2011 Wonderful Pistachios 400 at Richmond weekend discussion!

[rocketman]

Cup entry list:
Jayski's NASCAR Sprint Cup Silly Season Site
NW entry list
Jayski's NASCAR Sprint Cup Silly Season Site

Notable:
-This Tuesday at Atlanta, Jeff Gordon made history by getting his 85th win.
-Many 9-11 tribute cars will hit the track Saturday, the most noticeable being Kyle Busch
- Dave Blaney and Stephen Liecht switch rides this race. Blaney has Kidney Stones.

Lets have a good racing week!

 

[Frigus5]

Hope Dave Blaney gets to feeling better.

 

[Ryan597]

Hoping for another great run and maybe a win from Jeff Gordon.

Should be a good race.

 

[4WideRacing]

I'm extremely excited for the race this weekend!

1. It's on regular TV!
2. The patriotic cars!
3. The race to the chase with win provisionals!
4. It's a short track on Saturday night!!!!!!!!!

 

[labontefanboy]

This is going to be a wild race with all of the wild card hopefuls making a last ditch effort to win it.

 

[4WideRacing]

Don't forget the Nationwide series! Entry list: Jayski's® Silly Season Site
six cars are going home.

 

[Tim2488]

Im hopin someone Mayfield's there way in. Win & You're In.
BTW 300. I feel like Sparta Kickin Someone now.......

 

[HMAC80]

Im hopin someone Mayfield's there way in. Win & You're In.

Oh yeah! That was probably the coolest moment of the 2004 season. Only now, there are several more drivers with a shot at it. I wouldn't bet against Keselowski getting win number 4.

 

[RP Motorsports]

Should be an interesting race. Richmond has always been one of my favorite tracks.

The main clinch senarios - Earnhardt Jr. clinches with a 20th or better finish, reguardless of what anyone else does, and Stewart clinches with an 18th or better finish.

The wild card senarios are all up in the air. Alot can happen there. Another interesting possibility is Keselowski could end up getting himself into the top 10, which would then free up another wild card spot, as well as put his three wins into play for bonus points.

To be honest, I wouldnt mind seeing Keselowski bump Stewart out and start the chase tied for second. Those guys seem like a bigger threat than Stewart at this point.

Not only that, but if Keselowski bumped his way in, that would make the second wild card spot real interesting. Menard is sitting on the bubble in 20th and Ambrose is only 7 points back from him. You could end up seeing Menard or Ambrose get in, or they both could very well fall outside of 20th. Which if that were the case, Stewart would be back in (had Keselowski bumped him out), and Keselowski's wins would be in play.

Even though I'm not a fan of the whole wild card deal, there are some interesting senarios this weekend to keep an eye on.

-Ryan

 

[labontefanboy]

If Hamlin weren't so good at Richmond, I'd bring up the point that A.J. Allmendinger is just 11 points behind him and Bowyer is just 12, and a win for either one of them combined with a mediocre race for Hamlin could bump Hamlin out of the Wild Card spot.

 

[4WideRacing]

That's why the wild card spots are such a good thing it gives many more options for drivers to get into the chase.

 

[TheJ]

If Hamlin weren't so good at Richmond

the way that team is this year I wouldnt be surprised if he runs 20th

 

[4WideRacing]

the way that team is this year I wouldnt be surprised if he runs 20th

But he still finished second to his teammate in the spring even with how bad they have been this year.

 

[RP Motorsports]

That's why the wild card spots are such a good thing it gives many more options for drivers to get into the chase.

I think its a matter of opinion whether its a good thing or not.

Sure it gives more opportunity for drivers to get in the Chase, but in my opinion its drivers that shouldnt be in the Chase to begin with. Winning one race and being 20th in the standings isnt indicative of a team whos ready or deserves to be competing for a championship.

Even with someone like Keselowski, who I'm a fan of. Yea he won three races which is very impressive, but even with three wins hes still outside of the top 10 which means he hasnt done much in the rest of the races.

The wild card situation could make for some more interesting senarios in Richmond, but I'd personally rather not have it. If you are making the Chase as a wild card, then you probably arent going to be anywhere near ready to compete for a championship. Just seems like a little bit of a waste to me.

-Ryan

 

[4WideRacing]

The wild card situation could make for some more interesting senarios in Richmond, but I'd personally rather not have it. If you are making the Chase as a wild card, then you probably arent going to be anywhere near ready to compete for a championship. Just seems like a little bit of a waste to me.

-Ryan

Unless the team started the year bad and started building steam (like Brad's) vs. a team that got points for doing well and really started dropping off (like Tony's). Tony may be higher in the points than Brad but right now Brad is more of a championship contender. I would really like to see Tony pick it up and win the championship this year (even more than Kyle )!

 

[K.Chuck]

Even with someone like Keselowski, who I'm a fan of. Yea he won three races which is very impressive, but even with three wins hes still outside of the top 10 which means he hasnt done much in the rest of the races.
-Ryan

He still worked his way in to the top 12 and in prior years thats all you had to do make the chase. I am not much of a fan of his but hes been running better than most of the top ten for a good chunk of hard races lately.

In anycase the wild card has added something good to the chase format IMO. It puts pressure on winning and thats always good for the fans.

 

[RP Motorsports]

Unless the team started the year bad and started building steam (like Brad's) vs. a team that got points for doing well and really started dropping off (like Tony's). Tony may be higher in the points than Brad but right now Brad is more of a championship contender. I would really like to see Tony pick it up and win the championship this year (even more than Kyle )!

He still worked his way in to the top 12 and in prior years thats all you had to do make the chase. I am not much of a fan of his but hes been running better than most of the top ten for a good chunk of hard races lately.

In anycase the wild card has added something good to the chase format IMO. It puts pressure on winning and thats always good for the fans.

I agree that Kes started the year off behind and now he's probably one of the hottest drivers in the field. And Tony was kind of vice versa. And I agree that Kes may be a better contender right now than Tony. Reguardless though, we tally points from all 26 races and they all count the same towards making the Chase. Tony still put good enough finishes together to be in the top 10 and Kes hasnt (by the way, I'd be ok if it were the top 12 instead, dont matter to me).

And just for the record, I'm a Keselowski fan and not much of a Smoke fan so this isnt one these typical "I dont like the rules now because they arent favoring my driver". Just wanted to put that out there.

Again, this is all just my personal opinion. The wild cards do potentially make for some more interesting senarios going into Richmond, but from a pure competition stand point, I'm not feeling it at all. We have a points system and points standings that determine who makes the Chase and who wins the championship. I dont think someone should be potentially handed a Chase spot because they had one glorious day while the rest were sub-par or average at best.

Obviously with Keselowski its a little different because he won three races and not just one, but that speaks even louder volumes to me. Like I said before, if you won three races and you havnt made the top 10, then most of your other races must've really been sub-par.

Last season we had one of the closest championship battles ever, and between three drivers right up until the end. We didnt need wild cards then and we dont need them now in my opinion.

I'd be willing to bet that neither of the wild cards this year will be anywhere close to making a legit championship run. To me, its just a novelty type deal thats not going to change anything in the end. It might make Richmond a little more interesting, but a few races into the Chase it wont even matter. I say leave it alone, if it aint broke dont fix it. Earn your way into the Chase the real way. Thats why we tally 26.

Dont want to hijack the thread, but those are my feelings on the wild card spots.

-Ryan

 

[4WideRacing]

Dont want to hijack the thread, but those are my feelings on the wild card spots.

-Ryan

That's why we have discussion threads!

 

[K.Chuck]

I'd be willing to bet that neither of the wild cards this year will be anywhere close to making a legit championship run. To me, its just a novelty type deal thats not going to change anything in the end. It might make Richmond a little more interesting, but a few races into the Chase it wont even matter. I say leave it alone, if it aint broke dont fix it. Earn your way into the Chase the real way. Thats why we tally 26.

-Ryan

I agree with this mostly. I think it would take a drive with a good balance between aggresion and smarts to utilize the wild card. Someone like Kasey Kane(use to be) that can really make the most of an opportunity like he did with the allstar fan vote a few years back. Maybe Brad can keep it together and take advantage of it, I dont think hes ready though.

 

[4WideRacing]

The first Nationwide practice is over. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was the fastest non cup driver. He was also the fastest overall!!!!!!!!!!!!!!