GTP NASCAR Sprint Cup S4 Champs: Akmuq, Hendrick, Chevrolet

Neljack should be able to do it

Im in to replace Mudd

Anyone wanting to receive 2/3 points from their substitute driver needs to announce their intention to do so in this thread before qualifying starts in 75 minutes.

Room open!

I won't be on Skype or PS3 mic etc. by the way, (mainly adressed to team). I'm just gonna get on with it without distractions.

TOCA's just finishing so we'll be there in a few minutes

Drop, you okay with Neljack driving a #11 due to having to join on such a short notice, and with no time to buy a #18 and get it all set up?

TomMcD

I won't be on Skype or PS3 mic etc. by the way, (mainly adressed to team). I'm just gonna get on with it without distractions.

Click to expand...

Exactly same here 👍

Today, the drivers will be turning right, to go along with their normal left-hand turns. The Sprint Cup series will be visiting Monza, Italy, for their traditional first road course race of the season.

This week's race eliminates bump-drafting and team strategy from the normal race agenda. Road course racing strongly favors the best individual drivers. So, any driver from any team could pull into Victory Lane at the end of the day. The heavy betting favorites are Spurgy, Litchi, Niop, and Mule. Spurgy just got a call up from Nationwide to replace Akmuq at SGR. Akmuq's sudden departure came as a bit of a surprise to everyone in the garage area, but Furi's selection of Spurgy didn't surprise anyone. Keep an eye on him this weekend. He's probably going to be near the front.

Unfortunately, one of the usual favorites on the road courses was unable to make the trip to Italy this weekend. JoeOfTheFire is spending time by his mother's bedside in a hospital, and will not be racing. All of the Sprint Cup drivers were sending their best wishes to Joe through his Ford Racing team, who will put Nationwide regular gokartman in for Joe this weekend.

Also this week, we expect to see the road course debut of ACDCROCKS123. He's always a prohibitive favorite on the ovals, but he's never started a road course race in the Sprint Cup. Niop, his team owner, has said in the past that ACDC is a fearless competitor, and very adept on road courses. Hopefully, we'll find out today.




GTP Sprint Cup Power Rankings - After the FedEx 150:

1. MULE_9242 - Mule is on top of the points, and running strong. He won the Daytona 500, and pushed his teammate to a win at SSRX. He's the heavy favorite to be leading the points after Monza, where he is the defending race winner.
TRENDING: STEADY


2. Droptop2001gt - Drop had a solid run at Daytona, and then backed it up with a win at SSRX. The Ford team is looking great so far, but will likely encounter a setback at Monza, where Drop will be hoping just to sneak into the Top 10 in the finishing order.
TRENDING: UP


3. RFLX_Niop - The HMS team had a good plan for SSRX, but ran into bad luck. Niop managed to recover, and finished with a solid top 5. This week, he's a favorite to compete for the win at Monza.
TRENDING: STEADY


4. ACDCROCKS123 - ACDC also ran well after spinning at SSRX, finishing 6th, passing a lot of cars on the final lap. We're all looking forward to his road course debut at Monza this weekend. Will he be a top 5 driver, or will he be somewhere in the middle? No one knows for sure yet, but we will soon.
TRENDING: STEADY


5. GTP_Akmuq - Akmuq, like everyone else at SSRX, was caught up in an accident. He recovered nicely, and coasted to a top 4 finish, securing fifth in the overall points. Unfortunately, Akmuq has stepped down from his seat in the Sprint Cup, so this is likely to be as high as he goes this season, barring an unexpected comeback. Hopefully, Akmuq will find a way back in time for season 5. If so, expect his good first two races this season to help him land a seat.
TRENDING: UP


6. JoeOfTheFire - Joe once again had bad luck, which put him behind the lead pack. He made the most of a bad day at SSRX, and finished 7th. Missing a race this week will hurt, especially at a track where Joe would be almost a certain lock for a top 5 finish. Joe might need to win a few races to lock down a wild card, if this kind of season continues.
TRENDING: DOWN


7. GTP_Litchi - Litchi missed Daytona, but came back with a bang at SSRX, finishing 3rd. Litchi is known as a great road course driver, but has had solid oval results to match so far in his short Sprint Cup career. Can he score his first career win today at Monza? It could happen.
TRENDING: UP


8. Mudd - Mudd had another decent day at SSRX. He could have had a higher finish, if not for a lag incident that left him out all alone on the final lap. Mudd was overtaken by a large pack so quickly that he wasn't able to latch on to their draft, and didn't even have a chance to defend his position on the final lap. Word out of Italy is that Mudd was held up at an airport in the US, and won't be in Monza in time to start the race. Hopefully, he will be able to get to Japan in time for next week's race at Motegi.
TRENDING: STEADY


9. Tom_97_COD - Tom had a great day at Daytona and a terrible day at SSRX. All in all, his strong day at Daytona is still holding him up in the points, placing him in the wild card slot as of right now. Will he be able to stay there after today's race in Monza? It should be interesting to see.
TRENDING: DOWN


10. Furinkazen - Furi has bagged two straight top 10 finishes, leaving him right on the edge of the wild card, out by a single point. Can he use his road course talents to move up today, or will drivers behind him like Litchi and Spurgy leapfrog him at the same time?
TRENDING: STEADY



Previous Power Rankings:
Pre-Season
After Race 1

Carbonox

Drop, you okay with Neljack driving a #11 due to having to join on such a short notice, and with no time to buy a #18 and get it all set up?

Click to expand...

Can Litchi drive an 18 instead?

sorry i'm a bit late. PS3 is now turned ON. jump on the track in 2 mn

Room is full...is that normal?

Litchi

Room is full...is that normal?

Click to expand...

Sorry Litchi, looks like you got screwed by being late, I already have Smuffy on your seat

ok...

I'm unable to find horrible enough words to describe myself.

Well, whatever. Adequetley describes most road course Cup races from my perspective really.

I think I'll retire at the aftermath of this bull:censored: and leave it to my teammates to find a full-time replacement who is capable of reaching the top 5 without playing himself out of that position.

Ok, now watching the replay MULE, I gave you a ton of room. And I thought it was Tom who pushed me into you, it was actually Knelly who broke really late, hit Tom, which then put Tom into me, which them put me into you, which then lead you to be sideways. Thanks for muting me throughout the race so I could clear that up.

And I lost 3 positions on the final lap, and how the hell Carb caught up to me with 6 laps to go after pitting while we were together is beyond me. I guess I should have went with him.

Wait, what's going on?

Stormtrooper217

Wait, what's going on?

Click to expand...

While better then the 1st two races, another bad race at Sprint Cup =\

Knelly. Apology accepted for now, but if it happens again......

Anyone going to upload the video so I can see this crazy race?

Can't be as bad as my performance in Nationwide today. Finished 2 laps down in last place after a disastrous first half.

RedPartyhat

Ok, now watching the replay MULE, I gave you a ton of room. And I thought it was Tom who pushed me into you, it was actually Knelly who broke really late, hit Tom, which then put Tom into me, which them put me into you, which then lead you to be sideways. Thanks for muting me throughout the race so I could clear that up.

And I lost 3 positions on the final lap, and how the hell Carb caught up to me with 6 laps to go after pitting while we were together is beyond me. I guess I should have went with him.

Click to expand...

It definitely was not my fault if that was said earlier, no offence intended but it just wasn't. That sounds a reasonable explanation RPH but I haven't checked the replay. All I remember was getting tapped from behind and having nowhere to go with Mule sideways in front of me.

Well, looks like my chase hopes are evaporating considering there's two more road courses before then. Awesome.

Horrible race, had chances to get a few more places out of it but a slight loss of control twice out of the first chicane, putting my foot back down too early saw to that.

Ended up t-boning both AC and Tom who were sideways across track. Both my teammates

As for the Furi incident, can be deemed as my fault as I just got on the grass ever so slightly, and it drifted me up into you. It could have been anyone on my outside, but had to be Furi

A race to forget for me. Need more points coming my way. Bring on the ovals.

TomMcD

It definitely was not my fault if that was said earlier, no offence intended but it just wasn't. That sounds a reasonable explanation RPH but I haven't checked the replay. All I remember was getting tapped from behind and having nowhere to go with Mule sideways in front of me.

Well, looks like my chase hopes are evaporating considering there's two more road courses before then. Awesome.

Click to expand...

Yes, at first I thought it was your fault, which I was getting upset because MULE was puitting 100% of the blame on me and decided to mute me so I couldn't explain. But it was actually Knelly's fault who broke verryy late for the first chicane, just bad luck I guess.

RedPartyhat

Yes, at first I thought it was your fault, which I was getting upset because MULE was puitting 100% of the blame on me and decided to mute me so I couldn't explain. But it was actually Knelly's fault who broke verryy late for the first chicane, just bad luck I guess.

Click to expand...

Yeah I suppose so. Unlucky dude, seems we had a similarly crap race.

RedPartyhat

Yes, at first I thought it was your fault, which I was getting upset because MULE was puitting 100% of the blame on me and decided to mute me so I couldn't explain. But it was actually Knelly's fault who broke verryy late for the first chicane, just bad luck I guess.

Click to expand...

Doesn't sound like Mule to be angry with someone...

Great race guys, really happy with my clean sweep although thought it would be closer but I'm not complaining Also, great job on 7th Furi, managed your tyres really well to get 16 laps out of them in the 2nd stint 👍

Spurgy 777

Great race guys, really happy with my clean sweep although thought it would be closer but I'm not complaining Also, great job on 7th Furi, managed your tyres really well to get 16 laps out of them in the 2nd stint 👍

Click to expand...

A sweep in only the start of your GTP NASCAR career?

RedPartyhat

Yes, at first I thought it was your fault, which I was getting upset because MULE was puitting 100% of the blame on me and decided to mute me so I couldn't explain. But it was actually Knelly's fault who broke verryy late for the first chicane, just bad luck I guess.

Click to expand...

Wow, this is all news to me. I need to watch back before commenting.