Nascar - Cup and Trucks At Micigan and Nationwide at Mid-Ohio.

[GA_Boater]

With only four races left before the Chase, things are getting tight in the quest to move up to the top 16 in points or win a race. There have been 12 winners who have clinched a spot and four openings left.

The weekend kicks off with Cup practice, two Truck practices and culminating in Cup qualifying late tomorrow. Saturday morning is a busy one. Cup starts practice at 8:30 AM, followed by Truck qualifying, Cup Happy Hour (actually 55 minutes) and Trucks start the Careers for Veterans 200 at 12:30 PM.

The Cup Pure Michigan 400 race starts at 1:18 PM on Sunday. There is a change in the line up, Jeff Burton is driving the 14 for Stewart who is sitting out a second race.

N-Wide is on a road course, Mid-Ohio, for the second time in a week. Friday has two practices, Saturday has qualifying and the Children's Hospital 200 at 2:45PM. There will be plenty of overlap in practices, qualifying and possibly the Truck and N-Wide race.

Standings
RK	DRIVER	POINTS	MONEY	WINS	POLES	TOP 5	TOP 10
1	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	773	$4,561,089	3	0	10	15
2	Brad Keselowski	696	$4,890,795	3	3	9	10
3	Jimmie Johnson	650	$4,510,201	3	1	6	12
4	Jeff Gordon	769	$4,666,596	2	0	7	15
5	Joey Logano	671	$4,147,686	2	1	8	12
6	Carl Edwards	658	$3,369,747	2	1	5	9
7	Kevin Harvick	645	$4,216,650	2	4	6	11
8	Kyle Busch	615	$4,146,468	1	2	6	9
9	Denny Hamlin	552	$3,969,926	1	1	5	9
10	Aric Almirola	532	$3,366,127	1	0	2	4
11	Kurt Busch	529	$2,717,574	1	0	5	5
12	AJ Allmendinger	525	$2,892,698	1	0	2	4
13	Matt Kenseth	703	$4,192,805	0	1	8	14
14	Ryan Newman	645	$2,789,604	0	0	2	8
15	Kyle Larson	635	$3,275,280	0	1	5	10
16	Clint Bowyer	634	$3,427,598	0	0	3	9
*** Chase for the Sprint Cup cut-off ***
17	Greg Biffle	626	$3,581,489	0	0	3	7
18	Kasey Kahne	622	$2,948,164	0	0	2	9
19	Austin Dillon	616	$3,500,672	0	2	1	3
20	Marcos Ambrose	584	$3,131,540	0	0	3	5
21	Paul Menard	574	$3,354,713	0	0	3	9

The Biff and Kahne are still on the outside looking in. Bowyer is on the bubble, Larson is only one point ahead of Biffle. Pucker time!

News

The biggest news is Tony Stewart sitting out the second race following the unfortunate events of last Saturday. Jeff Burton is back in saddle for this race and there is no word on when Smoke is returning. The new Chase rules stipulate that to be Chase eligible, a driver has to qualify or race in each of the 26 pre-Chase races. By skipping these races, Nascar must waive that requirement for Stewart to contend for the Chase. No word from Nascar.

Some sponsorship changes for next year - Jeff Gordon/Hendricks has spirited the 3M sponsorship from Biffle/Roush. The agreement covers 2015, 2016 and 2017. Mmmm, is Gordon really thinking about retirement? Roush is supposed to have a replacement sponsor for the Biff.

The Race Team Alliance (RTA) has added eight new teams, covering 37 full-time entries. Furniture Row out of Denver hasn't joined, in fact all the member teams are North and South Carolina based.

Kevin Harvick's crew chief Rodney Childers has been hit with a penalty of $25,000 for the bean bag incident at Watkins Glen.

Lastly - A week old, the Sprint/T-Mobile merger is dead. So there is no chance for a T-Mobile Cup or Sprint/T-Mobile Cup or T-Mobile/Sprint Cup series. I liked the Winston Cup. Nextel Cup, not so much.​

Fantasy Live

Sam60 won the :first: trophy at The Glen, for back to back wins. Congrats, Sam. 64osby is holding on to the overall lead after 22 races. Who knows how this will play out?

Y'all make your picks. Don't forget to grab Smoke for this race. :eyebrows:​

 

[WIMUSKY]

Here's the latest rule about leaving their cars after an incident for all of NASCAR series:

• NASCAR issues rule to keep drivers in cars: In its continued efforts to evolve the safety of its sport, NASCAR announced Friday that it will add a rule that addresses on-track incidents as part of its race procedures. The rule, listed as Section 9-16, will be an addendum to the NASCAR rule book and will apply to all of its racing series, effective immediately.
  
  Section 9-16 On-Track Incident Procedure
  During an Event, if a racecar is involved in an on-track incident and/or is stopped on or near the racing surface and unable to continue to make forward progress, unless extenuating emergency conditions exist with the racecar (i.e. fire, smoke in cockpit, etc.) the driver should take the following steps:
  · Shut off electrical power and, if driver is uninjured, lower window net
  · Do not loosen, disconnect or remove any driver personal safety equipment until directed to do so by safety personnel or a NASCAR/Track Official
  · After being directed to exit the racecar, the driver should proceed to either the ambulance, other vehicle, or as otherwise directed by safety personnel or a NASCAR/Track Official
  · At no time should a driver or crew member(s) approach any portion of the racing surface or apron
  · At no time should a driver or crew member(s) approach another moving vehicle
  All vehicles not involved in the incident or that are able to continue afterwards should slow down to a cautious speed as outlined in Section 10-4 (Yellow Flag), use extreme care as they approach an incident scene, and follow any directions given by safety personnel or NASCAR/Track Officials. Cars in line behind the safety car should not weave or otherwise stray from the line in the vicinity of the incident.
  
  Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president of competition and racing development, says the rule is "part of the evolution of NASCAR's rules and regulations."
  "Throughout the history of our sport, NASCAR has reviewed and analyzed situations and occurrences that take place not just in NASCAR racing but also throughout all motorsports and other sports," said Pemberton. "When we believe we can do something to make our sport safer and better for the competitors and others involved in the competition environment, we react quickly. Safety always has been priority number one at NASCAR."
  As with other behavioral infractions, NASCAR will handle each instance separately when assessing potential penalties.(NASCAR)(8-15-2014)

 

[GA_Boater]

We'll call that the Smoke rule. It's about time. If Juan Pablo can run into a jet dryer during a caution, anything can happen.

 

[GA_Boater]

I almost forgot to post the qualifying results:

1. Gordon with a new track record, 206,558 - 34.857 seconds. His second pole in a row and in 2014.
2. Logano
3. Edwards
4. Vickers
5. Keso

Only 43 cars are entered, so no go homes.

Unconfirmed but highly likely - Gibbs will announce next week that Carl Edwards is his fourth driver for next season.

 

[sam60]

Nationwide Mid-Ohio on ESPN....

 

[GA_Boater]

Johnny Sauter won the truck race at Michigan. This is the first race The Twerp entered this year that he didn't win. And a panel from his truck was confiscated, so foe the third time in five races a Busch truck has failed post-race inspection. At Mid-Ohio, the Nationwide race was won by Chris Buescher for his first big national series win.

During practice for the Cup race, Ryan Truex hit the wall hard and sustained a concussion. He's out of tomorrows race and JJ Yeley will fill in tomorrow. Truex also stayed in his car per the new Smoke rule.

 

[FlaCowboy]

Looks like the weather might play a role in todays race. I got my picks in however I will be at my grand daughters birthday party so I will check in for the results later.
Have a Good day folks...!!!

 

[GA_Boater]

Looks like the weather might play a role in todays race. I got my picks in however I will be at my grand daughters birthday party so I will check in for the results later.
Have a Good day folks...!!!

Watch out for cake and ice cream in turn 4! . Have fun, Cowboy. :smile:

 

[sam60]

Hey Fla, enjoy and happy birthday to your Granddaughter. We had 2 Grandson's birthdays here in the last week, good times. :joyous:

 

[GA_Boater]

Overcast, chance of rain. It the green flag!

 

[GA_Boater]

Logano shoots to the lead.

 

[GA_Boater]

First caution caused by The Twerp, lap 4. To the garage.

 

[WIMUSKY]

Watching it off and on........ Sounds like Jimmie had more problems?

 

[GA_Boater]

JJ ended up being shiftless. The shifter broke off and the crew replaced the whole thing. But he got some penalties for too many over the wall and something else.

 

[WIMUSKY]

He's had a terrible handful of races, at least. But, he'll be right there at the Chase. 29 to go, should start getting interesting......

 

[GA_Boater]

If they can stop with the yellows. 3 in the last 16 laps.

 

[GA_Boater]

Gordon got another good restart!

 

[sam60]

If the #48 was using real vise grips as a shfter, they would say DeWitt, Nebraska in the cast.

 

[GA_Boater]

Gordon wins #3 of the season, Harvick 2nd. Unofficially 64osby cleaned up in Fantasy Live with a 60 point victory. FlaCowboy was about 70 points behind.

 

[GA_Boater]

It looks like JJ and Newman are having words.