TMR Game 2011: Week 5

Hello and welcome to the TMR Game Week 5.

This post accepts entries for the Phoenix NASCAR Sprint Cup race which is the only event this week.

Housekeeping

Thinking of joining in? If you place your first entry during the first 8 weeks of the game you will receive 80% of the lowest player’s score from any weeks you missed. That brings you into contention whilst applying a small penalty for lateness, the rest is up to you!

Each week you pick 10 drivers with a maximum of 7 from a single championship. This is the middle of a run of three NASCAR-only weeks so I’m looking for 7 Cup drivers please.

See this page for the game rules.

Email reminders will be sent on Thursdays or Fridays by either myself or Sebastian. Please leave a valid email address in the comment form. If you do not wish to receive reminders please let us know, otherwise we’ll assume we’re okay to send them. Also let us know (privately if you prefer) if you would like to use a different address to the one you use here.

The deadline for entries is Saturday morning at 6am GMT / 1am ET. Read on for results..

Scores

Race Results – Top Ten

	Week 4	NASCAR Sprint Cup
	Points	Daytona 500
1	50	Trevor Bayne
2	40	Carl Edwards
3	35	David Gilliland
4	32	Bobby Labonte
5	30	Kurt Busch
6	28	Juan Pablo Montoya
7	26	Regan Smith
8	24	Kyle Busch
9	22	Paul Menard
10	20	Mark Martin

.
We say Daytona can be a lottery but look at that list, amazing! Huge congratulations to Trevor Bayne. Those who picked the Busch pair and/or Montoya will do well this week, practically all the other big names fell out or fell back, including many of last year’s Chase contenders.

Player Scores

	Player	Sprint Cup	Week 4
1	James	134	134
2	Dylan	100	100
3	Felipe	99	99
4	Sebastian	98	98
5	Pat W	81	81
6	The Crooked Cap	77	77
7	Sean	76	76
8	Ryan	76	76
9	Jay	74	74
10	Startledbunny	65	65
11	Jackie	41	41
12	The Speedgeek	22	22
13	* RubberGoat	18	18
14	* Maverick	18	18

.
* awarded 80% of the lowest score by a full-entry, in this case that was Speedgeek’s result. Unlucky, boys.

Well done James! That’s an incredible score given the number of big names to hit trouble. Edwards, Montoya and Kurt Busch was a good combination. Dylan, Felipe and Sebastian did well, too.

Everybody was hit by the lottery of this race, you can see the impact in Sebastian’s excellent recap of the week when a lot of fancied names for the top 5 all picked up a single point. You can also see that everybody picked Kevin Harvick.

Nobody (among those entering) was affected more than The Speedgeek who is at the bottom of the table for the second time in just two events. Bowyer was the single pick scoring in double-digits for the ‘Geek, the other 6 picks couldn’t match that drivers’ individual score. Hard luck and I hope you do better this week!

There’s a real pressure to not be last each week this year because it knocks on to what other people score when they miss a race – you don’t want that guilt! 80% of 22 points is 18 points and that’s what RubberGoat and Maverick both score this time.

Overall Scores

Pos	Pre	+/-	Name	Prior	Wk 5	TOTAL
1	5	4	James	191	134	325
2	1	-1	Startledbunny	224	65	289
3	2	-1	Sean	212	76	288
4	8	4	Sebastian	182	98	280
5	9	4	Dylan	177	100	277
6	3	-3	Ryan	194	76	270
7	6	-1	The Crooked Cap	189	77	266
8	10	2	Pat W	175	81	256
9	11	2	Jay	175	74	249
10	4	-6	Jackie	192	41	233
11	14	3	Felipe	0+112*	99	211
12	7	-5	RubberGoat	188	18	206
13	12	-1	Maverick	146	18	164
14	13	-1	The Speedgeek	140	22	162

.
James takes the lead!

There’s lots of jostling all over the table which is to be expected for only the second race and I hope lasts for a while yet! I like it when things are mixed up, it keeps everyone on their toes.

* Felipe was awarded 112 points for the Rolex 24 via the ‘newcomer within the first 8 weeks’ rule. 140 x 80% = 112. He made great use of it too, finishing 3rd in Week 4 and leapfrogging Speedgeek and the non-entering RubberGoat and Maverick.

Upcoming Races

NASCAR Sprint Cup (NSC): Subway Fresh Fit 500, Phoenix, Arizona

The unique dogleg feature of the 1-mile Phoenix International Raceway is going to be extensively renovated in time for the Cup Series’ second visit later in the year, so this is your last chance to see it in the classic configuration. I expect this race to be far less of a lottery than was Daytona but with this series most races have a random element to them. I must say I’ve never watched a race at this venue before and I am strongly tempted to do so this year, whether it is Cup or one of the supporting series I don’t yet know. Entry List.

In Closing

Let’s hope for better luck this week and a higher success rate among our picks.

If you know anybody who may like to join in starting at the Phoenix 500, please do send them this way!

17 thoughts on “TMR Game 2011: Week 5”

NASCAR
Jimmie Johnson
Greg Biffle
Matt Kenseth
Juan Montoya
Tony Stewart
Kevin Harvick
Jeff Gordon