GTP NASCAR SPRINT CUP S3 Champs: RFLX_Niop, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota

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Congratulations to SGR for picking this up, and on behalf of the team, I can say a lot of time and effort was put in to try and come up with the best race winning strategies. Some worked, and some needed improvement. Great working with you through all these strategies Champ 👍
:cheers:
 
Knelly
What would you like to see next?

If I won anything throw it up there. :lol:

100m in about 7 minutes.
 
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UNLUCKIEST DRIVER OF THE SEASON​

And the nominees that received votes for this SPRINT are:

Mule
Tom
Matty
Joe
Knelly

And the winner by two clear votes is TomMcD.

It was clearly agreed throughout that Tom had very much a Jeff Gordon year. DC's, non fault incidents, involved in other peoples lag issues all led to winning this.

Congratulations Tom in being voted the unluckiest driver in GTP NASCAR. Don't drop the trophy :nervous:

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MOST IMPROVED DRIVER OF THE SEASON​

Drivers are only eligible who participated in previous seasons and were not eligible for the Rookie of the Season Award. The nominees who received votes are:

Knelly
Droptop
Joe
Niop
Furi

Everyone here received at least two votes but the clear winner was Furinkazen.

It was conisdered that Furi in the second half of the season, under the JGR banner, really stepped up his game and provided some excellent results for JGR and Toyota, helping take the Team and Manufacturers titles.

Well done Furi on winning the Most Improved Driver of the Season award. Let's hope that you can win the most improved with a DS3 around Daytona award next season :sly:

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Congrats, Furi. You had my vote. :cheers:

Knelly, how about running down the posted order? Save the big ones for last.
 
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RACE COMEBACK OF THE SEASON​

For the driver who achieved the best comeback in any single race throughout the Season. This does not necessarily require the driver winning the race but making up a large number of places throughout. The Nominees are:

Knelly at Indy 125. Falling back six seconds from the pack on first lap, working back to lead the most laps and a win

Drop at Daytona 500. 12 seconds back got with a group back up to the leaders, taking the race lead for a few laps before my first pit stop. Then lost a lap. 100 laps later, and was back running in 3rd place.

GTP_Litchi at Suzuka East - From 12 place he drove back up through the field, constantly passing in heavy traffic, getting back up as high as 3rd place on lap 42. After his final pit stop, Litchi came back out in 4th place, right behind Mule and Joe

Only myself and Litchi received votes here, but it was never close with Litchi receiving twice as many votes. He never had to make a comeback in this one as the way the votes were counted, always had him in front.

This was an outstanding performance, by a driver who hadn't really put in a lap of practice, kept falling back and just showed off his road course dominance by sything through the field.

Well done Litchi, on an amazing performance. You deserve this one!

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RACE BATTLE OF THE SEASON​

This is for drivers who were involved in the most entertaining fight for position, whether it be at the start, middle or end of a race.

SGR v Gibbs at Daytona 500. Battle of the pit strategies with Gibbs having the extra car, prevailing.
Joe v Mule at Monza. Again differing pit strategies didn't decide this one till late in the race.
Joe v Niop at HSR. Battle pursued from start to (almost) finish, after Joe scraped a couple of walls in the closing laps.
JGR + HMS vs the field at SSRX in the Coca Cola 600
Mule vs Joe at Suzuka East
Furi vs Knelly at Suzuka East
The last 10 laps at the Daytona 200
The last 20 laps at the Indy 200
The last 3 miles at Indy - RFLX vs Drop - the lead changed 7 times in the last 5 turns, including 3 times on the final straightaway.

A lot of contenders here and the voting was very close all the way with 7 of the above receiving a vote. However, with three votes was the last minute or so at the very last race of the season at Indy.

Being involved in this, I remember how tense it was with all the different permatations that could have happened in respect of winning the title. It really was an awesome battle, but only one of many battles had throughout the season, and partly the reason why we all cannot wait for S4 to start.

So congrats to Niop and Drop in this, but would also like to give a shout out to myself and RPH for having a part in the battle that it became as well.

Thank you to all for very competitive racing throughout to make this award a very close call, and well done to Drop and Niop for taking the honours.

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Time to get on with the serious ones after a quick break. We still have Feared, Road, Oval and Overall to come ....
 
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MOST FEARED DRIVER OF THE SEASON​

This goes to the driver, that with one lap to go, you absolutely do not want to see in your rear view mirror.

And the three Nominees were Joe, Niop and ACDC and I have to say that this was a runaway win with twice as many votes as the second place driver got.

Congratulations to Niop on winning this award. I was probably the only driver out there this season that didn't mind seeing the Champ in my mirrors, as it meant I was getting pushed hard. But you can't deny that any driver looking in there mirror and seeing the #14 right behind them would start by saying 'Oh ****, It's Over'

Glad I'm on your team again this year, as I wouldn't want to face you one on one. Well done Champ 👍

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MOST RESPECTED DRIVER OF THE SEASON​

This goes to the driver that everyone most respects for their calm demeanor, steady driving, and clean driving habits.

The nominees were:
Joe
Niop
Knelly
Drop
TomMcD

and four of the five received votes. It was basically a straight fight between the two (now) Ford drivers with Joe just pipping Drop to winning the SPRINT.

It's always nice to earn the respect of the rest of the field and I think Joe can certainly feel good that he has the respect of everyone out there as a driver that will not lose their head, hold their position and line, and respect all those around him.

Great award to win Joe, congratulations

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I thought that would be a battle between Joe and Niop. I appreciate the votes, but think Joe was definitely more deserving than me.
 
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BEST ROAD COURSE DRIVER OF THE SEASON​

The driver that you think is the best all-around driver at Monza, High Speed Ring, and Suzuka East.

Nominations were:
RFLX_Niop - 2 wins in 2 starts
MULE - 1 win and 1 other podium in 3 starts; finished ahead of Joe twice.
Joe - 3 podiums in 3 starts

And the stats really speak for themselves. Any one of these drivers deserve this award, but with almost three times as many votes as the other two, yet another SPRINT goes to Niop.

He only got to race in 2 road course events, but led pretty much every lap of them both to ease to victory at Suzuka East, and hold Joe off at HSR. I don't think any of us can wait for when Joe and Niop actually get head to head at Monza for the first time in S4.

Well done to the Road Course King

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BEST OVAL DRIVER OF THE SEASON​

The driver that you think is the best all-around driver at Daytona, Indy, and SSRX this season.

Current Nominations:
Droptop2001gt - 5 wins, 8 podiums, 8 Top-5 finishes, 3.0 average finish in 10 oval starts. Won Coca Cola 600.
ACDCROCKS123 - Won Daytona 500. 2 podiums, 3 Top-5 finishes, 2.67 average finish in 3 oval starts.
RFLX_Niop - 1 win (SSRX), 5 podiums, 6 Top-5 finishes, 3.5 average finish in 8 oval starts.
JoeOfTheFire - Won Brickyard 400. 6 podiums, 8 Top-5 finishes, 4.5 average finish in 10 oval starts.
Knelly - 2 wins (Indy, SSRX), 2 podiums, 6 Top-5 finishes, 4.9 average finish in 10 oval starts.

This was a no contest really, and it surprised me that 3 votes did not go the way of all the others.

Looking at the stats we all know that the deserved winner with his total domination of ovals this season, is Droptop. You've got a lot to live up next season Mr Oval, 5 wins across ALL the oval courses (not including Motegi), is a record that I cannot see being broken. Well deserved.

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BEST OVERALL DRIVER OF THE SEASON​

Well, we are down to the final award of the night and the one that is the equivalent of winning 'Best Film' in the Oscars.

The Best Overall Driver is awarded to the driver that you think is the best all-around driver in the GTP NASCAR Sprint Cup, regardless of track type. This doesn't necessarily have to be the overall points champion.

And the Nominees are:
RFLX, S3 avg finish 3.0 - 3 wins (2 road, 1 oval)
Joe, S3 avg finish 4.0- 1 win (Brickyard 400)
Drop, S3 avg finish 4.6 - 5 wins (5 oval)
Knelly S3 avg finish 5.1 - 2 wins (2 oval)
Mule, S3 avg finish 5.9 - 1 win (1 road)

Out of the five nominees, only two received votes, and one of those two, only received one vote. That just shows how dominating the winner of this final SPRINT award is, and is deemed.

It is no surprise that this is now his fifth SPRINT of the S3 Awards ...
It is no surprise that he is the three time, three time, three time Sprint Cup Champ ...
It is no surprise that the Best Overall Driver SPRINT Award goes to Niop.

Honoured to pass this prestigous award to my Team Owner, and congratulations on what you have achieved over the past season. Well Done!

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And that's it. Congratulations to all the winners, and nominees. Thank you to all that voted, and let's have a great season 4 to bring even more awards at the end of it.

Finally, I got something to put in my bio as well, even if it was a team effort award.
 
Niop's domination just can't be matched. I can see him dominating for as long as he races in this series. Way to go, Reflex. 👍
 
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