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Lack of Suspension for Carl Edwards Inexplicable

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.

March 11, 2010 4:07 pm CST 2 Comments

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I have been a fan of Roush Fenway Racing since I was a small child, watching Mark Martin pilot the No. 6 Valvoline car. Through the years, watching the team expand into one of NASCAR’s first multicar powerhouses, I have become a fan of almost every driver to slide behind the wheel of their Fords.

This means that yes, to some extent, I am a Carl Edwards fan. Say what you will about his personality, but he shows flashes of brilliance as a racecar driver, the nine-win season in 2008 included. I think his 2009 Talladega wreck may have affected his psyche a little bit, and may make him a more careful driver in the long term, but he’s still got talent.

That aside, however, his actions in Sunday’s race at Atlanta were inexcusable. I’m sure that everybody knows what happened by now – after Brad Keselowski (the same driver who put him into the catchfence at Talladega last year) got into him early in the race, he returned to the track and ruined a great run by the Penske Racing driver with five laps to go.

Keselowski’s car flipped and landed on its roof, most of the pressure on the driver’s side, before rolling back on all four wheels. Keselowski was shaken up to say the least, and Edwards was parked for his deliberate actions, which he all but admitted to later on.

The problem, however, is NASCAR’s decision only to put Edwards on probation for three races for this incident. Given his history with Keselowski, as well as the complaints that others like Denny Hamlin make about the young driver, these incidents are likely not over. They’ll just wait until Edwards’ probation is over. NASCAR didn’t even wring Edwards’ hands – they wagged a finger. That’s all that the meeting between the two drivers and their owners will be, too.

Marty Smith wrote on Twitter that a “precedent has been set” for these types of retaliatory actions – that no driver should be afraid to dive-bomb a rival they’re angry at now. I understand NASCAR’s desire to open up the racing this year, and I applaud it, but not laying the hammer down in deliberate accidents, especially ones where the wrecked driver could have been seriously hurt, is a mistake.

My opinion: NASCAR should have parked Edwards for at least one race. I might have waited until the next Atlanta race to do it, however. I don’t want a driver who’s going to race like that to make his way into the Chase, and Atlanta is the penultimate regular season race. Taking Edwards out of a race so close to the cutoff could knock him out (if he’s in) and make it far more difficult to make up ground, whereas missing Bristol would give him about 20 more races to get back to the front.

Filed under: Atlanta Motor Speedway, Brad Kesolowski, Carl Edwards

Tagged with: Atlanta Motor Speedway, Brad Keselowski, Carl Edwards

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Hotlanta Chowder and NASCAR Shark Fin Soup

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

March 10, 2010 10:29 pm CST No Comments

Tires.

“Pete. Do you ever get tired of the tires? Sometimes, I get tired of the tires. Very tired”

That was a little play on the words of one of my favorite lines ever, from the very best racing movie of all time, John Frankenheimer’s Grand Prix.

Deal with it.

Steve asked Fox’s Jeff Hammond who was to blame for Sunday’s tire issues at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Jeff blamed the crew chiefs. So did Steve.

But tires were just an excuse for me to use my movie line in this post. The real story. The only real story, really, was Carl Edwards’ wrecking of Brad Keselowski, and NASCAR’s subsequent wrist slap of Edwards for the dirty deed.

From the buzz we got during the On Pit Row broadcast Tuesday, to what I’ve read and heard around the NASCAR Twittisphere, most of the subjects of the Kingdom of France seem pretty PO’d about Carl’s easy way out of this deal. Jerry Bonkowski, one of our guests On Pit Row, sure seems to feel that way. Read what Jerry has to say here.

I think that, somewhere in the back of a very dark, and very expensively appointed hauler, Prince Brian is cackling like a drunken hen.

This whole deal, including the spectacular double axel that Keselowski’s Penske Dodge executed at AMS, has been just what the PR(ayer) people in Daytona were hoping for. (Well maybe it was second to a Dale and Danica weekend sweep somewhere).

This wreck and the attendant story lines, put NASCAR front-and-center on all the general sports news shows, beyond the normal race recaps. Mike and Mike. Jim Rome. Oprah.

There was excitement. Maybe not the kind that NASCAR purists wanted.

But this is about the Benjamins baby. Eyes on the decals. Butts in the seats. Cash.

And this wreck will help.

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

Filed under: Atlanta Motor Speedway, Brad Kesolowski, Carl Edwards, NASCAR, On Pit Row The Fastest Two Hours on Radio

Tagged with: Kobalt Tools 500

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Fantasy Pick’Em: 2010 Kobalt Tools 500

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

March 4, 2010 2:05 am CST 2 Comments

Three races into the season, and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to the Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Kobalt Tools 500. Jimmie Johnson, sponsored by Kobalt Tools in his Cup efforts, will attempt to win his third consecutive race this weekend… and with the old formalities down, let me tell everybody that it’s my midterm week here at school, and combined with reading too many sarcastic IndyCar blogs in preparation for that season, I’m going to be a little more bitingly sarcastic than usual. Strap in, folks.

Speaking of winning, guess who picked the winner last week? That’s right. I called him an easy pick, but sometimes it’s worth it to take the easy money (and the gift win)… especially when the rest of your picks were relative duds. Jeff Burton wound up 11th, Kyle Busch was 15th, and Denny Hamlin finished 19th, while my dark horse, Bobby Labonte, was 51 laps down in 38th.

I would love to pick Johnson again this weekend, but my conscience tells me to be a little more interesting. Fair enough. How about Jeff Gordon? 23 top-fives in 35 Atlanta starts, with four wins, and a dominant car last weekend in Vegas suggest that the DuPont team may be a force both this weekend and beyond.

(For the record, if Johnson wins this week, I will attempt to write some revisionist history by suggesting I picked the 48 this week and the 24 last week, all in the name of sounding smart. This is what happens when you write a fantasy racing column for too long and want to finally sound smart.)

As for a dark horse, how about A.J. Allmendinger? Last weekend was a struggle for sure, but the ‘Dinger heads to the best track on which he has started more than two races. He’s been consistent, if nothing else, with all four of his finishes between 14th and 20th. And while that’s not “race-winning dark horse” material, it does seem like a gimme for a solid, reasonable finish, and I’ll take what I can get. Perhaps we simply have varying definitions of “dark horse.”

Three more for all you skeptics:

Jimmie Johnson. There. I said it. It’s 1 AM and I’m very tired. Next.

In what is sure to raise a cheer from the majority of people who read this column, my next pick is none other than Dale Earnhardt Jr., the second best active driver at Atlanta (behind his superhuman teammate, of course). Yes, he hasn’t been the same driver the past two weekends as he was at Daytona, but come on, the curse of the last Hendrick car can’t apply every weekend. Even Casey Mears won in a fourth Hendrick vehicle, and Casey Mears hasn’t accomplished half of what Dale Jr. has.

For my final pick, I’m going to go with Joey Logano. This has nothing to do with his Atlanta track record in Cup, which is pretty abysmal. It has everything to do, however, with the fact that eighth in points is the highest he’s ever been in Cup. Sliced Bread is finally starting to really get things together with the No. 20 team, and he could do what David Ragan almost did in 2008 by making the Chase in his sophomore year.

Filed under: A J Allmendinger, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Joey Logano, jimmie johnson

Tagged with: A.J. Allmendinger, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, jimmie johnson, Joey Logano, Kobalt Tools 500

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Enough Fuel Gambles: Earnhardt Jr’s Gotta Out-race ‘em Sunday

by Charlie Turner

September 5, 2009 9:32 pm CDT No Comments

Dale Earnhardt Jr finished third in the just completed Degree V12 300 Nationwide Series race. At the end, Junior stayed out while the other contenders pitted - gambling on saving five laps worth of gas. Five laps!

The problem was, Earnhardt had to tool around Atlanta Motor Speedway about two seconds a lap slower than the dominant Kevin Harvick, who was only about 12 seconds back. With 11 laps left. The math wasn’t that tough.

Rusty Wallace called it a good confidence builder for Junior and his team. I call it a trend that needs to end. Fuel mileage strategies and moral victories when those strategies fail, seem to be what some think are Earnhardt’s best expectations.

Bull.

Dale Earnhardt Jr has really good stats and a history of success at AMS. He needs to strap it up, and tell that no. 88 team of his that he’s going to go out there Sunday night and beat the field. It’s time to show something.

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

Filed under: Atlanta Motor Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR, Nationwide Series

Tagged with: Degree V12 300, Round girl Jen

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Pep Boys 500 Fantasy Racing Live Chat: Thursday at 7 PM ET

by Charlie Turner

September 3, 2009 11:00 am CDT No Comments

We’re talking NASCAR fantasy night racing at Hot ‘Lanta this Thursday - September 3. Our weekly live blog/chat session starts at 7 PM ET. Sign up for a reminder in the box below so you don’t miss any of the conversation. OnPitRow.com Power Rankings author, Ryan Rantz is the fantasy racing expert host this week.

You can click here to replay any of our past fantasy chat sessions and to talk about you team for this weeks first ever night race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

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

Tagged with: fantasy racing live chat, NASCAR fantasy racing advice, Pep Boys 500, Ryan Rantz

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Joey Logano Uses Zippadelli’s Leadership to Beat the Rain at Loudon

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.

June 28, 2009 8:45 pm CDT No Comments

Joey Lagono did something that most nineteen year olds have a hard time with; listening to their elders.

Logano listened to crew chief Greg Zippadelli, when he told the first year Cup driver to save enough fuel to make it to the red flag. Rain came on lap 273 of the scheduled 301 laps and “Sliced Bread” was in a position to win. What early on looked to be bad luck turned out to be good for the #20 team. A couple of flat tires and a torn up left rear quarter panel forced him to pit for new tires and allowed the rookie to top off with fuel during the several stops necessary to get the car back into contention. Logano wasn’t thinking silver lining at the time:

We had a left rear cut down right before we made that last long green flag run and just trying to overcome that. When that happened, I thought we were done. I was like, the day just went bad, just try to finish it off and get as best finish we can and we made the right move at the end. He (Zippadelli) went for it and I was just lucky enough to be in the seat.

The win puts Joe Gibbs Racing back in the win column for the first time in a ride other than the #18 of Kyle Busch. Logano’s Cup season got off to a rough start. Just maybe he was in a bit over his head which led me to believe that he might fold under the pressures and not make it past the middle of the season. Look here to see how wrong I could be.

Double file restarts have greatly increased the viewer excitement of the races since their inception. They have also been the cause of some mishaps. Perhaps the two go hand in hand. Loudon had a “big one” the likes of which reminds fans of the side by side racing usually reserved for the plate tracks. The racing has been more fun to watch and NASCAR must be given credit for the move.

This all leads us to this week’s BUZZ ON PIT ROW:

If the new double file restarts can make for exciting races at New Hampshire and Sonoma; can it do the same for the ‘cookie cutters” at Chicago, Kansas, Atlanta et al?

Let us know what you think and we could use your comments on this week’s ON PIT ROW radio show. Listen live every Tuesday from 5-7pm ET at www.onpitrow.com. Or give us a call at 1-800-645-2946 and if your call is The Shell Nitrogen Enriched Call of the Day you will win a Kevin Harvick bobblehead.

photo credit: Dew Hallowell/Getty Images for NASCAR

Filed under: Atlanta Motor Speedway, Joe Gibbs Racing, Joey Logano, NASCAR, On Pit Row The Fastest Two Hours on Radio

Tagged with: Joe Gibbs Racing, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch

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