Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 2017

[Gman003]

Any NASCAR fans kicking around these forums?

So yesterday was the first nascar race I've watched in a while. A long while. Back in the early-mid 00's I was right into it. Dale Jr was my guy. But around 05-06 I drifted away from it (those seem to be very pivotal years in my life lol).

I really only watched because of DJ Kennington made it I to the friggin Daytona 500! A guy from my small town ontario made it to the biggest race in the world. First canadian to make it there in 29 years!

So needless to say, I was really pulling for him to have the underdog win. I was still hoping one of the bigger names would win, buy DJ above all.

Unfortunately he was taken out in the 127 lap when he had a slight collision with jimmy Johnson after Johnson got turned around and created a 16 car pile up. Kennington just couldn't quite make it past him on the bottom of the track and hit just enough to have him done for the day.

Glad kurt busch got the win though. I was really hoping chase elliot would come away with the win at the end there when he was leading for a good while but then he ran out of fuel with only a lap to go.

All in all it was an exciting race to watch (after it was half over lol) and now I have a feeling I'll be keeping an eye on nascar again for a while.

Most people see it as boring. Which I get. It can be rather boring at times. But man are they flying around the track. 195 mph...like holy shit I'd love to do that for a living.

So yeah any other fans on here?
And who are you favourite drivers, past or present?

 

[Gman003]

I don't care if there's no replies lol. At some point, someone's going to reply. Until then I'm going to do occasional updates. I'll try for weekly but it might not happen every week.

Last weekend was a wild one!

NASCAR hit Atlanta for the weekend and brought with it a couple of good races.

Didn't watch all of the xfinity series, but enough to see kyle Busch win it. I know there was a crash on lap 2 that took a couple guys out so that's pretty crappy.

The monster energy cup race was pretty steady.
After qualifying on the pole, Kevin Harvick absolutely dominated the track. He seemed nearly untouchable when the only time he gave up the lead was when he had to pit, but had no problem retaking the lead quickly.
He lead 293/325 laps. The race was his for the taking except towards the end of the race when he entered pit road too fast and was forced to drop back to 15th place with about 15 laps to go. How devestating! He just couldn't manage to catch back up by the end of the race and I think he ended 9th. (I'll have to recheck that lol). And Brad keselowski took the checkered flag after being handed first place to finish the day.


This weekend they're in Las Vegas!

This week Brad Keselowski has qualified on the pole and looking for his second consecutive win. Vegas is a fast track so I'm excited to see them zip around the track. Friggin 205mph was the fastest I saw in qualifying.

 

[Solid Snake]

 

[Gman003]

That was rather clever lol. From what I've read he's had a lot of turns over the years?

Onto today's race:

Brad Keselowski qualified on the pole yesterday with Martin Truex Jr. beside him on the front line. These two battled it out for first all day but due to late race issues, Keselowski lost his brakes and steering the turns became hard and Truex caught up and passed him with only about 5 laps left and cruised to a sweet victory in an exciting ending. While Keselowski continued to slip back, he created an obstacle for other drivers when Kyle Busch had to avoid him and go low, where Joey Logano was riding the inside line. When Busch dropped down it forced Logano a little too low where he nearly lost control, but in regaining control he made the slightest contact with the back end of Busch, causing Busch to spin out in the final turn of the race, and sliding sideways down pit road and crossed the finish line in an awkward fashion.

While Truex was celebrating his much deserved win - he led 150 of 267 laps - Busch ran up pit road and confronted Logano about what had just happened and apparently landed a punch, but Logano's pit crew jumped on Busch and took him to the pavement. When the staff broke it up and got Busch to his feet he was bleeding a bit from his forehead and escorted off the track.

So all in all, it was a heck of a battle that saw Truex lead 150 laps and Keselowski lead 89. Combining for 239 of 267 laps.
Exciting action all around, and in the case of Busch and Logano; hopefully what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

 

[Gman003]

Phoenix, here we come. Came. Whatever lol.

With the fourth race of the season in the books, it's time to recap.

Joey Logano qualified on the pole, and led the entire first stage minus 1 lap due to pitting on caution. It looked like it was his race, he seemed untouchable.

After the first stage ended and everyone took their pit stop, a new leader emerged and that was 21 year old Chase Elliott. He too looked untouchable during the entire 2nd stage. He got up to 3 second leads or better, which is pretty damn good.

But yet again after the stage and everyone went to pits, kyle Busch (boo!) Took the lead. And he led the most laps of the day (112).

Joey Logano ended up with a speeding infraction while leaving pit road which saw him get knocked back down to 30th. He eventually battled his way back to the top 10. But it was because of his car taking a hit into the wall that drew the days final caution, which most of the drivers decided to pit including kyle Busch. Because of this, it gave Ryan Newman the #1 spot on the restart with 2 OT laps to go. And thanks to some help from stenhouse jr, he was able to hold the spot for 2 laps and take the checkered flag.

Although Logano ended up wrecking his car and not being able to finish the day, he's the only reason kyle Busch didn't win the race. And after last week's conundrum, it was very fitting. Especially since Logano is still much higher in points than Busch.

4 races into the season, and every one has been won by a lead change with under 7 laps to go. That's pretty crazy. I really dig the whole new setup of the stages and what not. It most definitely makes for more excitement. More hard racing throughout the entire race because every stage has points to be won.

Next stop is the Auto Club Raceway in California.

 

[Gman003]

California love.

The Auto Club Raceway was a blast! What great racing both days.
Kyle Larson qualified on the pole for Sundays cup race which was pretty sweet. The California native was on top of the points race heading into the weekend and did not disappoint.
After finishing in 2nd place for the past 3 weeks in a row, the 24 year old had his best showing yet.

After winning Saturday's Xfinity Series race in fine fashion, he was poised at the front of the pack for Sundays cup series run. He and veteran Martin Truex Jr. battled back and forth for the lead all day. Thanks to many late race cautions and some clever pit strategy, Larson was able to regain and hold the lead going 2 laps in overtime. Truex however wasn't as lucky and slipped to a 4th place finish, which was where he started. Both guys had great days and had me on the edge of my seat especially in the final 20 laps or so. When Larson decided to pit, along with most cars on the lead lap, and got 4 fresh tires, Truex on the other hand opted to stay out and take the first place spot from Larson. He was able to quickly take the lead back as he had his fresh set of tires against Truex somewhat worn tires by this point. And cruised to his first victory of the season. After another caution restart.


Notable mentions for this race:

#2 Brad Keselowski
Hands down, the best story of the day.
Started the day in third place right behind Denny Hamlin but when Denny failed to launch at the starting line he created a 4 car jam up with Kes right behind him. Keselowski took a good amount of damage to both the front and rear, but remained running for 2 laps then he spun out and was the days first caution. That sent him to the back of the pack.
He remained low key for the majority of the race but as well for Kes, all the late restarts helped him climb up the positions and he eventually found himself finishing the race in 2nd place. Now that's an accomplishment.

#42 Kyle Larson
King of the mountain. At only 24 years old he is dominating the field. Week after week he impresses. 3 straight 2nd place finishes before a win from the pole. Incredible! He's definitely going to be a hard one to beat this season and many to come.

#24 Chase Elliott
As far as young guys go, he's probably my favourite. He just stuck out right away. Only 21 years old, but he's contending with the top. Currently in 2nd overall, he's proving he belongs with the big boys. It's only a matter of time before he gets his first win, but when it comes it will be well deserved. I'm rooting for him. 10th place finish at Auto Club, but he ran top 5 a lot of the day.

#78 Martin Truex Jr
As far as overall favourite, he's my pick. I used to be a fan of his back in his craftsman truck series/ Busch series (now xfinity) when he and earnhardt jr were buddies. He rented a home from earnhardt at the time. He swept all 3 stages in Vegas 2 weeks ago(first ever sweep. And only so far) and won another stage at Auto Club but just couldn't hold on for the victory.

#20 Matt Kenseth
For the 2nd week in a row, he takes a hard smack against the wall and gets knocked out of the race. Just bad luck this season.

#83 Corey Lajoie
I think he's 5 for 5....for incomplete races.
Constantly bogged down by engine issues, tire issues, or other people's misfortune. Poor guy just can not catch a break.

#10 Danica Patrick
She's not the best driver in the series, but she's also not the worst. Mid pack. But damn did she save herself from a hard crash into the inside wall. Her car veered inward sharply near top speed but God damn she got control of her car before it was too late. Good save!

That's all for Auto Club. Martinsville is up next. I will probably miss out on that one though. Most of it at least. I get to watch mania in its entirety, pre-show and all with friends. The wife is willing to bear with it. She's not too high on wrestling, but our friends kind of are. So she doesn't mind watching with us. The baby keeps her entertained at least. I'm excited it will be my baby's first mania.



I'd like to thank anyone who has taken their time to read these posts. If anyone lol. Some discussion is always welcomed if anyone would like to add their 2 cents.

 

[Gman003]

I missed the race at Martinsville last weekend but saw that Brad Keselowski took the checkered flag. Good job Brad!

This past race was at the freshly repaved Texas Motor Speedway!

9 cars were unable to run any qualifying laps so they automatically started from the back, based on their points standings. And that really mixed the field up. You had a few guys who normally start at the front 35 cars back. Made for an interesting first stage that's for sure.
Ryan Blaney dominated the first 2 stages but due to a pit stop at the end of 2, he slipped back and was unable to regain the lead again.

Veteran Dale Earnhardt Jr, who has been lackluster this year, had a very strong race getting as high as 2nd place (might have even led a lap or 2 can't remember now lol) and finished in the top 5. Great improvements!

Points leader Kyle Larson had an amazing roller coaster of a day.
Starting from 32nd position I believe because he was unable to qualify, he charged through the field and made it up to 15th before landing a pit road penalty sending him back into the 20s, fought his way back up to the top 10 but again got sent back in the pack. He eventually took 2nd place and that's where he finished. One more lap and he most likely would have passed the leader, and winner:

Jimmy Johnson
Also working from the rear, he managed to find his way to first place and hung on for the win. Although the win came at a cost as he had to go to medical after because of major muscle cramps and pains from over heating and dehydration after his cooling unit fail during the race.

The last couple laps were nail biting that's for sure!
Seeing Kyle Larson close the gap at a quick rate was exciting and like I said he went from a 2 second gap to less than half a second within only a few short laps. One more and he would have passed him in turn 1 and 2. Not bad for a 24 year old. 1 win and at least 4 or 5 runner ups so far this year. He's going places.

 

[Gman003]

We had an off weekend due to Easter, but right back at 'er next weekend at my favourite short track:

Bristol Motor Speedway
Also dubbed "the last great colosseum" "thunder valley" and "the world's fastest half-mile"

With a track length of .533 miles it's the second shortest track on the nascar circuit (Martinsville at .526) but has significantly greater speeds than Martinsville due to the high banking on the turns, making it one of the more exciting tracks. It's been compared to fighter jets in a gymnasium.

You either love or hate Bristol. Fans and drivers alike. If you make an unscheduled pit stop under green, you're likely to go at least 2 laps down. It only takes roughly 15 seconds to make one lap. But this can also be beneficial to the guys in the back of the pack.

Due to it's close quarters it makes for a lot of paint swapping and more than enough cautions. Adding the extra 2 in at the end of both of the first two stages won't help any, but at least there's plenty of exciting restarts.

If you've been reading this thread but haven't bothered checking a race out, I'd suggest this race if you are interested. A few more weeks they'll be at Talladega Super speedway, the longest track but also the fastest... and there's always "the big one" everytime they visit which is added suspense.

 

[Gman003]

Well yesterday's cup race was rescheduled to 1pm today due to rain.

The xfinity race had a 90 minute delay due to rain on Saturday aswell.

Since it's been raining for a few solid days they also missed qualifying Friday which means the race will start based on points so kyle Larson and chase elliot are up from again.
I'm sure they'll all be shuffled very quickly though.

So if you're not busy with work or anything and looking for something to watch on a Monday afternoon, it's Bristol baby. Broadcast on fox

 

[Gman003]

So Bristol was a fun race all around, lots of great racing and battling for positions. I haven't really had time to do an update this week, been busy working afternoons. But without further ado, a quick recap of Bristol!

The number 48 of Jimmy Johnson took the checkered flag for his second consecutive win thanks to a late race penalty to Kyle Larson exiting too fast off pit road and Martin truex slipping many spots also leaving the pits that time.

Kyle Larson led over 200 consecutive laps, making him 2nd all time for Bristol.

 

[Gman003]

Now we're onto Richmond International Speedway!

3/4 mile track that will see Matt Kenseth of all people lead the pack to the green flag. I say "of all people", mainly because he has been rather quiet this season so far. With 3 bottom-five finishes at Daytona, Phoenix, and Fontana (auto club) along with 2 qualifying rainouts so far at Martinsville and Bristol, he has been floundering around the mid pack trying to get anywhere.

With a 22nd place start last week he managed to battle his way to a 4th place finish and finally seems to be on somewhat of an upswing. Let's see if he can hold on and gather atleast some stage points and possibly a win which he could really use at this point.

Ryan Blaney, driver of the #22, will also start up front in the number 2 spot. Followed by Martin Truex Jr, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, and Joey Logano rounding out the top 5.

Should make for a good race.

We'll find out Sunday at 2pm.

 

[Gman003]

So Matt Kenseth led the whole first stage, picking up some playoff points, but didn't stick around to win stage 2 or the race. Brad Keselowski won stage 2, but aswell didn't hang on for the race win.

Joey Logano, in his 300th Cup Series start, took home the checkered flag for his first win this season. He started the race in 37th (out of 38.).

Dale junior got into some trouble when he started to smoke a bit and slowed do , just as jimmy johnson was coming off of turn 2, went outside, and slammed into junior because he didn't know he was there, his spotter didn't do his job. The unfortunate thing is it was Junior first race since announcing his retirement at the end of the season, and he was taken out by his own teammate.

Now we're going for a looooong track, and the fastest track, Talladega Super speedway... boogity boogity let's go racin!

I was already pretty pumped for this race, as it's always entertaining, but nowe the added excitement of DJ Kennington with Gaunt Brothers Racing is going to be running this race!! He's the guy from my city, in canada, who hasn't had a cup series race since the Daytona 500 in February to kick off the season. Gaunt Brothers Racing are planning on running the 4 restrictor plate races this season (2 at Daytona 2 at talladega). I just found out about this last night and I am so stoked to see him go at it again with all the big boys.

I just hope he avoids all wrecks, especially "the big one".

 

[Gman003]

THIS. IS. TALLADEGA.

This was a phenomenal race throughout its entirety!

Watched qualifying on Saturday afternoon and after Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the first round, it looked as if the favoured Dale Earnhardt Jr would sit on the pole as he qualified 2nd last with a +0.00070 qualifying lap above the fastest lap, but then Stenhouse Jr qualified at a WHOPPING +0.0020 Seconds faster than THAT!
He blew dale Jr out of the water with that lap. His first pole since 2013.

Stenhouse hadn't led a single lap thus far in the season, but that changed today when he led the opening 9 laps (I think. It was at least 9 lol). Then he eventually slipped back in the field. Which BTW at Talladega can happen within a matter of seconds at any given time as pretty much the entire field travels in one massive pack usually going 3 even 4 wide throughout the whole track, travelling at speeds of 200 mph and higher.

Brad Keselowski eventually took the lead and won the first stage.

Denny Hamlin started the second stage in first and led the entire 55 laps to win that stage. Stenhouse finishes in 30th.

After an intense 3rd stage restart, things settled in for quite a while until it happened out of nowhere.

AJ Allmindinger was running 3rd behind young gun Chase Elliott. 21 year old Elliott got an off-centre push from behind from Allmindinger coming out of turn 2, which resulted in Chase being spun and...

THE BIG ONE!

16 cars were involved and damaged and took out of the race.
While it wasn't as dramatic as past big ones, Allmindinger still ended up on his roof, sliding several hundred feet, and multiple cars had very heavy damage.

Dale Jr was probably the luckiest as he barely missed a car flying across the track barreling towards the inside wall.

After one more late caution, we went into a 2 lap overtime for the third time this season.

Kyle Busch held the lead position on the restart but thanks to a push from Johnson, Stenhouse was able to get a good run to get up alongside Busch coming off turn 4. They swapped leads as they approached the start/finish line with 1 to go but Bush held the lead going into turn one. Going into turn 2 however, Stenhouse received just enough of a push to surge him past Busch for the lead, and out of turn 2 Jamie Mcmurray threaded the needle when he split up Busch and Johnson who were neck and neck for second. He found the slightest gap and surged through to follow directly behind stenhouse.

Coming off of turn 4, headed towards the tri-oval, it was still anyone's race but Ricky Stenhouse Jr crossed the finish line for his first cup series win!

Congrats to Ricky, it was well deserved. I just hope the officials don't find something wrong with his cars specs in the post race inspection.

All-in-all it was an intense race, and it was awesome to see a packed grandstand, especially here. Very refreshing.

 

[Gman003]

Kansas Speedway this weekend.

The field heads to Kansas speedway for the 11th race of the season. The only difference is the schedule is one day ahead of normal with the truck series race tonight at 830 and the cup series race tomorrow nice at 745. A Saturday night under the lights race should be fun as it will be the first of the season. We'll see how things shape up after qualifying tonight. I just really hope kyle busch does not get the win again after insulting last week's track when he said "at least were back to a real track next week", insinuating that Talladega isn't a real track. Crybaby busch just can never be happy if he doesn't win.

Although as annoying as he is, he's probably one of the more entertaining personalities just for the sheer fact of how much of a bitch he is week in and week out.

 

[Gman003]

So Martin Truex Jr came away with the win at Kansas.
I was watching the race with a friend so I missed a lot of what happened. A lot of cautions I know that. 15 in total.

But something significant did happen during the late stages of the race.

Something went wrong under Logano's hood and the wind flap popped up for a split second on the right side, coming off of turn 2.
This made his car turn in to the left hard enough that he clipped Danica's rear, shooting her to the right, and straight into the outside wall at probably 190 mph. Needless to say, this impact completely fucked her car up, causing flames (rather impressive flames too at times). Logano's car ended up rear against the outside wall, sliding down the track sideways and at the same time that Danica's car met back up with him, the #43 of Aric Almirola came barreling into the 22 at full speed. This created a hell of a scene.
Since it had been a few seconds since the initial wreck, the 22 had lost most momentum and was nearly to a stop. So Almirola essentially hit a wall at top speed. His back end lifted off the ground a good distance, Danica and Logano's cars burst into flames, and it was crazy. Danica was first out of her car and was pissed. Her car had both the front and back ends torn off and flaming. Logano was second out of his car, as well with the rear end torn off and the front end was really mangled.

Aric Almirola dropped his window net immediately after the impact. He was the only driver to not get out of his car on his own will. Rather it took the emergency crew to cut the roof off and extract him from the car, putting him on a board and into an ambulance.
He fractured his T5 vertebra which is in between your shoulders. He still is having issues with this a week later and he's expected to miss 8-12 weeks to recover. Until then Reagan Smith is filling in for him.

After logano and Danica were released from the care centre, they gave interviews. And both of their true colours shined through. Logano went first and gave a truly heartfelt interview, focusing mostly on Almirola and hoping he's ok (by this point nobody knew exactly what was wrong, just that Almirola was extracted and airlifted to the hospital). Logano seemed so worried about Aric he didn't even say much about himself other than something went wrong and unfortunately Danica was right there and the accident ensued.
Very classy, from someone who most people look at as a spoiled rich kid apparently.

Then came Danica Patrick. The interviewer asked "are you OK Danica?"Her reply was jaw dropping.
"You know what. No, I'm not." She continued on and complained about how every race she gets wrecked out, or spun out, and how sick she is of this all the time. She carried on for a solid 5 minutes or more about herself and how everything is everyone else's fault. Ending her long winded rant about herself with a quick. Yeah I hope Aric's ok.

All in all it was a rather boring race., with the exception of the wreck and post wreck interviews.


Last night was the all star race. Kyle Busch won the race and $1 million.
He's still a little bitch. He had some great runs on the restarts late in the race and was able to get a big lead everytime.

Next weekend is the Coca Cola 600! Longest race of the year. 600 miles.