Latest Headlines

Comments

Sections

Fantasy Pick’Em: 2010 Crown Royal 400

by Chris Leone, Special To NASCAR commentary and pictures,2010 NASCAR schedule,NASCAR 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.

April 29, 2010 12:41 pm CDT No Comments

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

After last week’s exciting race at Talladega, the Sprint Cup Series moves to the bullring that is the Richmond International Raceway for this weekend’s Crown Royal 400. Kyle Busch won this race last year for his first Richmond victory in Cup, and will look to repeat this weekend.

Talladega certainly set a high bar for the racing at Richmond, with record amounts of leaders and lead changes alike. If you were making fantasy picks, I hope you guessed correctly – I generally didn’t. Jeff Burton and Joey Logano were involved in late-race wrecks, for one. Worst of all, I guessed correctly on Jamie McMurray, but Kevin Harvick managed to sneak by him for the victory. Oh well.

I’m going to bet the farm on Kyle Busch this weekend, if only because the pick seems too good to be true. He has eight top-fives in 10 Richmond starts. Yes, that’s right, top-fives. His average finish is a Jimmie Johnson-esque 6.0.

As for a dark horse, I’m going to stick in the Joe Gibbs Racing camp and select Joey Logano. He’s got an average finish of 16.5 in two Cup races at Richmond, with no top-10s, but he doesn’t fall off the lead lap. He’s also got a solid 6.5 average finish at the track in Nationwide, with one pole.

Three more for the road:

Denny Hamlin’s average finish is nearly as good as his Gibbs teammate Busch’s, a solid 8.5. Hamlin also has one Richmond win to go with four top-fives and five top-10s. He’s also won this season on a short track (Martinsville) already. And hey, with the other two Gibbs drivers already on this list, it’d be incomplete without Denny.

Sticking with the Gibbs trend, ex-Gibbs team leader Tony Stewart won three races at Richmond for the team, including his first career victory late in the 1999 season. Stewart has nine top-fives and 15 top-10s at the track, including a runner-up finish in this event last year, and led at least one lap in exactly half of his Richmond starts.

Finally, Stewart’s teammate and employee Ryan Newman has never DNFed at Richmond, although I’m sure I’ve jinxed him by saying that. (Sorry, Ryan.) His only Richmond win came in the fall of 2003; since then, he’s had two top five finishes and eight top-10s in 12 starts. He’s not quite as torrid as he was in his first two seasons at the track, leading at least 24 laps in his first four Richmond starts with the win and two runner-up finishes, but he’s consistent, and he did lead 45 laps in this race last year.

Filed under: Kyle Busch, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing, Richmond International Raceway

Tagged with: Crown Royal Presents Heath Calhoun 400, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing, Richmond International Raceway, Ryan Newman, Tony Stewart

Digg This | Save to del.icio.us

Come Argue With Us! Fantasy Racing Live Chat at 7PM Thursday

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

April 28, 2010 9:06 pm CDT No Comments

NASCAR Fantasy Racing is hot. Our weekly live fantasy racing advice blog is cool. Let us send you a wake-up call. The link to the live fantasy racing chat page is here.

Filed under: Live blogs, NASCAR, NASCAR Fantasy Gaming, Richmond International Raceway

Tagged with: Crown Royal Presents Heath Calhoun 400, fantasy racing live chat, RIR

Digg This | Save to del.icio.us

My NASCAR Heros are not Drivers

by Charlie Turner

April 28, 2010 8:18 pm CDT No Comments

The race this weekend at Richmond International Raceway is, officially, the Crown Royal Presents Heath Calhoun 400. For the forth year, the folks at Crown Royal have found a worthy namesake for the spring race.

Heath Calhoun - Never Say Never

There are individuals who go through this world with something to prove and then there are the everyday individuals that rise above the trials and tribulations of life to truly become heroes. Heath Calhoun, 30, of
Clarksville, Tenn., is one of those people who rose to the top despite suffering severe injuries while proudly serving our country in Iraq.

Calhoun medically retired as a Staff Sergeant (SSG) from the United States Army 101st Airborne Division when he lost both of his legs in an explosion in Iraq in 2003. Since, Calhoun has been nothing short ofremarkable. He most recently competed for Team USA at the Vancouver Paralympics, where he secured two top-10 finishes in both the super-G and combined downhill skiing events. When not training to ski competitively, Calhoun spends his free time speaking with wounded soldiers about life after injuries and despite all his success considers his defining moment when he was first able to pick up his children.

Calhoun will further solidify his name among sports history when he headlines his very own NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway on May 1, 2010.

Officially titled Crown Royal Presents the Heath Calhoun 400, Calhoun was awarded naming rights to the race as part of a patriotic ceremony held by Crown Royal earlier this year at Daytona International Speedway. Calhoun was selected among a group of five military finalists as part of the fourth annual Crown Royal “Your Name Here” program after being nominated by friends, family members and fellow soldiers for his determination and ability to inspire others to live their lives to the fullest despite their injuries. Once the finalists were selected, their stories were showcased on www.crownroyal.com , where, for the first time ever, adult fans were able to choose the grand-prize winner.

Calhoun will soon take home the gold at Richmond International Raceway when his name is incorporated into the race title, race broadcast, as well as tickets and souvenirs. During the race, he will reign as king throughout the entire race weekend, serving as Grand Marshal, delivering the trophy to the race winner in Victory Lane and in lieu of his dedication and courage for our country will surely be seen as a hero by the NASCAR community for his efforts.

We’re hoping to interview Calhoun for Tuesday’s On Pit Row. Check the On Pit Row Facebook page for updates about the show.

Congratulations to Heath Calhoun. Hero.

Photo credit: heathcalhoun.com

Filed under: NASCAR, NASCAR & the Media, Richmond International Raceway

Tagged with: Crown Royal Presents Heath Calhoun 400, RIR

Digg This | Save to del.icio.us

Monday Morning Crew Chief Video: Earth Day Inspired NASCAR Dirt Dished

by Mindy Monday, Special To NASCAR commentary and pictures,2010 NASCAR schedule,NASCAR video, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

April 25, 2010 9:59 pm CDT No Comments

Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

In honor of Earth Day week, Mindy spreads some NASCAR dirt around in the latest Monday Morning Crew Chief video. Check it out.

Filed under: Brad Kesolowski, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Monday Morning Crew Chief, NASCAR, NASCAR Conspiracies, NASCAR video, jimmie johnson

Tagged with: Blue Duece, J C France, Mindy Monday

Digg This | Save to del.icio.us

NASCAR Monsoon Season: Texas to Talladega

by Charlie Turner

April 25, 2010 11:11 am CDT No Comments

What a long wet week it has been for the NASCAR fleet.

After a weekend washout at the Great American Speedway that caused a Monday doubleheader, the Saturday slate at Talladega Superspeedway was lost to another deluge - and some scary weather in general.

So we’ll play two today. We hope.

In fact the weather is more predictable than the races will be. The tune doesn’t change much. No matter who is singing it. Drivers, talking heads, journalists, bloggers or fans; nobody has a real clue who will win this thing.

Dale Earnhardt Jr compared Talladega races to playing the lottery. And Junior has had alot of success at “Dega. Read Bob Pockrass’ article here.

The good thing about Talladega - for me at least - is that the races are exciting. It keeps me on the edge for more of a given race than any other track. The “almost anyone can win” nature of the place is both frustrating and exciting. The “big one” looms throughout.

But it will be hard to have a bigger “big one” than they had at TMS on Monday.

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

Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR, Sprint Cup Series, Talladega Superspeedway

Tagged with: Aaron's 499, Great American Speedway, Round girl Jen

Digg This | Save to del.icio.us

Live NASCAR Fantasy Racing Chat: Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Super Speedway

by Charlie Turner

April 22, 2010 5:15 am CDT No Comments

Join Eric McClung and Ryan Rantz Thursday at 7 EDT and get realtime fantasy racing advice from a couple of NASCAR fantasy racing experts. Sign up for an email reminder below.

Filed under: Live blogs, NASCAR, NASCAR Fantasy Gaming, Talladega Superspeedway

Tagged with: Aaron's 499, fantasy racing live chat

Digg This | Save to del.icio.us

« Previous Articles