Nascar 2018 Race #17 - Welcome Back NBC - Chicagoland ********* 400

[GA_Boater]

NBC kicks off their chunk of the 2018 season with Cup, X-Men and Truck racing from Chicago in the Cup ********* 400, X-Men ********* 300 and Truck ********* 225 races.

The Cup entry list is 39 teams this week. Weather looks good - Except for the Cup race on Sunday. Rain may rear it's ugly head. :blue: Too bad Joliet Prison is closed - Cheaters could bunk with Jake Blues until Elwood shows up to spring them.

From MRN, the schedule;

Chicagoland Schedule of Events

All Times Eastern (Local Time 1-Hour Behind)

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Thursday, June 28
ARCA Final Practice: 3:00 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
Camping World Truck Series First Practice: 5:30 p.m.-6:20 p.m.
ARCA Qualifying: 6:35 p.m.
Camping World Truck Series Final Practice: 7:35 p.m.-8:25 p.m.

ARCA Scott 150: 9:00 p.m.

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Friday, June 29
Xfinity Series First Practice: 4:35 p.m.-5:20 p.m. (NBCSN)
Camping World Truck Series Qualifying: 5:40 p.m. (FS2)
Xfinity Series Final Practice: 7:35 p.m.-8:20 p.m. (NBCSN)

Camping World Truck Series *******’s 225: 9:00 p.m. (MRN/FS1)

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Saturday, June 30
Monster Energy Cup Series First Practice: 11:30 a.m.-12:20 p.m. (MRN/NBCSN)
Xfinity Series Qualifying: 12:40 p.m. (NBCSN)
Monster Energy Cup Series Final Practice: 2:00 p.m.-2:50 p.m. (MRN/NBCSN)

Xfinity Series *******’s 300: 3:30 p.m. (MRN/NBCSN)

Monster Energy Cup Series Cup Series Qualifying: 7:05 p.m. (MRN/NBCSN)

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Sunday, July 1

TV Pre-Race: 2:00 p.m. – Countdown to Green (NBCSN)
Monster Energy Cup Series *******’s 400: 2:30 p.m. (MRN/NBCSN)

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News and Notes

• The selling of Nascar - Rumors abound with the sale pegged at 40-49%, so the France family keeps control. Possible suitors are Comcast and Geely, a Chinese automaker. What's worse? Harleys made in Thailand, China (they are) and Europe or Chinese buying most of Nascar?
• Now that Fox is done for the year, it's been announced that Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Gordon are expected to return next year. Gordon's deal expires at the end of the year, but is close to re-igning. No word on Mikey Waltrip.
• Fox viewership for the 1st part of the season averaged 2.54M/race compared to 3.17M last year.
• Dale Jr. will be the NBC broadcast booth and may help NBC TV ratings. Nascar needs all the help it can get.
• Can't find any penalty report for Sonoma. Was it a clean race?
• TV ratings - 1.6 vs 1.9 last year. UPDATED - 1.4, 2.0 last year and 2.4 in 2016.

iBoats Fantasy Live

• Da Rowdy Gambler got his first win of the year at Sonoma. Congrats, Gambler.
• FlaCowboy is starting to run away in the iFL league. He had a good week and now leads Trackchick Stars by 275 points.
• Pole picks lock at 5:05 on Saturday. That's 2 hours before qualifying and I think they forgot to turn all the clocks forward when the time changed. Pick early!

Humpty_Boater

 

[WIMUSKY]

Watching trucks since it's 84 as we speak and u can cut the air with a knife. A little nutty 4 us... No storms around...

Starting the final stage...

 

[WIMUSKY]

Brett Mofitt for the win. John Nemechek's motor gave up on the last lap.

Temp dropped all the way down to 83.....

 

[GA_Boater]

I didn't watch, listen or do anything with the Truck race. I guess The Twerp forgot too. LOL

 

[WIMUSKY]

With the Twerp out that made it a good reason to watch....lol

 

[GA_Boater]

With the Twerp out that made it a good reason to watch....lol

That's true. LOL

The X-Race today has a few BuschWhackers, but no Twerp that I can find in the entry list. Maybe he used up all his chances already? Kinda doubtful, but who knows?

I saw Nascar is talking about cutting BuschWhacking down to less races, maybe 7 or 5 max. I fear it's only talk.

iFL has changed the Cup pole cut-off time to 6:55, only 10 minutes before Q'ing begins. Two Cup practices today, with qualifying at 7:05, after the X-Race

 

[GA_Boater]

The 1st Cup practice begins at 11:30 and marks the start of Dale Jr's new career as a NBC Cup race analyst. Everything NBC is on NBCSN this weekend.

 

[GA_Boater]

1st Cup practice just wrapped up and the Top 5 were Blaney, Johnson, Bowman, Elliott and Suarez.

 

[GA_Boater]

Final Cup practice Top 5 - Keso, Truex, Joey, The Twerp and Almirola.

6:55 is the end of pole picking.

 

[Old Ironmaker]

Guys I have tried to follow Nascar this year mainly because of Georgia Boaters threads. I even went to a local track I can hear from my back yard to watch the qualifying and a Pinty Series Canadian Nascar race a few weeks ago. Boring. I don't get this time out stuff in Nascar, Pinty series too on a 5/8ths mile track. You race, you race to the finish. Why go for a insurmountable lead when everyone gets to catch up 3 times a race. Sorry I'm going to the Drags.

 

[WIMUSKY]

I like dirt. Going to go to the local tracks.....

 

[MTboatguy]

Unfortunately no dirt tracks close to me, we have a paved 1/2 mile here, but nothing else for hundreds of miles and it looks like they are going to get rid of the track and put a housing development in....

 

[GA_Boater]

The dead time between heats in top series makes it no better than a local dirt track. Cheaper and just as much fun at a local track, too. Nascar can't have many toes left, they keep shooting themselves.

Larson won and Cole Custer is now the X-Points leader. Elliott got out of his car, drank something and sat beside his car before going for an ambulance ride. It's 93, feels like 98 now.

The Cup race is starting 12 minutes earlier to avoid rain. Wonder how that'll work? :rain:

 

[WIMUSKY]

Unfortunately no dirt tracks close to me, we have a paved 1/2 mile here, but nothing else for hundreds of miles and it looks like they are going to get rid of the track and put a housing development in....

I have 3 dirt tracks within about an hr. I'm in a good spot... 2 north if me and one east....

 

[GA_Boater]

Dixie (of course - :smile Speedway is only abot 15 minutes away and I have only been there 1 time. Should go more often.

OK, qualifying results - Menard wins the pole and followed by Blaney, Elliott, Hamlin, Busch41 Bowyer, Almirola, Keso, Byron, Jones, Suarez and Truex.

2:32 is the new time for the green flag. You should have picks made by 2:20 or earlier to play safe.

 

[DECK SWABBER 58]

Looking forward to Dale Jr's tv debut.

 

[WIMUSKY]

Burton is back in the booth.....

 

[GA_Boater]

From Jayski;

Add two more cars to the rear today for unapproved adjustments: 19 & 66 So cars with unapproved adjustments are: 17, 19, 66 Cars had qualifying time disallowed: 11, 37, 48, 78

7 cars to the back. A record?

 

[WIMUSKY]

Go Joey! Raining, I'll watch the race..

 

[GA_Boater]

We're racin'

Green flag!