2017 March Madness NASCAR Style: Final Four

Behind the Wall Final Four

By Richard Tix

The NCAA Basketball season maybe over (Heck yeah North Carolina!), but the March Madness NASCAR Style continues to roll on for two more races. After fighting for every spot at Martinsville last week, the Final Four will head to Texas this weekend. Check out who advanced below.

Rules and Bracket Breakdown

• 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. We are going by regular points standings (meaning a win doesn't put you ahead of someone without a win). Straight points.
• 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. That continues until the three seeds where it then goes from top back down.
• Here is how the rounds break down by race.
• Phoenix: Round 32 
• Auto Club: Sweet 16
• Martinsville: Elite 8
• Texas: Final Four
• Bristol: Championship
• This year the winner will be decided by which driver ends the race with the most points under the current NASCAR points system. So, stage points will count towards the finish of head to head matchups.

2017: 5th Annual NBTW NASCAR March Madness
1	Keselowski								1	Larson
6	Dillon								3	McMurray
			1	Keselowski		1	Larson
			3	Bowyer		1	Elliott
5	Jones								1	Elliott
3	Bowyer								2	Blaney

Bracket Notes:

Larson lucked out on a poor run when his teammate gambled early with a tire rub. Larson will get a chance to bounce back at Texas. Two other No. 1 seeds will join No. 1 seed Larson in the Final Four so hopefully you picked "chalk" in your bracket. On the flip side of Larson getting lucky, Dillon was unlucky in a great run spoiled by Keselowski winning Martinsville.

Previous NASCAR Behind the Wall March Madness Champions

• 2016 Champion: Joey Logano
• 2nd: Kyle Busch
• Final Four: Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, and Joey Logano
• 2015 Champion: Brad Keselowski
• 2nd: Joey Logano
• Final Four: Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, and Aric Almirola
• 2014 Champion: Tony Stewart
• 2nd: Carl Edwards
• Final Four: Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Brian Vickers, Carl Edwards, and Tony Stewart
• 2013 Champion: Brad Keselowski
• 2nd: Kasey Kahne
• Final Four: Brad Keselowski, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch, and Kurt Busch

March Madness NASCAR Style: Final Four

By Richard Tix

College Basketball started there annual tournament this past weekend but NASCAR Behind the Wall had already beat them to the punch. In fact, we are already down to our Final Four that will be decided at Martinsville Speedway.

For a look back, here are the opening articles:

• Opening Bracket
• Elite Eight

If you need a refresher, here are the rules:

• 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)

Now lets get onto the match-ups and who advanced to the Final Four NASCAR Style

Elite Eight Match-Ups

The Jr Division					Loud Mouth Division
5	Stenhouse				4	Kahne
6	Almirola				2	Edwards
6-Time Division					Young Gun's Division
5	Ambrose				5	Vickers
7	Stewart				2	Gordon

5) Stenhouse v 6) Almirola

• Wow, what a barn burner here. Both had great runs at Bristol and then both had troubles at Auto Club. With Almirola getting taken out early by Brian Scott, Ricky pretty much got the automatic bye while finishing 34th. Lucky break for him.

5) Ambrose v 7) Stewart

• Apparently someone told Tony Stewart about my March Madness Bracket because he has been on fire. He has back to back top 5's to start the tournament. Meanwhile Ambrose finished his day in Fontana in 30th place.

4) Kahne v 2) Edwards

• Kahne was out of this one early when he took the #5 Chevy behind the wall to the garage. That didn't stop Carl from getting a top 10 (10th). Carl heads into the Final Four with a lot of momentum.

5) Vickers v 2) Gordon

• This was our best match-up of the round, well really the only match up close (unless you count the battle to not be the worst of Almirola v Ricky). Gordon should have won this one but a late caution gave Vickers the edge. Gordon just wasn't good on the restarts and it hurt his finish.

Final Four

5	Stenhouse				2	Edwards
7	Stewart				5	Vickers

So this is how the Final Four will look going into Martinsville. Most people don't count Vickers as a threat to win every week, but Edwards gets a tough match-up this week. Lets take a closer look.

5) Stenhouse v 7) Stewart

• Last season Smoke struggled and finished 17th at Martinsville and the time before that he finished 27th. He did have a win back in 2011 here, but he has either been good or towards the back. Martinsville is still new to Stenhouse, as he only has two Cup starts here. Last year he finished 25th and 31st.
• Edge: I like Smoke in this one. Ricky has been running better in 2014, but he still hasn't been proven at Martinsville.

2) Edwards v 5) Vickers

• Neither one of these guys are power houses at this track. Carl only has 3 top 10's in his last 10 starts here. He does seem to finish around the 12-20 position, so maybe a solid day will let him slide into the Championship. Vickers on the other hand has shown glimpses of being good at Martinsville, yet he average finish is 16.8 in 8 races.
• Edge: I'm going with Edwards this time. I think a consistent finish about 15th might win this match-up between the two. This could be a close battle though.

March Madness NASCAR Style:

• Opening Bracket
• Elite Eight