ESPN Classic & NASCAR

So after taking a break for a couple months (I haven't checked, but it probably coincided with the stretch where the current Cup races were on ESPN), ESPN Classic has started back up with showing classic Cup races from the 80's and 90's again. They're usually on at like 3 in the afternoon on a weekday, but we live in the TiVo and DVR age so its not a problem for me.

You would think there's no way they could mess up these classic races from back in the day when ESPN knew how to cover racing, but they've still figured out a way. Here are my complaints/comments:

-A couple months ago they would show these in 2 hour segments. They would jump ahead from time to time, but 2 hours seemed like a good balance. Now, however, they're trying to squeeze them into one hour. Its awful. They're missing a lot of action and still waste some of the little time they have previewing what's going to happen at the end of the race over and over and over everytime they go to commercial...which is nice if you need a reason to get motivated to watch, but sucks if the fact that its on TV is reason enough. It'd be nice to not always remember who wins or how it happens.

-Race selection. 3 weeks ago they showed the classic Earnhardt-Rudd battle at Wilkesboro where they both crashed on the last lap and Geoff Bodine won the race. I'm so glad I've got that on tape now. But these last two weeks have been weak...Darrell Waltrip winning at Pocono in '91, which turned out to be a pretty boring race when I watched it, and Dale Earnhardt winning at Martinsville in the spring of '91 I think. Nothing particularly great happened there either. Why not show the other Martinsville race that year, with Harry Gant coming back from wrecking to keep his win streak alive!? Why not show the other Pocono race from '91, I think that was the race where Waltrip had his famous wreck on the backstretch. What is the deal with these random races that occupy a far more obscure place in NASCAR lore than so many others they could be showing us? What about Atlanta '92, Ernie Irvan's comeback win at Michigan after his accident, any of those wins in Gant's 1991 streak, how about Talladega '93 with Rusty flipping across the finish line, Kyle Petty's last win at Dover in '95 where John Andretti wrecked half the field on lap 3, the battle for the Winston in '92, Burton/Gordon at Darlington in '97 (or was it '96)? And so on and so forth. Pick some races that were interesting enough for some of us to remember!

-This is the second time I've seen an old Wilkesboro race on Classic this year, and as much as I love the history of this sport, there's no way NASCAR could have kept racing at that track. The sport is literally just too big for that track now. I know we race on other half mile tracks, but Wilkesboro just looks way too small - the infield, the pit road, the width of the track...The place looks like it was never intended to be more than a local Saturday nighter. I'm not trying to disrespect the history of the sport, I mean I could never see myself saying the same thing about a place like Rockingham for example. And I'm old enough to have been watching NASCAR before the sport left Wilkesboro, so its not a problem of being unfamiliar. That place was just straight up too small.

-Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons. What an incredible team. Jenkins blows Bestwick and Weber out of the water as a play-by-play announcer, and Jarrett was just full of knowledge if not pizzazz. Benny was the same guy we still remember now. Its a shame sports broadcasting has become more about being flashy and catch phrases and poking fun at each other, as opposed to just presenting the event to the best of your ability. Its all the fault of that Fox NFL team with Bradshaw and the like.

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Go Or Go Home Report - Charlotte #2

Here is this week’s Go-Or-Go-Home Report:

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Charlotte

Cars attempting to qualify: 50
Cars that will miss the race: 7

Teams that need to qualify:
#00 (Reutimann)
#4 (Burton)
#06 (Hornish Jr.)
#08 (Long)
#10 (Riggs)
#21 (Elliott)
#27 (Shelmerdine)
#33 (Wimmer)
#36 (Mayfield)
#44 (Jarrett)
#49 (Andretti)
#55 (Waltrip)
#78 (Nemechek)
#83 (Vickers)
#84 (Allmendinger)

New this week:
-Thanks to Dave Blaney’s 3rd place finish and 5 points for leading a lap, coupled with Ken Schrader’s 31st in the #21 car, the #22 team has leapfrogged back into the top 35 this week. This is the first time the #22 will be guaranteed a starting spot since California. As a result, Bill Elliott will be back behind the wheel of the #21 this week. This is probably a coincidence though, because I’m sure these things have to be worked out a bit further in advance. But Elliott too will be guaranteed a spot, because Dale Jarrett has already used his quota of champion’s provisionals. The #21 now sits 51 points behind Blaney and 53 points behind Petty and the #45.

-Sam Hornish Jr. will once again attempt to qualify for his first Nextel Cup race this week. Unlike his previous attempts, this will be his first try in the Car of the Past. Will it make a difference? Hornish Jr. has now tied Brandon Whitt for the most qualifying attempts without a start this year. No word yet on whether or not NASCAR will start giving provisionals to past champions in other racing series…

-As mentioned earlier, Bill Elliott replaces Ken Schrader in the #21 again this week, with sponsorship from Ore-Ida.

-Kirk Shelmerdine will make his third qualifying attempt of the season, driving his own #27 (not to be confused with the #27 team Bill Davis ran last week with Jacques Villeneuve). Shelmerdine’s other two attempts this year were at Daytona, where he DNQ’d for both.

-Scott Wimmer will again attempt to qualify the 4th Childress car this week. He hasn’t had much luck so far this year, only managing to qualify once in five attempts.

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Last time we came to Charlotte (May 2007):

Cars that attempted to qualify: 49

Non-Top 35 cars that qualified (in order by speed):
#22 (Blaney) – 8th fastest
#10 (Riggs) – 15th
#21 (Elliott) – 22nd
#44 (Jarrett) – 23rd
#36 (Mayfield) – 24th
#83 (Vickers) – 26th
#84 (Allmendinger) – 29th
#78 (Wallace) – 31st

Non-Top 35 cars that DNQ’d (in order by speed):
#15 (Menard) – 33rd fastest
#55 (Waltrip) – 38th, wrecked on lap 2
#4 (Burton) – 39th
#37 (Lepage) – 43rd
#49 (Bliss) – 46th
#00 (Reutimann) – No time, wrecked on lap 1

How they finished:
#83 (Vickers) – 5th (led 76)
#22 (Blaney) – 18th (3 laps down)
#10 (Riggs) – 20th (6 laps down)
#36 (Mayfield) – 25th (led 3, 382 laps completed, engine)
#84 (Allmendinger) – 31st (310 laps completed, accident)
#78 (Wallace) – 34th (289 laps completed, engine)
#21 (Elliott) – 38th (led 1, 218 laps completed, accident)
#44 (Jarrett) – 40th (82 laps completed, engine)

Cars that made the race, but were slower than the fastest DNQ car:
#24 (Gordon) – 34th fastest
#13 (Nemechek) – 35th
#41 (Sorenson) – 36th
#7 (Gordon) – 37th
#45 (Petty) – 40th
#96 (Raines) – 41st
#16 (Biffle) – 42nd
#99 (Edwards) – 44th
#70 (Sauter) – 45th
#07 (Bowyer) – 47th
#66 (Green) – no time, wrecked on lap 1

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Last week (Talladega):

Cars that attempted to qualify: 51

Non-Top 35 cars that qualified (in order by speed):
#55 (Waltrip) – pole position
#22 (Blaney) – 2nd
#83 (Vickers) – 3rd
#78 (Nemechek) – 4th
#00 (Reutimann) – 5th
#27 (Villeneuve) – 6th
#49 (Andretti) – 7th
#44 (Jarrett) – 8th

Non-Top 35 cars that DNQ’d (in order by speed):
#84 (Allmendinger) – 9th fastest
#60 (Said) – 10th
#10 (Riggs) – 11th
#06 (Hornish Jr.) – 12th
#36 (Mayfield) – 15th
#09 (Marlin) – 21st
#4 (Burton) – 29th
#37 (Lepage) – 36th

How they finished:
#22 (Blaney) – 3rd (led 1)
#27 (Villeneuve) – 21st
#00 (Reutimann) – 22nd (1 lap down, led 2)
#55 (Waltrip) – 25th (led 6, 175 laps completed, accident)
#78 (Nemechek) – 32nd (149 laps completed)
#49 (Andretti) – 33rd (149 laps completed, accident)
#83 (Vickers) – 39th (led 8, 144 laps completed, accident)
#44 (Jarrett) – 41st (136 laps completed, accident)

Cars that made the race, but were slower than the fastest DNQ car:
Every single team in the top 35!

-----------------------------

Some fun facts about the teams outside the top 35:

-Last week was the second pole position for a team outside the top 35, the first was Dave Blaney at Loudon in July. The Go-Or-Go-Home cars set all sorts of records for the season last week, including taking the top 8 positions for the first time, and 13 of the top 15. Of course, that means 5 of those top 15 cars had to go home, and this was probably the first time in NASCAR history that someone qualified in the top 10 and didn’t make the race (two drivers in fact – Allmendinger and Boris Said). That last bit doesn’t include rainouts. I could probably go on and on like this with little stats showing how stupid last week’s qualifying session was, but the bottom line is the system is broken, ESPECIALLY at restrictor plate tracks.

-Last week was also the first time this season that all of the drivers who DNQ’d qualified inside the top 43, and also the first time all of the DNQ cars would have made the race under the old provisional system.

-Ward Burton has now tied Michael Waltrip with 10 DNQ’s where he had qualified among the 43 fastest, tops among the Go-Or-Go-Home cars. Likewise, Jeremy Mayfield has tied Michael Waltrip with 7 DNQ’s where he would have made the race under the old provisional system. Waltrip started terribly, but his fortunes have gotten better as the season progressed…Burton and Mayfield’s seem to have just gotten worse. Pretty soon both will probably pass Waltrip in those categories.

-On the flip side, Kyle Petty has benefited the most from the top 35 rule, as he would have missed 8 races under the old provisional system. And if qualifying were based on the 43 fastest, the two biggest losers would have been Johnny Sauter and Robby Gordon, who each would have missed 7 races if that’s how starting lineups were determined.

-16 of our current top 35 teams would have missed at least one race under the old provisional system. Highest among these is Martin Truex Jr., who now sits 8th in points. He would not have qualified at the spring Talladega race under the old system, but keep in mind that at the time he was only 20th in owners points.

-28 of our current top 35 teams would have missed at least one race if qualifying were based on the 43 fastest. This includes 10 of our 12 chasers, and each of the current top 3.

-Only Stewart and Hamlin among the chasers would have made every race no matter what system was used. The only two other drivers who would have made every race no matter the system are Ryan Newman and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

-Ward Burton has failed to qualify in each of his last 3 attempts, the Morgan-McClure team’s longest streak of the season.

-A.J. Allmendinger qualified 9th fast at Talladega, yet did not make the race. Ironically, it was his best qualifying effort of the season and would have been his first top 10 start in the Nextel Cup series.

-Despite turning in the 10th fastest time, Boris Said also DNQ’d last week. It was his first DNQ of the season that wasn’t the result of a rainout. Boris would have qualified in the top 10 now in two of his three DNQ’s this year (remember he was on the pole at Daytona before the rainout).

-Of all the open-wheelers to debut in NASCAR in the past 12 months (Montoya, Allmendinger, Villeneuve, Carpentier, and “sort-of� Sam Hornish Jr.), Jacques Villeneuve has recorded both the best debut finish (21st) and best debut starting position (6th). This includes Hornish’s Busch series debut, since he has yet to successfully qualify for his Cup debut.

-Brian Vickers has led more laps this season (106) than all the other Go-Or-Go-Home cars combined (98). This includes drivers that have spent any time outside the top 35 this year, regardless whether or not they are still in that position. We are now returning to the track where Vickers recorded the bulk of those, when he led 76 laps at Charlotte in May before finishing 5th, which had been Toyota’s best Cup finish up until Blaney’s 3rd last week.

See you next week!

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Go Or Go Home Report - Talladega #2

Here is this week’s Go-Or-Go-Home Report:
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Talladega

Cars attempting to qualify: 51
Cars that will miss the race: 8

Teams that need to qualify:
#00 (Reutimann)
#4 (Burton)
#06 (Hornish Jr.)
#09 (Marlin)
#10 (Riggs)
#22 (Blaney)
#27 (Villeneuve)
#36 (Mayfield)
#37 (Lepage)
#44 (Jarrett)
#49 (Andretti)
#55 (Waltrip)
#60 (Said)
#78 (Nemechek)
#83 (Vickers)
#84 (Allmendinger)

New this week:
-Dave Blaney gained 56 points on the #21 team with his 15th place finish at Kansas. The #22 team now sits 49 points out of the top 35. Blaney also gained 18 points on the #45 team, which sits in 34th in owners points, now 88 ahead of the #22.

-After missing the New Hampshire and Dover races, Sam Hornish Jr. returns to the entry list for Talladega, where he will again attempt to make his first Nextel Cup start. Hornish has one Busch Series restrictor plate start to his credit – he started 27th and finished 31st at Daytona in February.

-Sterling Marlin returns to the Cup Series to attempt to qualify James Finch’s #09 Chevy. The #09 has attempted all three plate races so far this year, but only qualified for 1 of the 3. When they make the race, they’ve got a good record though – Mike Wallace finished 4th in the team’s only start this year, the Daytona 500.

-In a much talked about move, Bill Davis will attempt to qualify a third #27 team with former Formula 1 driver and Indy 500 champion Jacques Villeneuve. Several Nextel Cup drivers have spoken out against the move, but NASCAR agreed to let him race after Villeneuve ran with several Cup drivers during a recent test session at the track. Davis has attemped to run a third car one other time this year – Mike Skinner attempted to qualify a #23 car in the Daytona 500, where despite turning in the 17th fastest time, Skinner was unable to make the race via the Gatorade Duels.

-Boris Said will once again attempt to qualify the #60 Ford this weekend. Said has tried to qualify for all the restrictor plate races this season, and so far he is 2 for 3. The race he missed, the Pepsi 400, saw Boris holding the provisional pole until rain washed out qualifying, eliminating him from the field. He also won the pole for the 2006 Pepsi 400, so it should be to no one’s surprise when Boris is one of the lucky 8 to make the field this week.

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Last time we came to Talladega (April 2007):

Cars that attempted to qualify: 52

Non-Top 35 cars that qualified (in order by speed):
#78 (Wallace) – 6th fastest
#10 (Riggs) – 9th
#60 (Said) – 11th
#00 (Reutimann) – 14th
#4 (Burton) – 15th
#36 (Mayfield) – 18th
#15 (Menard) – 19th
#44 (Jarrett) – 52nd, used champion’s provisional

Non-Top 35 cars that DNQ’d (in order by speed):
#55 (Waltrip) – 20th fastest
#83 (Vickers) – 21st
#22 (Blaney) – 30th
#84 (Allmendinger) – 31st
#21 (Schrader) – 34th
#09 (Wallace) – 35th
#34 (Lepage) – 43rd
#37 (Andretti) – 46th
#49 (Bliss) – 47th

How they finished:
#10 (Riggs) – 11th
#36 (Mayfield) – 23rd
#78 (Wallace) – 26th (led 2)
#60 (Said) – 27th (1 lap down, led 1)
#00 (Reutimann) – 32nd (184 laps completed, engine)
#4 (Burton) – 36th (144 laps completed, engine)
#44 (Jarrett) – 40th (38 laps completed, engine)
#15 (Menard) – 43rd (22 laps completed, engine)

Cars that made the race, but were slower than the fastest DNQ car:
#40 (Stremme) – 22nd fastest
#70 (Sauter) – 23rd
#01 (Smith) – 24th
#45 (Petty) – 25th
#42 (Montoya) – 26th
#26 (McMurray) – 27th
#2 (Busch) – 28th
#96 (Raines) – 29th
#12 (Newman) – 32nd
#41 (Sorenson) – 33rd
#9 (Kahne) – 36th
#18 (Yeley) – 37th
#20 (Stewart) – 38th
#66 (Green) – 39th
#43 (Labonte) – 40th
#13 (Nemechek) – 41st
#1 (Truex) – 44th
#7 (Gordon) – 45th
#19 (Sadler) – 48th
#07 (Bowyer) – 49th
#29 (Harvick) – 50th
#31 (Burton) – 51st

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Last week (Kansas):

Cars that attempted to qualify: 47

Non-Top 35 cars that qualified (in order by speed):
#10 (Riggs) – 4th fastest
#55 (Waltrip) – 12th
#44 (Jarrett) – 14th
#78 (Nemechek) – 25th
#00 (Reutimann) – 26th
#36 (Mayfield) – 27th
#49 (Andretti) – 29th
#22 (Blaney) – 35th

Non-Top 35 cars that DNQ’d (in order by speed):
#84 (Allmendinger) – 38th fastest
#4 (Burton) – 39th
#83 (Vickers) – 41st
#47 (Wood) – 42nd

How they finished:
#10 (Riggs) – 13th
#22 (Blaney) – 15th (led 3)
#36 (Mayfield) – 22nd
#78 (Nemechek) – 25th
#44 (Jarrett) – 26th
#55 (Waltrip) – 30th (1 lap down)
#00 (Reutimann) – 31st (1 lap down)
#49 (Andretti) – 33rd (2 laps down)

Cars that made the race, but were slower than the fastest DNQ car:
#40 (Stremme) – 40th fastest
#66 (Green) – 43rd
#88 (Wallace) – 44th
#01 (Martin) – 45th
#96 (Raines) – 46th
#7 (Gordon) – 47th

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Some fun facts about the teams outside the top 35:

-Keep an eye on Dave Blaney on Saturday (qualifying isn't Friday this week). He continues to try to catch the #21 team for the top 35, but the last time we were at Talladega he DNQ’d by a fairly significant margin. The last car to qualify was 19th fastest, but Blaney was only 30th fastest. The last time Blaney returned to a track where he DNQ'd earlier in the year was Dover...where he again DNQ'd. So Blaney fans, keep your fingers crossed.

-Sadly, Jeremy Mayfield’s 22nd place finish last week at Kansas was his best of the season. In 12 starts this year, Mayfield has a 31.6 average finish.

-Dave Blaney led 3 laps at Kansas, the first time he has led since the first race at Loudon, where he started from the pole and led 30 laps.

-Michael Waltrip, Jeremy Mayfield, and Ward Burton all would have made 6 races for which they DNQ’d if we reverted back to the old provisional system. They lead the Go-Or-Go-Home cars in that category.

-Michael Waltrip has missed 10 races this year where he was one of the fastest 43 qualifiers, leading the Go-Or-Go-Home cars in that category. Ward Burton is quickly catching up though…at Kansas Burton DNQ’d despite being one of the fastest 43 cars for the 9th time.

-Burton’s Kansas DNQ was also the 6th time this season that he was the 2nd fastest car to go home, and the 8th time he was among the two fastest to go home. He leads all the Go-Or-Go-Home cars in that category.

-Despite being the 20th fastest car, Michael Waltrip DNQ’d at Talladega in April. Aside from the Daytona 500 with its wacky qualifying format, and the Pepsi 400 which was rained out halfway through qualifying, that’s the fastest any driver has been all year without making the race. Waltrip outqualified 22 cars that made the race, more than half the field. Included among those 22 are half of this year’s Chase contenders – Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart, Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, and Jeff Burton.

-Last week at Kansas was the first time both Red Bull cars failed to qualify for the same race since Chicago in early July. Overall, it was the 8th time this year that both team cars missed the same race.

-Last week at Kansas, the Go-Or-Go-Home teams broke a streak of 4 straight races where one of the cars outside the top 35 finished dead last in the race.

-Last week at Kansas the lowest any of the eight Go-Or-Go-Home teams finished was John Andretti in 33rd. It was only the 4th time this season that no Go-Or-Go-Home car finished down in the 40’s, and it was also the 1st time that no Go-Or-Go-Home car finished 35th or lower this year.

See you next week!

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Go Or Go Home Report - Kansas

Here is this week’s Go-Or-Go-Home Report:

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Kansas

Cars attempting to qualify: 47
Cars that will miss the race: 4

Teams that need to qualify:
#00 (Reutimann)
#4 (Burton)
#10 (Riggs)
#22 (Blaney)
#36 (Mayfield)
#44 (Jarrett)
#47 (Wood)
#49 (Andretti)
#55 (Waltrip)
#78 (Nemechek)
#83 (Vickers)
#84 (Allmendinger)

New this week:
-Thanks to a 26th place run by Ken Schrader, and a DNQ by Dave Blaney, the #21 Wood Brothers team now holds a 105 point lead over the #22 BDR team for the final guaranteed spot in the top 35. The #21 is also within one point of overtaking the #45 Petty Enterprises team to jump up to 34th. Kyle’s team is 106 points ahead of Blaney.

-Jon Wood will attempt to make his second cup start in the #47 Wood Brothers car. Jon ran at Las Vegas in the #21 earlier this year, where he started 41st and finished 29th, 3 laps down. Since then, Wood has stepped out of his Busch ride for medical reasons, and after being away from the sport for a short while he returned to the track driving some races in the Truck series.

-After attempting all but one of the races this season, it appears the #37 team with Kevin Lepage will not attempt to qualify at Kansas. They are absent from the entry list, along with Sam Hornish Jr. (#06) and Scott Wimmer (#33), who both DNQ’d last week. Lepage had made only 2 races in 23 attempts this year. John Andretti qualified the #37 car at California, and Bill Elliott DNQ’d the car at the Daytona 500.

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Last time we came to Kansas (October 2006):

Cars that attempted to qualify: 47

Non-Top 35 cars that qualified (in order by speed):
#06 (Kluever) – 22nd fastest
#45 (Petty) – 24th
#44 (Labonte) – 30th
#61 (Chaffin) – 34th
#55 (Waltrip) – 35th
#32 (Kvapil) – 37th
#37 (Elliott) – 39th
#78 (Wallace) – 40th

Non-Top 35 cars that DNQ’d (in order by speed):
#4 (Wimmer) – 44th fastest
#49 (Lepage) – 45th
#92 (Blount) – 46th
#46 (Long) – 47th (no time, crashed)

How they finished:
#37 (Elliott) – 16th (1 lap down)
#32 (Kvapil) – 19th (1 lap down, led 1)
#45 (Petty) – 29th (2 laps down)
#78 (Wallace) – 31st (3 laps down)
#06 (Kluever) – 32nd (3 laps down)
#55 (Waltrip) – 35th (4 laps down)
#61 (Chaffin) – 37th (6 laps down)
#44 (Labonte) – 38th (253 laps completed, suspension)

Cars that made the race, but were slower than the fastest DNQ car:
None

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Last week (Dover):

Cars that attempted to qualify: 49

Non-Top 35 cars that qualified (in order by speed):
#10 (Riggs) – 6th fastest
#84 (Allmendinger) – 11th
#00 (Reutimann) – 13th
#78 (Nemechek) – 18th
#44 (Jarrett) – 19th
#83 (Vickers) – 23rd
#49 (Andretti) – 29nd
#55 (Waltrip) – 37th

Non-Top 35 cars that DNQ’d (in order by speed):
#4 (Burton) – 38th
#33 (Wimmer) – 40th
#06 (Hornish Jr.) – 42nd
#37 (Lepage) – 43rd
#22 (Blaney) – 45th
#36 (Mayfield) – 47th

How they finished:
#55 (Waltrip) – 15th (2 laps down, led 1)
#83 (Vickers) – 16th (3 laps down)
#00 (Reutimann) – 18th (3 laps down)
#78 (Nemechek) – 22nd (4 laps down)
#10 (Riggs) – 34th (383 laps completed, accident)
#49 (Andretti) – 37th (358 laps completed, accident)
#44 (Jarrett) – 41st (141 laps completed, engine)
#84 (Allmendinger) – 43rd (4 laps completed, accident)

Cars that made the race, but were slower than the fastest DNQ car:
#38 (Gilliland) – 30th fastest
#15 (Menard) – 41st
#88 (Wallace) – 44th
#40 (Stremme) – 46th
#7 (Gordon) – 48th
#07 (Bowyer) – 49th

-------------------------------------

Some fun facts about the teams outside the top 35:

-Dave Blaney scored a DNQ at Dover, just the third time this season he did so, and the first time since the last Dover race. That was a stretch of 14 races where he managed to qualify, although he was locked in for some of those races.

-A.J. Allmendinger has now made 5 straight races after missing 9 straight. Interestingly enough, the rookie has out-qualified his teammate in each of the last 3 races, and finished higher than Vickers in 2 of those 3 as well.

-Although no longer outside the top 35 (actually no longer behind the wheel at the moment), Bill Elliott still holds the highest percentage of races made while outside the top 35, at 92% (12 races in 13 attempts). Dave Blaney is next, with 84% (16 races in 19 attempts). This only includes drivers who have attempted more than 3 races.

-If Sam Hornish Jr. does not qualify in his next attempt, he will join Brandon Whitt as the only drivers to have attempted at least 3 races this year without qualifying for any. Whitt lost his ride after 3 failed attempts…my money says Hornish won’t.

-Scott Riggs is the only Go-Or-Go-Home team to have an average starting position for the season under 20. That includes part-time teams, as well. Riggs’ average is 19.2. Dave Blaney is right on the edge, however, with an average starting spot of exactly 20.

-Of the full-time teams that have spent time outside the top 35 this year, Brian Vickers has the best average finish at 24.6. Paul Menard is next at 26.3, but he has been locked in for the last 9 races whereas Vickers has had to qualify all season long. The next closest car that has been outside the top 35 all season is Michael Waltrip, with a 28.4 average finish. 8 of the full-time Go-Or-Go-Home teams have an average finish below 30. The poor get poorer…

See you next week!

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Go or Go Home Report - Dover #2

I missed last week, by the time I had a chance to compile the report qualifying had already been run, so I decided it was moot.

Here is this week’s Go-Or-Go-Home Report:

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Dover

Cars attempting to qualify: 50
Cars that will miss the race: 7

Teams that need to qualify:
#00 (Reutimann)
#06 (Hornish Jr.)
#4 (Burton)
#10 (Riggs)
#22 (Blaney)
#33 (Wimmer)
#36 (Mayfield)
#37 (Lepage)
#44 (Jarrett)
#49 (Andretti)
#55 (Waltrip)
#77 (Ambrose) - REMOVED
#78 (Nemechek)
#83 (Vickers)
#84 (Allmendinger)

New this week:
-The battle for the top 35 is still close, the #21 gained a little ground last week with Schrader back behind the wheel, but still sits just 39 points ahead of the #22 team. However the #21 team is also now only 43 points behind the #45 of Petty Enterprises, so one bad race for the #45 and this could be a three car race to the end of the season.

-Sam Hornish Jr. will attempt his 2nd race after missing qualifying last week. Although not technically “new� this week, I missed the report last week so I’m mentioning the #06 team this time around.

-Scott Wimmer will attempt his 4th race of the season in the 4th Childress #33 car. He still has only successfully qualified the car once, at Indianapolis where he finished 31st.

-After qualifying was rained out at Watkins Glen, Marcos Ambrose will finally get his first shot at qualifying a Cup car in Robby Gordon’s 2nd #77 car. Presumably they chose Dover because that was Robby’s best oval track run of the season. Ambrose started 3rd and finished 6th in his only Busch race at Dover, and started 12th and finished 26th in his only Truck race.

-UPDATE: Marcos Ambrose will not race this weekend, as his wife is expecting their 2nd child. No word on whether anyone else will get in the car, but it seems unlikely at this point.

-----------------------------

Last time we came to Dover (June 2007):

Cars that attempted to qualify: 49

Non-Top 35 cars that qualified (in order by speed):
#10 (Riggs) – 11th fastest
#4 (Burton) – 13th
#21 (Elliott) – 14th
#36 (Mayfield) – 20th
#44 (Jarrett) – 22nd
#55 (Waltrip) – 23rd
#83 (Vickers) – 24th
#84 (Allmendinger) – 28th

Non-Top 35 cars that DNQ’d (in order by speed):
#22 (Blaney) – 38th fastest
#15 (Menard) – 39th
#78 (Wallace) – 40th
#00 (Reutimann) – 45th
#49 (Bliss) – 46th
#37 (Lepage) – 47th

How they finished:
#83 (Vickers) – 19th (2 laps down)
#10 (Riggs) – 23rd (2 laps down)
#55 (Waltrip) – 28th (5 laps down)
#84 (Allmendinger) – 33rd (6 laps down)
#21 (Elliott) – 35th (7 laps down)
#36 (Mayfield) – 38th (39 laps down)
#4 (Burton) – 42nd (324 laps completed, accident)
#44 (Jarrett) – 43rd (241 laps completed, engine trouble)

Cars that made the race, but were slower than the fastest DNQ car:
#14 (Marlin) – 41st
#66 (Green) – 42nd
#45 (Petty) – 43rd
#88 (Rudd) – 44th
#25 (Mears) – 48th
#70 (Sauter) – 49th

-------------------------

Last week (New Hampshire):

Cars that attempted to qualify: 49

Non-Top 35 cars that qualified (in order by speed):
#22 (Blaney) – 10th fastest
#00 (Reutimann) – 20th
#4 (Burton) – 27th
#10 (Riggs) – 29th
#78 (Nemechek) – 37th
#84 (Allmendinger) – 39th
#83 (Vickers) – 42nd
#98 (Said) – 43rd

Non-Top 35 cars that DNQ’d (in order by speed):
#44 (Jarrett) – 44th
#06 (Hornish Jr.) – 45th
#36 (Mayfield) – 46th
#55 (Waltrip) – 47th
#37 (Lepage) – 48th
#49 (Andretti) – 49th

How they finished:
#00 (Reutimann) – 26th (1 lap down)
#78 (Nemechek) – 29th (2 laps down)
#10 (Riggs) – 32nd (3 laps down)
#84 (Allmendinger) – 33rd (3 laps down)
#22 (Blaney) – 35th (4 laps down)
#98 (Said) – 40th (8 laps down)
#4 (Burton) – 41st (16 laps down)
#83 (Vickers) – 43rd (265 laps completed)

Cars that made the race, but were slower than the fastest DNQ car:
None

-----------------------------

Some fun facts about the teams outside the top 35:

-Dave Blaney, who is involved in the battle to get back into the top 35, has failed to qualify just twice the season. The last of those came the last time we were at Dover in June, so watch out for the #22 on Friday afternoon.

-After failing to qualify for 9 straight events, A.J. Allmendinger has qualified for 4 straight and recorded (by far) his best finish of the season, an 18th at Fontana.

-David Reutimann has still qualified for the most races while outside the top 35 this season with 19 (in 25 attempts). He is pulling away from Jarrett, who is now tied for 2nd with Vickers who both have 17 starts (in 27 attempts).

-John Andretti is now the second driver outside the top 35 to be disqualified from a race he was fast enough to start. Andretti’s BAM #49 failed inspection for being too low on the left front. Ironically, the #49 was the team that benefited when Brian Vickers was disqualified after being fast enough to start in the first New Hampshire race.

-Michael Waltrip has now suffered a DNQ in 10 races where he was among the fastest 43 cars. Vickers and Burton are tied for a distant 2nd, with 7 DNQ’s each while among the 43 fastest.

-If qualifying were based on the old system, Dale Jarrett and Jeremy Mayfield would have started at New Hampshire instead of A.J. Allmendinger and Boris Said (who qualified outside the top 38 and were lower than the #44 and #36 in owners points). Mayfield has now tied Waltrip, who have both missed 6 races they would have qualified for under the old system.

-Boris Said still has the best average finish for all non-top 35 drivers who have started more than one race, but his average dropped 4 points to 20.8. The best average finish for a driver who has attempted every race is Brian Vickers, with an average finish (and avg. start) of 25.1.

-Jeremy Mayfield has been among the fastest three cars to DNQ 11 times this season, out of 15 total DNQ’s. He is the only driver in double digits in this category.

-No go-or-go-home car finished higher than 26th at New Hampshire, with David Reutimann in the #00. Only one race this season has seen the highest finishing go-or-go-home car place lower than that: The first New Hampshire race, when polesitter Dave Blaney came home in 29th.

See you next week!

• 2 Comments

Go Or Go Home Report - Richmond #2

Here is this week’s Go-Or-Go-Home Report. Sometimes I look at it and its formatted correctly, other times I look at it and its a big mess. I hope its working correctly for whomever might be reading:

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Richmond

Cars attempting to qualify: 47
Cars that will miss the race: 4

Teams that need to qualify:
#00 (Reutimann)
#4 (Burton)
#10 (Riggs)
#22 (Blaney)
#36 (Mayfield)
#37 (Lepage)
#44 (Jarrett)
#49 (Andretti)
#55 (Waltrip)
#78 (Nemechek)
#83 (Vickers)
#84 (Allmendinger)

New this week:
-The battle for the top 35 continues, with Blaney and
Elliott once again switching places. Now the #21 car is back in the top 35, by just 4 points over the #22 team.

-For the first time in months, more than one car is legitimately in danger of dropping out of the top 35. The #45 driven by Kyle Petty and the #70 driven by Johnny Sauter are tied for 33rd in owners points, just 56 points ahead of Blaney and 52 points ahead of Elliott (who is currently locked in). Only the #22 car is in shooting distance, however, as the #10 of Scott Riggs is 168 points behind Elliott and 220 points behind Petty and Sauter. So no matter what happens at Richmond, only one of the 3 drivers in danger can fall out of the top 35.

-After successfully qualifying the car last week at California, Joe Nemechek will continue behind the wheel of the #78 Furniture Row car. The team expects “Front Row Joe� to be their driver for at least the next 5 races.

-Although he will be locked into the race, former Go-Or-Go-Home driver Kenny Wallace will get behind the wheel of the #88 car this week, replacing an injured Ricky Rudd.

------------------------------------------

Last time we came to Richmond (May 2007):

Cars that attempted to qualify: 50

Non-Top 35 cars that qualified (in order by speed):
#10 (Riggs) – 3rd fastest
#22 (Blaney) – 10th
#84 (Allmendinger) – 13th
#00 (Reutimann) – 14th
#4 (Burton) – 24th
#78 (Wallace) – 26th
#46 (Benson) – 31st
#15 (Menard) – 33rd

Non-Top 35 cars that DNQ’d (in order by speed):
#83 (Vickers) – 35th fastest
#21 (Schrader) – 37th
#55 (Waltrip) – 38th
#36 (Mayfield) – 44th
#44 (Jarrett) – 47th
#37 (Lepage) – 49th
#49 (Bliss) – 50th

How they finished:
#22 (Blaney) – 11th (led 2)
#15 (Menard) – 16th
#00 (Reutimann) – 29th (2 laps down)
#10 (Riggs) – 30th (3 laps down)
#46 (Benson) – 31st (3 laps down)
#84 (Allmendinger) – 32nd (4 laps down)
#4 (Burton) – 35th (370 laps completed, accident)
#78 (Wallace) – 39th (331 laps completed, engine trouble)

Cars that made the race, but were slower than the fastest DNQ car:
#5 (Busch) – 36th
#45 (Petty) – 39th
#14 (Marlin) – 40th
#41 (Sorenson) – 41st
#13 (Nemechek) – 42nd
#31 (Burton) – 43rd
#19 (Sadler) – 45th
#38 (Gilliland) – 46th
#7 (Gordon) – 48th

----------------------------------------------

Last week (California):

Cars that attempted to qualify: 46

Non-Top 35 cars that qualified (in order by speed):
#83 (Vickers) – 17th fastest
#84 (Allmendinger) – 18th
#55 (Waltrip) – 25th
#21 (Elliott) – 26th
#36 (Mayfield) – 27th
#00 (Reutimann) – 28th
#78 (Nemechek) – 29th
#49 (Andretti) – 32th

Non-Top 35 cars that DNQ’d (in order by speed):
#10 (Riggs) – 33rd
#4 (Burton) – 41st
#44 (Jarrett) – 42nd

How they finished:
#83 (Vickers) – 8th (led 3 laps)
#84 (Allmendinger) – 18th (1 lap down)
#21 (Elliott) – 26th (led 1, 2 laps down)
#00 (Reutimann) – 32nd (led 1, 3 laps down)
#36 (Mayfield) – 36th (229 laps completed, accident)
#49 (Andretti) – 37th (led 2, 203 laps completed, accident)
#55 (Waltrip) – 42nd (38 laps completed, accident)
#78 (Nemechek) – 43rd (9 laps completed, engine)

Cars that made the race, but were slower than the fastest DNQ car:
#66 (Green) – 34th fastest
#6 (Ragan) – 35th
#96 (Raines) – 36th
#7 (Gordon) – 37th
#17 (Kenseth) – 38th
#88 (Rudd) – 39th
#26 (McMurray) – 40th
#45 (Petty) – 43rd
#01 (Almirola) – 44th
#70 (Sauter) – 45th
#42 (Montoya) – 46th (crash)

---------------------------------------

Some fun facts about the teams outside the top 35:

-A.J. Allmendinger’s 18th place finish at California was not only his best finish of the season, it was his only finish inside the top 30 this season.

-The first race at Richmond was one of 4 events this season where at least 4 cars outside the top 35 qualified in the top 15. Talladega was the only race with more than 4, where 5 cars qualified in the top 15. This doesn’t include the July race at Daytona, where the top 7 qualifiers, and 8 of the top 15, were Go-Or-Go-Home cars before rain cancelled the rest of qualifying.

-Brian Vickers still leads all Go-Or-Go-Home cars in top 5’s with 1, top 10’s with 4 (Blaney is second with 2 top 10’s), and laps led with 98 (Blaney again is second, with 35 laps led).

-Thanks John Andretti and David Reutimann both led their first laps of the season at California last week. Andretti led 2, and Reutimann 1.

-Kyle Petty now leads all drivers in the number of races he started, but would have DNQ’d under the old system with 8. Robby Gordon is right behind with 7. Johnny Sauter, meanwhile, is now tied with Dale Jarrett for the most races he started where he was not one of the fastest 43 qualifiers. Both have 6 in that category.

-Aric Almirola qualified for the race at California despite not being one of the fastest 43 qualifiers. With his addition to the list, there are now 41 different drivers who would have missed at least one race they started if we used a different qualifying system. This includes 34 drivers who would have missed at least 1 race if qualifying were based on the top 43, 21 drivers who would have missed a race under the old system, and 14 drivers who would have missed a race under both alternate systems. The only 7 drivers who would have qualified for every race no matter what system are #01 Mark Martin (although Almirola would have missed a race in the same car), #5 Busch, #8 Earnhardt Jr., #11 Hamlin, #12 Newman, #20 Stewart, and #26 McMurray.

See you next week!

• 1 Comment

Go or Go Home Report: California #2

I don't know how to fix the formatting on these blogs, last week looked terrible. But on the bright side, I don't think many people read these anyway so it doesn't matter.

Here is this week’s Go-Or-Go-Home Report:

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California #2

Cars attempting to qualify: 46
Cars that will miss the race: 3

Teams that need to qualify:
#00 (Reutimann)
#4 (Burton)
#10 (Riggs)
#21 (Elliott)
#36 (Mayfield)
#44 (Jarrett)
#49 (Andretti)
#55 (Waltrip)
#78 (Nemechek)
#83 (Vickers)
#84 (Allmendinger)

New this week:

-Sears and Valvoline have reached an agreement that will place a Sears paint scheme on the #10 this week, and Valvoline will become the primary motor oil used in Sears' Auto Centers. The agreement is for three years, which would seem to indicate that Riggs will be extending his contract at Evernham Motorsports, because sponsors typically like to know who their driver will be before they sign a contract.

-Bill Elliott gained a little ground on Dave Blaney, but the #21 team still sits outside the top 35 in owners points. The margin decreased from 55 points to 37 points this week. Basically, Elliott needs to finish 13 positions in front of Blaney to retake the final guaranteed spot.

-It would appear Front Row Motorsports has closed up shop. Last week they attempted to qualify both the #34 and #37 cars, but both teams DNQ'd. This week neither is on the entry list. This leaves us with 46 cars, the smallest number of cars that have attempted to qualify for any race this season.

-This week Joe Nemechek will be the driver of the #78 Furniture Row car. Last week Sterling Marlin attempted to qualify the #78, but failed to do so. Nemechek's last attempt was two weeks ago at Michigan, where he succesfully qualified the #08 entry but crashed in the race.

--------------------------------------------------------

Last time we came to California (February 2007):

Cars that attempted to qualify: 51

Non-Top 35 cars that qualified (in order by speed):
#83 (Vickers) – 14th fastest
#15 (Menard) – 21st
#13 (Nemechek) – 26th
#14 (Marlin) – 27th
#70 (Sauter) – 32nd
#37 (Andretti) – 33rd
#00 (Reutimann) – 34th
#44 (Jarrett) – 51st (used provisional)

Non-Top 35 cars that DNQ’d (in order by speed):
#55 (Waltrip) – 35th fastest
#4 (Burton) – 36th
#36 (Mayfield) – 37th
#84 (Allmendinger) – 38th
#72 (Whitt) – 46th
#49 (Bliss) – 47th
#78 (Wallace) -- 49th
#34 (Lepage) -- 50th

How they finished:
#83 (Vickers) – 10th
#13 (Nemechek) – 14th
#70 (Sauter) – 18th (1 lap down)
#15 (Menard) – 20th (1 laps down)
#44 (Jarrett) – 32nd (4 laps down)
#00 (Reutimann) – 33rd (239 laps completed, accident)
#37 (Andretti) – 34th (220 laps completed, electrical problem)
#14 (Marlin) – 35th (198 laps completed, electrical problem)

Cars that made the race, but were slower than the fastest DNQ car:
#26 (McMurray) – 39th fastest
#21 (Schrader) – 40th
#45 (Petty) – 41st
#19 (Sadler) – 42nd
#6 (Ragan) – 43rd
#38 (Gilliland) – 44th
#96 (Raines) -- 45th
#7 (Gordon) -- 48th
#44 (Jarrett) -- 51st, used provisional

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Last week (Bristol):

Cars that attempted to qualify: 48

Non-Top 35 cars that qualified (in order by speed):
#10 (Riggs) – 11th fastest
#4 (Burton) – 14th
#55 (Waltrip) – 16th
#36 (Mayfield) – 25th
#21 (Elliott) – 26th
#49 (Andretti) – 28th
#44 (Jarrett) – 33rd
#84 (Allmendinger) – 34th

Non-Top 35 cars that DNQ’d (in order by speed):
#00 (Reutimann) – 41st
#78 (Marlin) – 42nd
#83 (Vickers) – 44th
#37 (Lepage) – 47th
#34 (Barrett) – 48th

How they finished:
#10 (Riggs) – 18th
#55 (Waltrip) – 23rd (2 laps down)
#21 (Elliott) – 25th (2 laps down)
#4 (Burton) – 33rd (6 laps down)
#44 (Jarrett) – 34th (6 laps down)
#84 (Allmendinger) – 35th (9 laps down)
#36 (Mayfield) – 37th (19 laps down)
#49 (Andretti) – 40th (416 laps completed, electrical problem)

Cars that made the race, but were slower than the fastest DNQ car:
#18 (Yeley) – 43rd fastest
#15 (Menard) – 45th
#96 (Raines) – 46th

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Some fun facts about the teams outside the top 35:

-David Reutimann failed to qualify at Bristol, the first time he DNQ'd since Dover in June, a stretch of 11 races (this does not include the road courses, where Reutimann was replaced by P.J. Jones).

-After 8 straight DNQ's, A.J. Allmendinger finally qualifed for another race at Bristol. He finished 35th, however. Allmendinger still has not placed higher than 31st in any race in his Nextel Cup career.

-Sterling Marlin's DNQ in the #78 car last week was his first of the season. He had a perfect record prior to this, going 5-for-5 at the beginning of the year in the #14 car. He had been the only driver that had attempted at least 4 races this season who could claim a perfect record. Terry Labonte is 3-for-3, although one of those was a champion's provisional. Chad Chaffin is 2-for-2, and several drivers qualified in their only attempt, most of these guys are the "road course ringers."

-Scott Riggs' 18th place finish was his best since the first Pocono race, which was also an 18th. Bristol was only Scott's 5th top 20 of 2007, and he still has yet to lead a lap.

-Last time we came to California, 4 teams outside the top 35 in points finished in the top 20. Of those 4, only the #83 team will be attempting to qualify this weekend -- the #13 has closed shop, and the #70 and #15 are now locked into the top 35. Vickers' 10th place finish was the first top 10 for Toyota in Cup competition.

That's all, see you next week!

• 1 Comment

Go or Go Home Report - Bristol #2

Well it looks like all of my most recent blogs, including the couple of previous installments of this report, didn’t carry over. Oh well, maybe I’ll be able to go back and transfer them over later.

Anyway, here is this week’s Go-Or-Go-Home Report:

Bristol

Cars attempting to qualify: 48
Cars that will miss the race: 5

Teams that need to qualify:
#00 (Reutimann)
#4 (Burton)
#10 (Riggs)
#21 (Elliott)
#34 (Barrett)
#36 (Mayfield)
#37 (Lepage)
#44 (Jarrett)
#49 (Andretti)
#55 (Waltrip)
#78 (Marlin)
#83 (Vickers)
#84 (Allmendinger)

New this week:
-Once again, the #21 and #22 teams switched places
in the battle for the final spot in the top 35 for owners points. 3 of the last 4 weeks the team with the final guaranteed spot has changed hands between the two. The #22 car is locked in this week, with a 55 point margin of the Wood Brothers car. This is the largest that margin has been during that 4 week stretch.

-Stanton Barrett returns to the Nextel Cup Series behind the wheel of the #34 Front Row Motorsports car, a teammate to Lepage in the #37. Barrett’s last attempt to qualify for a Cup race was the Daytona 500, where he posted the 54th fastest time out of 61 cars, and finished 19th in the 1st Gatorade Duel race.

-The revolving door at Furniture Row continues, with Sterling Marlin returning to Cup competition after a brief hiatus. He will attempt to qualify the #78 that Scott Wimmer was unable to qualify last week at Michigan. Earlier this year, Sterling Marlin was the only driver that started outside the top 35 in points who managed to qualify for all of the first 5 races. In doing so, he got his #14 team back into the top 35 where they remained until Ginn imploded.

Last time we came to Michigan (June 2007):

Cars that attempted to qualify: 49

Non-Top 35 cars that qualified (in order by speed):
#4 (Burton) – 14th fastest
#49 (Bliss) – 19th
#14 (Marlin) – 21st
#36 (Mayfield) – 23rd
#83 (Vickers) – 25th
#78 (Wallace) – 27th
#44 (Jarrett) – 41st
#84 (Allmendinger) – 35th

Non-Top 35 cars that DNQ’d (in order by speed):
#37 (Lepage) – 38th fastest
#00 (Reutimann) – 40th
#55 (Waltrip) – 44th
#13 (Nemechek) – 45th
#70 (Sauter) – 47th
#15 (Menard) – 48th

How they finished:
#83 (Vickers) – 15th (led 1)
#49 (Bliss) – 17th (1 lap down)
#4 (Burton) – 18th (2 laps down)
#78 (Wallace) – 21st (3 laps down)
#14 (Marlin) – 30th (5 laps down)
#36 (Mayfield) – 34th (led 1, 18 laps down with crash damage)
#84 (Allmendinger) – 40th (91 laps down, accident)
#44 (Jarrett) – 42nd (42 laps completed, accident)

Cars that made the race, but were slower than the fastest DNQ car:
#18 (Yeley) – 39th fastest
#17 (Kenseth) – 41st fastest
#41 (Sorenson) – 42nd fastest
#29 (Harvick) – 43rd fastest
#6 (Ragan) – 46th fastest
#2 (Busch) – 49th fastest

Last week (Michigan):

Cars that attempted to qualify: 49

Non-Top 35 cars that qualified (in order by speed):
#55 (Waltrip) – 11th fastest
#00 (Reutimann) – 12th
#49 (Andretti) – 16th
#22 (Blaney) – 17th
#83 (Vickers) – 18th
#4 (Burton) – 27th
#08 (Nemechek) – 32nd
#10 (Riggs) – 37th

Non-Top 35 cars that DNQ’d (in order by speed):
#36 (Mayfield) – 41st
#44 (Jarrett) – 43rd
#78 (Wimmer) – 44th
#37 (Lepage) – 46th
#84 (Allmendinger) – 47th

How they finished:
#22 (Blaney) – 6th
#83 (Vickers) – 8th (led 11 laps)
#4 (Burton) – 20th (led 4 laps)
#00 (Reutimann) – 23rd (1 lap down)
#10 (Riggs) – 36th (2 laps down)
#49 (Andretti) – 37th (2 laps down)
#55 (Waltrip) – 40th (68 laps down, accident)
#08 (Nemechek) – 43rd (92 laps completed, accident)

Cars that made the race, but were slower than the fastest DNQ car:
#66 (Green) – 42nd fastest
#70 (Sauter) – 45th
#45 (McCumbee) – 48th

Some fun facts about the teams outside the top 35:

-Jeremy Mayfield was, once again, the fastest car that did not qualify at Michigan. This is the 5th time Mayfield has held that distinction this year, only two other drivers have held it more than once: Waltrip three times, and Menard twice.

-Michigan continues to be a good track for the go-or-go-home crowd. After four of those teams placed in the top 15 back in June, two of them placed in the top 10 last week – Vickers and Blaney.

-Brian Vickers led 11 laps at Michigan, giving him a total of 95 for the year. He has led nearly three times the number of laps as his next closest competition in the go-or-go-home crowd. The only other driver outside the top 35 to have led a double digit number of laps this year is Blaney (35). Marlin has led 18 laps this year, but only one of those came during a race where he was outside the top 35 (Las Vegas).

-Thanks to Jarrett’s DNQ, David Reutimann is now the sole leader in terms of the total number of races he has successfully qualified for this year while outside the top 35, with 16. Elliott and Blaney, however, continue to have the highest rate of success (91% for Elliott, although this includes one champion’s provisional, and 88% for Blaney).

-A.J. Allmendinger’s last start in the Nextel Cup Series was the June race at Michigan, now 8 races ago. Every other driver who still has a Cup ride has started a race more recently than that, including Kevin Lepage who has only made 2 races in 20 attempts this year (the last of those was at Loudon, more recent than the first Michigan race). Mike Bliss hasn’t made a race since Texas, but he no longer has a ride.

-All in all, 30 drivers have qualified for a race this season while outside the top 35 in points. The average starting position for all 30 of these drivers combined is 28.30. The average finishing position for all 30 drivers combined is 28.95.

See you next week!

• 0 Comments

the coolest driver name

I just stumbled across this guy while doing some research...if he does not have the coolest name of all past and present NASCAR drivers, then I don't know who does.

He started 62 Grand National races in the 1960's, scoring 1 top 5 and 18 top 10's. And his name...is Worth McMillion.

http://www.racing-reference.info/driver?id=mcmilwo01

• 0 Comments

Attention fans of Ward, DJ, Mikey, Schrader, etc.

As a knee-jerk reaction to Coke 600 qualifying, I have just created a new Rowdy Group: The DNQ Support group. If one of your favorite drivers is outside the top 35, and Fridays used to be your favorite day of the week but now you hate them, then come on over and join up. I'm tired of feeling hopeless and alone when Paul Menard DNQ's. And if you're a fan of DJ, Mikey, Ward, Schrader, Reutimann, Vickers, The Dinger, Mayfield, and so on...maybe you could use a little help on Fridays too. Don't weather the storm alone Come join the DNQ support group. More to come later...

• 0 Comments