2017 NASCAR Week 13: Dover

AAA 400 Drive For Autism

Dover International Speedway

By Richard Tix

The Monster Mile where Miles roams. I might be in the minority here, but Dover is up there on my list of favorite tracks on the schedule (RIR, Martinsville, NHMS, Bristol, Auto Club, and WGI all also included in that list). Part of it is that Dover is a mile track on a schedule filled with 1.5 mile tri-ovals. The other part is that it is a unique track that isn't exactly like everything else we see (also why I like NHMS). 

All that being said Dover has been getting a bad wrap lately. Some say it's the racing, some say it's the change back in the 90's from asphalt to concrete, and others say it has been Jimmie Johnson's dominance. Dover has a ton of reason's people don't like it, but I think what has lacked at the track is just a mix of all of those things.

If I have learned one thing in NASCAR it is that fan's don't love watching one driver dominate a certain race on Sunday, which leads me to believe they also don't love a guy dominating one track over, and over, and over, and over again year after year.... Sure, I think some of the races have missed the mark, but that's going to happen from time to time. When you mix in one guy being better than everyone else for such a long period of time, people get turned off.

However, JJ hasn't won here in three straight races and the 400 miles will be broken down into stages. With the new points rules the Monster Mile may start to breath new life and turn peoples opinion around about the racing here. The first test? This Sunday.

**This section is just a quick look at some of Cup drivers latest finishes. This is not a tool for fantasy purposes and NBTW only is looking at end results. No deep statistic's are involved, but rather it is just a quick way to get ready for the race and get caught up on who has finished well at each track**

The Good

• Chase Elliott- It's only been two career starts but both resulted in 3rd place finishes. Elliott really needs a strong run this weekend to get back on track.
• Jimmie Johnson- Not much needs to be said about JJ here at Dover that most don't know, he's been just that good here.
• Matt Kenseth- Kenseth would be one of the best current drivers here at Dover if it wasn't for JJ. He won this race last year and also has three straight top tens.

The Middle

• Brad Keselowski- BK does have a win here (2012) but just hasn't closed the deal as much as he would have liked (two runner ups and four top fives).

The Bad

• Austin Dillon- Last time out he finished 8th here, but the six before that he had only one top 20 and three top 25's.
• AJ Allmendinger- 18 starts and only three top tens. Worse yet, only seven of those 18 starts resulted in top 20's.
• Denny Hamlin- Hamlin's finishes have been all over the place here at Dover. He currently has back to back top tens, but before that he had three straight outside of the top ten, and then before that he had a top ten and two non top tens. What will we get this time?

About the Track: Dover

Track Stats

• Richard Petty won the first 3 of 4 races at Dover, including the first two in 1969 and 1970
• The race has been won from the Pole 13 times.
• Kyle Petty won after starting 37th in 1995, the furthest back a Dover race has been won
• The most cautions was 16 in 1993, Rusty Wallace eventually won the race
• Current drivers with more then 1 Dover win (Jimmie Johnson-10, Ryan Newman-3, Matt Kenseth-3, Kyle Busch-2, and Martin Truex Jr-2)
• Current drivers with one Dover win (Brad Keselowski, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Kevin Harvick, Derrike Cope (Part Time)-1, and Kurt Busch)
• Most career wins at Dover: Jimmie Johnson (10), Richard Petty (7), and Bobby Allison (7).
• Most career top 5's at Dover: Mark Martin (24) followed by Dale Earnhardt (19)
• Most career top 10's at Dover: Mark Martin (33), Richard Petty (26), and Ricky Rudd (26)
• Most career pole awards at Dover: David Pearson (6), Rusty Wallace (5), and Mark Martin (5)
• Most career starts at Dover is Ricky Rudd with 56.

Track Info

• Surface: 1995-Present: Concrete
• Was Asphalt from 1969-1994
• Length: 1 mile
• Banking
• Turns: 24 degrees
• Straight: 9 degrees

2017 NASCAR Schedule: Dover

AAA 400 Drive For Autism

By Richard Tix

All Times are Eastern (ET)

Thursday June 1st, 2017

• 2- 2:55 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practice
• 4- 4:55 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series final practice

Friday June 2nd, 2017

• 9:30- 10:25 a.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series practice- FS2
• 10:30- 11:55 a.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice- FS2
• 1:30- 2:25 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series final practice- FS1
• 2:35 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole qualifying- FS1
• 3:50 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Coors Light Pole qualifying- FS1
• 5:30 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Bar Harbor 200 Presented by Sea Watch International (200 laps)- FS1

Saturday June 3rd, 2017

•  9- 9:55 a.m.:Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice- FS1
• 10:05 a.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole qualifying- FS1
• 11:30 a.m.- 12:20 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice- FS1
• 1 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series OneMain Financial 200 (200 laps)- FS1

Sunday June 4th, 2017

• 1 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series AAA 400 Drive for Autism- FS1

2017 NASCAR Pit Road Week 12: Charlotte

Weekly Review and Power Rankings

Coca-Cola 600

By Richard Tix

"We want more driver personalities and opinions." Kyle Busch say's something, questions stop, he finishes his interview once the questions stop. "Well, we don't want that!" People.....Make. Up. Your. Mind.

You don't get to pick and choose which personalities you get or who it is. Sure, you can not like Kyle Busch for whatever reason you want, but just realize it could be hypocritical if you want o get more raw emotion from NASCAR drivers. 

Guys, this is Kyle Busch the driver. He is brash and he wears his emotion on his sleeve. Maybe he does it in a way you don't like (I for one am not his biggest fan), but you need to start to realize we need guys like him around in the sport... I for one have spent more time defending some of his actions then I would like as a non Rowdy fan, but it has to be done because the hate has gotten out of hand.

Comments of "he needs to be fined" or "someone needs to put him in his place" are over the line. I for one wouldn't think I would handle the situations he is quiet like he does, but at the same time I am not in his shoes so I can't tell you if I would or wouldn't. 

On top of that, everyone is different and that is what makes life, well, life. It's what makes everyday original because you never know who you might run into and their personality. It's why you don't know what you will get after a race with high emotion and it's what most fans ask for (more emotion). Sure, Kyle may go about it different then you may think you would, but that doesn't mean we don't need his personality around and NASCAR should fine him until he shuts up. 

Kyle, I may not always agree with the way you go about things but keep being you. 

Oh, and Austin Dillon won his first career race which was pretty cool. Sure, it may have been on a fuel mileage strategy, but that is still a strategy that will always be around no matter how many "stages" we get a race.

With AD winning it brings the "cut" line up one spot when we start thinking about the playoffs. AD was a guy who we knew could win, but wasn't running that well that we thought it would happen before the playoffs (I actually predicted RCR would continue to trend up this year and win a race or two). He also beat Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney to VL after both drivers were all the talk of the early season. So, congrats Austin and RCR on a well thought out win and a good shot at the 2017 Playoffs.

Pit Road Power Rankings: Week 12 (Week 11)

1. Martin Truex Jr (LW-2)- Truex had one of the best cars of the evening just one week after winning his second race of 2017.
2. Kevin Harvick (LW-4)- Another top ten and another week without a win. It's still strange they haven't found VL yet, but it should happen eventually.
3. Kyle Busch (LW-9)- Three straight top fives for Rowdy. Don't look now but Toyota is starting to turn it around.
4. Brad Keselowski (LW-1)- Some bad luck in front of him cost him his evening at Charlotte, but BK is still a multi winner and third in points.
5. Jamie McMurray (LW-6)- Sixth in points without a win. The last time he finished worse than 12th was race six at Martinsville.
6. Kyle Larson (LW-3)- After wrecking on Sunday Larson now finally has a finish higher then 17th on the season, his first non top 20 in 2017.
7. Jimmie Johnson (LW-5)- JJ had a good car for the 600 but in the end didn't seal the deal. 
8. Ricky Stenhouse Jr (LW-7)- Ricky still finished in the top 15 (15th) and will look to get back to the top ten next week.
9. Denny Hamlin (LW-NR)- Every few races it looks like Denny is going to get back on track and Charlotte's top five was one of those races.
10. Joey Logano (LW-8)- It's been a rough few races for JoLo, but he should bounce back soon.
11. Clint Bowyer (LW-11)- Bowyer has swapped out top tens earlier in the year for top 15's lately but he is still keeping some consistency going while sticking in the top ten of the points.
12. Matt Kenseth (LW-NR)- Toyota's are making a comeback and Kenseth bounced back at Charlotte with a top five.

Dropped Out: Chase Elliott (LW-10) and Ryan Blaney (LW-12)

Just Missed: Kurt Busch, Daniel Suraez, and Austin Dillon

2017 NASCAR Week 12: Charlotte

Coca-Cola 600

Charlotte Motor Speedway

By Richard Tix

NASCAR returns to racing for real wins and real points this weekend at the very same track that gave us a mixed bag last weekend in the All Star Race. Sure, the final stage in the "open" was tons of fun with Chase Elliott, Danial Suarez, and Erik Jones, but past that the memories of the weekend have already faded. Why is that? Well, because the ASR once again gave us more memories for the changes (softer tire option that didn't have much effect) than the actual on track racing.

People tend to remember changes that didn't go as planned and good quality racing over most thing's in this sport and unfortunately lately they changes have outweighed the racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Some changes once again are needed for the ASR, but maybe CMS shouldn't be included in them? One thing we know is that in 2018 we will still be at CMS for the "All Star" event.

But, onto the 600 this holiday weekend. This is one of those races I either catch 50% of, or almost none. Every Memorial and Labor Day weekend my immediate family, about three sets of Aunts and Uncles, about four/five sets of cousins plus kids, and a handful of friends go camping together (typically around 25-30 close family and friends). Now, I am talking more about "glamping," which is otherwise known as camping in a nice camper (fifth-wheel), at a place with water, electric, and a pool. However, we spend most of our time around the fire, playing cards or yard games, taking the kids fishing, golfing, or taking the kids to play mini golf (all including cold refreshments).

Which brings us to actually catching the race at CMS. Most years we get a large group of us on a bike ride into the small nearby town and we find a local "refreshment" establishment. The years we do make it there on race day we find the time to enjoy a few extra refreshments while watching the race. However, anyone who knows kids (I don't have any but plenty in this group do) knows that you aren't going to entertain them forever with quarters and popcorn. So, eventually we pack it in and leave.

As much as I love NASCAR, I wouldn't trade a single one of these moments with them to see any end of a 600 if I had to choose between the two.

So there you have it, I may or may not see the 600 but I should be around the ole twitter machine from time to time this weekend sharing my "whatcha drankin" or anything else we might be up to. Hopefully we get a better product for the 600 with an extra stage and hopefully everyone has a great holiday weekend. Remember to think about those who have lost their lives serving this country to allow us to watch the race, go camping, or so anything this weekend in peace and thank a veteran whenever you find a chance.

**This section is just a quick look at some of Cup drivers latest finishes. This is not a tool for fantasy purposes and NBTW only is looking at end results. No deep statistic's are involved, but rather it is just a quick way to get ready for the race and get caught up on who has finished well at each track**

The Good

• Jimmie Johnson- Most of his career stats here were racked up between 2002 - 2005 (five wins), but JJ won last fall here and has back to back top fives.
• Brad Keselowski- Four straight top tens, a win and five top tens in his last six, and a fast start to the season are all reason's BK could run well here this weekend.
• Kevin Harvick- This wasn't always his track, but lately it has been. In the last thirteen races he has eleven top tens, six top fives, and three wins.

The Middle

• Matt Kenseth- Kenseth may have a car to beat (five top tens in his last seven) or a middle of the pack car (three 14th or 15th place finishes in the five races before that). 

The Bad

• Paul Menard- One top ten since 2011, only two in his career, and worse yet only six top 15's in 20 races at CMS.
• Dale Earnhardt Jr- Only three top 10's in his last ten starts at CMS which includes finishing in the top 15 only 50% of that time as well. Will his last 600 go any better?
• Clint Bowyer- Bowyer has seven straight starts here without a top ten. In the last 13 races he has only two top tens (but one was a win).

About the Track: Charlotte

Track Stats

• Martin Truex Jr was the first driver not named Jimmie Johnson to win from the pole early in 2016. The last time someone won a Charlotte race from the Pole not named Jimmie Johnson was 1998, Jeff Gordon. JJ has won 2 from the Pole since then (2004 and 2009)
• JJ won 4 straight from 2004 to 2005, sweeping both times. Four straight is also a track Cup record
• In that same stretch he (JJ) won 5 of 6 from 2003-2005 dropping the only race to Tony Stewart
• The most cautions was 22 during the 2005 May Charlotte race, which JJ ended up winning.
• In Jimmie Johnson's 8 wins, he (JJ) won 3 from the Pole, including this race in 2014.
• Those 8 wins are the most by any driver in a career.
• Bobby Allison has the second most wins with 6 total in 43 attempts
• Of current drivers Ryan Newman has the most poles (9). 
• David Pearson has the most career poles at Charlotte with 14.
• Jimmie Johnson has led 1,895 of 10,689 career laps he has run at Charlotte. That is enough for second most behind Bobby Allison (2,338 total).
• Richard Petty has the most top 10's in a career with 31 in 64 attempts. He is also tied with Bobby Allison for the most top 5's (23 total).

Track Info

• Surface: Asphalt
• Length: 1.5 mile
• Banking
• Turns: 24 degrees
• Straights: 5 degrees 

2017 All Star Race Season Review

By Richard Tix

Eleven races in an NASCAR gets a break from points racing. Ironically they may get a break during the All-Star Race but they also unexpectedly added points to the very next race following the ASR. An extra stage was added to the Coke 600 which will give drivers another opportunity to rack up more playoff points.

Speaking of, it seems like a good time to get a season review thus far on how the season is shaping up for the playoff push including how many points drivers have for the playoffs. Eleven races in and fifteen left until the playoff spots are locked in, so who is looking good so far and who needs to get it going?

2017 Playoff Points

Driver	Playoff Points	Stage Wins	Race Wins
Martin Truex Jr.	15	5	2
Brad Keselowski	12	2	2
Jimmie Johnson	10		2
Kyle Larson	7	2	1
Kurt Busch	5		1
Ryan Newman	5		1
Ricky Stenhouse Jr	5		1
Kevin Harvick	3	3
Ryan Blaney	3	3
Chase Elliott	2	2
Kyle Busch	2	2
Joey Logano*	1	1	1
Matt Kenseth	1	1
Denny Hamlin	1	1

*Logano's points for his win are "encumbered" and will not count for the playoffs.

Notes:

These playoff points, in my opinion, do not get enough of our focus. Martin Truex Jr already has 15 points towards his chase to getting to Homestead, which is 14 more then the one point Denny Hamlin has. Stage points are key to finishing high in the regular season, but these stage win points will be a talking point come the last ten races, so why not start focusing on them now?

Winning races has even more importance now since it locks you into the playoffs and gives you five playoff points (see BK and JJ). Running well all race also gets you some extra help for the last ten races (see Truex). All in all, every point matters so even those with just a point or two already have a small step ahead of anyone not on this list.

This system, again in my opinion, is going to bridge the gap of old school and new school points system. It's not a straight up points system (old school), but these stage points that translate into the playoffs (new school) will prove to make sure a driver who has had a strong season will have a head up on those guys who haven't been as fast weekly. It's early, but you can notice that the fastest driver in the early going are on top of this list..

2017 Standings After Eleven Races

Rk	Driver	Races	W	T5	T10	P	Led	AvSt	AvFn	Points	Diff	Ppts
1	Kyle Larson	11	1	5	7	1	366	10.5	6.9	475		7
2	Martin Truex, Jr.	11	2	3	7	0	536	8.9	10.5	431	-44	15
3	Brad Keselowski	11	2	7	9	1	373	6.4	8.4	408	-67	12
4	Chase Elliott	11	0	3	6	1	169	10.3	13.3	361	-114	2
5	Jamie McMurray	11	0	1	7	0	13	8.9	12.7	354	-121	0
6	Kevin Harvick	11	0	4	6	2	469	8.6	13.3	347	-128	3
7	Kyle Busch	11	0	4	5	0	521	11.3	14.8	325	-150	2
8	Jimmie Johnson	11	2	2	4	0	130	21.5	14	323	-152	10
9	Joey Logano	11	1	6	8	1	250	8.7	12.2	320	-155	1
10	Clint Bowyer	11	0	2	5	0	13	13.5	11.5	317	-158	0
11	Ryan Blaney	11	0	2	4	1	233	9.8	18.9	291	-184	3
12	Denny Hamlin	11	0	1	4	0	140	11.7	17	289	-186	1
13	Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.	11	1	3	5	1	14	14.2	13.8	276	-199	5
14	Trevor Bayne	11	0	0	2	0	6	17.8	15.8	250	-225	0
15	Kurt Busch	11	1	1	5	0	5	12.1	17.5	246	-229	5
16	Kasey Kahne	11	0	2	3	0	7	19.8	16.1	242	-233	0
17	Ryan Newman	11	1	1	3	0	36	13.5	19	238	-237	5
18	Matt Kenseth	11	0	2	4	1	168	11	19.4	233	-242	1
19	Erik Jones	11	0	0	1	0	2	19.8	21.1	217	-258	0
20	Daniel Suarez	11	0	0	3	0	0	16.6	17.4	217	-258	0
21	Ty Dillon	11	0	0	0	0	6	21.7	18.8	204	-271	0
22	Austin Dillon	11	0	1	1	0	7	19.3	20.7	193	-282	0
23	Aric Almirola	11	0	2	3	0	2	22.4	17.3	188	-287	0
24	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	11	0	1	1	0	10	16.2	23.8	173	-302	0
25	Paul Menard	11	0	1	2	0	3	20.7	21.6	173	-302	0
26	Chris Buescher	11	0	0	0	0	1	28.9	23.2	155	-320	0
27	David Ragan	11	0	0	1	0	0	29.8	24	144	-331	0
28	Michael McDowell	11	0	0	0	0	2	26.1	24.5	137	-338	0
29	Cole Whitt	11	0	0	0	0	3	30.6	24.8	136	-339	0
30	A.J. Allmendinger	11	0	1	2	0	2	24.2	22.7	130	-345	0
31	Landon Cassill	11	0	0	0	0	5	27	25.4	128	-347	0
32	Matt DiBenedetto	11	0	0	1	0	0	28.5	25.8	123	-352	0
33	Danica Patrick	11	0	0	0	0	0	24.1	28.1	115	-360	0
34	Corey LaJoie	11	0	0	0	0	0	32.6	30.5	77	-398	0
35	Reed Sorenson	10	0	0	0	0	1	33.3	31.8	56	-419	0
36	Gray Gaulding	10	0	0	0	0	0	33.6	32.1	51	-424	0
37	Jeffrey Earnhardt	11	0	0	0	0	0	34.5	33.5	49	-426	0
38	Michael Waltrip	1	0	0	1	0	0	30	8	29	-446	0
39	Derrike Cope	7	0	0	0	0	0	36.1	35.6	16	-459	0
40	D.J. Kennington	1	0	0	0	0	0	28	36	1	-474	0
41	Cody Ware	1	0	0	0	0	0	39	39	1	-474	0

Head of the Class

• Larson, Johnson, Truex, and Keselowski
• This group is on cruise control. Keep battling, keep picking up stage points, keep getting stage/race wins and padding your playoff lead before they even start. Even Johnson who hasn't been as consistently fast week to week is safe here and will likely win another race ro two before race 27.

Strong Middle

• Harvick, Logano, Elliott, Ky. Busch, Stenhouse Jr, and McMurray
• No one is really worried about these guys for the most part. JoLo had a win for the playoffs, then had it become "encumbered," Harvick is on the cusp, and no one will ever count Kyle out from winning a race. Stenhouse Jr. already has a win and RFR have made huge strides this year so I see no issue with him getting a spot in 2017. Meanwhile McMurray is putting up one of his best season's as a Cup driver.

Work to Do

• Hamlin, Ku. Busch, Blaney, Newman, and Bayne
• Newman has a win, but securing some more playoff points and being safely inside the top 16 if we did somehow get 16+ winners has to be a focus for a few weeks. Blaney has run well, but if he doesn't win I can see him on the last three in come race 26 which means he needs to stay sharp and keep racking up those points every race. Lastly, good for Bayne to be in this spot, but a few slip ups will really hurt since he isn't killing the top tens right now (mostly top 15's).

Panic Button?

• Kenseth, Earnhardt Jr, Kahne, A. Dillon, and Allmendinger
• Sure, we still have plenty of time left in the season to get into the playoffs, but the lack of remaining races leaves less of a chance to win or even just rack up important playoff points that the top of the pack is already doing. I'm the least worried about Kenseth in this group, but still wonder what has been going on with the whole JGR team each week they fail to make strides. Even if Allmendinger wins (think road courses) he has to worry about penalties or poor finishes and making the top 30. Each guy is capable of winning in this group so the panic button is just a rhetoric, but they better get moving.