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Téma: Outbraking: NASCAR (Season 2) |
1102 válasz
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Onto the final lap and Suarez is down to 2nd after Briscoe swoops past, working with team-mate Harvick to move into 1st place and with less than a lap to go he looks set to take victory today and advance to the Round of 12 race at Charlotte. Suarez is crawling towards his pit-box now, with the chasing pack surely about to relieve him of a Podium position...
...and that pack is headed up by Kyle Busch, who has team-mate Bowman (Suarez's Play-Off opponent...!) on the outside of him, while Truex. Jr, Elliott and Newman are all working together impressively well! Montoya is out behind them in 8th, though at least comes out ahead of Briscoe to preserve his leading lap status. Alfredo has now served his penalty and will try to exit the pits inside the Top 10 still, though he will surely lose a place to Harvick with the #4 bump-drafting beautifully with the race leader right now.
That duo has also been joined by Bell, who is looking nervously ahead with time running out for him to get out of last spot and ahead of another Play-Off contender...and though Kurt Busch looks like a relatively easy target, he has a BYE already and so Bell's best hope lies in catching Logano, though the #22 just reached his pit-box and will be up to full racing speed soon...!
https://i.imgur.com/3txlC5l.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/moeeQZP.jpeg
The following need to submit their 2 card choices:
@Steve Wade (A19) @Ivelin Dobrev (R140) @Stefan Gommans (P2) @Mike Baston (P23) @Rimantas Sagatas (M2)
The following need to confirm their new card hand and play 2 cards:
@Mairo Toom (A15) @Ricardo Antunes (R97)
The following need to confirm their pit-box choice:
@Nicholas Bryant (A23) @Mikko Suhonen (M4)
You all have until 23:59 CET on Tuesday 19th March to send these in...
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Just clocked that there was a mistake on the previous image and Bell should have been 3 laps down at the back, not 2 laps FYI.
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Briscoe powers to victory here to start the play-offs with an incredible dominant victory, with only a handful of drivers able to stay on the same lap as the #14! Of those drivers, Kyle Busch and Truex Jr. are currently in the Podium positions, as they are on track to make it 3 manufacturers in the Top 3 as it stands!!!
Threatening those positions are Elliott, Newman and Bowman, who all look likely to finish inside the Top 6 given the gap back to Montoya, who looks a dead cert to be 7th overall as the last driver to finish on the lead lap. The sub-plot here is Elliott v Newman who are Play-Off rivals, though both are guaranteed to advance.
That leaves Harvick, Alfredo and Suarez all 1 lap down, who will all also survive - though Harvick v Alfredo's Play-Off match should also have a thrilling conclusion. As such, the driver being eliminated this race will either be Logano or Bell, with them both practically neck-and-neck at this stage! Kurt Busch will finish last, but with his BYE through to the Round of 12 he will certainly still be in the running for both titles next time out...
https://i.imgur.com/d6GCq67.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/yMlbybM.jpeg
The following need to submit their 2 card choices:
@Mike Baston (P23) @Rimantas Sagatas (M2)
The following need to confirm their new card hand and play 2 cards:
@Mikko Suhonen (M4)
You all have until 23:59 CET on Sunday 24th March to send these in...
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A thrilling finish to this race sees Newman and Bowman bump-draft together to get themselves into the Podium positions and make it 3 manufacturers in the Top 3 positions...though perhaps not the drivers we originally expected! Truex Jr. holds on for 4th place, while Kyle Busch falls to 5th and Montoya manages to rise up to 6th place, while Elliott is forced to push his car home to 7th place.
All of that means Briscoe defeats Logano, Newman defeats Elliott, Bowman takes down Suarez (who finishes a lap down in 10th place after serving his speeding penalty), Kyle Busch wins against Bell and on the line it is Alfredo who defeats Harvick to take their play-off match and 8th place overall! Despite losing their play-off matches, Elliott, Harvick and Suarez all comfortably avoid elimination as they advance to the Round of 12 as a Fastest Loser...
...meaning it is simply Logano v Bell for who will advance - both get bump-drafting support and are clearly at maximum speed when they round the final corner and over the line it is...BELL who nicks it by the tiniest of margins to cause Logano to exit the Play-Offs this race. He can still compete for his league position in future races though, of course...
https://i.imgur.com/cti8NBb.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/qYuF3YV.jpeg
All other stuff to come another time - knackered now!
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Should have time over the bank holiday weekend to turn this around and get the next race ready FYI.
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https://i.imgur.com/oBnUqam.jpeg
We say goodbye to Logano from the Play-Off picture here, despite being one of the pre-Play-Off favourites to at least make it to the Round of 8...meanwhile Kurt Busch's previous League prowess comes in handy as he avoids elimination by virtue of having a BYE this round. Though he can't afford any mistakes next time out...
Meanwhile Briscoe takes his 2nd win of the season, while the lowest ranked player left in the Play-Offs - Newman - comes home a very respectable 2nd place, with Bowman finishing 3rd to bolster his own hopes of an easier draw.
https://i.imgur.com/XcBBLGK.jpeg
The Top 4 may remain in their same positions again, though this is the closest that Montoya has been to Kurt Busch for a while now (17 points) - which could conceivably be closed in just 1 race! Truex. Jr looks fairly set in 3rd, though Elliott now has Bowman breathing down his neck for 4th place.
In the next Play-Off Round, we will see 6 match-ups with the 6 winners and 2 best runners-up advancing - and it will be Kurt Busch v Newman, Montoya v Suarez (in an all Chevrolet match), Truex. Jr v Alfredo (in another all-Chevrolet match), Elliott v Briscoe, Bowman v Kyle Busch (in an all Toyota match) and Harvick v Bell (in an all Ford match). That means we are guaranteed to have all 3 manufacturers present in the Round of 8.
https://i.imgur.com/TwXcDVj.jpeg
Toyota gain on Ford again and are now just 7 points behind - with Bowman pushing Elliott for 4th in the standings helping the Toyota team to improve! Meanwhile, Ford slip again to 0.7 behind Chevrolet on average points with the Round of 12 up next...
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New players are welcome to ##Join! Though reaching the Play-Offs is no longer possible (but you can still take part in races).
https://i.imgur.com/KQAlHJg.jpg
Next race card PMs likely to come in the next couple of days FYI...
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Being unusually proactive today - so all starting cards are now sent out to the play-off qualifiers who raced last time around.
Anyone else is welcome to still take part - just PM me if you want your starting cards sending over.
Everyone has until Friday 5th April at 23:59 CET to send in their starting cards.
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I'm gonna have an army try and block me or something now lol
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Few people still to submit...
@Kai Wen Chew (M3)
They have until TONIGHT at 23:59 CET to send in - though I'd hate to lose someone at this stage that was still in the play-offs!
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Getting there finally! But a big boo for not doing the Charlotte Roval like real postseasons, but instead just the Charlotte Oval :(
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Yeah sorry - just not got the time with this parenting malarky to produce something of that level of complexity right now tbh.
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Just @Kai Wen Chew (M3) to send his starting cards in - I plan to get qualifying done this morning if nothing else comes up and if I don't have his entry at the start of quali then he will start from the back of the grid. That presumes he sends his starting cards in before the 1st move is completed; if I don't hear anything from him before then, unfortunately he will be out of the play-offs and his opponent Kurt Busch will get a BYE to the next round also!
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The Round of 12 is upon us, with Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina playing host to this fascinating battle - which is the 1st time ALL of the drivers will be really tested...or perhaps all but one, as Newman fails to set a lap in qualifying and will now have to seek special dispensation from the stewards to take part in the race - along with having his car ready by then too! That could mean Kurt Busch once again has a BYE to the next round...though he will be keen to ensure his league position doesn't come under further threat from Montoya et al!
If Newman does start, he will be 13th on the grid - a far cry from his Top 5 start and Podium finish last time out! We await news of whether he will take part - but there is a slot held for him just in case...
In 12th place (and potentially last on the grid!) is Truex Jr., who again elects to go for a longer strategic tilt and starts lower down the order as a result.
In 11th is our only non-Play-Off contender, with Logano racing here either purely for the league or possibly to support his Toyota team-mates...it should be fascinating to see which!
In 10th is Kurt Busch, who may have another easy race ahead of him...though if Newman does start he will only be a handful of places ahead of him of course.
Briscoe lines up 9th, after taking an impressive victory last time out - which has clearly fed into his confidence for qualifying with his best starting position in a long time here!
8th is Harvick, who loses out vs his team-mate and play-off opponent - but he has shown resilience throughout this Championship and will look to come through to reach the next round.
Elliott lines up 7th - when the Toyota was drawn against Briscoe's Ford he must have worried about facing last race's winner but he does at least have the advantage of starting a couple of places ahead of the #14.
In 6th is Bell, who usually works with Harvick to achieve great results...but with the two of them now drawn against one another, one wonders if that partnership will continue - a better qualifying from Bell this time than previously too, as he perhaps has how close he was to crashing out of the Play-Offs fresh in his mind for this race!
Grid Line-Up (13th-6th)
13th - Ryan Newman (K Wen Chew) - pending Steward's decision
12th - Martin Truex Jr. (S Gommans)
11th - Joey Logano (M Toom)
10th - Kurt Busch (M Suhonen)
9th - Chase Briscoe (S Wade)
8th - Kevin Harvick (T Wagner)
7th - Chase Elliott (G Tierney)
6th - Christopher Bell (M Baston)
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Into the Top 5, Montoya once again looks ominously quick here - and with a 5 place advantage over Championship rival Kurt Busch, he will look to cut that lead gap even further. He lines up directly behind his Play-Off opponent though...
...which is team-mate Suarez, who is making a habit of qualifying strongly and starts 4th today.
3rd place is Bowman, who is starting to get comfortable in that position after finishing 3rd last time out. He also starts behind his Play-Off opponent though!
Just missing out on Pole in 2nd place is Alfredo, who has a sizeable advantage over his opponent and team-mate Truex Jr. with two very different strategies at play there...
Finally taking Pole Position is Kyle Busch, who goes one better than last race and will look to convert this Pole to his 2nd win of the season!
Final Grid Line-Up
13th - Ryan Newman (K Wen Chew) - pending Steward's decision
12th - Martin Truex Jr. (S Gommans)
11th - Joey Logano (M Toom)
10th - Kurt Busch (M Suhonen)
9th - Chase Briscoe (S Wade)
8th - Kevin Harvick (T Wagner)
7th - Chase Elliott (G Tierney)
6th - Christopher Bell (M Baston)
5th - Juan Pablo Montoya (R Sagatas)
4th - Daniel Suarez (N Bryant)
3rd - Alex Bowman (D Staal)
2nd -Anthony Alfredo (R Antunes)
1st - Kyle Busch (I Dobrev)
To help keep track of which driver is up against which, I've added letters to the corresponding ties, so A is up against A, B vs B etc. - drivers that have been eliminated from the Play-Offs are shown without any letter after them.
https://i.imgur.com/de6Q6b6.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/fxSIO8s.jpeg
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Newman has applied to start the race and the stewards have agreed to allow him to start, albeit from last on the grid.
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