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THIS WEEK IN NASRAC – WEEK #1

Reeve — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 20:20:55 +0000

Hello everyone, I’m Alain Worstwick, and welcome to This Week in NASRAC. This will be a Sunday feature that will include highlights of the NASRAC race week and also the current news, information, and happenings. We hope you will all enjoy this feature, as a lot of behind the scenes people have contributed to bring it to you.

Season 16 is now 6 races into the books. The season began with discussion of the AAA promotion and demotions process. Some were vocal about who should and should not get promoted and others wondered what it takes to stay in NASRAC’s premier division. This created a minor stir, but the moderators stepped in and put down revised rules which now clearly state the requirements to both get into and stay in AAA. This was well received in the NASRAC community, and most agreed the mod’s did a great job in acting before the start of the season. Now lets take at look at the racing on the track by division:

AAA1

With that, The Daytona 500 kicked off Season 16, and saw Shelly1099 of X2X Motorsports celebrating in victory lane. Other highlights of the week include Diego Gonzalez, also of X2X, with 2 wins and 2nd in points, and the return of Kashvinder Mann, who returns under the Bupp Enterprises (BE) flag, and is currently 12th in points. Welcome back, Kash. But the real story of the first week has got to be AAA rookie DJV2448, also with Bupp. DJV was a surprise participant in AAA, but he certainly has laid to rest any doubts about if he belongs, pumping out 3 Top 5 finishes in the first 6. When asked how he felt being the points leader, he answered, “well its great and very unexpected”. Also joining him in the top 12 is rookie Robert Hendershot of Checkered Flag Motorsports (CFM), sitting 9th in points, and Brian Kreashko, Jr. of Henderson Racing (HR), 11th in points, showing the rookies know their way around. On the flip side, a few are mired at the bottom of the standings. It is surprising to see AAA veterans Michael Finley of Heat Motorsports and Alex Cieslarczyk of Bupp Enterprises sitting 53rd and 54th, respectively. We all know they won’t be staying there for much longer, but they got their work cut out for them already if they want to salvage their seasons. The competition is fierce in all the divisions this season.

AA1

AA1 has also developed some interesting story lines we will follow into the future. The season started out with Hendrick of Redline Performance Racing (RPR) taking the coveted trophy. Currently points leader, SN1990, which is Hall of Famer Dimage25′s alt account, has already netted 2 wins as has Hendrick, who is 5th in points. The other interesting part of the early AA1 season is Alex and Michael’s alt accounts, currently 2nd and 3rd in points, respectively. While they have both struggled in AAA, they are performing very well here, Alex with a win and 4 top 10′s, and Michael also with 4 Top 10′s. This should be fun to follow.

AA2

The current AA2 story is Kharv29, and everyone else. Of course, the story on Kharv29 is a bit interesting. Cody Johnson, team owner/leader of CFM, may be the alt account leader in NASRAC. At the beginning of the season, it was believed that Kharv29 was in retirement. The story is when Cody noticed the smaller field in the AA2 division, he brought Kharv29 out of retirement and the rest is history. Winner of 3 of the first 6, including the Daytona 500, Kharv29 has built up over a 100 point lead, while not finishing out of the Top 10. Trying to keep pace is Tornado21 of BE, with 5 top 10′s.

A Division

The A Divison has provided some great competition early in the season. Newcomers and veteran’s alt accounts are battling it out all over the place. Also, some indy’s are keeping pace as well. HR is showing early season strength, leading in two of the three splits.

A1 features points leader ShineRunner of HR, with 1 win and 5 top 10′s, followed by Brian Reilly of Heat with 3 wins. Another note in A1 is infamous team jumper RobertHill13, of newly formed MCM Motorsports (MCM), sitting 3rd in points.

A2 features HR drivers Rocker and GageUK, 1 and 2 in the points, and also 6 different race winners for the first 6 races. This should stay a very competitive race throughout the season.

A3 has the surprise of the season, if not in NASRAC, with Brianneh of CFM, their newest member. She is the sister of Robert Hendershot and is a very bright spot in the up and down season that CFM has already experienced. She has 3 wins in the first 6, and is the points leader. Beginnering luck? Or will she stay at the top for the rest of the season? Time will tell.

NASRAC NEWS AND NOTES

Of course, the first thing is the CFM/HR controversy. T.W.I.N. does not believe it is necessary to comment on this. We all have access to the forum and can read it all there if you wish. It does appear to be put behind everyone and that’s a good thing.

We would like to welcome new teams Voodoo, Inc. headed by Ben Sanderson, and MCM Motorsports, with Imetater at the helm. Good luck this season and beyond. Other team notes: With Newsome Racing struggling to find new recruits, JD and Kyle Rowdy Busch (KRB), of Redline, merged into the newly name Redline Performance Racing. Also, Straight Edge Racing’s owner Michael Finley brokered a deal with Aflac99 of Heat Motorsports and combined operations, keeping the Heat Motorsports name.

The Team Challenge is off and running. The seeds for the 1st Team Challenge Knockout Cup are set. Congrats to X2X and Henderson Racing for the top 2 seeds.
Here are the first round matchups:

#3 Bailey Motorsports v. #10 Platinum Motorsports
#4 Heat Motorsports v. #9 Bupp Enterprises
#5 Sith Racing v. #8 Checkered Flag Motorsports
#6 Redline Racing v. #7 Voodoo, Inc.

Good luck to all the teams.

That about wraps up this issue. Thanks for reading and, of course, comments and suggestions are appreciated. See ya next week.

Bupp Breaks Winless Streak

Reeve — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 23:02:58 +0000

Going into the NASRAC Sunshine 600 @ Pheonix it had been 232 races since Phillip Bupp had last visited victory lane back at New Hampshire in the summer of season 9. While his Bupp Enterprises team paid visits all the time he simply could never pull off the win until last night when he finally broke through and won again for the 11th time in his AAA career. His record falls 10 races short of Elliott Henderson’s record 242 race streak. It also marks his 11th win at 11 different tracks which is most likely a record in itself.

The win has not come easy, it took determination and never giving up through good seasons and bad to finally make it back. It took him to 3 different manufacturers and a number change but finally after being a bridesmaid for so many times over the last 6 seasons he has returned to victory lane in the twilight of his career.

It’s also all but guaranteed that this season will also mark the first AAA championship for Bupp Enterprises which started back in season 8. It will not be the first one for Phillip as he won it as an owner in Season 6 when he was leader of X2X Motorsports. His two drivers sit 1-2 with 160 point cushion on 3rd place Diego Gonzalez who surprise surprise is from X2X Motorsports.

Elliott Henderson Back to Victory Lane

Elliott Henderson — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 20:06:03 +0000

After losing 242 consecutive Cup Series races, Elliott Henderson won at Texas. After 333 laps of hard racing, when it was all said and done, Elliott won by 1.32 seconds, and led 94 of the laps. He was awarded ten bonus points for leading the most laps, along with leading one lap. The only thing is, I think so many people were looking at Elliott, they didn’t realize who was second. It was teammate Duffman228. You didn’t have to look back to far for the other two HR drivers either. KingLemmie finished twelfth and Danatyam was 18th. Definitely one of the best races for the AAA team this season.

“It was a really good race for us.” Elliott says, “I also didn’t realize that was Duffman, until I passed him. After that, I honestly didn’t care who it was. I knew I was going to the front, and that was about it.”

Just two weeks after the big Texas win, Elliott went to Talladega with high hopes. He would not be disappointed…

Elliott would take the lead from Kevin Minnelli with just 21 laps to go, and not look back. He went on to win by a margin of over 3 seconds! That is now a new record in itself. Just like Texas, Elliott led the most laps, and maximum points to try to gain on Alan Snyder. Sadly that would not happen. Elliott would go on to finish 25th at Richmond and 45th at Darlington.

“Yeah, we have had a rough last two weeks…” Says Elliott, “…but I think we can really turn it around tonight at Charlotte. HR has always performed well here, and I don’t think it will be any different this season. Heck, maybe we can get Lemmie or Duff in victory lane. Myself and Dan already have one, so we can wait…”

Elliott, along with the other HR drivers go to Charlotte with high hopes.

Newsome Racing: Season 15

Reeve — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 03:10:09 +0000

Written By: Cody Johnson

Coming off their win in the season 14 NASRAC team challenge, Newsome Racing is back and ready to defend their title. This season, NR is stacked with talent. The loss of the quiet, but always competitive Grumpy, was definitely a blow to the team’s confidence, but the lineup of drivers for season 15 is quite capable of challenging for wins and titles. This is a look at Newsome Racing’s season 15 lineup:

Preseason Team Rankings

Reeve — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 01:54:49 +0000

Well another season is right around the corner, and as teams make a last ditch recruitment drive what better time to take a look at them and where they will likely stack up in the end.

9. McCammon Motorsports McCammon Motorsports has been around for several seasons now with moderate successes, but the team doesn’t have the depth to be a real contender. They have alot of newer or not very dedicated members which makes being a successful team almost impossible. I expect that they will win some races and make a challenge in A and AA but I don’t expect alot out of their AAA program.

8. Henderson Racing Henderson Racing is a team that has been around for 8 seasons and as they enter their 9th season they have only won one championship, an A championship which is an accomplishment for Brian Kreashko but it is not a real big accomplishment for an 8 season team. Most teams that have existed 8 seasons have many A titles along with some AA titles or close calls atleast. The team has never really produced and I don’t see them starting this season, they will win some races in A and challenge for the championship there. In AA I expect them to be a 15th-20th points place team with a chase car possibly, and in AAA I expect the team to continue running in the 25th range if they put a car in the chase I will be surprised.

7. Bailey Motorsports Bailey Motorsports is returning in Season 15, and the team has already made alot of enemies. They have a decent looking lineup but alot of them have come from already existing teams leaving several owners frustrated with the team and others looking down on it because they mostly built their teams by finding their own talent and developing it over a couple seasons. The team will likely put a car in the chase at each level, I doubt they will be a real contender in AAA, but AA and A they could make a challenge and win some races. The biggest thing I see against the team is the management system with 4 leaders so far for a 10 or 12 member team, a system that has failed before.

6. Sith Racing Sith has been around for as long as Henderson Racing, but they are the more successful team by a lot. They have almost won the AAA title before and AA title battles. However the leaders of the team have gone inactive for various reasons with Jeremy Alsop beginning the rebuilding process last season. I think they will come back but it will take some time this season they will run decent and have a respectable season.

5. 1Up Motorsports 1Up Motorsports is back in action this season as the former Speed of Light Racing was overhauled into the new 1Up Motorsports with leaders Tim Reeve and Michael Finley. Finley has been setting the expectations on the team through the roof, mainly because of his co leader who is arguably one of the best owners NASRAC has ever seen. The team itself has some veteran depth and some rookie enthusiasm. I see the team being a challenger in A, a respectable team in AA and in AAA they will likely be putting together a decent run between 3 veterans and 2nd year Michael.

4. Redline Motorsports Redline has been a quiet team for its time here in Nasrac. They put a car in the chase most of the time, win some races, and maybe they will win the championship in AA or A. With KRB returning I see them making gains this season, it likely won’t show alot this season which is why I keep them at 6th. I think their AAA may be a surprise but I wouldn’t bet on them winning the AAA championship, then again you never know. AA is a good possibility though.

3. Newsome Racing Newsome has just won the team challenge and JD Newsome made a challenge to Kevin last season early in the chase before falling off later. The team has alot of things going for it they will challenge for A and AA titles, win races everywhere, but the AAA chase will be where they have to prove themselves. They have shown they can make the chase now they have to come in and prove that they can close the deal and bring home that elusive AAA championship.

2. Bupp Enterprises BE is at an important point in the teams future, they have won AA and A championships but they need to close the deal in AAA before they begin to falter and become just one more of the almosts. They will win races, and they will likely be a serious challenger but at the end of the day its time for them to close the deal entering their 8th full time season, the question for BE isn’t will they be competitive but will they finally prove they can close the deal.

1. X2X Motorsports Call me crazy but I think this is when X2X comes back. The team hasn’t won a AAA championship since season 11, which for anyone else wouldn’t be a big deal but X2X has won 6 AAA championships and had never went more than a season without winning before that. They have been rebuilding for some time and something tells me this will be the season they come out and make a legit challenge and continue the legacy.

All opinions in this article are those of the author and not NASRAC

NASRAC: Is It Too Simple?

Reeve — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 00:07:33 +0000

Written By: Michael Finley
All right, I know that NASRAC, when compared to, say, GPRO, is much more simple to learn. There are a gigantic amount of variables in GPRO, while in NASRAC, you don’t, say, upgrade the car. This is not a jab to NASRAC; rather, it is a compliment. NASRAC, giving you up to a week to do a race, doesn’t put you in a small time window such as in GPRO (Close to three days) and both are not near as demanding as Pitstopboss’ 22 Hour average time window. NASRAC appeals to the people who only come on the internet like once a week, while PSB and GPRO demand that you fellow they’re tight windows. To be completely fair, PSB is a 2 year old game that currently does not have actual races in all series/leagues, as the person who posts the fastest time in practice “wins” the “race”, focusing more on setups and less on strategy then any Sim Setup game.
I myself have raced in all three series since February, first with PSB. After getting mad at the short time window, and hearing bad things about GPRO over there, I decided to try and find a NASCAR Setup game of a similar nature. One thing led to another, and I discovered NASRAC one week from Season 12. The rest is history; I have never missed a race on my main account and I have been pretty dang decent since here. I’ll say it here, and I’ll say it now- I love PSB in pure setting up more then NASRAC, and if they raised the time window to 3 days, I might not be here right now. NASRAC, though, is much more forgiving when it comes to set ups, and I love it. Now, I run in GPRO and NASRAC, occasionally coming back to PSB for about 2 weeks. I love all three, but NASRAC is the one I am more dedicated to. I’m fine with missing a race in GPRO, mainly because I am not in the running for a championship and I have no points already.

One thing I love about NASRAC is that there is no fee needed in order to be competitive. PSB and GPRO demands that you need to pay to win at their highest level. I believe you can “support” NASRAC, but Kevin doesn’t require you to do that in order to be promoted or win the AAA1 Title.
NASRAC also doesn’t have or need car upgrades, facilities, parts/tyres, or weather. It makes it needlessly complicated. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. We’ve been doing fine for 2 years now, and we don’t need something ridicule like that.

One thing that would make it more exciting would be to have more manufacture diversity, but I doubt this will happen
In conclusion, NASRAC may be extremely simple, but that’s part of it’s charm. Like a southern cousin, it might be a bit simple, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t less fun. I know Kevin likes to kid about NASRAC one day being a national game millions play, akin to facebook, but realistically, I don’t see this happening. One thing we should do if we do want to go there is create a more global game that has NASCAR, F1, Indy Cars, Trans Am, and Le Mans, such as Batracers, but to make it so that you must drive in the game alone, and no sneaking off to go race on other sites. But this is impossible, as 1). We would need thousands to agree, and 2) it would be tough to regulate people. So, no, sorry Kevin, NASRAC will never really be as big as Facebook, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a success.

To borrow a quote from a 1950′s Daytona Beach Newspaper, NASRAC and it’s simplicity is here to stay. “Like sex, the atom bomb, and ice cream.”

Season 15 Starts November 1st

Reeve — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 21:13:28 +0000

Nasrac Season 15 will start the 1st of November and run until the 18th of December. The season will take a one week break in the end of November for Thanksgiving from the 20th-29th. You can begin setting up now for the 1st 7 races of the season, have fun!

1Up Motorsports is Back!

Reeve — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 02:46:12 +0000

1Up Motorsports is rising out of the ashes of Speed of Light Racing, which was mismanaged into the ground. The 1Up name dates back to Season 1 and was an active team until season 8 when it was merged in with Bailey Motorsports virtually ending the 1Up team as it existed in name only as 1Up/Bailey Motorsports but the 1Up part was all but gone. Now the team is being brought back by Tim Reeve and Michael Finley to continue winning championships as the team had done in the A and AA divisions and capture the teams first AAA Championship.

The team returns in a completely different time, the stranglehold X2X Motorsports had on AAA when they closed no longer exists as the team has now went 3 seasons without winning the AAA crown. Several teams have gone that were in NASRAC back when the team was in prominence and several new teams have come to try and take over the top. Now the team comes back in a time when NASRAC is a much more competitive place then it was back then but it has the leader who has been able to win under every circumstance and is perhaps one of the best leaders of all time, Tim Reeve.

“I don’t expect us to be a big challenger right away,” Said Reeve, “I think we will run decent but I don’t see us as an immediate challenger that will take time. We will be decent and probably be better than a few teams but we won’t be the best for atleast a couple of seasons. I beleive it takes 3 seasons to make a team a legitimate contender by getting the talent that you pick up out of the A and AA divisions to AAA and everyone working together.” Reeve’s first team that he started from scratch almost won the AAA Championship in its 3rd season.

The team seemingly has a rivalry started with Bailey Motorsports thanks to co leader MichaelFinley. “Thats Michaels deal not mine. I know who will prevail in the end there’s two completely separate management styles between 1Up and Bailey. One has been one of the most successful in the game the other has always caused a team blowup and I don’t see any reason why this time will be any different.”

The team is getting its expectations set high by rookie leader MichaelFinley and more gradual by veteran leader Tim Reeve. Perhaps past experiences makes Reeve less enthusiastic about immediate success than his rookie counterpart. Only time will tell how well the team does and until then anyone can expect anything from the team.

Did That Just Happen?

Elliott Henderson — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 21:38:10 +0000

Yes, after eight full seasons in NASRAC, Henderson Racing picks up their first ever championship. Yes, it was in A2, but you have to start somewhere.

Brian Kreashko Jr brought Henderson Racings first championship home on Saturday, October 2nd, 2010. Elliott Henderson had this to say: “I have no words to describe this feeling right now. To win the Daytona 500, have Duffman win his first ever AAA race, cross Martinsville of the HR track list, and then a championship. What a season. On top of that, I think we had around 20 wins total this season. I just don’t know what to say. I would just like to thank Brian for sticking with the team through the hard times, and not giving up.”

After eight full NASRAC Seasons, Henderson Racing can say they have won a championship.

More news and info to be released soon, so stay tuned…

Canada Wins America 500

Elliott Henderson — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 21:22:25 +0000

Article made by: Duffman228

Duffman228, the Canadian bullet, driving the #83 Red Bull Chevy for Henderson Racing, wins his first ever AAA1 race in 169 starts, spaning between season 9-14. With a demotion to AA2 after season 11, and coming back up to AAA1 in season 13, Duffman vowed that with his new lease in the AAA series, he will attack and become an AAA1 winner. With a decent season 13, a win was coming in season 14, and at Lowes, he finally broke though, winning the Bank of America 500. After the coming out of turn 4 of lap 333, Duffman came on the radio and said “WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! FINALLY!!! CHECKERS BABY!CHECKERS!!!” After the race, he spoke with ESPN Insiders on the win.

“The car was amazing today. Best car I’ve had in the closing laps. The last pit stop was a bit slow, but it was real good, perfect adjustments to the car all day by my crew, and….damn, wooo! I gotta thank Marley for that battle at the end. Those last few laps after the caution flew, that was a ton of fun. I gotta thank the fans, and the crew. Henderson Racing brought out a brand new car for this race to test things, and damn, was this a bullet, especially at the end. Man, what a race….I hope I can do the same thing at Martinsville and Dega!”

The Canadian Bullet takes aim, fires and takes down the goliaths in NASRAC.

Sidenote: At 169 races, this is the longest winless streak to start a AAA1 career.