TNQC and TNRC after Kansas

I wonder what odds you would have been given that Loudon would be the most exciting race of the Chase...or would you have been laughed out the door?

Anyway, three weekends down and while it's a familiar name on top in the RC, it's EGR leading the way in the QC. Juan Montoya has been 'the man' thus far and has opened up a small lead over Jamie McMurray. Jimmie Johnson, who's had a stranglehold on this thing from when I first started it back in 2007, has been somewhat quiet and sits sixth.

Tez's NASCAR Qualifying Championship - Chase field after 3 rounds:
1 - Juan Montoya, 46 points
2 - Jamie McMurray, 41 points
3 - Kasey Kahne, 37 points
4 - Kurt Busch, 34 points
5 - Tony Stewart, 33 points
6 - Jimmie Johnson, 31 points
7 - Kyle Busch, 29 points
8 - Ryan Newman, 27 points
9 - Jeff Gordon, 26 points
10 - Clint Bowyer, 24 points
11 - Mark Martin, 22 points
12 - David Reutimann, 19 points

Carl Edwards is hanging on to 13th but AJ Allmendinger is making a charge. Truex, Biffle, Logano and Hamlin seem to be the only other ones capable of getting there.

To the RC where, despite having an ordinary day at New Hampshire, Johnson was back in the lead after his win a week later at Dover. The main reason was that, like I've done with all races under 400 miles in length, he only lost 10.5 points on the field rather than the full 20. The biggest loser compared to the real points has to be Jeff Gordon who is 9th in mine while Greg Biffle is the big winner and sits 4th. Also, Jamie McMurray is hanging on in 7th, not bad for a bloke who didn't actually make the official Chase.

Tez's NASCAR Race Championship - Chase field after 3 rounds:
1 - Jimmie Johnson, 57.5 points
2 - Kevin Harvick, 48 points
3 - Denny Hamlin, 45 points
4 - Greg Biffle, 29.5 points
5 - Kurt Busch, 28.5 points
6 - Kyle Busch, 27 points
7 - Jamie McMurray, 26 points
8 - Carl Edwards, 23 points
9 - Jeff Gordon, 21 points
10 - Jeff Burton, 20 points
11 - Tony Stewart, 19 points
12 - Clint Bowyer, 15 points

It's not looking brilliant for the other 11 guys...but both Martinsville and Pheonix, while being good tracks for Jimmie, are also half pointers so we'll see. Outside the Chase, Matt Kenseth is looking good for 13th, more than a full race in front of Montoya in 14th.

And then there were three?

Well, one more GP has gone by and it would seem my my comment about the McLaren having the third best car is holding true. Not only was Hamilton dropping back from Alonso and Vettel, he also got jumped by Webber at the pitstops. While he did slice the gap down from eight to four seconds before the safety car, it was all for nothing as the duo collided on lap 34, leaving Lewis with a broken left rear suspension while Mark escaped with a banged up front right wheel (there was a decent gap between the tyre itself and the rim...see the picture below). Further proof of that was that, despite Jenson being in a perfectly good car, he still couldn't do anything with Webber's wounded Red Bull.

Webber's wheel after the contact...see the gap at the top of the rim? It should be flush with the sidewall.

Considering Lewis' mishap at Monza with his right front being broken from contact with Massa's Ferrari, one has to wonder if McLaren have sacrificed robustness in their quest to keep up the pace of development...

Anyway, the table now sees Webber holding an 11 point gap over the hard charging Alonso, with Hamilton another nine behind that. Vettel and Button are still hanging in, being 21 and 25 points off Mark's tally. Meanwhile, Red Bull have pulled a bit of a gap over McLaren in the Constructors' Championship, with Ferrari really needing Felipe to step it up if they want to make it a three way tussle.

With just four races to go (three if Korea isn't ready in time), Webber is hanging on pretty well. He might not be winning, but he's still scoring decent points and they guys behind him keep swapping places so he's padding to his lead...but Alonso is coming fast and is, quite possibly, in better form now than what saw him claim back-to-back titles in 2005 and 2006. The wildcard is probably Hamilton who, after saying his chances were looking bleak, doesn't really have anything to lose.

If Webber can pull it off, it will be an amazing turnaround from 2009. Leaving Hungary second in the standings, he then went four races in a row without scoring a point. With Japan being the last of those, and considering how mighty the Red Bull was there last year in Vettel's hands, he's well on his way to banishing that stretch of races from his mind having gone second, sixth and third in the same three races this year.

Still anyone's title...but McLaren appear to be starting to fade a touch.

A belated 2010 Winter Olympics post

Ok, first things first; yes, this post is some six months after the fact but I was hoping this particular day would come. See, there was a display here which had the Olympic medals and people were allowed to get up close and personal with them. Also, klv requested this and after the F1 fiasco last week, I thought I'd better pull my finger out and do this ASAP.

So, without further interruption, here's my experience of the 2010 Games from an Abbotsford perspective. Unlike the Sydney Games back in 2000, I was close enough to the host city to feel the vibe this time...and besides, I like the Winter Games more anyway.

At the time, I was working at the airport so we got a pretty good feel of both the Olympics and Paralympics. Not only did we get a brand new FBO (fixed base operator) that processed the private jets that came in, we also had a few 'names' pop by (the Governator, Vice President of Russia, hockey players, that kind of thing). February 28 was the busiest day, airspace-wise, in this regions history; Abbotsford processed some 80 jets alone.

She was a busy Sunday at YXX.

How we kept track of the planes expected at the FBO.

The torch swung by a few times, although the official torch relay date was February 7. I believe there was some small gridiron game played on that day as well but this was far more cooler. The airport itself got to see the torch a further two times, and yes we all got our pikkies taken with it. The torchhad a funky little maple leaf engraved on the side but none of the pictures I took of it really turned out very well so you'll just have to take my word for it.

Yes, that is an Australian National Ice Hockey jersey...and yes, it was worn to work a few times.

I had no idea I was at a changeover point until the bearer on the right turned up.

As far as Vancouver goes, I ventured in on the 20th to soak in the atmosphere...mighty glad I did since the buzz in the host city was amazing. Rather ordinary timing from me however as that was the one day Canada didn't win a medal. I suppose I could say I was one of the rare people to experience the Olympic rings in their typical blue colour rather than lighting up whichever colour medal Canada had won.

Downtown Vancouver during the Games.

The Olympic rings from across the water.

The first day people were allowed to get close to the flame.

Which brings us round circle to today where I was fortunate enough to get a photo of me with a gold medal...alas, that didn't bring Australia's tally up by one but frankly, I don't care. According to the little fact sheet I picked up today, 615 medals were handed out at the Olympics and 399 for the Paralympics.

Gold to Austral...wait, what do you mean 'no'?

All in all, the two months went by pretty well. It was both Australia's and Canada's most successful games in history and we got a ripsnorter of a hockey match as a finale...Sochi in 2014 has a bit to live up to.

Chase fields for the TNC's

Ok, now that the first 26 rounds are done, we have the only 12 guys in with a shot to win the titles. In a rather dull twist, the QC dozen stayed the same after Bristol while Clint Bowyer snuck past Matt Kenseth in the RC. Ultimately, Jimmie Johnson ended up with the lead after 26 rounds of qualifying but it's Jamie McMurray who ranks first having scored the most pole positions. The RC saw Kevin Harvick unable to be caught after his win in Michigan and, coupled with his three wins, he and Denny Hamlin lead the way as we head to Loudon.

So to the resets then.

Tez's NASCAR Qualifying Championship - chase field with bonus points:
1 - Jamie McMurray, 12 points (3 poles)
=2 - Kurt Busch, 8 points (2 poles)
=2 - Kyle Busch, 8 points (2 poles)
=2 - Kasey Kahne, 8 points (2 poles)
=2 - Juan Montoya, 8 points (2 poles)
=2 - Tony Stewart, 8 points (2 poles)
=7 - Jimmie Johnson, 4 points (1 pole)
=7 - Mark Martin, 4 points (1 pole)
=7 - Ryan Newman, 4 points (1 pole)
=10 - Clint Bowyer, 0 points
=10 - Jeff Gordon, 0 points
=10 - David Reutimann, 0 points

The battle for 13th appears to be a seven man one with Carl Edwards holding onto it right now but I'd give down to Greg Biffle (95 points behind) in 19th a shot.


Tez's NASCAR Race Championship - chase field with bonus points:
=1 - Denny Hamlin, 24 points (6 wins)
=1 - Kevin Harvick, 24 points (3 wins + 12 bonus)
3 - Jimmie Johnson, 20 points (5 wins)
4 - Kyle Busch, 12 points (3 wins)
=5 - Kurt Busch, 8 points (2 wins)
=5 - Jamie McMurray, 8 points (2 wins)
=7 - Greg Biffle, 4 points (1 win)
=7 - Tony Stewart, 4 points (1 win)
=9 - Clint Bowyer, 0 points
=9 - Jeff Burton, 0 points
=9 - Carl Edwards, 0 points
=9 - Jeff Gordon, 0 points

Kenseth sits 13th, with Juan Montoya, Kasey Kahne and Mark Martin possibly being the only ones capable of knocking him off.

Remember, the points for the Chase guys now switch to the old CART system (20, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1) with a bonus point for actually winning the race/nabbing pole position and half points for the races at Loudon, Martinsville and Phoenix as neither reach 400 miles.

Is the 2010 F1 title the one no one wants to win?

Well, the European part of the season is over and the teams pack up and head to Singapore for the next round in a fortnight. As most predicted, Monza saw the Red Bull's struggle (though nowhere near as badly as 2009) but the rest of the cards fell off the table I think.

After having the car to beat at both Montreal and Spa, this should have been a slamdunk for McLaren...well, either they didn't get that memo or it lost something in translation as Ferrari delivered an uppercut to that idea. If Spa was brilliant for Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber, Monza was just as good for Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel as Lewis had a brainfade and wrecked on lap 1 while Webber was left frustrated having stared at the rear wing of Hulkenburg's Williams for pretty much the entire race and had to make do with sixth.

With those five guys now back to being within a race win of each other, it begs the question; who wants it more?

1 - Mark Webber, 187 points
2 - Lewis Hamilton, 182 points
3 - Fernando Alonso, 166 points
4 - Jenson Button, 165 points
5 - Sebastian Vettel, 163 points

Red Bull - with the best car and, arguably, the most talented driver in Vettel, the team went into the year as favourites. While the car is lightning fast, it has proven a little fragile (Sebastian's lost a bunch of points in Bahrain, Australia and Spain) but it's been Webber who has been 'the man'. Both guys are brilliant when out front but only Vettel seems to have that killer instinct when needing to work up through the field (as he showed at Silverstone) while Mark tends to struggle (Valencia anyone?). However, Vettel has also shown signs of cracking under pressure (as he showed at Silverstone, Germany and Spa) while Mark's been pretty solid.

McLaren - they have the last two world champs in their camp, the strongest engine and possibly the best overall group of guys at the factory. They started off a little slowly in Bahrain but whenever the track got wet, the Lewis-Jenson duo quickly showed exactly why they have won the last two titles (both of Button's wins came in the wet while Lewis was supreme at Spa). But when things go wrong, they tend to go wrong in a big way (Jenson retiring on lap 2 at Monaco as the team forgot to remove one of the blankets on the sidepod and it overheated the engine, Lewis losing a certain podium at Spain when his suspension failed on the last lap). The thing is though, while this is the best driver pairing, they have, possibly, only the third best car on the grid and that might prove to be their downfall in the end.

Ferrari - throwing all their weight behind the two time champion, the weight of expectation and a team fired up after a dismal 2009. They got off to the perfect start, going 1-2 at Bahrain, then appeared to slowly disappear from radar until Germany when they did it again. Alonso's only weakness comes from within; he's on his eighth and last engine and, with all due respect to Felipe Massa, doesn't have a teammate capable of pushing him all the way like Red Bull and McLaren do. I think the Ferrari is the second best car...but whether that's enough will have to wait to be seen.

Of the tracks remaining, you'd have to give the nod to Red Bull (of the four used last year, they won on three), but will infighting between Webber and Vettel allow the other three the advantage they need to pip them at the post?

The last time I recall five guys gunning for the title was in 1986 with Mansell, Piquet, Prost, Senna and Rosberg...and that year ended with Nigel's spectacular tyre blowout at Adelaide which ultimately led to Prost nabbing his second title.

Personally, I think it'll be either Jenson or Mark...they seem to be the most consistant of the bunch. Obviously, I shall be cheering on my fellow Aussie.

Rookie, Sophomore, uh...Veteran?

Lap 16 at Spa-francorchamps might just have been the pivotal point of the 2010 F1 season. With Fernando Alonso having a shocker, Jenson Button's McLaren was running second and was being stalked by Sebastian Vettel in the Red Bull. Jenson covered the inside so Vettel flicked hard to the left, lost control and speared into the sidepod of the reigning World Champ. That left Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber to pick up the pieces as the points went from five guys within a race win to just those two.

McLaren were not amused and Red Bull boss, Christian Horner, responded back to the criticism over Vettel's driving, "He is a great racing driver, he is still a very young guy and it is easy to be very critical on somebody who is relatively inexperienced - but for sure he will learn a lot from what happened."

That got me thinking...how much experience do you need to shake off being labelled inexperienced; five seasons, ten, two, where is the cutoff?

I think it depends on exactly what type of experience you're talking about. Taking Red Bull as the example, Mark Webber started in F1 back in 2002 while Vettel came onto the scene in 2007 (for 8 races with BMW and Toro Rosso). However, both guys didn't have topline equipment until 2009, so one could claim that Webber was just as new at racing at the front as Vettel was, despite the five seasons' difference from when they made their debut.

Racing incident or a rookie mistake by someone who should know better?

So is that why the Australian has been more consistant this year than last, because he has those extra years? Maybe, maybe not. Two other 'big name' guys also started in 2007; Lewis Hamilton and Robert Kubica (ok, Bob had six starts in 2006 after Villeneuve left the team) and while Lewis missed out on nabbing the title in that year with a rookie error at Japan, he made up for it by winning it in 2008. Kubica meanwhile got a semi-topline car in 2008 with the BMW. It wasn't on the pace of the Ferrari or McLaren everywhere, only at a few tracks, yet that didn't stop Robert from taking the title fight, mathematically anyway, up to the second last race.

No then, perhaps that isn't the reason why Sebastian has been hot and cold in 2010. And the pressure can't be it either since I'd wager Hamilton was under more in 2008 than Vettel is this year (he's not considered 'baby Schumi' for nothing). Nor really can age as Lewis and Robert both were mighty consistant in 2008 when they were the same age, 23, as Sebastian is now...and they had less races under their belts.

Back to the original question then; just what defines being called an experienced racecar driver? Personally, I think that in F1, it's either four years or two with a great team, whatever arrives first.

Which means, Mr Horner, that I don't believe you can use that excuse with Vettel since he's at that point now. Basically, Mark's done the better job thus far this season, despite everyone saying Vettel would blow his doors off just like he did in the points last year. Either that or Sebastian is just trying too hard, which isn't an excuse either as I presume the team have more than enough resources to deal with that situation...if not, they can always phone Kristen I guess *laugh*

So what do you reckon the changeover point in NASCAR is, when does the guy behind the wheel become a grizzled veteran driver?

Better late than never...the TNC's are back!

As I mentioned on Gene's blog, I wasn't intending on doing these this year...mainly since I'm lazy and keeping it up to date could be a pain in the butt *laugh*

Righto, the rules I guess:

- Both titles for 26 rounds use an old V8 Supercar points system which only awarded the top 17 finishers (72, 60, 51, 45, 39, 36, 33, 30, 27, 24, 18, 15, 12, 9, 6, 3, 1).

- Once the Chase guys are set, those 12 use the old CART points (20, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1). The remaining drivers use the V8 points, but these 12 are excluded from them (hypothetically, the 'winner' of a Chase race who isn't in the Chase could have actually finished 13th on the track).

- Washouts in qualifying don't count towards the QC, while any races less than 400 miles (couldn't even get that right in my comment...sorry, Gene) or don't get to 75% distance only get half points.

- Bonus points for wins/poles are 4 x however many you start the Chase with. If a Chase guy wins a Chase race, they get an additional point (so 21 or 11 depending on race distance).

- Leader after 26 rounds get 4 bonus points per round they clinched (eg: Harvick couldn't be topped in the RC after race 23, so he will get an additonal 12 points when we start...not counting his wins).

I think that's it, so here are the top 20 of each.

Tez's NASCAR Qualifying Championship - after round 24:
1 - Jimmie Johnson, 723 points (1 pole)
2 - Juan Montoya, 654 points (2 poles)
3 - Kasey Kahne, 609 points (2 poles)
4 - Kurt Busch, 585 points (2 poles)
5 - Ryan Newman, 524 points (1 pole)
6 - Jamie McMurray, 520 points (3 poles)
7 - Jeff Gordon, 510 points
8 - Tony Stewart, 508 points (2 poles)
9 - Kyle Busch, 475 points (2 poles)
10 - Mark Martin, 474 points (1 pole)
11 - Clint Bowyer, 381 points
12 - David Reutimann, 370 points
13 - Martin Truex Jr, 306 points (1 pole)
14 - Dale Earnhardt Jr, 295 points (1 pole)
=15 - Joey Logano, 289 points (1 pole)
=15 - Greg Biffle, 289 points
17 - Carl Edwards, 273 points (1 pole)
18 - Sam Hornish Jr, 273 points
19 - AJ Allmendinger, 257 points (1 pole)
20 - Jeff Burton, 231 points

Interesting stat, considering his record of poles/start, Dale Jr was leading this after 9 rounds. Another nice point is that all the pole winners are in the top 20. Other notables; Hamlin is 21st on 227, Harvick 22nd on 219 and Patrick Carpentier brings up the back of the field in 42nd with a solitary point. So with two rounds left, the top six are all safe (Jeff and Tony are a handful of points off so they're pretty much locked in too, just not officially) while Bowyer and Reutimann will be looking over their shoulders if either have a poor effort at Atlanta.


To the RC where, as I said, Kevin Harvick clinched the pre-race title before last week after his win at Michigan. While 11 of my guys are in top 12 of the actual points, their positions are a bit changed up.

Tez's NASCAR Race Championship - after race 24:
1 - Kevin Harvick, 765 points (3 wins)
2 - Denny Hamlin, 563.5 points (5 wins)
3 - Kurt Busch, 544.5 points (2 wins)
4 - Jimmie Johnson, 495 points (5 wins)
5 - Jeff Gordon, 486 points
6 - Kyle Busch, 473.5 points (3 wins)
7 - Carl Edwards, 468 points
8 - Greg Biffle, 452 points (1 win)
=9 - Jeff Burton, 450 points
=9 - Tony Stewart, 450 points
11 - Jamie McMurray, 425.5 points (2 wins)
12 - Matt Kenseth, 393 points
13 - Clint Bowyer, 384.5 points
14 - Juan Montoya, 348 points (1 win)
15 - Kasey Kahne, 346 points
16 - Mark Martin, 321 points
17 - David Reutimann, 298 points (1 win)
18 - Joey Logano, 255 points
19 - Dale Earnhardt Jr, 246 points
20 - Ryan Newman, 230 points (1 win)

As with the QC, no one who isn't listed above has won a race this year. The anomly with my Chase is, obviously, Jamie McMurray...but having won two of the biggest races, I think it would be fitting if he can sneak in. Harvick's tally outstrips Jimmie's QC points, despite there being eight half point races (so far...Richmond is the last before the Chase starts) which doesn't affect the QC...I can almost picture Jon doing cartwheels *laugh*

All in all, 40 drivers have scored points, with Bobby Labonte and Bill Elliott tied on three points at the bottom. With two to go, down to Mark Martin sit (barely in Mark's case) only a race behind for the battle for the last Chase spot.