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NASCAR’s Coolest Fan Promotion Returns

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by Charlie Turner

Thanks for stopping by OnPitRow.com and the Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie blog. The best NASCAR and IndyCar news and opinion, exclusive pictures and video. I'm Charlie Turner. Follow me on Twitter @onpitrow

October 30, 2008 10:34 pm CDT No Comments

 

Jamie McMurray's special Crown Royal paint job for Texas

Jamie McMurray's special Crown Royal paint job for Texas

The special paint job on Jamie McMurray’s hood for this weekend’s Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway is a reminder to NASCAR fans to enter the Crown Royal “Your Name Here” contest for a chance at what has to be the ultimate prize for a NASCAR fan.

Naval engineer Dan Lowry was the winner last year. As part of the prize, the spring 2008 Sprint Cup race at Richmond International Raceway will forever be known as the Dan Lowry 400. 

I mean…come on. How cool was that? We interviewed Dan ON PIT ROW, from Richmond that weekend. That interview was set up by the marketing department from Crown Royal and we have a great relationship with those folks. We’re happy to help spread the word on the best fan promotion we’ve seen yet. Visit CrownRoyal.com to enter the contest by describing an accomplishment or honorable act worthy of toasting with Crown Royal.

Selected finalists will enjoy an all-expenses-paid trip in February to the Daytona 500 where they will participate in an unveiling ceremony to announce the ‘Your Name Here 400′ grand prize winner. Last year, the winner’s name was unveiled by pulling a 10,000 square foot banner off a huge mosaic copy of the “Crown Royal presents the Dan Lowry 400″ race logo, that was built into the desert floor outside of Las Vegas. Lowry watched that from a helicopter along with Jamie Mac. 

In addition to having their name officially incorporated into the race, the grand prize winner will serve as the Grand Marshal in Richmond - allowing them to do everything from delivering the trophy in Victory Lane to yelling the most famous words in racing, “Gentlemen, start your engines!”

I mean really. Dan Lowry, you dog.

As an aside; the company that made and installed the 10,000 square foot banner that covered the desert logo is from right here in northwest Ohio - CGS Imaging . Congrats Chuck.

Filed under: Jamie McMurray, NASCAR, NASCAR & the Media, On Pit Row The Fastest Two Hours on Radio, Richmond International Raceway 

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Over? Was it Over When the Germans Bombed Pearl Harbor?

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by Charlie Turner

Thanks for stopping by OnPitRow.com and the Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie blog. The best NASCAR and IndyCar news and opinion, exclusive pictures and video. I'm Charlie Turner. Follow me on Twitter @onpitrow

October 30, 2008 6:04 pm CDT No Comments

So just how do you spell dunz-o? Ask Mindy. The latest Monday Morning Crew Chief  video blog is up.

Check out Ms Monday’s opinions on Brian France’s toys, prison movies and Kyle Petty’s 2009 options. It’s all there and more. Watch the latest Bench Racin’ TV special right here.

Filed under: Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bench Racing TV, Brian France, Carl Edwards, Chase for the Cup, Craftsman Truck Series, Monday Morning Crew Chief, NASCAR, NASCAR Rumors, NASCAR video, Ryan Newman 

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Quick Hits: Texas Motor Speedway

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by Chris Leone, Special To NASCAR commentary and driver pictures, 2011 NASCAR schedule, video, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

I do weekly Fantasy Pick'Em columns here at OPR, as well as the occasional opinion and analysis piece. I also provide the IZOD IndyCar Series coverage. For more on that, head to my site, OpenWheelAmerica.com. My Twitter handle is @christopherlion.

October 29, 2008 8:04 pm CDT 1 Comment

This weekend, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Texas Motor Speedway for the third to last race in this year’s Chase for the Cup. By this point, all but the 12 Chase teams are in preparation mode for 2009, experimenting with new setups and personnel. Many drivers with limited Sprint Cup experience are attempting to make starts this weekend in preparation for next year, including Joey Logano, Bryan Clauson, and Brad Keselowski.

However, one of the most intriguing driver-team combinations attempting to make the race this weekend is Max Papis and Germain Racing. Papis, a former CART competitor who made two starts for Haas CNC Racing earlier this year, will drive a No. 13 GEICO Toyota for Germain in 18 Sprint Cup races next year, and possibly attempt up to 25 depending upon sponsorship. Papis will also attempt to qualify at Homestead, regardless of whether he makes the race this weekend or not.

This is the next natural step in Germain’s progression from a Truck Series-only team up to NASCAR’s top level. Formed in late 2004, the No. 30 truck has consistently been one of the series’ best, winning the championship in 2006 with Todd Bodine. The team added a second truck in 2005 and a Nationwide Series team in 2007, experiencing success with both.

Currently, Mike Wallace has that No. 7 Nationwide team 8th in series’ points. Bodine has the No. 30 in 3rd in the Truck Series, and Justin Marks has impressed in the No. 9 truck, winning a pole at Texas and finishing 8th at Daytona. Bodine also made one Nationwide start for the team in a second car this year, finishing 4th at Darlington. In other words, the brothers Germain - Bob, Stephen, and Richard - have managed to make all of their cars competitive, regardless of who’s in them or how often they compete.

With its expansion into Cup racing with Papis, Germain has picked the optimum time to move up the ladder. With many teams pressed for sponsorship in a difficult economic climate, the Sprint Cup field should be shrinking next year, making it much easier for a team that doesn’t plan on attempting all 36 races to make the most of its limited schedule.

Germain also has never expanded beyond its means to be competitive. While the 2005 season was a trying one for the second truck, much of that was based on Shige Hattori’s lack of stock-car experience. While Ted Musgrave only won one race in the No. 9 truck in 2006 and 2007, he also had 28 top-10s in 49 starts for the team and two top-10 finishes in points.

The team only moved up to the Nationwide Series after establishing a strong foundation with Bodine last year. In five races, the team had an average finish of 17.8 (negatively affected by a crash at Homestead that led to a 37th place finish) and led 15 laps at Gateway. They also waited to move up until finding the right driver (Wallace) and sponsor (GEICO), and the team has carved its niche in the series despite most of the wins and top finishes going to Cup “claim jumpers” running in both series.

Even with the recent trend of open-wheel flameouts, don’t expect Papis to disappear in the first year of his four-year contract with the team. Papis, unlike some of the other open-wheel drivers to give NASCAR a try recently, has been successful in many different forms of motorsport. He won a handful of CART races in the late 1990s with Team Rahal and has driven for Corvette Racing at Le Mans. He also won the 2002 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona.

Papis has also had his share of remarkable and memorable drives in other series. He nearly won the 1996 24 Hours of Daytona in a car that had been damaged by collisions. After unlapping himself in the final stint of the race, Papis pushed his car to the max, only losing by 64 seconds at a track in which fast laps can take nearly 2 minutes.

In other words, though we’ve all heard this before, Papis has the talent to succeed in a limited schedule with Germain. And unlike drivers like Villeneuve, Carpentier, Hornish, and Allmendinger, he has the team behind him to do it.

Before the green flag drops on this weekend’s festivites, here are this week’s Quick Hits:

5. A few interesting notes from Motorsports Authentics’ sell sheets for 2009 die-cast:

At Stewart-Haas Racing, Burger King is featured on the B-pillar of Tony Stewart’s No. 14 Chevrolet. Also, DirecTV is featured on the B-pillar of Ryan Newman’s No. 39 Chevrolet. It is no longer on the No. 07 Chevrolet of Casey Mears.

At Gillett Evernham Motorsports, McDonald’s has vacated its post on the lower quarter panel of Elliott Sadler’s No. 19 Dodge. Allstate is also gone from the lower quarter panel of Kasey Kahne’s No. 9 Dodge.

Finally, Scott Speed will run a No. 82 Red Bull Toyota next year, as opposed to a No. 84. No word on why the change occurred.

4. A recent rumor suggests that Wood Brothers Racing is looking around the garage for a new partner after JTG Daugherty Racing’s defection to Toyota for 2009. That partnership could come in the form of a deal with Hall of Fame Racing, which currently fields Toyotas for former Wood driver Ken Schrader. Hall of Fame would also bring a top-flight sponsorship, in the form of Texas Instruments, and a bona-fide driving talent in Brad Coleman to the partnership. Hall of Fame’s current deal with Joe Gibbs Racing expires after Homestead.

3. An interesting note: No Raybestos Rookie of the Year contender has finished in the top 10 all season. Sam Hornish Jr.’s 13th at the Coca-Cola 600 is the best finish for any contender. Aric Almirola’s 8th at Bristol does not apply, as he is not registered for the award. Regan Smith’s win at Talladega, had it been upheld, would have been the only top-10.

2. While Kyle Petty has been unable to lay down any serious Sprint Cup plans for next year, he may have a full time Rolex Sports Car Series deal in place for 2009. Petty will run the No. 45 Orbit Racing BMW Prototype at next year’s 24 Hours of Daytona, and potentially beyond. No word yet on if the Wells Fargo sponsorship currently tied to Petty in Sprint Cup would transfer with him, remain in NASCAR, or both.

1. Kodak is leaving the sport after a successful sponsorship campaign that spanned over two decades and produced three Daytona 500 wins. Drivers like Ernie Irvan, Sterling Marlin, Bobby Hamilton, and most recently Ryan Newman piloted the gold cars for Morgan-McClure Motorsports and Penske Racing from the late 1980s to this year. Kodak will also abandon its sponsorship programs in all other forms of motorsports, including those in the Rolex Sports Car Series and Indy Racing League.

Finally, congratulations to Newman for winning last weekend’s Truck Series race at Atlanta, and Carl Edwards for winning the Nationwide race in Memphis and Atlanta’s Sprint Cup event.

Filed under: A J Allmendinger, Brad Coleman, Carl Edwards, Casey Mears, Craftsman Truck Series, Elliott Sadler, Germain Racing, Gillett Evernham Motorsports, Haas CNC Racing, Jacques Villeneuve, Kasey Kahne, Kenny Shrader, Max Papis, NASCAR, Nationwide Series, Regan Smith, Ryan Newman, Sam Hornish Jr, Scott Speed, Sprint Cup Series, Stewart Haas Racing, The Wood Brothers 

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Good Effort by Carl Edwards isn’t Good Enough

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by Steve Wronkowicz

I am co-host of the syndicated radio show: ON PIT ROW. Over ten years on the air and three on the net; see what can happen when I don't let the facts get in the way of my opinions.

October 27, 2008 8:34 pm CDT No Comments

Carl Edwards did all he can do at Atlanta Motor Speedway and it wasn’t close to being enough.

Edward’s Roush-Fenway owned Office Depot Ford Fusion won at NASCAR’s fastest track; but unfortunately for him, Chad Knaus and Jimmy Johnson were pulling off a miracle finish.  The smartest crew chief in NASCAR never let his driver panic and used a late pit stop for fresh  tires to pull off a second place finish.  Johnson restarted in eleventh place with the new Goodyears and quickly passed all in front except for Edwards.

Johnson had gone a lap down to the leaders early on when he was caught for speeding on pit road.  He and Knaus systematically moved back to a position to where they could make the late run.  Edwards was surprised to find out that Johnson had come all the way back to second:

Yeah, I looked up there on the scoreboard, saw he was running seventh, eighth, ninth, somewhere in there most of the second half of the race.  When Dave said, What do you think about Jimmie finishing second, I thought he was joking.  I truly didn’t know until I looked at the scoreboard that Jimmie had made that back up.  I got to see some video.  They put on some tires and went for it.  That’s pretty amazing.

Johnson’s second place finish increased his lead over Greg Biffle, Jeff Burton and Edwards.  The party is truly over.  There is no way that any of the three can overcome their defecit to knock off Johnson.  And that leads us to this weeks BUZZ ON PIT ROW:

Now that Johnson has all but wrapped up the title with three races to go; should NASCAR look at changing the Chase format to keep more drivers involved longer?

Let us know what you think and we could use your comment on this week’s ON PIT ROW.  Listen live from 5-7pm ET at www.onpitrow.com or at www.arcaracing.com.  give us a call at 877-502-8255 and we could select your call as the Shell Gunk Free Call of the Day and you could win a Kevin Harvick bobblehead.

photo credit:  Rusty Burroughs/Getty Images/NASCAR

Filed under: Atlanta Motor Speedway, Brian France, Car of Tomorrow, Carl Edwards, Chase for the Cup 

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NASCAR Trash Talkin’ Video

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by Charlie Turner

Thanks for stopping by OnPitRow.com and the Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie blog. The best NASCAR and IndyCar news and opinion, exclusive pictures and video. I'm Charlie Turner. Follow me on Twitter @onpitrow

October 25, 2008 9:24 am CDT 2 Comments

Mindy can trash talk with the best. So too, can NASCAR legend, Cale Yarborough. That’s just one of the topics this week on Bench Racing TV.

We have tire problems, secret merger talks and rampant cheating. Sounds like an episode of Desperate Housewives, but it’s not. It’s the newest Monday Morning Crew Chief and you can watch it right here.

Filed under: Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bench Racing TV, Brian Vickers, Dale Earnhardt, Inc., It's Only Cheating if You Get Caught, Monday Morning Crew Chief, NASCAR Rumors, NASCAR video, Nascar Legends, Red Bull Racing, Sprint Cup Series, The Pettys 

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Pondering the Failure of NASCAR’s CoT

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by Charlie Turner

Thanks for stopping by OnPitRow.com and the Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie blog. The best NASCAR and IndyCar news and opinion, exclusive pictures and video. I'm Charlie Turner. Follow me on Twitter @onpitrow

October 24, 2008 11:32 am CDT 2 Comments

Has NASCAR’s Car of Tomorrow failed? I’m sure that Brian France and Mike Helton  would say no, but the jury may be hung.

There are many definitions of failure that the CoT fits.  Rather than saving teams money, by limiting the inventory of cars required to compete, the CoT,  to quote Mike Mulhern …

“has become a major financial drain on teams, because of the extreme technology needed to try to master what is widely seen as a misguided physics project.”

failure: noun  - The act or fact of failing to pass a course, test, or assignment.

There is fear that some manufacturers may curtail their support for NASCAR. We already see that in the - soon to be - Camping World Truck Series. You can’t blame the CoT for that. But the new car continued a trend toward look-a-like, generic bodies that make NASCAR less viable as a brand builder than it once was.

failure: noun - The condition or fact of not achieving the desired end or ends: the failure of an experiment.

Hendrick Motorsports drivers have  been about as successful as any racing the new car. But two-time defending champion and current Sprint Cup points leader Jimmy Johnson and the sport’s most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr ….

criticized NASCAR for not being more willing to consider changes to that design to make the racing and passing better …more

failure: noun  - The condition or fact of being insufficient or falling short: a crop failure.

The one stated goal that seems to have been achieved is that of building a safer race car. That’s a good thing. But not enough of one.

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

Filed under: Car of Tomorrow, Hendrick Motorsports, Mike Helton, NASCAR, NASCAR Tech, Sprint Cup Series 

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