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IndyCar Race Review: Indianapolis 500

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.

May 31, 2010 10:31 am CDT No Comments

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Dario Franchitti took his second Indianapolis 500 checkered flag in the past four years after easily leading more than two thirds of the event.

Franchitti’s victory, taken under caution over Dan Wheldon and Marco Andretti, made team owner Chip Ganassi the first owner to win the crown jewels of American stock car and open wheel racing in the same season.

This time, Franchitti managed to hang on in a full-length race, after winning a rain-shortened contest in 2007. He did more than hang on, though - until pit stops in the second half of the race shook up the running order, he utilized clean air to dominate much of the event.

The two major early stories of the race were Tony Kanaan and pit crew failure. Kanaan started 33rd after a disastrous qualifying weekend, but worked his way up through the field quickly. Meanwhile, the pit crews of Will Power, Scott Dixon, and Raphael Matos all made crucial errors in the first third of the race, with Power driving off with part of his fuel assembly and Dixon and Matos losing wheels on the same set of pit stops.

Blocking was also at issue during much of the event. Graham Rahal was black-flagged after blocking Franchitti and later Dan Wheldon. Wheldon was actually the victim of two huge blocks early in the event, with the other coming from John Andretti. A handful of drivers received black flags over the course of the race for blocking others, with a late-race penalty sabotaging the chances of Townsend Bell to score a good finish.

Turn two victimized a handful of cars over the course of the event, including Davey Hamilton, Bruno Junqueira, and Matos, not long after his pit issues. Franchitti continued to hold the point, however, with very few challenges - polesitter Helio Castroneves didn’t lead at all until the latter stages.

Indy often can reward the perseverance of the less prominent teams in the sport with a legitimate shot at glory. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing had three of its four cars lead parts of the race, with Tomas Scheckter, Mike Conway, and Justin Wilson all briefly helming the point. Scheckter faded as better cars passed him, while Conway and Wilson had to pit for fuel.

Conway was the victim of a spectacular last-lap wreck that handed the race to Franchitti. He barrelled into Ryan Hunter-Reay’s car coming out of turn three and flew into the catchfence, in an incident scarily similar to Kenny Brack’s 2003 wreck at Texas and Alessandro Zampedri’s incident on the last lap of the 1996 500. Luckily, Conway suffered only a broken leg, compared to the more serious injuries of those two drivers.

Indy can also victimize some of the best teams in the sport. Penske Racing, which attempted to win its 16th Indianapolis 500 as Castroneves went for his record-tying fourth, had a miserable day. Ryan Briscoe, who held a fuel advantage after his last pit stop, wrecked almost instantly after to finish 24th. Power and Castroneves came home 8th and 9th, respectively. Power led early before his pit issue, and Castroneves led with as few as nine laps to go before needing to pit.

After Conway, Wilson, and others had to pit for fuel within the last 20 laps of the race, Franchitti reinherited the lead over Kanaan, who was looking to become the first driver to win the race from the last row. Such a victory would have been redemption for Kanaan, especially considering that he had nearly missed the race this year, and considering his history of bad Indy luck. But he had to pit with a handful of laps to go, handing the bridesmaid position to Wheldon for the second year in a row. It was also the third consecutive year that Panther Racing finished second in the 500.

Andretti, who had been blowing through his Honda Push to Pass allotment all race, came home third after first being classified in sixth. Originally, Alex Lloyd had been classified third, Scott Dixon fourth and Danica Patrick fifth. But all three were ruled as having passed Andretti under caution on the last lap, and his position was returned to him, and those three drivers were knocked down one spot apiece.

Two rookies finished on the lead lap - Mario Romancini in 13th and Simona de Silvestro in 14th. They both got by Franchitti as he attempted to conserve fuel on the final lap. The best finishing Indy 500 special was that of Rahal, which placed 12th.

Filed under: Chip Ganassi Racing, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indy Cars

Tagged with: Chip Ganassi Racing, Dan Wheldon, Dario Franchitti, Helio Castroneves, Indianapolis 500, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IZOD IndyCar Series, Marco Andretti

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Coke Throws a Big NASCAR Barbeque

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

May 28, 2010 9:40 pm CDT No Comments

The Coca Cola folks always have something big cooked up for the Coca Cola 600 weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Thousands of fans turned out for the Coca-Cola Family Track Walk and Quarter-Mile Cookout at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Friday, May 28. The event gave fans an opportunity to get active by walking the entire length of the 1.5-mile track, followed by a free cookout on the nation’s longest grill.

Coca-Cola Racing Family driver Ryan Newman used an oversized match to light 7,000 pounds of charcoal ablaze in a quarter-mile-long grill. Newman was joined by fellow drivers Michael Waltrip, Joey Logano and Clint Bowyer for the cookout and the Coca-Cola Family Track Walk.

Ryan Newman waved the green flag to start the Coca-Cola Family Track

Walk. Afterward they feasted on free chicken and burgers cooked on a quarter-mile-long grill, positioned in the track’s infield.

Coca-Cola Racing Family members Michael Waltrip (left) and Joey Logano competed in a spoon race. Logano won the competition when Waltrip fumbled the egg from his spoon in the closing steps of the final lap. The Track Walk reminded the thousands of fans on hand how simple and fun getting active can be.

Photo credit: Harold Hinson

Filed under: Clint Boyer, Joey Logano, Michael Waltrip, NASCAR, NASCAR & the Media, Ryan Newman

Tagged with: Charlotte Motor Speedway, Coca Cola 600, Coca-Cola Racing Family, nation's longest grill

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Fantasy Pick’Em: 2010 Coca-Cola 600

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

May 27, 2010 11:27 am CDT No Comments

Kurt Busch in the Miller Lite Dodge at TMS practice

The weekend immediately following the Sprint All-Star Race, the Coca-Cola 600 is one of the crown jewels of NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series. Designed to compete with the Indianapolis 500 on Memorial Day weekend, it joins the Daytona 500, Southern 500, and Brickyard 400 as one of the series’ most important and prestigious races.

Last year’s rain-shortened event was taken on a dreary Monday by David Reutimann. He added his name to a long list of first-time winners at the track, including all-time greats David Pearson and Jeff Gordon, by opting not to pit during the final caution of the event while many other cars did. The 600 often produces a surprise winner, as many of the big races do, but to suggest it happens every time would be to ignore many drivers who have won it during the peak of their careers, from Gordon to Dale Earnhardt to Jimmie Johnson.

So I’m going to go out on a limb (except not at all) and make Johnson my lead pick. Without the Lowe’s sponsorship, Johnson doesn’t have that extra sort of motivation to dominate at the track, but I see no reason why he can’t keep up a torrid pace of 6 wins and 13 top-10s in 17 starts. The only race in which he has failed to lead a lap was his track debut. His average finish of 8.6 is by far the best of drivers with at least five starts at the track. This is a gimme if you can take it.

Kurt Busch qualifies as a bit of a dark horse at Charlotte, despite the fact that he won last weekend’s All-Star Race. Busch only has three top-5s and a dismal 20.9 average finish in 19 career points-paying starts. If he can win the 600, however, he’d be the seventh driver in 25 years of Charlotte-based all-star events that a driver won both races; Kasey Kahne was the last to do it in 2008.

Some other drivers of merit in the longest race of the NASCAR season:

Joey Logano has only four starts at Charlotte, counting his All-Star travails, but has never disappointed. He converted last year’s Fan Vote into an eighth place run, and finished ninth and fifth in the two races that counted last year. This year, he wound up third in the all-star event. Remember that Jeff Gordon also won the 600 in his sophomore year of NASCAR competition – we could very well see shades of the last great young driver on Sunday night.

Kasey Kahne has also been on a torrid pace at Charlotte over the past two years. In four points-paying starts, he has three podium finishes and a worst placing of seventh. His 11.6 career Charlotte average finish is one of the best on the circuit, and it appears that his worst years at the track are long behind him. Kahne has scored the most points in the last three Charlotte races, and in every amount up through the last nine. usually goes big or goes home – he has three wins and five top-5s, but four finishes of 23rd or worse.

Finally, Jeff Burton has been a highly consistent driver at Charlotte as of late. For his career, he has 32 starts with three wins and 15 top-10s, as well as a win in the 2002 all-star shootout. Burton has scored the third most points at Charlotte over the past five years, second only to Johnson and Kahne; these ten races have been buoyed by a win in October 2008, five top-10s, and only three finishes outside the top 20.

Filed under: Jeff Burton, Joey Logano, Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch, Lowes Motor Speedway, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing, jimmie johnson

Tagged with: Charlotte Motor Speedway, Coca Cola 600, Jeff Burton, jimmie johnson, Joey Logano, Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing

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Thursday NASCAR Fantasy Racing Live Chat: Coca Cola 600

by Charlie Turner

May 25, 2010 9:07 pm CDT No Comments

Charlotte Motor Speedway hosts NASCAR’s longest race this week. We dissect the Memorial Day classic from the fantasy racing angle at 7 PM ET. Join us. Fill in the form and we will remind you before the start.

Filed under: Live blogs, Lowes Motor Speedway, NASCAR, NASCAR Fantasy Gaming

Tagged with: Coca Cola 600, fantasy racing live chat

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Monday Morning Crew Chief: Does This Commercial Make Me Look…

by Charlie Turner

May 24, 2010 9:46 pm CDT No Comments

Are NASCAR drivers athletes? What stopped Kevin Harvick’s divorce? Why is Office Depot dumping Tony Stewart a good thing?

Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

It’s all about relationships. Except for that athlete thingy. Mindy Monday’s latest Monday Morning Crew Chief video is up. Watch it now. Then tell her what you think.

Filed under: Denny Hamlin, Diversity and NASCAR, Kevin Harvick, Monday Morning Crew Chief, NASCAR, NASCAR Rumors, NASCAR video, Richard Childress Racing, Stewart Haas Racing, Tony Stewart

Tagged with: Mindy Monday, NASCAR humor

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Joey Logano: Self-Proclaimed Sprint All Star Goat

by Charlie Turner

May 23, 2010 7:26 am CDT 3 Comments

Ricky Carmichael is THE G.O.A.T. Goat in this case - Greatest Of All Time - is a good (great) thing.

Then there’s the other kind of goat. No caps. Not an acronym for anything. Goat in this case is not good.

Joey Logano is the bad goat this morning because his car caused the contact that started the biggest wreck of the night in the 2010 Sprint All Star Race for NASCAR. Logano’s #20 Home Depot Camry got squeezed on the restart of lap one of the final 10 lap segment. The left side tires got down in the grass, the car got a bit sideways and all hell broke loose.

It was the most exciting part of the night.

So Sliced Bread (don’t hear that as much anymore do you?) said his mea culpas for the media and fellow competitors sake. And Fox Sports may want to send him on a trip to Disney World.

He saved the show.

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc

Filed under: Joey Logano, Lowes Motor Speedway, NASCAR, NASCAR & the Media

Tagged with: G.O.A.T., Ricky Carmichael, Sprint All Star Race

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