2014 NASCAR Race Review and Results

[HossC]

Rain at Chicagoland has caused qualifying for the first race in this year's Chase to be scrapped. That means that the starting lineup has been determined by the times from the first practice session.

Considering how things could've turned out, it's pretty good news for Lizzy, Garrett and myself. Kyle Busch gets the pole, with Ryan Newman next to him. Roush Fenway teammates Carl Edwards and Ricky Stenhouse Jr are just behind on the second row (Garrett, I hope you haven't jinxed Ricky from this great starting position ), and HMS drivers Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon are only back in seventh and eighth. The situation wasn't so good for Chase drivers Aric Almirola, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano, who all start outside the top 20. At the back of the field, 21-year-old Nationwide Series driver Joey Gase makes his Sprint Cut debut.

Here's the full lineup (Chase drivers are highlighted in yellow):

1 Kyle Busch

2 Ryan Newman

3 Carl Edwards

4 Ricky Stenhouse Jr

5 Matt Kenseth

6 Clint Bowyer

7 Jimmie Johnson

8 Jeff Gordon

9 Paul Menard

10 Kyle Larson

11 Jamie McMurray

12 Kevin Harvick

13 Dale Earnhardt Jr

14 Kurt Busch

15 Austin Dillon

16 Brian Vickers

17 AJ Allmendinger

18 Danica Patrick

19 Kasey Kahne

20 Greg Biffle

21 Marcos Ambrose

22 Tony Stewart

23 Aric Almirola

24 Denny Hamlin

25 Brad Keselowski

26 Justin Allgaier

27 Martin Truex Jr

28 Joey Logano

29 Casey Mears

30 David Gilliland

31 Ryan Truex

32 Michael McDowell

33 Cole Whitt

34 Josh Wise

35 Michael Annett

36 Reed Sorenson

37 Alex Bowman

38 Landon Cassill

39 David Ragan

40 Mike Bliss

41 Joe Nemechek

42 Travis Kvapil

43 Joey Gase

Weather permitting, the MyAfibStory.com 400 from the Chicagoland Speedway will be this Sunday at 2:00 PM ET. It's live on ESPN.

[Garrett Duke]

Well y'all, I don't know if I will be able to watch the race or not or what I will do. I really need to get rid of all my junk that has a way of building up and this weekend is the only chance I have for awhile to work on that. So if I do that, I will not be able to watch the race due to the fact that I don't have cable. I really wish they would keep it on FOX so everyone can watch every race. URGH! Plus, Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Hammond is on FOX! But I do really want to watch the race...it is the first race of the Chase. Though that in itself depresses me beyond words. Y'all know what that means, right? TEN MORE RACES LEFT OF THE SEASON! TEN MORE WEEKS UNTIL MY WITHDRAWL SETS IN! Not only that but with Gordon where he is right now and with how NASCAR has this new Chase format (have I ever said how I don't like it?!) I am beyond nervous that something will happen. He has had a great year this year and has the best chance at winning the championship than he has the past few years. But, I am still nervous that something could happen to him or JJ. Plus, I really want Gordon to win one more championship before he retires...I know he has four already (well he would have six or seven if they didn't put in this dang Chase...but whose counting? Right?) but I didn't become a fan until past his second championship, and his other two championships, I didn't watch enough NASCAR or know enough about it to know he won it to experience it. (I know, I know...it took me forever to get the hang of NASCAR and to get this addicted to it. Shame on me. All those wasted years... )

And for some sad news...I should put this in the news section but I am here and don't want to hide this great thread. HA! Marcos Ambrose will not be racing for Richard Petty Motorsports next season as he will be leaving for his home land of Australia. This has really got me sad. He may not be a Hendrick driver nor was he ever, but I have always liked Marcos. He is always smiling, always has a great attitude, and never has a bad thing to say about anyone. Just imagine if everyone had the same attitude...this world would be a lot better. I do wish Marcos the best of luck in Austraila with all that he will persue...his future. But he will leave a big hole in NASCAR for me. Even when he lost that race a year or two ago by trying to save gas on the final restart and NASCAR put him back a few spots, he handled his disappointment with class. Of course, I am sure the media and the most of the public would have rather him express his frustrations on TV for the world to see, he told the press he would talk to them after he collects himself in his motorhome. When he came out you could tell he was frustrated and disappointed in it, but he put his best smile on and was still positive. Even a couple of weeks ago when he lost that road race to AJ Allmendinger, he handled it well and with class. Yeah...NASCAR and this world needs more like him. Sad to see him go.

And more news...I read the other day that the investigation for Tony Stewart has came to an end, but (catch this) they won't come out with what their findings were or whether or not they will charge Tony. This wait to see what will happen to Tony has been killing me...I can't imagine what it is doing to Tony Stewart. I feel so bad for him with all of this. I will tell you this, I will be greatly disappointed and upset if they charge him with anything. I don't even understand what is taking them this long to come forth and end their investigation. To me it seems clear. But I guess there is probably more than what meets they eye and they know more than I do. But still...the kid ran out in front of Tony wearing a dark suit in a dark night. To me it is common sense. Don't get me wrong, I feel horrible for Ward and his family with what they are going through. But don't blame Tony for it.

OK I will end my post before I vent any more on all of that. I can go on forever about it and it won't change a thing. My thoughts and prayers continue to be with Kevin Ward Jr. , his family, and for Tony Stewart. I can't even begin to imagine ...

As I said at the beginning, I don't know if I will watch the race tomorrow. Depends on what wins...what I want to do or what I should do. LOL. Iff I don't watch it, I will keep tabs of it on my cell phone. I have this great NASCAR app that posts about everything. Still not the same as watching it though.

[HossC]

Marcos Ambrose will not be racing for Richard Petty Motorsports next season as he will be leaving for his home land of Australia. This has really got me sad. He may not be a Hendrick driver nor was he ever, but I have always liked Marcos. He is always smiling, always has a great attitude, and never has a bad thing to say about anyone. Just imagine if everyone had the same attitude...this world would be a lot better.

It's a shame that Marcos Ambrose is leaving, and I'm sure he'll be missed, especially at the road courses. It also means that Sprint Cup will be losing its only full-time non-American driver, leaving only limited schedule drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and Nelson Piquet, Jr. to carry the international flag (assuming they both stay on).

Garrett, I guess you'll have to start watching Formula 1 if you want to see a cheery Aussie driver . Since his move to Red Bull this year, Daniel Ricciardo doesn't seem to have stopped smiling. Of course, that smile has been helped by winning his first three Grands Prix this year (the only non-Mercedes driver to win a race so far this season), and by being 60 points and three places ahead of his teammate, four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel.

[Garrett Duke]

Like his smile Hoss...but NASCAR keeps me busy enough...

Race number one of the Chase is now in the books and Brad Keselowski has now won himself into the next round in the eliminating format of this year's Chase.

Kurt Busch spun himself out trying to slow himself down while going into pit road which has also given him a drive through penalty. As did Matt Kenseth later on in the race.

Jeff Gordon started eighth today and had a fast car and came home a spot short, coming in second.

Aric Almirola ran a great race today and it was great to see him running solidly in the top ten...until his engine blew or something that led him to the garage.

Carl Edwards had his woes too as he had a tire go flat.

And well, Hoss, I am sorry to say that with ten laps to go or so, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and his girl friend, Danica Patrick wreck. Though I read that Danica has said that her spotter had said Smoke was around her and she didn't know Ricky was there. Said it was the spotters fault (it is always someone else's fault, right? LOL) and that all is fine between Ricky and her.

Rookie Kyle Larson had a great race today and led a lot of laps (as did Kevin Harvick) and had a chance of winning but got passed by Brad Keselwoski. At the end Keselowski made it three wide to pass him. Then it left the battle for second to be between Kyle Larson and Jeff Gordon. I think Larson had the upper hand in the battle, but Gordon won the battle thanks to Larson hitting the wall and then his car smoking...but he was able to keep up with Gordon while his car was having problems.

I really liked at the end when Jeff Gordon went and gave Larson a celebratory win on his effort for his first win and talked to him a few minutes. Giving him advice. Shows how classy Jeff Gordon is.

Brad Keselowski came home the winner as his team mate Joey Logano was having engine problems...

Official result:

1. Brad Keselowski

2. Jeff Gordon

3. Kyle Larson

4. Joey Logano (his engine problems didn't slow him down any...)

5. Kevin Harvick

6. Denny Hamlin

7. Kyle Busch

8. Kurt Busch

9. Jamie McMurray

10. Matt Kenseth

11. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

12. Jimmie Johnson

13. Kasey Kahne

14. Martin Truex Jr.

15. Ryan Newman

16. Austin Dillion

17. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

18. Tony Stewart

19. Danica Patrick

20. Carl Edwards

21. Paul Menard

22. AJ Allmendinger

23. Greg Biffle

24. Brian Vickers

25. Marcos Ambrose

26. Casey Mears

27. Justin Allgaier

28. Landon Cassill

29. Reed Sorenson

30. Cole Whitt

31. David Regan

32. Michael McDowell

33. Josh Wise

34. David Gilliland

35. Alex Bowman

36. Joe Nemechek

37. Joey Gase

38. Travis Kvapill

39. Clint Bowyer (Bowyer hit the wall late in the race that took his car to the garage)

40. Michael Annett

41. Aric Almirola

42. Ryan Truex

43. Mike Bliss

We are off to Loudon next week for race number two of the Chase. I hope to catch it, but I doubt I will be home in time to watch the race. Hopefully get to watch the end. I can always hope. So if not, my review may not be so good next week. I apologize ahead of time.

[HossC]

This week it's the second of the three races in the Challenger round of the Chase as the action moves to New Hampshire.

Qualifying started earlier than usual, so I missed the first of the two sessions. On the plus side, I actually have something positive to say about the NASCAR website! They're still changing their layout, but they now keep a record of the individual rounds in qualifying (they used to wipe each round when the next started), which means I can catch up on what I missed.

Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer will start the race in 13th and 14th places respectively after clocking exactly the same time in the first session, and missing out on progressing to the next by eight thousandths of a second! A little further back, Danica Patrick starts just in front of Ricky Stenhouse Jr in 17th and 18th. I hope they can stay apart on the track this week.

Aric Almirola, Greg Biffle and AJ Allmendinger are the only Chase drivers who qualified outside the top 20.

In the second qualifying round, Brad Keselowski took to the track halfway through the session, and set a time that no one could beat. Jamie McMurray, the first non-Chase driver, improved his time from the first session to claim his place next to Brad on the front row (Brad and Jamie were first and second in the first practice session too). Kyle Busch starts back in fifth, with Jimmie Johnson in sixth. After his great battle with Jeff Gordon at the end of last week's race, rookie Kyle Larson starts in 10th.

Clay Rogers (33rd) and Corey Lajoie (41st) are both starting their first Sprint Cup races this week.

Here's the full lineup (Chase drivers are highlighted in yellow):

1. Brad Keselowski

2. Jamie McMurray

3. Kevin Harvick

4. Denny Hamlin

5. Kyle Busch

6. Jimmie Johnson

7. Joey Logano

8. Carl Edwards

9. Ryan Newman

10. Kyle Larson

11. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

12. Brian Vickers

13. Jeff Gordon

14. Clint Bowyer

15. Kurt Busch

16. Matt Kenseth

17. Kasey Kahne

18. Danica Patrick

19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

20. Marcos Ambrose

21. Aric Almirola

22. Austin Dillon

23. Paul Menard

24. Justin Allgaier

25. Casey Mears

26. Greg Biffle

27. AJ Allmendinger

28. Tony Stewart

29. David Ragan

30. Landon Cassill

31. Cole Whitt

32. Martin Truex Jr.

33. Clay Rogers

34. David Gilliland

35. Alex Bowman

36. David Stremme

37. Reed Sorenson

38. Michael Annett

39. Josh Wise

40. Travis Kvapil

41. Corey Lajoie

42. Mike Wallace

43. Timmy Hill

The Sylvania 300 from the New Hampshire Motor Speedway is this Sunday at 2:00 PM ET. It's live on ESPN.

Garrett, I know how you like your night races, so how about a night race in the morning? This week's Formula 1 race is the Singapore Grand Prix, which takes place on a street course under floodlights. Start time is 8:00 AM ET on Sunday.

[HossC]

During the post-qualifying interviews tonight, the presenters mentioned a picture tweeted by Kyle Larson earlier this week. I'm sure it's Garrett's favorite outfit too .

[Garrett Duke]

ooh I love it!!!! Wonder if they have that in my size. Thanks for post I that Hoss...I don't know if I should be happy or sad that the younger drivers looked up to him when they were five..lol.

Once again, I will be out of town and will miss you the race Sunday. Gordon will have to win without me. He I'd driving yellowish orange car. . .would be different to see that.

[HossC]

Seeing as you're missing the race, here's what Jeff's car looks like this week. Jamie McMurray's car is bright green!

[RogerDuke]

Hey Garrett, it looks like we're neck and neck for third place in fantasy NASCAR. It's always fun when I compete with you.

Good luck to your Bears tonight.

[Hobie Hartkins]

Anybody seen that commercial with Danica in it? She looks pretty good! ( A babe? BabISH?)

[Garrett Duke]

Wow Roger...tied for third? Love playing fantasy sports against you...even though I don't do very well. Missed the Bears game too last night since I don't have cable... But am glad they won!

Thanks for the picture of Gordon's car, Hoss, don't know if I'd recognize his or McMurrey's car like that.

On the news front, sources had said that the grand jury met today for Tony Stewart and had the local driver that was ahead of Stewart that race as witness today. They day that the grand jury should wrap up around the end of the week. Am praying for no charge against Tony. I have no doubt that Tony is innocent... Feel bad for him and the Ward family.

[Hobie Hartkins]

Wow Roger...tied for third? Love playing fantasy sports against you...even though I don't do very well. Missed the Bears game too last night since I don't have cable... But am glad they won!

Thanks for the picture of Gordon's car, Hoss, don't know if I'd recognize his or McMurrey's car like that.

On the news front, sources had said that the grand jury met today for Tony Stewart and had the local driver that was ahead of Stewart that race as witness today. They day that the grand jury should wrap up around the end of the week. Am praying for no charge against Tony. I have no doubt that Tony is innocent... Feel bad for him and the Ward family.

Every time I see the thing on t.V., it always looks the same....no malicious intent, but just a terrible freak accident.

[HossC]

As no one else has jumped in, I thought I should post a quick race review and results list before the preview for Dover. I did watch the race at Loudon, but didn't make any notes, so I've cobbled this review together from memory, with some help from various online sources.

Chase contender Denny Hamlin led 32 laps early in the race, but then his team had trouble getting fuel into his car and he had to make several pit stops. Although the team managed to fix the problem, Denny was involved in a wreck on lap 179, and eventually finished in 37th place.

After a couple of cautions in the first half of the race, the commentators predicted many more after lap 200. In the end there were 15 cautions with 63 laps (over 20% of the total) being run behind the pace car. The commentators also mentioned the pressure on the pit crews during the Chase, and the number of small mistakes being made, such as a loose wheel for Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Kyle Busch damaged his car quite badly in a wreck just after Denny Hamlin. Luckily there were four cautions in the next 25 laps, so he still managed to finish 8th.

Jeff Gordon spent most of the race in or around the top five, but a cut tire sent him into the wall on lap 292. He finished 26th.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr was also having a reasonable race, and had even spent some time in the top ten until contact with his teammate, Carl Edwards, sent him into the wall. The damage resulted in a tire rub which caused his tire to blow a few laps later, sending Ricky hard into the wall and ending his race on lap 264. He finished 39th.

After a green-white-checker finish, the winner was Joey Logano, who claims his place in the next round.

Here's the full result:

1. Joey Logano

2. Kyle Larson

3. Kevin Harvick

4. Jamie McMurray

5. Jimmie Johnson

6. Aric Almirola

7. Brad Keselowski

8. Kyle Busch

9. Dale Earnhardt Jr

10. Brian Vickers

11. Austin Dillon

12. Martin Truex Jr

13. AJ Allmendinger

14. Clint Bowyer

15. Paul Menard

16. Greg Biffle

17. Carl Edwards

18. Ryan Newman

19. Danica Patrick

20. Justin Allgaier

21. Matt Kenseth

22. Casey Mears

23. Kasey Kahne

24. Marcos Ambrose

25. Landon Cassill

26. Jeff Gordon

27. David Gilliland

28. Alex Bowman

29. Michael Annett

30. Tony Stewart

31. Reed Sorenson

32. Travis Kvapil

33. Josh Wise

34. Mike Wallace

35. Timmy Hill

36. Kurt Busch

37. Denny Hamlin

38. Cole Whitt

39. Ricky Stenhouse Jr

40. David Stremme

41. Corey Lajoie

42. David Ragan

43. Clay Rogers

This weekend's race is the AAA 400 from the Dover International Speedway.

[Garrett Duke]

Thank you Hoss for covering for me....I missed the race so I guess I didn't think much of the review or writing it. I'm sorry and thank you.

Though I do have news...the grand jury has found not enough evidence to charge Tony Stewart and the DA has said Stewart was going straight and didn't veer towards Kevin Ward Jr. In other words Tony will NOT be charged. Not only that, but Ward Jr.s toxicology showed he had marijuana in his system. Enough that would impair his judgement.

Though by the sounds of it, Ward Jr's dad is upset and is looking at punishing Stewart by other means. I assume a civil suit...though with weed in the kid's system I don't see how he could win and I hope he doesn't. Ward Jr and his family are in my thoughts and prayers. I can only imagine what they are going through and I am sure it is only natural to find guilt in someone else, but still Stewart is not at fault here.

The whole situation is incredibly hard and sad. Am really glad that Tony will not be charged...

On another news....NASCAR has changed a few rules for next season. Can't recall them all right now. One was no more independent track testing...and (Hoss is going to LOVE this one....) They will have rain tires at the road courses.

Hoss may like it, I'm not sure how I feel about it. Of what I take on rain tires from the Nationwide Series is that they go slower with them...and they already go slower on road courses...as well as it is harder to pass. But I will wait and see...

Onto the Monster Mile on Sunday and if all goes as planned, I will be watching it. This will be the end of the first round and Chase drivers will start to be eliminated... Four drivers. I know with Gordon who now sits seventh in points, he has to have a top fifteen finish to be in. Or if he leads a lap, in the top sixteen. Or if he leads the most laps, a top seventeen. So he better have all his tire issues and bad luck out of the way...better yet, he can just win the race! LOL

[HossC]

Sorry Garrett, I beat you to the Tony Stewart verdict and the rule changes in the NASCAR news thread .

This week it's the last race of the first round of the Chase, which means that four drivers won't be happy when they leave Dover. Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano have already booked their places in the Contender round by winning the last two races, but the other 10 places are up for grabs.

In the first of the two qualifying sessions, Carl Edwards waited until there was less than five minutes left before setting a time. His late run was only good enough for 18th place, although Carl said afterwards that he thought he'd have been further down if he'd gone early. Jeff Gordon spent a lot of the first session about 10 places off the cut, but a his second run put him up to fourth. In the end, Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer were the only drivers to improve on their second runs, pushing Danica Patrick down to 13th.

Jeff Gordon briefly held the fastest time in the second session, but ended up in sixth. It looks like he's running the same color scheme as last week, so you might get a chance to see it this time around, Garrett . Jimmie Johnson also made it into the top ten, and they seem to think his car will be fast in the race. Fellow HMS driver Kasey Kahne rounded out the second session with 12th place. It's wasn't such good news for teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr, who starts down in 25th place.

The pole winner this week was Kevin Harvick, making it seven poles this season. He's joined on the front row by Kyle Busch.

Here's the full lineup (Chase drivers are highlighted in yellow):

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Kyle Busch

3. Denny Hamlin

4. Brad Keselowski

5. Jamie McMurray

6. Jeff Gordon

7. Kyle Larson

8. Jimmie Johnson

9. Clint Bowyer

10. Austin Dillon

11. Brian Vickers

12. Kasey Kahne

13. Danica Patrick

14. Matt Kenseth

15. Tony Stewart

16. Joey Logano

17. Marcos Ambrose

18. Carl Edwards

19. Paul Menard

20. Ryan Newman

21. Aric Almirola

22. Kurt Busch

23. Justin Allgaier

24. Ricky Stenhouse Jr

25. Dale Earnhardt Jr

26. Martin Truex Jr

27. Greg Biffle

28. AJ Allmendinger

29. Cole Whitt

30. Casey Mears

31. David Gilliland

32. Josh Wise

33. Reed Sorenson

34. Alex Bowman

35. Michael Annett

36. Landon Cassill

37. David Ragan

38. David Stremme

39. J.J. Yeley

40. Mike Bliss

41. Mike Wallace

42. Travis Kvapil

43. Timmy Hill

The AAA 400 from the Dover International Speedway is this Sunday at 2:00 PM ET. It's live on ESPN.

[Garrett Duke]

Well Hoss, guess you put it in the right place. I just didn't see it since this was the thread that was on the front page. I should've known someone would have beat me to the verdict...I just was too happy to write about it at first. Though it seems that Kevin Ward Jr's family is seeking for something in turn of it. As for now, am happy to see Tony dropped of any charges.

Onto today's race at Dover...

Well as Hoss said, Harvick started from the pole for the seventh time this season and led the majority of the laps until he had tire issues that messed up his splitter and sent him to pit road and the race into a caution. I do believe that is the only "action" caution on the race as the other one or two was for debris.

Today was a big race for the Chase drivers as it determined who will progress and who would be on the outside looking in. Kasey Kahne was one of the drivers who was at risk of not making the Chase, but made the Chase. He suffered from tire issues and had to make a couple of unscheduled pit stops that put him a couple of laps back.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. hit the wall during the first half of the race...sorry Hoss. Hopefully 2015 will be kinder to him.

Brad Keselowski was a strong contender as was Jimmie Johnson who is known to be strong at Dover.

Not a whole lot happened at today's race...I think the highlight of the race came with thirty laps to go when Jeff Gordon took the lead (he had been running strong all day) and he held on to drive away to win his fourth win of the season! His 92 win of his career. And...the last time he won at Dover was in 2001 when he went off to win the championship!!! And y'all will be happy to hear that, that he won in his orange Drive to End Hunger car!! Whoop whoop!

As for the Chase and who will continue...AJ Allmendinger was only two points out of making the Chase and Aric Almirola finished 28th today to miss out as well. Kurt Busch and Greg Biffle has also been eliminated. It was sad to see them all pretty disappointed and frustrated. Kurt took responsibility for missing out and AJ said that he wasn't disappointed on missing out just on how poorly they ran today. Said they don't deserve to be in if they run like that. Believe AJ finished 23rd today.

Here is the official results of Dover:

1. Jeff Gordon

2. Brad Keselowski

3. Jimmie Johnson

4. Joey Logano

5. Matt Kenseth

6. Kyle Larson

7. Martin Truex Jr.

8. Ryan Newman

9. Clint Bowyer

10. Kyle Busch

11. Carl Edwards

12. Denny Hamlin

13. Kevin Harvick

14. Tony Stewart

15. Brian Vickers

16. Paul Menard

17. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

18. Kurt Busch

19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

20. Kasey Kahne

21. Greg Biffle

22. Jamie McMurray

23. AJ Allmindinger

24. Austin Dillion

25. Danica Patrick

26. Marcos Ambrose

27. Casey Mears

28. Aric Almirola

29. Justin Allgaier

30. Cole Whitt

31. David Regan

32. Reed Sorenson

33. David Gilliland

34. Alex Bowman

35. Landon Cassill

36. Mike Bliss

37. David Stremme

38. Travis Kvapil

39. JJ Yeley

40. Mike Wallace

41. Michael Annett

42. Josh Wise

43. Timmy Hill

Here is how the new Chase will look with twelve drivers:

1. Brad Keselowski

2. Joey Logano

3. Kevin Harvick

4. Jimmie Johnson

5. Jeff Gordon

6. Kyle Busch

7. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

8. Matt Kenseth

9. Ryan Newman

10. Carl Edwards

11. Denny Hamlin

12. Kasey Kahne

We will be going to Kansas next week for race one of the Challenger series...or whatever they call it. LOL.

Personally...my Bears may have lost to their rivals the Packers, the Cubs just played their last game of the season...but Jeff Gordon won the race today and all five of my drivers get to advance (Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Kasey Kahne (Team Hendrick!) and Carl Edwards). Yep, this has got to be a great week! Hope you all have a great week too.

35.

[HossC]

I thought you might be quick with a review this week, Garrett .

I do believe that is the only "action" caution on the race as the other one or two was for debris.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. hit the wall during the first half of the race...sorry Hoss. Hopefully 2015 will be kinder to him.

Ricky's crash also brought out a caution flag (which kept him on the lead lap), but the other three cautions were for debris. In the second half of the race, Ricky was running strongly just outside the top ten for a while. I'm not sure what happened to him in the closing laps because he suddenly slipped back to finish 19th.

We will be going to Kansas next week for race one of the Challenger series...or whatever they call it. LOL.

The Challenger round is over - next week is the start of the Contender round.

Personally...my Bears may have lost to their rivals the Packers, the Cubs just played their last game of the season...but Jeff Gordon won the race today and all five of my drivers get to advance (Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Kasey Kahne (Team Hendrick!) and Carl Edwards). Yep, this has got to be a great week! Hope you all have a great week too.

My local team won another All-Ireland Senior Hurling final yesterday, and Europe beat the USA (again!) in an amazing conclusion to the Ryder Cup earlier today, so I guess you deserve something to celebrate .

[RogerDuke]

I doubt Garrett will be paying too much attention to NASCAR this weekend since this is the week our two fantasy football teams collide.

[Garrett Duke]

Ah Roger....I am about to show you how well I can multitask in sports. I am going to beat you in fantasy football and watch Jeff Gordon win...all at once.

[HossC]

This week's action comes from Kansas with the first race in the Contender round of the Chase. Previous results count for nothing as the remaining 12 drivers all have their scores reset to 3000 points.

After all the drivers had made their first runs in the first qualifying session, Chase contenders Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth were outside the time they needed to progress with Johnson in 30th and Kenseth in 33rd. Matt Kenseth made a second run and managed to improve his time, although only up to 27th. Meanwhile, Jimmie Johnson had an impressive spin on his second attempt. He didn't hit anything, but there were clouds of smoke from his tires and it briefly brought out a red flag. As the drivers are only allowed one set of tires per session, there was no chance of Johnson getting to the next round, and he starts in 32nd place.

The 24 fastest drivers were about to start the second qualifying session when there was a short delay so that the officials could check the rule book. A late run by Kyle Larson at the end of the first session had pushed Ryan Newman and Denny Hamlin into the 24th and 25th positions with identical times, and only one was could go through. In F1 it would've been the first driver to set the time, but NASCAR have some complicated rules concerning places in the standings. As soon as they confirmed Ryan Newman in the 24 spot, the second session began.

There's not much to report from the second session. Ricky Stenhouse Jr was 16th in practice and 18th in the first qualifying session, but back to his usual mid-field place of 23rd for the race. This time it was Kyle Busch's turn to make a late run with Paul Menard being pushed out.

In the final session, Kevin Harvick took pole for the second week in a row (and the eighth time this season). He's joined on the front row by Brian Vickers.

Jeff Gordon was fastest in practice, but finished a very consistent 5th, 6th and 5th in the three qualifying sessions. He told his team that that was all there was in the car. Gordon is back to his regular black/red colors this week.

Speaking of color schemes, Clint Bowyer will be easy to spot this week in his special pink paint job designed to raise awareness in the fight against breast cancer. This probably belongs in the news thread, by while we're talking about Clint Bowyer, he became a father for the first time this week. I assume he's being paid too much because he named the baby boy Cash!

Here's the full lineup (Chase drivers are highlighted in yellow):

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Brian Vickers

3. Aric Almirola

4. Joey Logano

5. Jeff Gordon

6. Brad Keselowski

7. Kyle Busch

8. Dale Earnhardt Jr

9. Tony Stewart

10. Kasey Kahne

11. Greg Biffle

12. Carl Edwards

13. Paul Menard

14. Jamie McMurray

15. Martin Truex Jr

16. Austin Dillon

17. Ryan Newman

18. Kyle Larson

19. Clint Bowyer

20. AJ Allmendinger

21. Justin Allgaier

22. Marcos Ambrose

23. Ricky Stenhouse Jr

24. Kurt Busch

25. Denny Hamlin

26. Casey Mears

27. Matt Kenseth

28. Michael McDowell

29. Danica Patrick

30. Reed Sorenson

31. David Gilliland

32. Jimmie Johnson

33. Alex Bowman

34. Josh Wise

35. Landon Cassill

36. Michael Annett

37. David Ragan

38. J.J. Yeley

39. Cole Whitt

40. Timmy Hill

41. Mike Bliss

42. Joey Gase

43. Mike Wallace

The Hollywood Casino 400 from the Kansas Speedway is this Sunday at 2:00 PM ET. It's live on ESPN.

[Garrett Duke]

Well, Hoss, your pre race write ups put mine to shame.

I have some sad news....well sad to me anyway. My parents' cable is not working today....well it is off and on. I just gave up with n it and the race....was ready to throw the remote at it if I didn't. So needless to say, my review is going to be worse than normal. Sorry y'all.

[HossC]

Well, Hoss, your pre race write ups put mine to shame.

Thanks. It helps when I remember to watch the qualifying .

I have some sad news....well sad to me anyway. My parents' cable is not working today....well it is off and on. I just gave up with n it and the race....was ready to throw the remote at it if I didn't. So needless to say, my review is going to be worse than normal. Sorry y'all.

I got to see the whole race this week, so I could knock a review together. It won't be until tomorrow because I was up at 6 am to watch the Japanese Grand Prix, and I'm far too tired to make a good job of it tonight.

[Garrett Duke]

That would be great Hoss. I can tell you who won and where my Hendrick boys finished...that is about it.

[HossC]

The first race in the Contender round of the Chase was pretty much dominated by Joey Logano and tire issues. Logano took the win in Kansas to secure his spot in the Eliminator round of the Chase after leading 122 of the 267 laps - exactly twice as many as Kevin Harvick, the driver with the next highest number of laps led. It wasn't an easy win for Logano as rookie Kyle Larson pushed him all the way to the flag. It can't be long before Larson gets his first win.

The Hollywood Casino 400 was not a good race for Hendrick Motorsports (sorry Garrett ). Jimmie Johnson had the worst starting position of all the Chase contenders, and things only got worse on lap 85 when contact with Greg Biffle sent him into the inside wall. The crash also involved Justin Allgaier and Josh Wise. Although the team got his car back on track, he finished 87 laps down in 40th place, making qualification for the next round much harder. The news wasn't much better for Dale Earnhardt Jr. He led 45 laps, but hit the wall hard on lap 122. Interviewed afterwards he said "the surface of the tire unwound all the way across the surface". He finished 63 laps down in 39th place. Kasey Kahne also scraped the wall on lap 236. He remained on the lead lap after the caution, but finished two laps down in 22nd place. Jeff Gordon had the best result of all the HMS drivers with 14th place. He started off strongly, and spent the early part of the race well inside the top 10. Unfortunately, after the caution for Junior's crash, Gordon's pit crew let a tire roll out of the pit box and across pit lane. One of his crew members even tripped over a hose as he tried to stop it. The penalty put Gordon to the back of the field, so he did well to make it back up to 14th.

Another Chase contender who hit the wall was Brad Keselowski. His crash on lap 159 sent him to the garage, and left him with 36th place, 45 laps down. Kevin Harvick didn't crash, but he did have to pit with a flat tire on lap 215. He led over 40 laps from pole, and 61 in total, but eventually finished in 12th place.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr had another fairly anonymous race. He started in 23rd, and although he briefly made it up to 15th, he soon slipped back, I'm assuming due to a pit stop (it was never mentioned or shown). Considering the number of top drivers who had trouble, 19th isn't a great result.

Lizzy will probably be happy with the results as Kyle Busch took third place and second in the Chase standings, while Austin Dillon had a strong finish in eighth.

Here's the full result:

1. Joey Logano

2. Kyle Larson

3. Kyle Busch

4. Martin Truex Jr.

5. Carl Edwards

6. Ryan Newman

7. Denny Hamlin

8. Austin Dillon

9. Paul Menard

10. Brian Vickers

11. AJ Allmendinger

12. Kevin Harvick

13. Matt Kenseth

14. Jeff Gordon

15. Greg Biffle

16. Danica Patrick

17. Tony Stewart

18. Clint Bowyer

19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

20. Marcos Ambrose

21. Landon Cassill

22. Kasey Kahne

23. Cole Whitt

24. Michael Annett

25. Jamie McMurray

26. Reed Sorenson

27. David Ragan

28. Casey Mears

29. J.J. Yeley

30. David Gilliland

31. Aric Almirola

32. Alex Bowman

33. Timmy Hill

34. Mike Wallace

35. Michael McDowell

36. Brad Keselowski

37. Joey Gase

38. Josh Wise

39. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

40. Jimmie Johnson

41. Justin Allgaier

42. Kurt Busch

43. Mike Bliss

Next week's race is in Charlotte. It's a Saturday night race, so I probably won't get to see all of it. I've checked already, and the qualifying is on Thursday, so I should be able to do the preview as usual (if I remember ).

[RogerDuke]

We couldn't have gotten a whole lot closer in our football contest Garrett. It came down to the last play of the last game....what a nail biter. You really had me worried. In fantasy NASCAR did you happen to notice what (segmented points) place "Jesse Duke's Ridge Runners" are in? LOL