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Fantasy Pick’Em: Toyota/Save Mart 350

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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

#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 

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Is A Stock Car Road Racing Series Viable?

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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.

August 28, 2009 3:06 pm UTC 2 Comments

While the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has its final off week of the season, the Nationwide Series heads north of the border to Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. This is the third year in a row that Montreal has hosted a Nationwide race, and expectations are high after a pair of interesting races in 2007 and 2008.

The final road course event of the year in a major NASCAR series, this event always attracts some of the greatest road racing talent on the planet. The best among these drivers are Ron Fellows and Boris Said; they are recognized as threats to win every time NASCAR heads to a road course. Other drivers with strong road racing backgrounds entered in this weekend’s race include Andy Lally and Justin Marks.

A handful of former open wheel stars are usually tabbed to replace Nationwide regulars in the road course races every year as well. Former Champ Car World Series drivers entered this weekend include Andrew Ranger, Jacques Villeneuve, Alex Tagliani, and Patrick Carpentier.

Combine those drivers with NASCAR regulars Marcos Ambrose, J.R. Fitzpatrick, Max Papis, and Colin Braun, and it’s clear that this weekend’s field is loaded with road course racing talent. It’s the case every time the stock cars start turning both ways. And it means that three times a year, some of us start contemplating the viability of a national NASCAR touring series that runs road courses all year.

Sure, this idea might have worked better when guys like Villeneuve, Carpentier, and Dario Franchitti were trying to switch disciplines. It would have provided them an opportunity to learn the heavier stock cars while still racing on tracks with which they were familiar. Perhaps a year in a series like this would have helped prevent their respective failures in stock car racing.

While the open wheel invasion may be over, however, it appears that recruiting drivers from other types of road racing is a popular idea around the garage. Lally is only the most recent to defect, running for Kevin Buckler‘s Sprint Cup team at Watkins Glen. Before joining the Cup Series this year, Buckler made his mark in sports car racing, running Porsche 911 GT3s in the Rolex Sports Car Series, run by the Grand-Am Road Racing Association, founded by Jim France (brother of Bill France Jr.) and currently owned by NASCAR.

Grand-Am, however, appears to be on the decline. In the Rolex Series, the top class of cars is the Daytona Prototype. A handful of engines are approved for Grand-Am use, but those with the most manufacturer support are Lexus and Pontiac; with Pontiac’s elimination and Lexus’ rumored departure, the series is significantly weakened. Already, some drivers like Braun have made the jump from the DPs to stock cars, and the loss of the top two engine manufacturers may exacerbate that.

It’s not as if NASCAR owners are unfamiliar to fielding road racing teams, either. Besides Buckler, the list includes Chip Ganassi, Roger Penske, Jack Roush, and Richard Childress – four of the most well-known and respected owners in the sport.

Sure, this idea might have made a little more sense for the open-wheelers two or three years ago. But it still makes sense for some of the defecting road course drivers. With Grand-Am’s future looking shaky due to the loss of at least one top Daytona Prototype engine manufacturer, a stock car road racing series could be attractive to those with a different type of Daytona dream.

Filed under: road course ringers 

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13 Reasons Why Road Courses in NASCAR Don’t Suck

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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

August 6, 2009 10:51 pm UTC 11 Comments

So, are you one of those hardcore NASCAR fans who would rather have a second race at Kansas or Chicagoland – or a third yawner at Auto Club Speedway of Schwartzenagerville – than to have to be forced to watch another road course race?

I happen to be real fond of the races at The Glen, Sonoma, Montreal and the old Riverside International Raceway.

I’ll share some my reasons. Maybe you’ll share yours, whether they are pro or con.

 

  1. There ain’t no “Cookie-cutter Ringers”.
  2. NASCAR has real rain tires for the road courses, and they’ve made the drivers use them.
  3. Guys with names like Villeneuve, Montoya, Carpentier, Said and Kangaroo Meat can win at road courses.
  4. Andy Lally
  5. The original Road Course Ringer – Dan Gurney - won five times at the old Riverside Raceway for the Wood Brothers.
  6. There are no “Turn nines” on ovals.
  7. Robby Gordon is one of the favorites to win at every road course.
  8. Look at the picture above. Racing doesn’t get much cooler than that.
  9. Ron Fellows.
  10. The hairpin at Sonoma.
  11. There isn’t an oval in Montreal so we race on the Circuit du Gilles Villeneuve.
  12. Cars can spin without causing full-course cautions
  13. A guy by the name of Stewart usually DOES win at these places.

 

Tell me what you think.

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

Filed under: NASCAR, road course ringers, Robby Gordon, Tony Stewart 

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Fast Laps: Infineon

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

I'm the former blogger of The Catfish Show NASCAR Blog and a contributor to On Pit Row. Follow me on Twitter: @mattmercer

June 17, 2009 11:49 pm UTC 3 Comments

Back in black,
I hit the sack,
I’ve been too long I’m glad to be back…

Fast Laps is back, with a new writer hoping to continue what Charlie and The Idiot have started here. I’m Matt Mercer, a contributor to Bench Racing and I’ve got the green light for some Fast Laps on the way to wine country. The road course “ringers” have become less of a factor than in the past. Only cars concerned with the top 35 are turning to them now. One that will enter the race, Ron Fellows in the #09, could be a sleeper if it’s one of the Hendrick Chevys and not a Finch Dodgepodge. Patrick Carpentier will try and put the Napa Toyota near the front, which is ironic since in his open-wheel days he was considered an oval specialist. Go figure.

Let’s get to the questions and comments, but be warned I’m going to have some different rules. Instead of 100 words or less per question, I’m limiting your responses to 100 words to answer all 4 questions. Got it? 100 words or less or I’ll beat you with Steve’s microphone.

Also, don’t forget to answer the new Checkered Flag question: there’s no word limit at the checkers, so get creative and follow up on your answers. All of us at On Pit Row enjoy debate so bring it on.

1. Is this the year that Mark Martin wins that elusive championship?

2. Brian France talked about more foreign manufacturers entering NASCAR, provided they have production facilities in the United States. Those companies are Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, BMW, and Mercedes. Which of these companies would dedicate the efforts necessary to compete in NASCAR?

3. Will the Camping World Truck Series survive? Could the series “merge” with the Nationwide Series or disband altogether?

4. Can a US-based Formula One team achieve any real success?

Checkered Flag: What is Marc Davis’ future? Will he solidify a competitive ride or will his career follow Bill Lester’s trajectory?

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media

Filed under: Brian France, Chevrolet, Diversity and NASCAR, Fast Lap Posts, Mark Martin, NASCAR, Nationwide Series, road course ringers, Toyota 

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Quick Hits: Dover International Speedway

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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 17, 2008 9:02 pm UTC 2 Comments

This weekend, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Dover, Delaware, for the second race of ten in the 2008 Chase for the Sprint Cup. The series comes off of a weekend at New Hampshire that saw Kyle Busch falter, Greg Biffle assert himself as a championship contender, and Joey Logano make his Sprint Cup debut, finishing 32nd in a Hall of Fame Racing Toyota.

Logano, at 18 years, 3 months, and 20 days old, was the youngest driver to make his Sprint Cup debut since 1982, when a 17-year-old by the name of Bobby Hillin Jr. drove a No. 8 Buick to a 21st place finish at the old North Wilkesboro Speedway. In other words, Hillin was a “young gun” before it became cool to develop teenage drivers.

Unlike some of the other “young guns” that NASCAR has seen recently (try Casey Atwood, Shane Hmiel, Joel Kauffman, Jason Schuler, and Chase Montgomery on for size), Hillin was arguably a decent driver, with the potential to compete for wins and decent points finishes. When he had a consistent ride, especially in the late 1980s, he was capable of finishing in the top 20 in points; in 1986, he cracked the top 10 in points for the only time of his career, finishing 9th after winning a race at Talladega and scoring 14 top 10 finishes in 29 races for the Stavola Brothers.

Hillin was, at times, a poor qualifier, missing more and more races per season as he moved to what is now the Nationwide Series in 1998. He never won a pole, had a pedestrian average start of 24.2 in the Cup series, and averaged 5.6 DNQs per season from 1996 to 2000, when his career ultimately ended. That didn’t take away from the fact, however, that at his best, Hillin could keep the car on the track for the duration of the race; he finished 27 out of 29 races in 1988, tied for second best in the series, and completed the third-most laps of any driver that year.

Compare this to many current “young guns,” drivers who are often fast in qualifying but cannot keep the car on the track. Consider the aforementioned Hmiel, who won four poles in his abbreviated Nationwide Series career, but failed to finish in 30 out of 119 career starts in NASCAR’s top three series. Hillin, in the prime years of his career (1985-1990, discounting a bad 1987 in which car parts failed ten times), started 143 races, and only failed to finish 27 of them. Compare rebuilding a car once every 5.3 races to once every four. Even the late Dale Earnhardt broke something on a car, on average, once every six races.

Yet, while “young guns” nowadays receive all kinds of aid from all around the garage area, Hillin was often looked down upon by his contemporaries in the garage area. “Nobody wanted to help me,” Hillin said in a 2007 interview with NASCAR.com. “I still needed a whole lot of help (even after winning at Talladega).” Such help likely would not have been wasted on the young driver, as it has been on plenty of recent young guns.

Truth be told, Logano is nothing like most recent development drivers; he’s already got a Nationwide Series win in only a handful of career starts, and he’s going to inherit Tony Stewart’s car next season, one of the top cars in the garage year in and year out. Logano’s got all kinds of help around him, and for that reason, his situation and Hillin’s are nothing alike. At the same time, had drivers like Hillin not blazed a trail in the 1980s, the youth movement currently present in NASCAR might never have happened, and one of the best raw talents in NASCAR would still be waiting for a shot in the big league.

Before the Chase resumes at the Monster Mile, here are this week’s five Quick Hits:

5. A.J. Allmendinger will know his future at Team Red Bull very soon, as the organization decides whether to promote Scott Speed full-time next season in the No. 84 or add a third car, the No. 82. Recently re-signed general manager Jay Frye (who turned down the same position at Stewart-Haas Racing) should have the final decision from the energy drink’s headquarters in Austria by the end of this week.

4. Bobby Hamilton Jr. has stated that he’s about “40 percent” talking to a Sprint Cup team about next season. Currently a Ford driver, there is the possibility that either the Wood Brothers or Yates Racing are the team in question.

3. Italian road course specialist Max Papis will run 18 races next season in a Germain Racing Toyota sponsored by Geico. Papis has run assorted road course races this season and attempted to qualify for this year’s Indianapolis 500.

2. Gillett Evernham Motorsports‘ right of first refusal on Patrick Carpentier expired Tuesday, when the team was unable to find sponsorship to run the Canadian in a fourth car for 2009. Teams that have publicly shown interest in Carpentier include the Wood Brothers.

1. Steve Hallam, McLaren F1‘s head of race operations, will bring his wealth of technical knowledge to the Sprint Cup Series next season. Hallam has previously worked with such world-famous race drivers as Nigel Mansell, Mika Hakkinen, and the late Ayrton Senna.

Finally, congratulations to last week’s winners at New Hampshire: Ron Hornaday in the Truck series, and Biffle in Sprint Cup.

Filed under: A J Allmendinger, Dover International Speedway, Formula One, Gillett Evernham Motorsports, Joey Logano, NASCAR, New Hampshire International Speedway, Red Bull Racing, road course ringers, Scott Speed, Sprint Cup Series, Stewart Haas Racing, The Wood Brothers 

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Kyle Busch is the Best Road Racer in NASCAR

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by Steve Wronkowicz

I am co-host of the syndicated radio show: ON PIT ROW. Over ten years on the air and three on the net; see what can happen when I don't let the facts get in the way of my opinions.

August 14, 2008 7:02 am UTC 1 Comment

Like the driver himself, the headline may cause NASCAR fans to scream foul.

Facts can be made to say about anything that you want them to. They can be twisted, manipulated and stretched in any number of ways to get a point across. It is tough to argue that anyone is better than Rowdy at road racing in NASCAR at this point in time.

No one in NASCAR history has won three road races in a single season until The Shrub did it in 2008. Winning both Cup races at Infineon and Watkins Glen along with the Nationwide race in Mexico City moves him to the head of the list.

ON PIT ROW, the radio show, every week asks four “Fast Lap” questions that are worded in such a way as to spur debate. One of this week’s Fast lap questions asked if Kyle Busch is the best road racer ever. NASCAR has been running road races as long as there has been NASCAR, and no one has been able to win more than two in a season.

Two names have been brought up as better road racers than Kyle. One is Dan Gurney. Gurney was one helluva road racer, no doubt about it, but I don’t consider him a NASCAR driver. He was the epitome of a road course ringer in NASCAR’s youth. Gurney posted 5 wins on road courses in his NASCAR “career”; but again he was never a full timer and four of those came at one race track–Riverside. Considering the road course stops on the circuits today, Riverside seems more like Pocono than a true road course.

Jeff Gordon has nine wins on the lefts and rights. A pretty remarkable number until you consider the level of competition that he raced against to gain many of those wins. Gordon began winning road course races when only ten or fifteen percent of the field could possibly win one. The first attempts for the NASCAR elite to run at The Glen and later at Infineon was a scene out of a Buster Keaton movie. Gordon was able to pile up wins while the rest of the field was using the two road courses as ‘throw aways”. Who can forget the scenes of top notch drivers doing more driving in the dirt than on the course?

The level of competition is higher. The race tracks are tougher and in my mind, no one in NASCAR history has done it better than Kyle Busch. Busch’s sponsor M&M/Mars has put together a promotion to find the most colorful fan in NASCAR. Check it out at http://tsc.nascar.com/mmsracing/
it is some fun–much like watching their driver has become.

Kyle is turning heads on the race track and turning detractors into fans. Love him or hate him, the boy has talent and some flair for the dramatic.

Photo credits:BethAnne Heisler/ON PIT ROW
Icon Sports Media

Filed under: Busch Series, Kyle Busch, NASCAR, NASCAR Bidness, Nascar Legends, Nationwide Series, On Pit Row The Fastest Two Hours on Radio, Pocono Raceway, road course ringers, The Busch Bros, The Fast Lap 

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