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!

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 .

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.

It's amazing how different it looks with a bit of red paint on the bottom of walls and poles. The furniture is looking good too. I can't wait to see it with a few more details added . BTW, while you've got the black paint out, why not color the rear light panel on the General (unless it's a replica of the one they used in some of the 'Reunion' movie ).

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.

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.

There was some good news earlier this week about seven-time F1 world champion Michael Schumacher. After spending about nine months at hospitals in France and Switzerland following a skiing accident last December, he has now returned home to continue his recovery. His manager said in a statement that he had made "progress", but there was "a long and difficult road ahead". No other details were revealed. More info here.

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I realized while I was looking through a few episodes of season 2 that I'd mentioned the neon tubes on the police sign on the first page of this thread, but never posted a picture. The one below is from 'The Meeting', but I also spotted them in 'Road Pirates' and 'Dukes Meet Cale Yarborough'. I'm sure you can see them in other season 2 episodes, but those are the ones I watched this week.

OK, as promised, I'm going to try and explain this year's Chase rules. There are 16 drivers in the Chase, 13 of them qualified by winning at least one race, while the other three had the highest points of the remaining drivers. Each of these 16 drivers start the Chase with 2,000 points plus three bonus points for each race win (starting points in brackets): 1. Brad Keselowski, (2,012) 2. Jeff Gordon, (2,009) 3. Dale Earnhardt Jr., (2,009) 4. Jimmie Johnson, (2,009) 5. Joey Logano, (2,009) 6. Kevin Harvick, (2,006) 7. Carl Edwards, (2,006) 8. Kyle Busch, (2,003) 9. Denny Hamlin, (2,003) 10. Kurt Busch, (2,003) 11. Kasey Kahne, (2,003) Atlanta) 12. Aric Almirola, (2,003) 13. AJ Allmendinger, (2,003) 14. Matt Kenseth, (2,000) 15. Greg Biffle, (2,000) 16. Ryan Newman, (2,000) The remaining 10 races have been split into four rounds, the first three consisting of three races each, followed by the Championship race at the Homestead Miami Speedway: 1st round ("Challenger"): Chicagoland, New Hampshire and Dover. 2nd round ("Contender"): Kansas, Charlotte and Talladega. 3rd round ("Eliminator"): Martinsville, Texas and Phoenix. Championship: Homestead After the first round, four of the drivers will be eliminated. Race winners automatically go on to the next round, with the other places being filled by the drivers with the highest points. Any tied positions will be decided by best finishing positions in that round. All the advancing drivers will have their points reset to 3,000 for the second round. Another four drivers will be eliminated at the end of the second round, leaving eight drivers in the Chase. They all get their points reset to 4,000. After the third round the field will be halved, and we'll be down to four drivers who each start the Championship race with 5,000 points. There are no bonus points or points carried over from one round to the next, so drivers will start the second and third rounds, and the Championship, level on points. Once a driver has been eliminated from the Chase, his points are converted back to the usual points system, and the highest he can finish at the end of the year is fifth. I hope that clears things up ahead .

The uploader obviously didn't want me to watch that video as they haven't made available in my country . From what I've read online, this rather poignant song is at least partly based on a friend of Mr. Dolby, but he's not saying who it is. Screen Kiss - Thomas Dolby

Jimmie Johnson update: Jimmie spent about 90 minutes in the medical center after the race being treated for dehydration. He took five liters of intravenous fluids before being released. In an interview afterwards, Jimmie said he wasn't sure what had happened. He had not trained much this week because he had been due to take part in charity triathlon today. ------------ Lizzy, I've just compared my notes to what you wrote in your review. Although I'd written about twice as much, and included more details, I think your version was much more concise and easy to read. If it falls to me to write another review this year, I'll definitely try to lean towards your style - thanks again . From my point of view, I was sad to see Ricky Stenhouse Jr slip back from his great starting place. He actually gained a position at the start, but then started losing places. I saw Greg Biffle interviewed after the race, and he said the whole team missed the right set-up last night. ------------ Brad Keselowski's fourth win of the year at Richmond last night has put him top of the Chase grid. Here are all 16 drivers who made this year's Chase: 1. Brad Keselowski 2. Jeff Gordon 3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 4. Jimmie Johnson 5. Joey Logano 6. Kevin Harvick 7. Carl Edwards 8. Kyle Busch 9. Denny Hamlin 10. Kurt Busch 11. Kasey Kahne 12. Aric Almirola 13. AJ Allmendinger 14. Matt Kenseth 15. Greg Biffle 16. Ryan Newman The top 14 drivers qualified by getting at least one race win, but the last two places were filled by drivers with the highest points. Ryan Newman got in quite comfortably with ninth place last night (he had to finish 18th or higher), but it was closer for Greg Biffle. Greg had to finish in 22nd or above, and scraped in with a 19th place finish, two laps down. I've been looking over the rules for this year's Chase, and the way that drivers are eliminated after each race. I'm not convinced that a format requiring a couple of pages of explanation is a good thing, but I'll have to wait and see. I'll put together a simplified version of the rules and post it during the week.

Thanks, Lizzy. I did make it to the end tonight, and I did make notes in case I had to write the review, but I'm way too tired to make sense of them at the moment. I re-read your review in the morning and see I've got anything to add. I think you covered all the important stuff, and as you said, there weren't any major incidents or disputes to report. They've just had a report on Jimmie Johnson, and it sound like he's just dehydrated, which is good news.

I see Garrett will probably miss the race, and night races aren't good for me, so I don't know who'll do the review this week. I'll definitely watch the beginning of the race, but may not make it to the end. Unless anyone else volunteers (Lizzy?), or Garrett gets to watch the race, I'll try to do a review tomorrow.

Welcome to HazzardNet, Tony .

Thanks for the video, Roth, that looked like a lot of fun. The DirtFish rally school also appeared in the Top Gear USA 'Off Road Racing' episode.

Well, it's nearly time for the last race where all the drivers without a win this season get a chance to make it into this year's Chase. Tonight's qualifying at Richmond was run over two sessions, with the top 12 drivers progressing to the second one. Quite a few drivers, including Joey Logano, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin, were still waiting to get their cars through the technical inspection when qualifying started earlier. NASCAR said the delay was caused by cars having the wrong rear camber, and that several teams had had to fix their cars and then get them retested. Consequently, some drivers missed over 10 minutes of the first (30 minute) session. Jeff Gordon set the fastest lap in the first session after 8 mins. Despite this, he apologized to his team on the way back to the pit lane because he said he couldn't find the grip. Even after the second session he said he never hit turns one and two properly, and was only saved by good pace through turns three and four. Ricky Stenhouse Jr went out midway through the first session and claimed third. This was reduced to fifth by the end of the session. Jimmie Johnson made his first run after 17 minutes, and was green for about half the lap before setting the second fastest time behind Jeff Gordon. Joey Logano didn't get his car back from inspection to the pit lane until about 20 minutes into the session, and only had just over six minutes of the session left when he finally made it onto the track. Despite the setback, he still set the third fastest time to make it through to the second session. Danica Patrick was in 12th with a couple of minutes to go, but eventually lost out by just two hundredths of a second, and even a late run couldn't improve her time. In the second session, all the drivers had set times by just over the halfway point, and the commentators wondered if anyone would go out in the last four minutes. In the end, about half of the drivers did make a second run, but it didn't make much difference to their starting positions. Brad Keselowski ended up with the pole, but Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson were only just behind in second and third respectively. After his late start, Joey Logano claimed the fifth spot, and I was pleased to see Ricky Stenhouse Jr get seventh. Kurt Busch starts back in ninth. Here's the full lineup: 1. Brad Keselowski 2. Jeff Gordon 3. Jimmie Johnson 4. Kevin Harvick 5. Joey Logano 6. Clint Bowyer 7. Ricky Stenhouse Jr 8. Kyle Larson 9. Kurt Busch 10. Carl Edwards 11. Denny Hamlin 12. Ryan Newman 13. Danica Patrick 14. Paul Menard 15. Jamie McMurray 16. Matt Kenseth 17. Greg Biffle 18. Brian Vickers 19. Tony Stewart 20. Kyle Busch 21. Kasey Kahne 22. Casey Mears 23. AJ Allmendinger 24. Dale Earnhardt Jr 25. Alex Bowman 26. Aric Almirola 27. Justin Allgaier 28. Austin Dillon 29. Martin Truex Jr 30. David Gilliland 31. David Stremme 32. Reed Sorenson 33. Marcos Ambrose 34. Landon Cassill 35. Cole Whitt 36. Josh Wise 37. Travis Kvapil 38. J.J. Yeley 39. Mike Bliss 40. Michael Annett 41. Joe Nemechek 42. David Ragan 43. Ryan Truex I'm not sure how qualifying at the bottom of the grid works. David Ragan and Ryan Truex didn't make it through the pre-qualifying technical inspection, and didn't set a time, but will start from 42nd and 43rd, respectively. Clay Rogers set the 39th fastest time, but didn't qualify for the race. The Federated Auto Parts 400 from the Richmond International Raceway is this Saturday night at 7:30 PM ET. It's live on ABC. After making a couple of appearances in recent NASCAR races, Juan Pablo Montoyo returned to the Formula 1 pit lane today for the first time since leaving the sport several years ago. He was only in Monza to watch the practice for Sunday's Italian Grand Prix, although I bet he'll be there all weekend. When asked, he said he was happy doing what he's doing, and had no plans to return to Formula 1. Monza is one of the great historic tracks still on the F1 calendar, and the long straights meant that drivers were hitting speeds of up to 215 MPH in practice today. The race starts at 8.00 AM ET on Sunday for anyone who's interested.

I know the Warner Ranch was only used briefly in 'Along Came a Duke' (see here for previous posts), but I thought I'd share this video I found on YouTube: The uploader calls it "a humorous tour of a studio back lot". It mainly centers on 'Bewitched', but also includes references to several other TV shows/movies which were filmed there.

Thanks for the review, Garrett. I saw there was a green-white checker finish, but didn't know the details. I wasn't critcizing you yesterday when I asked if anyone was doing a review, it's just that I didn't want to leave it too long if I had to write one. I only saw some of the race, and my memory would fade if I didn't write it up within a few days. As usual, your review was worth the wait, and better than anything I'd have cobbled together . I was frustrated with Ricky Stenhouse Jr's race this week. He missed out on the first Lucky Dog by one place, and stayed a lap or two down and just out of the Lucky Dog spot for pretty much all of the part of the race that I got to see. I guess it's worth mentioning that Danica Patrick finished in a career-best sixth place on Sunday. Maybe she just wanted to prove Hobie wrong . Here's the full finishing order: 1. Kasey Kahne 2. Matt Kenseth 3. Denny Hamlin 4. Jimmie Johnson 5. Carl Edwards 6. Danica Patrick 7. Ryan Newman 8. Kyle Larson 9. Aric Almirola 10. Greg Biffle 11. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 12. Jamie McMurray 13. Kurt Busch 14. Joey Logano 15. Brian Vickers 16. Kyle Busch 17. Jeff Gordon 18. Paul Menard 19. Kevin Harvick 20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 21. Michael Annett 22. Casey Mears 23. Martin Truex Jr. 24. Austin Dillon 25. Ty Dillon 26. Justin Allgaier 27. David Ragan 28. David Gilliland 29. Reed Sorenson 30. Cole Whitt 31. Landon Cassill 32. J.J. Yeley 33. Josh Wise 34. Brett Moffitt 35. Alex Bowman 36. Ryan Truex 37. Joe Nemechek 38. Clint Bowyer 39. Brad Keselowski 40. AJ Allmendinger 41. Tony Stewart 42. Marcos Ambrose 43. Mike Bliss

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Is anyone writing a review of the Atlanta race? I only saw about three-quarters of it, and it looks like I missed a lot of action at the end. If no one else volunteers, I can put something together tomorrow.

It's happened a few times in the last few months, but other days still have at least half a dozen replies. Maybe it's about time to get a new computer so you can be on here more often, Roger .

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