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Putting Penske’s Switch To Ford In Perspective

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by Chris Leone, Special To NASCAR commentary and driver pictures, 2012 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.

March 1, 2012 11:58 am UTC No Comments

Kurt Busch, driver of the #22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge, races during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway on June 26, 2011 in Sonoma, California. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images for NASCAR)

SONOMA, CA - JUNE 26: Kurt Busch, driver of the #22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge, races during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway on June 26, 2011 in Sonoma, California. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Penske Racing announced today that they will be making the switch from Dodge engines to Fords in 2013, ending a 10-year relationship with the brand that saw Penske-prepped Intrepids, Chargers, and Challengers take 42 combined Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series wins. Among the highlights of the relationship were Penske’s first Daytona 500 victory, eight Chase for the Sprint Cup berths, and the 2010 Nationwide Series championship. 2011 Chase contender Brad Keselowski will drive a Ford at the sport’s highest level for the first time, while new addition A.J. Allmendinger will drive for his fourth Ford-powered team since 2004, counting his three years in Champ Car.

This won’t be team owner Roger Penske’s first time with Ford in NASCAR, either. From 1994 to 2002, Penske fielded Thunderbirds and Tauruses for primary drivers Rusty Wallace, Jeremy Mayfield, and Ryan Newman. The relationship started off hot, as Wallace would win eight races in 1994 and 15 in his first three years as a blue oval driver. He would add eight more victories from 1997 to 2001, while Mayfield would add three more from 1998 to 2001 and Newman would take his first career victory in 2002.

Penske left Ford after the 2002 season to join Dodge, then only two years into its return to NASCAR and struggling to establish a solid footing in the sport. The brand would succeed at Daytona, sweeping the front row in 2001 and winning in 2002 with Ward Burton, and had a championship challenger in 2002 with Sterling Marlin. But all that promise didn’t lead to much; Marlin’s third place in 2001 points made him the only driver to crack the top 10 either year.

The switch would pay immediate dividends, as Newman would match Wallace’s feat by winning eight races with a new manufacturer in 2003. Wallace would add a win himself, and where Dodge had only scored 10 wins with 10 cars in 2001 and 2002, Penske had nearly doubled the brand’s win total in 2003 alone with two cars. Kurt Busch would join the team in 2006 and have a handful of good seasons with the team, Newman would add a Daytona 500 win in 2008, and Penske Racing would become far and away Dodge’s most prominent and important team as the 2000s went on.

Meanwhile, many of Dodge’s other teams would either leave the brand or fall off the map entirely. A series of sales and mergers turned former flagship teams Evernham Motorsports and Petty Enterprises into the same entity, which joined the Ford ranks in 2010. Chip Ganassi Racing would merge into Dale Earnhardt Inc. in 2009, switching to Chevrolet. Bill Davis Racing defaulted on its Dodge contract by running Toyotas in the Craftsman Truck Series, eventually joining them in Sprint Cup in 2007. Other teams, like Melling Racing, Ultra Motorsports, and A.J. Foyt’s NASCAR operation, simply folded.

Penske has worked with just about every major company in motorsports. In fact, he has a history of establishing long relationships with brands, then ending them for something better. It’s happened more than once in the past few years; the most notable instance came last year, when the team dumped a long association with Mobil 1 to resume a partnership with Pennzoil that had ended after 1990.

This move has huge implications for everybody involved, particularly the manufacturers. For Ford, it’s a signal that they’ve come all the way back after a handful of lean years. As recently as 2008, Ford only fielded eight full-time cars, lowest in the series. While five of those came from the perennial contender Roush Fenway Racing, Wood Brothers Racing would cut to a limited schedule for 2009 and beyond, and the two Yates Racing cars wouldn’t exist beyond 2009. But Richard Petty Motorsports and Front Row Motorsports (theoretically a continuation of Yates Racing) would add seven cars in 2010, while Roush would keep its fifth car alive through a transfer of owners’ points. That would give Ford 12 cars for 2010; adding the two Penske teams to this year’s Fords, the brand will have a powerful 14 car lineup in 2013.

The story is much more bleak for the lame-duck engine manufacturer. In 2008, Dodge had 13 full-time, fully funded, and competitive Sprint Cup teams. Five years later, Dodge will be left with only one: Robby Gordon Motorsports, whose participation in the series is limited at best. Unless they makes a serious play for an existing team to switch manufacturers, or gives a smaller operation a major boost, Dodge may be all but gone from stock car racing’s highest level next season.

Filed under: A J Allmendinger, Brad Kesolowski, Penske Racing, Rusty Wallace, Ryan Newman 

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NASCAR Pictures: Sunday Action at Pocono Raceway

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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

September 22, 2011 7:14 pm UTC No Comments

Exclusive Pocono 500 NASCAR race action and Driver photos

On Pit Row photographer Glenn Bure will be at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend capturing all three days Nationwide Series and Chase to the Sprint Cup action on the track and in the garage. we thought we’d give you a little taste of what to expect with some bonus images from the last Pocono weekend. Enjoy and leave Glenn some comments about his work.

Photo credit: Glenn Bure – OnPitRow.com

Filed under: A J Allmendinger, Brad Kesolowski, Brian Vickers, Carl Edwards, Clint Boyer, Dale Earnhardt Jr., David Ragan, David Reutimann, Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle, Jamie McMurray, Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, jimmie johnson, Joe Nemechek, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Matt Kenseth, NASCAR, NASCAR photos, NewHampshire Motor Speedway, Paul Menard, Pocono Raceway, Robby Gordon, Ryan Newman, The Busch Bros, Tony Stewart 

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NASCAR Pictures: Helluva Good! Sunday at MIS

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by BethAnne, Special To NASCAR commentary and driver pictures, 2012 NASCAR schedule, video, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

I am the field producer/photographer of the syndicated radio show/website ON PIT ROW. When Steve and Charlie ask me to 'jump', I say "Yeah right."

June 26, 2011 5:22 am UTC No Comments

Exclusive Photos of NASCAR Action at Michigan Speedway

Sunday at Michigan International Speedway was an exciting day at the races. I got some nice photos on the track of the action. 

 

Photo credit: BethAnne Heisler – OnPitRow.com

Filed under: A J Allmendinger, Brad Kesolowski, Brian Vickers, Clint Boyer, Dale Earnhardt Jr., David Reutimann, Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle, Jamie McMurray, Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, jimmie johnson, Jimmy Johnson, Joey Logano, Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Michigan International Speedway, NASCAR, NASCAR photos, Regan Smith, Ryan Newman, Trevor Bayne 

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Fantasy Pick’Em: 2011 STP 400

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by Chris Leone, Special To NASCAR commentary and driver pictures, 2012 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.

June 2, 2011 2:25 pm UTC No Comments

You know, it’s kind of bitterly ironic that I’m writing a preview for a NASCAR race in Kansas just a day after tornadoes pummeled my home state of Massachusetts. The amount of Wizard of Oz jokes that I had to put up with yesterday was simply unbearable, let me tell you. And now that the Sprint Cup Series is officially in Kansas, running its first summer race there, I’m sure that the jokes are going to go even further.

Come on, tell me that the teams are clicking their heels together and saying “there’s no place like home” after being in Charlotte for two weeks. Tell me that crew chiefs are singing “If I Only Had a Brain” after the Coca-Cola 600 became a fuel mileage race. Really, I dare you. Suck the last remaining fun I can still make out of punnery… oh, sorry, I’m just bitter right now, don’t mind me. We’ve got a race to talk about.

Kansas is one of those tracks that’s recent enough of an addition to the NASCAR schedule that some drivers have competed in all of its races, but old enough that there’s still a solid historical base with which to work as far as making predictions goes. And so:

Greg Biffle: In the past seven races at Kansas, Da Biff has finished worse than third only once. That was a 12th-place finish, back in 2006. The next year, he won the track’s only race. We’ll see if his strong showings every October will translate to June as well.

Jeff Gordon: The guy who won the first two races at Kansas has been usurped as king of the track by Biffle, but he’s still a threat every time the Sprint Cup Series swings through. Since a fuel pump gave out and ruined his 2006 race, he’s finished in the top five every time he’s raced at the track. This race could provide the perfect opportunity to regain some of that momentum lost after winning the season’s second race at Phoenix. Doesn’t that seem like an eternity ago?

A.J. Allmendinger: God, this kid is overdue for his first career win, isn’t he? But karma is on his side this week, as he drives an STP-sponsored car for Richard Petty in a race sponsored by STP. By average finish, Kansas is the ‘Dinger’s third best track, with an average run of 12.0; that’s also fifth best of active Sprint Cup drivers, topping such stars as Carl Edwards, Tony Stewart, and Kevin Harvick.

Filed under: A J Allmendinger, Greg Biffle, Jeff Gordon, Kansas Speedway, NASCAR Fantasy Gaming 

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Fantasy Pick’Em: 2011 Coca-Cola 600

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by Chris Leone, Special To NASCAR commentary and driver pictures, 2012 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.

May 26, 2011 11:25 am UTC No Comments

Ah, the old World 600. The longest race of the year, and NASCAR’s attempt to steal the spotlight from the Indianapolis 500 on the same day, has seen its share of interesting (i.e. first-time) winners in recent memory. Jeff Gordon took his first career victory in this race back in 1994. Bobby Labonte repeated the feat the very next year. Casey Mears did the same in 2007, while David Reutimann, with the aid of rain, stole a win in 2009 as well.

This is one of the reasons why the 600 is one of the best races in NASCAR – you never know what’s going to happen, or who’s going to win. For that reason – nevermind the first-time winners at Daytona and Darlington this year – don’t expect your typical, run of the mill winner come Sunday night. It’ll either be a first-timer, or somebody who’s had quite the drought.

Joey Logano: Logano’s been the picture of consistency at Charlotte for the past two years. Three top-10s in four starts, including a best finish of fifth, give him the best average finish of any active driver at the track. Logano’s had a rough season, sitting 27th in points, and hasn’t won since taking his maiden victory in a rain-shortened Loudon race in 2009, making him exactly the type of turnaround candidate I’m talking about.

Martin Truex Jr.: I know, Truex has a win in his career too, but it’s been a while. The No. 56 team showed the speed in qualifying for this race third last year, but dropped down the field to finish a disappointing 23rd, second to last on the lead lap. Don’t expect them to let it happen again – these boys are hungry and everyone knows it.

A.J. Allmendinger: So what gives with me doing this write-up about first-time winners, when my first two picks don’t fit that mold? To be honest, I think that A.J. Allmendinger has a shot at this thing. He’s been a consistent top-15 driver all season, and everybody in the garage feels like his first career win isn’t too far out of reach. Same goes for Marcos Ambrose, although Ambrose’s team has been slightly less consistent over the course of the year. Either way, though, it’d be nice to see two-time race winner Richard Petty back in the winner’s circle this weekend as an owner.

Filed under: A J Allmendinger, Joey Logano, Lowes Motor Speedway, Martin Truex Jr., NASCAR Fantasy Gaming 

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NASCAR Pit Stop Pictures from Dover

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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

September 28, 2010 10:54 am UTC No Comments

We couldn’t let the AAA 400 weekend go without sharing these exclusive photos of NASCAR action in the pits from Dover International Speedway. The first six pics are by Jessica Bure, who had a great angle from across the track, shooting at the pits. The others are by Glenn Bure. Really great shots, I think.

Photo credit: Jessica Bure and Glenn Bure – OnPitRow.com

Filed under: A J Allmendinger, Chase for the Cup, Clint Boyer, Danica Patrick, Dover International Speedway, Jeff Gordon, jimmie johnson, NASCAR, NASCAR photos 

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