NASCAR Free Republic Fantasy League - 2005

[steveegg]

They're testing in Daytona, and Yahoo has opened the doors to the home of the Free Republic Fantasy League. As the 2004 champ (by a fender over WestCoastGal's JuniorsDreamTeam), one of my duties is to get the tires rolling, so I have.

You'll need a Yahoo ID (because they run it), then head here and sign up. The league ID is 1468, and the password is freepers.

[steveegg]

For those that weren't around last year (or simply forgot), here's how it works. You select 8 drivers for qualifying (2 from the "A list", 4 from the "B list" and 2 from the "C list" (the list is below). If any of those drivers qualifies in the front 2 rows (except for the Daytona 500 because of unique qualifying rules and any qualifyings rained out), you get some points - 10 for the pole, 5 for 2nd, 3 for 3rd, and 1 for 4th.

Out of those 8, you chose 1 from the A list, 2 from the B list, and 1 from the C list to race. You get points for how they finish (90 for 1st, 88 for 2nd, 86 for 3rd, and dropping 2 for every place down to 6 for 43rd), whether they led a lap (10 for that) and whether one of them led the most laps (10 for that).

This part is very important; a driver can have only 9 race-day starts before he is completely used up. You can have someone for qualifying all year without using up any starts, but use up those 9 and he can't even qualify for you.

Now, the driver list (they won't move between lists, but drivers can be added anywhere Yahoo decides to put them):

---

A list:
Jeff Gordon
Jimmie Johnson
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Kurt Busch
Tony Stewart
Ryan Newman
Jamie McMurray
Kasey Kahne
Matt Kenseth
Elliot Sadler

---

B list:
Mark Martin
Bobby Labonte
Jeremy Mayfield
Kevin Harvick
Dale Jarrett
Rusty Wallace
Greg Biffle
Michael Waltrip
Sterling Marlin
Jeff Burton
Carl Edwards
Robby Gordon
Ricky Rudd
Mike Bliss
Boris Said
Scott Wimmer
Dave Blaney
Ward Burton
Travis Kvapil
Martin Truex Jr

---

C list:
Ron Fellows
Klaus Graf
Joe Nemechek
Casey Mears
Scott Pruett
Bill Elliot
Brian Vickers
Terry Labonte
Mike Skinner
John Andretti
Johnny Sauter
Scott Riggs
Ken Schrader
Jeff Green
Kyle Petty
Bobby Hamilton Jr
Kenny Wallace
Larry Foyt
Shane Hmiel
Johnny Benson
JJ Yeley
Kyle Busch
Kevin Lepage
Tony Raines
Todd Bodine
Kirk Shelmerdine
Greg Sacks
Jason Leffler

[steveegg]

38-days-to-Daytona mini-ping

[steveegg]

And a much-larger full NASCAR list ping.

If you want on or off, let NormsRevenge, glock rocks or me know.

[Jackknife]

Excellent! I've been wondering when I'd get this ping!

[steveegg]

"Going through last year's posts to try and catch everyone bright and early" ping (which means I probably got you twice already :-)

[steveegg]

Welcome to the machine :-)

Just let us know what your team is (it's rare that FR and Yahoo IDs match up).

[Fierce Allegiance]

Thanks a whole boatload for setting this up again this year!

[steveegg]

Well, it was WSGilcrest (2003 champ) that did it last year. Not a prob.

[steveegg]

And tell Greg, "Thank you."

[Jackknife]

Done. Wayside Riders Racing is now ready to go racing!!

[alancarp]

The off-season's over already???

[steveegg]

In the early-morning rush, I forgot to mention to the new teams that I'm the Wheels of Cheddar.

Every race, we run a live thread full of commentary. We'll actually start with either qualifying for the Daytona 500 or the Twin 125s (I still can't quite say Gatorade 125s). NormsRevenge kicked off the tradition, and a committee now runs it every week. Just look for NASCAR and the race name in the title, and you'll probably find the right place.

[SheLion]

[Fierce Allegiance]

It seems odd that Kasey Kahne is an A lister and Mark Martin a B list runner.

[steveegg]

The off-season's over already???

Pretty much. The odd-finishing teams (along with Mayfield the Home Depot Chevy sans Smoke) finish up testing today, the trucks have the weekend, the even-finishing teams have next Tuesday through Thursday, and the Busch teams have next weekend. The Cup teams enter Speedweeks on February 10th, and the Bud Shootout is the 12th. After that, things start counting again.

[Fierce Allegiance]

The off-season's over already???

WOOOO HOOOO!Almost. I love the smell of primer in winter. It smells like, well, primer. Not quite as good as rubber and oil, but better than the smell of snow. The smell of 2-stroke smoke at this weekends arenacross should help get my blood carbon monoxide levels back to normal.

[alancarp]

It just seems like yesterday when everybody was whining about Dale Jr.'s interviewing vocabulary! :D

[steveegg]

I don't do the assigning, but Yahoo probably assumed that Martin would take it easy in 2005.

[Fierce Allegiance]

I doubt he will! May not be a great Daytona pick, but I will probably max MM out before the 10 race chase.

[steveegg]

Well, you know Mark's engines are only good for 450 miles :-)