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NASCAR Sonoma Sunday

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

June 27, 2011 8:45 am UTC No Comments

Our friend Bruce Simmons, author of NASCAR Bits and Pieces covered the Toyota/Save Mart 350 weekend at Infineon Raceway for OnPitRow.com and we have some great NASCAR pictures coming your waty from Saturday and Sunday. Bruce sent me the following observation from Sunday and I wanted to share it with you.

Today’s race (Sunday) had a different feel to it than yesterday’s practice. It had a warmer feel to it and it seemed to show as drivers were grumbling about it being slicker. That was only one aspect of the day as several drivers suffered calamities of various natures. Dale Jr’s radiator popped a cork and Denny Hamlin’s track bar broke, putting him out of the contention for the win. And don’t ask Tony Stewart about his day launching off the bumper of Brian Vickers!

But here’s the oddest bit about everything I saw today at the track. Kurt Busch seemed about the happiest of the bunch, almost as if he knew.

It all worked out as it seems!

Kurt certainly had the field covered. And so did Bruce. Thanks buddy.

Bruce Simmons is one of the best bloggers I know and his interests are way wider than NASCAR. Follow Bruce on Twitter and check out his main blog here.

Photo credit: Bruce Simmons for On Pit Row

Filed under: Brian Vickers, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Infineon Raceway, Kurt Busch, NASCAR, Sprint Cup Series, Tony Stewart

Tagged with: NASCAR bloggers, NASCAR pictures, Toyota/Save Mart 350

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Fantasy Pick’Em: Toyota/Save Mart 350

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 25, 2011 11:08 am UTC 1 Comment

#7 Robby Gordon in garage Michigan International Speedway heisler 10

Sorry about missing last week’s column, folks. Let’s just say that when your team (GO BRUINS!!!) wins its first Stanley Cup in 39 years, you may or may not take a little license to enjoy yourself in the aftermath. No, it wasn’t quite the $156,679.74 bar tab that they allegedly piled on at Foxwoods, but it sure was a fun time.

And now, like Bradley Cooper in The Hangover: Part 2, I wake up in an unfamiliar land with my head throbbing, surrounded by people I don’t know. Wait, that happens twice a year anyway, whenever we go to the two road courses on the schedule – Infineon Raceway and Watkins Glen International, respectively. But we’re in Infineon this week.

So, in the spirit of making wholly uninteresting picks as usual, let’s go with the top three road course drivers in Sprint Cup and call it a day, shall we? I need to go get an ice pack for this headache.

Robby Gordon: Look, this dude is due in the NAS-karma department. They penalize him every year, he runs into horrendous luck on the road courses despite owning everybody on the speed charts, and doesn’t even really have sponsorship anymore besides his own energy drink. You don’t think the little guy is due for another big win? It happened to Trevor Bayne and Regan Smith this year, there’s no reason it couldn’t happen to Robby.

Marcos Ambrose: Another guy who could use some good mojo after last year’s embarrassment while in the lead. Whoever thought it would be a good idea to shut the engine off while the car was going uphill probably took a long walk of shame that time around, but not this year. Marcos has a new team and a $1 million charity initiative – he’s going to want to win this race as bad as anyone.

Juan Pablo Montoya: If you don’t know Montoya’s career accomplishments by now, I can’t help you, because I’m sure they’ve been dispensed at least 100 times by now this weekend. Let’s just put it this way. This was the first Sprint Cup race that Montoya ever won, back in his 2007 rookie season, when he was still adjusting to stock cars. There’s no reason he can’t win it again.

Filed under: Infineon Raceway, Juan Pablo Montoya, Marcos Ambrose, NASCAR, NASCAR Fantasy Gaming, road course ringers, Robby Gordon

Tagged with: Fantasy Pick'Em, Infineon Raceway, Juan Pablo Montoya, Marcos Ambrose, Robby Gordon, Toyota/Save Mart 350

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Indy® Grand Prix of Sonoma Race Day Pictures

by Charlie Turner

August 23, 2010 8:50 am UTC No Comments

IndyCar Racing Photos from Infineon Raceway Sunday

Exclusive racing IndyCar pictures from the 2010 Indy® Grand Prix of Sonoma. OnPitRow.com photographer took these great racing pictures of the race at Infineon Raceway.

Photo credit: Jordan Tabak – OnPitRow.com

Filed under: Indy Cars, Infineon Raceway

Tagged with: Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, IndyCar, IndyCar pictures, Indy® Grand Prix of Sonoma, IZOD IndyCar Series

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IndyCar Photos from Saturday at Sonoma

by Charlie Turner

August 22, 2010 10:55 am UTC No Comments

Saturday Action from the Indy® Grand Prix of Sonoma

IndyCar qualifying pictures from Infineon Raceway.

Photo credit: Jordan Tabak – OnPitRow.com

Filed under: Indy Cars, Infineon Raceway

Tagged with: Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, IndyCar, IZOD IndyCar Series

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IndyCar Pictures Friday at the Indy® Grand Prix of Sonoma

by Charlie Turner

August 21, 2010 8:46 am UTC No Comments

IndyCar Photos from Infineon Raceway Practice

Action on the track Friday from Sonoma as the Izod IndyCar Series goes road racing in wine country. Jordan Tabak takes great pictures of race cars and we have them for you. Tell us what you think. Leave a comment.

: Will Power in Sonoma IndyCar garage

: Danica Patrick during a practice break at Sonoma IndyCar

: Sato at Sonoma

: Dario Franchitti at speed in Sonoma IndyCar practice

: Will Power at Sonoma IndyCar

: Morales on track at Sonoma IndyCar

: Sato and Powers at Sonoma IndyCar

: Danica Patrick and the GoDaddy IndyCar Sonoma

: Tony Kanan on track at Sonoma IndyCar

: Marco Andretti at Sonoma

: Infineon IndyCar Dracone

: IndyCars at Sonoma Dracone on track

Photo credit: Jordan Tabak - OnPitRow.com

Filed under: Indy Cars, Infineon Raceway

Tagged with: Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, IndyCar, IndyCar pictures, IZOD IndyCar Series, Sonoma

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IndyCar Race Preview: Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma

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

August 20, 2010 8:44 pm UTC No Comments

Will Power may have already clinched the Mario Andretti Trophy as the best road course driver in the IZOD IndyCar Series this year, but he’ll have plenty of unfinished business when he takes to the Infineon Raceway for this weekend’s Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma.

Power’s season ended here prematurely last year when a freak accident with Nelson Philippe landed him on the sidelines with two fractured vertebrae in his back. By now, most IndyCar fans know the story: originally a temp replacement at Team Penske while Helio Castroneves’ legal issues were sorted out, owner Roger Penske found the money to run Power in a handful of other events last year, and his performance was stellar until the Sonoma incident.

Regardless, Penske took a chance on the Australian full-time this year, shutting down his sports car operation to make room, and Power rewarded the veteran owner by winning his first two races back this season. He has taken four of the eight road course races run thus far this year, and he hasn’t finished any worse than fourth running on the twisties.

But just because he has the road course championship in hand, and a solid 41-point advantage in the overall standings, doesn’t mean that a Power victory lap at Sonoma is a certainty. It’s especially not the case when his top rival in all categories, 2009 series champion Dario Franchitti, led every lap to win from the pole here last year.

Franchitti got the best of Power during Friday practice, as the series’ top two drivers were 1-2 atop the speed charts. 16 drivers posted laps within a second of Franchitti’s best, a 78.297-second circuit. Alex Tagliani, Franchitti teammate Scott Dixon, and Justin Wilson completed the top five in that session.

J.R. Hildebrand, in 13th with a lap of 79.039 seconds, was the top rookie in the session. Wilson’s teammate at Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, and a California native who calls Infineon his home track, Hildebrand will attempt to top the injured Mike Conway’s third-place finish in this race last year. He had nearly half a second on Bertrand Baguette, the second-best rookie.

In all, 23 of the 25 drivers attempting the race were within two seconds of Franchitti’s best lap. The lone two exceptions were Francesco Dracone, making only his second career IndyCar start with Conquest Racing, and Milka Duno, who has been consistently off the pace all year with Dale Coyne Racing. The buzz around Duno gets stronger every week, with more and more fans calling for the IRL powers that be to park her. Last year, Duno had her second best finish of the season at Infineon, placing 17th.

Filed under: Indy Cars, Infineon Raceway

Tagged with: Dario Franchitti, Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, IZOD IndyCar Series, J.R. Hildebrand, Milka Duno, Will Power

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