Chicago's Shitty Showers

This is how the radar looked in Joliet from about 10 AM until around 6:30 P.M. NASCAR did manage to finally get the race in under the lights. I didn't have time to send out the picks and qualifying results so we will take care of that first.

Jim-99, 42, 55, 2=35
Joe99, 2, 11, 48=29
Chuck-48, 5, 11, 99=27
PT-20, 2, 11, 48=27
Dennis-48, 2, 14, 20=27
Neil-48, 5, 11, 99=27
Michael-48, 5, 55, 20=25
Freddy-48, 5, 55, 20=25
Norb-99, 2, 11, 78=22
Terry-18, 56, 11, 22=21
Toby-20, 2, 11, 29=20
Brent-78, 5, 11, 20=18

The top 15 in qualifying were: 22, 2, 42, 5, 17, 24, 16, 99, 48, 20, 27, 18, 47, 56, 43

Now on to the race report. IT WAS MISERABLE THERE!!! It was cold and rainy the entire day. It started to rain around 9 A.M. and rained off and on until 6:30 or 7 P.M. The race finally ended at 11 P.M. Needless to say we did not stay for the end of the race. We tried but it was just too cold and damp. Besides, my daughter was already catching a cold so we left. We did enjoy some dry time in the morning and were able to make biscuits and gravy and bacon on the grill. It was delicious. Oh by the way, Matt Kenseth won the race and increased his points lead.

 

The first 110 laps were fairly boring. The only cautions were for rain. Once the race got restarted it was a little more exciting. The teams had set the cars up to race during the day so teams struggled to get the cars right for night racing. All in all it was a crappy weekend but the facility at Chicago was nice. The parking was conveniently located and it was easy to get in and out of the lots. But I think that we are going to go to Bristol next year.

Here are the points for the week and the overall standings.
Week: Dennis 206, PT 190, Toby 185, Michael 177, Freddy 177, Brent 175, Joe 168, Norb 161, Chuck 160, Neil 160, Jim 141, Terry 125

Overall: PT 4587, Chuck 4560, Michael 4517, Freddy 4490, Dennis 4415, Joe 4382, Brent 4275, Jim 4233, Toby 4221, Neil 4163, Terry 4010, Norb 4006. You may notice that I have taken my rightful place as the leader in fantasy points.

This week's race is at Loudon, NH on Sunday at 1 P.M. Loudon is a one mile flat track, similar to Richmond, Phoenix and Martinsville. Car set ups are crucial on flat tracks. Usually if a driver and team are good at one, they are usually good at all. I will need your picks by 2:30 P.M. on Friday. This will be the second race of our last segment and the second race of the chase.

Speaking of the chase, how about NASCAR. They take Truex out and put Newman in. As far as I know, Truex is the one driver at MWR who did nothing wrong, yet they punish him. If NASCAR believes that Bowyer spun out on purpose at Richmond, then shouldn't they have punished him? They did dock him 50 points but it was before they reset the points. The penalty had no ill affects on Bowyer. Then they add Jeff Gordon as the 13th chase driver because Gilliland let Logano pass him at the end of the Richmond race to gain a extra point. NASCAR had gone mad. They really screwed the pooch on this one. It looks like NASCAR is picking and choosing who they want in he chase. NASCAR would never kick Bowyer out because he is one of the more popular drivers. However, Truex's popularity is a notch below. If NASCAR is going to start picking and choosing, then they should let 43 drivers in the chase. NASCAR did clarify the rules a bit this weekend. They said all teams and drivers have to try their best and try to get the best finish they can in a race. If that is the case, shouldn't NASCAR do away with the start and park teams?

I did not write a new song this week but never fear. I have made a slide show of the sights I took in at the track. I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I did making it.