TBK-Light.com

Unfortunately it still does. If someone stole a win like Chris Buescher last year they probably would only have playoff points from that one race though and then be at pretty big disadvantage to the guys with multiple race and stage wins. The same can be said for someone who makes the Playoffs only on points. Your Newman, McMurray, Menard kind of guys. They might make the Playoff but they will start in such a huge hole.

They might.. but really there are only 182 playoff points available. It's possible for a few guys to win a lot of stages in addition to their races, but I don't think they'd have a huge lead. It's also possible for someone to win a ton of stages and have more points than race winners. If you assume 12 different guys earn playoff points, when you divide that out its roughly 15 points per driver. So when they get reset to 2000, the guys who pointed their way in aren't really more than 15 or so back from the bottom guys that they have to beat. However as they keep eliminating off the bottom... round 2 and 3 just got real hard. Obviously the regular season winner bonus of 15 points could mean someone starts the playoffs with over 40-60 points in the bank. But you can also earn 60 points per race now (70 for the daytona 500) instead of the old 48, so you can see bigger swings. You can win stages and no races and point your way in, so guys could have playoff points waiting for them even without being a countdown lock. I'm sure there will be a few random or surprise stage winners that earn a playoff point or two that they'll never use. This system also rewards consistency. You can have guys who earn more points in a race than the race winner does... If you run top 5 all race you've got a better chance of getting in based on points. There are a lot of scenarios and possibilities that people don't even realize yet until it all plays out. I wish NASCAR would have shared some of their simulation results from the years prior that they had done.

It's all because Dale Jr can't close the deal at the end of races and NASCAR so desperately wants him to win a Championship before he retires at the end of this year...

I'll take my tinfoil hat off now.

You mean he's actually going to make it to the end of the year before retiring?

Has it been said that he will actually be driving this year?

Yes.

http://www.racer.com/nascar/item/137897 ... ewed-focus

Obviously, it only lasts until he mows down a wall during the Bud Shootout, but until then he will be back.

_________________
Dan Wheldon ¦ 1978-2011
Marco Simoncelli ¦ 1987-2011
Jules Bianchi ¦ 1989-2015
Justin Wilson ¦ 1978-2015

Yeah, I know he's mad and I don't care. I do not care. I did not care then. I do not care now. I'm here to race him.

He's not racing in the shootout. Bowman is driving the 88 car as reward for getting the pole at Phoenix.

Oh, yes, I forgot about that.

Still can't see him getting through the rest of Speedweeks without at least one accident, depending on how aggressive they all are in practice.

_________________
Dan Wheldon ¦ 1978-2011
Marco Simoncelli ¦ 1987-2011
Jules Bianchi ¦ 1989-2015
Justin Wilson ¦ 1978-2015

Yeah, I know he's mad and I don't care. I do not care. I did not care then. I do not care now. I'm here to race him.

No need to take it off.

_________________
Go Miami Dolphins!
Go New York Yankees!
Go New York Rangers!

He just need to watch Bowman crashing the #88 or anyone else to get all scared already.

Don't forget the Mrs, she could be a swaying factor, he may not even need to hurt himself to make the decision, especially if a Jr Jr is on the way, the risk alone might be enough.

Oh stop. Dale is well aware of what can happen out there. I seriously doubt he'd have come back if he wasn't fully healthy. He just got married, has more money than he can spend and has a future as a team owner/broadcaster brighter than anything he's done behind the wheel.

Personally, I don't really know why he's coming back. Certainly Mr. Hendrick will give him whatever help is required for whatever Dale would want to do post driving. Hendricks no fool. Dale will be wrapped up in some kind of half assed lifetime contract once he steps out of the car.

One driver whose Speedweeks will definitely be their last is Mikey.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.ph ... aytona-500

_________________
Dan Wheldon ¦ 1978-2011
Marco Simoncelli ¦ 1987-2011
Jules Bianchi ¦ 1989-2015
Justin Wilson ¦ 1978-2015

Yeah, I know he's mad and I don't care. I do not care. I did not care then. I do not care now. I'm here to race him.

One final flip to sum up his career, likely.

_________________
RIP Birmingham Wheels: here's some of the crash videos I recorded when it was there:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIaKIE ... 5t9d5PvoHA

Twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/paulhadsley

i cant remember the article, but i remember jr saying he felt like he's been taking his career for granted. wanted to get back racing so he could take it more seriously. he felt like he has more to prove and wants to retire on his own terms

I can respect that.

Anyone else see the story about Ryan Ellis doing PR work and taking the year off from driving? Very interesting read. The article said he has taken odd jobs such as mopping floors at a local car dealership to pay his bills and he calls out the pay-to-play drivers that are taking over the sport.

Thorsport Racing has finalized their driver lineup for the Truck Series.

#13-Cody Coughlin
#27-Ben Rhodes (was the #41)
#88 Matt Crafton
#98 Grant Enfinger

Great to see Enfinger get a shot to run the full schedule. He was very quick in the races he ran last year for GMS.

Oh, so no more Rico? The guy can wheel the fuck out of a sprint/midget car, but it was a colossal failure in the truck series. I wonder though with his physical limitations, how much that contributed to his lack of success in trucks.