2017 Season




2017 marked the first season that a new sponsor would take over the Cup series since Lucky Dog Racing's existence. The league had only raced in the Sprint/Nextel era but would now be under Monster Energy. That meant a slightly different look to the pages with the colors to match the new sponsor. With the new sponsor came a new format and rules. For the first time there would be stage racing and playoff points. Lucky Dog Racing adopted its own format that would be used in all three series.

There would no longer be points for lap leaders which also meant that we would no longer be tracking those stats. Stage winners would now become what everyone wanted to pick in each race, that would give the extra bonus points. In addition, the top 5 drivers from each race would receive playoff points which would be used when the playoffs began. The Chase for the Championship was now just simply called the playoffs.

The council voted on a uniformed playoff format in all three series with a total of 16 drivers eligible for the post season. For the first time there would also be a regular season winner, the driver finishing on top of the standings before the playoffs began. The drivers that finished in the top 10 of the standings would also receive bonus points if they qualified for the playoffs as well.

2017 would mark the league's 14th Cup series, 13th for the Xfinity series and 11th Truck series season. Lucky Dog Racing would also partake in the 12th season of the LROC series which would feature four teams for the second time.

The Cup series would start the season with 46 members and 2 rookies in the field. Todd Oliver and Nate Bishop would battle it out in a 2 driver battle for rookie of the year. Later on in the season, Al Allison would also be called up to the season and Marvin Jones would make his return as well.

There would be a much larger rookie class in the Xfinity and Truck series. Six rookies would start the season; John Boros, Bobby Ericson, Rodger Pitts, Bobby Saul and Jakub Smetena. Later on Thomas Lutz would also join the series.

The Truck series five rookies were Andrew Duffel, Thomas Lutz, Erik Pitts, Bobby Saul and Jakub Smetena.

before the season began the league would vote on its next member to join the hall of Fame and this year it was Jose Rodriguez. Fresh off his cup championship the year before, Jose tied Dean Higley for the shortest time to enter the Hall, just six seasons.

The pre-season Cup reason would start the season off, previously known as the Sprint Unlimited the race's name was changed to the Clash at Daytona. The first winner of the newly named race was Wendal Ebach who hadn't yet won a points race in the Cup series yet. Wendal won't have to worry about qualifying for this race any longer, he'll be locked in to all future races. The following week, Greg Eichele took the big prize by winning the Daytona 500. Al Allison took the season opener in the Xfinity series and Rodney Webb won in the Truck series.

In the Cup series the next few races were won by Robby Stone, Teeder Jenkins and Frank Page before Greg Eichele became the first repeat winner of the season at Auto Club Speedway. The Truck series wouldn't have a repeat winner until Steve Barber won at Pocono and Chicagoland.

Al Allison took the first two restrictor plate wins by winning again at Talladega. That Talladega race weekend was difficult for the league because we were notified that we had lost one of our members. Fred Sanchez passed away due to complications with cancer. The league dedicated all three races that weekend to his honor. It was also decided that Fred's longtime friend Steve Barber would make his picks for the rest of the season, and he did a great job, sending him all the way to championship four.

A couple of weeks later long time veteran and Hall of Fame member Jordan Hunt decided that he would exit the league due to lack of interest in NASCAR. Al Allison was called up to replace him in the Cup series. He had left the Xfinity series a little earlier in the season and was replaced by Thomas Lutz.

As the playoffs approached, 16 drivers were able to get the chance to race for the championship in each series. Jesy Turgeon won the Cup series regular season, Janet Sebern won the Xfinity regular season and Jose Rodriguez won the Truck series regular season.

The Cup series playoffs consisted of three rounds before the championship four took place at Homestead. The four drivers that were lucky enough to make it were Todd Oliver, Ray Perrotta, Fred Sanchez and Kelly Wolfe. The Xfinity and Truck series featured just 2 round before the championship four. The playoff drivers would be cut in half in each round. In the Xfinity series, the four championship drivers were Al Allison, Todd Oliver, Will Riney and Kelly Wolfe. The Truck series championship four were Brian Blair, Matt Minnich, Will Riney and Jose Rodriguez. Kelly Wolfe, Todd Oliver and Will Riney were the three drivers that made the championship four in two series.

The championship Truck race was a very close battle between Matt Minnich and Jose Rodriguez. Matt Minnich prevailed to win the Truck series title, his first championship in Lucky Dog Racing. The first Xfinity race winner of the season took the championship at Homestead. Al Allison surprised quite a few people and became the oldest first time winner in the league.

In the Cup series, the championship drivers struggled, the highest finisher was in 19th place. The turned out to be Todd Oliver who had come close to wining championships in both the Xfinity and Truck series but finally broke through in the Cup series.

Todd became the 2nd driver to win both the Cup rookie of the year and championship in the same season. He also became the first driver in league history to win the rookie of the year championship in all three series. He was able to win the Chaser Eraser as well.

Kelly Wolfe won the team championship and became the first single car team to win that trophy. Lou Demian won the MVT for first time, Dean Higley won the best of the rest award.

In the Xfinity series, Jakub Smetena won rookie of the year and Lou Demian took best of the rest while Thomas Lutz won Truck rookie of the year and Matt Steinfels won best of the rest in that series.

Kevin Sullivan was a double winner by taking the championship in the streak to the finish and manufacturer challenge. Jay Smogolski won the Yahoo Championship.

Lucky Dog Racing struggled in the first half of the LROC season but came back pretty strong in the second half and finished in 2nd place. Jose Rodriguez was able to make a big comeback and win the LROC championship. He became the 2nd player to win championships in all four series.

That wrapped up another season and the league looks forward to their 15th season. The Daytona 500 will mark a milestone race for the league since it will be the 500th Cup race.




2017 Season Drivers

Drivers are listed alphabetically
Click on each driver to see their 2017 league stats

Driver
Team
#
Sponsor
First Race
Last Race
Starts
Finish
Charquillia Addison Gopher Broke Racing #99 Taco Bell 5/20/04 Current 36 19th
Al Allison AA Racing #0 HyVee 2/26/17 Current 36 44th
Dione Baker 5:16 Racing #10 NOTW 2/23/14 Current 36 40th
Leon Baker 5:16 Racing #28 Ford Racing 2/14/10 Current 36 39th
Nate Bishop THammerDaddy Racing #94 WWE Network 2/26/17 Current 36 6th
Ed Blackman Coast To Coast Racing #6 Belching Beaver Brewery 2/20/05 Current 36 18th
Joanne Blackmann 48wins7 #65 Counting Cars 2/21/16 Current 36 42nd
Ron Blackman El Diablo & The Magic Men Motorsports #48 Lowe's 9/18/11 Current 36 22nd
Brian Blair South Mountain Motorsports #71 Klassic Kollectibles 2/24/13 Current 36 24th
Shane Burton Jim Beam Racing #5 Levi Garrett 6/8/14 Current 36 35th
Randy Cook Randy Cook Racing #29 Busch Beer 2/18/07 Current 36 34th
Gwen Demian Intimidator Racing, Inc. #04 OBX.org 4/4/04 Current 36 28th
Lou Demian Intimidator Racing, Inc. #1 Blue Moon 4/4/04 Current 36 5th
Stephen DiCaprio Racing Traditions, Inc. #83 Xbox One 10/30/05 Current 36 33rd
Wendal Ebach Whooz Racing #93 NDSU 2/21/16 Current 36 31st
Greg Eichele Slingshot Motorsports #2 Crown Royal 2/20/11 Current 36 43rd
Dean Higley Racing Traditions, Inc. #84 Coca-Cola 2/18/07 Current 36 17th
Terry Howell Randy Cook Racing #59 Nationwide 2/17/08 Current 36 38th
Jordan Hunt Northeast Ohio Motorsports #07 AARP: Drive To End Hunger 11/5/06 8/6/17 22 46th
Harry Jeffery Coast To Coast Racing #21 Martin Luther College 2/20/05 Current 36 10th
Teeder Jenkins PFQ Racing #14 Sunoco 2/20/11 Current 36 12th
Mark Mason Slingshot Motorsports #23 Chick-Fil-A 2/20/05 Current 36 9th
Greg Miller El Diablo & The Magic Men Motorsports #12 NAPA Auto Parts 2/9/05 Current 36 21st
Matt Minnich South Mountain Motorsports #52 Alka-Seltzer 2/24/13 Current 36 20th
Todd Oliver Top Gun Racing #24 Monster Energy 2/26/17 Current 36 1st
Frank Page Gopher Broke Racing #16 Chili's 2/20/05 Current 36 11th
Ron Parlacoski, Jr. KrazyRacing3 #33 Goodwrench Service 2/14/10 Current 36 30th
Ray Perrotta Slingshot Motorsports #8 Buffalo Wild Wings 2/20/05 Current 36 3rd
Will Riney El Diablo & The Magic Men Motorsports #81 NOS Energy 2/19/06 Current 36 29th
Jose Rodriguez El Diablo & The Magic Men Motorsports #18 Skittles 7/7/12 Current 36 8th
Fred Sanchez Happy Pappy #55 Under Armour 2/23/14 11/19/17 36 4th
Paul Scannell Racing Traditions, Inc. #02 Audibel Hearing Aids 2/27/12 Current 36 27th
Larry Scroggins Intimidator Racing, Inc. #43 Pabst Blue Ribbon 2/20/05 Current 36 37th
Hurricane Sidwell Sunday Money #00 Jim Beam 4/25/10 Current 36 32nd
Dave Smith Draftpack 3 88 #56 Captain Morgan 2/27/12 Current 36 7th
Ryan Smith Randy Cook Racing #51 Guinness Beer 2/20/05 Current 36 41st
Jay Smogolski Coast To Coast Racing #66 Fat Tire 6/2/13 Current 36 26th
Robby Stone Northeast Ohio Motorsports #15 Bass Pro Shops 2/15/09 Current 36 15th
Kevin Sullivan Coast To Coast Racing #78 NC State University 2/18/07 Current 36 23rd
Joe Tenpenny Jim Beam Racing #20 U.S. Nevy 2/23/14 Current 35 45th
Jack Thesier Coast To Coast Racing #71 Disney 5/26/13 Current 36 13th
Jessy Turgeon Racing Traditions, Inc. #91 Save The Polar Bears 2/20/11 Current 36 14th
Rodney Webb Webbspun Racing #4 Peterbilt 2/21/16 Current 36 25th
Gary Wheat Northeast Ohio Motorsports #09 World Vision 2/18/07 Current 36 16th
Troy Wiggins Intimidator Racing, Inc. #03 The Sierra Club 2/20/05 11/19/17 36 36th
John Wilson Texas Motorsports #79 Chevrolet 2/20/05 5/13/17 11 48th
Kelly Wolfe Wolferacing #54 DANA 7/13/14 Current 17 2nd





2017 Information

Cup Series Driver Standings

Cup Series Team Standings

League Statistics & Records

Rookie of the Year Race

2017 Playoff Grid

Money Pit Standings: Segment One

Money Pit Standings: Segment Two

Money Pit Standings: Segment Three

Money Pit Standings: Segment Four



2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Schedule & Results / Click each race to see the results
Race # Date Race Track NASCAR Winner League Winner
Exhb. 2/18
Sat.		 Advance Auto Parts Clash at Daytona Daytona Intl. Speedway Joey Logano
2017 Winner		 Wendal Ebach
2017 Winner
Start of Money Pit Segment 1
1. 2/26 Daytona 500 Daytona Intl. Speedway Kurt Busch
2017 Winner		 Greg Eichele
2017 Winner
2. 3/5 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 Atlanta Motor Speedway Brad Keselowski
2017 Winner		 Robby Stone
2017 Winner
3. 3/12 Kobalt 400 Las Vegas Motor Speedway Martin Truex Jr.
2017 Winner		 Teeder Jenkins
2017 Winner
Salary Re-Alignment: 2017 owner points now in effect
4. 3/19 Camping World 500 Phoenix Intl. Raceway Ryan Newman
2017 Winner		 Frank Page
2017 Winner
5. 3/26 Auto Club 400 Auto Club Speedway Kyle Larson
2017 Winner		 Greg Eichele
2017 Winner
6. 4/2 STP 500 Martinsville Speedway Brad Keselowski
2017 Winner		 Troy Wiggins
2017 Winner
7. 4/9 O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 Texas Motor Speedway Jimmie Johnson
2017 Winner		 Gwen Demian
2017 Winner
4/16 Off Weekend #1 - Easter
8. 4/24 Food City 500 Bristol Motor Speedway Jimmie Johnson
2017 Winner		 Ray Perrotta
2017 Winner
9. 4/30 Toyota Owners 400 Richmond Intl. Raceway Joey Logano
2017 Winner		 Harry Jeffery
2017 Winner
End of Money Pit Segment #1, Start of Segment 2
10. 5/7 Geico 500 in Memory of Fred Sanchez Talladega Superspeedway Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
2017 Winner		 Lou Demian
2017 Winner
Salary Re-Alignment
11. 5/13 GoBowling.com 400 Kansas Speedway Martin Truex Jr.
2017 Winner		 Mark Mason
2017 Winner
Exhb. 5/20
Sat. night		 Monster Energy All-Star Race Charlotte Motor Speedway Kyle Busch
2017 Winner		 Ron Parlacoski, Jr.
2017 Winner
12. 5/28 Coca-Cola 600 Charlotte Motor Speedway Austin Dillon
2017 Winner		 Terry Howell
2017 Winner
13. 6/4 AAA 400 Drive For Autism Dover Intl. Speedway Jimmie Johnson
2017 Winner		 Dave Smith
2017 Winner
14. 6/11 Axalta Presents The Pocono 400 Pocono Raceway Ryan Blaney
2017 Winner		 Lou Demian
2017 Winner
15. 6/18 Fire Keepers Casino 400 Michigan Intl. Speedway Kyle Larson
2017 Winner		 Jay Smogolski
2017 Winner
16. 6/25 Toyota/SaveMart 350 Sonoma Raceway Kevin Harvick
2017 Winner		 Joe Tenpenny
2017 Winner
Salary Re-Alignment
Push To The Playoffs Begins
17. 7/1
Sat night		 Coke Zero 400 Daytona Intl. Speedway Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
2017 Winner		 Ron Parlacoski, Jr.
2017 Winner
18. 7/8
Sat. night		 Quaker State 400 Kentucky Speedway Martin Truex Jr.
2017 Winner		 Fred Sanchez
2017 Winner
End of Money Pit Segment #2, Start of Segment 3
19. 7/16 Overton's 301 New Hampshire Motor Speedway Denny Hamlin
2017 Winner		 Jose Rodriguez
2017 Winner
20. 7/23 Brantley Gilbert Big Machine Brickyard 400 Indianapolis Motor Speedway Kasey Kahne
2017 Winner		 Wendal Ebach
2017 Winner
21. 7/30 Overton's 400 Pocono Raceway Kyle Busch
2017 Winner		 Frank Page
2017 Winner
Salary Re-Alignment
22. 8/6 I Love NY 355 at The Glen Watkins Glen International Martin Truex Jr.
2017 Winner		 Dave Smith
2017 Winner
24. 8/13 Pure Michigan 400 Michigan Intl. Speedway Kyle Larson
2017 Winner		 Kelly Wolfe
2017 Winner
23. 8/19
Sat. night		 Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race Bristol Motor Speedway Kyle Busch
2017 Winner		 Shane Burton
2017 Winner
8/27 Off Weekend #2
25. 9/3
Sat. night		 Bojangles Southern 500 Darlington Raceway Denny Hamlin
2017 Winner		 Lou Demian
2017 Winner
26. 9/9
Sat. night		 Federated Auto Parts 400 Richmond Intl. Raceway Kyle Larson
2017 Winner		 Jessy Turgeon
2017 Winner
Salary Re-Alignment
Playoff Races: Round of 16
27. 9/17 Tales of The Turtles 400 Chicagoland Speedway Martin Truex Jr.
2017 Winner		 Brian Blair
2017 Winner
End of Money Pit Segment #3, Start of Segment 4
28. 9/24 ISM Connect 300 New Hampshire Motor Speedway Kyle Busch
2017 Winner		 Jose Rodriguez
2017 Winner
29. 10/1 Apache Warrior 400 Dover Intl. Speedway Kyle Busch
2017 Winner		 Hurricane Sidwell
2017 Winner
Playoff Races: Round of 12
30. 10/7 Bank of America 500 Charlotte Motor Speedway Martin Truex Jr.
2017 Winner		 Fred Sanchez
2017 Winner
31. 10/15 Alabama 500 Talladega Superspeedway Brad Keselowski
2017 Winner		 Todd Oliver
2017 Winner
31. 10/22 Hollywood Casino 400 Kansas Speedway Martin Truex Jr.
2017 Winner		 Rodney Webb
2017 Winner
Final Salary Re-Alignment
Playoff Races: Round of 8
33. 10/29 First Data 500 Martinsville Speedway Kyle Busch
2017 Winner		 Fred Sanchez
2017 Winner
34. 11/5 AAA Texas 500 Texas Motor Speedway Kevin Harvick
2017 Winner		 Jay Smogolski
2017 Winner
35. 11/12 Can-Am 500 Phoenix Intl. Raceway Matt Kenseth
2017 Winner		 Matt Minnich
2017 Winner
Playoff Races: Championship 4
36. 11/19 Ford EcoBoost 400 Homestead-Miami Speedway Martin Truex Jr.
2017 Winner		 Rodney Webb
2017 Winner
End of Money Pit Segment #4

17 Feb 2004
Copyright © 2004-2024 LDR Productions
All Rights Reserved.