Latest Headlines

Comments

Sections

Randy Moss Truck Team Looks to Be the Real Deal

by Matt Mercer, Special To Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

I'm the new guy at Bench Racing and I'm supposed to be the younger perspective. I'm the guy behind The Catfish Show, which you can access through the links on the right.

April 30, 2008 4:06 pm CDT 11 Comments

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

NFL Wide Receiver Randy Moss of the New England Patriots announced yesterday that he was forming a Craftsman Truck Series team, Moss Motorsports LLC. The NASCAR annals are littered with the remains of failed NFL ventures in the past (Dan Marino, Brett Favre, and Tim Brown just to name a few). We have one success story (Joe Gibbs) and a half success (Hall of Fame). But when word came yesterday about Randy Moss, I thought he might have a legitimate shot at succeeding. Why, you ask? Moss currently sponsors a dirt track program in West Virginia and has been active within the Urban Youth Racing School. Moss also is heavily involved in the Inta Juice franchise – he currently is the Chairman of the Board and Vice President of Marketing. Fact is, Moss has his faults, but he applies himself to making these ventures work (as long as they’re not in Oakland). His new three-year, $27 million deal in New England won’t hurt either. What I hate to say, but can’t be overlooked, is Moss’ involvement could be a great opportunity to make another push to minority fans. In light of Danica Patrick and Ashley Force making history, and NASCAR not having a talented female driver in contending equipment this year (sorry, Chrissy, maybe 2009) I think Moss is in a better position than most athletes to have some longevity in the sport and garner more attention from the more stick-and-ball types that could be looking for a reason to watch.

Filed under: Craftsman Truck Series, Diversity and NASCAR, Joe Gibbs Racing, NASCAR, NASCAR Bidness, danica patrick

Tagged with: ashley force, Craftsman Truck Series, danica patrick, Joe Gibbs, NASCAR, randy moss

Digg This | Save to del.icio.us

Four Wide and Loose in Turn 3

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.

April 25, 2008 12:10 pm CDT 5 Comments

Talladega Super Speedway is famous for tight packs of cars racing sometimes four abreast, all trying to avoid the almost inevitable “Big One”. Maybe we should have recruited one more writer for this week’s Loose in Turn 3 discussion.

We didn’t do that. Once again you get the opinions of Tim Zaegel of Do You NASCAR?, Bruce Simmons of Bruce’s NASCAR Bits and Pieces and me, Bench Racin’ Charlie on a trio of topics-du-NASCAR.

Is there a “Danica” on the NASCAR horizon?

Charlie: If there is, it’s probably not THE Danica. Now that Danica Patrick has cracked the race winner ranks in the Indy Car Series - where she is the sport’s most popular driver - I can’t see her moving to NASCAR full-time. Maybe she will make a few cameo appearances in stock cars. I once thought that “Danica to NASCAR” was a no-brainer. I have changed my mind.

Chrissy Wallace could be the one that breaks through to NASCAR stardom. She has the backing, family support and knows all the right people - which may be the most important thing of all. I like Chrissy’s chances.

TZ: Chrissy Wallace is the first and only name that comes to mind. Danica moving to NASCAR may or may not be in the future, who knows, but I think that if Chrissy is able to get out there and make a name for herself and win a few races, then that may actually draw Danica to NASCAR one day. I think Chrissy has a pretty bright future ahead for her in this sport, though … not based purely on skill, but she’s got all the backing that anyone breaking into the biz could possibly ask for.

Bruce: Danica has pretty much said no for the moment. Chrissy Wallace seems to be it. Everyone else seems to languish in a vain or rushed attempt at Cup level competition and it hurts more than it helps .. the there are those who bag the boss, but that’s another LITT for another day all together.

That’s what the guys think - though the opinions are not necessarily shared. What do you think?

You can read about more looseness in the third turn at…

Bruce’s Bit’s: A J Allmendinger; is the ex-Champ Car driver going to make the cut over the next year?

TZ’ post: Will Jeff Gordon ever win a fifth championship?

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

Filed under: Chrissy Wallace, Craftsman Truck Series, Diversity and NASCAR, Indy Cars, NASCAR, NASCAR Rumors, Sprint Cup Series, Turn 3 posts, danica patrick

Tagged with: A J Allmendinger, blog, Chrissy Wallace, danica patrick, Jeff Gordon, motorsports, NASCAR, Warren Wallace

Digg This | Save to del.icio.us

ON PIT ROW–your live, local look at NASCAR

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.

November 2, 2007 8:39 am CDT 6 Comments

More changes are in the works for ON PIT ROW–the radio show, which may necessitate changing that local only angle.

It was just announced this week that our long time home radio station, and flagship, WCWA-1230 in Toledo, OH will become the flagship station for the Toledo Mud Hens AAA baseball team. With most of their games starting at 6:30 or 7:00 pm; when you figure in their pre-game show, it pretty much ruins our 5-7 pm live broadcast time. We’ll see what WCWA has to say during a meeting with us on Monday, November 5. The other sports station in town is committed to the Detroit Tigers and a third quasi-sports/news station is set to air Cleveland Indians games.

ON PIT ROW may be looking to break out of the live on-air constraints of local radio. We will be looking at a bunch of alternatives before the baseball season starts in April. Including a new non-sports flagship; possibly a local country station that is part of the MRN and PRN networks. Anyone from WCKY-FM looking at this? There is also the live netcast streaming alternative, which we will look into and give over the air stations a chance to play the show whenever they want.

There have been plenty of changes in our show over the past few months and there are many more to come as we look to expand and grow Bench Racing Productions, which itself is a new venture for us. A couple of months ago we changed from a three person show to just Charlie and me. So far reviews have been favorable.

Everyone always says the thing about a door closing and another opening. We’ll see if they are correct. One thing is for sure Charlie and I have put too much time and energy into this deal for us not to keep going–no matter what.

Stay tuned for updated news and hopefully an exciting announcement about a new, additional racing show from us coming soon.

PRN, MRN, Sirius–we’d be glad to sit down and talk about adding ON PIT ROW to your lineups.

Picture credit: BethAnne Heisler - ON PIT ROW

Filed under: ARCA Remax Series, Busch Series, Craftsman Truck Series, Diversity and NASCAR, Formula One, It's Only Cheating if You Get Caught, NASCAR & the Media, NASCAR Rumors, Nextel Cup Series, On Pit Row The Fastest Two Hours on Radio, The Daily Bugle, The Fast Lap, Toledo Speedway, Warren Wallace

Digg This | Save to del.icio.us

Edwards “flippin’ sweet” at the new Bristol

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.

August 26, 2007 11:43 pm CDT 5 Comments

It looked for much of the night like Kasey Kahne would pull off the double win at Bristol.

Carl Edwards used a pick from Micheal Waltrip to pass Kahne with 166 laps to go in the race to post his second win of the 2007 season. Edwards picked up 10 more bonus points to begin the Chase for the Championship in three weeks. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was only able to gain five points in his quest to make the Chase.

Bristols new concrete coupled with the new banking configuration led to much side by side racing. More so than ever there were three distinct grooves for the cars to utilize.

The Buzz ON PIT ROW is:

Did the resurfacing of Bristol ruin or enhance the racing?

The Fast Lap this week asks:

1) Will a Mark Martin/Aric Almirola tag team effort keep the fans from booing the #8 next year?

2) Jacques Villeneuve will most likely join Juan Pablo as non-US born drivers in Cup cars in 2008. Is this what NASCAR had in mind with its diversity program?

3) Should NASCAR come up with an appeals process during a race to keep from making mistakes like happened to Rowdy in the Busch race?

4) Will there be any changes to the top 12 with 2 races to go or are we set?

Let us know how you feel; about these questions, or anything else that happened during the short week at Thunder Valley. If we like your comments, whether we agree or not, we could use them on the air during Tuesday’s ON PIT ROW. Leave us a comment on the blog or call the show–toll free at 1-877-502-8255 between 5-7pm edt on Tuesdays.

photo: BethAnne Heisler–ON PIT ROW

Filed under: Car of Tomorrow, Carl Edwards, Chase for the Cup, Diversity and NASCAR, Formula One, Joe Gibbs Racing, NASCAR Rumors, The Busch Bros

Digg This | Save to del.icio.us

NASCAR should take the Busch Series “Trans-Am” racing

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.

August 13, 2007 12:48 pm CDT 5 Comments

Much has been written about where NASCAR should take the Busch Series starting in 2008. Brian France has been looking for a new sponsor for the second most popular racing series in North America, as Anheuser-Busch will not be back after this year.

There has been some speculation that NASCAR is interested in using the "pony" car bodies as a basis for its redesigned Busch Series in 2008 or 2009. Ford has had their Mustang in their lineup since 1964. Chevrolet is set to re-introduce the Camaro in 2009 and Chrysler has had plans for a new Dodge Challenger to debut in 2008 or 2009. A Car of Tomorrow-like version of these and Toyota could resurrect a new version of the Celica GT and all the major players are represented.

With the success of the road course races this year, it seems a natural then to make the NASCAR (insert title sponsor here) Trans-Am Series a true Trans-American road racing/short oval series. Andy Petree said he loved road racing on the ESPN broadcast after the race at The Glen. Success has been seen at Montreal, so add Vancouver and Toronto can be served by Mosport International Raceway’s historic road course or new 1/2 mile oval. While north of the border add the current Canadian Tire Series stop at Cayuga Speedway Park’s 5/8 mile oval.

Mexico City stays in the lineup along with Sprint Cup companion events at Infineon and Watkins Glen. And seeing as NASCAR is all about hitting new markets; add Lime Rock Park. The Busch East Series already runs there. Road America makes perfect sense after the series makes its annual stop in Indianapolis on the oval at Raceway Park, then take Elliott Sadler’s recommendation and run on the road course at the Speedway.

The Trans-Am could run the infield at Daytona during Speedweeks and Michigan is talking about reviving their road course.

Hmmmm. There are limitless possibilities.

I’d like to here more suggestions for the 1 mile and under oval, and road course series?

Hey NASCAR–ya listening?

photos: classicdriver.de (mustang) vorshlag.com (Challenger)

spelling: 4ever3 (thanks)

Filed under: Busch Series, Diversity and NASCAR, NASCAR Bidness, NASCAR Rumors

Digg This | Save to del.icio.us

Boris Said gets the Green Weenie from NASCAR again

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.

August 11, 2007 9:02 am CDT 2 Comments

Boris Said keeps trying to make assorted NASCAR Nextel cup races and NASCAR’s ridiculous top 35 rule, along with Mother Nature, bites him where it hurts the most–in his pocketbook.

Said again had one of the fastest cars in practice at Watkins Glen when the skies opened up minutes before qualifying could start and once again, Boris has to load up his equipment and go home without getting a chance to make the field. Said was on the pole for the Pepsi 400 earlier this year; when with only a handful of car remaining to qualify, it began to rain and NASCAR canceled the rest of the session. That moved Boris from the pole to the Interstate.

Much has been written this year about the Top 35 rule and its inherent unfairness, so I don’t need to reiterate it here. The impact of Said not being able to qualify is that it may spell the death Nell of his race team. For a team that only tries to qualify for four races–race he believes he has a legitimate chance to win–not being able to get onto the track for qualifying could well put the team into mothballs.

Said said as much during a post non-qualifying interview on ESPN after rain washed out qualifying at Watkins Glen on Friday. SoBe No Fear Racing is a small, small company. He and Frankie Stoddard do most of the car prep and pay many of the bills along with co-owner Mark Simo.

I tuned into SPEED on Friday night expecting to see a Rolex Grand-Am race being run in a heavy downpour. I was disappointed as the track was completely dry. How long would have NASCAR had to wait to get a dry track for qualifying? Why couldn’t they have moved it to Saturday? Much is made about NASCAR’s willingness to change the rules in mid-stream to better the product. But, when it comes to qualifying, they seem to be stuck in 1952.

NASCAR if you intend to keep the top 35 rule, or some variation of it, then PLEASE rethink how you affect the Go or Go Home Group and be willing to adjust on the fly to give these guys a legitimate chance at your holy grail.

The alternative is seeing one of your fan favorites; did you see all the "Said Heads", having to not just fold up the door of the hauler and go home, but lock up the door to the race shop and move on to something else. That would be a huge shame.

photo: msnbc.msn.com

Filed under: Car of Tomorrow, Diversity and NASCAR, NASCAR & the Media, NASCAR Bidness, Nextel Cup Series

Digg This | Save to del.icio.us

Juan Pablo Montoya, Come on Down

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.

February 28, 2007 11:13 pm CST 2 Comments

This weekend the NASCAR International Series aka The Busch (for a while longer) Series takes the caravan south of the border to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez at Mexico City. If the NASCAR stars are aligned as we have come to expect, this will be Juan Pablo Montoya’s moment to shine. Crowds for the first two races in Mexico have been disappointingly sparse after early predictions of upwards of half a million spectators for the inaugural event in 2005. There were local Latin drivers in the first two events and I expect that there will be qualifiers this weekend who are not Busch Series regulars. Still the best chance for a Latin born representative of the NASCAR Diversity program to win this race will come from the trio of Montoya, Adrian Fernandez and Michel Jourdain Jr. All three are hugely popular in Latin America. That should solve the crowd problem. My money is on Montoya. And the NASCAR stars, too.