By Richard Tix
Well its March again and just like last year NASCAR Behind the Wall is going to do a March Madness Bracket NASCAR Style. This is NASCAR Behind the Wall's Second Annual March Madness NASCAR Style Bracket.
Here are the rules and how things were set up:
- 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 are the standings that were used (Standings after Las Vegas):
**Note, NASCAR Behind the Wall is going by points, so Kevin Harvick slides down the list and in between Dillon and Kahne. Everyone else moves up a spot and everything else is the same past that.**
**Note, NASCAR Behind the Wall is going by points, so Kevin Harvick slides down the list and in between Dillon and Kahne. Everyone else moves up a spot and everything else is the same past that.**
That should be most of the information you need. The rest of it is pretty straight forward, we have a bracket and the highest driver moves on. Just remember, Bristol holds the key to the first TWO rounds. So after Bristol 8 drivers will remain. (So Jr has a match up with Ragan and then the winner of Mears or Stenhouse, all decided at Bristol).
2014 NASCAR Behind the Wall March Madness Bracket
The Jr Division
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Loud Mouth Division
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1
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D Earnhardt Jr
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1
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B Keselowski
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8
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D Ragan
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8
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D Gilliland
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4
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C Mears
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4
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K Kahne
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5
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R Stenhouse Jr
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5
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P Menard
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3
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R Newman
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3
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Ky Busch
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6
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A Almirola
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6
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K Larson
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2
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D Hamlin
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2
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C Edwards
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7
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M Truex Jr
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7
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R Sorenson
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6-Time Division
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Young Gun's Division
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1
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J Johnson
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1
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J Logano
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8
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C Whitt
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8
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J Allgaier
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4
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K Harvick
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4
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A Dillon
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5
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M Ambrose
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5
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B Vickers
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3
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J McMurray
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3
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G Biffle
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6
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C Bowyer
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6
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AJ Allmendinger
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2
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M Kenseth
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2
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J Gordon
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7
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T Stewart
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7
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Ku Busch
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A few interesting matchup's in the first round
2) Matt Kenseth v 7) Tony Stewart
- Smoke has started out slow like he did in 2013, actually really slow. Because he started so slow he comes in with a 7 seed. The fact remains that he is still a threat to Matt Kenseth. All he needs is one race to get going and could "upset" Kenseth.
2) Jeff Gordon v 7) Kurt Busch
- Another SHR driver sliding into the bracket, Kurt Busch has started slow with his new team. He could upset Gordon because NASCAR starts at Bristol, a track he is pretty good at, but Gordon is no push over. In fact, Gordon also comes into Bristol on a very hot start to the 2014 season.
Some Interesting Facts:
- Danica Patrick missed out on the bracket by one spot in the standings (She is 33rd).
- Three rookies made the cut (Dillon, Larson, and Whitt).
- Dale Jr or Logano may have the easiest trip to the Elite 8.
- Potential second round matchups at Bristol:
- BK v Kahne
- Gordon v Biffle
- JJ v Harvick
- Edwards v Ky Busch
Here are the 2013 March Madness articles on the tournament:
- March Madness NASCAR Style
- March Madness NASCAR Style: Elite Eight
- March Madness NASCAR Style: Final Four
- March Madness NASCAR Style: Championship
What do you think? Who is moving on? Who are the favorites?
