhoun wins 5OT catastrophe
July 7, 2024
Race Recap:
I did not get to see the race last Sunday because we were in New York celebrating Jennifer's birthday. Apparently it was a pretty standard 1.5 mile race until Austin Cindric caused a caution with 2 laps to go, and then everyone lost their minds and caused 5 overtimes. People were running out of gas. People were running out of skills. So many wrecks on the restarts. Just chaos. In the end, Joey Logano, who was a total non-factor all day, stole a win to lock himself into the playoffs, and end a very long winless streak.
Race Rating: Incomplete
Race Finish: Incomplete
Fight Rating: No Fights this week
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta/Kansas
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
Your pole winner this week was John Regan. John get's his 2nd pole of the year (also won at Charlotte).
Stage Results
Stage 1: Jason Hollingsworth (1)
Stage 2: Jason Hollingsworth (2)
Race Results
The winner this week was Brad Calhoun. Brad gets his 1st win of 2024. Brad's 8th career win, and 1st at Nashville SS.
Segment Results
Larry Braswell holds a slim margin with 1 race to go.
Standings update
Thomas Tolbert retakes the points lead over Kevin Steele by 80 points.
BFNL Chase
Brad Calhoun is now locked in after the win.
BFNL Survivor
One Elimination this week: Mason Steele.
Track Type Championships
Kevin Steele remains the Intermediates leader by a pretty large margin.
The Summer Shootout
The Elite 8 matchups are set...
Scott Trull vs. Dustin Draughon
Chris Faulk vs. Bob Francis
Kevin Steele vs. Nick Prytula
Chris Burfield vs. Chris House
The Braswell Million
Next race is not until the Brickyard 400.
Looking ahead...
Today they will run the 2nd Chicago Street race. This one should be dry. Be curious to see how much of difference that makes this year.
Loudon recap: Andrew Brown slaps on the wet weather tires and drives to victory
June 24, 2024
Race Recap:
For the first time in over a year, NASCAR had to cancel qualifying. Weather plagued the whole weekend in New Hampshire. NASCAR moved the start of the race up 30 minutes to try to get as much racing in as possible. Chase Elliott started on the pole and led the first 40 laps until Christopher Bell took the lead. The Toyota's pretty much dominated the rest of the race until the rains came. NASCAR stopped the race and sat around for 20 minutes or so until the real rain started. It was confusing because NASCAR made a big deal about having the "wet weather" tires at the track. The rains came, and there was a feeling that the race was probably over. I actually went ahead and calculated the points with Tyler Reddick as the winner.
Alas, the rain cleared and they restarted the race on the wet tires. The racing was pretty good honestly. As long as the track was wet. As it dried the lines dried up and everyone started running the same line. The biggest problem was NASCAR overmanaging the teams. They dictated when teams could pit, when they could change tires, and what tires they could use. Put the control in the hands of the teams. Let them try to run slicks if they want. Let them stay out on old tires. Making everyone pit really ruined any chance of strategy.
Race Rating: B
Race Finish: B-
Fight Rating: No Fights this week
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta/Kansas
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
Qualifying was rained out, but the field was set by the "metric". Larry Braswell wins the pole on his birthday weekend. His 2nd pole of 2024, his 41st career pole, and his 4th at Loudon, giving him the most all-time.
Stage Results
Stage 1: Thomas Tolbert (1)
Stage 2: Chris Burfield (1)
Race Results
Bit of a surprise winner this week. Andrew Brown comes out of nowhere to score his 1st win of the season. This was Andrew's 3rd career win, and 1st at Loudon.
Segment Results
Larry Braswell leads after 2 races.
Standings update
No lead change this week, but Kevin's lead shrinks to only 22 points over Thomas Tolbert.
BFNL Chase
Andrwe Brown locks himself in.
BFNL Survivor
One Elimination this week: Greg Camden
Track Type Championships
Chris Burfield remains the Short Track leader.
The Summer Shootout
The Elite 8 matchups are set...
Scott Trull vs. Dustin Draughon
Chris Faulk vs. Bob Francis
Kevin Steele vs. Nick Prytula
Chris Burfield vs. Chris House
The Braswell Million
Next race is not until the Brickyard 400.
Looking ahead...
Next Sunday they will race at Nashville SS. Jennifer and I will be in New York for the week, so no standings update until after Chicago.
Iowa recap: Larry Braswell is the first Iowa winner
June 17, 2024
Race Recap:
Talk about a pleasant surprise. I know I was pretty skeptical about Iowa getting added to the schedule this year. It's a slightly bigger version of Richmond. And discourse coming into this week was about the half-repave of the bottom two lanes of the track. But somehow it all kind of just worked? The racing was pretty good. Lots of 3-wide racing in the pack. Nobody looked particularly comfortable. Tires mattered.
Now I will say, Daniel Saurez might have done everyone a favor by dumping Kyle Larson down the front stretch. Larson looked like he had the best car by a mile. Blaney was probably 2nd best, but he was still way behind Larson early. The racing did seem to benefit from a lack of shifting, which was nice to see. All in all, I would say Iowa is probably here to stay for the short term at least.
Race Rating: B
Race Finish: B-
Fight Rating: No Fights this week
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta/Kansas
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
We had a tie in qualifying this week. Bob Francis and Kevin Steele both get thier 1st poles of the season, and the 1st ever at Iowa. This was Bob's 29th career pole, and Kevin's 25th.
Stage Results
Stage 1: Dustin Reynolds (1)
Stage 2: Dean Paxton (3)
Dean ties for the most Stage wins this year.
Race Results
Your winner this week was Larry Braswell. Very fitting winner as Larry is a well known lover of corn. This was Larry's 1st win of 2024, his 38th career win (3rd all time), and his 1st at Iowa.
Segment Results
Segment 5 kicks off this week, with Larry taking an early lead.
Standings update
The points standings scrabbled up this week. Kevin Steele re-takes the lead. Greg Camden stays in 2nd place, with Thomas Tolbert in 3rd. Miranda drops down.
BFNL Chase
Larry Braswell locks in.
BFNL Survivor
One Elimination this week: Michael Klaus
Track Type Championships
Chris Burfield remains the Short Track leader.
The Summer Shootout
Some pretty interesting matchups this round.
Kevin Steele vs. Miranda Brown, and neither had a good 1st race.
Nick Prytula vs. Manish Nagpal, both start really strong
The Braswell Million
Next race is not until the Brickyard 400.
Looking ahead...
The Cup Series heads north this weekend to New Hampshire.
Sonoma recap: Manish Nagpal stomps the field like a bunch of grapes
June 9, 2024
Race Recap:
Sonoma got it's first repave in a long time this year, and it certainly changed the way the track raced. There were a lot of cautions. Normally we don't see many, or any cautions at this track with this car. Today there were a ton of cautions. That led to some differing pit strategies. Kyle Larson, or more correctly, Cliff Daniels once again hit the strategy correct. The last segment went caution free, and Kyle Larson easily dispatched Martin Truex Jr. for the win. It was a decent enough race. Better than most of the road course races we see.
Perhaps more importantly, it was the last race of the season for Fox Sports. Fox has become a running joke week over week, and they were in fine form this week. Constantly missing the few passes that actually happened, almost every single incident, and were showing us a bunch of idiots wearing Larson overalls while 2nd place Martin Truex Jr. was running out of gas coming to the finish line. They have no direction with the camera work. Here's hoping NBC is better.
Race Rating: B-
Race Finish: C
Fight Rating: No Fights this week
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta/Kansas
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
The pole winner this week was cagey vet Larry Braswell. "LB" gets his 1st pole of 2024, his 40th career pole, and his 1st at Sonoma.
Stage Results
Stage 1: Manish Nagpal (3)
Stage 2: Jason House (2)
Manish is the 1st to reach 3 Stage wins this year.
Race Results
Back to back wins for Family Dollar alums right around the time Dollar Tree announced they were looking to sell them. Manish Nagpal gets his 2nd win of the year (won at Atlanta). Manish reachs double digits in wins with his 10th career victory. This was his first win at Sonoma, and his 2nd road course win.
Segment Results
What a great battle for the Segment 4 win. Miranda Brown barely slips by for her 2nd Segment win of the season.
Standings update
No lead change this week, but the battle for the lead really tighened up. Miranda Brown holds the lead, but Greg Camden moves into 2nd place. The Top 4 are all within 100 points.
BFNL Chase
Manish was already locked in.
BFNL Survivor
Two Eliminations this week: Kevin Steele and Miranda Brown
Track Type Championships
Manish takes the lead on the road courses after 2 races.
The Summer Shootout
Some pretty interesting matchups this round.
Kevin Steele vs. Miranda Brown, and neither had a good 1st race.
Nick Prytula vs. Manish Nagpal, both start really strong
The Braswell Million
Next race is not until the Brickyard 400.
Looking ahead...
That wraps up Segment 4. Next Sunday they will run Iowa for the 1st time. It will be the 1st race for your Segment 5 teams. Get those teams submitted by Saturday at Noon.
WWT Raceway recap: Jason Hollingsworth gets a surprising win in St. Louis
June 3, 2024
Race Recap:
Well, that was unexpected. This one turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Gateway hasn't been the most interesting track since it joined the series a couple years ago. The NextGen doesn't do that well on short or flat tracks, and this track is definintely flat. Christopher Bell clearly had the best car, and even with different pit stategies, led a lot of the race. After the final pit stops, Bell was rapidly passing cars on the other strategy. Ryan Blaney was the one guy he had to pass to clinch the win. The resulting battle between Blaney and Bell was pretty good! Side by by, hard racing lap after lap for the lead. Really can't ask for much more than that at any track. Then suddenly Bell dropped back. Like, way back. Something in the motor broke, and he was clearly without full power. What a break for Blaney. He was 3 seconds ahead of teammate Austin Cindric, and could cruise to his 1st win of the year. And then he ran out of gas on the last lap. Cindric drove right past the sputtering Blaney and locked up his 2nd career win, which was also at Blaney's expense in the Daytona 500 a couple years ago. Cindric has been running better, but this was clearly a surprise win. There are still some big names that are without wins this year, including Blaney, Logano, Busch, and Truex. As of Monday at 2pm, NASCAR still had not decided if Kyle Larson will be getting a playoff waiver. Clearly they are pissed that Hendrick decided to choose Indy over Charlotte. If they do not grant him a waiver, it would be huge news. Admittedly, I am a Kyle Larson hater, and while I think it would be hilarious if NASCAR screwed him over like that, I cannot honestly come up with a reasonable explanation why they shouldn't give him one, especially after they gave Chase Elliott 2 last year, one for injury, and one for suspension.
Race Rating: B
Race Finish: A+
Fight Rating: No Fights this week
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta/Kansas
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
This weeks pole winner was Jason Hollingsworth. Jason gets his 1st pole of 2024, his 12th career pole, and his 1st at WWT.
Stage Results
Stage 1: Greg Camden (2)
Stage 2: Mason Steele (1)
Race Results
New winner this week. Jason Hollingsworth get his 1st win of the year. This was Jason's 18th career win, and his 1st at WWT.
Segment Results
Three races into the Segment, and Kevin Steelen and Miranda Brown have a great battle going. Tucker Lovelace and Mason Steele are in the fight too.
Standings update
Another points lead change. Miranda Brown takes the points lead back from Kevin Steele this week, by a scant 15 points.
BFNL Chase
Jason Hollingsworth locks himself in with the win.
BFNL Survivor
Two Eliminations this week: Tim Laney and Scott Trull
Track Type Championships
Kevin Steele continues his domination on the Intermediates.
The Summer Shootout
We had some upsets in the first round of the Shootout.
#1 seed Thomas Tolbert goes down to #32 Tucker Lovelace.
#5 Dean Paxton loses to #28 Randy Thompson
#8 Larry Braswell loses to #25 Dustin Draughon
We we have a new Champion this year. Elisabeth Draughon does not pull the upset. Last year's runner-up Jason House also loses.
The Braswell Million
Next race is not until the Brickyard 400.
Looking ahead...
Out west they go. 2nd road course race of the year on Sunday, at Sonoma. That will wrap up the Segment.
Coca Cola 373.5: Kevin Steele wins the rain shortened Coca Cola 600
May 27, 2024
Race Recap:
Memorial Day is known as the "Greatest Day in Motorsports". Three historic races at three historic tracks. Formula 1 at Monaco. Indycars at Indianapolis. NASCAR at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The 2024 edition of the greatest day in motorsports was more of a wet fart honestly. The F1 race ended with the top 10 running in the exact positions they started the race in. Indy was delayed several hours because of rain, causing Kyle Larson to lose his chance at running the Indy 500/Coke 600 double. The race itself was pretty good, and the finish was great.
NASCAR started the race on time, without Kyle Larson, who gives up the points lead, and will require a playoff waiver from NASCAR now. The threat of rain was looming all evening. The racing was okay? It wasn't amazing, but it was fine. No complaints. Then we got the inevitable lightning delay. Then the rain came. The storms actually passed through pretty quickly, and everyone was optimistic they would get the track dry and going around midnight. Then out of the blue, NASCAR said the race was over. The track wasn't drying fast enough they said. Christopher Bell was declared the winner and that was it.
How did that happen? Why did they just pull the plug on the event? One of NASCAR's crown jewel races. Sure there was a lot of race left. But they could have dried the track and announced they were only going to run to 500 miles, or some other arbitrary number. The track looked pretty dry not long after the announcement. There has to be more to story. Regardless of the why, NASCAR ends up with two turds in a row after a lot of positive momentum coming off Kansas and Darlington. The Coke 600 had been one of the top 3 races each of the last 2 years. This year, it might be rated the worst (except for Wilkesboro). In other news that most fans were not happy to hear, Charlotte anounced some changes to The Roval layout for this year. More lipstick on a pig, honestly. The problem wasn't the track. It was and will be the car.
Race Rating: Incomplete
Race Finish: F
Fight Rating: No Fights this week
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta/Kansas
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
The pole winner this week was John Regan. John gets his 1st pole of 2024, and his first even pole. Congrats!
Stage Results
Stage 1: Jeremy Steele (1)
Stage 2: Miranda Brown (2)
Stage 3: Tucker Lovelace (2)
Race Results
No tie this week. Kevin Steele wins his 2nd race of the season. This was Kevin's 23rd career win, his 1st at Charlotte, and his 1st Coca Cola 600. This is Kevin's 3rd Prestiege win, giving him 2 of the 3 Crown Jewel races (missing the Daytona 500). He's also won the Bristol Night race and the Southern 500.
Segment Results
After two races, Kevin Steele has 2 wins this Segment, so he is winning.
Standings update
Points Lead Change. Kevin Steele is your new points leader. This is the first time Kevin has been the points leader since 2013!
BFNL Chase
Kevin Steele already had a win, so no new locks.
BFNL Survivor
Two Eliminations this week: Brittany Hooper and Elisabeth Draughon
Track Type Championships
Kevin Steele continues his domination on the Intermediates.
The Summer Shootout
We are two races into the 2024 Summer Shootout. Looks like some upsets might be brewing.
#32Tucker Lovelace has 300+ point lead over #1 seed Thomas Tolbert
#25 Dustin Draughon is leading #8 Larry Braswell
#21 Jeremy Steele leads #12 Chris Faulk
#19 Manish Nagpal leads #14 Jason House
Next week at WWT is the last race of the First Round.
The Braswell Million
Tucker Lovelace leads after 3 races in the Braswell Million. Next race is not until the Brickyard 400.
Looking ahead...
Next Sunday they will race at WWT Raceway. Hopefully we can get the whole race in.
North Wilkesboro All Star Race: Chris Burfield & Brooks Deaton fight their way to a win
May 20, 2024
Race Recap:
Kansas and Darlington were two great races. North Wilkesboro was not a great race. It wasn't even a good race. It was pretty bad. Joey Logano led 199 of 200 laps. Kyle Larson stunk up the show last year, and he only led 147 laps. It's hard to blame the track for something that is clearly a car and tire problem. The repave was actually pretty well done. The new softer tire that Goodyear brought as an "option" was a failure. The option tire did not wear, so there was no point in running the "prime" tire. No strategy. Passing wasn't impossible, but it was very difficult. Chase Elliott passed 5 or 6 cars early. Kyle Larson passed 4 or 5 on the final restart. But once things got going after a few laps, it was typical short track racing with this car. Goodyear continues to disapoint. The tire was getting lots of praise on Friday during practice, which was during the day. The race itself was at night, and once again the tire was completely different.
The biggest news from yesterday were two things that happened off the track. Kyle Larson qualified 5th for the Indianapolis 500 next Sunday. Larson will look to join Tony Stewart, John Andretti, Robby Gordon and Kurt Busch as drivers who have done the Indy 500/Coke 600 double. He's obviously fast in qualifying, but it will be interesting to see how he does during the race. Kurt Busch ran very well in his race, so I'm sure Larson will not have any issues. The other big story was the fight. Kyle Busch absolutely dumped Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on lap 2 of the race last night. For no reason, honestly. Stenhouse didn't really do anything. Busch just kind of drove himself up into the wall. There is no way to leave North Wilkesboro during the race. There's no crosswalk, or tunnel, so Stenhouse had to sit there and stew about it for 2 hours. After the race, Stenhouse was waiting for Busch at his hauler. They had a brief exchange, and Stenhouse popped Busch on the side of the head. Then there was a melee. It was pretty entertaining.
Race Rating: F
Race Finish: F
Fight Rating: B-
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta/Kansas
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
The pole winner this week was Dennis Williams. Dennis gets his 1st pole of the season, and his 7th career pole (1st at Wilkesboro).
Stage Results
Stage 1:
Stage 2:
No Stages at North Wilkesboro.
Race Results
We had a tie this week. Chris Burfield and Brooks Deaton tie for the win. It was the first win of the season for both guys. This was Brooks' 6th career win, and Chris' 4th career win. Chris had not won since Daytona in 2021, so he breaks a winless streak just shy of 100 races.
Segment Results
The All Star race is a standalone event, and not part of the Segment.
Standings update
Thomas Tolbert remains in the lead, just ahead of Kevin Steele.
BFNL Chase
Brooks and Chris lock in with the win.
BFNL Survivor
No Eliminations this week.
Track Type Championships
Chris Burfield continues to lead on the short tracks.
The Braswell Million
Next Braswell Million race is the Coke 600.
Looking ahead...
Next Sunday is the "greatest day in motorsports". Monaco in the morning. Indianapolis at lunch. Charlotte at night. Kyle Larson has a solid shot to win both the Indy 500 and Coca Cola 600.
Darlingon: Kevin Steele wins a very sporty Darlington race
May 12, 2024
Race Recap:
Two great races in a row. Darlington has been very good with the new car, and this race was no exception. Tyler Reddick and Brad Keselowski had a great side by side battle for several laps, until Chris Buescher zoomed past them both and took the lead. Reddick ran Buescher back down, but tried to dive bomb him going into the turn, and put them both in the wall. The result was two flat tires, and Brad Keselowski took advantage. Bad Brad held off Ty Gibbs for his 1st win in over 100 races, and his 1st win with RFK. It was also Ford's first win of the season. It's ironic that a mistake at Talladega by a Ford driver gave Tyler Reddick the win, and this week a mistake by Tyler Reddick gave a Ford driver the win.
NASCAR is riding high on a lot of positive momentum going into the All Star race at North Wilkesboro. Last year's race was much antipated after decades of people urging NASCAR to go back to the track it abandoned in 1996. The race itself was pretty awful. Ticket sales this year aren't great. The car is pretty bad on short tracks, and a lot of people are fed up with it. North Wilkesboro is in a tough spot. Here's hoping we get a great race next week.
Race Rating: A
Race Finish: A
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta/Kansas
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
Your pole winner this week was Tucker Lovelace. Tucker ties Alan Ross with 2 poles this year.
Stage Results
Stage 1: Manish Nagpal
Stage 2: Tucker Lovelace
Race Results
This week's winner was Kevin Steele. Kevin has been quietly having a really good season for the first time in many years. This was Kevin's 22nd career win, and his 2nd at Darlington. The win also moves him up to 2nd in points!
Segment Results
1 race in, so it's Kevin Steele leading.
Standings update
Thomas Tolbert holds a slight lead going into North Wilkesboro.
BFNL Chase
Kevin Steele locks in with the win.
BFNL Survivor
Two eliminations this week. Justin Braswell and Jessica Coleman.
Track Type Championships
Kevin Steele moves into 1st in the Intermediates.
The Braswell Million
Next Braswell Million race is the Coke 600.
Looking ahead...
Next week is the All Star Race at North Wilkesboro. It IS a race for the league this year. You will need to pick an All Star Race team by Saturday.
Kansas: Chris House wins his 1st ever BFNL race in the closest NASCAR finish ever!
May 6, 2024
Race Recap:
Well, it literally does not gete an closer than that. Officially Kyle Larson won by 0.001 over Chris Buescher. The finish was so close the scoring pylon at the track had Buescher on top. Buescher was shown a picture of the finish multiple times and still could not get his brain to process that he lost by the slimmest margin possible. It was a historic finish, and one that will be long remembered. The race was good as well. Lots of on-track passing, and battling for the lead. You really cannot ask for much more (other than literally anyone other than Larson winning).
Kansas and Charlotte are clearly the best tracks with this car. Atlanta obviously had an incredible finish, but it's different there with the pack racing. Kansas and Charlotte are closer to "real" racing, whatever that means. This car is excellent on 1.5 mile tracks. And yet Chicagoland and Kentucky sit idle, and we got Iowa on the schedule (bigger Richmond). Perfectly NASCAR is every way. If NASCAR can find a way to make this car even remotely decent at the short tracks, and tweak the plate package, we could have some incredible racing. This car is feast of famine right now. North Wilkesboro is looming a couple weeks from now. Last year was a disaster result for on-track racing. Fingers crossed some of the changes can stop the rapid loss of goodwill towards the track.
Race Rating: A
Race Finish: A+
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta/Kansas
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
Pole winner this week was Scott Trull. Scott gets his 1st pole of 2024 and his 2nd career pole (Loudon).
Stage Results
Stage 1: Chris House
Stage 2: Chris House
Chris House gets the first Stage win sweep of the year.
Race Results
Your race winner this week, for the first time ever was Chris House! Chris waited 122 races to finally get his 1st ever BFNL win. He breaks Brook Deaton's record of 119 races before his 1st win. Chris becomes the 105th different winner in the history of BFNL. Congratulations, Chris! Kyle Zaepful you are on now on the clock (86 races).
Segment Results
Dean Paxton holds on to win Segment 3. 3rd career Segment win.
Standings update
No lead change this week. Thomas Tolber remains the leader.
BFNL Chase
Chris House locks himself in.
BFNL Survivor
Two eliminations this week. Chris Faulk and Dennis Williams
Track Type Championships
Michael Klaus passes Bob Francis for the lead on Intermediates.
The Braswell Million
Next Braswell Million race is the Coke 600.
Looking ahead...
Next week will kick off Segment 4 at Darlington. Don't forget to submit your team.
Dover: Thomas Tolbert gets his 2nd win of the year
April 28, 2024
Race Recap:
Well, at least NASCAR didn't have a mannequin fall on the track like Indycar did today. Denny Hamlin got his 3rd win of the season, his 54th career win tying him with Lee Petty for 12th all-time. Denny rightfully said that he couldn't carry Lee Petty's helmt, after the race. There wasn't a lot of big storylines to come out of the race today. There will be talk of "Air-Blocking" because that's pretty much all Denny Hamlin had to do to hold off Kyle Larson for the win. But, let's not kid ourselves and pretend like this hasn't been the exact problem with this car, and with the Gen 6 "big ass spoiler".
Momentum seems to be building in fans disgust of the Fox broadcast each week. Fox does itself no favors by constantly missing restarts with weird crownd reaction shots. They also interspersed cuts to the crowd during the last 20 laps while Larson was chasing down Hamlin. I guess they are trying to show people having a good time? And that will make more fans want to come to the races? I don't know. Personally I tune in each week to see the action on the track. Not some fat guy in the stands, or some 5 year-old eating boogers. Every time they cut to some drunk asshole in the crowd, there's an obligatory reference to Clint Bowyer and partying. "Do you know that guy, Clint?". It's tiresome. I just want the broadcast to treat the sport like a sport.
Race Rating: C
Race Finish: C+
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
Your pole winner this week was Thomas Tolbert. This was Thomas' lucky 13th career pole, and his 2nd at Dover. This makes 2 straight poles at Dover for Thomas.
Stage Results
Stage 1: Chris Faulk
Stage 2: Nick Prytula, Dean Paxton, Greg Camden
Race Results
The winner this week was...Thomas Tolbert. Thomas gets his 2nd win of the season, his 26th career win and his 2nd at Dover. Thomas moves into sole possession of 8th place on the all-time wins list, breaking a tie with Tiffany Steele.
Segment Results
Three races into the Segment and Dean Paxton is leading.
Standings update
Another lead change this week. Thomas Tolbert reclaims the points lead.
BFNL Chase
Thomas has already won so no one locked in.
BFNL Survivor
Two eliminations this week. Jennifer Braswell and Mike Williams.
Track Type Championships
Bob Francis leads Michael Klaus on the Intermediates.
The Braswell Million
Next Braswell Million race is the Coke 600.
Looking ahead...
Segment 3 wraps up next week at Kansas.
Talladega: Chris Faulk breaks a long winless streak
April 22, 2024
Race Recap:
Weather looked threatening this weekend, but ultimately stayed out of the way. The stat sheet will show you this race had the 6th most lead changes in a race in NASCAR history. But watching the race felt hollow. Fuel conservation dominated the race almost from the start. The teams have figured out how to optimize the pit stops by taking as little fuel as possible on the green flag stops. This leads to "riding around". You could immediately tell by the drivers who were leading the race. Nothing against Daniel Hemric or John Hunter Nemechek, but come on. The last lap of the stages were good. Austin Cindric beat Chase Elliott by about 1 foot in Stage 1. But the rest of the time it was not so interesting.
The Toyota's thought they had a great strategy at the end of the race, until they all wrecked. Erik Jones took a very hard impact and had to stay at the hospital overnight. Remains to be seen if he will miss any time. When push came to shove, once again this car proves that you can't really pass. Michael McDowell floated back and forth in front of the two lines for most of the last 10 laps. Brad Keselowski pushed McDowell clear of the field and got a nice run on him coming through the trioval. McDowell blocked once, and then blocked again low. The 2nd time he got loose, and there wasn't really much Keselowski could do for him. The nonsense allowed Tyler Reddick to scoot through right before the rest of the field wrecked. McDowell cost himself a good finish and cost Ford a win. No doubt he will get an earful from the Ford brass, because they desperately need a win.
The Hendrick cars were mired in the back on the last run, and there was no way for them to move up. Chase Elliott tried to form a 3rd line but it fizzled out quicker than Casey Atwood's career. Overall not a very impressive race. Fuel mileage at Talladega ranks right up there with shifting at Martinsville for sheer stupidity.
Race Rating: C
Race Finish: B
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
The pole winner this week was Michael Klaus. Michael gets his 1st BFNL pole ever.
Stage Results
Stage 1: Alan Ross
Stage 2: Nick Prytula
Two more 1st time Stage winners this week.
Race Results
This week's winner was Chris Faulk. Chris breaks an 80+ race winless streak. His last win was the 2022 Daytona 500. This was Chris' 11th career win, and his 1st at Talladega.
Segment Results
Two races into the Segment and Mike Williams is leading.
Standings update
New points leader this week. Miranda Brown finally moves up into the top spot. This is the first time Miranda has ever led the points!
BFNL Chase
Chris Faulk locks himself in with the win.
BFNL Survivor
Two eliminations this week. Dustin Draughon and Manish Nagpal.
Track Type Championships
Andrew Campbell leads the Superspeedways over Dean Paxton.
The Braswell Million
Talladeg was the 2nd Braswell Million race of the year. Dean Paxton leads Mike Williams and Tucker Lovelace.
Looking ahead...
Next week they head north to Dover for the Monster Mile.
Texas: Alan Ross returns to victory lane
April 15, 2024
Race Recap:
Race recap will be a little light this week, because I mostly watched The Masters. Texas has been the most hated track on the NASCAR circuit since the last reconfiguration a few years ago. The weird Turn 1-2, compounded with SMI putting the dreaded PJ1 compound on the track, made for awful one lane racing. Texas went from 2 races to 1 race and the All Star, to just 1 race, and fans have been vocal about needed to either drop Texas or reconfigure again. The betting money has been on Texas going the Atlanta drafting style track. But maybe there were some glimmers of sun behind the clouds this weekend. The Xfinity race was very good (as they often are), with an epic photo finish on Saturday. The Cup race looked a little better...maybe...if you squint? Maybe not. The outside lane was pretty awful still. Several guys wrecked running outside. Denny Hamlin spun trying to hold the outside on Chase Elliott. Ross Chastain got loose on the last lap and ultimately got wiped out by William Byron. There were a lot of incidents and cautions. Through it all, a more aggressive Chase Elliott worked his way up to the front. The 9 team had their usual awful qualifying, and for once got lucky on the pit cycle which gave him track position. Elliott actually timed a restart and made an aggressive move under leader Tyler Reddick, something Elliott fans have not been accustomed to seeing. Elliott even held off Hamlin and Chastain across mulitple late cautions and G/W/C's. The win ended Elliott's 42 race winless streak, the longest of his career after his got his first win. With the success of teammates Larson and Byron, Elliott was starting to hear murmurs from fans about his performance. He has been quietly very good this year, scoring more points than everyone not named Larson or Truex. The win locks him into the playoffs, and gives the team some big momentum as they enter a stretch of tracks where Elliott has won before (Talladega, Dover and Kansas). Interesting tidbit: Elliott's last 13 wins have come on 13 different tracks. Elliott haters who say he only wins on road courses punching air right now.
Race Rating: C
Race Finish: C+
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
Your pole winner this week was Greg Camden. Greg gets his 1st pole of 2024, his 5th career pole and his 1st at Texas.
Stage Results
Stage 1: Bob Francis, Mike Williams and Dean Paxton
Stage 2: Tim Hodge
Finally 2 repeat winners. Bob Francis and Mike Williams both win a stage this week, giving them 2 on the year.
Race Results
No tie this week. Alan Ross scores a much needed victory after a lackluster Segment 2. Alan's first win of 2024, his 6th career win, and first at Texas.
Segment Results
1 race into Segment 3, Alan Ross on top.
Standings update
No lead change this week. None of the points leaders had particularly strong efforts this week, but Greg Camden was able to stretch his lead a little bit over Miranda Brown and Dustin Reynolds. Thomas Tolbert took a tumble this week.
BFNL Chase
Alan Ross locks himself into the Chase.
BFNL Survivor
Two eliminations this week. Jason Hollingsworth and Keith Williams.
Track Type Championships
Bob Francis moves into 1st place on the Intermediates after 2 races, displacing Scott Trull.
The Braswell Million
This was not a Braswell Million race.
Looking ahead...
Next week is Talladega...anyone can win, anyone can wreck.
Martinsville: Greg Camden & Dustin Reynolds tie for the win
April 7, 2024
Race Recap:
Not sure if you folks heard this or not, but today was the 40th anniversary of Hendrick Motorsports first win, which came at Martinsville with Geoff Bodine driving. FOX only mentioned it about 20 times during the broadcast, in between interviews with Rick Hendick, Hendrick employees, and special segments about Hendrick Motorsports. FOX gave more air time to Hendrick Motorsports 1st win annivesary in one race than they gave NASCAR's 75th anniversary season.
I believe this was the 29th time Hendrick has won at Martinsville. The most by any organization at any track. Hendrick has never lost any organizationally important race that happened to occur at Martinsville. I knew they were going to win this race the minute they announced it. And wouldn't you know it, they finished 1st, 2nd and 3rd too? What are the odds?
The race sucked. The tire didn't wear. The drivers couldn't pass. The 1st Stage I think one car changed positions. 2nd Stage wasn't much better. Joey Logano took two tires and basically still drove away from everyone for a long time. On the last pitstop, William Byron was able to get around Chase Elliott and drove away. Once again there was a late caution. Byron and Elliott had 1 good corner before Byron drove away. Elliott dropped back to 3rd behind Larson. It was nice to see Elliott running up front for once.
Race Rating: C
Race Finish: C+
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
This week's pole goes to Mason Steele. Mason gets his 4th career pole, and his 1st at Martinsville
Stage Results
Stage 1: Brad Calhoun & Mike Williams
Stage 2: Bob Francis
We still do not have a repeat Stage winner this year.
Race Results
We had a tie this week. Greg Camden and Dustin Reynolds (they picked the same team) tied for the win this week. It was the 1st win of the season for both of them. Greg Camden joins the 10-Win club with his 1st win at Martinsville. Dustin Reynolds gets his 23rd career win, and his 5th at Martinsville, breaking a tie with Larry Braswell for the most Martinsville wins all-time.
Segment Results
Segment 2 winner was Miranda Brown. Miranda scored 2 wins and moved into the Top 5 in points during Segment 2. Can't beat that!
Standings update
Points Leader Change! Greg Camden overtakes Jason House for the points lead this week. Greg holds a slim lead over rival Thomas Tolbert, and Dustin Reynolds is only 68 points out of 1st. Greg holds the points lead for the first time since he clinched his 2020 Championship.
BFNL Chase
Greg Camden and Dustin Reynolds both lock into the Chase.
BFNL Survivor
Two eliminations this week. Last place finisher Brooks Deaton, and Tim Hodge drew the short straws.
Track Type Championships
Chris Burfield continues to lead on the short tracks, but Chris Faulk lurks. No more short tracks until North Wilkesboro.
The Braswell Million
This was not a Braswell Million race.
Looking ahead...
Next week they will go to the dreaded Texas Motor Speedway.
Richmond: Miranda Brown makes it 3 out of 4
April 1, 2024
Race Recap:
For the first time in a Cup race NASCAR started the race with a "wet weather" tire. Not a rain tire. The track was still a little damp, but NASCAR was able to get the race started mostly on-time instead of waiting another hour to fully dry the track. The results were positive. The racing was pretty good. Obviously better than the racing on the dry tire, which is kind of an issue. After 30 laps the track was dry and NASCAR made everyone switch back to the dry tire. It was the first of a series of questionable calls by NASCAR race control on the night. Non-competitive pit stops followed, because pit road wasn't dry. Why NASCAR didn't dry pit road instead of the track, knowing they were going to use the wet tire, I have no idea.
The racing on the dry tire was much more sedate. Passing ceased. The only good thing going in the 2nd Segment was two distinct pit strategies which switched up the leaders a little bit, and allowed some passing. Kyle Busch ever so lovingly kissed the outside wall and NASCAR pissed their pants by throwing a caution. Ruining all the strategy. The racing after that was a dull affair. No passing. Typical Richmond. Drivers that were running up front got mired back in mid-pack and couldn't advance. Martin Truex Jr. looked like he was crusing to a win, when Kyle Larson, world's greatest driver, got loose and was spun by Bubba Wallace. The resulting caution with 2 laps to go made everyone pit. Denny Hamlin's crew got him out first.
Denny proceeded to blatantly jump the final restart, used up Truex a little bit in Turn 1, and sending Truex into a blind rage. Truex doored Larson down the backstretch even though he had done nothing to him. Larson put him in the wall off 4, and they made more contact after the flag. NASCAR turned a blind eye to Hamlin jumping the restart. One has to wonder if a driver who was not driving a Toyota, in the Toyota Owners 400 would have been given the same leeway. Chase Elliott got his first Top 5 since Darlington last fall, which is pretty depressing. Overall it was a pretty dissapointing race, and finish. The short track package remains broken. Richmond is not an interesting race. And adding Iowa to the schedule, which is basically slightly bigger and flatter Richmond, seems like more and more of a mistake.
Race Rating: D
Race Finish: C+
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
Your pole winner this week was Tim Laney. Tim gets his 1st pole of 2024, his 13th career pole, and his 2nd at Richmond.
Stage Results
Stage 1: Tim Laney
Stage 2: Larry Braswell
We still do not have a repeat Stage winner this year.
Race Results
Well Miranda couldn't get 3 straight, but she made it 3 out of 4 this week with another win. Miranda Brown is on a heater to be sure. Miranda now has more wins this season than anyone else have Top 5's. This was her 4th career win, and her 1st at Richmond.
Segment Results
After 3 races, Miranda has the lead ahead of Chris Burfield, Larry Braswell and Brandon Braswell.
Standings update
Still no change for the lead this week, but next week looks ripe. Jason House has a scant lead over red hot Miranda Brown. Chris Burfield, Thomas Tolbert and Larry Braswell are within striking distance. And don't sleep on Keith Williams who is resurgent this year!
BFNL Chase
Miranda was already locked into The Chase, so no clinches.
BFNL Survivor
Tucker Lovelace gets eliminated this week, along with Joey Cochran.
Track Type Championships
Chris Burfield leads the short tracks, but Miranda is not far behind.
The Braswell Million
This was not a Braswell Million race.
Looking ahead...
Next weekend will be Martinsville, the final race for Segment 2, and the last short track race for a little while.
COTA: The Last Shall Be First. Stuart Adkins wins at COTA
March 24, 2024
Race Recap:
If you put a NASCAR race on an F1 track, you're going to get an F1 race. No natural cautions this week, only the stage breaks. William Byron led most of the race, when he wasn't pitting due to strategy, and it was not a particularly interesting race. A track that size, and that technical inevitably leads to a strung out field. Yes, Christoper Bell make a valiant charge at the end of the race, but he never really go close enough to make it interesting. And no, I did not want a repeat of the stupidity that was the end of last year's COTA race. What's the solution? Well, I'm not convinced this is a great track for NASCAR. But if NASCAR insists on running here, it comes down to tire wear once again. Goodyear brought another tire that just did not wear. If these guys don't have to manage tires, it's really not that compelling. Last week was probably a little too extreme, but there has to be a happy medium.
Race Rating: C
Race Finish: C+
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
This week's pole winner was Tucker Lovelace. Tucker gets his 1st pole of 2024, his 3rd career pole, and his 2nd at COTA. Tucker is the first repeat pole winner at COTA.
Stage Results
Stage 1: Stuart Adkins
Stage 2: Adam English
We still do not have a repeat Stage winner this year.
Race Results
Miranda could not make it 3 in a row. Stuart Adkins comes out of darkness and scoops up a victory. This was Stuart's first career BFNL win, in his 2nd season. Congratulations, Stuart! Andrew Brown finished 2nd this week. Not sure if this has happened before, where the top 2 finishers were the bottom 2 in points.
Segment Results
After 2 races, Chris Burfield has scored the most points in this segment.
Standings update
No lead change this week, Jason House holds on to the top spot, but Thomas Tolbert is lurking.
BFNL Chase
Stuart's win locks him into the Chase.
BFNL Survivor
Dean Paxton and Nick Prytula were eliminated. I had an error in my spreadsheet last week, and I erroneously had Tucker Lovelace as the eliminated. It was actually Stuart Adkins. I have fixed the Survivor page.
Track Type Championships
1st race on the Road Courses, so Stuart on top.
The Braswell Million
This was not a Braswell Million race.
Looking ahead...
Next weekend is Easter. The Cup race will be at Richmond.
Bristol Recap: Miranda Brown makes it two in a row
March 17, 2024
Race Recap:
Short tracks are back? At least for one week. Today's race at Bristol was one of the strangest races we have seen in a long time. Goodyear brought a softer tire this week, and tire wear was extreme to say the least. On the plus side, we side passing. A lot of passing. There was more than 50 lead changes today. That's the most ever at Bristol...or any short track. Ever. In the history of the sport. That's a wow moment. Now the were some drawbacks, ha. There were a lot of tire failures. Not catastrophic failures, but the tires were going flat after 40-50 laps depending on how hard you ran. The drivers who were best at managing tires (big surprise the Champions and veterans) ended up with good runs in the end. Ty Gibbs led a lot of laps early in the race, and looked like he was going to get his first win. However, he wasn't able to take care of his tires like Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. Hamlin and Truex had a good battle over the last 100 laps, trying not to burn off the tires and keeep the other at bay. In the end, Hamlin took home the win. Chase Elliott finally got a Top 10 finish, despite running outside the top 25 most of the day.
Race Rating: B
Race Finish: B+
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
The pole winner this week as Jeremy Steele. Jeremy gets his 1st pole of 2024, his 44th career pole (2nd all-time), and his 4th at Bristol (1st all-time).
Stage Results
Stage 1: Randy Thompson
Stage 2: Miranda Brown
Randy and Miranda win the Stages this week. We still do not have a repeat Stage winner this year.
Race Results
Miranda Brown enjoyed winning last week so much she decided to do it again this week. Andrew Brown in shambles. Miranda goes back to back for the first time in her BFNL career. She could tie the all-time record next week at COTA if she makes it 3 straight wins. Miranda now has 2 wins this year, becoming our first repeat winner of the season. 3rd career win.
Segment Results
Bristol was the first race of the Segment, which means Miranda is the leader.
Standings update
Points lead change! Jason House moves into the top spot for the first time ever. He replaces fellow Trane Technologies associate Michael Klaus at the top of the standings. Jason has been a model of consistency this year, with 4 Top 10 finishes. He is still looking for that elusive first win.
BFNL Chase
Since Miranda has already won a race, no one was locked into The Chase this week.
BFNL Survivor
1 elimination this week. Tucker Lovelace with the rare stumble, and he fell hard.
Track Type Championships
Bristol goes into the Short Track category. Chris Burfield moves into the Top spot.
The Braswell Million
This was not a Braswell Million race.
Looking ahead...
Next week we get the first road course race of the year at Circuit of the America's (COTA). Last year's finish was an absolute disaster, hopefully this year will be better.
Phoenix Recap: Miranda Brown wins out west
March 10, 2024
Race Recap:
This week was the first race with the "new and improved" short track package. Stop me if you have heard this one before. Spirits were high during the off season testing, but all positivity was quickly stamped out after the practice session on Friday. Tyler Reddick said the package was worse. Chase Elliott remarked that he forgot they had a new package this week, and could not tell any difference. So needless to say, going into Sunday the skeptics were ready to pounce. The race looked just about like every other Phoenix race I've ever watched. It wasn't particularly exciting at any point. Restarts were okay, for about 2 laps and then they settled in and that was it.
Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin did most of the dominating early. It was an all Toyota show. Ty Gibbs and Martin Truex Jr. also took turns leading. In the end, a caution with about 100 laps to go split the field. Most of the guys that had been running up front all day pitted, while a lot of guys stayed out. Chase Elliott, and William Byron who had been in the top 10 all day were among the pitters. They never advanced thru the field the rest of the race. Reddick was able to gain a few spots, but got bogged down. Christopher Bell was the only car that could really make any moves. He drove through the field and passed Truex for the lead, and never looked back. There was not another caution to reset the deck.
The next 4 races will have all 3 of the real short tracks. I don't consider Phoenix to be one. If we don't see any improvement at Bristol, Richmond or Martinsville, it will likely be another boring season on the short tracks.
Race Rating: C-
Race Finish: D+
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
Your pole winner this week was Miranda Brown. Miranda gets her 1st pole of 2024, her 3rd career pole and first at Phoenix.
Stage Results
Stage 1: Chris Faulk
Stage 2: Lauren Hodge
Chris get his 1st stage win of 2024 (and his 19th career, 3rd all-time), 2nd at Phoenix. Lauren Hodge gets her 1st ever Stage win.
Race Results
The winner this week was Miranda Brown. This was her 1st win of the season, and her 2nd win ever.
Segment Results
Phoenix was the last race of Segment 1, and your winner was Manish Nagpal.
Standings update
No lead change this week, but Michael Klaus holds the lead by a mini-truck length over Thomas Tolbert.
BFNL Chase
Miranda Brown's win locks her in.
BFNL Survivor
2 eliminations this week. Last place Chris Hodge and Jason House join the eliminations.
Track Type Championships
Phoenix is part of our "Short Track" Championship, and Thomas Tolbert holds a 243 point lead.
The Braswell Million
This was not a Braswell Million race.
Looking ahead...
Back to Bristol next weeken for the 1st race in Segment 2. No dirt this year.
Las Vegas Recap: Scott Trull brings us back to normal with a win at Las Vegas
March 3, 2024
Race Recap:
After last week's great race and incredible finish, you had to figure this week would be a bit of coming back down to earth. On Saturday the Formula 1 season kicked off, and Verstappen won the race by 20+ seconds, which kicked off a fire storm of conversation on the internet about how boring F1 was, and how all the goodwill they had earned from "Drive to Survive" was going to be squanderd. It was interesting to watch and read. There was a lot of animosity between NASCAR and F1 fans. I personally thought the NASCAR fans were a little chesty about how awesome NASCAR is, given we have a car that really doesn't provide interesting racing on half of the schedule.
Kyle Larson dominated most of the race this week, which should come as no surprise. Hendrick has dominated Las Vegas of late. Larson swept both stages, and Tyler Reddick finished 2nd both times. The end of the race came down to Reddick chasing Larson, which we have seen a couple of times before. All three times Larson has come out on top. Larson is very good at blocking, and moving his car so that the air is well placed to kill the 2nd place cars momentum. It's a fact of this car, but it's frustrating to see. You want to see two guys drive their cars to the best of their ability, not one guy just getting in the way by driving in his mirror.
Race Rating: C
Race Finish: B-
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
This week's pole winner was Roger Harris. Roger gets his 1st pole of 2024, his 15th career pole, and his 1st at Las Vegas.
Stage Results
Stage 1: Michael Klaus
Stage 2: Keith Williams
Keith and Michael get their 1st Stage wins of 2024. Michael gets his 1st ever Stage win. Keith earns his 8th (1st at Vegas).
Race Results
Pretty good fight for the win this week. Scott Trull takes home the vicory. This was Scott's 5th career win, and 1st at Las Vegas.
Segment Results
Jason House still leads, but Manish Nagpal and Michael Klaus are not too far behind.
Standings update
Lead change this week, and first time points leader! Michael Klaus moves into the top spot for the first time ever. Not surprising for such an well known "NASCAR knower" and "Kentucky" Busch fan.
BFNL Chase
Scott Trull locks himself in with the win.
BFNL Survivor
2 eliminations this week. Last place Tiffany Steele, and Gary Bolen join the eliminations.
Track Type Championships
Scott Trull leads the "Intermediates" after 1 race.
The Braswell Million
This was not a Braswell Million race.
Looking ahead...
Reality really sinks in next Sunday at Phoenix. Last race for Segment 1.
Atlanta Recap: Manish Nagpal wins a nail bitter at Atlanta!
February 25, 2024
Race Recap:
No weather issues this weekend! After watching the Xfinity race on Saturday, there was a lot of doom and gloom about the new Atlanta track losing it's "superspeedway" qualities. Today's race proved those doubters very wrong. Yes, there was a lot of carnage. Atlanta shaw 16 drivers caught up in a lap 2 wreck. The largest wreck in track history. But there was good racing all afternoon and into the evening. Kyle Busch was strong early, but so was Michael McDowell. Surprisingly, Todd Gilliland led the most laps during the race, and looked like was going to be a real contender until he got caught up in a late wreck.
We saw legimate 4-wide racing for a couple laps on a 1.5 mile speedway. And they didn't immediately wreck. Well, they did the 2nd time they tried it, but it was still amazing to see. Ryan Blaney was in control after the last restart, playing both lanes, but it was only a matter of time until they got a run on him. Kyle Busch made his move down the backstretch, going outside Blaney. The momentum change allowed Daniel Saurez to get outside of Busch. The trio ran 3-wide into turn 3 and all the way to the finish line. With no one behind them to give anyone the advantage, it was a drag race. Saurez nipped Blaney at the line by 0.003 seconds. The 3rd closest finish in NASCAR history. Busch was in the middle of the 3-wide photo finish, a scant 0.009 behind.
It will go down in NASCAR history as one of the greatest finishes in NASCAR history. 3-wide to the line. And it was clean. No one trying to spin anyone. No side drafting. Just hammer down. It was great.
Now the real question is what will Speedway Motorsports Inc. do? Texas Motorspeedway is rightfully ridiculed for being the worst track on the circuit. It was ruined by a bad reconfig and PJ1 applications that made the track almost unraceable. Atlanta is obviously a success. Look at the stands. Look at the finishes. Should SMI reconfigure Texas to be similar to Atlanta? Does NASCAR need another "Drafting Track"?
Race Rating: A
Race Finish: A++
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Atlanta
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
Your pole winner this week was Alan Ross. Alan picks up his 2nd pole of the year, his 7th career, and 1st at Atlanta.
Stage Results
Stage 1: Manish Nagpal
Stage 2: Jason House
Manish wins his 4th career stage at Atlanta, the most all-time at the track.
Race Results
Manish Nagpal scores the win this week, holding off Justin Braswell by 1 point! This was Manish's 1st win of 2024, his 9th career win, and his 1st at Atlanta.
Segment Results
Jason House takes the lead in Segment 1, over Justin Braswell and Alan Ross.
Standings update
First points lead of the season. Alan Ross moves into the top spot after a brutal race for Thomas Tolbert.
BFNL Chase
Manish Nagpal locks himself in with the win.
BFNL Survivor
2 eliminations this week. Lauren Hodge finishes last, and Brad Calhoun was 2nd to last.
Track Type Championships
Jason House takes the lead in the "Superspeedway" category.
The Braswell Million
This was not a Braswell Million race.
Looking ahead...
On to Las Vegas with a lot of positive momentum.
Daytona 500 Recap: Tucker Lovelace wins his 1st Daytona 500 on Monday night
February 20, 2024
Race Recap:
NASCAR is now 2 for 2 on race weekends impacted by weather. Saturday and Sunday were complete wash outs, so NASCAR was forced to move their premere event to Monday afternoon at 4:30pm. The crowd was very impressive for a rain delayed race, and the fans were treated to what was probably the best Gen 7 drafting race we have seen. The 3rd line developed and was usable from time to time. It was still pretty hard to pass. You really cannot just pull out of line and make a move without a lot of help in this car. So you can't really get any hero moves.
Chase Elliott won the 1st stage, holding off his teammate Kyle Larson. Ryan Blaney won the 2nd stage. The racing at the end of the stages was pretty orderly and nice. There was a small "big-one" triggered by an aggressive push from Brad Keselowski that took out a few mid-pack runners. The real big one came late in the race, and took out 22 drivers, including most of the guys that had been up front early and often. Logano, Blaney, Busch and Keselowski were wiped out. This wreck was started by an overly aggressive push by Alex Bowman on Hendrick teammate William Byron. Byron right reared Keselowski and the carnage was on.
So often the guy that starts the big wreck gets no damage, and this was the case for Byron and Bowman. The final caution of the night came right as the leaders took the white flag. Ross Chastain made a move to go for the win and bumped Austin Cindric causing him to spin. Byron was ahead of Bowman at the time of caution and was declared the winner. NASCAR and Fox once again failed the transparency test, making no effort to sync up the video and show a conclusive angle of Byron being ahead of Bowman. NASCAR issued a picture on social media well after the race, which was not enough to satisfy fans.
Race Rating: B
Race Finish: D-
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Daytona 500
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
The Daytona 500 pole winner was Mike Williams. Mike gets his 1st pole of 2024, and his 9th career pole (1st at Daytona)
Stage Results
Stage 1: Scott Trull
Stage 2: Andrew Campbell
Scott and Andrew win the 1st stages of 2024. Andrew gets his first even Stage win.
Race Results
Diehard William Byron fan, Tucker Lovelace, rode the Hendrick train to victory lane. Tucker gets his 1st win of 2024. This was Tucker's 3rd career win, and his first Prestiege even win.
Segment Results
The Daytona 500 is the first race of Segment 1, so Tucker Lovelace has the early lead here.
Standings update
Thomas Tolbert got his 2nd straight top 10 finish and retains the points lead for the 2nd straight week. Greg Camden moves up to 2nd place, with Daytona 500 winner Tucker Lovelace in 3rd now. Alan Ross and Kevin Steele (blast from the past) round out the Top 5.
BFNL Chase
Tucker Lovelace joins Thomas Tolbert as players locked into the BFNL Chase.
BFNL Survivor
2 eliminations this week. Andrew Brown and John Regan tied for last place this week, and were both eliminated. 50 players remain.
Track Type Championships
Daytona is the first race in the "Super Speedway" class. Tucker Lovelace takes the early lead.
The Braswell Million
The Daytona 500 is the 1st race in the Braswell Million game. Tucker takes the early lead.
Looking ahead...
This week NASCAR stays on the drafting tracks with a race at Atlanta. Hopefully the weather is better this week.
The Clash at the Coliseum Recap: Thomas Tolbert wins the Clash a day early
February 4, 2024
Race Recap:
NASCAR was faced with a horrible weather forecast for Sunday, and the next 3 days after. Instead of sitting around in California for 3 or 4 days waiting on the track to dry, NASCAR made the unprecedented decision to move the race up a day early and run it Saturday night. (It probably should have been on Saturday night anyway, but hey). The heat races and the Last Chance Qualifier were canceled, and NASCAR scheduled 3 practice sessions, the last of which would serve as qualifying. This actually made practice/qualifying high stakes, because if you didn't get in the top 22 on speed, you didn't have a chance to get in the race otherwise. Some pretty big names missed the race including Christopher Bell (which was shocking considering how strong the rest of the Gibbs cars were).
The actual race was pretty clean compared to the previous two interations. Ty Gibbs clearly had the best car and he led most of the race. The inevitible late race restarts came, and Gibbs rightfully got shoved out of the way. Unfortunately, Denny Hamlin was able to take advantage and he won his 4th Clash. Joey Logano and Ty Gibbs had some beef after the race. Apparently Larson and Bubba had some displeasure as well. Fox did a horrible job of covering the action on the track. The zoomed in cameras missed so much. Chase Elliott was knocked out of the race due to a broken suspension and Fox basically had no angle of the contact. It's a quarter mile track inside a football stadium. How can you miss literally anything? Kevin Harvick joined Mike Joy and Clint Bowyer in the booth for this year. Harvick was pretty decent. He's not nearly as clownish as Bowyer. I can do without the constant barbing back and forth between the two. If feels forced. Maybe they will smooth it out as the season goes along.
Race Rating: C+
Race Finish: C
Best Race of the Year Tracker: The Clash
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
The first pole of the season goes to Alan Ross. This was Alan's 6th career pole, and his 1st at The Clash.
Stage Results
Stage 1: n/a
Stage 2: n/a
No Stages this week.
Race Results
This year's winner of The Clash was Thomas Tolbert. Thomas gets his 1st Clash win, his 25th career win (9th all-time), and his 6th short track win (2nd all-time). Nice way to open the season for the former champ. Michael Klaus and Chris Burfield round out the podium this week. Clearly watching Tim Hodge take home the championship last year has motivated Thomas to rededicate himself in pursuit of a 2nd Championship.
Segment Results
The Clash is a solo event, and not part of the 1st Segment.
Standings update
The current standings look remarkably like the race results this week. Thomas Tolber is the poinst leader for the first time since 2019. This is the 20th week Thomas has been the points leader, breaking a tie with Tim Laney for 13th all-time. He now sets his sights on Jason Hollingsworth who is next on the list with 22 weeks.
BFNL Chase
Thomas Tolbert becomes the 1st person to lock himself into the BFNL Chase with his win.
BFNL Survivor
No eliminations this week. The Clash and the All Star race are not part of the Survivor game since they do not include full 36 car fields.
Track Type Championships
The Clash is the first race on the Short Track circuit this year. Thomas Tolbert takes the early lead.
Looking ahead...
The 26th season of BFNL is underway. Next week is the Super Bowl so no racing. But in two weeks we are back with Segment 1 and the Daytona 500. I will post driver values for Segment 1 this week. Good luck to everyone!
Phoenix Recap: Danny Faulk wins the race, but Tim Hodge squeaks out a tight championship battle!
November 5, 2023
Race Recap:
Ryan Blaney made it 2 straight Championships for Ford, and Penske, holding off Kyle Larson. Christopher Bell broke a brake rotor early, making it a 3-man race for the title. Blaney looked strong for most of the race, after Byron won Stage 1. Blaney looked like he might be on the verge of a meltdown, following Ross Chastain, who wasn't really doing anything wrong, per se, but he was definintely not moving over for the Championship guys. Blaney got beaten off pit road by Larson on the final pit stop, and it looked like it would be a repeat of 2021. However, Blaney was able to clear some of the other contenders, and eventually work his way around Larson. I was suprised that Larson mostly raced him clean. Today was Kevin Harvicks final Cup race. This means there are no active drivers that ever raced in the "Winston Cup" era.
Race Rating: C
Race Finish: B
Best Race of the Year Tracker: Kansas I
League Recap:
Qualifying Results
The final pole of 2023 goes to Joey Cochran, giving him 3 on the year, and the most poles of the season, giving him his 1st David Pearson Award for Most Poles. This was Joey's 32nd career pole, and his 3rd at Phoenix.
Stage Results
Stage 1: Joey Cochran (2)
Stage 2: Chris Hodge (1)
Elisabeth Draughon wins the Martin Truex Jr. Award for Most Stage wins this year!
Race Results
The final winner of 2023 was Danny Faulk. Danny gets his 2nd win of the year, his lucky 13th career win, and his 1st at Phoenix. Brittany Hooper and Elisabeth Draughon tie for the most wins this year, and both earn their 1st Richard Petty Award.
Segment Results
The final segment goes to Elisabeth Draughon. Her first Segment win. We had had 9 different Segment winners this year.
Standings update
Final Update, and we have one last lead change! Tim Hodge was steady all weekend, and barely edged out Tucker Lovelace for the Championship. Tim's 31 point margin of victory is the 2nd closest in the 25 year history of the league. Tucker gets bit by the rookie jinx (no rookie has ever won the Championship, and fnishes 2nd place like Alan Ross did last year, and Bryan Lowder did in 2002. Shawn White comes in 3rd place for the 2nd time in his career. Former Champ Greg Camden had the most Top 5's this year (Dale Earnhardt Award), and finished 4th place. Elisabeth Draughon brings home a very impressive 5th place. Greg and Tucker tied for the Jeff Gordon Award (Most Top 10s).
Looking ahead...
That is it for 2023. What a great season. Truly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone that played this year, and in all of the previous 24 seasons. I cannot believe we have been doing this for 25 years. I still love competing with everyone week after week, and I hope you do too. I hope everyone has a nice Thanksgiving and Christmas. Enjoy a couple months off, because Daytona will be here before you know it!
