Auto racing - Simulated seasons in NASCAR

This thread will provide the background for the upcoming timeline of a simulated season in NASCAR, the most popular American-based auto racing sanctioning body.

I have always been curious to play out what might have happened if sports superstars from different eras were placed in the same competition to find out the "best of the best" of all time. In 2009, I ran simulated seasons in many major U.S.-based sports, specifically the NFL, NBA, NHL, Major League Baseball, college football and basketball, and NASCAR. Those results can be found at the site alltimesports.freeforums.org; just look for my name within the various subject areas.

At the time I did the simulations, the cutoff points for all rosters was roughly 2006. Of course, time - and sports - marches on, but I chose not to update or continue the threads (although I understand others have in the years since at the forum, which continues to operate). However, in January 2017, NASCAR changed the rules of play so radically that I feel I must revisit it now.

Since 2004, NASCAR has run a 10-race playoff series - formerly known as the "Chase" - to decide its season champion in its top series, now called the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. This expanded to the two series just below it, Xfinity and Camping World Truck, in 2016. In deference to its historic R. J. Reynolds sponsorship ("Winston Cup"), I chose not to run a Chase in my original sim. Dale Earnhardt (Sr.) beat Jeff Gordon in total points to win the title.

Here are the changes NASCAR made in 2017:
  • Races are no longer run all the way from start to finish. Instead, they are divided into three periods, or "stages." At the end of the first and second stages, points are awarded to the top 10 finishers (10 points down to 1) and are reflected in the standings. At the end of the third stage, points are awarded to all finishers; the winner gets 40 points, second place 35, third place 34, and so on to 36th place; that drivers and all others below that place receive 1 point each.
  • As before, the top 16 drivers in the MENCS standings qualify for the season-ending playoffs and their point totals will be reset to 2,000. But now those points will be added with what are called playoff points, which are earned by winning stages (1) and races (5) within the first 26 races. Unlike in previous formats, points will continue to accumulate until the next-to-last race as long as the driver is not eliminated (it's a bracket-style format, 16 to 12 to 8 to 4; also, the "Championship 4" does not change in which the first of the remaining drivers to cross the finish line in the last race still wins the title).
  • For safety reasons, teams have only five minutes to fix crash damage, and if the car goes to the garage as a result of an accident, that driver is out of the race and must report to the infield care center immediately.

In the next post, I will give the driver lineup for the MENCS and qualification rules for the other two series.
 
For the MENCS driver lineup, I will use a modified version of the charter system that NASCAR introduced in 2016. This system ensures that teams that ran for a certain number of years have a starting spot for each race. Here, I will take the 35 drivers who scored the most total points in my original simulated season, plus Jimmie Johnson, who tied the all-time record for most series championships with his 7th in 2016 (and is still very much active).

Drivers whose names are in red are in the NASCAR Hall of Fame, which was established in 2010.


1. Jeff Gordon (car #24), 5,279 pts.

2. Dale Earnhardt (#3), 5,269

3. Richard Petty (#43), 4,984

4. Mark Martin (#6), 4,961

5. Rusty Wallace (#27, was #2), 4,867

6. Cale Yarborough (#11), 4,812

7. David Pearson (#21), 4,776

8. Darrell Waltrip (#17), 4,707

9. Tony Stewart (#20), 4,647

10. Davey Allison (#28), 4,634

11. Bobby Allison (#12), 4,626

12. Bill Elliott (#9), 4,581

13. Dale Jarrett (#88), 4,537

14. Terry Labonte (#5), 4,505

15. Bobby Labonte (#18), 4,313

16. Ned Jarrett (#16), 4,176

17. Harry Gant (#33), 3,826

18. Jeff Burton (#99), 3,713

19. Tim Richmond (#25), 3,682

20. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (#8), 3,546

21. Kurt Busch (#97), 3,503

22. Ricky Rudd (#10), 3,499

23. Buck Baker (#2, was #27), 3,408

24. Dave Marcis (#31), 3,366

25. Alan Kulwicki (#7), 3,283

26. Lee Petty (#42), 3,248

27. Matt Kenseth (#26), 3,200

28. Neil Bonnett (#1), 3,015

29. Benny Parsons (#41), 2,977

30. Sterling Marlin (#40), 2,836

31. A.J. Foyt (#14), 2,821

32. Fireball Roberts (#78, was #22), 2,808

33. Kenny Wallace (#15), 2,451

34. Tim Flock (#36), 2,446

35. Joe Weatherly (#4), 2,421

Jimmie Johnson was 40th as he took over for another driver late in the season.
The remaining spots will be taken on an "open" basis. However, this will only come into play if there are more than four teams in this category that enter, which rarely happens nowadays (for example, today's race will have only 38 drivers in the starting lineup).


There will be no guaranteed starting spots for Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series races. Drivers with the 33 fastest times in NXS and the 27 fastest times in NCWTS will make each race, with the last 7 and 5 spots, respectively, being filled by the remaining drivers with the highest point totals during the last season.

Once I start running the sims, the race finishes from version 1.0 will carry over as much as possible. However, since that's all I recorded, I must "deconstruct" each race to determine the starting lineup and positions as well as how each stage finished. I will use the 2017 season finishes as a template, but all will have slight differences.
 
Last edited:
Thanks, strato. Good to know I'm not alone in my interest!

Anyway, one final piece of business before I start playing out the season. This has to do with the schedule changes between versions 1.0 and 2.0.

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series

· Rockingham has been closed and both races are off the schedule. The first date was transferred to Darlington in 2004, then to Phoenix since ’05. The second is now at Texas to settle a federal lawsuit filed by a shareholder of Speedway Motorsports and is part of the playoffs.

· The old “Southern 500” was moved to California (now Auto Club) Speedway in 2004. After a move to October in 2008, it was taken off the schedule in 2011. This is now the Mother’s Day weekend date at Kansas.

· Back to Darlington: The remaining date moved to Mother’s Day weekend in 2005 and became the new “Southern 500”; the race was then moved back to its old Labor Day weekend slot in 2015.

· Atlanta was reduced to one race in 2011; the other is at Kentucky and held in July. It was pushed ahead from September to late Feb./early March in 2015.

· Chicagoland moved from July to September and now begins the playoffs. The second dates at New Hampshire and Dover moved back one week each. (By the way, the NHMS second date will be held for the last time in Sep. 2017, then it will move to Las Vegas as its new second date.)

· The Daytona 500 was pushed back one week in 2012 amidst rumors that the NFL had decided to expand its season schedule. However, that did not occur, and as of 2018 it will return to its previous spot on the Sunday before the President’s Day federal holiday.

The Auto Club and Pocono races were each shortened from 500 to 400 miles in 2011.

NASCAR Xfinity Series

The number of races has been reduced by one, from 34 to 33. In addition, the track mix is very different. Gone are Lucas Oil Raceway Park, Milwaukee, Memphis, Nashville, Nazareth, Pikes Peak, and Rockingham; on the slate now are three road courses (Watkins Glen, Road America, and Mid-Ohio), the Brickyard, and Iowa, a 7/8-mile oval that has become a favorite of both drivers and fans.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

As in Xfinity Series, the schedule has been reduced. Version 2.0 has just 23 races, compared to 25 in the previous model.

There is certainly a wider variety, with a road course race at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park – the only current big-3 series track outside the United States – and a 150-lap dirt race at Eldora Speedway in Ohio, owned by three-time Cup series champion Tony Stewart.

Also new from last time are Iowa, Pocono, and Talladega. On the other hand, races will not be held at Auto Club, LORP, Memphis, Milwaukee, Nashville, Richmond, or North Wilkesboro. (The last of those was a one-off race anyway.)
 
So are these results done off the top of your head or are there any statistics behind this?
A bit of both; let me explain.

When I did these the first time, I consulted the database at Racing Reference (http://www.racing-reference.info), which has the result of every MENCS race since the first one was held in 1949. I noticed the patterns of who did the best on each track, and even broke down each date if a track had or has two dates. I then sorted them out mentally before I posted the finishes.

I am not aware of any simulation game in which drivers from different eras are available. APBA Games doesn't even have an auto racing game available at this time, unlike those of other sports like NFL, MLB, soccer, and golf. Strat-O-Matic did an auto racing game years ago, but the company doesn't exist anymore and even when it did, the game was IndyCar.

(The sim games I refer to here are not to be confused with video games. NASCAR has a video game made by Dusenberry-Martin Games.)
 
So as they say on the Big Thunder Railroad at Disneyland: Let's get this show on the road!

The first event of speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway is the Advance Auto Parts Clash. Started in 1979, it has most often been the race for winners of qualifying contests in the previous year. Due to a sponsorship discrepancy, this format was discontinued for a few years in the 2000s (decade), but now the old format has been restored.

The field for version 2.0 had a notable absence: Since Richard Petty never carried beer sponsors on his car (he said it was a promise he made to his mother), and since Coors Light is the current sponsor, he was not eligible for the event despite winning a pole in version 1.0. All the other pole-award winners were there, as well as past winners of this race, for a total of 19 drivers. The starting lineup was determined by random draw.

The Clash was divided into two segments, one of 25 laps and the other of 50.

Terry Labonte's engine gave out during the first segment, causing a caution on lap 13. After the segment break, the first green-flag lap back was lap 29. With only 16 to go, there was the night's first and only major incident; it occurred when Jeff Gordon had a cut tire and hit the superstretch wall, then bouncing back to collect Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Rusty Wallace. In a great irony, Gordon and Earnhardt Jr. were teammates in real life from 2008 to '15, and in '16 Gordon raced eight times in the #88 when Dale Jr. had to step away from racing due to a concussion. No doubt, though, there were frayed nerves in the infield care center.

Dale Earnhardt successfully defended his win from version 1.0, which is not surprising; he is the all-time leader in wins at Daytona with 34.

Chart notes
Dates: They are based on Sep. 1 falling on Sunday in the previous year, as this was part of a larger simulation series starting with an NFL season the previous fall, as I mentioned earlier.)
TL: Number of times led each race
Did not return: This will refer to drivers who were in version 1.0 but not in version 2.0. Tracking will begin with the first points races in each series (Daytona 500 for MENCS, etc.)
Cautions: The car number in brackets received his lap back due to the beneficiary rule. If all drivers were on the lead lap at the time, the word "none" appears instead.

ADVANCE AUTO PARTS CLASH
Daytona International Speedway
Saturday, February 22

187.5 miles/75 laps (25/50)

Clash.JPG




Time of race: 1:13:37 Average speed: 152.834 mph Margin of victory: 0.258 sec.
Failed to qualify: None
To the back: None
Did not return: N/A
Cautions: 3 for 11 laps – 13-16 (5 engine failure [none]); 26-29 (end of segment [none]), 63-67 (24, 2, 8 crash [88])
Lead changes: 8 among 6 drivers – Martin 1-7, Wallace 8-17, Martin 18-21, Earnhardt 22-32, Gordon 33-44, Earnhardt Jr. 45-53, Yarborough 54, Earnhardt Jr. 55-58, Earnhardt 59-75
 
Last edited:
Darn, I forgot the starting positions in the final revised post from yesterday, so I changed it again just now.

Let's now move on to first-round qualifying for the Daytona 500. Unlike at all other Cup series races, the qualifying session determines only who starts on the front row (first two spots) instead of the complete field. The rest of the lineup will be determined at the Can-Am Duel at Daytona.

Cars were sent on the track one at a time, and only one lap was allowed. After one lap, the drivers with the 12 fastest laps moved on to the second and final round. Results of this qualifying session are not the same as that in version 1.0.

________________________________________________________________________________________
In version 2.0, hometown boy made good! Mark Martin, a native of Arkansas but now living in Daytona Beach, won the pole with a speed of 193.004mph (46.631 seconds). Bill Elliott, the version 1.0 pole sitter, finished second and will share the front row with Elliott.

Here are the complete results and how they translate into starting positions for Thursday night. Drivers in red do not have guaranteed starting spots.

FIRST ROUND QUALIFYING
Sunday, February 23


1. #6 Mark Martin - Race 1, 1st
2. #9 Bill Elliott - Race 2, 1st
3. #8 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. - Race 1, 2nd
4. #21 David Pearson - Race 2, 2nd
5. #3 Dale Earnhardt - Race 1, 3rd
6. #27 Rusty Wallace - Race 2, 3rd
7. #48 Jimmie Johnson - Race 1, 4th
8. #20 Tony Stewart - Race 2, 4th
9. #1 Neil Bonnett - Race 1, 5th
10. #5 Terry Labonte - Race 2, 5th
11. #18 Bobby Labonte - Race 1, 6th
12. #31 Dave Marcis - Race 2, 6th
13. #97 Kurt Busch - Race 1, 7th
14. #25 Tim Richmond - Race 2, 7th
15. #17 Darrell Waltrip - Race 1, 8th
16. #24 Jeff Gordon - Race 2, 8th
17. #11 Cale Yarborough - Race 1, 9th
18. #43 Richard Petty - Race 2, 9th
19. #16 Ned Jarrett - Race 1, 10th
20. #41 Benny Parsons - Race 2, 10th
21. #10 Ricky Rudd - Race 1, 11th
22. #88 Dale Jarrett - Race 2, 11th
23. #99 Jeff Burton - Race 1, 12th
24. #7 Alan Kulwicki - Race 2, 12th
25. #33 Harry Gant - Race 1, 13th
26. #40 Sterling Marlin - Race 2, 13th
27. #78 Fireball Roberts - Race 1, 14th
28. #00 Buddy Baker - Race 1, 15th
29. #28 Davey Allison - Race 2, 14th
30. #4 Joe Weatherly - Race 1, 16th
31. #42 Lee Petty - Race 2, 15th
32. #34 Matt Kenseth - Race 1, 17th
33. #51 Michael Waltrip - Race 2, 16th
34. #38 Tim Flock - Race 2, 17th
35. #12 Bobby Allison - Race 1, 18th
36. #2 Buck Baker - Race 2, 18th
37. #15 Kenny Wallace - Race 1, 19th
38. #45 Adam Petty - Race 1, 20th
39. #98 Fred Lorenzen - Race 2, 19th

40. #14 A.J. Foyt - Race 2, 20th
41. #13 Curtis Turner - Race 1, 21st
42. #23 Herb Thomas - Race 2, 21st
43. #37 Derrike Cope - Race 1, 22nd
44. #83 Casey Atwood - Race 2, 22nd
 
Last edited:
On Your Last Post, You saw the Results of the Gatorade Duel, But I'm free to get some sponsor suggestions (and Car Makes) prior to the Daytona 500 in the Monster Energy Cup Series

#00 Buddy Baker - Haas Ford
#1 Neil Bonnett - Pennzoil Chevrolet
#2 Buck Baker - Miller Lite Ford
#3 Dale Earnhardt - GM Goodwrench Chevrolet
#5 Terry Labonte - Kellogg's Chevrolet
#6 Mark Martin - Valvoline Ford
#7 Alan Kulwicki - Hooters Ford
#8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Budweiser Chevrolet
#9 Bill Elliott - McDonald's Ford
#11 Cale Yarborough - FedEx Toyota
#12 Bobby Allison - Mobil 1 Ford
#16 Ned Jarrett - KFC Ford
#17 Darrell Waltrip - Tide Chevrolet
#18 Bobby Labonte - Interstate Batteries Toyota
#20 Tony Stewart - The Home Depot Toyota
#21 David Pearson - Motorcraft Ford
#24 Jeff Gordon - Dupont Chevrolet
#25 Tim Richmond - Folgers Chevrolet
#28 Davey Allison - Texaco/Havoline Ford
#31 Dave Marcis - Caterpillar Chevrolet
#33 Harry Gant - Skoal Chevrolet
#40 Sterling Marlin - Coors Light Ford
#41 Benny Parsons - Monster Energy Ford
#43 Richard Petty - STP Ford
#48 Jimmie Johnson - Lowe's Chevrolet
#78 Fireball Roberts - Furniture Row Chevrolet
#88 Dale Jarrett - UPS Ford
#97 Kurt Busch - Sharpie Ford
#99 Jeff Burton - Exide Ford
 
To Strato: Thanks for your input; however, I had a sponsorship list on the original version of #7. I removed them because I had to find the right way to express my data (this forum, unfortunately, does not allow me to put up true charts with rows and columns). Those have been placed in my latest edit, and the decisions are final. There are now charts on this page and others; I created them through Microsoft Word and screengrabs.

Many of these carry over from 1.0, but some had to be changed due to ownership changes and some unavailability; for example, General Motors no longer offer Goodwrench service at its dealers, so Dale Jr.'s current primary sponsor replaces it.

Now to today's order of business, the Can-Am Duel at Daytona. This unique event has been part of the Speedweeks calendar since 1959, when Bill France Sr. opened Daytona International Speedway. These two races determine the starting lineup for the Daytona 500 in back of the front row, and is considered part of the official qualifying process.

From 1959 to '70, this race also paid off points toward the championship standings. In 2017, that feature returned - sort of. In the new format, stage points are paid to the top 10 finishers in both races. However, race points are not paid, and a win does not count in the official records of the drivers. (For example, Chase Elliott, Bill's son, is still officially winless in Cup racing OTL despite having one of the two wins this past February.)

Both races cover 60 laps around the 2 1/2-mile track, or 150 miles. This requires at least one pit stop.

Here's how these two races went down.

CAN-AM DUEL AT DAYTONA
Daytona International Speedway
Thursday, February 20


FIRST RACE
This race went caution-free for the entire first half, meaning the pit stop was under green. Harry Gant was caught too fast exiting, which was the only penalty of that round. Right as the cycle ended, Joe Weatherly spun to create the first caution. The second occurred when seven cars crashed toward the end of the event. Dale Earnhardt then survived a three-lap shootout to win yet again at Daytona.

Duel1.JPG



Time of race: 0:55:41 Average speed: 161.629 mph Margin of victory: 0.532 sec.
Failed to qualify: None
Did not return: N/A
To the back: None
Cautions: 2 for 8 laps – 37-41 (4 spun [33], 52-57 (22, 16, 10, 26, 1, 12 crash [11])
Lead changes: 5 among 3 drivers – Martin 1-27, Earnhardt 28-31, Bonnett 32-33, Martin 34-38, Earnhardt 39-60

SECOND RACE
Tony Stewart had the dominant car in this race, but a last-lap pass by David Pearson won it for "The Silver Fox." (See last-lap tapes from the 2016 or '17 Daytona 500s to see what that probably looked like.) No big accidents here; the worst was a three-car crash on lap 19.

Duel2.JPG



Time of race: 0:56:38 Average speed: 158.930 mph Margin of victory: 0.018 sec.
Failed to qualify: None
Did not return: N/A
To the back: 41 (unapproved adjustment)
Cautions: 2 for 6 laps – 19-22 (7, 14, 38 accident [none]), 48-51 (23 stalled on track [42])
Lead changes: 5 among 4 drivers – Elliott 1-10, Stewart 11-25, Petty 26-37, Stewart 38-59, Pearson 60

Buddy Baker and Lorenzen raced their way in, while Michael Waltrip and Adam Petty gained the last two starting spots by falling back on their speeds from the previous Sunday. Failing to qualify were Hall of Famers Curtis Turner and Herb Thomas, as well as Derrike Cope and Casey Atwood.

Now for the way-too-early look at the points leaders.
1t Dale Earnhardt - 10 pts.
1t David Pearson - 10 pts.
3t Mark Martin - 9 pts.
3t Tony Stewart - 9 pts.
5t Cale Yarborough - 8 pts.
5t Bill Elliott - 8 pts.
7t Jimmie Johnson - 7 pts.
7t Richard Petty - 7 pts.
9t Dale Earnhardt, Jr. - 6 pts.
9t Jeff Burton - 6 pts.
11t Buddy Baker - 5 pts.
11t Jeff Gordon - 5 pts.
13t Kurt Busch - 4 pts.
13t Rusty Wallace - 4 pts.
15t Dale Jarrett - 3 pts.
15t Sterling Marlin - 3 pts.
17t Joe Weatherly - 2 pts.
17t Davey Allison - 2 pts.
19t Harry Gant - 1 pt.
19t Terry Labonte - 1 pt.

Up next is the opener of the Camping World Truck Series, where the driver lineup is radically different from the first version. It includes some of the stars that have emerged from NASCAR in the last decade.
 
Last edited:
ncwts.png


The second version of the truck series will have most of the same full-time drivers as the previous version. However, the Roush Fenway stable will be notably absent, as both teams have closed. Carl Edwards – the version 1.0 runner-up – has left for the Xfinity Series to share the #16 car with Matt Kenseth. Chad Little was also released.

On the other hand, the series welcomes recent champions James Buescher and Erik Jones, as well as series mainstay Timothy Peters. Their respective truck numbers are 22, 92, and 17.


Some other newcomers:

· David Ragan takes over for Tony Raines in the #63 truck owned by Mike Mittler. Ragan has two past wins in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

· Kyle Busch Motorsports jumps in with two entries: David Reutimann, another past Cup race winner, will run full-time for the title in the #18 truck, while AJ Allmendinger, participant in the 2014 playoffs, will take turns with Busch himself in the #51.

· ThorSport expands to four trucks. Todd Bodine is full-time in the #13, joining two other past champs, #77 Travis Kvapil and #88 Matt Crafton, and another returnee, #98 Kenny Irwin.

As in the other top series, the field size for each race has been reduced, from 36 trucks to 32. There are no guaranteed spots for drivers or teams throughout the season.

There will be a seven-race playoff, with the number of drivers still to be determined.

________________________________________________________________________________________
When the green flag dropped, it became the first race in any of NASCAR's top series to pay both stage points and race points. However, some drivers in the field received no points because they were ineligible to receive them. I will note them with asterisks.

Race summary
The first two stages were just 20 laps each, and passed mostly without incident. Those at the front of the field were most likely to get points after stage 1. During the pit stop, a bizarre incident occurred when Travis Kvapil collided with Brendan Gaughan, sending Gaughan spinning into the grass and near the concrete barrier. Neither driver would continue after that.

Just as stage 2 ended, however, most of the leaders pitted, leaving just five trucks on the lead lap when the green-white-checkered, and then caution, flags flew to mark the end.

The 60-lap (plus, as it turned out) third stage was eventful. First, Joe Nemechek had power steering issues, forcing the truck sideways. Kasey Kahne and Mike Bliss were collected, but both trucks were able to beat the five-minute clock and return, while Nemechek could not. Then with just three laps left came the first "big one" of the weekend. Eleven trucks had some kind of damage, and the race had to be extended, as it turned out by three laps. On lap 102, Timothy Peters got a huge jump on the restart and plowed into the lead as he crossed the overtime line at the middle of the superstretch. He then hung on for the win, matching his OTL win in 2010.

NEXTERA ENERGY RESOURCES 250

Daytona International Speedway
Friday, February 22

250 miles/100 laps (20/20/60)

Daytona.JPG


After stage 1: 23, 62, 17, 8, 33, 18, 19, 51, 11
After stage 2: 51, 18, 98, 13, 75, 31, 63, 23, 17, 8

Did not return: Carl Edwards, Jerry Nadeau, Terry Cook, #12 Hermie Sadler, Scott Wimmer, Robert Pressley, Chad Little, #47 Dave Blaney, Wendell Scott, Mike Wallace, #49 Joe Ruttman, Butch Miller, Stacy Compton, Junior Johnson, Red Byron, Shawna Robinson, #32 Tony Raines, Kevin Lepage, Ricky Hendrick, Coy Gibbs
Others DNQ: #6 Norm Benning, #10 Jennifer Jo Cobb, #15 John King, #42 Kyle Larson, #83 Chris Fontaine, #99 Cale Gale

Time of race: 1:54:59 Speed: 130.455 mph Margin of victory: 0.308 sec.
To the back: #28 (driver change - Steve Park practiced and qualified car)
Cautions: 2 for 6 laps – 21-29 (end of stage [28]), 41-44 (end of stage [11]), 58-62 (#8, #23, #2 accident [52]), 97-101 (#28, #62, #83, #75, #31, #52, #74, #92, #22, #02, #2 accident [21])
Lead changes: 14 among 8 drivers – Kahne 1-15, Gaughan 16-17, Kahne 18-20, Dillon 21, Kahne 22-31, Peters 32-37, Reutimann 38-43, Peters 44-62, Logano 63-75, Allgaier 76-83, Peters 84-91, Logano 92-96, Peters 97-103

Points leaders after 1 of 23 races
1. Timothy Peters - 50
2. David Reutimann - 46
3. Ron Hornaday - 39
4. Kasey Kahne - 36
5. Joey Logano - 35
6. Justin Allgaier - 34
7. David Ragan - 33
8. Todd Bodine - 32
9. Mike Skinner - 30
10. Bobby Hamilton - 29
 
Last edited:
I'm just letting everyone know that I plan to run the conclusion of Daytona speedweeks next Monday (Xfinity Series opener) and Tuesday (Daytona 500). After that, I am putting the project on a brief hold.

For one thing, with only a partial schedule done to this point (9 MENCS races, 9 NXS races counting the one that was just run today, and 3 NCWTS races), I don't want to rush the project until more races are run on different tracks using the stage-point system that started this year. Well over half the tracks on the combined NASCAR master schedule still has not seen a race this year. In addition, I am keeping track of standings for the real seasons on my internal hard drive, something I had never done before. So running myself ragged is not a good idea.

As well, I also plan to open another timeline, which will be closer in format to most of the usual content. This will be a redo of the NFL Draft from the mid-2000s, which was the setting for my All-Pro season that I ran and posted to the AllTimeSports forum about six years ago. I will try to speculate how certain players or teams saw their fortunes changed when "real" pro football resumed after that.

Thanks in advance for your patience.
 
xfinityseries.JPG

As with the Camping World Truck Series, the Xfinity Series saw radical changes as the second version of its "dream season" began.

In the ensuing decade since version 1.0, NASCAR has passed two significant rules governing the role of “visiting” drivers in what is now the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in this series:
⦁ Since 2011, drivers can race for points in only one series. “Guests” can race in other series, but will receive no points regardless of their outcomes. (However, their performances will still be reflected in the car owner point standings.)
⦁ As of 2017, drivers with more than five years of full-time experience in MENCS can compete in no more than 10 races in the NXS. None of those races can be during the playoffs, the race before the playoffs, or the Dash4Cash races. Also, no driver that has earned points in other series can drive in the season-ending Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

These rules contributed to some dramatic changes in the driver lineup, although there were other factors:
⦁ Mark Martin, once the all-time winner in series history and champion of version 1.0, will not be able to defend his title and is also one of the drivers facing a limited schedule. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. will drive the #60 car for Roush Fenway Racing in the remaining races. Stenhouse was the series champion in 2011 and ’12; as of now, he is the most recent driver with multiple titles.
⦁ Also at RFR, Greg Biffle’s car is re-numbered #6, while Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards are slated to share #16.
⦁ Jimmie Johnson leaves the #5 car for a full-time Cup ride and takes crew chief Chad Knaus with him. Brian Vickers moves from the #7 to the #5 with Lance McGrew, while Geoffrey Bodine (who Johnson replaced at the end of Cup version 1.0) takes over the #7 car with Alan Gustafson.
⦁ Brad Keselowski, past season champion of both Xfinity and NASCAR Cup, is the new driver of the #27 Brewco Ford replacing Kenny Wallace.
⦁ Joe Gibbs Racing decided on a literal generational change, welcoming all-time series race leader (and 2008 champion, and 2015 Cup champ) Kyle Busch to the #18 car and Cup mainstay (and 2016 Daytona 500 winner) Denny Hamlin to the #20 car. Mike McLaughlin and Morgan Shepherd are out.
⦁ Austin Dillon (2013 series champ) is the new driver of the #21, replacing Tommy Houston.
⦁ Clint Bowyer is the new driver of the #32 car, replacing Casey Atwood. (There's been an ownership change, from Todd Braun to Harry Scott, former Cup driver Brian's father).

In addition, some returning drivers are changing car numbers: Martin Truex, Jr. goes from #14 to #1, Jimmy Spencer from #1 to #4, Mike Wallace from #4 to #14, and Adam Petty from #6 to #43.

That should make for some very interesting situations in qualifying, as the field sizes have been reduced from 43 to 40, and there are no guaranteed starting spots for drivers unlike in the NASCAR Cup Series.

The playoff format introduced to the series in 2016 will carry over. Although there has not been an official announcement as of the end of March 2017, the top 12 drivers should qualify for a seven-race series to determine the champion, with the top 10 in points after the race at Chicagoland receiving additional playoff points to start.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Race summary
Due to the driver changes and reduced starting field, 17 of the 43 drivers from the previous dream race did not return this time. In contrast, Ricky Craven made it to the starting lineup after failing to qualify for the previous running.

The Gibbs teammates Busch and Hamlin shared the front row for the season-opening green flag. The 30-lap first stage ended under caution, after a six-car crash. Jamie McMurray ran into oil that had not been properly cleaned up, and other cars followed, skidding all over the track. Two past series champions, Randy LaJoie and Rob Moroso, could not continue. Austin Dillon, also a past champ, suffered some minor damage but did move on.

Stage 2 was relatively calm, as only a dustup between Adam Petty and Kyle Busch enlivened the proceedings. The stage 2 winner was 2010 series champ Brad Keselowski.

However, stage 3 was wild. First was an eight-car pileup on lap 100; Dillon was involved again, among with Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, and Ryan Newman among others. The race was put under a red flag for about 11½ minutes. More chaos ensued with just seven laps to go. Kenny Wallace tapped Adam Petty's bumper and the fourth-generation driver went flying, landing on his roof. (Thanks largely to NASCAR's safety improvements, Petty would be OK.) Mark Martin, Hall of Fame driver and all-time series race leader until Busch shattered the record, was also involved.

Earnhardt Jr. then held off the rest of the field in a three-lap shootout with some great defensive moves. While Cup regulars finished 1-2, there were a lot of race points picked up by the regulars. Only 17 drivers were running at the finish, with 12 of those on the lead lap.



POWERSHARES QQQ 300
Daytona International Speedway
Saturday, February 22

300 laps/120 miles (30/30/60)

Daytona-1.JPG



Top 10 after stage 1: 3, 21, 18, 14, 55, 99, 16, 87, 22, 33
Top 10 after stage 2: 22, 2, 3, 11, 60, 6, 1, 43, 99, 7

Did not return: Jimmie Johnson, Darrell Waltrip, Casey Atwood, Tommy Houston, Jeff Burton, Terry Labonte, #24 Ward Burton, Jason Keller, Rex White, Mike McLaughlin, Steve Grissom, Larry Pearson, Bobby Allison, Dale Jarrett, #8 Bill Rexford, Buckshot Jones, LeeRoy Yarbrough
Others DNQ: #25 Tiny Lund, #78 Justin Labonte, #90 Scott Lagasse Jr.

Time of race: 2:13:28 Speed: 134.867 mph Margin of victory: 0.192 sec.
To the back: #74, #0 (unapproved adjustments)
Cautions: 6 for 32 laps – 4-8 (#07 engine [none]), 29-36 (accident #42, #4, #48, #39, #28, #89 [#46]), 45-48 (accident #43, #18 [#13]), 61-65 (end of stage 2 [#01]), 100-104 (accident #01, #21, #20, #31, #32, #17, #19, #44 [red flag 11:33] [#28]), 113-117 (accident #60, #16, #13, #5, #43, #46 [#14])
Lead changes: 21 among 10 drivers – Ky. Busch 1-8, Menard 9-14, Earnhardt Jr. 15-19, Harvick 20-29, Earnhardt Jr. 30-35, Harvick 36-41, Dillon 42-44, Earnhardt Jr. 45-50, Stewart 50-56, Keselowski 57-65, Waltrip 66-69, Stewart 70-78, Earnhardt Jr. 79-87, Harvick 88-91, G. Bodine 92, Biffle 93, Harvick 94-100, Keselowski 101-106, Harvick 107-112, Stewart 109-113, Earnhardt Jr. 114-120

Points leaders after 1 of 33 overall, 1 of 26 before playoffs
(Ties broken by best race finish)

1. Brad Keselowski - 44
2. Kevin Harvick - 43
3. Michael Waltrip - 38
4. Paul Menard - 34
5. Greg Biffle - 33
6. Mike Wallace - 32
7. Kyle Busch - 31
8. Clint Bowyer - 30
9. Geoffrey Bodine - 30
10. Joe Nemechek - 30
11. Martin Truex, Jr. - 28
12. Chase Elliott - 26

P.S. Congratulations to 2011 and '12 OTL champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr.! On Sunday, he won his first Cup series race, the Geico 500 at Talladega. It was his 158th career start in Cup and he is the 11th driver to make his first win in that series a Talladega race.
 
Last edited:
"The Great American Race" had a new look, but ended with a familiar finish with one of NASCAR's premier families running up front.

Mark Martin, on his "home track," grabbed the pole. The first stage began with quite a few leaders and a debris caution in which some of those who hadn't run well making pit stops to try to increase their chances of getting those all-new stage points. Lap 20 brought the day's first crash: Seven-time series champion Jimmie Johnson tried to pass Ricky Rudd, but both ended up being turned into the wall; Hall of Fame driver Fred Lorenzen and Harry Gant were also collected. Tim Flock, another Hall of Famer, got the "free pass." But the stage 1 drama wasn't over yet: Terry Labonte spun off the "superstretch" to bring out the third caution. David Pearson tried to make a brilliant pass at the end of the stage, but Bill Elliott held him off to take the maximum bonus points and the playoff point.

The second stage began with a long green-flag run, at which HOF driver - and three-time Daytona 500 winner - Cale Yarborough was caught too fast entering pit road.

As in the OTL race in 2017, lap 107 brought out the "big one." Twelve drivers got hit, including HOF drivers Martin, Flock, Bobby Allison, and Buck Baker. Martin took all of the blame for that one in the live TV interview that followed. Since Baker was the first driver one lap down, no one got back on the lead lap. Once cleanup ended, Dale Earnhardt won stage 2, followed by Dale Jarrett, Jeff Gordon, and the rest of the field.

The third stage had barely started when another "big one" occurred with 60 laps to go. Those involved included former series champions Johnson (again!), Bobby Labonte, Benny Parsons, Matt Kenseth, Terry Labonte, Ned Jarrett, and Fireball Roberts; as well as Sterling Marlin, the last repeat winner of the 500 in reality (1993 and '94). The race was red-flagged once again.

Later in stage 3, Rusty Wallace and Kurt Busch collided and hit the outside wall for what would be the last remaining caution.

The final 21 laps saw the best of the best battle for ultimate glory, with Richard Petty, then Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and finally Earnhardt on the point. "The Intimidator," as was the case in version 1.0, held off his son in a frantic finish to win the Daytona 500. In my simulations, he has double the win total as OTL (1998, his only win in 23 tries).

DAYTONA 500
Sunday, February 23
Daytona International Speedway

500 miles/200 laps (60/60/80)

Daytona500.JPG


Top 10 after stage 1: 9, 21, 20, 3, 6, 8, 43, 24, 88, 99
Top 10 after stage 2: 3, 88, 24, 11, 8, 28, 21, 42, 22, 40
Did not return: #13 Curtis Turner, #44 Kyle Petty, Donnie Allison, John Andretti, Geoffrey Bodine
Also failed to qualify: #23 Herb Thomas, #37 Derrike Cope, #83 Casey Atwood
To the back: 27 (engine change), 7 (gear change)
Cautions: 8 for 39 laps - 7-10 (debris [none]), 20-24 (98, 33, 48, 10 incident turn 3 [38]), 37-42 (5 incident backstretch [51]), 62-66 (stage 1 conclusion [14]), 107-113 (00, 26, 17, 20, 6, 38, 41, 27, 97, 12, 10, 2 incident turn 3 [red flag 11:00] [none]), 122-125 (stage 2 conclusion [4]), 141-150 (15, 18, 41, 48, 36, 40, 10, 16, 5, 1, 22, 31 incident backstretch [red flag 15:21] [42]), 170-174 (27, 97 incident backstretch [16])
Lead changes: 34 among 15 drivers - Martin 1-6, Pearson 7-10, Burton 11-14, Stewart 15-20, Martin 21-24, Elliott 25-33, Earnhardt 34-37, Yarborough 38-41, Elliott 42-49, R. Petty 50-51, Elliott 52-63, Earnhardt 64-67, L. Petty 68-71, Pearson 72-76, K. Wallace 77, Roberts 78, Earnhardt 79-87, Earnhardt Jr. 88-96, Gordon 97-117, Earnhardt 118-130, Earnhardt Jr. 131-136, D. Allison 137-141, Gordon 142-156, Earnhardt 157-161, D. Allison 162-165, Jarrett 166-167, Gordon 168-174, Earnhardt Jr. 175-177, Gordon 178-183, R. Petty 184-188, Gordon 189-193, Earnhardt Jr. 194-197, Earnhardt 198-200

Points leaders after 1 of 36 overall, 1 of 26 before playoffs
(Ties broken by best race finish)
1. Dale Earnhardt - 67
2. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. - 52
3. Jeff Gordon - 48
4. Dale Jarrett - 47
5. Bill Elliott - 44
6. Cale Yarborough - 43
7. Davey Allison - 41
8. David Pearson - 41
9. Richard Petty - 41
10. Tim Richmond - 29
11. Dave Marcis - 27
12. Fireball Roberts - 27
13. Joe Weatherly - 25
14. Lee Petty - 25
15. Terry Labonte - 22
16. Sterling Marlin - 21

Once I jump back to this thread, it's on another tripleheader, this time at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

P.S. Thanks to spam78 for the suggestion as to how to place a chart resembling the official NASCAR race report on my threads.
 
Yeah, this thread does meet that definition. But please remember two things:
1. The entire idea is to take drivers from the past (living or dead) as well as those still active and see how well they would do under current NASCAR conditions, including the schedule, the cars, and the new stage-racing format.
2. (And this is most important) As long as there is no explicit prohibition against ASB TLs (yeah, I now know the lingo), this thread will continue. However, in the unlikely event there is, I will shut this down, thank everyone for their attention, and move forward to more appropriate threads, one of which I've already previewed.
 
I call ASB on this timeline. Half the Cup Series lineup is retired/deceased drivers.

As he states that this is a simulation, and not an explicit rendition of those various drivers coming back to life, I wouldn't call it as such. If anything, just presume it's happening in a computer as he's running it. It certainly seems appropriate enough.

Either way, looks interesting, BWBarefoot. I'll keep an eye on this; not too much to say atm.
 
Top