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I can’t decide if it would be good to have more events like Tony Stewart’s Prelude to the Dream. If there were too many, it wouldn’t be as special, I guess. But it’s a shame more fans can’t get there to experience it live.

23,000 some fans did make it though. According to the track announcer, people from 46 states ordered tickets to the ‘08 Prelude as did fans from Denmark, Germany and Australia. For a race on dirt in the middle of a bunch of cornfields in western Ohio, that had about a fifty percent chance of getting rained out. Amazing.

OK, not just any dirt race. Darrell Waltrip didn’t drive the water truck this year but he did do a half dozen laps in a dirt late model with a lucky young fan along as passenger.

Eldora veterans - from their younger, pre-superstar days - were there. Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Dave Blaney, Ryan Newman, David Reutimann, Matt Kenseth and Ken Shrader. Others with lots of experience on the dirt raced as well. Clint Bowyer was fast. Kenny Wallace and old-timer Red Farmer made the trip and were quick. Mark Martin, J J Yeley and Aric Almirola wrecked. Bill Elliot had mechanical woes.

Kyle Busch and Jimmy Johnson brought there own late models. Robby Gordon drove a Scott Bloomquist-prepared car to second place. Johnson and Robby G have plenty of time driving in the dirt. Johnson in motocross and Gordon off-road.

During the driver intros, homeboy Tony got the loudest cheers. But Jeff Gordon had plenty of fans too. Even Kyle Busch heard more cheers than boos - until he stoked the booing with his “I can’t hear you” pose. From then on, the only cheers Kyle got were when he either hit or broke something. Both of which happened a lot.

Our seats were in turn three - which was the down-wind corner - so by the time the cars got to us, the twenty mile an hour breeze had brought the dirt kicked up in turn one to us and we got a double dose of dirt track in our faces each lap. I’ve got to get a pair of those yellow plastic goggle/glasses they were selling before next year’s race.

I wouldn’t miss it if I were you.

Photo credit: Split Second Sports and Panther Creek Design & Photo

Martin Truex Jr grabbed his first and, so far only, Cup Series win at Dover Downs in 2007.  By my count, he was one of three drivers to accomplish that feat last year - Casey Mears and Clint Bowyer were the others.

I’m looking at the line up for this week’s tilt at the Monster Mile and wondering who will be the next first timer.  The answer is not obvious.  David Ragan would seem the best bet.  He drives for one of the major teams, as did all of 2007’s first time winners.  Ragan has lately been running up front and looked like a contender at Charlotte.  But who else.  Is there anybody else?

Before his injury, Dario Franchitti would have been my pick if only because of the two road courses where he should be one of the contenders.  His lost seat-time may not hurt his chances at Sonoma and the Glen, but it steepens the learning curve elsewhere.

Fellow Dodger Reed Sorenson looked strong coming out of Daytona.  Since then though, his team has been a big part of Ganassi’s funk.  The stirring of that pot by Chip doesn’t bode well for the Target car.

Dave Blaney is the only non winner in a Toyota who seems a candidate.  A J Allmendinger didn’t convince me at Lowes.  David Reutimann looks like a journeyman.

Who do you like in a Chevy?  All of 2007’s virgin winners were Bowtie Boys.  But who’s left?  Regan Smith?  Too soon and not enough chances.  Same for Aric Almirola.  The Haas CNC teams probably killed their chances by losing crew and car chiefs for six races.

No, the next winner looks to be a Ford man.  If not Ragan then maybe one of the Yates guys.  Travis Kvapil looks primed.

With fifty laps to go in the Coca Cola 600 I was mentally writing a headline about the start of summer finally arriving with Tony Stewart’s big win. Not to be. Instead Kasey Kahne won NASCAR’s longest race. And Dale Earnhardt Jr became the poster boy for Looseness in Turn Three.

This week, TZ from Do You NASCAR and Bruce of NASCAR Bits and Pieces and the guys at Bench Racing will thrash on three racing related topics. Here’s mine.

Why can’t Junior finish?

Charlie: When is Tony Eury Jr going to have a come to Jesus meeting with his driver
and tell him to quit running every lap two inches from the turn four wall?
Earnhardt is the only driver who runs every track and every lap of every race, in
the highest line there is. It works for him, I know. He’s been fast everywhere
this season. But he has hit the wall in more races than not. It seems to me that
his crew chief should be talking him down off that wall later in the race. It
probably wouldn’t work. Listening to Junior on the radio does not give me the
feeling that he listens to much of anything. He tells - commands. It might be time
for a change in tactics.

TZ: I think you have to start with Dale Junior’s relationship with Tony Eury Jr.
More often than not, I, too, find Earnhardt to be a bit overly demanding - and, not
very understanding - over his team radio, but I think that most people probably tend
to be a little more short-tempered when dealing with family at times. I think that
Junior probably doesn’t do the best job of translating what’s going on with the car
in the manner so that Eury can understand it, and as a result, they tend to let the
track start getting away from them near the ends of the races. And, yes … there
are times when he’d probably be a bit better off finding different grooves in the
track.

Bruce: The team is not used to finishing.. Not used to getting out there up front
now that they seem to have more consistent, improved equipment. I get the high
groove and yes, they should try different lines, but if it works it works.. the
high groove will give you more gear coming out of the corners and saves tires a bit
in the long run, but I’m not sure it’s worth it all the time like he does.. At least
he’s closer to the wall when a tire blows and then again, maybe he’s got some
lingering issues from past hits and he has a reason? Bet we won’t see the high
groove at Dover! And you’re right guys, he snaps / commands the crew when he needs
to be listening too… at least it seems that way.

That’s what we think. What do you think?

You should check out Tim’s post and discussion…

Should the no. 20 team have called for two right-side tires on Tony Stewart’s
next-to-last stop at the Coca Cola 600? 

And Bruce’s question this week…

My question is whether drivers should get over the idea of people moving over for them because they think they’re faster than they are?

There’s good stuff there.  We welcome your input.

Yes it’s NASCAR’s All Star weekend. Speed TV has begun a 48 hour marathon of All Star coverage, beginning with the Pit Crew Challenge and ending some time long after the race winner has been feted. I’m not a huge fan and luckily for me, the ARCA RE/MAX Series is in town and that will keep me busy and distracted. I’ll have to TIVO most of the All Star coverage. That is a plus for me.

The race itself will probably be pretty good. And yes, even All Stars get Loose in Turn 3. The captains of the blogs, Bruce’s NASCAR Bits and Pieces and Tim’s Do You NASCAR? join me again to carve up three different NASCAR issues in this week’s Loose in Turn 3 triple play.

My question this time is a scenario and it goes like this….

NASCAR world has been turned upside-down. All of the drivers are free agents - the ultimate silly season has been declared. You are a team owner and you have three seats to fill with five year contracts. What manufacturer and which three drivers do you stick yourself with?

Charlie: Toyota is my car choice. I believe that Jack Roush is right - Toyota will take over NASCAR. Jimmy Johnson heads my team. He’s a two time champion with at least ten years left in him. Kasey Kahne is my number two. All he needs is equipment. Kyle Busch has to be in because it seems that he doesn’t even need that!

Bruce: That’s loaded. Does you having picked mean I can’t pick those now? I’m sticking with Ford.. Clint Bowyer, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and I like Kasey Kahne also. Clint is quietly consistent and I’ll take that any day of the year… heck, I won and online league by being in the top 5 every race with only one win. Jr: He’s pretty consistent this year and he’s showing what he can do with good equipment, so I have faith in him. Kahne: The only thing that held him up last year was a poorly programmed computer program that caused the team to make incorrect adjustments… once they got back on track, they’ll be good to go, or more to the point, Kahne will be good to go on my Ford powered team. (Yea, Yea, the guys will all have to break their manufacturer contracts to be on my team, what of it? That’s what silly season is all about!!)

TZ: Like Bruce said… definitely a loaded question. I’ve gotta go with Charlie on the manufacturer for my team, though. Forget about tradition and what got this sport where it is now. If I’m a team owner, I’ve got dollar signs in my eyes, and I’m going with the new wave, which has to be Toyota. As for my team itself, from a business perspective, I start with Jimmy Johnson for immediate on-track success and a bid at the Cup, and I actually build my team around him. Back-to-back titles, how can you argue with that? Then, I back him up with Carl Edwards. The cat’s only 28 years old, he wins, he does great with the media and I see him as a solid partner for Johnson. I finish up with the youngster to protect the future on my company, and for that I look no further than the 22 year old David Ragan.

OK, that’s what we think. What do you think?

Tim’s post query is…. There’s been a lot of talk about the “changing of the guard” in NASCAR this year. Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards have been running hot. Are they the future of our sport?

Bruce’s post starts with this…. Seasoned drivers and when is it their turn?

Enjoy the discussion and the All-Star extravaganza this weekend.

Photo Credit: Harold Hinson/HHP Images

Kevin Harvick was - by all statistical evidence - the right pick for last weeks Sprint Cup race at Richmond International Raceway. It didn’t work out.  Picking winners in NASCAR racing often doesn’t. You can begin to doubt the viability of the stats.

But the drivers who rated right behind Harvick for RIR were two of the most dominant and - as it turned out - controversial guys in the event.

Denny Hamlin led 381 of the 400 race laps but finished 24th - due to a tire going down under green and his attempt to draw a caution. The controversial part came of that try for a yellow flag.

Kyle Busch finished second. He got there by - some say - driving through Dale Earnhardt Jr while going for the win. There has been plenty of hash and re-hash on that subject.

Harvick had a dominant position in the NASCAR Loop stats for RIR. The spread between drivers at Darlington Raceway is tighter and there are only three races in the Loop database for the Lady in Black.

Fantasy Picks for the Track too Tough to Tame

Some weeks ago, Steve and I interviewed several of the NASCAR internet community’s most knowledgeable writers for our first 7 Post Podcast.  We asked each of our guests who their pick would be for Darlington in May.  Most chose Greg Biffle.  Goodyear had just completed the spring tire test at the South Carolina track.  The news that Biffle had topped 200 mph on the back stretch was big.  Maybe that was an influence on the picks.  Or perhaps those blogger folks are pretty smart too.

Gregg Biffle has the top Driver Rating of 126.1. He is the top dog in Fastest Laps with 141 and Laps Led at 346 or 31.3% of the last three races at Darlington. Greg has the second most Laps in the Top Fifteen the third best Ave Running Position of 5.2. Top those numbers with three top tens and two wins and The Biff looks good this week.

Jimmy Johnson looks good every week, doesn’t he? Second best Driver Rating, Fastest Laps, Laps Led and the top Ave Finish of 2.3 make it so again. JJ has two top fives and eight top tens.

Hamlin has only raced twice in Loop races at the Lady. He has the third best DR of 119.2 in those two and two top fives and four top tens all together. Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Busch has only one top ten ever and a Driver Rating of 85.7 which is 13th.

Darlington has been good to Ryan Newman. Ryan is fourth in DR with 116.4 and number one in Ave Running Position of 4.951. Five top fives and six top tens show his consistency at this track.

Jeff Gordon has gained more total Loop Points per Darlington race than anyone else - 540 compared to Biffle’s 498 - and has the best Ave Finish - 1.7 - and Laps in the Top Fifteen - 1091 for 98.8%. Gordon is also a seven time winner here. Yikes!

Earnhardt Jr, Carl Edwards and Kasey Kahne all have similar DR’s - 99.6, 98.8 and 97.8 respectively. None of the three has ever won at Darlington. The only Loop stat that jumps out is that Junior has zero Laps Led.

I’m going with Jeff Gordon as my fantasy pick. That Ave Finish stat of 1.7 and his top Ave Points Gained combined with his history at the track and the fact that he is, well, Jeff Freakin’ Gordon finish the self-argument for me.

If you want a driver outside the Loop stat top ten, take Jeff Burton.Steady Jeff has two wins, eight top fives and fourteen top tens at Darlington to support his 2008 success.

My dark-horse pick is Bobby Labonte - hopefully in that Speed Racer-painted #43 again.

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

Hollywood couldn’t have scripted the weekend’s racing any better.

NASCAR’S doubleheader at Richmond International Raceway along with ARCA’s return to Rockingham Speedway proved to be a great weekend. Friday nights Nationwide Series race at Richmond was entertaining enough throughout; but came to a old time ending. For all you old-schoolers out there; Kyle Busch and Steven Wallace played some bumper tag during the race and then, partook in a post race helmet grabbing–finger pointing–screaming incident. The Saturday highlight shows ran with the video of Shrub sticking his head into Wallace’s car and Steven grabbing Rowdy’s helmet; only to see Kyle jerking his head free and nearly falling on his butt. All this on a Friday night.

Saturday’s Crown Royal presents the Dan Lowry 400 at Richmond again provided for some exciting racing through much of the event and had set itself up for an entertaining finish. Denny Hamlin was dominating the race–leading every green flag lap until a slow leak developed in his right front tire. Hamlin decided to ignore the slowly deflating tire until it was too late and the tire blew out on the race track.

“You don’t have days like this,” said Hamlin, “Dominating days like this just don’t happen. There’s just nothing you can say other than it just wasn’t meant to be.”

Hamlin’s troubles set up a battle between Dale Earnhardt; Jr and Kyle Busch to determine who would go to victory lane. Junior was looking to get his first win in two years and Shrub was looking to post another win for Joe Gibbs Racing. What happened was a last lap skirmish that has Junior lovers and Junior haters seeing two very different race endings–an ending that saw Clint Bowyer take home his second Sprint Cup trophy. Lovers are looking to hang Busch from the nearest engine hoist and haters are applauding him for his hard driving style.

Which as usual leads us to this weeks short and sweet BUZZ ON PIT ROW:

Who was to blame for the Shrub and Junior dust up?

Then to finish off the weekend, the ARCA ReMax Series re-opened “The Rock” to competitive racing and saw future Cup star 17 year old Joey Logano dominate the race in his Venturini Motorsports Chevy. Sprint Cup vetren Ken Schrader came in second as only five cars finished on the lead lap. For more on the ARCA event check out arcaracing.com. and listen to INSIDE ARCA via live stream Tuesday at 8pm ET immediately following ON PIT ROW which can be heard on selected radio stations in the Midwest or right here at onpitrow.com from 5 to 7pm ET.

photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

I saw this headline at Scene Daily

Lowe’s Motor Speedway to host burnout competition before all-star race

I immediatley established Aaron Fike as the favorite to win.  That’s what a NASCAR fantasy analyst is supposed to do, right?  Whattaya mean it’s not that kind of burnout contest?

It seems that NASCAR will pick five drivers to compete in the made for TV, All Star Race night bonus competition.  It might just be fun, though I’m having trouble coming up with five different styles of burnout.  Just how will these guys differentiate themselves? 

Apparently, Clint Bowyer wrecked a Richard Petty Driving Experience car while practicing for the event.  Maybe NASCAR better choose drivers with a few more wins, eh?  Stay tuned.

Texas Motor Speedway has a famous, and pretty funny, billboard ad campaign featuring different NASCAR drivers. The Dale Earnhardt Jr version created enough controversy early this year to cause a change in the ad copy. The original took a shot at Teresa Earnhardt and that was determined to be too tacky. A shame really, that they changed the original. It was funny and people ought to be able to laugh at themselves and the circumstances that they create. Not my call though. Too bad.

There is a Tony Stewart version too. Tony’s says ” Reason #20 - road rage“. Not as funny or clever as the Earnhardt Jr ad, but maybe it is descriptive of Smoke’s state of mind going to Texas. 2008 has been a mixed bag for the Home Depot Toyota.

Stewart is in sixth place in the Sprint Cup standings which is good. He is the only member of the Joe Gibbs Racing trio without a victory and that is not so good. Tony has led 289 2008 laps, second only to teammate Kyle Busch and he trails only Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman in total earnings. We don’t need to take up a collection.

Maybe Texas Motor Speedway will be the venue where Stewart breaks the 2008 ice. He has the top Loop Data Driver Rating of 109.3. Stewart also has series best stats of 437 Laps Led - 21.8 % of all laps in the last six Texas races - 195 Fastest Laps and 88.9% of his laps run have been in the top fifteen (1786 total). But Tony has never won at the Texas mile-and-a-halfer. In fact he’s had only two top fives, to go with six top tens in eleven tries at TMS. For once, the Loop Data leader does not look like a prohibitive favorite to win.

Editor’s note: Stewart did win at TMS.  Here’s the story.

Loop Stats may not tell the story this week

Speaking of favorites, the guy who usually resides at the top of the 2007 stats, Jimmy Johnson, shows up second in Driver Rating for TMS. But this is one track JJ’s stats don’t make competitors cringe. At 104.1 he trails Stewart by more than five points and, for a change, has no series leading stats. In eight races Johnson has six top tens, three top fives and one win.

Matt Kenseth is right on Johnson’s heals with a Loop DR of 103.2 and has 5 top fives, including one win, in ten races at TMS. Matt’s Ave Loop Finish is a series leading 6.5 and that goes with the top Ave Mid Race Position of 5.5. Look for Kenseth up front Sunday.

Martinsville winner Denny Hamlin is the fourth rated TMS Loop driver. Hamlin has finished in the top ten in three of his five Texas starts and has a career ave finish 9.8. The Toyotas have looked strong in the super speedway races. Hamlin is the only driver in the field with a win streak to protect. He should be strong here.

Dale Earnhardt Jr has good looking stats at the Texas track including a win and six top tens in ten starts. His Driver Rating of 97.2 is right behind Kurt Busch’s 98 flat, but I like Junior better in the Hendrick Chevy than I do Kurt in the slumping Penske Dodge. In nine starts, Busch has six top tens but remains winless and looked mostly bad so far this season.

According to Fox Sports.com, Martin Truex Jr has an Ave Finish of 6.6 while the NASCAR Loop has him at 9.4 and a Driver Rating of 95.7. Either way Texas has been one of Martin’s best tracks. He has flirted with the top ten in points this year, but has just one top ten finish. I can’t see picking him over the other top Loopers.

Jeff Gordon, Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards round out the top ten in Loop DR. Of the three, Edwards is the scariest to see in your mirrors with two wins on somewhat similar tracks and a strong early run at very similar Atlanta Motor Speedway. That said, both Biffle and Gordon will win sometime before too long and this could be the week.

Does it sound like I’m waffling in my analysis? I am. I don’t like what the Loop stats are saying this week. What - or rather who - I like is Jeff Burton in the RCR #31 Chevy. All three RCR drivers are grouped with DR’s of 83.0 to 85.6. Kevin Harvick is the highest and Clint Bowyer the lowest. Right in the middle, almost where you would expect him to be is Burton at 83.1. But he sits on top of the 2008 Sprint Cup standings and has one win, three top fives and four top tens in six starts this year. Burton is also a two time winner at TMS. Mark it down, Burton to win.

Watch Dave Blaney and Brian Vickers to emerge from the field. Both are fast at fast tracks and maybe just due for the wind to change for them.

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

After the off week for the Sprint Cup, the battle for the Nationwide Series championship becomes clearer.

This week at Nashville SuperSpeedway only a handful of Sprint Cup drivers decided to cut their Easter Break short and run the race on the mile and a third high banked track in the middle of Tennessee. Scott Wimmer got his first victory in 57 attempts by barely beating out his team mate, and Cup regular, Clint Bowyer.

Everything becomes clearer after a stand alone event as the Cup guys who will run the entire Nationwide Series schedule step forward.

As we look forward to the paper clip at Martinsville here is this week’s

BUZZ ON PIT ROW:

Was the race at Nashville entertaining enough to want to see more Nationwide Series races without the “claim jumpers”?

photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

The Dodge’s were strong but they weren’t that strong.  The 50th Daytona 500 was a good one but it was subject to the  restrictor plate roulette that is always part of these long plate races.  This time the ball fell on Ryan Newman and the Dodge Boys’ number.

Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch led a charge of Chargers to six of the top eight spots in the 2008 Daytona 500.  The Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas of Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch were supposed to be out front at the end as they had taken turns leading much of the race.  Along with teammate Denny Hamlin, the JGR drivers led 134 of the 200 laps.  But on the last lap, a freight train of Dodges including Reed Sorenson, Elliott Sadler, Kasey Kahne, Robby Gordon and Kurt pushed Newman to the win.  Dale Earnhardt Jr., in ninth, was the only Chevy driver in the top twelve and Greg Biffle’s tenth place the only Ford in the top eighteen.  So what does it all mean? Do you believe the Hendrick Motorsports and Childress Racing Chevrolets suddenly suck?  Is the Roush-Fenway-Yates super-team an also-ran that will fill your fantasy racing group C, field-filler picks for the rest of the season?  I say, no way. 

You’d better have been watching closely this past week because restrictor plate tracks are the freak shows of NASCAR. That train of Chargers had a pretty clear path to the front in the high line groove at the end of that race.  The high line has been the winning line most years at Daytona but Stewart had been on his radio earlier telling Kyle Busch that the #20 handled better down low.  That conversation pretty well committed the two Toyotas to the lower line if they were going to help each other.  That left the usually faster high line to Newman and the Dodges and they had it to themselves because of the attrition among most of the other strong contenders.

Matt Kenseth had a Ford that might have won the race. He led it for awhile and then got caught up in a spin by fellow Roushy David Ragan, who does this kind of thing a lot.  Biffle had a good car. A tenth place finish with nobody in a Ford to help push him to the front was probably as good as it could get. Things at the front could have been much different if, say, Kenseth and Casey Mears had been around for the final ten laps or so.  With all of the cautions and re-starts, having someone to pit with and draft with makes a huge difference.  Somebody just might have been able to break up that Dodge train.Picture credit: David Graham-Associated Press

Onward to California Speedway

There won’t be any restrictor plates at Fontana, California this week and California Speedway is a fast two mile clone of Michigan International Speedway.  Don’t forget that when you look at past performances in your picks.  The fields tend to stretch out and cautions are rare, often of the “debris on the track” nature that artificially bunch the field.  Fuel economy and tire wear strategy is always a factor.  Know your crew chiefs – which means guys like Chad Knaus, Steve Letarte and Greg Zipidelli give your driver more bump at Cali than some other tracks.

This is a fast track.  California and MIS always make me think Greg Biffle and Kasey Kahne and they have good Loop Data Driver Ratings of 95.4 and 96.5. Kahne’s numbers across the board are right in line with his DR – Ave. Finish 16.5, 946 Laps in Top 15 and he’s led 10% of all laps the last six races.  Biffle though has led 232 Laps - #2 in category- and has an Ave. Position of 13.5 and a category best 134 fastest laps. Both drivers are past winners at Fontana and Michigan, with Biffle getting two at MIS.Carl Edwards, Tony Stewart and Mark Martin are next with DR’s of 100.6, 101.2 and 103.6.  Martin’s the only one to have won here, but he’s only led 13 laps during the Loop era. His Ave. Position and Ave. Finish are both 8.8.  Edwards has an Ave. Finish of 7.8 which is second best and he’s run 73.4 % of his laps in the top 15.   Stewart has a the best Passing Differential at 114 and he’s led 124 laps. All three of these guys is a Michigan winner – Martin having won there four times . 

Kyle Busch is a past Fontana winner, has a DR of 109.3, has led 14.2 % of all Loop Laps with 214 and has spent 83.7% of his time in the top fifteen.  He looked awful good in Florida too.

Jimmy Johnson sat on the pole in Daytona, but never got it going in the race. Johnson has two wins at California Speedway. He has Loop Data leading stats with 1381 for 91.8% of Laps in Top fifteen, 320 Passes Under Green and an Ave Finish of 5.8. His DR of 111.3 puts him second to Matt Kenseth. 

Kenseth too, is a two time Cali winner. He has a Loop Stat best 244 Laps Led for 16.2% of the last six races, Ave Mid Race Position of 6.0 and Ave. Position of  7.2. His DR is 113.9 and Matt Kenseth has two wins at Michigan as well.  Matt might have won the Daytona 500 last Sunday had Ragan not taken him out.

Jimmy Johnson is never a bad pick but I’ll take Matt Kenseth or Greg Biffle this week.  For a longshot from your C-team, look at J J Yeley or Brian Vickers, both fast drivers in fast Toyotas.    Bram has more Loop Stats over at Backstretch Motorsports.  Check it out. Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett-Getty Images for NASCAR

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