By Richard Tix
NASCAR Behind the Wall opened up the March Madness Tournament at Bristol Motor Speedway where we decided the opening round games and the Sweet 16 (Opening article). If you forgot, here are the rules again:
- Brackets were decided by current standings after the race at Las Vegas. Four Divisions, top 4 in the standings got the #1 seeds, 5-8 in the standings got the #2 seeds, 9-12 #3 seeds and so on.
- From the standings the rankings were given out serpentine style. Meaning: The driver ranked 5th (first #2 seed) started in the lowest #1 seed's bracket (in this case Joey Logano's). It continued all the way up until 3 seeds, which then went from Jr's bracket on down.
- Here is how the rounds break down by race (first race we have two eliminations to speed it up).
- Bristol: Round 32 and Sweet 16 (Bristol= NASCAR's Definition of Madness)
- Auto Club: Elite 8
- Martinsville: Final Four
- Texas: Championship
- The driver that finishes Highest in the race moves on (Think the last Chase Race)
Here is the opening bracket with all 32 drivers:
The Jr Division
|
Loud Mouth Division
|
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1
|
D Earnhardt Jr
|
1
|
B Keselowski
|
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8
|
D Ragan
|
8
|
D Gilliland
|
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4
|
C Mears
|
4
|
K Kahne
|
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5
|
R Stenhouse Jr
|
5
|
P Menard
|
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3
|
R Newman
|
3
|
Ky Busch
|
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6
|
A Almirola
|
6
|
K Larson
|
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2
|
D Hamlin
|
2
|
C Edwards
|
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7
|
M Truex Jr
|
7
|
R Sorenson
|
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6-Time Division
|
Young Gun's Division
|
|||||
1
|
J Johnson
|
1
|
J Logano
|
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8
|
C Whitt
|
8
|
J Allgaier
|
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4
|
K Harvick
|
4
|
A Dillon
|
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5
|
M Ambrose
|
5
|
B Vickers
|
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3
|
J McMurray
|
3
|
G Biffle
|
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6
|
C Bowyer
|
6
|
AJ Allmendinger
|
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2
|
M Kenseth
|
2
|
J Gordon
|
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7
|
T Stewart
|
7
|
Ku Busch
|
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The Jr Division
|
Loud Mouth Division
|
|||||
1
|
Dale Earnhardt Jr
|
1
|
Keselowski
|
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5
|
Stenhouse
|
4
|
Kahne
|
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6
|
Almirola
|
6
|
Larson
|
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2
|
Hamlin
|
2
|
Edwards
|
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6-Time Division
|
Young Gun Division
|
|||||
1
|
Johnson
|
8
|
Allgaier
|
|||
5
|
Ambrose
|
5
|
Vickers
|
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6
|
Bowyer
|
3
|
Biffle
|
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7
|
Stewart
|
2
|
Gordon
|
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- Joey Logano loses to Justin Allgier
- JoLo's stearing issue put him a step behind all day and he never could recover. Logano was actually the only #1 seed to lose in the opening round.
- Tony Stewart takes down Matt Kenseth
- In this matchup persistance paid off. Matt Kenseth was strong for most the race, but Smoke just kept plugging away and eventually finished 4th to best Kenseth's 13th place finish
- Marcus Ambrose wins over Kevin Harvick
- Again, just like Smoke and Kenseth, Harvick was strong all day until he went up in flames (literally). Ambrose came through with a 5th place finish.
- Kyle Larson bested Kyle Busch
- The rookie ran well all day, and after Busch made his move to the front for awhile he fell of the rest of the race.
Elite 8
The Jr Division
|
Loud Mouth Division
|
|||||
5
|
Stenhouse
|
4
|
Kahne
|
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6
|
Almirola
|
2
|
Edwards
|
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6-Time Division
|
Young Gun's Division
|
|||||
5
|
Ambrose
|
5
|
Vickers
|
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7
|
Stewart
|
2
|
Gordon
|
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So who still has a perfect bracket? NASCAR Behind the Wall only has two #2 seeds left and not a single 1 or 3 seed advanced past the Sweet 16. The Jr Division still has one Jr left, Stenhouse. NASCAR Behind the Wall will have a 5+ v a 5+ match up in the Final Four no matter what on the Left side. The right side seems to have most of the favorites left (Kahne, Edwards, and Gordon).
So who you got moving on? After Auto Club Speedway we will be down to our Final Four. Some or the better predictions sent to me on twitter at @NASCARBTW will get there tweet on the Final Four article!
March Madness NASCAR Style:
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