Yahoo! Fantasy Auto Racing

Well y'all...it is me again. :) And as I am writing this, there is exactly three days until NASCAR's Sprint Unlimited race on Saturday that will kick of Speed Week...and lead to the Daytona 500 on the 23rd. I am so excited that it is finally here! I am looking forward to waving this awful NASCAR off season good-bye and welcome the new season and all it's changes (even though I don't like or agree with all of them...).

And with the NASCAR season slowly approaching, also comes fantasy NASCAR! Or as Yahoo! calls it, fantasy Auto Racing. Which is where you select a few drivers to be on your team every week where you will get points as to where they start, how many laps they lead, and where they finish. They then add the points up for your weekly points and you will compete against other people in your league...it is all pretty fun and pretty simple. (If I can do it, anyone can do it. ;) ). I have had my own Yahoo! Fantasy Auto League the past couple of years and have created my own league again this year. The title of the league is Gordon's Drive For Five...but you don't have to be a Gordon fan to join. All I ask is for everyone to be respectful of one another. It is all for free...and all for fun.

Here is a more detailed version of 'how to' play Fantasy NASCAR on Yahoo!:

                   *Every week you chose eight drivers to be in your team that week (or if you don't change it the                   next week, it will stay with last week's picks.)

1. * Four of the drivers are starters, the other four are bench drivers. The starter drivers you will get points for where they qualify at, for laps led, and where they finish the race at. Whereas the bench drivers will get you points for where they qualify at ... so for them it don't matter if they finish first or last or last.
   
   *There are three groups of drivers. Group A (the more seasoned drivers, drivers that win more...) Group B (drivers that are good, but don't win as often) and Group C (the underdog drivers...the rookies and the drivers that you don't think of to win races.)
   
   *From Group A you pick one starter driver and one bench driver. From Group B you pick two starters and two bench. From Group C you pick one starter, one bench. On Yahoo they do have driver stats and expert picks that you can use from race to race - though it don't necessarily mean a great finish
   
   (Here is an example of what a roster may look like:
   Group A: Jeff Gordon (S) Jimmie Johnson (B)
   Group B: Dale Jr (S) Jamie McMurray (S) Ryan Newman (B) AJ Allmendinger (B)
   Group C: Michael Waltrip (S) Paul Menard (B))
   
   *For starters, you can only use a driver nine times (Bummer, I know. I'd love to use Gordon all 36 races...oh well. )
   
   That is all I can think of as rules right now...I find it fun and entertaining. It gives me more than just Gordon, Johnson, and Jr to follow throughout the whole race. 

   If you are wanting to join, here is the info needed to join my league...you can either try this or it may be easier if you send me your email address and I can send you an invite. Whatever works best for you. :)
    My group ID number is 947                                                                                                              My password: nascar24                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             I am looking forward to the 2014 NASCAR season...as well as to the 2014 fantasy NASCAR season. :) As I said earlier, it is all for free and all for fun. Let me know if you have any questions about how it is played or anything else.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           NASCAR HMS Fan 

New season brings new changes!

Hi Everyone!

As we step out of January and walk into February, we are now only a few short weeks from the 2014 NASCAR season...and this fan is excited! Things will start off with Speed Week on February 14th with practices for the Sprint Unlimited that will be held Saturday February 15th and followed by the qualifying on Sunday for the Daytona 500! Then on Thursday, February 20th will be the Budweiser Duels which are two races that will also determine the line up for the Daytona 500. And then on Sunday, February 23rd is the Great American Race...the Superbowl of NASCAR...the start of the 2014 season...the Daytona 500! I have been counting down to Daytona since the drop of the green flag at Homestead last November and am now down to twenty two more days til the great race...back to when I can officially end my NASCAR withdrawal and get back to following my favorite drivers on the track.

But with the new season...also brings some drastic changes to both the way the drivers qualify and to the Chase.

For qualifying, instead of qualifying on their own as they had in the past, they are now going to qualify in a sort of way the F1 series qualifies; which has been called the knock out qualifying. For tracks larger than 1.25 mile the drivers will qualify together for twenty-five minutes before the top twenty-four cars in speed will run together for ten minutes. Then after that the fastest twelve cars will compete for the pole position in the final five minutes. On the tracks shorter than 1.25 miles, the drivers will go out for thirty minutes before the top twelve fastest drivers will go back out for the last ten minutes.

For the Chase, the first change comes with the name. The new name will be NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase Grid. The field will now be expanded from twelve drivers to sixteen drivers - where the top fifteen slots are reserved for the drivers who have the most wins within the first twenty-six races (the regular season) and the sixteenth slot held for the driver for the most points after the regular season. The Chase will then be cut up into four different sections (Challenger Round, Contender Round, Eliminator Round, and the NASCAR Championship). The first three rounds are of three races while the NASCAR Championship Round only consists of Homestead...the last race of the season. At the end of each round four drivers will be eliminated from the Chase where their points will be reset back to the season point standings. The drivers eliminated will be the drivers with the fewest season points. Though if a driver wins a race in that round, they will move on to the next round. (Challenger Round will have sixteen drivers. Contender Round twelve drivers. Eliminator Round will have Eight drivers. The Eliminator Round will have four drivers.) Which will leave ONLY four drivers going into the final race of the season, Homestead, going for the championship.

Personally, I am not a fan of either change that NASCAR has made for this 2014 season. (I am hoping to be wrong) but to me it seems like all it is asking for is the drivers to wreck each other in order to be the fastest qualifier or to get in the Chase or stay in the Chase. Seems like they are asking for more point manipulation to occur as had happened at Richmond last year when Clint Bowyer purposefully spun out on the last lap in attempt to help his teammate Martin Truex Jr. get into the Chase. As for the changes for the Chase, I understand they want to emphasis on winning. But in doing so, they are punishing the drivers who are consistent throughout the entire season. It is great to have multiple wins in a season, but it is just as great to have a top five/top ten average finish of the season.

Then again, this all is coming from someone who is not a fan of the Chase to begin with. If I had my way, I would just ditch the Chase together and go back to the old point system. Which is probably why NASCAR has yet to ask me for my opinion on it all. :)

Despite how I feel about NASCAR's new changes they are putting into play this season, I will always be a die hard NASCAR fan. No matter what. Which leaves me  no choice, but to give them a shot to prove themselves and their changes to me. I will attempt to stay positive about NASCAR and their changes....and hope that their changes will work in team Hendrick's favor.

Just twenty-two more days until Daytona...am really looking forward to hearing Darrell Waltrip say his "Boogity, Boogity, Boogity. Let's go racing Boys!"

NASCAR HMS Fan

(I got my Speed Week info from: NASCAR Speed Week and my info on NASCAR's new changes from: NASCAR changes to qualifying order and to the Chase)