Round 17: Talladega

by **ChrisEagor** Fri Jul 22, 2016 7:13 am

Welcome to the penultimate race of the Mountain Dew Junior Series--Talladega. The championship picture looks like it is going to be Christopher Bryant and Alissa Kirby, however, there are other drivers trying to within 70 points or less for Fontana in Auto Club Speedway.

1. Christopher Bryant LEADER
2. Alissa Kirby -16
3. Henry Sandfer -69
4. Chris Valentine -74
5. Ray Kregier -98
6. Mark Holbert -117
7. Shrimp Engrits -120
8. James Dalton -135

Bryant can clinch the championship, but Talladega is quite annoying to close out the championship because of the nature. He can gain big though before heading to Fontana. Kirby can overtake the point if he finishes in 11th. If she finishes 12th which ties Bryant in points, Bryant will still be the championship leader due to a tiebreaker in wins. Henry Sandfer is on the blink of losing everything that he had--the championship and Rookie of the Year. He needs a podium if he can contend realistically. Valentine out of nowhere has strong momentum and could be in for Fontana, but he needs a lot of luck. Chris Valentine did win Talladega in Season 2 of Slim Jim. But it is so lucky that Binky Louviere (no joke) helped him by almost wrecking him, giving him the momentum. Kregier is a long shot and needs a lot of help to get within a race before Fontana. Holbert, Engrits, and Dalton are alive in terms of points; I don't think they are going to make it. Hey, Look at Maxwell Chan in Season 2 of IES at Talladega. He was 140 points exactly two races down and almost got in, gaining 65 points. So, the impossible is possible, but neither one are likely to have the performance that Chan got.

As for the race, Talladega is a shit storm. Coming unexpected will happen, and an underdog could pull an upset win. This is one reason why I like this place: to see the unexpected and big moments happened. Plus, there's usually a Big One in Talladega. Four wide is possible, and the field needs to be careful. Injury factor is also a thing at Talladega. I believe Edward Miller got injured last season at the same track. Cars are going just above 200 MPH. It also depends how the driver hits wall or other cars

Qualifying will be out later tonight. The race will be uploaded during the weekend.

by **ChrisEagor** Fri Jul 22, 2016 10:17 pm

Qualifying Results

P # DRIVER TIME
1 99 A Kirby 48.639
2 40 P Sparrow -R- 48.768
3 91 E Powers -R- 48.837
4 25 S Commons -R- 48.866
5 12 K Young 48.876
6 24 M Holbert 48.962
7 33 M Cavagnaro -R- 49.028
8 22 N McKane 49.401
9 8 R Simmons 49.421
10 3 M Yoshizawa 49.427
11 94 J Dalton 49.434
12 42 C Davidson -R- 49.440
13 41 H Sandfer -R- 49.461
14 5 J Garcia 49.523
15 01 B Louviere 49.581
16 31 C Bryant 49.588
17 00 K Shock Jr. -R- 49.800
18 10 S Johnson -R- 50.020
19 43 N Dwyer 50.039
20 96 C Kumori -R- 50.241
21 18 K Pitt -R- 50.339
22 36 S Engrits 50.364
23 6 C Valentine 50.452
24 16 K Takamoto 50.554
25 28 B Praxis 50.771
26 9 J Dwyer 50.980
27 17 R Kreiger 51.031
28 81 M Bruno 51.053
29 2 S Young 51.192
30 44 N Norton 51.205
31 1 J Lightning 51.205
32 20 M Neuwirth -R- 51.216
33 4 E Miller 51.249
34 7 B Strauss -R- 51.345
35 46 S Nam-gi -R- 51.633
36 93 P Swanson 51.662
37 60 J Coleman -R- 51.743
38 29 R Anderson 51.830
39 77 D Weeks -R- 52.135
40 71 K Rundas 52.322
41 88 J Evans 52.822
42 55 T Delic 1:35.293

Alissa Kirby gets the pole, and her 5 bonus points will be added to close Bryant's gap. It is down to 11. Henry Sandfer starts in 13th, and Christopher Bryant starts in 16th. Tamur Delic did set a lap which is longer than expected, but the car have lost a gear during his qualifying run.