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NASCAR Photos @ChicagolndSpdwy: Sunday from the Geico 400

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 18, 2012 9:54 am UTC No Comments

Exclusive NASCAR pictures from Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway. It was a perfect day for racing and round one of the Sprint Cup Series playoffs.

Photo credit: BethAnne Heisler – OnPitRow.com

Filed under: Brad Kesolowski, Carl Edwards, Chase for the Cup, Chicagoland Speedway, Danica Patrick, Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle, Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, jimmie johnson, Joey Logano, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, NASCAR, NASCAR photos, Ryan Newman, Sprint Cup Series, Stewart Haas Racing, Tony Stewart

Tagged with: GEICO 400, NASCAR pictures, The Chase

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Bigger NASCAR Chase Surprise: Carl Edwards or Kyle Busch?

by Charlie Turner

September 13, 2012 12:55 pm UTC No Comments

Bring on the Chase. The field is set; Jeff Gordon’s in and maybe your driver insn’t.

Which driver’s failure surprised – or pleased you more, The Shrub or Cousin Carl? Or maybe you really thought that this was the year for Rocket Ryan or Sliced Bread.

Tell us what you think. Here’s what we had to say on The Show.

Photo credit: BethAnne Heisler – OnPitRow.com

Filed under: Carl Edwards, Chase for the Cup, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, NASCAR, Richmond International Raceway, Sprint Cup Series

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NASCAR at MIS: Speed? You Want More Speed?

by Charlie Turner

June 15, 2012 3:20 pm UTC No Comments

On Saturday, for the first time in 25 years, a driver – several drivers probably – will qualify at over 200 MPH for a NASCAR Sprint Cup race. Never has it happened on a track other than Daytona or Talladega, before the days of restrictor plates.

Speed is good. Fans like speed. Promoters love it. They brag about having it. Sometimes they fib when they don’t.

Someone asked Joey Logano before first Sprint Cup practice if the looming 200 MPH speeds scared him. He said no. No surprise.

Matt Kenseth was asked if it’s a good thing that drivers don’t seem concerned about the Michigan Speedway speeds. He said he’s never really thought much about wrecking or getting hurt.

Logano said, if you do, you probably shouldn’t be out there anyway.

Carl Edwards claimed that the first time he saw 206 or 207 on his car’s data screen, he thought it might be messed up. He was a little shocked that they were really going that fast. “It’s just amazing how fast we’re going.” he said.

No need to embellish anything this week. Records will fall. But some real fast guy will go too fast On Pit Row. The effects of mistakes On Pit Row will be magnified too. The law of unintended consequences say so.

Photo credit: BethAnne Heisler – OnPitRow.com

Filed under: Carl Edwards, Joey Logano, Matt Kenseth, Michigan International Speedway, NASCAR, Sprint Cup Series

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Big John? How ‘Bout Morganna?

by Charlie Turner

February 8, 2012 12:02 pm UTC 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, 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.

November 18, 2011 11:38 am UTC 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 UTC 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, jimmie johnson, Kevin Harvick, NASCAR, Roush Racing, Sprint Cup Series, Stewart Haas Racing, Tony Stewart