Chi-Town Qualifing
Not to many surprises in qualifing for [avatar:http://cranialcavity.net/files/cup.jpg]NEXTEL Cup[/avatar] USG Sheetrock 400 at ChicagoLand Speedway, but there are a couple. With Ryan Newman’s habit of starting from the pole it should be considered as a mild upset that he was beaten out by Jimmie Johnson, albeit, by the slimmest of margins. J.J. Yeley subing for the injured Tony Stewart starts 13th and no doubt will be standing by if Tony needs a relief driver on Sunday.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 25th position shows some improvement over his the past few efforts but being over 3 mph slower than the pole can’t be a good thing. Coming off a fine performance at Daytona Mike Wallace returned to form and had to rely on owners points to make the field.
And just what’s up with Jason Leffler? I find it hard to believe a Joe Gibbs ride is so poorly prepared he barely scraps into the field as the 43rd starter. It tells me one of two things, Leffler sucks as a driver. Or the #11 is being used as a test bed for the Gibbs organization. I tend to believe the later, it may have every experimental part under the sun and that effects performance.
( ‘Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed)
1 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet 28.701 188.147
2 12 Ryan Newman Mobil 1/alltel Dodge 28.715 188.055
3 41 Casey Mears Target/Kraft Dodge 28.773 187.676
4 17 Matt Kenseth USG Sheetrock/DeWalt Ford 28.816 187.396
5 25 Brian Vickers GMAC/ditech.com Chevrolet 28.827 187.324
6 16 Greg Biffle National Guard/Post-It Ford 28.867 187.065
7 10 Scott Riggs Valvoline Chevrolet 28.899 186.858
8 88 Dale Jarrett UPS Ford 28.929 186.664
9 29 Kevin Harvick GM Goodwrench Chevrolet 28.971 186.393
10 07 Dave Blaney Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet 28.989 186.278
11 0 Mike Bliss Net Zero Best Buy Chevrolet 29.002 186.194
12 7 Robby Gordon Menard’s Chevrolet 29.004 186.181
13 20 J.J. Yeley The Home Depot Chevrolet 29.006 186.168
14 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevrolet 29.008 186.156
15 01 Joe Nemechek U.S. Army Chevrolet 29.022 186.066
16 77 Travis Kvapil # Jasper Engines/Kodak Dodge 29.047 185.906
17 32 Bobby Hamilton Jr. Tide Chevrolet 29.060 185.822
18 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge 29.069 185.765
19 97 Kurt Busch Sharpie Ford 29.076 185.720
20 6 Mark Martin Viagra Ford 29.102 185.554
21 99 Carl Edwards Office Depot Ford 29.115 185.471
22 19 Jeremy Mayfield Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge 29.129 185.382
23 38 Elliott Sadler Combos/M&M’s Ford 29.134 185.350
24 5 Kyle Busch # Kellogg’s Chevrolet 29.151 185.242
25 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Budweiser Chevrolet 29.224 184.780
26 18 Bobby Labonte Boniva Chevrolet 29.245 184.647
27 15 Michael Waltrip NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 29.253 184.596
28 21 Ricky Rudd Motorcraft Genuine Parts Ford 29.267 184.508
29 45 Kyle Petty Georgia-Pacific/Brawny Dodge 29.273 184.470
30 22 Scott Wimmer Caterpillar Dodge 29.289 184.370
31 39 David Stremme U.S. Navy Dodge 29.332 184.099
32 51 Stuart Kirby Marathon Multipower-3 HD Motor Oil Chevro 29.343 184.030
33 2 Rusty Wallace Miller Genuine Draft Dodge 29.356 183.949
34 44 Terry Labonte Pizza Hut Chevrolet 29.378 183.811
35 31 Jeff Burton Bass Pro Shops/Cingular Chevrolet 29.422 183.536
36 42 Jamie McMurray Home123/Havoline Dodge 29.439 183.430
37 00 Carl Long Sunquest Vacations Chevrolet 29.480 183.175
38 40 Sterling Marlin Coors Light Dodge 29.498 183.063
39 37 Kevin Lepage Patron Tequila Dodge 29.546 182.766
40 43 Jeff Green Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge 29.565 182.648
41 49 Ken Schrader Schwan’s Home Service Dodge 29.634 182.223
42 4 Mike Wallace Lucas Oil Chevrolet Owner Points
43 11 Jason Leffler FedEx Express Chevrolet 29.700 181.818
Did Not Qualify: Kenny Wallace; Mike Garvey #; P.J. Jones; Wayne Anderson
Four cars didn’t make the race - as if it would kill anyone to have started all 47 entries.
Best case scenario, it wouldn’t kill anyone. Worst case yes it could.
As this field stands 43rd position is nearly 6 1/2 mph slower than the pole winner. Where to draw the line?
Some tracks, Daytona is an example, draw 50 plus entries and history shows many of those entries never come within 15 mph of the pole. Again, where to draw the line?
Admittedly I have never understood why a field is set at 43 - why not 44 or 42 - but it is. Just as in every other form of racing you run what you brung, and if it isn’t fast enough tough luck, go home.
Marc, realworld scenario - it won’t hurt anyone to start all entries.
“Where do you draw the line?” You don’t. Qualifying is supposed to determine where you start, NOT whether you start. If Daytona draws 50 entries then start 50 cars. If you’re not “fast enough” in qualifying, what does that say? That the rules package is bad and the qualifying system is bad. It doesn’t say you’re not good enough to win the race. It never does.
Im not even going down this road. The shear lunacy in the above suggestion is apparent for all to see.
I feel no great compulsion to feed trolls this morning.
Marc, you’re not going down this road because as usual you don’t have a credible argument. What is apparant is you cannot come up with a credible reason not to start all entries.
Come off it - there is no need to send some teams home and no good comes out of it. Qualifying determines where you start - under no circumstances should it ever determine whether you start. 50 entries, 50 starters; 47 entries, 47 starters. It’s that simple.
What is apparant is you cannot come up with a credible reason not to start all entries.
Oh you’re so right! You caught me!
Except… you didn’t, I just didn’t feel like playing your childish game at the time. You take great pleasure in roaming around this and other blogs dropping your turds of wisdom. Not to further the discussion but are actually left just to stir the pot and generally offer nothing to the conversation. And BTW where’s your blog? You seem to enjoy writting but haven’t got the initiative to put your name on one.
Bristol Motor Speedway? 50 plus entries? I think not, at the current 43 the field nearly fills the entire circuit and at best the tail of the field is lapped within the first 25 of 500 laps.
Over and above that is the lack of any valid reason for allowing an entry to compete if they are 10mph to 15mph slower than the field. They have zero chance to do anything except get in the way and possibly create an unsafe condition.
By your flawed logic any one can show up with the worst shitbox this side of the Atlantic, never turn a practice lap, never attempt to qualify and still make the field. That doesn’t even rise to the level of non-sense.
Life is tough guy, you have to quailfy for nearly everything. College, make the grade (qualify) Promotion at work, qualify for it. Become President? Well ya gotta qualify, ask John Kerry and Howard the Duck neither one made the grade.
Just as you couldn’t qualify to run a race team, race track or sanctioning body.
Marc, I caught you - again. You didn’t have a credible answer before and you don’t have one now, because you don’t understand racing.
Yes, Bristol with 50 starters - they can handle that many. They can go to double-file restarts for the leaders if you’re that worried about “crowding.”
There is every reason to let a car “10 to 15 MPH” slower into the field - so he gets the track time needed to get better. There has never been anything unsafe about it.
It is your position that doesn’t make any sense. Nothing good is achieved by sending teams home. “Life is tough?” It is also supposed to still have a level of fairness to it. Qualifying is supposed to determine where you start, NEVER whether you start.
That is why I’m more qualified to run a sanctioning body than you are - I understand the blunt truth about racing.
So you got “blocked” and had to respond via my comment page. Funny that!
The fact you either failed to enter a name or Email address and that is the reason you got shit canned by the software failed to register I guess. Doesn’t say much for your attention to detail does it?
“so he gets the track time needed to get better”
Those that can’t make the field have many options to “get better” ARCA is one option among many including NASCAR lesser series.
“There is every reason to let a car
Yeah, funny Marc, you execising censorship when chances are you rail against it - play it both ways. Don;t lie to me about entering an e-mail address, because I entered one and the system still blocked me.
No, they don’t have other options to get better - ARCA is not an option, nothing else is an option. The only option is to let them into the WC field.
Why does every sanctioning body mandate minimum speeds? For cars that get wrecked and come back out - it’s a poor alternative to simply parking a wrecked car. Those entries “10 to 15 MPH slower” are not wrecked cars.
Yeah, if I ever become president of NASCAR, they’ll all see a much better sport. You know it, and so do they.
There is no censorship involved, what did I say in the Email to you? Here’s a reminder: “If I had blocked anything it would have been noted on your last post as being edited .”
And that means what? It means your last post prior to being blocked would have been edited by highlighting the offensive portion. That hasn’t happened has it? Again do a search, you will find evidence of just such occurences in the past.
Having said that I’m done playing your stupid games, you’re not blocked and never was. Yet!
Just like 95% of your comments your last post that included an actual blog URL - for the first time in over 30 comments and prompted by my asking - it offers no proof of anything. You have been long on opinion and short of facts, labled as such by only you, since you first appered here. When confronted you spew opinion not facts. Posting a blog URL that is written by someone called “MonkeesFan” from a blog of the same name fits your MO to a Tee. Just like all the rest it offers nothing in response and in fact could be written by anyone from Mickey Mouse to Vladimir Putin.
The end result is, I’m done with you and your childish antics. You want to hang around and comment be my guest but they will receive zero response from me. As a reminder you are still subject to my comment policy, and getting youself banned as a result of not following it.
Marc, your “reminder” is disingenuous at best. You blocked my post. What does that mean? It means you’ve lost control of the argument and also lost the argument. You don’t have a credible answer to the points I made so you blocked a post, lie through your teeth about it on your own blog, and still won’t admit to being wrong on the issue(s) being discussed.
I have been long on facts and you’ve been short on credible rebuttals.
So here is the deal, Marc. There is no argument for sending any team home after qualifying. None. If they get 50 entries, then they are supposed to start 50 cars. Period. NO SEND-HOMES. Nothing is lost by starting all entries, nothing is gained by sending any team home. A safety issue? Wrong, it’s a wussification issue.
OK that does it, your name, IP address, Email address and the address of the blog you allegedly own - which BTW I note is no longer entered by you - are now all officially banned. And here is the reason.
As you see the two previous comments are yours. The Email you sent claiming you had been banned (again) because those two comments resulted in you seeing “gibberish” all were sent and arrived within 3 minutes of each other.
Because you apparently believe I have nothing better to do than sit here and wait for you to post and block/unblock on a moments notice you call me a liar.
Newsflash asshole I DON’T and your email only serves as an example what a dumbass you truly are. It’s the SOFTWARE STUPID!
In addition your an overinflated prick! See ya and have a nice blog day - elsewhere.
Marc,
STP43FAN, aka Michael Daly, aka Monkeesfan is quite a character, no? Apparently all of us silly internet users have no “credibility” or “legitimate” arguments according to Mike.
For a real good time, check out ThatsRacin Thread
Daly is a liar and a**hole from the word go. We had a “conservation” in one That’s Racin Blog thread where he stated one position.
When it was pointed out (with links) that he had taken the exact opposite position at Racing Deals where he posts NASCAR commentary (Under his name and email addy) he suddenly disappeared for about 6 weeks.
He is nothing more than a despicable little troll. BTW how did you find this time late post? You must have come accross it via a search engine.
Yeah, I was looking for a hilarious poll on insider.speed.com - I’ve included it (not a joke either) below. He’s been booted from more than one forum, but he always claims that he “left.”
Is stp43fan really a NASCAR fan or just a loser?
NASCAR Fan 4% [ 3 ]
Loser 95% [ 63 ]