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Fantasy Pick’Em: 2010 Auto Club 500

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

If OnPitRow.com was a NASCAR team, I’d be the development driver of the bunch. In the same way that young hotshots like Joey Logano have been driving since they were in grade school, I’ve been following and writing about all forms of motorsports since I was barely old enough to talk.

February 18, 2010 12:27 am CST No Comments

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One race down, 35 to go, as the Sprint Cup Series heads to Auto Club Speedway for the Auto Club 500. Jamie McMurray will look to repeat Matt Kenseth’s 2009 feat of sweeping the first two races of the season, at a track where he has an average finish of 16.4. California is McMurray’s fifth best track of those on the current schedule.

My pick for Daytona, Tony Stewart, finished 22nd, leaving me with 97 points on the weekend. My dark horse, John Andretti, slapped the wall and ended up 38th. As for my other three suggestions, only Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a strong run, finishing second; Mark Martin faltered to finish 12th and Marcos Ambrose blew a motor after 79 laps to wind up 41st. Not a great start to my year, but that’s Daytona.

If you’re looking for a sure bet at California, don’t just go by who won the 500; since Fontana assumed the second race of the season in 2005, only Kenseth has done the double. Jimmie Johnson finished second at the track in 2006, but in none of the other cases has the Daytona winner finished better than double digits. Daytona winners’ average finish at California over the past five years is an even 12, mostly brought up by those two.

The winners at California usually come from the middle of the pack at Daytona. Ignoring Kenseth’s win last year, the average finish of California winners at Daytona between 2005 and 2008 was 21.5.

Regardless of all that, my pick for California is Matt Kenseth. This one seems like an easy call. Roush Fenway Racing Fords have won the past five spring races at California, as well as 10 of 19 races at the track overall. Kenseth won this race in 2006, 2007, and last year. His average finish of 9.2 is third best among active drivers. A victory could propel Kenseth into the points lead.

As for a dark horse, I’m picking David Ragan. We can call him a dark horse, right? He still hasn’t won a Sprint Cup race, and he had a generally horrible season in 2009. But his seventh place in the fall California race was his second best finish of 2009. He’s also never failed to finish below 17th at the track, which is either a really good omen for Sunday or a hint that he’s overdue for a bad finish.

Per tradition, three other suggestions:

Jimmie Johnson’s an easy pick. You don’t just stumble into a 5.8 average finish in the Sprint Cup Series at any given track – you’ve gotta be good. Johnson’s obviously good, as his four Sprint Cups attest to. He’s even better at California, with no finishes worse than 16th, no DNFs, zero finishes off of the lead lap, and at least 31 laps led in the past six races at his home track. I only pick against him because none of his four wins at the track came in February.

Kyle Busch is a solid, yet interesting, choice if you’re looking to spice things up. He’s not as easy of a pick as the Roush or Hendrick drivers, but he did have a streak of eight California top-10s before last fall’s 24th-place finish, and not even Jimmie Johnson (six and counting) can say that.

I’m going to give Jamie McMurray the benefit of the doubt and my final pick. The past four years have been pretty abysmal for the Daytona 500 winner, especially at California, where a sixth place finish in his second race with Roush was the lone high point; since then, he’s never been better than 16th at the track. But McMurray was never worse than 15th when he drove for Chip Ganassi, his current owner, with an average finish of 7.2 in five starts between 2003 and 2005.

Filed under: Auto Club Speedway, David Ragan, Jamie McMurray, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing, jimmie johnson

Tagged with: Auto Club 500, Auto Club Speedway, David Ragan, Fantasy Pick'Em, Jamie McMurray, jimmie johnson, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth

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Lone Star NASCAR Sunday Morning

by Charlie Turner

I'm Charlie Turner co-host of the syndicated, mostly NASCAR radio show On Pit Row. Thanks for stopping by OnPitRow.com and the Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie blog. Oh yeah, Steve is an idiot. Follow me on Twitter @onpitrow

November 8, 2009 9:56 am CST No Comments

Here’s what’s on my NASCAR mind this hazey Sunday in Texas, waitin’ for the start of the Dickies 500.

Will Kyle Busch pull off the sweep?

He’s had chances before. But he may have never looked as dominant on a weekend as he has at TMS this time. I picked him in the One and Done game this week. So he probably has no chance. But I’m pulling for him to make history.

Then there’s that Jimmie Johnson guy. Talk about history. I know it’s all over but the shouting but and he can’t officially clinch his fourth straight Sprint Cup championship. But a win would stamp it a done deal.

Or maybe Carl Edwards can get back on the winning track. Texas has been good to Carl. This could be the one. But he didn’t look all that good in the Nationwide Series Race Saturday.

First-time winner? David Ragan could do it, and start to repair the damage of 2009. Maybe A J Allmendinger can take that Richard Petty Racing retro paint job to victory lane. How ’bout Dale Junior? Oh wait - it’s just been so long…

We have On Pit Row on the road this week at Texas Motor Speedway. We’re getting ready to head out to the track now. Follow @onpitrow and @thunderounge on Twitter for race updates and pics.

Enjoy the race.

Photo credit: BethAnne Heisler - On Pit Row

Filed under: A J Allmendinger, Carl Edwards, Chase for the Cup, Dale Earnhardt Jr., David Ragan, Kyle Busch, NASCAR, Texas Motor Speedway, jimmie johnson

Tagged with: Dickies 500, On Pit Row on the road, Thunder Lounge

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Nationwide Series at Bristol: Developing Development Series Finally?

by Charlie Turner

August 21, 2009 9:49 pm CDT No Comments

Watching tonight’s Food City 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race.

Maybe this old Grand National Series is returning to what a whole bunch of NASCAR fans seem to at least think that they remember. A driver development series.

We spoke with NNWS Director Joe Balash On Pit Row a few weeks back and Joe indicated that was a goal of his.

And even though Carl Edwards is battling David Ragan with a green, white checkered finish about to happen, the days of fields full of Bushwackers seem past.

The GWC finish got short circuited when several cars got together back in the pack, giving Ragan his second Nationwide win. Edwards came second and Brad Keselowski got by Kevin Harvick for third.

That still sounds like the Buschwackin’ days, but the race didn’t seem so.

For one thing, Ragan and Keselowski ARE still developing drivers. Early on, the Kez got into Penske young gun, Justin Allgaier, cutting the no. 12’s tire and ruining what might have been Justin’s first win. He had the car. He has the talent too.

There are still plenty of Cup drivers competing in the junior series. But talented Michael Annett was top ten, and fast. Michael McDowell was 10th. Matt Carter, son of long time NASCAR team owner Travis Carter, finished 12th, on the lead lap, in a one-off start that I hope leads to more. Matt was ARCA RE/Max Rookie of the Year in 2008 and needs a break.

The presence of the Sprint Cup guys make it a tough place to win. But developing talent should rise to the top. That’s what happened with Keselowski. His talent earned him a big break with J R Motorsports in 2008, which led to more opportunities with Hendrick Motorsports. Today he signed a contract with Penske Racing to drive full time in Cup.

But he honed his chops in the Nationwide Series the last two years, competing with the big boys.

Photo credit: Round girl Jen by BethAnne Heisler for OnPitRow.com

Filed under: Brad Kesolowski, Bristol Motor Speedway, David Ragan, Justin Allgaier, NASCAR, Nationwide Series, Penske Racing

Tagged with: Food City 250, J R Motorsports, Justin Allgaier, matt carter, Michael Annett

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Winning the Brad Keselowski Sweepstakes Could Save a NASCAR Franchise

by Steve Wronkowicz

I am co-host of the syndicated radio show: ON PIT ROW. Charlie likes to call me an "idiot". I'm not an "idiot"; I just prefer not to let the facts get in the way of my opinions.

July 11, 2009 11:27 am CDT 1 Comment

The 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season is barely half over and the speculation of what 2010 brings is in high gear.

Silly Season has started in earnest. Fox Sports’ Lee Spencer is reporting that Robert Yates Racing may be looking to blow up their lineup in 2010 because of lack of performance from Bobby Labonte and cash cow Paul Menard.

Roger Penske may be looking to shop the seat in the #12 for the second year. David Stremme has not taken to the new car as quickly as hoped after sitting out the 2008 Cup season. The hottest property in the 2010 free agent market is Brad Keselowski and he is being looked at to fill that seat.

The Kez has been included in talk of pretty much every open seat for next year; the anticipated fourth cars at Joe Gibbs Racing or third at Stewart-Haas, a move to cup by Junior Motorsports or Keven Harvick, Inc or even replacing Junior at Hendrick.

While no one knows for sure where he will end up yet, I may as well throw my personal hope into the mix. After years of struggling to make assorted drivers work on a limited budget with 1970’s thought processes one team has taken a step back to try and re-capture it’s former glory days. While some teams have resorted to start and park strategies to get their teams trough these tough times, The Wood Brothers took to a limited schedule to try and make things work.

Bill Elliott has held down the seat on again and off again until the right deal can happen. 2010 is the year that the once proud team that saw David Pearson, Cale Yarborough and others win races in droves, needs to grab the next hot, can’t miss driver since Sliced Bread. Keselowski is young, hungry and has proven himself a winner. Eddie Wood has made hard decisions over the past year. Adding Keselowski for the entire season could be the piece to the puzzle that brings the Wood Brothers back to the front.

Sponsorship is the key; getting it and getting enough of it to be competitive. The other hard decision to be made may not be so easy and that would be to give up the teams autonomy. An alliance with Roush-Fenway/Yates as a satellite team could help solve technical and financial challenges.

One car from Roush-Fenway will be spun off to Yates because of NASCAR’s four team rule. Common speculation has had either Jamie McMurrey or David Ragan moving to Yates as a third team. But, instead of sending a lower performing team, send Greg Biffle to become the cornerstone of that operation. Proven winner Travis Kvapil is available to take over the #96 ride if Ask.com can be convinced to stay on board or other sponsorship can be found.

The Wood Brothers with help from R-F/Y and Keselowski at the wheel could be a combination that returns the once proud team back to respectability and beyond.

photo credit: BethAnne Heisler/ON PIT ROW

Filed under: Ask.com Racing, Bill Elliott, Bobby Labonte, Brad Kesolowski, David Ragan, How to fix NASCAR, Jamie McMurray, NASCAR, NASCAR Rumors, Nascar Legends, Paul Menard, Sprint Cup Series, Stewart Haas Racing, The Wood Brothers, Yates Racing

Tagged with: Bobby Labonte, Brad Keselowski, Roush-Fenway, The Wood Brothers Racing, Yates Racing

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One and Done: Southern 500

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

May 7, 2009 9:10 pm CDT 4 Comments

Ah, Darlington. This weekend, with the race falling on Mother’s Day weekend, symbolizes everything that’s right about stock car racing - an ageless wonder of a track that both defines and defies history, top-notch driving on a track that only a sacred few have ever conquered, and the closeness of family that makes a NASCAR race so homely. It’s Southern comfort at its finest, and it almost makes up for the fact that the Labor Day race isn’t held here anymore.

Kyle Busch swept the races last weekend at Richmond, so momentum alone makes him one of this week’s picks. Most of the other picks for this weekend have Darlington wins, as Busch does, but this week’s sleeper pick is still looking for his first. He’s also on the edge of no longer being a sleeper in anything.

David Ragan: He finished fifth here last year, he knows how to win in the major leagues now that he got that first Nationwide win at Talladega, and he needs to turn his season around after a series of finishes in the 10s and 20s have left him 26th in points. A win, coupled with bad finishes by the drivers directly in front of him, could close him in on the top 20.

Jeff Burton: A quiet 7th in points, Burton has the fourth best average finish of active drivers at Darlington with a solid 11.5. He swept the track’s events in 1999, has never crashed out of the event, and only has one finish of worse than 21st here since 1997. (That was an engine failure in 2003, and he finished 42nd.)

Jimmie Johnson: Do I even need to explain picking Johnson? Last year when I handicapped the Chase drivers, I sort of stopped bothering a few races in. There’s really never much to justify when you pick this guy…

Kyle Busch: …and there’s not much to justify about picking this guy either. 200 wins. ‘Nuff said.

Denny Hamlin: Hamlin is dying for a win. He’s only run at Darlington three times, but his worst finish is 10th. Last year he was 7th, and in 2007 he finished 2nd after leading 179 laps. He’s run well all season, only failing to complete two laps, and has led chunks of the race in three of the past five weekends. It’s time he seals the deal, and Darlington could be the place to do it.

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

Filed under: Darlington Speedway, David Ragan, Denny Hamlin, Jimmy Johnson, Kyle Busch, NASCAR, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing, Sprint Cup Series

Tagged with: Darlington Raceway, One and Done, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing, Southern 500

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