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Leavin’ Faster than Pilgrims at a Porn Theatre

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

November 28, 2008 3:42 pm CST No Comments

It’s Black Friday and I’m already sick of the traffic I’ve had to fight just getting to work. If only I had my own helicopter like Greg Biffle….oh wait. The Biff sold his in a fit of budget slashing the likes of which hasn’t been seen since, well, last week.

No matter. Mindy has some stuff on the musical crew chief situation, Joe Nemechek’s financial planning and touching goodbyes, Home Depot style.

It’s all there in the latest Monday Morning Crew Chief and you can watch it here.

Filed under: Bench Racing TV, Elliott Sadler, Gillett Evernham Motorsports, Greg Biffle, Joe Nemechek, Michael Waltrip Racing, Monday Morning Crew Chief, NASCAR Bidness, NASCAR Rumors, Red Bull Racing, Tony Stewart

Tagged with: Greg Biffle, Joe Nemecheck, Mindy Monday, Monday Morning Crew Chief, NASCAR video

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Tight in Turn Two: I Suspect Cold Tires

by Charlie Turner

November 28, 2008 12:19 pm CST 2 Comments

Some people are just never happy. Especially so when it comes to NASCAR fans. If one driver dominates their favorite series - assuming that driver isn’t the one whose Fathead they have hanging in their dining room - they complain about inequities in the rules. Or that NASCAR is boring. Or it just isn’t like the old days. Or maybe that they just can’t stand that Jimmy Johnson - Jeff Gordon - Kurt Busch-Matt Kenseth - any Eanhardt…. whatever.

This will be the last Tight in Turn Two post for a while. Bruce’s NASCAR Bits and Pieces and Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie are going to put this one on the shelf until maybe February. One last go around though before we do. Here goes…

With Jimmy Johnson winning the last three Cup championships and three drivers winning three quarters of the cup races, is NASCAR competitive enough for you?

Charlie: Three different drivers, driving for different owners with one each in a Ford, a Chevy and a Toyota. They each dominated a different portion of the season, making it seem a bit less of a fight than it was. But I’d much rather have three really good driver/team combos battling it out for wins than, say ten different guys with a couple or three wins each.

We know that, at least until the last race, nobody could be accused of points racing. I’m hoping for more of the same in 2009.

Bruce: I’m with ya on this one Charlie. I’ve encountered some net denizens that want to see every driver in the field lead a lap and get their won wins. If they don’t see that kind of disjointed parity, they go off on their tizzy. I think they reach down deep and figure out how to be mad at NASCAR, no matter how “off” their perspective is.

I didn’t see any points racing this year… sometimes we saw some smart racing, but no one seemed to be really pacing the field and holding back.

Yes… we saw a few teams compete for the title, and though they seemed to have their own time frame of when they’re “on”. I’ve noticed that. Some teams seem to have a better grasp of the tracks at different times of year. I think is was a good season for the level of competition and it can only get better as the different teams improve in their understanding of the new car.

That’s what we think. What do you think?

Bruce has another rant going and this time it’s about NASCAR’s annual awards banquet. If you have an opinion on that deal - and who doesn’t - head on over and put your two cents in on this one…

The annual awards banquet brings us the high points of the year and presents awards to the top drivers in each of their categories as well as some other features. It’s treated as the gala event of the year for the sport. But….For me, it is the longest 10 hours of my life.

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

Filed under: NASCAR & the Media, NASCAR Bidness, Sprint Cup Series, Turn 2 posts

Tagged with: Carl Edwards, Jimmy Johnson, Kyle Busch, NASCAR awards banquet, Tight in Turn Two

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So Shoot Me - I Like NASCAR’s New Car

by Charlie Turner

November 24, 2008 11:58 pm CST 2 Comments

I kind of like it when millionaires bitch about their circumstances. Unlike some politicians, I don’t care if we raise their taxes, but I don’t mind seeing them squirm. According to ON PIT ROW’S crack research staff, their aren’t many destitute Sprint Cup drivers. And the new car seemed to get many off their game this past season. Good.

I just found the quote that explains what I like about the car the most. It’s from 2008 Sprint Cup runner-up Carl Edwards and I found it in FoxSports’ Lee Spencer’s article…

“It does make it hard to pass at some of the tracks because so many guys are the same speed. But man, it’s sure cool to know that you’ve got a really good chance; you’re not going to get beat by some guy’s magical fender or something.”

The essence of the new car is that the days of the magic fender may be gone. The age of the great driver may be here. In the long run, the rules stability that makes for this situation may lead to money being saved too. Particularly if the number of cars needed by each team to compete effectively, is cut. But I don’t care that much about saving money really. It isn’t mine, you know?

Edwards seems to revel in the challenge of the CoT. Kyle Busch is a critic. Jimmie Johnson seemingly won’t say anything bad about anything. He doesn’t love the current car. He just deals with it. All three of these guys made it work to the tune of two thirds of all of the wins in this years’ Cup run.

I like it this way. I want the magic to be about the magician, not the props.

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

Filed under: Car of Tomorrow, Carl Edwards, NASCAR Tech, Sprint Cup Series

Tagged with: Car of Tomorrow, Carl Edwards, Lee Spencer

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Will NASCAR Really Be Any Different in 2009

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.

November 24, 2008 7:28 am CST 9 Comments

There has been a huge amount written since the end of the season about how much NASCAR will be different in 2009.

I have to wonder if NASCAR will indeed be substantially different than in the recent past. Will the competition between the haves and the have-nots equal out? Most likely, if anything it will broaden, forcing teams like Furniture Row Motorsports to greatly reduce their participation. The resources that Roush-Fenway, Hendricks and Richard Childress have in comparison to the Pettys, Yates or Stewart-Haas is will keep the disparity wide. The elimination of testing for teams on any track that NASCAR goes to in its five touring stock car series will result in the teams with sponsorship dollars, reallocating those dollars to other forms of testing.

Wind tunnels, seven post shakers and video game analysis will replace on track testing for the teams that are looking to spend money. Teams that don’t have that money will fall further and further behind. And if that happens, then NASCAR 2009, will look for all the world like NASCAR 2008, where two-thirds of the races were won by three drivers.

NASCAR likes to boast that there are more cars capable of winning each week than ever before. Maybe that is correct–but they don’t win. 2008 saw Kyle, Jimmie and Carl win the vast majority of the races and that won’t likely change in 2009. The names might change to Jeffy or Junior, The Biff and Happy; but the sport will be dominated by the big three car owners because they have the wherewithal to ride out “these tough economic times”.

And that leads us to this weeks BUZZ ON PIT ROW:

What team will be most affected by the loss of their driver; Stewart from JGR, Newman from Penske or Menard from DEI/Ganassi?

Let us know what you think and we just might use your comment on this week’s ON PIT ROW radio show. Listen live from 5-7pm ET, Tuesdays year round at www.onpitrow.com.

photo credit: Icon Sports Media

Filed under: Car of Tomorrow, Chip Ganassi Racing, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Gillett Evernham Motorsports, Hendrick Motorsports, NASCAR, NASCAR & the Media, NASCAR Bidness, NASCAR officials

Tagged with: Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs, Roush-Fenway, Stewart Haas Racing

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Pink-slips Flyin’ Like Hot Dog Wrappers at Martinsville

by Charlie Turner

November 22, 2008 12:13 pm CST 2 Comments

The U.S. economy hit NASCAR teams in a big way at Homestead-Miami Speedway this past weekend. Dozens - maybe hundreds - of crew members were called to the trailers pre-race and told to be ready to pack, post-race. Adios amigos. Happy holidays.

ON PIT ROW isn’t going anywhere though and neither is our intrepid reporter, Mindy Monday.

Mindy didn’t like that too much. And she has more to say on several fronts as NASCAR heads to a short and shaky few weeks off.

Watch the Monday Morning Crew Chief right here.

Filed under: Bench Racing TV, Bill Davis Racing, Chase for the Cup, Craftsman Truck Series, Johnny Benson, Monday Morning Crew Chief, NASCAR Bidness, NASCAR Rumors, NASCAR video, Sprint Cup Series, Testing news

Tagged with: Bill Davis, Chaase for the Cup, Jeff Hammond, Johnny Benson, Mindy Monday, Monday Morning Crew Chief

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Would Chopping Teams to 10 Cars Make Sense?

by Charlie Turner

November 20, 2008 11:53 pm CST 6 Comments

NASCAR has banned testing on the Sprint Cup car that most drivers have called evil or worse and leaves their crew chiefs scratching heads or screaming into radios - “I already tried that!”. The ban will save money, the suits in Daytona claim. Most owners and their managers seem to agree. But is this move really more of a gesture than a real solution?

According to Mike Mulhern’s article on the subject of cost cutting in NASCAR, Toyota’s Lee White proposed something more radical - actually limiting each team to as few as five cars.

“White says that during mid-season discussions the issue of limiting teams to just five cars was raised: “NASCAR is already putting holograms on the frame-rails of every car, so just tell the teams ‘You only get five cars. And when you start testing, design a car that can be adjustable to running speedways, intermediate tracks, short-tracks and road courses,’” White says.

OK, using the list above, one car each for plate tracks, intermediates, shorties and road courses leaves a team with one extra. That car would have to do multiple duty - hell all of these cars would. Damage your Bristol car in practice and what - break out the plate car? Remember when - who was it Junior? Stewart? - used his Bristol car at Daytona last year? And what about back to back to back cookie-cutter weekends like the Chase produces?

Then there is the travel complication. If you wreck your intermediate car at Fontana in February do you send it back to North Carolina to fix it before Atlanta and make do at Vegas with something makeshift? I could see mega-budget teams like Hendrick Motorsports and Roush-Fenway Racing flying cars around - just as Formula One teams do - to save time, using some of the dollars that NASCAR sees as savings. The small guys probably couldn’t do that.

Limiting the number of cars in a team seems like a legit way to cut investment and expenses. But five cars isn’t enough. With twenty unique cars being the norm right now, cutting to ten seems doable though. It’s the best idea that I’ve seen so far.

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

Filed under: It's Only Cheating if You Get Caught, NASCAR, NASCAR Bidness, NASCAR Rumors, NASCAR Tech, Sprint Cup Series, Testing news, Toyota

Tagged with: Lee White, Mike Mulhern, NASCAR testing, testing ban, Toyota

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