Welcome Race Fans! THIS IS THE FIRST, Debris In Turn 3 blog of the 2020 season. At DebrisInTurn3.com you're going to find a mix of posts in this blog section throughout the coming months. Here, we'll share the Pre-Race email to all the owners, various other updates, and since HighWide&Handsome (aka Dan, who is also my cousin) and myself, Matt (MythosMotorsports) are not doing our DIT3 podcast this week, This is the "Race Recap" to help keep everyone up to speed with the fantasy nascar games we've got going. The Debris In Turn 3 championship is hosted at Fantrax.com and the entry list is open all season long. All you need to do is email us at DebrisInTurn3@gmail.com or contact us via any one of the socials. New team owners are ALWAYS welcome to join the quest for the DIT3 Championship and a spot in the DIT3 Cup Series as we all as a chance at the "Wave-Arounders" DIT3 Champions League title one day. Welcome to Debris in Turn 3.
I'm reluctant to hit the post button on this blog because once it's done, my thoughts are now "out there." In the Nascar world, one opinion that brushes up the wrong way against a driver or their fans can send the ire and angst of the base upon you. Please, remember, we are just fans. We may be really BIG fans, but we are still just a couple of Yankees (although were Mets fans) that love Nascar racing. Dan and I love talking about racing, promoting all kinds of racing, watching racing on the TV, going to the races, & especially walking through the Riverhead Raceway pit area after a full card of heats and feature events. We're not experts and we're not going to claim to be experts. Dan and myself are a couple fellas that love the smells of burning rubber, oil, & BBQ's all mixed together into one short track olfactory experience. Now, I can't speak for Dan completely, but i think it's safe to say, we're in agreement on this one. We've had prime seats in the grandstands for decades, taking in the tales of our father's glory days trading paint around Islip Speedway & Freeport Stadium, while watching some titans of the Tour Type Modifieds like Ted Christopher, Mike Stefanik, Steve Park, & Doug Coby among many others. Additionally, I'm also lucky to have high speed internet access, streaming commercial free onboard cameras, and realtime leaderboards, as well as high definition television on race day. Combined with the commentary of the broadcast teams at Fox & NBC, the coverage is excellent; you'd be surprised in how much you can pick up.. However, I'm sure it's only a matter of time before someone says, "You don't know anything about racing!" Look, that may be true because we've never been race car drivers. We're just hardcore race fans from the big city yackin' it up about how awesome it is to watch the forty best stock car drivers in the world battle door to door, week to week, across the country, at classic and picturesque venues where the greatest of all time have fought for fame, glory, money, checkers and trophies.
One week after my girlfriend and I had a Daytona 500 lakeside party up in the mountains, playing iRacing, drinking a Blue Point variety 12 pack, & eating snacks, this week, it was just me and my fuzzy pit bull girl named, Molly, who spent most of the Pennzoil 400 passed out on the couch under her blanket. (As I write this, I'm pretty sure the cat might have peed on that blanket last night, OOOPH, that needs to go in the wash NOW.) "War & Preece" (LMAO), is out of town all week and is even going to miss next Sunday's race at Auto Club Speedway. But she'll be back for Phoenix, which is important, so you can scout how the cars look on the track where the Nascar Championship Race is going to be held in November. This is her rookie season and we have a lot of other new owners in the the Debris In Turn 3 Championship this year. We're lucky to have a competitive group of team owners that battle all season at Fantrax.com It's fun that we're a mix of family and friends that keep in touch all season through our fantasy league and we even get together at the races from time to time. Last year Dan and I went to Pocono in July and we're going to meet for the Islip 300 with a bunch of you at Riverhead when their season starts. Hopefully we can keep the momentum going and have some more fun at the races. I also would be remiss if I did not mention that it's only a week after we nearly began the 2020 campaign for the championship with a tragedy. We continue this season with grace & peace and pray for Ryan Newman's continuing recovery. "Onwards and Upwards."
Congratulations to Joey Logano, who took home his 24th career checkered flag in the Nascar Cup Series on Sunday. One behind Hall of Famer, Joe Weatherly. This one was a layup (after the late restart) for the 22 Ford who looked beat by his teammate, Ryan Blaney, as he passed Logano and Harvick (who led the most laps) late in the final stage. With Alex Bowman charging in his no.88 Hendrick Chevy, it seemed to be an epic finish to what was a very exciting race on the 1.5 mile track. However, a late yellow from a spinning Ross Chastain in turn two with seven laps to go, had crew chiefs scratching their heads about what to do, setting the stage for a mad dash to the checkers and a Vegas-style dice roll of a finish. "Miscommunication" (perhaps) by Paul Wolfe & Logano & the decision to not pit gave the Pennzoil team the win. Maybe a bit of gamesmanship? That's what is needed sometimes to make a move against a tight field of strong drivers. The gamble paid big for the win in Las Vegas. Joey Logano, as well as last week's Daytona 500 winner, Denny Hamlin have secured a spot in the 2020 playoffs. (Yes, it's race number two of the season & we're clinching playoff births.. but that's an entirely different story all together)
Things were looking really good for Chase Elliott who won the first two stages and got a couple of playoff points in the bank. (which is cool to me because I dig the playoff system.. but that's an entirely different story all together) I thought the race was entertaining. It had its surprises with the JGR teams struggling. Especially the ones who had the penalties. Truex Jr, on the other hand, seemed to have a car that could win the race, but his girlfriend was on twitter complaining that he ran into the back of the Kurt Busch Chevy. The no.1 car may have made that rear end a little like the lady that tries to squeeze her caboose between you and another dude on the subway, but after making contact, not playing it safe & coming into the pits, cost the no.19 team when the tire eventually punctured and Martin hit the turn 4 wall.
Harvick had great short run speed and spent a lot of time out front, but the big surprise during the race was Ricky Stenhouse Jr and the JTG team stretching the stints between pit stops and the strategy finally paying off late in the race when the yellow came out with 47 laps remaining trapping many top contenders a lap down and forcing them to take a wave around. Several others, including John Hunter Nemechek (who I took to have a poor finish in the "If you Ain't Last, you're Last" pick em game) as well as his teammate Ryan Preece (who was sporting a rad looking livery with the Natural Light Seltzers and Velveeta Mac n Cheese on the car ) also gambled and found themselves with fresh rubber and inside the top 5 with the race coming to a close. (There isn't a Kroger around here and I couldn't find the Nat lights, but drinking those seltzers with velveeta on Race day makes me wonder where all the porta-stands at the race track are located.)
Sadly, the no.37 team of Ryan Preece, subsequently lost oil pressure during the caution and was forced to retire his car into the garage. As a BIG Preece fan, this stung. Especially after he was victim of the bonsai move by Ross Crashtain during the 500, dashing those dreams of Daytona glory. The race restarted and Bowman (looking like he wants to shake that "Showman" title) was flying at the end putting the pressure on Ryan Blaney. After Bowman cleared Harvick and Joey, it looked like it was ON and that's when Ross Crashtain, who was up everyones butt again today on the track, spun with crumpled fenders from a contact through the race earning himself the Debris In Turn 3 "Blind Boy" award of the race. An unfortunate turn of events for the fans in the seats and at home because of the battle that never happened and also for Ross who chomped again at the bit during a big break in the Rousch no.6. (By the way, Dan did some digging and googling and was able to uncover an old internet article confirming that Kyle Petty did in fact call Bobby Hillin Jr. "blind boy" and not "blonde boy" as a twitter reply had suggested. It turns out this fella was about the BIGGEST Bobby Hillin Jr. fan I've ever seen. He was even offended with my spelling of "Hillin" which I spelt "Hillen" most likely remembering the more recent defenseman, Jack Hillen from when he played for the New York Islanders. That tough sob took a slap shot from Alex Ovechkin directly to the teeth. Ouch. He was back in the lineup the next game... Bobby Hillin Jr. was very blonde. And sometimes drove that way too.)
The last restart was nuts. Lots of contact, but good for several guys, especially Matty D, who gets a second place finish. There were many new faces in the top 10, guys like Bubba Wallace and Ty Dillon but (believe it or not) Jimmie Johnson who hadn't had a top 5 in quite a while came home P5. The only thing I'll add about the last restart was that I think Nascar made two good and consistent calls for the caution both this week and last week. Both situations were vastly different and required a differed call. Good job by a lot of drivers this week and Nascar as well as the broadcast team which has brought us two quality called races from the booth so far by the duo of Mike Joy with Jeff Gordon.
While all that action was happening, do you know who took the Debris In Turn 3 victory? Well, you're listening to him right now. And, I think for the first time ever, your hosts Mythos Motorsports and High Wide & Handsome finished 1-2, respectively, in a race. The HWH team is usually battling it out in the midfield with Team Alabama Gang (P15), but only came up a few points short and it all came down to how many points Beuscher would get for Dan and how many points Truex could salvage for me. Chris Beuscher finished on the lead lap (P14) & scored 23 NCS points while collecting 36 fantasy points in DIT3 because of the 1pt for every position gained (PG). Truex scored me 39 fantasy points while recording 34 NCS points for his P20 finish. We each chose both of our "best bets" (Ricky Stenhouse Jr & Jimmie Johnson) and my 47 pick paid the biggest dividends scoring the most points of the afternoon. We were both rewarded with lots of points from Kevin Harvick and Pennzoil 400 winner, Joey Logano who were also in our lineups. Other fantasy notable finishers were Wave-Arounder contenders Six Seconds Faster and 2019 Champ, JuJu Bees Racing both of which were in the top 10 and find themselves back in the top part of the standings with other WA's FKC Racing and early title leader & Vegas winner, ME! Mythos Motorsports! I need to keep the momentum going with picking strong performances to get the title this year because the pressure is on from other contenders.
Other fantasy notes: White Flag Lap won in the "Wave-Arounders"(Debris In Turn 3 Champions League) with the help of his team consisting of Bubba Wallace and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
In the new we're playing with all the DIT3 owners, followers, and listeners, called "If You Ain't Last, You're Last" Dan took Michael McDowell who had throttle issues and for the second week in a row scores only one point. So, Dan is going into the third race of the season at Auto Club Speedway with a perfect score so far this year of only two points and leading our new game. He picked no.00 Quinn Houff at Daytona who made a poor move in front of Aric Almirola that sent him spinning into some traffic.
The quest for the Debris In Turn 3 Championship is ON! We host our game at Fantrax.com and you can enter the season at any time by emailing us at DebrisInTurn3@gmail.com Please FOLLOW us on social media. Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Join the conversation during all year long and let us know what you think about this bounty for beating Kyle Busch in a truck race. Also, you can lobby for your pick in the "If You Ain't Last, You're Last" poll with the other fans and let us know who you think should get the Blind Boy award each race. I'm looking forward to the best season of Debris In Turn 3.
MM
