Fast Forward ~ The 2013 Season Preview Rewind
11/21/2013
Staff Article
“The future is like a corridor into which we can see only by the light coming from behind.”
– Edward Weyer
The Track: No…No Track.
The Race: Nope….No Race
The History: Well, we do have some history…
Hello, all, and welcome to the Race Fans Forever Fast Forward Fantasy Race Picks And Preview Rewind. There’s a keyboard full…
It is true, we have no race this week, and won’t until…February. That hurts to say, actually. We do, however, have some unfinished business here. Jimmie Johnson might be the actual Sprint Cup Series Champion, but we have a Champion to crown here, too, and will do so shortly, but let’s review the picks from last week first.
The Contenders:
Kevin Harvick: Kevin came home 10th, and while not horrible, has to be disappointed with it.
Matt Kenseth: Did almost everything he needed to do, short of winning, which is exactly what I predicted. He finished in second place in the race as well as the Chase.
Jimmie Johnson: Johnson did what he needed to do as well, and that was cruise to a rather easy Championship victory with a ninth place finish.
So, a 2nd, a 9th, and a 10th.
Now, let’s get to the results of our little internal game here on Race Fans Forever…
Throughout the season, our Pros made 214 total picks.
Alabama Fitz- 37 Picks: 2 DNF, 13 top fives and one win. (J. Johnson-Dover 2)
Brian Marchetti- 37 Picks: 3 DNF, 12 top fives and 3 wins. (J. Johnson – All Star and Martinsville 1, J. Gordon Martinsville 2)
Jim Fitzgerald- 37 Picks: 1 DNF, 19 top fives and seven wins. (M. Kenseth at Kansas 1, Kentucky, Bristol 2 and Chicago, G. Biffle at Michigan 1, J. Johnson at Daytona 2, and Ky. Busch at Watkins Glen.)
Mr. Seven- 37 Picks: 0 DNF, 0 top fives and 0 wins.
PattyKay Lilley- 32 Picks: 2 DNF, 13 top fives, and 4 wins (J. Johnson at All Star, Pocono 1 and Texas 2, J. Gordon at Martinsville 2)
Kevin Abraham- 30 Picks: 5 DNF, 11 top fives and two wins. (Ky. Busch at Atlanta and Matt Kenseth at Chicago)
Marshall Gabell- 4 Picks: 0 DNF, 2 top fives, and one win. (Kevin Harvick at Phoenix 2)
What does all of this mean? It means that after 37 weekly picks, it all came down to the last race. PattyKay had an eight point lead on me. I chose Matt Kenseth, she chose Kevin Harvick. Harvick finished 10th while Kenseth was second. A difference of eight points. However, Kenseth also led the most laps, giving him, and me, one….extra…point…
Folks, it gives me great pride to be able to call myself the 2013 and Inaugural Race Fans Forever Fantasy Racing Champion. It was not easy, and my congrats go out to the other players for a great season. I prided myself on making the best possible pick for YOU, the reader, as the season progressed. I hope you did as well in your league.
Here are the final standing in our league.
|
Player |
Selection |
Race Pts |
Previous Pts |
Total Pts |
Behind |
Wins |
DNFs |
|
Jim |
20 |
44 |
2353 |
2397 |
0 |
7 |
1 |
|
PattyKay |
29 |
35 |
2361 |
2396 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
|
Brian |
20 |
44 |
2328 |
2372 |
25 |
3 |
3 |
|
Marshall |
88 |
42 |
2303 |
2345 |
52 |
1 |
0 |
|
Alabama |
99 |
32 |
2310 |
2342 |
55 |
1 |
2 |
|
Mr. Seven |
18 |
37 |
2299 |
2336 |
61 |
0 |
0 |
|
Kevin |
11 |
39 |
2277 |
2316 |
81 |
2 |
5 |
Folks, that about wraps it up for this season of Fast Forward. We will be back next year to try to help you with your fantasy picks. We’re not perfect…we’re just trying to help and have a little bit of fun while we’re at it!
Before we go, we had one more little wrap up session…
JIM FITZGERALD:
Well folks, anything special to say about this season? The season has finished, but we have a little
bit of unfinished business. After going
through the points again, the whole year's worth, it
is true...yours, truly, is the Fast Forward Fantasy Racing League Champion...by
ONE point, over PattyKay. Sticking with
Matt Kenseth, as I said I would, paid off, as he had a dominant night, and finished
second to Denny Hamlin.
"I feel like
Kenseth is going to run up front all day, lead the most laps, but finish
second"-Jim Fitzgerald, Nov
14th, 2013
Even blind squirrels will find nuts. Hats off to Brian for finishing in third! Marshall actually moved up into 4th place with his pick of Earnhardt, Jr., which caused Fitz to slip to 5th. Mr. Seven ended up in 6th place. Let it be known, that had we actually scored him for seventh place points for the race where he chose Brian Vickers, HE STILL WOULD NOT HAVE WON. He would have finished in third place, 24 points back. Kevin, I'm sorry to say, gets the Cellar Dweller award.
ALABAMA FITZ: First off, congrats to Jim for winning our
inaugural season. That was close! I had it figured by three points...need to
reconfigure I guess. To everybody else,
nice try, but it's hard to beat a guy with seven wins and only one DNF all
season. To Kevin, be not discouraged! In the last race you ran better
than PattyKay, Mr. Seven or myself.
Things are looking up! Plus, you
had two wins, so, you CAN do it. If not
for five DNFs, who knows!? PattyKay, thanks for a wonderful year and all your
input. Your stories are amazing and incredibly
enlightening. As with Kevin, DNFs bit
you. You had only two. But for that you
would have been the Champion. Brian,
your wit is singular and you have provided many chuckles this past season. I guess the springs and shocks in Matt's car
were good enough after all. Here's hoping
your stock in M&Ms does well enough to keep sponsoring Kyle because I don't
know what you'd do if he switched sponsors to a turf builder! Marshall, I hear you are retiring. You should reconsider. You made quite a splash in your short
visit. As for myself, I think we all
came out winners. With Jim and PattyKay
working long hours and everybody else contributing when and where they could, it
was a team effort and we had good leaders.
We met new people in print and in person and we can boast that we are
worldwide. I for one learned a lot about
a lot of things. I've thought about the
thing I liked most about RFF and I couldn't come up with just one thing. It all ties together so nicely. ERASETHECHASE!
KEVIN ABRAHAM: I would say this season was a success overall. Even though I finished last this year does not mean that I made bad selections (except maybe my pick of Danica at Talledega). I had a lot of bad luck many weeks with my picks. Case in Point: I picked Denny Hamlin at Phoenix, and he had a bad day, yet he won the next week in Homestead. I have had picks flip, wreck, blow engines, and make mistakes on pit road. I am looking forward to clawing my way out of the basement next year, and contending for the championship. Congrats to Jim for his championship, but you need to be watching your back because I do not see a repeat next year.
JIM FITZGERALD: WOW! Trash Talk already!
PATTYKAY LILLEY: Like the others, I must begin with
congratulations to the Grand Poobah of Fantasy Racing
aka Jim. Nice going. You won a very decisive victory,
with that one point and all. Still, you won, fair and square, and I respect
that. Somehow, April Fool's Day seems so far in the
distance now, as we come crashing down on Thanksgiving and all that follows.
For our readers, that was the day that I began my tenure here at Race Fans
Forever, and I have never regretted one minute of the choice I made. Wonderful
folks hang out here, and I'm happy to be a part of their lives, albeit a small
one. Thanks for having me Jim... not that I gave you much choice. I sort of
moved in and dared you to evict me.
JIM FITZGERALD:
Not a chance. I’m not letting you
go. PK, you had a good run and came home
with a respectable second place finish!
PATTYKAY LILLEY: Bah, second place is just the first loser. Still, you'll always know that I took the high road and didn't pick Kenseth, thereby leaving you no chance on earth of catching me. I made a race out of it. Wish Kevin Harvick had done the same. Fitz, you're a great guy, and it's been my pleasure to see your name so often in my comments and to converse with you both on the board and here behind the scenes. That bucket list thing shouldn't be hard to accomplish. I believe you and I are less than a hundred miles apart. Just don't expect anything more than an old lady with a penchant for racing. Kevin, I really will miss you Hon, and I do wish you'd give more consideration to your decision to leave us. If you really mean to stay gone, you have my email and phone number. I'm always available to you. Do well in life, and don't be a stranger here. We will always accept guest appearances. Brian, what can I say? You're different, my friend, but you're fun. I'm happy to have played the game with you and yes, I'm happy to have beaten you... and everyone else not named Jim. Well, race fans, this is our Fast Forward finale for 2013. Hope to see you all at Daytona. Enjoy safe and sane Holidays, and come out the other side alive and well. I'll take my parting words from the Dickens character, Tiny Tim... God bless us, every one!