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Look for a development driver to win Saturday’s Pocono 200

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.

June 5, 2008 2:25 pm CDT 4 Comments

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The ARCA/ReMax Series will head to Long Pond, PA this weekend to team up with the Sprint Cup Series, and with the Trucks in Texas and Nationwide Series in Nashville, this could be the spot in which someone impresses the right person and moves up through the ranks. This race has been dominated by either Cup rookies moving down to get track experience, or a hotshoe from a Cup team gaining experience for a future foray into the series.

Since 2003, Cup drivers or Cup development drivers have won 8 of the 10 races at Pocono. These drivers include Casey Mears twice, Scott Riggs, Ryan Hemphill, Travis Kvapil, Chase Miller, Chad McCumbee, and Michael McDowell. Only the series’ great one, Frank Kimmel, broke the streak, taking the July races in 2005 and 2006. Also competing in these races have been drivers such as Kyle Busch, David Reutimann, and David Ragan. Previous polesitters have included Mears, Riggs, and Kvapil, as well as David Stremme.

As for the 2008 edition, there is no shortage of candidates to win. This season has been an exciting one in the series, as young drivers have come in and performed exceedingly well. Current points leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr., second-place Matt Carter, and sixth-place Scott Speed have all won this year. Speed also won the Truck race at Dover, and will compete in Friday night’s Truck race. Still, there are others who will pose a threat. You can’t discount Kimmel, who still maintains a top points position despite working on a shoestring budget with his own team. He could use a win, and it could come as soon as this very weekend.

One thing is for sure, the ARCA/ReMax Series is entertaining again, and this race fan is more than happy to see the return of its glory days.

Photo credit: AP

Filed under: ARCA Remax Series, Casey Mears, Craftsman Truck Series, David Ragan, David Reutimann, Eddie Sharp Racing, Frank Kimmel, NASCAR, Nationwide Series, Scott Speed, Sprint Cup Series

Tagged with: ARCA, arca/remax series, Casey Mears, chad mccumbee, Frank Kimmel, Kyle Busch, matt carter, michael mcdowell, Nationwide, Pocono, ricky stenhouse jr., Scott Speed, Sprint Cup, Travis Kvapil, trucks

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My Window Net Came Loose in Turn Three

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.

May 2, 2008 6:40 am CDT 3 Comments

Did you see the ARCA RE/MAX Series race from Kansas Speedway Saturday? Former Formula One driver Scott Speed won the thing but he had to come back from a black flag for a window net infraction. According to Speed’s crew chief, Patrick Donahue, there was no attempt to find a competitive advantage in tweaking the nets - even though Speed’s teammate nearly had the same fate. Nope, it was simple, human error, which I am intimately familiar with. I work with Steve.

Both Donahue and Speed were guests ON PIT ROW last night. Scott’s interview was short but memorable - “kick ass” according to Speed himself. Listen to it Thursday at 7pm edt at RaceTalkRadio.com.

So things got a little loose ON PIT ROW and now they will get Loose in Turn Three. TZ from Do You NASCAR?, Bruce of NASCAR Bits and Pieces and I will hash out some NASCAR opinion and you are REQUIRED to comment. Please.

Would NASCAR be better off if it had never instituted restrictor plates?

Charlie: In the era BCoT - Before the Car of Tomorrow - races at Daytona and Talladega were contested by plated cars and were pretty much universally complained about by owners, writers, bloggers and the drivers who drove the cars. Fans usually gasped in wonder at the close, three and four wide racing and the big wrecks that the plates promoted. I would say that more casual fans got their vision of what NASCAR is by seeing highlights of plate races than anything else.

Restrictor plates brought NASCAR more excitement and more fans per race than any other innovation the Frances tried. Plates also, almost certainly, saved lives at Talladega and Daytona, where unrestricted cars would have ended up in the stands at some point without action to slow the cars down. Plates are a good thing.

Bruce: I agree with Charlie. Without plates, it would have been a matter of time before a car ended up in the stands. I go back to pre-plate days, remembering a car pulling around another car on the backstretch of Talladega and doing it’s own backflip at 200+ mph. Thank God it wasn’t in the bootleg in front of the stands.

And for the record, I’ve always liked plate races. Even if the drivers don’t think it’s racing, it has to be some form of racing requiring the same degree of experience or the same names wouldn’t be up front in most of them.

TZ: Interesting question for me, because here’s the deal…restrictor plate races TYPICALLY bore me to tears - at least with the old car, anyway. And, really, I think my grudge against the plate races started back in 2003 when I made the trip out to Daytona to watch Greg Biffle win the race on fuel mileage, though I know that’s not really the norm. It’s just in the past there’s not a ton of passing, and the guys for the most part always seemed to play it overly safe through the first 7/8’s of the race but that doesn’t seem to be the case this year.

But really, even before this year, the plate races have been a great commodity for NASCAR to carry. Much like the road courses they bring a certain level of diversity to the schedule that really helps keep things interesting. I enjoy being able to watch a different type of race each week.

Once more, that’s what we think. What do you think? Let us know what your thoughts are on these two topics too.

TZ’s post at DoYouNascar.com : NASCAR recently took a win away from a driver in the Camping World Series on technical inspection grounds. Should this be the new practice?

Bruce’s Bits and Pieces post : Does Dale Earnhardt Day merit all the attention it gets on April 29th?

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

Filed under: ARCA Remax Series, Car of Tomorrow, Daytona 500, Eddie Sharp Racing, Inside ARCA, NASCAR Tech, On Pit Row The Fastest Two Hours on Radio, Red Bull Racing, Scott Speed, Sprint Cup Series, Turn 3 posts

Tagged with: ARCA Remax Series, blog, Daytona, Kansas Speedway, motorsports, NASCAR, Patrick Donahue, restrictor plates, Scott Speed, Talladega

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ARCA Young Guns are connected to NASCAR Teams

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.

April 19, 2008 9:22 pm CDT No Comments

Twenty year old Matt Hawkins wins in his ARCA ReMax Series debut at Iowa Speedway.

ARCA’s premier series is perfectly suited to NASCAR owners for the development of their younger talent. Roush-Fenway Racing is using the series to develop #99 Ricky Stenhouse Bill Davis Racing has two drivers using the unique series to give #28 Michael Annett and #02 Bobby Santos some much needed heavy-car experience.

Chase Austin is a Rusty Wallace Inc. driver. Also running the ARCA series is Landon Cassill, driving for Hendrick Motorsports. Michael Waltrip Racing has Ken Butler III running #22 Toyota’s for Eddie Sharp Racing. Also in a ESR Camry is former F1 driver #2 Scott Speed with his ties to Red Bull Racing.

Not all drivers listed are running a full ARCA schedule and some NASCAR teams may add or change drivers at a later date. Be sure to check out arcaracing.com to get a look into all the drivers, developmental or not, in the ARCA ReMax Series.

photo credit: arcaracing.com

Filed under: ARCA Remax Series, Eddie Sharp Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, Inside ARCA, Iowa Speedway, Red Bull Racing, Roush Racing, Rusty Wallace, The Waltrips

Tagged with: ARCA Remax Series, blog, Eddie Sharp Racing, Iowa Speedway, motorsports, Roush-Fenway Racing, Scott Speed

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