• On Pit Row
• The Show
• The Crew
• Bench Racing
• Fast Lap
• Contact Us
• Advertise With Us

Subscribe

• NASCAR
• Sprint Cup
• Drivers
• Nationwide Series
• ARCA Remax Series
• NASCAR Headlines

Latest Headlines

• Coke Zero Taste of Victory Video
• Bench Racing TV’s First Monday Morning Crew Chief
• Beatin’ and bangin’ at New Hampshire
• Will the Big Domino Fall this Week?
• Flash! Spy info from NASCAR R & D!
• Gettin’ Loose in Loudon’s Turn Three Could Hurt
• Silly Season is in High Gear Earlier than Ever
• Kyle Busch is a Five Tool Driver
• Mark Martin Setting Himself Up For More Heartbreak
• Richard Childress Racing Usurps Another Sponsor

Comments

• okla21fan on Beatin’ and bangin’ at New Hampshire
• Clance' McClannahan on Beatin’ and bangin’ at New Hampshire
• trevor shannon on Four Wide and Loose in Turn 3
• Ryan Newman Fan on Will the Big Domino Fall this Week?
• Steve Wronkowicz on Beatin’ and bangin’ at New Hampshire

Sections

• ARCA Remax Series
• Bench Racing Contests
• Bench Racing TV
• Bobby Labonte
• Boris Said
• Brad Kesolowski
• Brian France
• Brian Vickers
• Bruton Smith
• Busch Series
• Car of Tomorrow
• Carl Edwards
• Casey Mears
• Chase for the Cup
• Chip Ganassi Racing
• Chrissy Wallace
• Clint Boyer
• Craftsman Truck Series
• Dale Earnhardt
• Dale Earnhardt Jr.
• Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
• Dale Jarrett
• danica patrick
• Darlington Speedway
• Dave Blaney
• David Ragan
• David Reutimann
• Daytona 500
• Daytona International Speedway
• Denny Hamlin
• Diversity and NASCAR
• Eddie Sharp Racing
• Eldora Speedway
• Elliott Sadler
• Evernham Motorsports
• Formula One
• Frank Kimmel
• Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates
• Gillette Evernham Motorsports
• Greg Biffle
• Haas CNC Racing
• Hendrick Motorsports
• Indy Cars
• Inside ARCA
• Iowa Speedway
• IRNMBSIL
• It's Only Cheating if You Get Caught
• J J Yeley
• Jacques Villeneuve
• Jamie McMurray
• Jeff Burton
• Jeff Gordon
• Jeff Hammond
• Jeremy Mayfield
• Jimmy Johnson
• Joe Gibbs Racing
• Joe Nemechek
• Joey Logano
• JR Motorsports
• Juan Pablo Montoya
• Kasey Kahne
• Kenny Shrader
• Kenny Wallace
• Kevin Harvick
• Kurt Busch
• Kyle Busch
• Live blogs
• Lowes Motor Speedway
• Marcos Ambrose
• Mark Martin
• Martin Truex Jr.
• Matt Kenseth
• Michigan International Speedway
• Monday Morning Crew Chief
• Nascaholics
• NASCAR
• NASCAR & the Media
• NASCAR Bidness
• NASCAR Fantasy Gaming
• Nascar Legends
• NASCAR officials
• NASCAR Rumors
• NASCAR Tech
• NASCAR video
• Nationwide Series
• Nextel Cup Series
• On Pit Row The Fastest Two Hours on Radio
• Phil Parsons
• Pocono Raceway
• Prelude to the Dream
• Red Bull Racing
• Reed Sorenson
• Richard Childress Racing
• Robby Gordon
• Robert Yates Racing
• Roush Racing
• Rusty Wallace
• Ryan Newman
• Sam Hornish Jr
• Scott Speed
• Shut Up and Drive
• Sprint Cup Series
• Testing news
• The Busch Bros
• The Daily Bugle
• The Fast Lap
• The France Famliy
• The King
• The Pettys
• the Rock
• The Waltrips
• The Wood Brothers
• Toledo Speedway
• Tony Stewart
• Top 35 Rule
• Toyota
• Turn 3 posts
• Warren Wallace

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

An item came across NASCAR.com and it made me shake my head. Mark Martin one of my 3 favorite drivers in NASCAR history, seems to have made another guarantee. In the story last week at Pocono, he said that he plans on winning at the Brickyard in July. I have no doubt Mark can win the race. I remember 10 years ago at Indy when he had a better car than Jeff Gordon throughout the day, yet couldn’t get around him at the end. I remember when Mark left the 6 for the 01 last year, he said he would have his best chance ever to win the Daytona 500 – and he did, but came up inches short. It saddens me to see someone that’s a traditional pessimist, like Mark, get exciting for something just to be heartbroken again. I felt the heartbreak of the 2002 season because he was so close. Two years later, in the inaugural Chase, Mark arguably had the best team but accidents and bad luck struck again. At that Daytona race 16 months ago, I watched him lead those last several laps as I had a kung-fu grip on a pillow in my room, thinking that maybe, just maybe, this could be the race of his life. It was the race of his life… he finished second again, and I fell to the floor with the air knocked out of my lungs. To be a Mark Martin fan, it’s similar to what being a Red Sox fan must have been like until the 2004 playoffs. In the back of your mind, you know something will happen. I don’t know how many fans understand how much Mark means to his fans, and the heartbreak his fans have gone through with him. Many times, it takes the man himself to keep us fans from going crazy.

Fast forward to this season’s race at Phoenix, which saw Mark lead a bunch of laps and appeared to be on his way to victory. What did Mark have to lose by staying out and gambling? He pitted from the lead, had the best car, so fuel mileage should have been on Tony Gibson’s mind. Yet, it didn’t happen, and surprise, Mark lost. The guarantee at Indianapolis is interesting. He qualified well at Pocono, yet seemed to fall back more and more during the race. DEI seems to be focusing on Truex and Menard at the moment, which is perfectly understandable. The prospect of Truex leaving would put one foot in the ground, I don’t see anyone tearing down the door to get into DEI the way guys would at Gibbs right now. In a certain sense, I think Mark may have to win at Indy to keep DEI relevant. Rumors swirl about the future of the Army sponsorship, given that the 01 has had limited sponsorship, and Bass Pro Shops could be leaving for Tony Stewart’s revamped Haas Racing.

I didn’t like the movie Groundhog Day. I hate recurring dreams. Most of all, I know deep down that Mark Martin won’t win the Brickyard this year. He’ll have a flat tire with 3 to go, he’ll get crashed out by a car 9 laps down, he’ll blow his engine on the white flag lap. The worst part? I’ll still be making him my pick to win. Some habits won’t go away.

Photo credit: BethAnne Heisler - ON PIT ROW 

In NASCAR its easy to know who the haves and the have-nots are.

It was announced this week that Dave Blaney’s #22 Bill Davis Racing Toyota was losing Caterpillar as its primary sponsor. Cat has been the primary sponsor with BDR for the past ten years of its seventeen in the sport. The team remains in the 29th spot in the Sprint Cup Series Owners’ points. Veteran crew chief Tommy Baldwin has the team moving in the right direction, picking up 10 championship point positions over the course of five events and has posted two top-10 finishes and six finishes of 22nd or better in the past eight races.

“Caterpillar and Bill Davis Racing have enjoyed a long and successful partnership throughout the last 10 seasons, and we are proud of everything we’ve accomplished together, including wins in both the Daytona 500 and Southern 500,” stated Team Owner Bill Davis. “This is an exciting time for our team, and we are looking forward to the future.”

In a much publicized coup earlier RCR was able to wrangle the General Mills sponsorship away from long time partner Petty Enterprises. That General Mills deal will adorn the new 4th team at RCR with an, as yet, un-named driver. Now securing Caterpillar to replace AT&T on the #31 Jeff Burton ride, puts RCR on solid financial footing. NASCAR mandated that AT&T would only be allowed to remain on the 31 car through the end of the 2008 season.

“To represent a well-known global brand like Caterpillar is an honor,” said Richard Childress, president and CEO of RCR. “Cat products have played a big part over the decades in construction projects at RCR, Childress Vineyards and Yadkin River Angus. Jeff and I look forward to meeting the Cat dealers and customers who loyally follow NASCAR racing.”

With dollars harder and harder to come by, RCR has moved into as solid of a financial situation as any major player in motorsports. Other big name owners have had challenges securing primary sponsorship for the 2008 season. Yates Racing has had trouble filling the hood and quarter panels of its race cars this season. The #38 of David Gilliland has had backing from freecreditreport.com for much of the recent schedule, but didn’t start the season as primary sponsor and most likely is not the biggest benefactor in the garage area. Teammate, Travis Kvapil’s #28 has been void of sponsorship much of the season. These are high profile, storied history, race teams and money is tough to come by.

Robby Gordon will race at Infineon Speedway this weekend with no sponsorship at all. Gordon is no slouch on a road course. The probability of him running well and near the front all day are high. And running near the front means TV time. TV time translates into payback for a sponsor; yet RGM cannot find anyone to invest.

Good luck to Bill Davis Racing trying to replace Cat on the #22, all the while trying to find cash to expand to a full-time two car team in 2009. Could we be seeing the start of more outside investment in a long time NASCAR team, or could team mergers be on the horizon?

Photo credit: BethAnne Heisler/On Pit Row/Bench Racing Productions

So, it’s the time of year again when NASCAR’s second series branches off for 6 of the next 9 races from Sprint Cup. The drivers and teams in the series look forward to this stretch, as they’re the main event in town and the Cup drivers, although increased from years past, isn’t nearly as dominating. For the fans, I think we enjoy this stretch as well. I enjoy getting to see what some of these guys can do when they’re elevated to competing for top 5s and top 10s, instead of top 15s and top 25s. There are always good stories that come from these stretches of races. Consider last year, when we had Stephen Leicht battle Brad Coleman for his first career win, and who can forget Aric Almirola’s “win” at Milwaukee. That race, the eyes of many, led him to a Cup ride at DEI. At IRP, Jason Leffler wheeled the Great Clips Toyota to victory lane in a thrilling late-race battle.

Go back to 2006 for this stretch of races and remember what happened. At Kentucky, David Gilliland defied the odds and captured a win in an unsponsored, part-time effort. A few months later, he was racing for Robert Yates. The next week at Milwaukee, Paul Menard delivered his first win and moved to Cup the following year. This time of year is great for Nationwide action, arguably tracks like Nashville, Kentucky, and Milwaukee produce action and delivers a good balance to the Cup races at Pocono, Michigan, and Sonoma.

As for this weekend, the series is coming off Brad Keselowski’s first career win at Nashville, and the ranks of first-time winners could grow by one more, considering the previous two winners (Gilliland and Leicht) recording their first wins here. The candidates to do the same begin with a kid that has a pretty decent car, and recorded his first pole last week: Joey Logano. I would also keep an eye on Landon Cassill, Chase Miller, Kelly Bires, and the guy who finished second last year, Brad Coleman. They’ll have to hold off the Cup trifecta of Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch, and Carl Edwards to do it, though. That’s no small task. My pick however will be a combo of seeking a first win and also competing in Cup: I’m talking about David Ragan, of course. After a year and a half of competition in the series, Ragan is due for a win. I can’t think of anywhere better than Kentucky for it to happen.

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway hosted The Prelude to the Dream.

Twenty-five drivers, mostly from NASCAR, took to the dirt at the Ohio speedway to have some fun and raise some money for Kyle Petty’s Victory Junction Gang Camp last Wednesday night. Heavy rains overnight and throughout the morning made the race in doubt until the sun came out in the afternoon in time to get the half-mile race track in shape to race. Stewart led the crew to prepare the track as race fans could see the Cup Champ working the tractor to help bring the track in.

Big time Cup drivers love the event as it allows them to get back to their younger days before all the media and fans made their every move circumspect. Jeff Gordon talked his team mate and friend Jimmy Johnson into running on the dirt this year and were said to be working on Dale Earnhardt, Jr. for 2009. Gordon characterized running at Eldora in the late models as addicting.

Joe Menzer at NASCAR.com writes about current Cup owner, former crew chief and dirt driver Ray Evernham being asked about putting a dirt race back on the Sprint Cup Series:

“That would be awesome,” Evernham says. “You’d probably see me come out of retirement and be a mechanic again. I think it would be great. These guys are the greatest drivers in the world, and, you know, why not? We run short tracks; we run superspeedways; we run mile-and-a-halfs; we run road courses. Why not run dirt, too?

“We could do it, and I think these guys would love to do it.”

The perfect opportunity to try out the concept comes up on Labor Day when the ARCA Re/Max Series heads to DuQuoin State Fairgrounds for the Southern Illinois 100. The Cup Series runs the Pepsi 500 on Sunday August 31st at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. The 7:30pm east coast start would have the race finished before 11pm. Drivers could be in DuQuoin for the 1pm Monday start and get some dirt track racing in on cars that more closely resemble their everyday race car.

Current NASCAR drivers have had some success in the ARCA Series on the southern Illinois dirt. Kenny Schrader has two wins and two poles at the 1 mile clay oval. Tony Stewart has a win and three poles, while Jeremy Mayfield and Mike Wallace also have a pole. DuQuoin is one of two clay ovals on the ARCA circuit. The Re/Max Series also runs on the dirt at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield on the 17th of August.

The logistics may have been impossible years ago, but with most drivers and teams having private aircraft, a NASCAR presence is quite possible–if they truly like “Playing in the Dirt.”

photo credit:Arcaracing.com

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

The countdown to Joey Logano’s debut at Dover can be counted in hours now. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has won all he can in lower levels, including Hooters ProCup at the age of 15, outdueling Kevin Harvick in an East-West Touring Series showdown in Iowa at the age of 16, winning the Busch East championship (and 6 races in the process) at the age of 17, and a dominant performance in his ARCA debut earlier this month at Rockingham, all the while testing Gibbs cars across the country. The hype machine has been in overdrive for Logano for a while now, and his debut will come at a challenging track, Dover’s 1-mile concrete oval.

For a lot of fans that pay attention to the lower series and have their eye on the next big driver, Logano has been on the radar for a few years now. When Mark Martin made his first of many retirement announcements, he proclaimed the driver he wanted to see take over his car – in 2005, mind you – was then-15 year-old Joey Logano. That was heady praise for someone few had heard of, and set off a bidding war for his services. (A bit of an aside: Logano had signed a deal with Roush in 2005 to become a development driver, and used an old Martin car to test. Then, Joe Gibbs Racing stepped in and signed a contract with his father, and in effect “stole” Logano from the Roush camp.) In every series and every car he has strapped himself into, this kid has only gotten better. The true test will come, and it will come soon. It seems that every few years the storyline shifts to a new “phenom” making their debut in the #2 series as soon as they turn 18. The first of these was Kyle Busch’s 2003 debut at Charlotte in May, a race in which he ran impressively and led a good portion of the race before recording a strong finish. Fast forward a year or two later, and that phenom was Reed Sorenson making his debut in the #41 at Atlanta, and running in the top 5 most of the day. In those cases, the youngsters ran extremely well.

From everything that I’ve seen about his schedule, he is slated for 18 races from now until the end of the season. In my estimation, he’ll be making a Sprint Cup start before the Chase begins. But it all begins this weekend.

Kasey Kahne used some late race Tony Stewart bad luck to win on back to back weekends at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

After the last batch of gas and go stops for the leaders it looked for all the world like Stewart would get his first win of the season. Kahne’s pit crew took seven more seconds on pit lane to get the last bit of fuel into the Budweiser Charger than Stewart’s crew did and it looked as if that may end up being the margin of victory.

Stewart’s luck didn’t hold up as he blew a tire with three to go; allowing Kahne to seize his second victory in as many weeks and his first points paying win in fifty-three tries. Dale Earnhardt Jr. led for much of the middle of the race but he also had tire problems on lap 297; blowing a right rear, hitting the wall and being punted by JJ Yelley, forcing him to work his way back to the front.

“I was thinking second, and then I saw Tony slow up, I thought he was out of gas, and I couldn’t believe it. He went into Turn 1 and he was high (in the corner), and when I came off Turn 2 he was low and slow.”

Kahne is only the sixth driver to win the All-Star race and the 600 in the same year, joining Jimmy Johnson, who was the last to do it in 2003.

This all leads us to this week’s BUZZ ON PIT ROW:

Will Junior’s and Tony’s luck change before the end of the season?

Please let us know what you think and we may usee your comments on this weeks ON PIT ROW. To listen live click here at 5pm ET on Tuesday 5-27-08. Scheduled to appear is Speed’s Wendy Venturini.

photo credit: Icon Sports Media

Saturday night, Sam Hornish, Jr. turned in an impressive performance in both the Sprint Showdown and the All-Star Challenge. Calling Hornish’s performance thus far in the 2008 season rocky would be an understatement. He ran well in the Daytona 500, for a good part of the first half of the race, he ran in the top 5, before finishing a respectable 15th. However, his next several performances were lacking, due to his continued inexperience. His best run after Daytona came at Phoenix, a 20th place effort. Not the stuff of legend, for sure. On Saturday night, he changed that – and may just change people’s minds that have been dismissive of his stock car exploits, myself included.

It was not just the fact that Sam ran well Saturday night, it was the way he ran with the car turned so far right, I’m calling them “Limbaugh” setups for now on. In the Showdown, Hornish made the high line work, and despite spinning his tires and falling back a few spots, he darn near won the thing, instead he didn’t risk his equipment and let A.J. Allmendinger take first. When the All-Star Challenge started, he banged the wall pretty good, and went down 3 laps at one point. Since apparently the Lucky Dog is used in the race (unbeknownst to my knowledge) Hornish got back on the lead lap, and ate up the field en route to finishing a strong 7th… and it could have been more if the race had gone longer. Hornish had a car that could pass, something we did not see enough of in the race. I don’t know if it was tires or what. That Kasey Kahne could have an average car most the night, take no tires for the last segment, and drive away from the field worries me about how the 600 will play out. Maybe its just me, but this race wasn’t up to the level Atlanta and Texas were.

Kahne will get the headlines in the papers and the TV time this week, but if you’re like me and obsessed with everything about the sport, you saw what I saw: Sam Hornish, Jr. showing flashes of what could be in the future.

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

The Pit Crew Challenge

was typical of NASCAR.

Modest to a fault.

Just give me some old fashioned Saturday night hell-bent-for-leather stock car racing.

Twenty-nine drivers are entered in the Sprint Showdown race to transfer the winner and first-loser into the Sprint All-Star Race. I can live with that; its not too far of a stretch to let the second place guy into the Big Race. Letting the fans vote in another driver is a bit far fetched, for a serious race, but this is an all-star event so we can throw some belief out the window.

Using the NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge to determine pit stall selection for the race is a bit off the wall, but again, I’m in on that one. The format of the pit crew challenge is a bit hokey. However, giving the over the wall guys some kudos is worth putting up with the made-for-TV antics of the event. I am a bit bothered knowing that Brian Vickers’ winning team is a PCoT (Pit Crew of Tomorrow). It was nice thinking that these guys who are changing tires and filling the tank are day to day mechanics. At least in this Red Bull machine that is bull.

Saturday night’s Sprint All-Star Race, with however many segments of whatever length is a worthy and entertaining all-star event. It ranks well ahead of many such stick and ball events. It is well ahead of the NHL and NFL events. The NBA all-star weekend is entertaining but the game itself isn’t very well received. Major League Baseball still does it best. The focus is more on the game itself, not the preliminary events. Sure the homerun hitting contest appeals to some; just as basketball’s slam dunk contest does.

What NASCAR does NOT need however is the Pennzoil Victory Challenge. Sorry Pennzoil but this is possibly the most ridiculous and demeaning event to grace an all-star event in years. Having drivers make “drag racing style” burnouts and 360’s before heading to a “finish line” to be judged on time and style points puts NASCAR back twenty years–maybe thirty. Who hasn’t become bored with these displays after a win? The whole burnout/360 thing has been done to death and now NASCAR, Pennzoil and Lowes Motor Speedway are throwing it in the fans faces, not only after races, but now before it begins.

Give me a NASCAR Legends Race or a Crew Chief or Media Race on the 1/4 mile at Lowes if you’re in need of some extras to fill some time and keep the live audience entertained. But, you can keep your burnouts and donuts.

And one last bit of craziness was reported by Jay Busbee at From the Marbles. Patrick Carpentier will allegedly strip naked and run the pit lane if he is voted in as the third transfer.

“If we don’t race our way in, I promised I would run naked down pit road if they voted me in,” says the former open-wheel racer. “We’ll see if they give me that chance.”

Read Jay’s full take on the Carpentier Streak here.

I can do without the hoopla of the All-Star Race. Especially the made for TV stuff. Just give me the Consi and the A-Main and I’d be a happy race fan.

photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

Advertisement

Blogroll

• Amy’s Bad Groove
• Answer This
• Bruce’s NASCAR Bits & Pieces
• Car a Day
• Catfish Show
• Church of the Great Oval
• Do You NASCAR?
• Fast and Fabulous
• Fast Machines
• From the Marbles
• Full Throttle
• In the Pits
• Kathy’s Pit Stop
• Laidback Racing
• Life in the Turn Lane
• Lug Nuts
• Motorsports Soapbox
• NASCAR Bloggers Full Throttle
• NASCAR Chase
• NASCAR Eclectic
• NASCAR Ranting and Raving
• NASCAR This Week
• On Pit Row
• One Bad Wheel
• One Lugnut Short
• Restrictor Plate This
• Rev’ Jim’s Rants
• Robby News
• Ryan Newman Fan
• The Backstretch
• The Chick’s View
• The Daly Planet
• The View from Here
• Thunder Lounge
• Trixie’s Trailer Park
• Trouble in Turn 2
• TSR Fan
• Unrestricted
• Vroom
• ZuDfunck the “Dude”

Racing Websites

• ARCA and Toledo Speedway
• ASA Late Model Series
• Asian Motorports
• Backstretch Motorsports
• Cup Scene
• Inside the Pit Box
• Jayski’s
• Lori’s War Wagon
• Nascapper
• NASCAR Fanhouse
• No Fenders
• Race Space
• Race Talk Radio
• Sports Mates
• Stock Car Pit Pass
• Stock Car Science
• The Backstretch Boys
• USAC

Copyright © 2008 Bench Racing Productions, LLC. · All rights reserved.
Content may not be duplicated, or redistributed without express written permission.

OnPitRow.com | Bench Racing | Fast Lap | About Us | Contact Us
Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Advertise with us!