Latest Headlines

Comments

charlie on dovchasesun-kurt-busch-winners-circle-2-dover-international-speedway-chase-fall-bure-11
There’s a New Kyle Coming and He’s Coming Fast : NASCAR commentary and driver pictures, 2011 NASCAR schedule, video, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie on Logano has Dover Crowd on its Feet as Johnson Wins
Charlie Turner on missun-pitstop-in-turn1-michigan-international-speedway-heisler-sum-11
Sloan on NASCAR History: Car Number 46 and Speedy Thompson
Richard Petersen on 5 More Years! 5 More Years!

Sections

NASCAR’s Version of the Prince and the Pauper?

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

September 30, 2009 2:09 pm CDT 3 Comments

In a tweet during On Pit Row this week, I asked…

“If George Gillett brings Saudi money into NASCAR and it rescues Richard Petty Motorsports, will NASCAR fans still love the King?”

The “King” being our king. Richard Petty, of course.

The rumors were flying on Tuesday about Saudis in the garage. Today, Scene Daily has this…

George Gillett, whose family is the majority owner of Richard Petty Motorsports, has entered into a “commercial collaboration” agreement with F6, a leading Saudi Arabia-based sports management firm founded and led by Saudi Arabian Prince Faisal bin Fahad bin Abdullah Al Saud.

Gillett’s earlier purchase of the bulk of Petty Enterprises from the Petty family made many Petty fans leery. The more recent announcement that there exists a letter of intent to merge RPM with Yates Racing has longtime Petty followers trying to justify a switch to Ford.

Most subjects of the Kingdom whom I’ve spoken with are OK with the switch. As long as it saves the 43 and keeps Richard involved. At least they aren’t going to race Toyotas, you know?

But what about the Saudis? How will that wash with the Level Cross crowd?

I don’t know.

But I have a favorite saying about money…

“It’s not the money. It the amount”

And the Kingdom of Saud has whatever it would take for the kingdom of Richard to compete.

How would you feel about this Petty fans?

Filed under: NASCAR, NASCAR Bidness, NASCAR Rumors, The King, The Pettys

Tagged with: F6, George Gillett, Prince Faisal, Richard Petty, Richard Petty Motorsports

Digg This | Save to del.icio.us

One and Done: Price Chopper 400

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.

September 29, 2009 5:59 pm CDT No Comments

That’s right, folks, a One and Done preview on Tuesday night! Crazy, huh?

This weekend, the Sprint Cup Series will contest the third race of this year’s Chase, heading to Kansas for the ninth annual Price Chopper 400. Jimmie Johnson won this race last year, giving him a points lead that he would not relinquish for the rest of the year.

Kansas Speedway is a 1.5-mile rounded tri-oval, similar to ISC sister track Chicagoland Speedway. With 15-degree banking in the turns and slightly banked straightaways, the track is widely cited as one of NASCAR’s most prominent “cookie cutter” speedways. It is the first of three 1.5-mile tri-ovals in the Chase, with Charlotte coming up in two weeks and Texas occurring around this time next month.

The eventual Sprint Cup champion has always finished well at Kansas: In 2004, Kurt Busch placed 6th, his best-ever Kansas finish; Tony Stewart was 4th in 2005; and two of Jimmie Johnson’s past three Kansas races have resulted in podium finishes. Finishing well at Kansas isn’t the perfect predictor of a Sprint Cup champion, but consider that in four of the past five years, the points leader coming out of the weekend has gone on to win the championship.

With that in mind, whichever of these drivers leaves Kansas with the points lead has a good shot at winning the title. Going with the theory that only Chase drivers are worthy of picking anymore, here are this week’s One and Done picks:

Jeff Gordon (avg. fn. 9.8): Gordon won the first two Kansas races to take place, in 2001 and 2002. He’s almost always solid at Kansas, with five top-5s in eight starts. Only a 39th place finish in 2006, caused by a fuel pump failure, mars his Kansas record. Mired in 8th in the Chase standings, 122 points out of the lead, Kansas could be the catalyst to Gordon’s fifth championship run, if he can run as well as he normally does at the track.

Greg Biffle (avg. fn. 9.9): Da Biff is actually about a solid bet at Kansas as I can imagine. In four of his past five Kansas races, he’s finished third or better. He’s only had two more meaningful starts at Kansas, both resulting in 12th-place finishes. Discount a spot start filling in for the late Bobby Hamilton in 2002, in which Biffle crashed and finished 36th, and Biffle has the best record of anybody at Kansas. Like Gordon, he could use a huge Kansas run to boost his Chase hopes.

Jimmie Johnson (avg. fn. 10.4): Johnson entered this race last year 10 points behind the leader. He came out with the lead after winning the race, and look how that turned out for him. While points leader Mark Martin finished second at Dover, Johnson’s win gained him 25 points in the standings. Another Kansas win might do the same thing for him this weekend.

Mark Martin (avg. fn. 13.1): The Kid still holds the points lead over Johnson by a slim margin. He, too, has won at Kansas before, leading 139 laps on the way to victory in 2005. The problem is, he hasn’t even led a lap since, with two finishes outside of the top 10 in the past three years. (Granted, both were in Ginn/DEI equipment, but still.) He can’t afford not to lead at least one lap this weekend - not with Johnson catching fire.

Juan Montoya (avg. fn. 24.0): Obviously this isn’t a pick based on history - it’s a pick based on momentum. Montoya has been fantastic through two Chase races. He’s risen to the occasion the past four weeks, with three top-5s after only one in the previous 24 races. He’s getting hot at the right time, on tracks he’s never been anything special at (Loudon comes to mind).

Filed under: One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing

Tagged with: Kansas Speedway, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing, Price Chopper 400

Digg This | Save to del.icio.us

Fantasy NASCAR Live Chat: Price Chopper 400 Thursday at 7 PM ET

by Charlie Turner

September 29, 2009 9:06 am CDT No Comments

Every Thursday OnPitRow.com hosts a one hour fantasy racing live blog/chat session. This week Eric McClung, author of our fantasy racing preview posts will lead the discussion.

This will be a good one to attend as NASCAR hasn’t been to Kansas Speedway in 2009 so it will be interesting to see where the experts get there mojo for the Price Chopper 400.

Leave yourself a reminder in the box below.

Filed under: Kansas Speedway, NASCAR, NASCAR Fantasy Gaming

Tagged with: fantasy racing live chat, Price Chopper 400

Digg This | Save to del.icio.us

Logano has Dover Crowd on its Feet as Johnson Wins

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.

September 28, 2009 5:40 pm CDT 1 Comment

Jimmie Johnson took his place at the front of the field at Dover International Raceway.

While Johnson made a mockery of the field at Dover, rookie Joey Logano was capturing the press. Sure Johnson’s victory closed him to within ten points of The Chase leader, Mark Martn, but it was the spectacular wreck that Logano was involved in , that left the crowd concerned.

Logano slowed for traffic in front of him, but Tony Stewart was unable to avoid the car he formerly drove and tagged the back of the #20 sending Logano into the outside retaining wall;followed by a spectacular seven revolution barrel roll down the front stretch at the Monster Mile. “Sliced Bread” left the batterd ride after it had stopped momentarily on it’s driver side door before ending on it’s wheels.

Logano emerged from the damaged car without serious injury and waved to the fans as he made his way to the ambulance for the precautionary ride to the infield care center. This new car once again proved how well it withstands damage and protects the driver.

It also shows that the cars still have a want to get upside down. Roof flaps solved that problem on the old car but the front splitter and rear wing combination have proven to be more of a challenge for the aerodynamicist. By definition the rear wing on the new car is designed to keep the rear of the car on the ground, but when it is turned up-side-down it does as any wing does and creates lift. Once the new car gets upset it doesn’t lend itself to minor mishaps.

NASCAR will figure this out and make the car perform better. It may come with some help from the Nationwide COT as it develops.

This week’s BUZZ ON PIT ROW is this:

Should NASCAR and its drivers be concerned with the airborne tendencies of this car?

Let us know what you think and we could use your answer on this weeks radio show. Tune in to ON PIT ROW every Tuesday from 5-7pm ET. You could win a Kevin Harvick bobblehead if you are the Shell-Fuel My Passion Call of the Day.

photo credit: Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR

Filed under: Brian France, Car of Tomorrow, Chase for the Cup, Clint Boyer, How to fix NASCAR, Jeff Gordon, NASCAR, On Pit Row The Fastest Two Hours on Radio

Tagged with: jimmie johnson, Joey Logano, Mark Martin, Tony Stewart

Digg This | Save to del.icio.us

Kan Kasey Kahne Overkome Katastrophe and Kontend?

by Charlie Turner

September 27, 2009 12:06 pm CDT No Comments

Some of the best fantasy racing experts I know tell me that a driver’s performance during happy hour practice is as key as any other factor when predicting performance.

Kasey Kahne was the fast guy in final practice for the AAA 400 at Dover’s potentially wet Monster Mile.

Last week, Kahne was the lone Chase contender to have a potentially championship killing result. Blown engines are not what it takes to win a Cup.

But a big comeback performance is possible. One bad race hasn’t necessarily stopped a Chase championship run. See Jimmie Johnson, Cup number one.

So Kahne fans can latch onto the strong Happy Hour speeds and hope for a dominant day for the Budweiser Dodge.

Photo credit: Round girl Jen by BethAnne Heisler for OnPitRow.com

Filed under: Chase for the Cup, Dover International Speedway, Kasey Kahne, NASCAR

Tagged with: AAA 400, Budweiser Dodge, Monster Mile

Digg This | Save to del.icio.us

One and Done: AAA 400

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

September 24, 2009 10:52 am CDT 1 Comment

After an exciting start to this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup last week in New Hampshire, the Sprint Cup cars head to Dover this weekend for the AAA 400. Mark Martin heads into the weekend with the points lead, building a 35-point cushion after winning in Loudon.

Dover, like New Hampshire, is a one-mile oval, but the similarities end there. Unlike Loudon, Dover is a banked track, with 24 degrees in the corners and 9 on the straightaways. It is also the only concrete-paved track in the Chase (the only other concrete track in the series is Bristol).

Of all active drivers’ career records at Bristol, those with the top seven average finishes are all Chase drivers. However, the other five drivers all have mediocre at best Bristol records, and aren’t really good fantasy picks for that reason. Sorry, Kurt Busch, Brian Vickers, Kasey Kahne, Juan Pablo Montoya, and Denny Hamlin.

Hamlin’s record is particularly bad, with no finishes better than 36th in his last four Dover races. Among the drivers who can say they have better Bristol records than Kahne and Montoya: Mike Skinner, Todd Bodine, and Paul Menard. Vickers’ one top ten came in 2005. Yikes.

So, out of the remaining Chase drivers, who’s a good fantasy bet?

Carl Edwards (avg. fn. 7.6): Look, I don’t care how off he’s been this year, compared to his normally lofty standards. Dover is an excellent track for Edwards, and if he’s going to break through into the win column somewhere, this seems like the place to do it. How do you bet against a guy who’s never finished worse than 18th and has led laps in seven straight Dover races? Then again, I feel as if I’ve said similar things before earlier this year.

Jimmie Johnson (avg. fn. 10.4): It’s Jimmie Johnson, it’s the Chase, I don’t need to say any more. For the sake of filling space, however, I will point out that Johnson has a streak of top-15s at Dover dating back to this race in 2004, and he won the spring race, suggesting another stellar performance this weekend.

Greg Biffle (avg. fn. 10.6): You’d have to go all the way back to the Biff’s rookie season of 2003 to find a bad finish at Dover - 30th in the spring of 2003 after a spin. After a mediocre 26th in the spring of 2004, it’s been nothing but smooth sailing for the 16 team ever since - culminating with wins in spring 2005 and this race last year. Biffle has also led laps in eight of the last nine Bristol races.

Tony Stewart (avg. fn. 11.7): A lot of us thought that Smoke would have his first points-paying win as an owner-driver at Dover earlier this year, until Johnson found a way around him in the closing laps. Now we know that the 14 team has the prerequisite Swagger (Old Spice and mindset) to contend. If not for an axle issue last weekend at New Hampshire, this team might’ve been back in the points lead.

Mark Martin (avg. fn. 12.7): Momentum, check. Four career Dover wins, check. Only two finishes worse than 10th since 2004, check. Take him if he’s available. There’s no reason not to.

Filed under: One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing

Tagged with: AAA 400, Dover International Speedway, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing

Digg This | Save to del.icio.us

« Previous Articles