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Chase History: Charlotte Motor 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.

October 15, 2011 12:30 pm UTC No Comments

Jimmie Johnson pit lane New Hampshire

The meat and potatoes of the Chase for the Sprint Cup has always consisted of 1.5-mile tri-ovals, of which Charlotte Motor Speedway has always been the standard. The host of the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend, its 500-mile race in October has always been an important part of the Chase. This year, it will mark the halfway point in the playoffs.

The track used to be called Lowe’s Motor Speedway, and while that was due to a contract between the hardware store and the track, it might as well have been the case because Lowe’s driver Jimmie Johnson owned it in the early years of the Chase. Johnson won the first two Chase races at Charlotte, in 2004 and 2005, and used a win there in 2009 to pull away from Mark Martin in that year’s title hunt.

But Johnson isn’t the only Hendrick Motorsports driver to put on a show at Charlotte. Jeff Gordon scored his first career win in the 1994 Coca-Cola 600, but it was in 2007 when Gordon took a Chase victory after inheriting the lead from Ryan Newman, who crashed in the race’s final laps. Gordon must be cursing the format, though; while he still led the Chase points by 68 over Johnson after that race, he would’ve had almost a 500 point lead under the old system.

Last year’s winner wasn’t a Chase driver, but his ability to win directly influenced the structure of the Chase this year. By taking last year’s Bank of America 500, Jamie McMurray scored wins at the three most prominent tracks on the NASCAR schedule – Daytona, Indianapolis, and Charlotte. It was in response to this that NASCAR set aside the final two Chase spots for “wild card” drivers – the two drivers with the most wins between 11th and 20th in points. (McMurray was 14th after Richmond and would have made it in under this system.)

Filed under: Chase for the Cup, Jamie McMurray, Jeff Gordon, jimmie johnson, Lowes Motor Speedway

Tagged with: Bank of America 500, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Chase for the Cup, Jamie McMurray, Jeff Gordon, jimmie johnson

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Fantasy Pick’Em: 2011 Coca-Cola 600

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

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

Tagged with: A.J. Allmendinger, Coca Cola 600, Fantasy Pick'Em, Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr.

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Fantasy Pick’Em: 2010 Bank of America 500

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

October 13, 2010 1:43 pm UTC No Comments

Jimmie Johnson #48 on track Fontana

The Sprint Cup Series heads home this weekend, taking the traveling show to the Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Bank of America 500. Held annually since 1960, the list of former race winners reads like a who’s who of the sport, ranging from Weatherly, Lorenzen, and Johnson in its early stages to Gordon, Martin, and another Johnson in recent years.

Last week’s California event was a debacle for a handful of Chasers, including the brothers Busch and the entire Roush Fenway Racing brigade. Of course, three of my five fantasy picks from last week were included in that group of six people, and Jamie McMurray was no fantasy stud either. Way to break up my run, folks – for my lead picks, the ones that really count, I had Denny Hamlin (2nd) at Loudon, Carl Edwards (5th) at Dover, and Greg Biffle (1st) at Kansas. Were I a Chase driver, I’d have gone from up 17 points on Johnson to 90 points out of the lead.

Then again, I purposely avoided Jimmie Johnson as a fantasy pick last week. I figured that such a prediction would be too easy to make. In a way, I was right. While Johnson didn’t win, nobody gained any substantial ground on him, and many of the stronger Chase competitors lost anywhere from 20 to 100 points on him.

Since I’ve been trying to pick each Chase driver once during the Chase, I’m going to pick Johnson this weekend. No, it’s not JUST because I’m disappointed with last week’s failures, it’s because I had this budgeted out before the season. While you can pick Johnson at just about any track and get away with it, his numbers are absurd compared to the competition at Charlotte. Six wins in 18 starts with 13 top-10s is huge. The only reason his average finish flutters into the double digits is because of a few DNFs, but hey, we’ve all been there.

As for a dark horse, although I struggle to label him as such because his limited Charlotte stats have a stronger average than Johnson’s, Joey Logano is a solid pick. He has an average finish of 9.0 in three Charlotte starts, with a top five finish in this race last year. Although he hasn’t won at the track in Sprint Cup or Nationwide, he’s never finished outside of the top 15 in a race in either. He’ll score a lot of points either way.

Three more, as a part of fantasy racing’s biggest safety net:

I’m going to go with three-time Charlotte winner Kasey Kahne in this slot for two weekends in a row. Perhaps I’m indebted to Kahne for being the only driver I picked to post a finish worth anything last week at California, but his Charlotte record speaks for itself. In fact, his only Charlotte DNF came in a race he dominated, the fall event in 2004. In seven of his 13 Charlotte starts he’s led laps in the double digits, and he’s led more than 100 laps in a Charlotte event three times.

Tony Stewart is on quite the high after the way the past week or so has went. First, he wins the California event and propels himself back into Chase contention; then, he confirms the long-whispered rumor that Mobil 1 will join Stewart-Haas Racing next year to complete the sponsorship of Stewart’s own car. Nevermind a 13.4 average finish and eight consecutive top-20s at Charlotte – he’s got the momentum on his side, and that can only help.

Finally, coming from left field, David Reutimann is an interesting Charlotte pick. Yes, his Coca-Cola 600 win last year was a product of a clever pit strategy during a rainy spell, but his finishes at the track have improved greatly since that confidence builder. His past two races there have seen finishes of 15th and fifth, and he managed to lead laps, if only briefly, during the 600 this time around.

Photo credit: Jordan Tabak, OnPitRow.com

Filed under: Lowes Motor Speedway, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing

Tagged with: Bank of America 500, Charlotte Motor Speedway, David Reutimann, jimmie johnson, Joey Logano, Kasey Kahne, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing, Tony Stewart

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Fantasy Pick’Em: 2010 Coca-Cola 600

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

May 27, 2010 11:27 am UTC No Comments

Kurt Busch in the Miller Lite Dodge at TMS practice

The weekend immediately following the Sprint All-Star Race, the Coca-Cola 600 is one of the crown jewels of NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series. Designed to compete with the Indianapolis 500 on Memorial Day weekend, it joins the Daytona 500, Southern 500, and Brickyard 400 as one of the series’ most important and prestigious races.

Last year’s rain-shortened event was taken on a dreary Monday by David Reutimann. He added his name to a long list of first-time winners at the track, including all-time greats David Pearson and Jeff Gordon, by opting not to pit during the final caution of the event while many other cars did. The 600 often produces a surprise winner, as many of the big races do, but to suggest it happens every time would be to ignore many drivers who have won it during the peak of their careers, from Gordon to Dale Earnhardt to Jimmie Johnson.

So I’m going to go out on a limb (except not at all) and make Johnson my lead pick. Without the Lowe’s sponsorship, Johnson doesn’t have that extra sort of motivation to dominate at the track, but I see no reason why he can’t keep up a torrid pace of 6 wins and 13 top-10s in 17 starts. The only race in which he has failed to lead a lap was his track debut. His average finish of 8.6 is by far the best of drivers with at least five starts at the track. This is a gimme if you can take it.

Kurt Busch qualifies as a bit of a dark horse at Charlotte, despite the fact that he won last weekend’s All-Star Race. Busch only has three top-5s and a dismal 20.9 average finish in 19 career points-paying starts. If he can win the 600, however, he’d be the seventh driver in 25 years of Charlotte-based all-star events that a driver won both races; Kasey Kahne was the last to do it in 2008.

Some other drivers of merit in the longest race of the NASCAR season:

Joey Logano has only four starts at Charlotte, counting his All-Star travails, but has never disappointed. He converted last year’s Fan Vote into an eighth place run, and finished ninth and fifth in the two races that counted last year. This year, he wound up third in the all-star event. Remember that Jeff Gordon also won the 600 in his sophomore year of NASCAR competition – we could very well see shades of the last great young driver on Sunday night.

Kasey Kahne has also been on a torrid pace at Charlotte over the past two years. In four points-paying starts, he has three podium finishes and a worst placing of seventh. His 11.6 career Charlotte average finish is one of the best on the circuit, and it appears that his worst years at the track are long behind him. Kahne has scored the most points in the last three Charlotte races, and in every amount up through the last nine. usually goes big or goes home – he has three wins and five top-5s, but four finishes of 23rd or worse.

Finally, Jeff Burton has been a highly consistent driver at Charlotte as of late. For his career, he has 32 starts with three wins and 15 top-10s, as well as a win in the 2002 all-star shootout. Burton has scored the third most points at Charlotte over the past five years, second only to Johnson and Kahne; these ten races have been buoyed by a win in October 2008, five top-10s, and only three finishes outside the top 20.

Filed under: Jeff Burton, jimmie johnson, Joey Logano, Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch, Lowes Motor Speedway, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing

Tagged with: Charlotte Motor Speedway, Coca Cola 600, Jeff Burton, jimmie johnson, Joey Logano, Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing

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Thursday NASCAR Fantasy Racing Live Chat: Coca Cola 600

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

May 25, 2010 9:07 pm UTC No Comments

Charlotte Motor Speedway hosts NASCAR’s longest race this week. We dissect the Memorial Day classic from the fantasy racing angle at 7 PM ET. Join us. Fill in the form and we will remind you before the start.

Filed under: Live blogs, Lowes Motor Speedway, NASCAR, NASCAR Fantasy Gaming

Tagged with: Coca Cola 600, fantasy racing live chat

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Joey Logano: Self-Proclaimed Sprint All Star Goat

by Charlie Turner

May 23, 2010 7:26 am UTC No Comments

Ricky Carmichael is THE G.O.A.T. Goat in this case – Greatest Of All Time – is a good (great) thing.

Then there’s the other kind of goat. No caps. Not an acronym for anything. Goat in this case is not good.

Joey Logano is the bad goat this morning because his car caused the contact that started the biggest wreck of the night in the 2010 Sprint All Star Race for NASCAR. Logano’s #20 Home Depot Camry got squeezed on the restart of lap one of the final 10 lap segment. The left side tires got down in the grass, the car got a bit sideways and all hell broke loose.

It was the most exciting part of the night.

So Sliced Bread (don’t hear that as much anymore do you?) said his mea culpas for the media and fellow competitors sake. And Fox Sports may want to send him on a trip to Disney World.

He saved the show.

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc

Filed under: Joey Logano, Lowes Motor Speedway, NASCAR, NASCAR & the Media

Tagged with: G.O.A.T., Ricky Carmichael, Sprint All Star Race

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