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NASCAR Pictures: Friday Qualifying for the Sylvania 300

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 24, 2011 9:33 pm UTC No Comments

Exclusive NASCAR photos from New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Our intrepid photog Glenn Bure was there and firing on all cylinders for the Friday Sprint Cup practice and qualifying action at The Magic Mile in Loudon. Nice work Glenn.

Photo credit: Glenn Bure – OnPitRow.com

Filed under: Brad Kesolowski, Carl Edwards, Chase for the Cup, Clint Boyer, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin, Jamie McMurray, Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Joey Logano, Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth, NASCAR, NASCAR photos, New Hampshire International Speedway, NewHampshire Motor Speedway, Red Bull Racing, Ryan Newman, Stewart Haas Racing, The Busch Bros, Tony Stewart

Tagged with: Loudon, Magic Mile, NASCAR pictures, sylvania 300

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Chase History: New Hampshire 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.

September 23, 2011 10:01 pm UTC No Comments

The Chase for the Sprint Cup takes us to my home track, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, for the second race of this year’s championship battle. But I wonder about the intensity of Sunday’s event. It’s no longer the first race of the Chase, after all, having been replaced in that position on the schedule by Chicagoland. Instead of seeing all of the drivers race aggressively to start off on the right foot, we may see the top drivers going for points as the bottom few race hard.

But after the start of last year’s Chase, I think us New Hampshire fans can survive.

One of the most intense finishes of the 2010 season came at Loudon. For much of the race, Clint Bowyer, who had used a sixth place finish at Richmond to eke into the Chase, held the lead. The No. 33 team was simply dominant, using its outside pole position to establish itself at the front of the pack and taking the lead for the first of seven times on lap 29.

In fact, four of Bowyer’s segments at the front of the field were for more than 10 laps. Three of them were for 45 laps or more, and between those segments no driver led for more than two laps. He was dominant, even as Jamie McMurray and last week’s winner Tony Stewart poked their noses out front.

Even though Stewart took the lead with 52 laps to go and seemed set to win, Bowyer looked to take a strong finish out of the weekend. For a team that had barely made the Chase, they couldn’t ask for much better than a second-place finish.

Then Stewart ran out of gas on lap 299. Bowyer took the win.

Of course, three days later, Bowyer’s car was found to be in major violation of NASCAR rules. He got to keep the win, but the points penalty was so harsh that he was effectively eliminated from Chase contention immediately. His best crew members were shifted to Kevin Harvick‘s team, and Bowyer brought up the rear of the playoff field. But it goes to show you – some teams will do just about anything to win the first race of the Chase.

Filed under: Chase for the Cup, Clint Boyer, NewHampshire Motor Speedway, Tony Stewart

Tagged with: Chase for the Cup, New Hampshire Motor Speedway

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NASCAR Pictures: Sunday Action at Pocono Raceway

by Charlie Turner

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

Tagged with: Glenn Bure, NASCAR pictures, Pennsylvania 500, sylvania 300

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NASCAR Driver Pictures: Best of Kurt Busch 2010

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."

March 13, 2011 3:49 pm UTC No Comments

It seems Busch the elder, oft times is overshadowed by his younger sib’s antics. But he, like his bro, has always been very accomodating when it comes to pics. Here are some that Glenn and myself took in 2010.

: Kurt Busch pole winner Michigan International Speedway heisler 10

: Kurt Busch waiting to qualify Michigan International Speedway heisler 10

: Kurt Busch Indianapolis Motorspeedway heisler 10

: Kurt Busch pre-race Chicagoland heisler 10

: Kurt Busch presser Michigan International Speedway heisler 10

: Kurt Busch on track Chicagoland heisler 10

: #2 Kurt Busch Michigan International Speedway heisler 10

: #2 Kurt Busch #88 Dale Earnhardt Jr #6 David Ragan Chicagoland heisler ’10

: #2 Kurt Busch moving out Chicagoland heisler 10

: #38 Travis Kvapil #2 Kurt Busch turn four Michigan International Speedway heisler 10

: #2 Kurt Busch exiting pits Indianapolis heisler 10

: Kurt Busch Loudon New Hampshire in car bure 10

: #2 Kurt Busch on track New Hampshire Motorspeedway bure 10

: Kurt Busch in garage New Hampshire Motorspeedway bure 10

: Kurt Busch pit stop New Hampshire Motorspeedway bure 10

: Kurt Busch New Hampshire Motorspeedway sun bure 10

: Kurt Busch practice New Hampshire Motorspeedway bure 10

: Kurt Busch smiling New Hampshire Motorspeedway bure 10

Photo credit: BethAnne Heisler and Glenn Bure OnPitRow.com

Filed under: Chicagoland Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr., David Ragan, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Kurt Busch, Michigan International Speedway, NASCAR, NASCAR photos, New Hampshire International Speedway, NewHampshire Motor Speedway, The Busch Bros

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More NASCAR Pictures from the Sylvania 300

by Charlie Turner

September 22, 2010 3:12 pm UTC No Comments

NASCAR Driver photos from New Hampshire Motor Speedway

OnPitRow.com photographers Glenn and Jessica Bure took so many great photos of NASCAR drivers at New Hampshire Motor Speedway that we had to post a few more while they are fresh. Check out the shot of Jimmie and Chandra Johnson with baby Johnson. Nice.

: Clint Bowyer out of car finish line New Hampshire

: Greg Biffle-pit-stop New Hampshire

: Jeff Gordon-pit-stop New Hampshire

: Tony Stewart New Hampshire-pit-road

: Tony Stewart in garage New Hampshire

: Jeff Gordon debates in garage New Hampshire

: Dale Earnhardt Jr under car New Hampshire

: Jimmie and Chandra Johnson-and-baby New Hampshire

: Chad Knause-race-day New Hampshire

: Jimmie Johnson pit lane New Hampshire

: Ryan Newman-in-garage New Hampshire

The first five pics are Jessica’s. Glenn Bure gets credit for the rest.

Filed under: jimmie johnson, NASCAR, NASCAR photos, NewHampshire Motor Speedway

Tagged with: Chandra Johnson, Loudon, NASCAR kid pictures, NASCAR pictures, sylvania 300

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Ten Observations From Loudon

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

September 20, 2010 4:58 pm UTC No Comments

As some of you keeping up with this site/following me on Twitter probably know by now, I had the privilege of covering this weekend’s Sprint Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on behalf of On Pit Row. I’d like to thank them once again for getting me into the media center and legitimizing the ability for me to do what I love – covering racing.

I spent the whole weekend at the track, from Friday morning qualifying to the end of the winner’s press conferences Sunday, and getting to attend the whole thing was a real treat. Reading about what’s going on at the track online and actually getting to sit in on press conferences and see how the drivers are reacting to their days are two entirely different things. It also gives me the opportunity to break news and establish myself, this site, and the blogosphere in general as a legitimate source of NASCAR news and infortmation.

After returning home and digesting everything I saw and heard the past three days, I offer you ten observations from the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, dealing with everything from the support races to the drivers in the Chase. Read on:

NHMS puts on some of the best support races that you will ever see. In particular, the K&N Pro Series East race on Friday afternoon was incredible – leaders Alan Tardif and Corey Lajoie took each other out with only three laps to go. That set the tone for the Camping World Truck Series race, where Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick (and later, Busch and James Buescher) nearly did the same thing.
Loudon, perhaps more than any other track, stressed a lot of importance on qualifying. The early stages of the race were so crazy because so many Chasers were stuck in the middle of the field. Combine that with the difficulty of passing on a flat oval like NHMS, and you have some really exciting and intense opening laps. By the same token, the few Chasers who qualified up front, namely Clint Bowyer and Tony Stewart, enjoyed the advantage of not having to work quite as hard on-track to get up front and still having some car left at the end.
Bowyer’s team went from Chase pretender to contender over the course of one weekend. They hadn’t finished any better than fourth coming into Loudon, but they were one of three teams – the others belonged to Stewart and Jamie McMurray – to put themselves near the top of the speed charts in every session. Their domination of the race was no surprise to anybody who had been paying attention to the stats. Combine that with RCR’s established ability to produce a contender this year (Harvick) and Clint may be this year’s sleeper contender.
Two of the top five finishers were extremely lucky to be there. Denny Hamlin‘s second place run after a late-race spin that mired him in 22nd was nothing short of a miracle. He did finish the race with a little more fuel than Bowyer and Stewart, enough to make it to the end easily and steal a victory in case of green-white-checkered, but he had a lot of help from drivers ahead of him pitting. As for Kevin Harvick, he turned a poor run into a solid finish for the second week in a row, converting a 25th-place car into a fifth place finish. But if he and his team think they can win the title that way, they’d better think again.
On the other side of the coin, Stewart’s unsuccessful fuel gamble is not going to be a Chase killer for the Stewart-Haas Racing team. They were even more dominant in the practice sessions than Bowyer, and put the No. 14 car up front all day. They’ve hit their peak at the right time, scoring more points than anybody heading into the Chase, and they know how to put together a good car. Sometimes fuel gambles just don’t work out.
The one difference between Stewart’s fuel gaffe and Jeff Burton‘s is that Stewart didn’t need that finish to prove himself a title contender. Burton did. The No. 31 team made the Chase by quietly plugging away all year, but they have not yet visited the winner’s circle. Preserving a top five run would have been crucial to their Chase hopes, establishing their readiness to win in the way that teammate Bowyer just did. Instead, Burton wound up 15th and is hanging on a thread to the last seat at the Cup banquet this year.
Roush Fenway Racing is going to need to make some wholesale changes if they expect to get anywhere in the Chase. Despite the fact that Carl Edwards ran up front for much of the day, Greg Biffle was almost missing in action, and Matt Kenseth had a horrible weekend that ended with him backing into the turn two wall. As for Edwards, he could only muster an 11th-place finish. That’s not a championship-caliber race team by any stretch.
Jimmie Johnson had better hope that this year just works out like 2006 for him. NHMS showed that the No. 48 team is indeed mortal, when something out of their control came up and they could not pull out a miraculously solid finish. Had there been a green-white-checkered, they’d have been fine, getting the lucky dog award and watching many of the leaders pit, but it wasn’t meant to be this time. Will this finally be the year that somebody else goes home with the title?
McMurray will be the best non-Chase driver over these final ten races if he can keep having weekends like this one. He and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing teammate Juan Pablo Montoya were driving two of the five best cars in New Hampshire all weekend, and McMurray was absolutely dialed in through most of the race. The speeding penalty cost him, but he was able to rebound for a well-deserved third-place finish.
Finally, if you didn’t think getting a press pass to cover NASCAR races from the media center alongside your heroes and now colleagues was cool enough, they feed us exceptionally well. Banquet-style dinners, snack bars, fountain drinks, coffee, and even David Reutimann served us all ice cream on Saturday as part of a Tums promotion. To a college kid used to living on Ramen noodles three meals a day, it just adds another layer of awesome to an already great weekend.
(For the record, Tums marketers: If your goal was to give us a little stomach pains so we’d have to use the many free samples of your product lying around… it worked. How nefarious!)