Welcome to the big one! Talladega, that is! And joining us this weekend will be intermittent rain…

Qualifying was rained out so the starting positions were determined by the fastest times during the first practice, much to Kenku’s delight. Sitting next to Kenku is rookie Jo L.T. Speed, who was grateful his crew chief and team got his car together enough to run a few fast laps just before practice ended.

Race day also had a slow start, with clouds threatening in the area, but the drivers took to the track anyway, hoping the moisture would stay aloft for as long as possible. FURCAR and track officials felt the same way to there was no lingering over the pre-race festivities. The drivers were out on the track behind the pace car—a tiny yellow Fiat 500e which looked like a speck of dirt compared to the size of the track--and then the green flag flew. Despite their eagerness to get the race underway, the FURCAR drivers all kept their wits about them as they mashed their gas pedals, staying in line with the other drivers all around them for the first forty-three laps of the race. Then the natural attrition struck as Ice road lion blew a tire and spun into the wall, just glancing off Dart Wuffy and Roxanne Clement in the process. The three teams’ crews went to work, patching up the mangled body parts and doing their best to get their drivers back out on the track.

The race picked up speed as the green flag set them loose again. Perhaps a poor choice of words as Duzzy Valo was the next, knocking into Zero and Cheesebeagle as he lost a cylinder and tried to get onto the flat before his car’s fluids coated too much of the track. Another round of green-flag pitstops and strategy resulted in more shuffling of the field. Jo was caught speeding on pit road and had to pass through pit lane, losing the draft and dropping him to the rear of the field. However, he managed to stay just ahead of the leaders for the next third of the race and, after wending his way through the rest of the field of lapped cars, was the winner of the Lucky Dog award when a debris caution was brought out by the rear bumper on Zero Fox’s car.

The race was called right as another round of green-flag pitstops were starting to cycle through, as raindrops made their presence known on the track. Drivers parked their cars on pit road, and everyone headed into the garage area or under umbrellas to wait out what promised to be a brief shower. What took longest was drying off the track again so drivers hydrated, ate a light snack, and socialized with their crew, families, and the media while they waited.

Darkness was quickly approaching and, with all but the top-5 wanting the race to finish at its full distance, the drivers and crews got back out on the track and pit road as soon as the track officials declared the racing surface was dry again. Never have the last laps of a race been run so smoothly. Everyone stayed in line and listened to their spotters.

Until three laps before the finish when the Big One finally struck. Most of the field was involved. Except for two drivers who had been racing in the second half of the field all day. Mark and Shockey Rai were able to avoid all of the trouble, swerving around spinning cars or just having the luck to be in just the right position to avoid being hit, and found themselves in first and second, respectively, as the rest of the field came into the pits for the green-white-checkered. It was a huge gamble, but the pair had been sticking together all day with clean results so, after their teams consulted briefly, they stayed on the track and led the field back to the green.

Mark nailed the start, Shockey Rai tucked in tight behind him, pushing them both ahead of the rest of the field. Tigris pulled in front of pole sitter Kenku and the pair of them pulled the rest of the field behind them as they tried to catch the two drivers in the lead. But it was to no avail. With that initial burst of speed and some excellent blocking, Mark and Shockey Rai swept under the checkered flag to take first and second. Tigris and Kenku were challenged by Oren Hart, but managed to hold him off as they drove through the tri-oval and across the finish line.

Belic finished in seventh, which meant he held onto the points lead going into the last race of the season. Mark’s win vaulted him two spots into second place, pushing Zeke to third. Tigris rose up to fourth, but Cheesebeagle’s troubles for the day tumbled him two spots into fifth. Oren Hart and Duroc Hog made great gains in the points as well, jumping up five and four places, respectively.

Zeke continues to hold onto first in the rookie race, as Eric, Jo, and Dart moved into second, third, and fourth.

Next week is the finale of the first season of 2013! Join us at Darlington to see if the Lady in Black will deign to be tamed or if she’ll lay smackdown on the FURCAR drivers and send them to the All-Star race in tears.

Perfect possible driver combination: 246 points – Edwards, Johnson, Kenseth, Truex Jr., Ragan, Gilliland

Week 10 Standings – Talladega 5/5/13

WEEK

1) (24) Mark (Howling Wolves Racing #64) – 209

2) (25) Shockey Rai (Carolina Speed Racing #86) – 197

3) (17) Tigris (HyperLynx Racing #84) – 195

4) (1) Kenku (Wonder Drink Racing #88) – 192

5) (16) Oren Hart (Sunshine Racing AMX #77) – 187

6) (3) Wildfox (Wildfox Motorsports #34) – 184

7) (10) Belic (Kodiak Racing #76) – 177

8) (11) Slidewolf (Team Vault-Tec #9) – 176 (dead heat + tie broken by top-5 finisher)

8) (4) Jackie Rae Caldoon (Tanuki Trax #02) – 176 (dead heat + tie broken by top-5 finisher)

10) (5) Duroc (Hog Juice Racing #50) – 176

11) (6) Chris Furris (K9 Racing North America #85) – 169

12) (7) Kai Lehtonen (Fluffy Fasttrack Motorsports #3) – 167 (ROOKIE) (tie broken by more top-5 finishers)

13) (12) Edscott (SABco Autosport #42) – 167

14) (22) Beino (Yoshi Motorsports #13) – 163

15) (8) K’gra (Ragdoll Physics Racing #21) – 162

16) (19) Moon Mochi (Monster Blue Eyez Nation #42) – 161 (tie broken by top-5 finisher)

17) (15) Eric AKA Phantom (Phantom Impulse Racing #41) – 161 (ROOKIE)

18) (18) Zeke Bawlbowolf (Zeke Bawlbowolf Racing #29) – 154 (ROOKIE)

19) (2) Jo L.T. Speed (Flame Driven Motorsports #44) – 140 (ROOKIE)

20) (13) Zero (Alcoholocaust Motorsports #00) – 139

21) (14) Cheesebeagle (RaceToTheCheese Racing #300) – 138

22) (23) Roxanne Clement (Sunshine Racing AMX #53) – 132

23) (20) Dart Wuffy (Wolf’s Den Racing #88) – 125 (ROOKIE)

24) (9) Duzzy Valo (G-Shep Racing #09) – 124

25) (21) Ice road lion (Jetpack Racing #40) – 109

SEASON (points behind next driver, positions moved this week)

1) Belic (Kodiak Racing #76) – 1915 (n/a, +0)

2) Mark (Howling Wolves Racing #64) – 1849 (-66, +2)

3) Zeke Bawlbowolf (Zeke Bawlbowolf Racing #29) – 1848 (ROOKIE) (-1, -1)

4) Tigris (HyperLynx Racing #84) – 1818 (-30, +1)

5) Cheesebeagle (RaceToTheCheese Racing #300) –1780 (-38, -2)

6) Jackie Rae Caldoon (Tanuki Trax #02) – 1771 (-9, +0)

7) Beino (Yoshi Motorsports #13) – 1756 (-15, +0)

8) Slidewolf (Team Vault-Tec #9) – 1740 (-16, +1)

9) Shockey Rai (Carolina Speed Racing #86) – 1732 (-8, +3)

10) Eric AKA Phantom (Phantom Impulse Racing #41) – 1708 (ROOKIE) (-24, +1)

11) Ice road lion (Jetpack Racing #40) – 1688 (-20, -3)

12) Wildfox (Wildfox Motorsports #34) – 1675 (-13, +3)

13) Duroc (Hog Juice Racing #50) – 1663 (-12, +4)

14) Duzzy Valo (G-Shep Racing #09) – 1658 (-5, -1)

15) Roxanne Clement (Sunshine Racing AMX #53) – 1653 (-5, -1)

16) Oren Hart (Sunshine Racing AMX #77) – 1652 (-1, +5)

17) K’gra (Ragdoll Physics Racing #21) – 1639 (-13, +2)

18) Edscott (SABco Autosport #42) – 1638 (-1, +2)

19) Jo L.T. Speed (Flame Driven Motorsports #44) – 1628 (ROOKIE) (-10, -3)

20) Zero (Alcoholocaust Motorsports #00) – 1598 (-20, +2)

21) Croco Chilton (Crocosaur Racing #15) – 1558 (-40, -11)

22) Kenku (Wonder Drink Racing #88) – 1533 (-25, +4)

23) Moon Mochi (Monster Blue Eyez Nation #42) – 1530 (-3, +2)

24) Dart Wuffy (Wolf’s Den Racing #88) – 1504 (ROOKIE) (-26, -1)

25) Silaria (One Horn Racing #05) – 1483 (-21, -7) (ROOKIE)

26) Chris Furris (K9 Racing North America #85) – 1404 (-79, +2)

27) Raz Yoshi (Yoshi Motorsports #30) –1374 (-30, -3)

28) Swift Fox (SF Racing #45) – 1289 (ROOKIE) (-85, -1)

29) Furry Mike (WWE-Furs Racing #21) – 1189 (ROOKIE) (-100, +0)

30) Chance Morgan (Tygerfox Racing #70) – 1148 (-41, +0)

31) Jasper Erickson (iBolt! Racing Group #25) – 908 (-240, +0) (ROOKIE)

32) Kai Lehtonen (Fluffy Fasttrack Motorsports #3) – 885 (-23, +0) (ROOKIE)

33) Colimarm (Procyon-Cyclone #57) – 170 (-615, +0) (ROOKIE)

34) Darksteel (Darksteel Racing #375) – 166 (-4, +0) (ROOKIE)

35) Kasey The Husky (KTH Racing #35) – 131 (-35, +0)

ROOKIES (points behind next rookie)

1) Zeke Bawlbowolf (Zeke Bawlbowolf Racing #29) – 120 points (n/a)

2) Eric (Phantom Impulse Racing #41) – 87 points(-1)

3) Jo L.T. Speed (Flame Driven Motorsports #44) – 86 points (-1)

4) Dart Wuffy (Wolf’s Den Racing #88) – 81 points (-3)

5) Silaria (One Horn Racing #05) – 80 points (-32)

6) Swift Fox (SF Racing #45) – 63 points (-12)

7) Furry Mike (WWE-Furs Racing #21) – 51 points (-12)

8) Kai Lehtonen (Fluffy Fasttrack Motorsports #3) – 46 points (-15)

9) Jasper Erickson (iBolt! Racing Group #25) – 30 points (-6)

10) Colimarm (Procyon-Cyclone #57) – 6 points (-24)

11) Darksteel (Darksteel Racing #375) – 5 points (-1)

SEASON STATS:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1puSi7iCherQmpBOGdRR3JlR3c/edit?usp=sharing&pli=1

CAREER STATS:

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B1puSi7iChereEZ6TEFnLVFTSGFXY2JjNndkeXFxQQ

CHASE STATS:

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B1puSi7iCherWklhMDZSUDNKREU