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Plan 9 from Level Cross

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 17, 2010 1:35 pm UTC No Comments

Richard Petty Motorsports’ 2011 driver line-up got a bit clearer today. Marcos Ambrose will join A J Allmendinger in the stable of The King. Ambrose will drive the #9 car sponsored by Stanley Tools.

The move had been rumored since Ambrose announced he was leaving JTG Racing a few weeks ago. At the time, Ambrose said that the JTG ride had become comfortable, and that comfortable wasn’t necessarily fast enough. Not sure exactly what that says about the Petty ride. Here are some quotes from the press release.

“We are very happy to have Marcos Ambrose join our team,” said NASCAR Hall of Famer and team owner Richard Petty. “He’s a very talented and passionate driver and will be a great addition to our team.”
“We knew once Marcos became available that we wanted him to be a part of the RPM family,” said Foster Gillett, managing partner and team owner. “He’s a fan favorite and he’s proven to be a tough competitor on track. We’re thrilled to have Stanley continue their partnership with our team and believe that Marcos is a great fit for the Stanley Racing program.”

“Stanley is pleased to partner with Marcos,” said Scott Bannell, Vice President Brand Management and Licensing, Stanley Black & Decker. “We look forward to carrying the winning tradition of the No. 9 car into the 2011 season.”

So now we know the drivers who are tasked with saving RPM. And I don’t think that “saving” is too strong a word. With Best Buy and Stanley Tools on the quarter panels of the #43 and #9, RPM seems solidly sponsored. Dinger and Kangaroo Meat are plenty talented too. Can Foster Gillett, Richard Petty and Ford Racing give them what they need to succeed? We’ll see.

Photo credit: BethAnne Heisler for OnPitRow.com

Filed under: A J Allmendinger, Marcos Ambrose, NASCAR, NASCAR Rumors, Richard Petty Motorsports, The King, The Pettys

Tagged with: Foster Gillett, Richard Petty Motorsports

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How Does Andretti-Petty Motorsports Sound to You?

by Charlie Turner

April 2, 2010 7:16 am UTC No Comments

Name the truly legendary racing families in American motor sports history.

NASCAR fans will name the Earnhardts. Probably the Allisons and Labontes. Open wheelers could throw out the Kinsers, Mears, Vukovichs and maybe the Foyts. My memory isn’t that great, so if I’ve left some out, beat me up in the comment section.

But I’ll argue with you if you tell me there are two families that have had a bigger impact on the racing world than the Pettys and Andrettis. And they are teaming up to go IndyCar Racing in 2010 at Kansas Speedway and the Indianapolis 500. John Andretti will drive and Richard Petty Motorsports NASCAR sponsor Window World will foot the bill.

Back in 2007, when Sam Hornish Jr was pondering his move from the IRL to NASCAR, I was scratching my head about why the Andretti’s didn’t give NASCAR a shot too. Click here to read the post. This new partnership makes me wonder more.

IndyCar is struggling. I know there is an advantage to being the big dog in the room, as Andretti Autosport is, in the North American open wheel racing world. But I sure would love to see the two regal families of American racing take a shot at stock cars together.

I mean no offense, but who would you rather see in a stock car; Nelson Piquet Jr or Marco Andretti?

Photo credit: BethAnne Heisler for OnPitRow.com

Filed under: Indy Cars, John Andretti, NASCAR, NASCAR Rumors, Richard Petty Motorsports, The Pettys

Tagged with: Andretti Autosport, IndyCar

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NASCAR’s Version of the Prince and the Pauper?

by Charlie Turner

September 30, 2009 2:09 pm UTC 3 Comments

In a tweet during On Pit Row this week, I asked…

“If George Gillett brings Saudi money into NASCAR and it rescues Richard Petty Motorsports, will NASCAR fans still love the King?”

The “King” being our king. Richard Petty, of course.

The rumors were flying on Tuesday about Saudis in the garage. Today, Scene Daily has this…

George Gillett, whose family is the majority owner of Richard Petty Motorsports, has entered into a “commercial collaboration” agreement with F6, a leading Saudi Arabia-based sports management firm founded and led by Saudi Arabian Prince Faisal bin Fahad bin Abdullah Al Saud.

Gillett’s earlier purchase of the bulk of Petty Enterprises from the Petty family made many Petty fans leery. The more recent announcement that there exists a letter of intent to merge RPM with Yates Racing has longtime Petty followers trying to justify a switch to Ford.

Most subjects of the Kingdom whom I’ve spoken with are OK with the switch. As long as it saves the 43 and keeps Richard involved. At least they aren’t going to race Toyotas, you know?

But what about the Saudis? How will that wash with the Level Cross crowd?

I don’t know.

But I have a favorite saying about money…

“It’s not the money. It the amount”

And the Kingdom of Saud has whatever it would take for the kingdom of Richard to compete.

How would you feel about this Petty fans?

Filed under: NASCAR, NASCAR Bidness, NASCAR Rumors, The King, The Pettys

Tagged with: F6, George Gillett, Prince Faisal, Richard Petty, Richard Petty Motorsports

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Dale Earnhardt vs David Pearson: Who Wins NASCAR’s 64 Greatest Final Lap?

by Charlie Turner

May 31, 2009 10:40 am UTC 49 Comments

We’ve come a long way from the first brackets in the NASCAR 64 Greatest Drivers Tournament at Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie. The whole thing probably stretched out a bit too long. But we got here. And “here” in this case is a last lap, green-white-checker finish between The Silver Fox and the Intimidator.

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. It was said that Earnhardt could “see the air” when he raced at the restrictor plate tracks at Daytona and Talladega. I don’t know about all that. But he sure saw the checkered flag plain enough at those two tracks.

Read a couple comments from Senior fans below.

Dale Earnhardt all the way. Dale is the only driver who went from rookie of the year to champion in consecutive seasons. In his second season Dale led the point standings all year long, except the first race when he finished second. His percentage of 1.02 average finish in one season (1980) is the best ever. – Gary Redd

Dale Senior by far. Regarding wrecks, Dale has the lowest DNF percentage by a driver with over 500 starts. Junior (Johnson) had over two and a half times more DNF’s than Dale and many more wrecks than Dale. Well over half of Dale’s DNF’s were engine failures not wrecks. You have to be running at the finish to win championship’s and Dale it seven times, Junior Zero. – Ben Shirley

David Pearson is second on the all-time Cup Series victory list with 105 and is a three time Winston Cup champ. He won the ’76 Daytona 500, set a record for super speedway qualifying by winning 11 straight poles at Charlotte Motor Speedway. In ’73, Pearson won 11 of the 18 Cup races that he entered. He did all this while rarely entering as many races as his contemporaries. Pearson missed alot of races. According to The Blount Report, NASCAR’s Most Overated & Underrated, The Fox raced is 75 percent of the races in only four seasons in his career. Pearson won the championship three of those years and finished third in the other.

Here are a couple of typical comments from Pearson fans.

I’m picking David Pearson for the upset, because from the old racing I’ve watched and old stories I’ve read and heard, he had more talent than Petty. Half the wins of Petty + running half the time = as good if not better than The King. I’m sending Pearson to the finals. – Matt Mercer

Had Pearson run a full schedule his entire career, he’d have won more championships than The King. Jeff Gordon, while probably one of the best of the current breed of drivers, doesn’t hold a candle to the Silver Fox. Under the current rules and schedule, Jeff won’t match his record. – themadman

To get to the Final Lap of the Tourney, Pearson’s fans voted him over the likes of Jeff Gordon and the King himself, Richard Petty. Earnhardt fans rallied after a close, first round match up with Bobby Isaac to sweep past Junior Johnson and then Darrell Waltrip in the Four Wide Final.

Dale Earnhardt against David Pearson – slamming doors and grinning all the while. That’s how I see this head-to-head battle in the final. Two of the Greatest NASCAR Drivers ever. We’ve had celebrities like Bobby Labonte, Geoffrey Bodine, Dave Despain and Dustin Long all vote in this thing. But we want to know who YOU think should win. Who will you choose? Please leave your comments.

Filed under: Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip, Daytona 500, Daytona International Speedway, NASCAR, NASCAR 64 Greatest Driver Tourney, Nascar Legends, The King, The Pettys, The Waltrips

Tagged with: Charlotte Motor Speedway, David Pearson, Junior Johnson, NASCAR 64 Greatest Driver Tourney, NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers, NASCAR's Most Overated & Underrated, Richard Petty, The Blount Report, Winston Cup

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Richard Petty vs David Pearson: 4 Wide in the 64 Greatest of NASCAR

by Charlie Turner

May 8, 2009 11:52 am UTC 13 Comments

The two drivers with the most wins in NASCAR Cup series competition go head to head in the NASCAR 64 Greatest Drivers Tournament at Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie. One had 105 wins. The other won 95 more than that! From ’63 to ’77, they finished in the top two spots 63 times with the Silver Fox winning 33 to 30 victories by the King. This isn’t that easy you know?

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. Petty’s 200 wins have been down-graded by some recently. He did have more opportunities per year early on, than the modern era allows. But he still won ‘em and you didn’t.

David Pearson is second on the all-time Cup Series victory list with 105 and is a three timeWinston Cup champ. He won the ’76 Daytona 500, set a record for super speedway qualifying by winning 11 straight poles at Charlotte Motor Speedway. In ’73, Pearson won 11 of the 18 Cup races that he entered. He did all this while rarely entering as many races as his contemporaries. Pearson missed alot of races. According to The Blount Report, NASCAR’s Most Overated & Underrated, The Fox raced is 75 percent of the races in only four seasons in his career. Pearson won the championship three of those years and finished third in the other.

Pearson survived an On Pit Radio region match up with perhaps today’s best – Jeff Gordon in the last round. Richard Petty had to go up against an old nemesis – Bobby Allison - to get out of the Fast Lap bracket. Make no mistake though. This is the toughest test yet for these two. Tell us what you think in the comment section.

Filed under: Daytona 500, Daytona International Speedway, Jeff Gordon, NASCAR, NASCAR 64 Greatest Driver Tourney, Nascar Legends, The King, The Pettys

Tagged with: Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough, David Pearson, Final 4, Final Four, NASCAR 64 Greatest Driver Tourney, NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers, Richard Petty

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Petty, Earnhardt, Waltrip and Pearson: 4 Wide in the 64 Greatest of NASCAR

by Charlie Turner

May 4, 2009 10:13 pm UTC No Comments

If Johnson, Flock, Allison and Gordon were the subjects of that headline, it would be hard for sensible people to argue too much. But NASCAR fans aren’t all that sensible sometimes.

We’ve had some great arguments and read comments with tons of passion. The 64 Greatest NASCAR Drivers Tournament has been more than we had hoped for. Our On Pit Row version of March Madness has taken us into May and it’s been a blast, frankly.

I’ve read a few complaints from fans who thought that the tourney would have been more fair if we had seeded the drivers. Maybe that’s true. But we didn’t feel qualified to rate these 64 guys ourselves. And I doubt seriously if the outcome would have changed much. I’ll ask you this; if you were seeding this tournament, would Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip or David Pearson have gotten much argument as number one seeds?

Not from me they wouldn’t.

Only three great match ups to go. Get out the vote Earnhardt fans. Can anyone dethrone the King? Boogity, boogity or Silver Fox? The updated brackets are below.

64 Greatest NASCAR Drivers 4 Wide-West

64 Greatest NASCAR Drivers 4 Wide-East

Filed under: Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip, Jeff Gordon, NASCAR, NASCAR 64 Greatest Driver Tourney, Nascar Legends, The King, The Pettys

Tagged with: Bobby Allison, David Pearson, Junior Johnson, NASCAR 64 Greatest Driver Tourney, NASCAR bracket tournament, Richard Petty, Silver Fox, Tim Flock

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