League News and Notes
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!
