As an avid player of all fantasy sports, there is nothing more exciting or frustrating than Fantasy NASCAR.
The way our league works here at the speedway, you can pick an A-list driver, two B-list drivers and a C-list driver.
With three laps to go on Sunday, I was beaming from ear to ear as all four of my drivers were situated inside the top-10. My A-lister, Kyle Busch, had raced his way up to second. Chase Elliott, a C-lister (all rookies start as C's), was close behind in third, while my two B-list drivers, Carl Edwards and Austin Dillon, were positioned in seventh and 10, respectively.
I was giddy.
Not so fast.
With one blown tire my fantasy week went from (insert happy emoticon) to (insert angry emoticon). From four drivers in the top-10 to sixth, seventh, 24th and 25th.
Are you kidding me?
But that's beauty of racing, isn't it? One little thing can change the fortune of someone's afternoon.
On the TV broadcast they showed a pair of Kyle Busch fans in the stands after he hit the wall. They couldn't believe it. One moment their driver was securely locked into his fifth straight top-five to begin the season; the next he was making his way to the pits with no chance to go for the victory on the restart.
The win, of course, went to Superman himself, Jimmie Johnson, who surpassed Dale Earnhardt for seventh on the all-time wins list with 77.
It was also another win for NASCAR, which is having one of its most competitive seasons in years. Dramatic finishes, aggressive racing, and parity - with four different winners in the first five races.
And in spite of my anger after how Sunday's race finished (I dropped six places in the fantasy NASCAR standings!), I couldn't be more excited about what's happening in the sport right now.
July is closer than you think. I hope you'll join us here at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for what I am willing to bet will be one of the best weekends of racing in this track's history.
Let's just stay away from wagering on our fantasy lineups …
