2016 NASCAR Discussion ThreadNASCAR 

  • Thread starter MustangRyan
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It's not templates they are failing post race. It's a laser that measures chassis components (camber and toe angles etc). Any car that makes even slight contact with the wall or another car during the race would likely fail. If the car passes the laser pre race but fails post race, with all the tattle tale cameras they have on pit road, it should be easy to spot. If there is contact with the wall and the rear end gets bent 1/1000th of an inch sideways it will fail. The pit crews are not swapping out illegal training arms on the car during a 12 second pit stop. They are taking this too far like the 5 lug nut deal.
 
Got this nice graphic from /r/NASCAR, good way to visualize teams making the chase
yXshIma.png
 
All right. I'll make predictions by driver.

1 (McMurray) - He has led zero laps this season. Kinda embarrassing when you drive the #1 car. Last season I recall him being relevant in terms of contention for wins was 2010. Luck may get him through the first round but that's the best he can do.
3 (Dillon) - Relatively consistent if you look at his results this season. In fact, wouldn't surprise me if he makes it through the first two rounds. After that, no chance because he'd need to earn his first career win to reach Homestead. Too much to ask.
24 (Elliott) - Chase can either surprise everyone and reach Homestead or fall out of Round 1. It all depends on avoiding an accident via his own mistake or getting caught up in someone else's mess.
34 (Buescher) - Enjoy the publicity for the next three races before bowing out. Regardless, just being in this position is a huge win.
41 (Kurt Busch) - Outside shot but I get the feeling he's going to cause or be sucked into trouble. He could get a win at one of the short tracks.
14 (Stewart) - Karma says no.
42 (Larson) - In 2014, Larsen had a stretch of races where he was a contender. That was in Chase races when he wasn't in the Chase. If Ganassi has the equipment to put Larsen in similar contention, watch out. If not, then I'd give him better odds than Dillon.
22 (Logano) - Not quite a contender as last season but you can't sleep on him. At least this time, Kenseth has a bigger beef with Brad. Best to leave him be.
48 (Johnson) - He is New England Patriots of NASCAR. You can never ever count him out until he's actually out. Personally, I find the Charlotte race to be the turning point for him. Seems that his hopes are dashed there whenever he does poorly.
20 (Kenseth) - Stay away from the Penske cars. Otherwise, he's got a shot because he drives for Gibbs. Probably next to worst shot because the system doesn't reward consistency.
78 (Truex Jr) - Should be in contention based on talent and equipment. Problem is that Truex is the most likely to have the worst luck in the Chase. He could be leading in Homestead when the engine blows and I wouldn't be the least surprised.
19 (Edwards) - Another Gibbs driver but the least likely to make it through. Strong early in the season but has been involved in incidents galore over the last few weeks. I think the lugnute rule change has hurt this team the most. Martinsville will doom his chances to reach Homestead.
4 (Harvick) - Races with long green flag runs are his best friend. His worst enemy is a late race stop at Homestead.
11 (Hamlin) - They've been strong lately but maybe a little bit too early? Regardless, I'd say they have the second to best shot within the Gibbs group.
2 (Keselowski) - Don't upset Kenseth any further. Otherwise, not seeing him at Homestead will be a surprise.
18 (Kyle Busch) - Best shot within the Gibbs group. The only detriment is not raising his level up enough like last year.

Round of 16 Eliminations: Buescher, McMurray, Stewart, Edwards
Round of 12 Eliminations: Larson, Dillon, Johnson, Kurt Busch
Round of 8 Eliminations: Elliott, Truex Jr, Kenseth, Logano
Final Four: Kyle Busch, Hamlin, Keselowski, Harvick
Winner: Kyle Busch
 
Last season I recall him being relevant in terms of contention for wins was 2010.

He managed to lead 368 laps in 2014, but he couldn't put it together and only finished with 7 top 5's. The sponsors must love him as I can't see any other reason he's still around.

34 (Buescher) - Enjoy the publicity for the next three races before bowing out. Regardless, just being in this position is a huge win.

I'd imagine the team feels like they already won the championship considering 16th probably pays way more than 30th in the final standings.

Anyways, I finally caved and decided to give Sling a whirl so I can actually watch the races (and hockey) without resorting to cable or sketchy streams.:cheers:
 
He managed to lead 368 laps in 2014, but he couldn't put it together and only finished with 7 top 5's. The sponsors must love him as I can't see any other reason he's still around.
McMurray has always been that "never put it all together" type of driver. Always been likable but every moment I thought he was going to break through, he got himself into crashes or disappeared back into mediocrity. At this point, no chance for a championship but he'll always have that shocking win at Charlotte in only his second ever start and he got to drive this nifty looking Havoline car.

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I'd imagine the team feels like they already won the championship considering 16th probably pays way more than 30th in the final standings.
If they can score more sponsorship in the future by just being in the Chase, better still. On record, I still can't stand the Chase system but that would be one of the few positives.
 
My predictions for the final four:

Truex/Larson/Hamlin/Harvick

Winner? Not sure. Got close in 2014, when I had Newman just barely lose. Last year I had Kenseth, and we know how that went. Best guess is Larson to shock everyone.
 
So here are my predictions:
  • Round Of 16: Buescher,Dillon,Mcmurray,Stewart
  • Round Of 12: Elliot,Logano,Johnson,Kenseth
  • Round Of 8: Ku.Busch,Edwards,Hamlin,Harvick
And my Championship 4 would be:
  • Ky.Busch,Larson,Truex Jr. and Keselowski
 
I'll be down in Joliet for the races this weekend. Our ticket package included the Thursday night ARCA race and the Friday night truck race but I can't go because of work, and my dad doesn't want to drive down there 4 days in a row so we gave those away.

Anyhoo, elimination predictions:

Round of 16: McMurray, Dillon, Elliot, Edwards
Round of 12: Ku Busch, Beuscher, Truex Jr, Kenseth
Round of 8: Ky Busch, Larson, Keselowski, Hamlin

Final 4: Stewart, Harvick, Logano, Johnson
 
Elimination predictions? Okay.

Rd of 16: Buescher, Stewart, Larson, McMurray
Buescher finishes 16th in points to nobody's surprise.
Someone wrecks Stewart and he can't recover/win.
Larson used up all his luck getting into the Chase and goes on a string of poor finishes.
McMurray falls out completely unnoticed.

Rd of 12: Johnson, Kurt Busch, Keselowski, Kenseth
Johnson fails to win at Charlotte and 'Dega bites him again.
Kurt DNFs somewhere.
Beef between Kenseth and Keselowski boils over at Kansas (sound familiar?), Brad gets wrecked.
NASCAR parks Kenseth at 'Dega so he falls out on points.
Buescher wins at Talladega just to troll everyone.

Rd of 8: Elliott, Dillon, Edwards, Logano
Kyle Busch, Harvick, and Hamlin all win races to advance.
Logano squeaks by on points, but has three lugnuts missing during post-race tech so Truex gets through.

Championship 4: Truex, Kyle Busch, Harvick
Truex has a freak mechanical issue and finishes laps down.
Harvick loses the race on pit road again.
Kyle finishes 2nd. Hamlin wins.

2016 Sprint Cup Champion: Denny Hamlin
 
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Don't forget that Harvick will probably cause a wreck to advance in one of the chase rounds.

Well, he has already shown us he will wreck half the field if that is what it takes to advance. Maybe he will tick someone off in an early round and they will take him out in retaliation...couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
 
Got this nice graphic from /r/NASCAR, good way to visualize teams making the chase
yXshIma.png
What happened to that 88 fella, he was there most of the season then vanished :sly:

Don't forget that Harvick will probably cause a wreck to advance in one of the chase rounds.

And the chase rounds he doesn't win he'll blame his team like a salty COD player online.
 
Predictions that are 100% certain to be wrong:

Round of 16: Buescher, McMurray, Dillon, and Elliott eliminated
Round of 12: Stewart, Johnson, Kurt Busch, and Kenseth eliminated (11 championships between these 4 drivers)
Round of 8: Larson, Keselowski, Logano, and Kyle Busch eliminated
Homestead: Edwards (4th), Harvick (3rd), Hamlin (2nd), and Truex Jr.(Champion)
 

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