NASCAR Update

Well we are up to the fifth race of the season and so far my fantasy season has sucked. The new qualifying format is killing me. I understand why NASCAR changed the quailfying rules but I am not sure I like it. Anyway I am excited to announce that I have written a new song parody and I must say it is my best ever. And you can even listen to it with children around.

Race 3

This week NASCAR moves from the desert of Arizona to the desert of Nevada. One thing that I have noticed so far this season is that Austin Dillon is in way over his head. Good thing his grandpa owns the team. In keeping with that theme, I wrote a new song.

Boogity, Boogity, Boogity!!!

Welcome back race fans. It's finally time to go racing again. It's been slim pickings for decent sports on TV these last couple of Sundays since the Super Bowl. The Blues have been on the Olympic break and the Cardinals are just starting spring training. Of course their has been the NBA and soccer but let's be honest, does anyone really care about the NBA or soccer? I'd rather watch curling or cross country skiing over the NBA or soccer.

There are some new rules for NASCAR this year. Except for at the four restrictor track races, NASCAR will implement group qualifying. Five cars at a time will go out and run three or four laps, and each cars fastest lap will be their qualifying lap.

The rules for the chase have also been modified....again. When the chase format was first adopted, 10 drivers made the Chase. Then NASCAR decided to expand it to 12. Then last season they had 13 drivers in the Chase. This year 16 drivers will quailfy for the chase. Hells bells in a couple of years it will probably be up to 20 drivers. The Chase will now be more like a playoff. After the first three Chase races, the bottom four drivers in the Chase will be eliminated. Four more after the sixth race and four more after the ninth. That will leave four drivers eligible to win the championship. The final race at Homestead will determine the champion. You know this format could be interesting if they would move the final race to a different track. Homestead is BORING! The race would have to be at a warm weather track because of the November weather. So that could be Fontana, Phoenix or Las Vegas. However NASCAR is not gonna want to end the season out west. Besides, Fontana and Vegas are just as boring as Homestead. So that would leave Daytona. How awesome would it be to have the first race of the season at Daytona and the last at Daytona. I doubt the drivers would like it but the fans sure would. And if it weren't for the fans there would be no drivers.

Okay for those of you who are new readers of Somewhatrednecks, I started a tradition of writing and recording song parodys to celebrate all that is NASCAR. So in keeping with tradition I have a new song to start the new race season, and as has become the norm, it is about Dale Junior. He is my muse. I hope you enjoy

Johnson Wins His Sixth Title Blah, Blah, Blah

Jimmie Johnson won his 6th Sprint Cup Championship which places him one behind Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt. Johnson and Knaus are truly the greatest CHEATERS ever. You got to give them credit for that. I am not gonna talk any more about it. It just pisses me off.

I am thinking about implementing a few rule changes for next season. I am considering putting our league online with Yahoo Fantasy Racing or some such similar site. I do want to be able to customize the scoring and rules to fit what we want. I am thinking about doing away with the rule that says you can use a driver 5 times per segment, and changing it to 12 times per year. That is what many leagues do. As it stands now in our league you can potentially use a driver 20 times per year. Doing that, makes it harder for a team to catch up if they fall behind. Limiting it to 12 times per year would help people to be able to perhaps make a come back. Also the driver groups would be set by me at the beginning of the season and they would not change after each segment. I am still thinking about that one though. We would keep the wildcard rule the same. Let me know what you think. (not that I will pay any attention to what you think)

The downside to setting up the league online is that the deadline for submitting your picks would be a fixed time. Absolutely no late picks would be allowed. The upside is that we may pick up more league members so the pot could be bigger.

We did not have a league party this past season. We will definitely be having a party for the Daytona 500 to start the season next year. I am not sure where, but it will be somewhere.

Here are the results for race and the final standings for the segment and the season.

Week-Norb 210, Toby 201, Terry 195, Dennis 181, Brent 178, Joe 176, Michael 159, Neil 158, PT 156, Chuck 156, Freddy 151, Jim 145

Segment-Toby 1862, Dennis 1836, PT 1815, Michael 1810, Neil 1737, Norb 1717, Brent 1711, Freddy 1702, Terry 1696, Chuck 1665, Joe 1621, Jim 1598

Overall-PT 6212, Michael 6146, Chuck 6065, Dennis 6045, Freddy 6015, Toby 5898, Joe 5835, Brent 5811, Neil 5740, Jim 5690, Terry 5581, Norb 5562

Our league fees were $75.00 and with 12 members that comes to $900.00 which will be all paid out. The winner of each segment will get $75.00 and the 2nd place finisher of each segment receives $25.00. We will pay out three places for the final standings. First pays $250.00, second pays $150.00, and third pays $100.00.

Segment One-Jim $75, Chuck $25
Segment Two-Michael $75, Dennis $25
Segment Three-PT $75, Freddy $25
Segment Four-Toby $75, Dennis $25

Champion PT $250, second Michael $150, third Chuck $100

Here is the total amounts you have coming; PT $325, Michael $225, Chuck $125, Toby $75, Jim $75, Dennis $50 and Freddy $25.

Let me know what you think about the possible changes for next season. There will be some driver changes next year and I will keep you up to date on that and any other interesting news that may come out of NASCAR during the off season.

Okay boys that's a wrap. Enjoy my final video of the year. It is a celebration of the trashy NASCAR women that we all love and wish our wives would be.

Matt Masters Miami

Matt Kenseth will start from the pole at Miami/Homestead Raceway. He needs all the help he can get as he trails Jimmie Johnson by 28 points in the Chase. Johnson starts seventh. Kevin Harvick still has a shot but will need lots of help to win the Chase. The good news for Kenseth and Harvick is that Johnson has finished 30th or worse in the last two races at Miami/Homestead. Here are the qualifying results.

Toby-20, 56, 55, 18=34
Norb-24, 56, 11, 29=29
Brent-20, 5, 14, 48=27
Dennis-20, 56, 14, 24=23
Joe-18, 5, 14, 20=23
Terry-48, 5, 11, 24=23
Jim-48, 5, 7, 29=22
Freddy-29, 5, 47, 56=21
Michael-24, 5, 14, 2=15
Neil-99, 2, 14, 5=15
PT-24, 5, 14, 56=11
Chuck-24, 5, 14, 56=11

I put together a little music video for you to enjoy. It celebrates all that is Miami.

Harvick Hanging On

Kevin Harvick takes the checkered flag to win the Advocare 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. Harvick was running second with two laps to go when first place Carl Edwards ran out of fuel. Harvick drove around Edwards and easily cruised to the win. Edwards ended up finishing 21st.

Matt Kenseth struggled with the handling on his car all day and finished 23rd while Johnson finished 3rd. Johnson now has a 27 point lead in the Chase with one race remaining. Barring something unexpected, Johnson will win his 6th Sprint Cup Championship. That ties him with Dale Earnhardt Sr. and leaves him only one behind Richard Petty for most all time. The only positive thing that Kenseth has going for him is the fact that the 48 has never ran particularly well at Homestead. Of course, the 48 has never really had to run well at Homestead. He usually has the points lead when he gets to Homestaed and all he wants to do is have a decent finish.

I was out of town this weekend and was unable to post the qualifying results so here they are.

Terry-24, 5, 11, 48=49
Dennis-48, 2, 11, 22=46
Brent-48, 2, 11, 20=35
Michael-88, 5, 11, 56=34
Freddy-48, 2, 11, 39=33
PT-48, 2, 14, 29=26
Chuck-48, 2, 14, 29=26
Toby-48, 56, 14, 88=26
Neil-20, 5, 14, 48=26
Jim-48, 5, 10, 99=24
Norb-20, 56, 14, 88=13
Joe-99, 5, 14, 20=11

Here are the race results and the current standings with one week remaining in the race season.

Week-Terry 208, PT 205, Chuck 205, Dennis 191, Toby 190, Michael 187, Freddy 177, Neil 177, Brent 165, Jim 160, Norb 156, Joe 144

Segment-Toby 1661, PT 1659, Dennis 1655, Michael 1651, Neil 1579, Freddy 1551, Brent 1533, Chuck 1509, Norb 1507, Terry 1501, Jim 1453, Joe 1445

Overall-PT 6056, Michael 5987, Chuck 5909, Dennis 5864, Freddy 5864, Toby 5697, Joe 5659, Brent 5633, Neil 5582, Jim 5545, Terry 5386, Norb 5352

Our 4th segment is still up in the air. Only four points separates first through fourth place. I will your picks by 5 P.M. on Friday.

I am thinking about a few rule changes for next season to give everyone a better chance to win. I am also thinking about putting our league on Yahoo Sports. It is free and you would be able to enter your picks on line. Then you could keep track of everyones picks and scores with the click of a mouse. We also might be able to pick up a few more league members if we go online. Let me know what you think.

48 with 45's

Jimmie Johnson dominated the race and went on to win the Advocare 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Johnson had a maximum points day by leading the most laps on the way to his victory. He now has a seven point lead over Matt Kenseth and a 40 point lead over Kevin Harvick with two races remaining, Phoenix this Sunday and Homestead the following Sunday. It looks like the championship will once again come down to the final race at Homestead. Johnson should be favored over Kenseth on the 1 mile track at Phoenix but Homestead is one of the few tracks that the 48 team struggles with. It is a mile and a half track with progressive banking. Kenseth has the highest average finish on mile and a half tracks this year.

Here are the results for the week and the current standings.

Week-Neil 215, Dennis 208, Toby 207, Michael 202, PT 200, Brent 180, Freddy 173, Joe 166, Terry 161,  Jim 160, Norb 150, Chuck 140

Segment-Toby 1471, Michael 1464, Dennis 1464, PT 1454, Neil 1402, Freddy 1374, Brent 1368, Norb 1351, Chuck 1304, Joe 1301, Jim 1293, Terry 1293

Overall-PT 5851, Michael 5800, Chuck 5704, Freddy 5687, Dennis 5673, Joe 5515, Toby 5507, Brent 5468, Neil 5405, Jim 5385, Norb 5196, Terry 5178

I am sure that you all have been keeping track of the wildcard picks on the forms I sent you at the start of the season, but just in case you haven't I will list the cars that you have used up as a wildcard.

PT-15, 18, 20, 24, 48, 88
Dennis-18, 20, 29, 48, 99
Toby-14, 16, 20, 24, 29, 48, 78
Jim-5, 18, 20, 24, 29, 48, 99
Chuck-2, 5, 15, 18, 20, 24, 48, 88, 99
Neil-15, 16, 20, 24, 29, 99
Norb-5, 15, 18, 20, 24, 48
Freddy-2, 5, 15, 16, 18, 20, 29, 48, 99
Brent-15, 18, 24, 29, 78
Terry-14, 16, 20, 29, 88, 99
Michael-15, 18, 20, 24, 29, 48, 78, 88, 99
Joe-2, 5, 18, 24, 29, 48, 99

This weeks race at Phoenix starts at 2 P.M. on Sunday. I need your picks by 4:30 P.M. on Friday.

This week's song is a tribute to those fans, drivers, or crews who don't care for Texas Speedway.