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At Watkins Glen and Loose in Turn 3

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by Charlie Turner

I'm Charlie Turner co-host of the syndicated, mostly NASCAR radio show On Pit Row. Thanks for stopping by OnPitRow.com and the Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie blog. Oh yeah, Steve is an idiot.

August 8, 2008 9:01 am CDT 6 Comments

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Having your judgement questioned by both your driver and your boss would make some guys sweat, but not Bob Osborne.

Carl Edwards openly disagreed with crew chief Osborne during a break in the racing.  Jack Roush, whose name is on the paychecks, second guessed Bob’s critical, in-race call to pit from the lead.  It worked out for Osborne and the No. 99 team this time.  But you have to wonder if the public show of doubt by members of his team will temper future rolls of the racing dice.

The Bench Racing part of Loose in Turn 3 is this…

Who is the best crew chief in the Sprint Cup garage right now?

Charlie: Tough, tough, tough question. Why did I do this to myself? It’s hard, maybe impossible, to separate crew chief and driver combinations. The ones that jump out are Knaus/Johnson, Stewart/Zippidelli and Kenseth/Reisser. But I’ll take Bob Osborne, crew chief for Roush-Fenway’s Carl Edwards. Chad Knaus is right there with him, but I think Osborne has made all the right calls this year, including Sunday at Pocono.

Bruce: You truly are a cruel individual in making me think this hard about this.
Fortunately, you phrased your question to force me to answer in the now, otherwise I might have said Knaus. With that in mind I look at the top 5 teams and have to ponder that through it all, Tony Eury Jr. has been keeping the No. 88 car up at the top of the ranks. Yet cousin Carl (Bob Osborne) has been slowly creeping his way up through the ranks since the beginning of the year. It’s an emotional pick more than a logical pick for me, but then again, sometimes after all the stats have been printed, it still comes down to emotion and I’ll say Eury Jr.. … for now. (Gimme a few more races to change my mind!!)

TZ:  Did I really just hear someone claim Tony Eury Jr. as the best Crew Chief in the garage? That’s weird …. and disturbing. I think Bob Osbourne is a legitimate call here, but it’s impossible for me not to go with Chad Knaus. Not to take anything away from Jimmie Johnson - ’cause he’s an amazing driver - but, so much of J J’s success has come at the hands of what Chad’s been able to do with that car and the calls that he’s made from the top of the box. By the way, Charlie, Chip Bolin’s the guy making the calls for Kenseth these days.

Charlie:  I know who Kenseth’s crew chief is.  But the combo that is famous, which was the point I was trying to make, is Matt and Robby. 

That’s what we think.  What do you think?

Bruce’s topic is this…

Is there something on the horizon that Truex knows that we don’t?  Or does he truly not have better offers out there?  Or did the offer that might have been floating out there that he was waiting on not materialize?

TZ’s question is this…

Did Goodyear finally clear their name in NASCAR with the success of their rain tires in Montreal?

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

Filed under: Carl Edwards, Hendrick Motorsports, Jimmy Johnson, Roush Racing, Turn 3 posts 

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Comments

6 Responses to “At Watkins Glen and Loose in Turn 3”

  1. Clance' on August 8th, 2008 8:18 pm

    I think Chad Knauss is a genious. Hands down.

  2. Tim Zaegel on August 8th, 2008 11:36 pm

    See, Clance’ … I knew there was a reason I liked ya! ;)

  3. User Avatar Matt Mercer on August 9th, 2008 11:34 am

    Interesting no one mentioned Kyle Busch’s crew chief, Steve Addington. He may earn the title of most underrated.

  4. User Avatar Charlie Turner on August 9th, 2008 12:03 pm

    Addington was my second choice Matt. I think that Osborne has done more with, somewhat, less to work with mechanically. I may be all wet.

  5. Tim Zaegel on August 10th, 2008 9:27 pm

    Hey, Bruce … would you be upset if we hit you with this same question again this week?

  6. Tim Zaegel on August 10th, 2008 9:29 pm

    Matt, I thought about Addington - and, he’s actually one of my favorite Crew Chiefs, which is a shame cause I can’t stand Kyle Busch - but, I wouldn’t consider him amongst the best for the simple fact that I haven’t really seen him put in any really tough situations yet and have to make those impossible calls. You’re exactly right when you say that he could win the award for most underrated.

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