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Big John? How ‘Bout Morganna?

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

February 8, 2012 12:02 pm CST No Comments

John Cena is no Morganna. Do you remember Morganna? Whether you do or don’t, she was a better fit for NASCAR than Big John. Big Morganna at least had something(s) that a guy like Tim Richmond might have related too. Cena is not a fit. I hope.

I tried but I cannot find a Winston Cup race where Morganna was the Grand Marshal. But I am sure that my, formerly adolescent memory, is not failing me. I can picture them -’eh her - up on the podium, wrapping Richard or Cale or Bobby, somebody in her loving… embrace….

There was a bit of complaining about Cena being the pick for Daytona 500 Grand Marshall. On Twitter, there was a virtual bitchin’ storm.

Good.

Get y’all’s Red-Neck on.

NASCAR needs just about anything that stirs the fan pot and gets The Kingdom of France aroused.

Real racing is a week or so away and it can’t come soon enough. Who cares who stands on the big stage three weeks from now - at the beginning of the race - if he doesn’t drive a race car?

Or have really big …. assets.

Credit: World Wrestling Entertainment

Filed under: Carl Edwards, Daytona 500, NASCAR

Tagged with: John Cena, Tim Richmond, Winston Cup, WWE

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Chase History: Homestead-Miami 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.

November 18, 2011 11:38 am CST No Comments

I hate to borrow from another sport’s marketing campaign to explain this weekend’s Chase for the Sprint Cup finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but I feel like the NHL’s playoff slogan says it all: History will be made.

We have a two-way battle for the championship between Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart, and if either of them win the race, they win the title. It’s as simple as that. Both drivers are on top of their game, unlike last year, when Jimmie Johnson was able to psyche out Denny Hamlin relatively easily. Stewart’s been engaging Edwards pretty heavily in the media, but Edwards doesn’t seem too worried about it.

Perhaps it’s because neither of Stewart’s two Homestead wins came on this track layout. While Smoke dominated the early years of its Cup history, winning the inaugural race in 1999 and again in 2000, track ownership altered its shape and banking in 2003. Since then, Roush Fenway Racing has basically owned the track, winning six of the last seven races there. The last two of those wins, in 2008 and 2010, went to Edwards.

Or perhaps it’s because Edwards is just better at Homestead. Stewart’s got a good track record, with two wins and six top-10s in 12 starts and an average finish of 12.4. But Edwards has two wins and six top-10s of his own in only seven races run. His average finish is 5.7. That’s off the wall. That’s the kind of average finish that will give you 1:2 odds in Vegas.

And yet, Stewart’s won a title under the Chase format before. Edwards hasn’t. Stewart has the advantage of having been in Edwards’ position in 2005 and knowing what throws a leader’s mindset off. He’s got all the confidence in the world - he just needs to execute.

Ignore the change in points formatting before this season. This championship could, theoretically, end in a tie (which would go to Stewart on the strength of more wins). It could be separated by only one or two points, which, under the old system, would still be a narrower margin of victory than Kurt Busch’s eight point win in 2004. Either way, it’s a very slim chance that Sunday becomes a gimme for either driver.

So get your popcorn ready, folks. We’re about to witness history.

Filed under: Carl Edwards, Chase for the Cup, Homestead-Miami Speedway, Tony Stewart

Tagged with: Carl Edwards, Chase for the Cup, Homestead-Miami Speedway, Tony Stewart

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Tony Stewart Vampire Slayer

by Charlie Turner

November 7, 2011 12:22 pm CST No Comments

With his win in the 2011 AAA Texas 500 Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway, Tony Stewart cut Carl Edward’s Chase to the Sprint Cup lead to 3 just points.

Smoke has won four of the eight 2011 Chase races, including the last two. And even though Edwards leads in the standings, it is the Stewart wins at Martinsville and Texas that have driven a spike through the heart of Jimmie Johnson’s six year reign of NASCAR terror.

Put the garlic away NASCAR Nation - Count Johnson is dead - metaphorically. Even Jeff Gordon will be able to sleep at night again - actually.

What? You think I’m over reacting? With 30 laps to go at TMS whom do you think Stewart and Jack Roush were watching closer - Kevin Harvick and The Kez, or Count Five Time?

But it’s over. The people of Transylvania and Dixie can open their windows at night and turn on the Speed Channel again. No more Sunday nightmares. California Dreamin’ will be sung by the Beach Boys again, not Chad and Jimmie.

But seriously, Johnson and the #48 team had an unbelievable run, there’s nothing supernatural about it. Just a great team, and a magic time. I just have one question.

Has anybody ever seen Johnson’s reflection in a mirror?

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

Filed under: Brad Kesolowski, Carl Edwards, Chase for the Cup, Hendrick Motorsports, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, NASCAR, Roush Racing, Sprint Cup Series, Stewart Haas Racing, Tony Stewart, jimmie johnson

Tagged with: AAA Texas 500

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Chase History: Texas Motor Speedway

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

November 6, 2011 12:15 pm CST No Comments

Texas Motor Speedway promoter extraordinaire Eddie Gossage loves a good head-to-head battle, especially in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. That’s what he hopes for between Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart, the top two remaining championship contenders, in today’s Texas race.

Ideally, Gossage would love to see the points lead change hands today. It’ll make the race one of the most interesting ones in the Chase, but mostly it’ll help him sell even more tickets to this race in the future. And, if it happens again, it’ll firmly entrench Texas as perhaps the most pivotal race in the Chase.

Remember what happened last season. Denny Hamlin took the win in this race after leading 31 laps, inheriting the points lead in a 47-point swing from Jimmie Johnson, who finished ninth. That’s roughly an 11-point swing under this year’s point system, which would be good enough to give Stewart the lead if he did the same thing.

Then again, perhaps that wouldn’t be such a good omen. The only driver to take the title after winning at Texas was Johnson in 2007 since this race was established in 2005. Edwards took the checkers in 2008, only to finish second in points; Hamlin did the same thing last year. Edwards was too far back in the Chase to catch Johnson, though he would have won the championship under a non-Chase format. Meanwhile, Hamlin blew it the next week at Phoenix and gave the point lead right back.

Whoever wins today, though, Gossage probably hopes they’re leaving with the points lead. Stewart could do it easily; Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, and even spring Texas race winner Matt Kenseth could do it with a bit of luck. Today should be a Texas-sized shootout, and Gossage is loving every second of it.

Filed under: Carl Edwards, Chase for the Cup, Denny Hamlin, Texas Motor Speedway, Tony Stewart, jimmie johnson

Tagged with: Carl Edwards, Chase for the Cup, Denny Hamlin, jimmie johnson, Texas Motor Speedway, Tony Stewart

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NASCAR Pictures: Carl Edwards Wins at Dover

by Charlie Turner

October 1, 2011 8:09 pm CDT No Comments

Exclusive NASCAR Victory Lane photos from The Monster Mile

Carl Edwards and Kyle Bucsh continue to carve the NASCAR Nationwide Series pie and it was Cousin Carl’s turn at Dover International Speedway.

: Carl Edwards Nationwide Dover International Speedway fall bure 11

: Carl Edwards Nationwide win 1 Dover International Speedway fall bure 11

: Carl Edwards Nationwide win 3 Dover International Speedway fall bure 11

: Carl Edwards Nationwide and crew win Dover International Speedway fall bure 11

: Carl Edwards and Monster Nationwide win Dover International Speedway fall bure 11

: Carl Edwards Nationwide Jack Rousch win Dover International Speedway fall bure 11

: Carl Edwards cup and Monster Nationwide win Dover International Speedway fall bure 11

: Carl Edwards-model 60 car and Monster Nationwide win Dover International Speedway fall bure 11

: Carl Edwards Nationwide win Trevor Bayne Dover International Speedway fall bure 11

Photo credit: Glenn Bure - OnPitRow.com

Filed under: Carl Edwards, Dover International Speedway, NASCAR, NASCAR photos, Nationwide Series

Tagged with: Dover Downs, Monster Mile, NASCAR pictures, victory lane pictures

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Chase History: Dover International Speedway

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

September 28, 2011 1:05 pm CDT No Comments

Chad Knaus Jimmie Johnson Chandra and daughter on pit road Dover 10 bure

One of the toughest tracks on the Sprint Cup schedule, the concrete Dover International Speedway - “The Monster Mile” - hosts the third round of this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup, the AAA 400, this weekend. Right now, Tony Stewart is the points leader, holding a seven-marker advantage over second-place Kevin Harvick after scoring wins in both Chase races so far.

But when it comes to Dover, Stewart hasn’t won since sweeping the track in 2000. He came close in the spring 2009 race, only to be edged for the lead by Jimmie Johnson with three laps to go. His average finish at Dover in the seven Chase races is a so-so 15.3, but the Chase isn’t about solid points finishes, it’s about winning.

If recent history is to be trusted, in fact, this should be the track at which Johnson breaks out. Johnson, like Stewart, can boast a Dover sweep in the distant past (2002), but unlike Stewart, has tasted victory more recently. He’s won the past two fall Dover races (both from pole) and three of the past five at the track overall. He used last year’s victory to set him up to take the points lead from Denny Hamlin the next weekend at Kansas. The two would continue to swap the lead throughout the Chase, in one of the best battles in the format’s history.

Johnson’s career average finish of 9.6 is second best of all active Cup drivers, with only Carl Edwards‘ 7.6 a superior mark. Edwards only has one career win at Dover, however, which came during the 2007 season. The win, inherited when dominant teammate Matt Kenseth blew an engine, put Edwards within 28 points of leader Jeff Gordon; however, a late-race crash at Kansas put a major dent in his title hopes, and he wouldn’t win again that year.

Filed under: Carl Edwards, Chase for the Cup, Dover International Speedway, Tony Stewart, jimmie johnson

Tagged with: AAA 400, Carl Edwards, Chase for the Cup, Denny Hamlin, Dover International Speedway, Jeff Gordon, jimmie johnson, Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart

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