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Fantasy Pick’Em: 2010 Irwin Tools Night Race

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.

August 18, 2010 5:59 pm CDT No Comments

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If NASCAR had to, for some strange reason, pare down the Sprint Cup season to only five races, this weekend’s Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway would be almost certain to make the cut.

The rough-and-tumble racing that Bristol is famous for, under the Saturday night lights in the dog days of summer, provides fans with a powder keg that’s ready to explode at any moment – and frequently does, claiming many contenders along the way. Many fans will never forget Dale Earnhardt punting Terry Labonte out of the way to win the 1999 edition, nor the post-race fireworks between Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch a couple years ago.

So who’s got a shot at surviving the event and driving into victory lane this year?

Bristol is one of Busch’s best tracks, and its tendency to produce interesting and exciting on-track action makes it a perfect fit for him. His 10.1 average finish trumps all other active drivers. Besides this spring’s aberration, Busch hadn’t failed to lead in a Bristol race since his 2005 rookie season. He has three wins at the track, and top-two finishes in three of the past four Bristol events. He’s my pick.

My dark horse pick for this weekend is Marcos Ambrose, who had finishes of 10th and 3rd at Bristol last year but a dismal 33rd this past spring. Now that he and JTG Daugherty Racing have both announced plans for 2011 that don’t involve one another, they might just mail it in until the end of the year. On the other hand, they could both step up their game, showing their new partners (Richard Petty Motorsports for Ambrose, Bobby Labonte for JTG) a commitment to a strong year next year.

Three more, because we can:

Greg Biffle, despite having never won at Bristol in a Sprint Cup car, has the second best average finish of active drivers at the track, a solid 11.0. He’s got six top fives and nine top-10s in 15 starts. His Roush Fenway Racing team is also peaking at the right time, finding victory lane and the front of the pack these past few weeks in the wake of owner Jack Roush’s plane crash. Roush cars won this race each year from 2005 to 2008, and there’s no reason to think they can’t again.

Kevin Harvick is the only driver to have a Chase berth right now. Coming off that clinch, his Michigan victory, and a lucrative sponsorship deal with Budweiser for 2011, Happy’s gotta be living up to his nickname right now, and the momentum can certainly carry into Bristol. Harvick can be Superman at Bristol – while the box score for his 2005 victory at the track says he started 13th, he actually started dead last due to unapproved impound work and passed every car in the field for the victory.

Finally, Kurt Busch has the second-best winning percentage at Bristol of active drivers, behind only brother Kyle. And while four of his five wins came in 2004 or earlier, he showed us all a thing or two about how to race at Bristol this spring, leading a race-high 278 laps and finishing third. While Jimmie Johnson may have used that race to get the Bristol monkey off his back, Busch showed the field that he had his old Bristol magic back.

Filed under: Bristol Motor Speedway, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing

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Penske Racing Assembling NASCAR’s Best Stable of Young Talent

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 23, 2010 1:03 pm CDT 1 Comment

Did you see the post race interview with Brad Keselowski after the Penske Racing one-two finish at Bristol?

The Kez wasn’t happy. He had just been passed at the end of a dominant performance in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race. He said all the right things. But he did seem to be choking something back. I got the feeling that his inner Brad was saying something like - “If that had been Edwards or Hamlin, instead of Allgaier, and if the whole world weren’t watching me this week, there’s no flippin’ way…..”

It was Justin Allgaier though, who finally made good on the promise he has shown since signing with the Penske organization, off his 2008 ARCA Racing Series championship. It was the first of a bunch more NASCAR wins to come. And they won’t all be in the NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule either. Allgaier is coming to Sprint Cup, right behind Keselowski. And it won’t be long.

ESPN the Magazine’s Ryan McGee was a guest On Pit Row before the Bristol Motor Speedway weekend. The talk started to be about Keselowski. Shortly, it turned to Penske Racing in general. The great 2010 start of Kurt Busch. Keselowski’s speed. The tenuous hold that Sam Hornish may have on a ride that Allgaier covets. And then there is 19 year old Parker Kliggerman, 2009 ARCA Racing Series near-champ and Rookie of the Year.

There is a theory being floated that because they are the only Dodge team, Penske has an advantage of being the sole focus of Dodge’s more limited resources. Larry McReynolds and Rusty Wallace both suggested as much Sunday. If it’s true, Roger Penske probably anticipated that. He’s a smart guy, Roger. And he has always been a great driver-talent evaluator.

The future looks bright at Penske.

Photo credit: BethAnne Heisler - On Pit Row

Filed under: Brad Kesolowski, Bristol Motor Speedway, Kurt Busch, NASCAR, Nationwide Series, Penske Racing, Sam Hornish Jr

Tagged with: Justin Allgaier, Parker Kliggerman

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Danica Goes Brazilian!

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

March 19, 2010 10:21 pm CDT No Comments

The latest Monday Morning Crew Chief NASCAR video is up. There’s a musical undertone, if you can find it amid the sarcasm. Flying cars, smashing guitars and hotdog wrappers. Enjoy.

Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

Filed under: Brad Kesolowski, Bristol Motor Speedway, Danica Patrick, Kyle Busch, Monday Morning Crew Chief, NASCAR, NASCAR video

Tagged with: Mindy Monday

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Fantasy Pick’Em: 2010 Food City 500

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

March 17, 2010 3:20 pm CDT No Comments

With four races in the books, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will head to Bristol Motor Speedway for this weekend’s Food City 500. Kurt Busch will attempt to follow up his win at Atlanta two weeks ago by winning this race for the fifth time.

Hope everybody’s all rested up after the off weekend, but it’s high time that we get into the swing of things and kick this season into full gear. This will be the last race that 2009 owner’s points determine the cars locked into the starting field for this season, so expect some backmarkers to try and push towards the front.

My pick for the weekend stays in the Busch family – I’m picking Kyle to win. Easy, I know. But in his last three Bristol starts, he has accumulated an average finish of 1.3 while leading 861 of a possible 1503 laps. That’s over 57% of his past three Bristol starts. Also keep in mind that Rowdy has led a lap in every Bristol race dating back to the spring of 2006, and has led in double digits in five of those eight events.

My dark horse for the week has to be Marcos Ambrose. Still looking for his first top-10 of the season, mired at 28th in points due to DNFs at Daytona and California, Ambrose has finishes of 10th and 3rd at Bristol in Cup cars. Bristol is known as a track of heavy beating and banging, as are the V8 Supercars that Ambrose drove in Australia before coming stateside.

Three more, as per tradition:

Kurt Busch. I’ve discovered over the years that a solid projection of a driver’s skill at any once track is the amount of top-10s he accumulates. If, over a career of decent length, he finishes in the top 10 about half the time, he is usually judged as a star at that given track. That would be Busch at Bristol… oh, and the five career wins there help too.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been decent at Bristol since joining Hendrick Motorsports, though it was mostly his work with Dale Earnhardt Inc. that currently gives him the sixth best average finish at Bristol of all active drivers. He’s also been fast for much of the year, with an average start of 8.5. Qualifying up front at such a small track gives drivers an inherent advantage, not only because leaders can catch lapped traffic quickly, but also because of their better pit selection – though that mattered more when Bristol separated its backstretch pits from its frontstretch ones.

Finally, let’s not forget that Kevin Harvick has a strong Bristol record. While he only has one win, the current series points leader has 11 top-10s in 18 career starts. Happy’s also in the best equipment he’s had in years, and there’s no reason to expect things to drop off now.

Filed under: Bristol Motor Speedway, Kyle Busch, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing

Tagged with: Bristol Motor Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Fantasy Pick'Em, Food City 500, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Marcos Ambrose, Sprint Cup Series

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NASCAR History: Car Number 39 and Friday Hassler

by James "Beats cinemamap" Jones, Special To NASCAR commentary and pictures,2010 NASCAR schedule,NASCAR video, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

Sundays of my youth consisted of NASCAR racing and cold bottles of Mountain Dew. Thirty years later not much has changed for me. However, nearly everything has changed in NASCAR.

January 6, 2010 6:35 pm CST 4 Comments

Friday Hassler car number 39 Over the next several weeks we’ll be featuring car numbers in NASCAR history. We started with #50 and are working our way down the line. With each car number we’ll take a brief look at a couple stats related to the featured car number, but we’ll primarily spotlight either a driver, sponsor, car owner, manufacturer or other significant subject closely tied to the car number of the day.

Today’s spotlight on the #39 brings again to my mind the question, “Who should get the credit for a win, the driver who starts the race or the driver who crosses the finish line first?”
NASCAR driver Raymond Friday Hassler

Stats for all cars running the #39:

Number of Races: 279
Number of Wins: 0
Number of Top 5s: 21
Number of Top 10s: 73
Number of Poles: 5

Check out current NASCAR race statistics here at On Pit Row!

Spotlight Subject: Driver Friday Hassler

A career 135 races logged between 1960 to 1972 netted Raymond “Friday” Hassler a career best points finish of 16th. He scored 48 top tens, 12 top fives, and 0 wins*. He led only 139 career laps with an average finish 17.9. Despite not being a factory supported driver, and fielding Chevrolets (which were basically not present in racing) he was still competitive and well liked by his competitors.

Today, Chevrolet tops the all-time manufacturer win list list with the most NASCAR Sprint Cup wins (651 vs. 2nd place Ford’s 595). But Friday was running Chevy at a time in NASCAR history where the field was primarily made up of Plymouths, Dodges, and Fords. That was about to change though when Friday took the checkered flag in 1971– the first win for Chevrolet since 1967.

“I thought you said he had 0 wins?” you ask? I did say that, and it’s true he is not scored as having any wins. However, this is due to the fact that Friday didn’t start the car that day in 1971 and NASCAR credits the driver who starts the race as the driver of record for the finish. The race occurred at Bristol Motor Speedway and to this day holds a record that will likely never be repeated. The race went caution free for the entire 500 lap event! This despite the fact that it was a blistering hot day for 500 laps, 30 cars, multiple driver changes, and an average race speed of 101.074 miles per hour.

So, that explains the asterisked “0 wins” above. Friday acted as a relief driver for the recorded race winner Charlie Glotzbach. Charlie started the race on the outside pole. Approximately half way through the 500 lap event Friday took over driving his car in order to offer Charlie some relief from the summer heat. Charlie and NASCAR legend Bobby Allison would battle for the lead until eventually Friday took full command of the race and took the checkers with a margin of victory of 3 laps over Allison. Tom Higgins’ Scuffs has a nice article on this event posted as Miracle in Thunder Valley. The article quotes historian Greg Fielden as describing the musical driver seats for the race:
“Glotzbach was relieved by Hassler; Allison was relieved by James Hylton; Petty was relieved by Buddy Baker; Hylton was relieved by G.C. Spencer; Frank Warren was relieved by Charlie Roberts; and Bill Dennis was relieved by Marv Action.”

What a day, and what an extraordinary day for Friday Hassler! As difficult as the racing was that day, it’s really a shame that Hassler wasn’t credited with the victory. The final race results were positive for Hassler. His win column may read “0″, but it should certainly have an asterisk with it in my opinion.

NASCAR driver Raymond Friday Hassler car number 39 Historic accomplishments in NASCAR history, such as Hassler’s, serve as a reminder to us. While not all drivers are the big stars, have the most wins, or race for the dominant teams or manufacturers, they can certainly make their mark in history and have the respect of their competitors. Friday’s career was just starting to take off in 1971, thanks in part to his “win” at Bristol. Unfortunately the sport didn’t get to see how high his star would fly. The very next year his life would come to an end in a multi-car wreck during the qualifying race for the Daytona 500.

Filed under: Bristol Motor Speedway, James Jones, NASCAR, NASCAR History

Tagged with: Charlie Glotzbach, Friday Hassler

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NASCAR History: Car Number 44 and Terry Labonte

by James "Beats cinemamap" Jones, Special To NASCAR commentary and pictures,2010 NASCAR schedule,NASCAR video, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

Sundays of my youth consisted of NASCAR racing and cold bottles of Mountain Dew. Thirty years later not much has changed for me. However, nearly everything has changed in NASCAR.

January 1, 2010 9:24 am CST No Comments

Over the next several weeks we’ll be featuring car numbers in NASCAR history. We started with #50 and are working our way down the line. With each car number we’ll take a brief look at a couple stats related to the featured car number, but we’ll primarily spotlight either a driver, sponsor, car owner, manufacturer or other significant subject closely tied to the car number of the day.

NASCAR car number 44 Terry Labonte and Piedmont Airlines sponsor Today’s number is one that I looked forward to spotlighting in the car number countdown to the Daytona 500. This is because car #44 was one of my favorites back in the mid ’80s. I have childhood memories of getting a large plastic toy car for Christmas with the #44 and Piedmont Airlines logo stickers all over it. I remember getting the diecast Piedmont Airlines airplane each time my parents would stick me on a plane flying out of Cincinnati, OH to Orlando, FL. It was there that I would spend my summer break from school with my grandparents and my uncle Terry. And it is my uncle Terry who I give credit for my love of NASCAR. Most all of my fondest memories from childhood revolve around my uncle, and many of those include the simple things such as playing checkers or UNO and drinking a Mountain Dew (out of a glass bottle!) while watching a NASCAR race on TV. Yeah, spotlighting the #44 is going to be cool for me.

NASCAR Cup champion Terry Labonte

Stats for cars running the #44:

Number of Races: 884
Number of Wins: 13
Number of Top 5s: 155
Number of Top 10s: 314
Number of Poles: 27
Number of Drivers: 89

Check out current NASCAR race statistics here at On Pit Row!

Spotlight Subject: Driver Terry Labonte

Now sure, most people are going to associate Terry Labonte with the #5. After all, the #5 is the car number he closed out his full time career in. Also, he ran 368 races in the #5 versus 259 races in the #44 earlier in his career. But his average finish was slightly better in the #44 car with a 14.4 average versus 17.4. One thing is for sure though, and that is that Terry’s thirty year career has been an impressive one making him one of the most respected and liked drivers in the Cup garage and with the fans.

Terry came into the Cup series on fire starting only five races in the 1978 Cup season for car owner Billy Hagan (whom he would drive for from 1978 through 1986). He would have 1 top five, 2 top tens in his first three starts. The final two races were DNFs due to mechanical failure and a wreck. He didn’t slow down in 1979 either when he ran his first full season competing for Rookie of the Year honors. Coming up short for the Rookie title, he did manage to finish in the top ten in points for the season. The following year Terry would take his first win in Winston Cup competition at Darlington Raceway. Twenty-three years and twenty victories between, Terry would score his 22nd and final victory in Cup competition again at Darlington.

NASCAR Cup champion Terry Labonte Terry, known for his calmness under pressure on the track, had the nickname of “The IceMan.” He always just seemed to show up there at the end of the race in the right position and with opportunity to take a win. In 1984 and 1996, The IceMan took top honors by bringing home the Championship trophy to his car owners Hagan and Hendrick, respectively. He has finished in the top 10 season standings an outstanding seventeen times! Other honors include the 1993 and 1989 IROC Championships, the 1988 and 1999 The Winston Champion (now the All Star Challenge), and in 1998 being named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers. In 2004 Terry announced the season would be his last full time season. Over the last few years he’s driven part time rides for teams such as Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing, and Hall of Fame Racing.

With a career spanning 30 years (and counting) it’s interesting to note that Terry almost exclusively ran General Motors cars other than 3 races in a Toyota (2007 fill in for Michael Watlrip Racing) and the 1989 season in which he ran a Ford for Junior Johnson. Out of those 851 races and 22 wins, it’s hard not to look at his 1995 win at Bristol as one of the most exciting. Four years later, Terry would show Earnhardt how to make a last-lap clean-pass for a win only to once again be given the knock spinning Terry out.