NR2002 All-Star Cup Season

I'd like to note that last season, the driver ratings I used were what NRatings gave the drivers, with no changes. But for this season, I'll be using a tiered system similar to what labontefanboy uses.

First of all, this system uses four tiers, with drivers being sorted based on their performances from the seasons they were plucked from. The tiers are as follows;
Tier 1: 65-95
Tier 2: 60-90
Tier 3: 55-85
Tier 4: 50-80

The drivers are listed from best to worst in what criterion applies to what's being determined. More on that later.

The tiers are put in three categories: Performance, Qualifying, and Track.

Performance applies to Aggression, Consistency, and Finishing. Driver Tiers are determined by the driver's final rank in the championship standings of the year they came from.

Qualifying applies to...well, Qualifying! Driver Tiers are determined by the driver's average starting position from the season they came from.

Track applies to Short Track, Speedway, and Superspeedway (Road Course is left since are no road courses in my season). Average finishing position is what determines driver tier here.

This isn't easy to explain, so here's an example involving Mark Martin from 2000: Mark finished 8th in the 2000 points, so based on ranking, he's Tier 2 in Performance. His average starting position in 2000 was 11.0, which puts him in Tier 1 in Qualifying. His average finishing position in 2000 was 13.62, putting him in Tier 1 in Track.

For Vehicle Ratings, everything is 85-95 for everyone. And Pit Crew is 80-100 for everyone.

For the Days of Thunder duo (Cole Trickle and Rowdy Burns), I gave the both of them Tier 1 ratings in every all the categories, for the sake of emulating their driving styles from the movie.

In due time, I'll put up lists regarding who's where in what tiers.

ASCS Season 2 Power Rankings

42. '02 Buckshot Jones:  Wasn't relevant in '02, won't be relevant here.
41. '04 Ward Burton: He's a veteran, but driving for a team with little rep power could (and likely will) hold him back.
40. '02 Jimmy Spencer: Mr. Excitement won't excite anyone this season.
39. '00 Kenny Wallace: Rusty's brother has a lot going against him...but he could surprise occasionally in 2000.
38. '82 Tim Richmond: Team doesn't have much power, so the driver will have to carry them.
37. '02 Terry Labonte: Level of competition (and mediocre 2002 performance) could keep Iceman Terry from defending his title.
36. '04 Robby Gordon: Road courses are his strong point.  Sadly for him, there are no road courses on the schedule.
35. '96 Morgan Shepherd: He's gettin' old, but at least there are drivers worse than he's bound to be.
34. '02 Dave Blaney: Not the best out there, but could surprise occasionally.
33. '04 Michael Waltrip: Should do good on the superspeedways, but don't expect anything else from him.
32. '96 Rick Mast: Doesn't know if he wants to be good or bad.
31. '02 Jeff Green: Has a Grand National championship, but can he do well against the big boys?
30. '96 Geoff Bodine: Likely to spend season stuck in the middle of the pack (He's not the powerhouse he once was).
29. '02 Bobby Labonte: Average '02 performance means he may not be as much as factor this season as he was last season.
28. '00 Dale Earnhardt Jr: 2000 was Little E's roookie year, which wasn't his best, but he should pick up at least a top-10 or two.
27. '00 Joe Nemechek: Front Row Joe could be a sleeper favorite.
26. '05 Kevin Harvick: Another sleeper pick since Happy missed the chase in 2005.
25. '05 Elliott Sadler: Could be in same boat as Harvick, both drivers could go in front of the other.
24. '02 Jeff Burton: The Mayor should pull out a few good finishes, maybe a win.
23. '02 Bill Elliott: Same story for Awesome Bill.
22. '96 Ken Schrader: Schrader should be a top-10 force every race.
21. '04 Jamie McMurray: J-Mac could pull an upset victory at one point.
20. '96 Ernie Irvan: He's a legit win contender, but not quite a legit championship contender.
19. '04 Jeremy Mayfield: More upset potential here.
18. '87 Bobby Allison: Should do good as long as he doesn't wreck any catchfences.
17. '05 Rusty Wallace: Impressed many during retirement tour, should do same here.
16. '02 Matt Kenseth: 5 wins in 2002, but won't achieve that here.
15. '96 Sterling Marlin: Could be another middle-of-the-packer, but with slightly more success
14. '00 Mark Martin: Only 1 win in 2000, but could be better here.
13. '87 Richard Petty: 1987 might not have been as bad a year for the King as you may think...
12. '87 Kyle Petty: The Prince had a better '87 though.
11. '00 Tony Stewart: No sophmore slump for Smoke in 2000, great stuff in store for him this season!
10. Rowdy Burns: Days of Thunder icon should contend for the win race in and race out.
9. Cole Trickle: See Rowdy Burns.
8. '02 Jeff Gordon: Ya gotta believe in Ol' Jeffy!
7. '96 Ricky Rudd: We should believe in Rudd, too!
6. '00 Dale Jarrett: '96 and '00 were both years DJ won the Daytona 500 and had a great year, should be fun to watch here.
5. '02 Kurt Busch: Even better than sophmore Smoke.  Should impress just like his championship-winning self from 2004.
4. '05 Greg Biffle: 2005 was The Biff's best year, has a good shot at the championship.
3. '04 Jimmie Johnson: Equally good shot at championship.
2. '82 Darrell Waltrip: Won second championship in 1982, should do a lot more this season compared to last season.
1. '87 Dale Earnhardt: Foul luck cost him season 1 championship.  The Intimidator is out for a championship in season 2...and he's my pick for the big prize!

These power rankings are the sole opinion of Caleb "Bobby Ricky" Norman and do not affect anything about how the season will play out.

The All-Star Cup Series saw its second season kick off in Daytona Beach, which gave us 40 laps of drama that ended with an underdog visiting victory lane.

Before we get to the highlights, it should be noted that starting this season, all restarts will be single-file.  This change has been made due to safety concerns.  With that out of the way...

Highlights:

Bill Elliott leads us to the start of season 2.


Michael Waltrip leads the first lap of the season.  He would quickly become a non-factor as Elliott retakes the lead on lap 4.



Elliott and teammate Jeremy Mayfield battle for the lead on lap 9.
 

On lap 15, Buckshot Jones (Yes, THAT Buckshot Jones) charges ahead.


Lap 18: Dale Jarrett and Days of Thunder's own Rowdy Burns bring out the first caution of the season.


Buckshot Jones takes the white flag.  And no, you're not dreaming.  This really happened.


And so did this:  With the odds against him, Roy "Buckshot" Jones drives to victory in the Daytona 100!


Here's the battle for 3rd place, which was (just barely) won by Jeff Burton in the 99.


Results:
F S # DRIVER INTERVAL LAPS LED POINTS STATUS

1 5 44 B Jones 165.526 40 26* 185 Running

2 7 48 J Johnson -0.10 40 0 170 Running

3 12 99 J Burton -0.25 40 0 165 Running

4 6 1 R Mast -0.25 40 0 160 Running

5 2 38 E Sadler -0.36 40 0 155 Running

6 17 28 E Irvan -0.54 40 0 150 Running

7 9 11 D Waltrip -0.66 40 3 151 Running

8 4 24 J Gordon -0.70 40 0 142 Running

9 1 9 B Elliott -0.80 40 8 143 Running

10 14 21 K Petty -0.91 40 0 134 Running

11 22 33 J Nemechek -0.94 40 0 130 Running

12 15 25 K Schrader -1.00 40 0 127 Running

13 8 46 C Trickle -1.52 40 0 124 Running

14 25 4 S Marlin -1.75 40 0 121 Running

15 11 8 D Earnhardt Jr. -1.79 40 0 118 Running

16 19 29 K Harvick -1.85 40 0 115 Running

17 13 19 J Mayfield -1.89 40 0 112 Running

18 33 75 M Shepherd -1.95 40 0 109 Running

19 10 18 B Labonte -2.20 40 0 106 Running

20 3 15 M Waltrip -2.43 40 3 108 Running

21 16 55 K Wallace -2.47 40 0 100 Running

22 18 31 R Gordon -2.52 40 0 97 Running

23 23 20 T Stewart -2.55 40 0 94 Running

24 28 22 B Allison -2.61 40 0 91 Running

25 26 2 R Wallace -2.64 40 0 88 Running

26 35 0 W Burton -2.74 40 0 85 Running

27 24 42 J McMurray -2.86 40 0 82 Running

28 30 16 G Biffle -2.95 40 0 79 Running

29 41 43 R Petty -2.96 40 0 76 Running

30 37 17 M Kenseth -3.05 40 0 73 Running

31 42 12 T Richmond -3.15 40 0 70 Running

32 36 41 J Spencer -3.24 40 0 67 Running

33 21 3 D Earnhardt -3.34 40 0 64 Running

34 40 10 R Rudd -3.43 40 0 61 Running

35 32 7 G Bodine -3.52 40 0 58 Running

36 38 30 J Green -3.55 40 0 55 Running

37 20 97 K Busch -3.64 40 0 52 Running

38 34 77 D Blaney -3.64 40 0 49 Running

39 31 6 M Martin -3.73 40 0 46 Running

40 27 5 T Labonte -3.83 40 0 43 Running

41 29 88 D Jarrett -3.95 40 0 40 Running

42 39 51 R Burns -7.49 40 0 37 Running


Standings after Round 1:
Pos +/- Driver ST W T5 T10 AvFP P AvSP PTS BF/BN

1 -- B Jones 1 1 1 1 1.00 0 5.00 185 0/0



2 -- J Johnson 1 0 1 1 2.00 0 7.00 170 15/15



3 -- J Burton 1 0 1 1 3.00 0 12.00 165 20/5



4 -- R Mast 1 0 1 1 4.00 0 6.00 160 25/5



5 -- E Sadler 1 0 1 1 5.00 0 2.00 155 30/5



6 -- D Waltrip 1 0 0 1 7.00 0 9.00 151 34/4



7 -- E Irvan 1 0 0 1 6.00 0 17.00 150 35/1



8 -- B Elliott 1 0 0 1 9.00 1 1.00 143 42/7



9 -- J Gordon 1 0 0 1 8.00 0 4.00 142 43/1



10 -- K Petty 1 0 0 1 10.00 0 14.00 134 51/8



11 -- J Nemechek 1 0 0 0 11.00 0 22.00 130 55/4



12 -- K Schrader 1 0 0 0 12.00 0 15.00 127 58/3



13 -- C Trickle 1 0 0 0 13.00 0 8.00 124 61/3



14 -- S Marlin 1 0 0 0 14.00 0 25.00 121 64/3



15 -- D Earnhardt Jr. 1 0 0 0 15.00 0 11.00 118 67/3



16 -- K Harvick 1 0 0 0 16.00 0 19.00 115 70/3



17 -- J Mayfield 1 0 0 0 17.00 0 13.00 112 73/3



18 -- M Shepherd 1 0 0 0 18.00 0 33.00 109 76/3



19 -- M Waltrip 1 0 0 0 20.00 0 3.00 108 77/1



20 -- B Labonte 1 0 0 0 19.00 0 10.00 106 79/2



21 -- K Wallace 1 0 0 0 21.00 0 16.00 100 85/6



22 -- R Gordon 1 0 0 0 22.00 0 18.00 97 88/3



23 -- T Stewart 1 0 0 0 23.00 0 23.00 94 91/3



24 -- B Allison 1 0 0 0 24.00 0 28.00 91 94/3



25 -- R Wallace 1 0 0 0 25.00 0 26.00 88 97/3



26 -- W Burton 1 0 0 0 26.00 0 35.00 85 100/3



27 -- J McMurray 1 0 0 0 27.00 0 24.00 82 103/3



28 -- G Biffle 1 0 0 0 28.00 0 30.00 79 106/3



29 -- R Petty 1 0 0 0 29.00 0 41.00 76 109/3



30 -- M Kenseth 1 0 0 0 30.00 0 37.00 73 112/3



31 -- T Richmond 1 0 0 0 31.00 0 42.00 70 115/3



32 -- J Spencer 1 0 0 0 32.00 0 36.00 67 118/3



33 -- D Earnhardt 1 0 0 0 33.00 0 21.00 64 121/3



34 -- R Rudd 1 0 0 0 34.00 0 40.00 61 124/3



35 -- G Bodine 1 0 0 0 35.00 0 32.00 58 127/3



36 -- J Green 1 0 0 0 36.00 0 38.00 55 130/3



37 -- K Busch 1 0 0 0 37.00 0 20.00 52 133/3



38 -- D Blaney 1 0 0 0 38.00 0 34.00 49 136/3



39 -- M Martin 1 0 0 0 39.00 0 31.00 46 139/3



40 -- T Labonte 1 0 0 0 40.00 0 27.00 43 142/3



41 -- D Jarrett 1 0 0 0 41.00 0 29.00 40 145/3



42 -- R Burns 1 0 0 0 42.00 0 39.00 37 148/3


Folks, I have a feeling this season's going to be FAR LESS predictable than last season.  See you at The Rock!

OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH