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Dale Earnhardt vs Ned Jarrett: NASCAR’s 64 Greatest Drivers Sweet 16

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

April 19, 2009 2:15 pm UTC 21 Comments

Our final Sweet 16 match up in the NASCAR 64 Greatest Drivers Tournament at Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie has the fathers of two of NASCAR’s most popular stars squaring off for the final Elite Eight spot in the Bench Racing region. Ironhead against Gentleman Ned.

Dale Earnhardt won 76 times in 676 Cup Series starts and was one of only two seven time series champions. His win total is seventh best all-time. He won consecutive titles three different times and was a series runner-up three times. Earnhardt only won the Daytona 500 once – in ’98 – but is the all-time leader in wins at Daytona International Speedway with 34.

Ned Jarrett is better known to most fans today as the father of Dale Jarrett and one of NASCAR’s best announcers. But ”Gentleman Ned” won two Sprint Cup Championships in the sixties and had 50 wins – tied for tenth all-time – in 352 career starts. Jarrett won an amazing 28 races during the ’64 and ’65 seasons. He actually won the Southern 500 by 14 laps, the largest victory margin in NASCAR history.

Ned defeated the Busch Series demon Jack Ingram in round two and the legendary Cotton Owens in the round of 64. Earnhardt squeaked by Bobby Isaac in a near upset in the opener and bested Rex White in the second. Earnhardt has had some scares and this is his toughest opponent yet. Tell us who you like in the comment section.

Filed under: Dale Earnhardt, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Dale Earnhardt, Inc., Dale Jarrett, Darlington Speedway, Daytona 500, Daytona International Speedway, NASCAR, NASCAR & the Media, NASCAR 64 Greatest Driver Tourney, Nascar Legends, Sprint Cup Series

Tagged with: #3, Bobby Isaac, Cotton Owens, Gentleman Ned, Jack Ingram, NASCAR 64 Greatest Driver Tourney, NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers, Ned Jarrett, Rex White, Southern 500, Winston Cup

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Richard Petty vs Cale Yarborough: NASCAR’s 64 Greatest Drivers Sweet 16

by Charlie Turner

April 18, 2009 7:51 am UTC 10 Comments

The King against Cale. ‘Nuff said. The premier Sweet 16 match up of the Fast Lap region in the NASCAR 64 Greatest Drivers Tournament at Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie.

Richard Petty. Maybe I’ll just stop there. I mean, he IS called the King. But I can’t, I have a contract. 200 Cup wins, seven Winston Cup championships and 123 poles. All records. So are the seven Daytona 500 victories, 10 consecutive wins and 27 wins in a single season. And he looks fabulous in a cowboy hat.

Cale Yarborough was the first driver to win three consecutive Cup Series championships -’76 – ’78. His 83 victories (562 starts) are fifth best all-time and 69 poles are third best. Was the Series runner-up three times and was Daytona 500 winner four times. Holds the record for most overall poles at Daytona with 12. Named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers.

Yarborough had to defeat Dale Earnhardt Jr in round one and Dale Jarrett in the round of 32. Jim Paschal and Rusty Wallace had the unfortunate luck of drawing King Richard along the way. Now it’s Cale’s turn. Can he de-throne the King and move on to the Elite Eight? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.

Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Dale Jarrett, Daytona 500, NASCAR, NASCAR 64 Greatest Driver Tourney, Nascar Legends, Rusty Wallace, The King, The Pettys

Tagged with: Cale Yarborough, Jim Paschal, NASCAR 64 Greatest Driver Tourney, NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers, Richard Petty, Winston Cup

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Cale Yarborough vs Dale Jarrett: 64 Greatest NASCAR Drivers Round 2

by Charlie Turner

April 10, 2009 7:55 pm UTC 11 Comments

In the final second round pairing of the NASCAR 64 Greatest Drivers Tournament at Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie two drivers with five Cup championships and 115 Cup wins between them tip it off for the honor of making the Sweet Sixteen.

Cale Yarborough was the first driver to win three consecutive Cup Series championships -’76 – ’78. His 83 victories (562 starts) are fifth best all-time and 69 poles are third best. Was the Series runner-up three times and was Daytona 500 winner four times. Holds the record for most overall poles at Daytona with 12. Named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers.

Dale Jarrett started kind of slow. But once he got to Robert Yates Racing in 1995, D J’s career took off. He is the only driver to win the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 in the same year (1996) and also won the ’93 and 2000 Daytona 500′s and the Brickyard in ’99. In all, he won 32 times in 668 starts and was the 1999 Series champion.

D J defeated Geoffrey Bodine in his first round match and Cale disposed of Dale Earnhardt Jr in his. Two great ones go head to head in a Fast Lap region prelude to the matches to come. Tell us who you like in the comments section.

Filed under: Dale Jarrett, Daytona 500, NASCAR, NASCAR 64 Greatest Driver Tourney, Nascar Legends

Tagged with: Brickyard 400, Cale Yarborough, Geoffrey Bodine, NASCAR 64 Greatest Driver Tourney, NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers

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Dale Jarrett vs Geoffrey Bodine: NASCAR’s 64 Greatest Drivers Match Up

by Charlie Turner

March 20, 2009 1:11 pm UTC 6 Comments

Two members of successful NASCAR racing families square-off in this first round match of the NASCAR 64 Greatest Drivers Tournament at Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie.

Dale Jarrett started kind of slow. But once he got to Robert Yates Racing in 1995, D J’s career took off. He is the only driver to win the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 in the same year (1996) and also won the ’93 and 2000 Daytona 500′s and the Brickyard in ’99. In all, he won 32 times in 668 starts and was the 1999 Series champion.

Geoffrey Bodine is another of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers who made his early reputation in modifieds. He was Winston Cup Rookie of the Year in ’82. Bodine was the winner of the ’86 Daytona 500, and finished with 18 wins and 37 poles. He purchased the late Alan Kulwicki’s team in 1993 and went on to win three wins the following season.

How do you value a driver’s total body of work? It’s up to you. Leave us a comment.

Filed under: Dale Jarrett, Daytona 500, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, NASCAR, NASCAR 64 Greatest Driver Tourney, Nascar Legends, Robert Yates Racing

Tagged with: Alan Kulwicki, Geoffrey Bodine, modifieds, NASCAR 64 Greatest Driver Tourney, Winston Cup

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Ned Jarrett vs Cotton Owens: NASCAR’s 64 Greatest Drivers Match Up

by Charlie Turner

March 19, 2009 5:19 pm UTC 7 Comments

Two of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers square off in this first round toss up. This one is definitely for those who remember how it was “back in the day”. NASCAR’s 64 Greatest Drivers Tournament at Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie continues with the round of 64.

Ned Jarrett is better known to most fans today as the father of Dale Jarrett and one of NASCAR’s best announcers. But “Gentleman Ned” won two Sprint Cup Championships in the sixties and had 50 wins – tied for tenth all-time – in 352 career starts. Jarrett won an amazing 28 races during the ’64 and ’65 seasons. He actually won the Southern 500 by 14 laps, the largest victory margin in NASCAR history.

Cotton Owens doesn’t have Ned Jarrett’s numbers. He had nine Cup series wins in 160 starts with 84 top tens and ten poles. In 1961 he had 11 top fives in only 17 starts. Then he retired. He came out of retirement in 1964 – supposedly to prove that he could beat his neighbor, David Pearson. He beat Pearson for his last win, and two races later, in his last career race, he finished second – to Ned Jarrett.

Both of these gentleman are among NASCAR’s Fifty Greatest Drivers. It’s your job to decide who goes to the round of 32 in our tournament. Leave a comment.

Filed under: Dale Jarrett, NASCAR, NASCAR 64 Greatest Driver Tourney, Nascar Legends

Tagged with: Cotton Owens, David Pearson, NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers, Ned Jarrett

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One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing from OnPitRow.com

by Charlie Turner

February 3, 2009 10:27 pm UTC 2 Comments

NASCAR fantasy racing for dummies. That’s one way our old NASCAR Chain Game fantasy game was described. I took comfort in that.

Quite a few astute players of the game took home some very nice prizes. And then, we lost the ability to offer it to OnPitRow.com readers and ON PIT ROW listeners.

Well, it’s back. Actually, we have a new, upgraded, fancified version that required renaming.

We call the new game One and Done, the NASCAR fantasy racing game from ON PIT ROW and OnPitRow.com.

It will be a bit flashier looking. And we will have stats and commentary that just wasn’t there in the old game. A weekly newsletter will recap the results and preview the upcoming race. We’ll laugh at Steve. And me. But, if you like your fantasy NASCAR simple – if you want your fantasy racing picks to be easy, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing is the game for you. It truly is, NASCAR fantasy racing for dummies. No offense.

Pick one driver, every week – but choose wisely Obi Wan, you can only use a driver once – and that’s it. Get it right often enough, and you will be rewarded with terrific prizes.

We will run three games. Two 13 week segments and then the Chase for the One and Done Cup.

The winners of each segment will get a fantastic Dale Jarrett Racing Adventure package. And the first ten finishers in each segment will win a prize package from OnPitRow.com. Details to follow.

So play One and Done fantasy NASCAR. Tell your friends and co-workers to play too. This is the perfect, NASCAR trash talkin’, water cooler braggin’, Monday morning conversation starter. It takes about 30 seconds to sign up. Tell your friends. It’s fun. I wouldn’t lie to you.

Photo credit: Icon Sports media, Inc.

Filed under: Bench Racing Contests, Dale Jarrett, It's Only Cheating if You Get Caught, Nascaholics, NASCAR, NASCAR Fantasy Gaming, On Pit Row The Fastest Two Hours on Radio, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing, Prelude to the Dream, Sprint Cup Series, Stewart Haas Racing, The Pettys, Tony Stewart