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NASCAR 2009: Still Tight in Turn Two

by Charlie Turner

I'm Charlie Turner co-host of the syndicated, mostly NASCAR radio show On Pit Row. Thanks for stopping by OnPitRow.com and the Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie blog. Oh yeah, Steve is an idiot. Follow me on Twitter @onpitrow

February 27, 2009 7:19 pm CST 2 Comments

Two weeks into the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season and some of the stars of the sport may start getting a little tight around the collar if they don’t start putting some points on the board. NASCAR’s Top 35 qualifying rule looms like a vulture at a roadkill competition, over teams that struggle early.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Ryan Newman is 33rd, Joe Gibb’s Racing’s Joey Logano sits 37th. And right on the bubble in 35th is NASCAR’s most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr.

NASCAR Bit’s and Pieces pilot Bruce Simmons and I are getting Tight in Turn Two again this season. My question to Bruce - and you all - is this…

Dale Earnhardt Jr has taken more heat in the last week than in his whole career up to now. Darrell Waltrip seemed to think Junior needed support and even had a ready made bit prepared during the race, that defended Junior and his commitment to racing. Is Dale Earnhardt Jr overrated?

Charlie: The easy answer this week, for many in the NASCAR internet community has been - “Hell yes!” But it isn’t that simple. It depends on who is doing the rating and how high the rater, rated Junior.

Personally, I always had him as no better than the third most talented driver at Hendrick Motorsports. I’d say he is perfroming at just about that level. But based upon conversations I’ve listened to the past few days, many are falling off the bandwagon of the son of a legend. In the past, we’ve had prominent ON PIT ROW guests like Jeff Hammond, Larry McReynolds and Lee Spencer vehemently defend Junior’s ability. But they may no longer be preaching to the choir.

Bruce: There’s a lot of emotion involved when it comes to the son of the Intimidator and people want him to live up to the reputation that they’ve stuck on the pedestal of fandom. No one wants to see him fail, yet, I can’t argue the case you make Charlie.

When I see Jr, I’d like him to do well, but I think he will only do well when a few others may falter or dare I say it, when it rains!

I think the grief we’re seeing from the first 2 weeks are from those more impatient. Sure, he’s had a crap few weeks. Could it possibly be due to lack of practice time at the tracks themselves, or is it one of those seasons already that is just going to be crap luck. How many times have we watched a fan favorite just have a bad set of races from dumb luck like tires, engine parts or wrecks that just keep catching them in their noise?

I’m not sure what kind of year Jr is having yet, because frankly, it’s too early to tell, but right now, there are clouds building on the horizon and like I always say, time will tell!!

That’s what we think. What do you say? Leave us your opinions in the comment section of this post. The head over to Bruce’s blog where Digger is the topic du jour.

Now with Digger seeming to get more air time, I am forced to suffer through these bits of cartoon FOX is shoving down our throats. Why? But what has me wondering is if FOX is worried about their ratings?

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc

Filed under: Auto Club Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports, Joey Logano, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, NASCAR, On Pit Row The Fastest Two Hours on Radio, Sprint Cup Series, Stewart Haas Racing, Top 35 Rule

Tagged with: Darrell Waltrip, Digger, Fox Sports, Jeff Hammond, Junior, Larry McReynolds, Lee Spencer

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One and Done: Shelby 427

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

If OnPitRow.com was a NASCAR team, I’d be the development driver of the bunch. In the same way that young hotshots like Joey Logano have been driving since they were in grade school, I’ve been following and writing about all forms of motorsports since I was barely old enough to talk.

February 27, 2009 4:17 pm CST 3 Comments

Viva Las Vegas, everybody. This weekend we get to see the Shelby 427, otherwise known as Bruton Smith’s second foray into adjusting race distances to accommodate sponsorship deals (see also the Lenox Tools 301 at New Hampshire, changed to emphasize the “extra mile” that Lenox Tools go… or something like that). We’re out of California until October, thankfully, and now the real season begins in earnest, with the first race of the season that will neither be a massive variable nor boring as sin.

The most important lesson to keep in mind from last week is if a driver is hot in Nationwide or the Truck Series, they are worth a long look for One and Done. Kyle Busch won both of those series’ races at California, becoming the first driver to win two national touring series races in the same day, and went on to finish 3rd in Sprint Cup. For those of us whose picks at Daytona were less than stellar, a 3rd would have been more than helpful.

Personally, I went with David Ragan on a hunch and got burned when he scraped the wall and lost a lap. So it goes. I don’t think many people saw Matt Kenseth’s win coming, since the average finish of Daytona 500 winners at California the next weekend since 2005 was only 14.8 before that race. Now, however, we know that Kenseth’s team is for real, and that picking him at his best tracks this year should be a given.

On a related note, Kenseth’s best average finish at any given track is 9.0. Two tracks share that ranking – Auto Club and Las Vegas. Hmm…

Without further ado, here are the five drivers you should strongly consider selecting this weekend:

5. Mark Martin: Over the past three years, no driver has rolled higher in Sin City than Martin (his 454 points leads all drivers in that time frame). He won the inaugural Vegas race in 1998. His 11.1 average finish is brought down only by two blips in 2003 (43rd) and 2005 (30th), and he’s led laps each of the past three years. Combine his stellar performance with Hendrick’s determination to come back strong after two engine failures last week, and we could see a return to the winner’s circle for the sport’s elder statesman.

4. Casey Mears: The newest RCR driver has been quietly consistent at Vegas, with three top-10s and five top-15s in six starts. The team’s cars have generally been in that area as well, with Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick’s average finishes a combined 11.4 since 2005. He’s not an eye-popping pick, but as a sleeper who should score at least 130 points, he might be a surprise winner.

3. Kyle Busch: In six starts across three series in 2009, Rowdy has seriously contended for the win in five races and finished 3rd in the other. If one factors in the Daytona 500 he should have won, his average finish for the season across all three series would be 1.7. Of course, things didn’t work out that way, but he’s got momentum (and an average finish of 6.3 since becoming a full-time Sprint Cup driver in 2005).

2. Jeff Gordon: Second in points and irrefutably strong last week at California, Gordon’s team will win sooner rather than later. He has a bit of a checkered history at Vegas: in 11 starts, he has five top-5s, but all of his other finishes have been 15th or worse. But Gordon is fourth all time in laps led at Vegas with 217, and three of his past four starts at the track have resulted in top-5s.

1. Matt Kenseth: The momentum’s there (first driver to win the first two races of the season since Jeff Gordon in 1997), the track record is there (best active driver with at least 5 starts – a 9.0 average finish with two wins, the most laps led of any driver in the track’s history, and only one of a possible 2287 laps not completed), and the dumb luck is there (crew chief Drew Blickensderfer has never lost a Sprint Cup race). Can we really bet against him?

One more note: All drivers eligible for picking are entered in this weekend’s race. Happy picking, folks!

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

Filed under: Las Vegas Motor Speedway, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing

Tagged with: Las Vegas Motor Speedway, One and Done, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing, Shelby 427

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Matt, Jack and The Blick: Oh My!

by Steve Wronkowicz

I am co-host of the syndicated radio show: ON PIT ROW. Charlie likes to call me an "idiot". I'm not an "idiot"; I just prefer not to let the facts get in the way of my opinions.

February 27, 2009 1:15 pm CST 2 Comments

Matt Kenseth will attempt to do what no other NASCAR driver has ever done - win the first three races of a season.

Drew Blickensderfer, Kenseth’s new crew chief has been given a bunch of credit for Kenseth’s 2009 turn around. Of course the fact that Matty drives for one of the preeminent teams in all of NASCAR doesn’t hurt. Jack Roush and Roush-Fenway Racing have fielded top notch race cars in varied forms of motor sports.

Roush got his start in racing fielding pro stock drag racers and winning championships in IHRA, AHRA and NHRA. Roush then took is championship ways to the Trans-Am and IMSA Series and won 24 national championships and 12 manufacturer’s championships before moving to NASCAR with Mark Martin in 1988. His race teams have won two championships in the Cup series with Kurt Bush and Matt Kenseth.

Blickensderfer was a successful crew chief before making the move to the #17 team with Kenseth behind the wheel. Blickensderfer’s first crew chief position came in 2006 when he led driver Danny O’Quinn Jr. to rookie of the year honors in the Nationwide Series. In 2007 Blickensderfer took over as crew chief of the #17 Nationwide car and continued there to began the 2008 season. He then moved over to lead Carl Edwards’ #60 team. Edwards rallied to win seven of the final 19 races–including three of the last four.

Kenseth has 330 starts in the Cup Series and has posted eighteen wins, ninety top fives and 164 top tens to go with his one championship. He has led six percent of the laps he has raced in his twelve seasons, winning over $60 million.

NASCAR is a team sport; argued by some outside the sport, but true none the less. But which part of the team is the most important? Does the car owner, or the car itself, the crew chief or driver hold the biggest hammer when it comes to making a successful team? The Kenseth, Robbie Reiser, Roush combo led to a championship in 2003. Replace Reiser with Chip Bolin in 2008 and the combo couldn’t find victory lane. Move Bolin back to engineer, insert ‘The Blick’ and Matty is on the way to a possible NASCAR record breaking feat.

photo credits: Icon Sports Media

Filed under: Carl Edwards, Kurt Busch, NASCAR, Nationwide Series, On Pit Row The Fastest Two Hours on Radio, Roush Racing, Sprint Cup Series

Tagged with: AHRA, Carl Edwards, Chip Bolin, Drew Blickensderfer, IHRA, IMSA, Jack Roush, Kurt Busch, Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth, NHRA, Robby Reiser, Trans-Am

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Entertainment Value Rises when Cup Qualifying Shifts into Second Gear

by Steve Wronkowicz

I am co-host of the syndicated radio show: ON PIT ROW. Charlie likes to call me an "idiot". I'm not an "idiot"; I just prefer not to let the facts get in the way of my opinions.

February 27, 2009 12:10 pm CST No Comments

Once the guaranteed entrants finish jockeying for pit selection, real qualifying begins.

Fifty-one cars are on the entry list for the Shelby 427 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and fifteen of them have to literally fight their way into the race and can make for the best drama of the weekend.

Predictions were that once NASCAR left the season opener at Daytona the number of cars trying to make the race could fall below the forty-three that constitutes a full Sprint Cup field. The general consensus that the “under funded” teams would not follow the circus west has not held true. Several of these teams including Tommy Baldwin’s and Jeremy Mayfield’s said all along that they had every intention of racing the entire season.

Mayfield picked up a sponsor and co-owner in the All-Sport brand of thirst quencher. Baldwin has been sponsored by Red Bank Outfitters in the first three events and have added the third race at Vegas as well. The Yates Racing no. 28 driven by Travis Kvapil had Golden Corral Restaurants on the car at Daytona and they will be back on the car for at least three more races starting in Sin City.

So with the entry lists bigger than expected by NASCAR and many experts; does that go against the business model projections that these start up teams anticipated? Baldwin told ON PIT ROW that the primary reason he felt they could make a go of it in the Cup Series was because there was no testing in the off season and the size of the fields trying to qualify would be smaller.

There are sixteen teams in Vegas looking to fill eight spots. One of those spots will go to Tony Stewart because of his guaranteed provisional. Qualifying is set for 3:30pm local time (pacific), but the real excitement won’t start until the go or go home cars hit the track at approximately 5:00pm. That is when the true knock out qualifying starts as fifteen cars vie for seven spots. That type of knock out qualifying is what made “Bump Day” at Indy in May so exciting and what has the potential for being the best part of the show at each race track.

Just imagine if instead of thirteen drivers having to qualify in; twenty-eight needed to fight for a spot. Changing the Top 35 to the Top 20 would give NASCAR their certified stars in the race and make the rest of the field fight for the privilege to race on Sunday. NASCAR will never abandon the Top 35 rule; we can only hope that they amend it.

Qualifying is an important piece of the NASCAR experience; both at the track and to the television viewer. Therefore, every effort must be made to qualify at least the Cup cars every week. It is fine to schedule qualifying on Friday, but NASCAR has to have a Plan B,C and D ready in case of rain. Qualifying CANNOT be rained out. If it takes until Sunday morning to get cars qualified, then that is what has to be done. It is too important to the Tommy Baldwins, Joe Nemechecks, Jeremy Mayfields, James Finchs, Bob Germains and Bob Jenkins of the world to not make every attempt to get it in. Scrapping qualifying is no longer a luxury that NASCAR can afford; team’s ultimate existence is at stake.

photo credit: Icon Sports Media

Filed under: Dave Blaney, Diversity and NASCAR, Germain Racing, How to fix NASCAR, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indy Cars, Jeremy Mayfield, Joe Nemechek, NASCAR, NASCAR Bidness, NASCAR officials, On Pit Row The Fastest Two Hours on Radio, Stewart Haas Racing, Tommy Baldwin, Tommy Baldwin Racing, Top 35 Rule, Yates Racing

Tagged with: Bob Germain, Bob Jenkins, James Finch, Jeremy Mayfield, Joe Nemechek, scott riggs, Tommy Baldwin Racing, Top 35 Rule

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The Blick is Hot–Junior is Not

by Steve Wronkowicz

I am co-host of the syndicated radio show: ON PIT ROW. Charlie likes to call me an "idiot". I'm not an "idiot"; I just prefer not to let the facts get in the way of my opinions.

February 23, 2009 10:31 pm CST 3 Comments

Drew Blickensderfer has taken Matt Kenseth on a two-fer that few expected.

The #17 team has done everything right i the first two races of the year. Winning at Fontana pretty much validates the rain shortened win at Daytona. Kenseth was able to hold off Jeff Gordon by a little over a second and a half to secure the win.

In the process of taking that second victory, Kenseth was able to derail Kyle “Rowdy” Busch’s attempt to be the first to win all three races in a single weekend. Busch had run away with the Campers World Truck and Nationwide races both held on Saturday. Rowdy has picked up where he left off during the 2008 regular season.

Also reminiscent of 2008 are the struggles that continue for Dale Earnhardt Jr. After crashing out of the Daytona 500 by his own impatience and bad judgement; engine problems were the rule of the day at Auto Club Speedway. Junior Nation will find it easier to blame crew chief Tony Eury Jr. for this bad finish than the one last week.

This week’s BUZZ ON PIT ROW asks:

After two races; one a crash out, one an engine failure, is Junior crapping out?

Let us know what you think and we could use your answer on this week’s ON PIT ROW radio show from 5-7pm ET Tuesdays right here.

photo credit: Icon Sport Media

Filed under: Auto Club Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, NASCAR, On Pit Row The Fastest Two Hours on Radio

Tagged with: Add new tag, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Drew Blickensderfer, Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, NASCAR

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THA TOAD DUZ VEGAS…”VIVA LOST WAGES” !

by Art Almond, Special To NASCAR commentary,NASCAR video,NASCAR pictures, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

Awright y'all... I'm tha crazy dude that is known as... "Drawer-Dude" I draw funny pictures of this racin' cartoon character that I created... known as "PIT-ROAD-TOAD! You can see more Toad-Toons at my blog site... RACIN' RUCKUS

February 23, 2009 8:31 pm CST 4 Comments

Hey y’all… we goin’ tahh VEGAS! Can Kenseth do ahh repeat? Can Jr. Keep in his pit box ‘n not blow ahh motor? Can Kyle leave um sittin’? Can Gordon finally prevail? Stay tuned …the saga continues!

The Las Vegas Speedway is known as the “Diamond in the Desert”… however, it has another less official moniker and that is… “House of Roush”! This came from the past success of Roush drivers… Matt Kenseth… Mark Martin…and Jeff Burton.

Some cool facts about this 1200 acre complex are that it has a drag strip known as simply “The Strip”. The Las Vegas Police Department uses the facility for their pursuit and driver training. It is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc. The very first Winston Cup victory at the track belongs to non other than Mr. Mark Martin. This accomplishment came in 1998!

I created the cartoon in 1998 to commemorate the opening of the new facility.

Gitcha Sum!

Filed under: Comics, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports, Jeff Burton, Kyle Busch, Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth, Monday Morning Crew Chief, NASCAR, Nascaholics, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing, Pit Road Toad, Roush Racing, Sprint Cup Series