Results From Pocono - Pocono 400

     WOW! What a finish.  Best part of the race was the last 5  laps.  Keselowski, who looked to have this in the bag, held off the field on the last few restarts.  But when his car was dangerously close to blowing up, he had no choice but to try to get the debris off the front of his car by getting close to Danica Patrick, only problem was, she got loose and in turn, Kes had to check up.  This allowed a closing Junior to pass low and hold him off for the win.  At least Nascar keeps going in the right direction for making race finishing interesting.  More of an emphasis on winning is key (although I believe they could've kept the old format just give 100 more points to the winner). 
   In the big pool, James with a big week, moves up two spots and Mark with a poor week down one.  Brian maintains his 94 point lead. 
   In the half pool, I just can't shake Colleen as she keeps pace with me.  Only 6 points behind me as everyone else has their issues. 
    Good luck to everyone tomorrow in Michigan.  Can Dale Jr. make it two in a row???
Paul

Results from Dover - FedEx 400

     Hello everyone, I know everybody thought I forgot to do the standings this week, but hah, I fooled you and here it is.  Just in time for tomorrows race in Pocono.  Let's talk about Dover.  Kyle Busch was going for the weekend sweep after winning the truck race Friday night and the Nationwide race on Saturday afternoon.  An incident with Clint Bowyer ruined that chance.  Bowyer's spotter told him he was clear and he moved up into Busch.  Busch hit the wall and the right front was all messed up.  Jimmie proved (2 weeks in a row) that he is in it to win it.  And Kyle Larson is showing how a rookie should be doing it, with an 11th place finish.  In the big pool, James with a high score and moving up one spot, I also moved up one and Mark chewed into Brian's lead by 22 points.  John with a whopping 40 fell 2 spots to 6th.  If Colleen doesn't start to do something, she will not even be allowed to pick Jimmie Johnson at the half.
     In the half pool, it was the best of races, it was the worst of races.  While I was able to hold onto 1st with my #2 pick, my #1 pick did not fair to well and I fell from 2nd to 6th.  Mark may actually get some money back this half instead of making a donation and John M moves into 4th and 5th.
     Good luck to all tomorrow,
Paul

Results From Charlotte - Coca Cola 600

     Believe it or not, I did have this ready to post for a few days now.  I just forgot to actually post it.  I know everyone was waiting patiently for this, so here goes.   The longest race of the season takes it toll on equipment and driver alike.  You may feel fine, but after 500 miles, your car may show signs of weakening.  Especially at the speeds they are going and the strain on the engines.  Kurt Busch, who was trying to accomplish the Indy 500 and Coke 600 double, saw his chances to go up in a plume of smoke as his engine blew on lap 271.  Teammate Danica Patrick had they same fate ten laps later.  One of the two fastest cars that night actually won the race with the second fastest finishing second.  Johnson and Harvick led a combined 264 laps of the 400.  Johnson finally won in 2014 (like we thought he would go winless). 
     In the big pool, no surprise, Brian had top scores.  Mark and then myself were the top three.  Brian is looking at having the biggest lead going into the second half, but will it hold up if he gets last picks?  As it looks right now, Colleen would be getting first picks.
     In the half pool, setting some sort of record, Brian, Colleen and Bruce all had #1 picks (12 overall for the half).  This now tightens the field a little bit (like a phantom caution).  I am not liking this as I still have the top two spots, but Colleen, John and Mark are making it interesting. 
    Good luck to everyone today in Dover,
Paul

Results From Kansas

    Hey there boys and girls, exciting race there at the end of that Kansas race.  Harvick led most of the time and looked to be racking up another win, but Jeff Gordon, who took the lead on a restart, held off the last lap charge of Harvick for win number 89.   Brian wound up with an impressive high score of 130, extending his lead to 83 points.  Mark, with a great week, slides into second place and John (with McMurray's crash) falls 2 to 4th. 
   In the half pool, John picked Gordon and took that to moving up three spots to 3rd.  Jerry, who didn't have that bad of a week (18) fell three spots to 5th.  This is how close everyone is here.  Everybody in the top 10 has a legitimate chance.
   Well, enjoy the All-Star Race on Saturday night and then the Coke 600 next Sunday night (25th).
Also, for the remainder of this half, Kurt Busch is officially on the bench and Paul Menard is in.

Paully......out!

Results From Talladega

    Hello everyone, the fastest track in the world claimed many victims this past weekend.  Many wrecks and an ending under the yellow flag was the story of this race.  Dale Junior who played it safe by hanging in the back, did avoid many wrecks, but when it came down to moving to the front for the win.... he got stuck in the back and finished 26th.  The poor finishes of the big stars also hurt many of us in both pools.  Everybody had at least one driver who ended the race somewhere in the back, except for Colleen, who scored her worst finish last week and followed it up with a high score this week.  I claimed low score (again) slipping further back.
   In the half pool, Mark had the winning pick, and keeps inching forward, now to 9th.  From 10th on back at this point, need big wrecks for us top 9 while you guys pick winners.... it could happen.
   Enjoy the race tonight, Kansas, under the lights!
Paul