2014 4th Annual FABO NHRA "Pick 'Em" Game - Make Your Picks and Light 'Em Up!

[Budnicks]

I only Hope the MoPar Dart Allen Johnson does well... selfishly of course

 

[ocdart]

Congrats to moparn1 (FABO) for being the Top Qualifier at the Amalie Oil Gatornationals with a real nice total of 29.0 bonus points. He picked the #1 qualifier in Pro Stock, #2 qualifier in Pro Stock Motorcycle, #3 qualifier in Funny Car and #4 qualifier in Top Fuel.
tqfastfish (FABO) and new player StarGazer (FABO) were both right behind with 27.5 bonus points. 64BEL was the top FBBO picker with 22.5 bonus points. Way to go all!

This week players picked:
* 7 different Top Fuel drivers. There are two Round 1 head-to-head matchups, Steve Torrence and Khalid alBalooshi in one and Doug Kalitta and Brittany Force in the other. There could also be two head-to-head matchups in the 2nd round of eliminations.
* 7 different Funny Car drivers and one Round 1 head-to-head matchup between Del Worsham and Tommy Johnson Jr.. There are also 2 potential head-to-head matchups in Round 2 of eliminations.
* 6 different Pro Stock drivers picked this week. No Round 1 head-to-head matchups, but a possibility of 2 head-to-head matchup in the 2nd round of eliminations.
* 6 different Pro Stock Motorcycle riders picked this week. No Round 1 head-to-head matchups, but a possibility of 2 head-to-head matchup in the 2nd round of eliminations.

Good luck all!

 

[alsant]

Way to go Bel

 

[Budnicks]

good job Bel64... what the heck happened to #16 John Force, we'll see if he can take out #1 Cruz Pedregon in the 1st round...

 

[alsant]

Force takes out Cruz

 

[alsant]

I knew I should of stuck with Kalletta !

 

[ocdart]

Before I get into the scores I just want to say how touched I was by 'Big Daddy' Don Garlits feelings for his wife, Pat. They truly had a love story between them for 61 years. It was wonderful to hear how much he was devoted to her and how seriously he took what he said the day they were married.

Some strange goings on in Gainesville - more redlights than you usually see at a national event. Perhaps it was because of this being the first race of the season for the Pro Stock Motorcycle class and the riders were off their game a bit.
That, combined with some big names going out early, made for some interesting scoring this event.
Big congratulations to Allen Johnson for winning the Pro Stock class with a brand new car. The new Dodge Darts of AJ and Jeg Coughlin Jr. look like they're going to make a statement this year - and V. Gaines should have his new Dart up and running in a few more weeks.
Here are the results and point standings following completion of the Amalie Oil NHRA Nationals - the 3rd event of the 2014 NHRA season:

Congratulations to 'socaldart' (FABO) for being "Top Picker Eliminator" for the Amalie Oil Gatornationals with an outstanding point total of 163.5 points with class wins in Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock. His Pro Stock Motorcycle pick qualified #3 and went two rounds of eliminations. 'Gpuller' (FBBO) came in as the event runner-up with a very nice point total of 156.5 with class wins in Top Fuel and Pro Stock. His Funny Car pick went three rounds of eliminations and picked up the bonus points for top speed of the class, and his Pro Stock Motorcycle pick went one round of eliminations and picked up bonus points for both quickest E.T. and top speed of the class.

NOTE: 'littlemoparn1' (FABO) did not post any picks for the second event in a row so, per game rules, I carried over his Winternationals picks to this event. He was not eligible for any event bonus points because of the carried-over picks and did not pick up any points in Pro Stock Motorcycle since he never posted a pick for the class. If he does not post picks for three events in a row, he will "lose his sponsor" and be parked for the remainder of the season.

Here's where the bonus points were earned if you picked the right drivers:

Top Fuel
E.T. - Shawn Langdon, 3.776 during qualifying
Speed - Steve Torrence, 325.69 during Round 1 of eliminations

Funny Car
E.T. - Cruz Pedregon, 4.068 during qualifying
Speed - John Force, 317.12 during Round 1 of eliminations

Pro Stock
E.T. - Dave Connolly, 6.476 during qualifying
Speed - Erica Enders-Stevens, 214.69 during qualifying (This is a new National Record, but nobody gained any bonus points because nobody picked her for this event)

Pro Stock Motorcycle
E.T. - Michael Ray, 6.793 during qualifying
Speed - Michael Ray, 197.74 during qualifying


Here are the game point standings after the 3rd event of the 2014 season:
358.5 - bad440 (FABO) no change in the standings
357.5 - Gpuller (FBBO) +4 places in the standings
357.0 - YoungGun74 (FABO) +2
345.0 - johnnycuda (FABO) -2
328.0 - memike (FABO) +2
326.5 - bobtile (FBBO) -2
313.5 - 67cudafb (FABO) -4
303.0 - Budnicks (FBBO) +2
291.0 - socaldart (FABO) +7
287.5 - ocdart (FABO) -1
283.0 - bvt69dart (FABO) -3
259.0 - 6pk2goDemon (FABO) -1
244.5 - OldmanRick (FABO) no change
237.0 - Back in Time (FABO) +1
233.5 - Hemiroid (FABO) +3
231.0 - tqfastfish (FABO) +1
230.0 - littlemoparn1 (FABO) -3
217.0 - super-bee_ski (FBBO) -6
216.0 - moparn1 (FABO) +5
214.0 - aslant (FBBO) no change
211.0 - moparn1jr (FABO) no change
204.5 - 64BEL (FBBO) -3
200.0 - IEduster (FABO) +2
196.5 - dilweed (FABO) +2
180.0 - 71dartswinger (FABO) -3
176.5 - Duster79 (FABO) -3
146.0 - Jason Delling - new player
111.0 - DustedOff (FABO) new player
92.5 - StarGazer (FABO) new player

The 4th race of the 2014 season, the 15th Annual SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals, is March 28-30, at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, NV.
As always, your picks need to be posted before Pro Qualifying starts on Friday, March 28 in order to qualify for all event bonus points. Pro qualifying is scheduled to start at 4:30 PM EDT (1:30 PM PDT).
The SummitRacing.com Nationals entry list is posted on NHRA.com and currently shows 18 Top Fuel, 18 Funny Car, and 17 Pro Stock entries, but the counts are subject to change. Keep checking http://www.nhra.com/events/entrylist04.aspx for an updated entry list.
Pro Stock Motorcycle will not run at this event.

Get your picks posted and GOOD LUCK!

 

[alsant]

Good job G

 

[Gpuller]

Thanks alsant!
The way qualifying went, didn't think any good was going to happen.

 

[Budnicks]

good job Gpuller

 

[64BEL]

Way to go GP! Bud - looking good, too!

 

[bobtile]

Way to go Gpuller!

 

[Budnicks]

getting closer, Vegas baby...

 

[ocdart]

Here's the usual Tuesday-before-the-event reminder before the 4th race of the 2014 season, the 15th Annual SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals, March 28-30, at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in "Lost Wages".
As always, your picks need to be posted before Pro Qualifying starts on Friday, March 28 in order to qualify for all event bonus points. Pro qualifying is scheduled to start at 4:30PM EDT (1:30PM PDT).
The weather forecast for Friday calls for partly cloudy skies and a 75F high temp with similar conditions and 0% chance of rain through the weekend.
The SummitRacing.com Nationals entry list is posted on http://www.nhra.com/events/entrylist04.aspx and now shows 18 Top Fuel, 19 Funny Car and only 16 Pro Stock entries, but the counts are still subject to change.
Pro Stock Motorcycle will not compete at this event.
Keep checking http://www.nhra.com/events/entrylist04.aspx for an updated entry list.
Get your picks posted and GOOD LUCK!

 

[Gpuller]

Oh...would I like some 75 deg temps. 21 deg now with a 17 mph wind makes it feel like 7.
No picks now still thinking.

 

[Budnicks]

Vegas Picks... T/F Shawn Langdon {he's due} , F/C John Force {ride that horse, until she bucks ya' off} , P/S Allen Johnson {the new Dart will Dominate} no bikes this week

- - - Updated - - -

Oh...would I like some 75 deg temps. 21 deg now with a 17 mph wind makes it feel like 7.
No picks now still thinking.

:iamwithstupid: We've had some "freaken" great weather the past month out west, but we still need rain thou.... only reason to live out here, is the weather & low humidity, better rust free cars available etc....

 

[ocdart]

Hey all, just a quick note to let you know I won't be sending out any last minute reminders before qualifying starts tomorrow for the race at Las Vegas. I have a friend arriving from Australia tomorrow and I need to be at LAX to pick him up early tomorrow morning. He's bringing 4 other Aussies (their first trip to the USA) with him on this trip and we've got a full day of activities planned around the Los Angeles area before they head up the coast for a few days sightseeing.
First stop tomorrow after the airport is the Petersen Automotive Museum.
Don't forget to get your SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals picks posted before the scheduled start of qualifying at 4:30PM EDT (1:30PM PDT) so you will be eligible for all event bonus points.
The current weather forecast shows a high temp of 73F for tomorrow, 81F on Saturday and 74F on Sunday. Supposed to be partly cloudy with no rain in the forecast.

 

[Gpuller]

I'm gonna run with last weeks picks. Just having trouble with Top Fuel, nobody gives me that "special" feeling. If you know what I mean.

TF Doug Kalitta
FC John Force
PS Allen Johnson

- - - Updated - - -

Good article about ESPN TV coverage.

http://www.competitionplus.com/drag-racing/news/27866-compton-faces-the-challenges-of-making-nhra-tv-work

 

[64BEL]

In my opinion, the TV coverage leaves a lot to be desired. NHRA is treated as an unwanted stepchild by ESPN. They practically do all they can to hide qualifying in the most obscure time slots (middle of the night). And even then it rarely starts and ends on time. I also think the coverage is too long. I DVR it, so I can zip through a 3 hour show in half that time when I skip past all of the boring, done to death filler stuff they have on there. Personally, I've seen enough of the same features and over-hyped "marquee matchup" stuff. Give me more coverage of the underdogs/smaller operations like Bob Bode, Jeff Diehl, Jim Dunn, TJ Zizzo, Bill Miller, Tim Wilkerson, Sidney Frigo, etc... I'm not saying cover only those types of guys, either, but mix more of that stuff in and balance it out. I'd find it more interesting to learn more about how those guys keep it going on the tighter budgets than seeing another feature on Courtney Force in a Blue Angels jet.

OK, sorry - rant over. My pics for this week:

TF Antron Brown
FC Cruz Pedregon
PS Allen Johnson

Good luck everyone!

 

[bobtile]

In my opinion, the TV coverage leaves a lot to be desired. NHRA is treated as an unwanted stepchild by ESPN. They practically do all they can to hide qualifying in the most obscure time slots (middle of the night). And even then it rarely starts and ends on time. I also think the coverage is too long. I DVR it, so I can zip through a 3 hour show in half that time when I skip past all of the boring, done to death filler stuff they have on there. Personally, I've seen enough of the same features and over-hyped "marquee matchup" stuff. Give me more coverage of the underdogs/smaller operations like Bob Bode, Jeff Diehl, Jim Dunn, TJ Zizzo, Bill Miller, Tim Wilkerson, Sidney Frigo, etc... I'm not saying cover only those types of guys, either, but mix more of that stuff in and balance it out. I'd find it more interesting to learn more about how those guys keep it going on the tighter budgets than seeing another feature on Courtney Force in a Blue Angels jet.

OK, sorry - rant over. My pics for this week:

TF Antron Brown
FC Cruz Pedregon
PS Allen Johnson

Good luck everyone![/QUOTE

I agree with the coverage. Had to wait an hour before tennis was over to watch racing two weeks ago. Really?????
Anyway, I'll take
Antron Brown
John Force
Allen Johnson
Thanks, Good luck !