Month: November 2014

Kevin Harvick’s victory at Phoenix International Raceway clinched a berth in NASCAR’s championship race, but it also did something more important for Brad Bogdane: It earned him the 2014 Fantasy Chase championship.

Bogdane, a 32-year-old Saskatchewan resident who goes by @sports2hiphop on Twitter, was the only player left standing after Phoenix. He survived a regular season with 326 players (Bogdane won three times before the Chase) and then made it through the Fantasy Chase by picking a favorite for each race instead of saving all the heavy hitters for the end (he used Jimmie Johnson at Dover, for example).

After winning the title, Bogdane chose to receive a Dale Call as his championship trophy. And while he calls himself an Earnhardt fan, it’s a bit more complicated than that.

“I feel like I have to say Dale Jr. is my favorite just because I know pretty much everything about his life,” said Bogdane, whose father was a diehard Dale Earnhardt Sr. fan. “But I enjoy heated NASCAR discussions and everyone can’t be Earnhardt fans, so I started cheering for the villains.”

Bogdane was sitting in the grandstands at Daytona International Speedway one day when he saw an elderly man get up from his seat and start cursing at Kyle Busch. It blew him away.

“I thought, ‘Damn, this old man who can barely walk hates a man he’s never met that much,” Bogdane said. “(That was) amazing to me. Ever since then, Kyle Busch has been a god to me.”

Busch has been tamer the last few years, Bogdane said, so he’s expanded his rooting interests for perceived bad guys.

“Now there’s a new villain that I like: Brad Keselowski,” he said. “But deep down, I’ll always be an Earnhardt fan.”

Congratulations to Bogdane and thanks to everyone who played in the Fantasy Chase this season. Hopefully, we can play a game together again next season.

Joey Logano’s surprising bottom-four finish at Texas Motor Speedway means there are only four people left in the Fantasy Chase — and only one can win the title at Phoenix International Raceway.

Here’s what happened:

— We started Texas with four people picking Brad Keselowski and three picking Logano, including the only remaining player with a clear path to Homestead — @amishkid17.

— But Logano finished fifth of the remaining Chase drivers at Texas, which eliminated @amishkid17, @chrisonethree and @jsoupzzz.

— That left our own version of the final four heading into Phoenix: @sports2hiphop, @devyanks90, @BPierce158 and @dave_phillips1. Of those four, however, only one has an eligible pick at Phoenix.

Twitter ID	Phoenix pick
Sports2hiphop	Harvick, Kevin
devyanks90	Johnson, Jimmie
BPierce158	Johnson, Jimmie
dave_phillips1	Johnson, Jimmie

Championship Scenario:

— @sports2hiphop wins the Fantasy Chase if Kevin Harvick finishes among the top four drivers at Phoenix.

— If Harvick fails to finish in the top four, everyone is eliminated and there will be a tiebreaker in place. Since all four of the remaining players picked Dale Earnhardt Jr. for Homestead, none of their picks can be used as the tiebreaker. Instead, the final four will be contacted via Twitter to submit a pick for the Homestead race. Whoever is closest would win the championship.