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Chase History: Martinsville Speedway

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.

October 26, 2011 7:29 pm CDT No Comments

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With the wild card race at Talladega Superspeedway now out of the way, the Sprint Cup Series now travels to the Martinsville Speedway for the seventh race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup. The two tracks couldn’t be more different, as we go from the two-car and pack racing common on high-banked superspeedways to the “rubbin’s racin’” mentality of a flat short track.

Chances are, one of three drivers will take the checkered flag this weekend - Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, or Denny Hamlin - but in a trying year for Hamlin, it seems unlikely that this will be the event to turn his Chase around. Johnson, on the other hand, seems more likely, having won Martinsville’s Chase race four times in five years between 2004 and 2008.

In fact, the 2006 win may have been the biggest turning point for Johnson in his first Chase title run. Johnson had finished second in the previous event at Charlotte, but was still seventh in points. But at Martinsville, Johnson scored his first win of the 2006 Chase, leapfrogging to third in points. In the same race, points leader Jeff Burton’s engine failure marked the beginning of the end of his title hopes, dropping him to fifth in points. (He would eventually finish seventh in the Chase.)

Last year, however, Martinsville proved more of a detriment for Johnson. He still finished fifth, but polesitter Hamlin took the lead on lap 471 of 500, for the first time since the start of the race, and took the victory. What was already a slim points lead shrunk even further, as Johnson’s 41 points on Hamlin before the race decreased to six. (Under the current points system, that’s about a one point lead.) Suddenly, the four-time defending champions appeared vulnerable; two weeks later, Hamlin held the points lead.

Martinsville, then, could prove a pivotal race for any driver who takes the victory. Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, or Tony Stewart could take the victory and close in on Carl Edwards, or Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, or even Johnson could use a win (plus some tough luck for the top four) to propel themselves back into the title fight.

Filed under: Chase for the Cup, Denny Hamlin, Martinsville Speedway, jimmie johnson

Tagged with: Chase for the Cup, Denny Hamlin, jimmie johnson, Martinsville Speedway

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Somebody’s Gonna Hurt Someone ‘for this Race is Through

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

October 22, 2011 8:38 pm CDT No Comments

It’s Talladega Super Speedway and for the first time in my memory - and maybe ever - there is worry that The Big One won’t happen like it used to.

There are five races left in the 2011 Chase to the Sprint Cup. This might be the most important. It will be a decider for some. The eliminator for a few.

NASCAR is playing with restrictor plate sizes. Drivers are not talking trash. Just get through it.

It’s a potential fluke race. Wild card, we call it. Pressure is what it is.

I can’t wait. I may try to sleep until the last five laps. But it won’t work. I’ll be on the edge of my chair, just like always. I hope you will too.

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

Filed under: Chase for the Cup, NASCAR, Sprint Cup Series, Talladega Superspeedway

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Rest in Peace Dan Weldon

by Charlie Turner

October 17, 2011 3:22 pm CDT No Comments

Sadly, we pray for the family and friends of another racer. Godspeed Dan Weldon.

Photo credit: Jordan Tabak - OnPitRow.com

Filed under: Indy Cars, Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Tagged with: Dan Weldon

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Chase History: Charlotte Motor Speedway

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

October 15, 2011 12:30 pm CDT No Comments

Jimmie Johnson pit lane New Hampshire

The meat and potatoes of the Chase for the Sprint Cup has always consisted of 1.5-mile tri-ovals, of which Charlotte Motor Speedway has always been the standard. The host of the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend, its 500-mile race in October has always been an important part of the Chase. This year, it will mark the halfway point in the playoffs.

The track used to be called Lowe’s Motor Speedway, and while that was due to a contract between the hardware store and the track, it might as well have been the case because Lowe’s driver Jimmie Johnson owned it in the early years of the Chase. Johnson won the first two Chase races at Charlotte, in 2004 and 2005, and used a win there in 2009 to pull away from Mark Martin in that year’s title hunt.

But Johnson isn’t the only Hendrick Motorsports driver to put on a show at Charlotte. Jeff Gordon scored his first career win in the 1994 Coca-Cola 600, but it was in 2007 when Gordon took a Chase victory after inheriting the lead from Ryan Newman, who crashed in the race’s final laps. Gordon must be cursing the format, though; while he still led the Chase points by 68 over Johnson after that race, he would’ve had almost a 500 point lead under the old system.

Last year’s winner wasn’t a Chase driver, but his ability to win directly influenced the structure of the Chase this year. By taking last year’s Bank of America 500, Jamie McMurray scored wins at the three most prominent tracks on the NASCAR schedule - Daytona, Indianapolis, and Charlotte. It was in response to this that NASCAR set aside the final two Chase spots for “wild card” drivers - the two drivers with the most wins between 11th and 20th in points. (McMurray was 14th after Richmond and would have made it in under this system.)

Filed under: Chase for the Cup, Jamie McMurray, Jeff Gordon, Lowes Motor Speedway, jimmie johnson

Tagged with: Bank of America 500, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Chase for the Cup, Jamie McMurray, Jeff Gordon, jimmie johnson

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Chase History: Kansas Speedway

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

October 8, 2011 12:00 pm CDT No Comments

#14 Tony Stewart turn 2 Michigan International Speedway heisler sum 11

Can Tony Stewart reclaim the Sprint Cup points lead by taking his third career Kansas win? (Photo: Beth Heisler)

2011 marks the first season that Kansas Speedway has ever hosted two races at NASCAR’s highest level, but its fall race has been a part of the Chase for the Sprint Cup since the format’s inception. All but twice, its winner has been a Chase driver; in one of the exceptions, the winner, Tony Stewart, was the top non-Chase driver on the season.

Stewart, in fact, is one of only three drivers to score two wins at the track, tied for the all-time lead. His victories came in 2006, the season where he just missed the Chase, and 2009, his fourth win in his first season driving for his own team. With eight top-10s in his 11 starts, he has an average finish of 11.9 that’s good for fifth among active drivers.

But the two other drivers to win multiple races have done a bit better. He isn’t in this year’s Chase, but Greg Biffle is the defending race winner (as well as the 2007 winner, under controversial circumstances) and will start from the pole on Sunday. In five of his 10 Kansas starts, he’s led 37 laps or more; in seven of 10, he’s come home with at least a top five finish.

The gold standard, however, is Jeff Gordon, who has nine top-10s in 11 Kansas starts and lays down a consistent run every time he shows up. Gordon won the first two Kansas races, in 2001 and 2002, the first coming on the way to his fourth career championship. In each of his past five starts, he’s finished fifth or better, giving Stewart a run for his money in the 2009 race. Another strong Kansas run could be just what he needs to pull back into the Chase hunt after the first three races have left him ninth in points.

Filed under: Chase for the Cup, Greg Biffle, Jeff Gordon, Kansas Speedway, Tony Stewart

Tagged with: Chase for the Cup, Greg Biffle, Jeff Gordon, Kansas Speedway, Tony Stewart

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NASCAR Pictures: Kurt Busch in Victory Lane at Dover

by Charlie Turner

October 3, 2011 5:07 pm CDT No Comments

Exclusive NASCAR photos from the AAA 400 at The Monster Mile

Kurt Busch didn’t have much to complain about this Sunday as he held off Dover Monster Jimmie Johnson to win his first race in the 2011 NASCAR Chase to the Sprint Cup. We have pics.