Live Blog: NASCAR Awards Banquet

Hosts: Charlie Turner, Steve Wronkowicz

December 5, 2008 8:00 pm CST

A Shameless Plug for Quality Radio

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 23, 2008 9:24 am CDT No Comments

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Phil Parsons, Patrick Donahue, Shawn Umphries, Mike Strevel from Berlin Raceway and Brian Scott headline INSIDE ARCA

Last night’s INSIDE ARCA Radio show was another quality show. That may sound a little self-serving. I suppose it is, but when we started talking with the powers that be at ARCA last fall, one of the premises that we came up with was to introduce ARCA racing fans to some of the personalities that make up the ARCA Re/Max Series.

Being able to talk with our ARCA Insider Phil Parsons on a weekly basis has given us a strong base to work from, week in and week out. While Charlie and I are at the non-televised races to broadcast them on ARCANation.com; we rely on Phil for his on scene observations from the races that he and Rick Allen do for Speed TV.

Patrick Donahue, crew chief for Scott Speed in the #2 Red Bull Toyota out of the Eddie Sharp Racing stable, gives us his inside look at the technical side of ARCA. Last night was no different as Patrick was with us via the phone while we had Shawn Umphries from Mr. Gasket in house to talk about the Mallory ignition system that ARCA mandates to all its race teams. Talking about ignition systems on the surface doesn’t sound very riveting, but it was amazingly interesting.

The July 8th show saw ARCA “Rules Enforcer” Bobby Tomsen join us live at Toledo Speedway to talk about his role at an ARCA event. Bobby had a lot to say about rules and the ARCA Series. We had to keep Bobby around for a second segment.

Check out the broadcast of INSIDE ARCA presented by Team GLOCK Racing. You can download the show as a podcast or listen anytime at arcaracing.com. In the Toledo, Ohio area you can hear a replay of the show at midnight Wednesday night/Thursday morning at WCWA-1230AM.

We are very proud of the progress of INSIDE ARCA. It is a work in progress, but interviews with drivers like Brian Scott - who sat on the pole at Kentucky Speedway and turned the fast lap at the Nashville Super Speedway test on Tuesday - helps bring the ARCA Re/Max Series to the fans.

Photo Credit: BethAnne Heisler/Bench Racing Productions for ON PIT ROW

Filed under: ARCA Remax Series, Inside ARCA, On Pit Row The Fastest Two Hours on Radio, Phil Parsons, Toledo Speedway

Tagged with: ARCA Remax Series, Eddie Sharp Racing, Inside ARCA, Patrick Donahue, Scott Speed, Team Glock

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Rack ‘em Up–Fifty at a Time

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.

May 2, 2008 8:27 am CDT No Comments

The Rock lives again.

Thanks to new owner Andy Hillenburg; Rockingham Speedway will again roar to life this weekend as the ARCA RE/Max Series visits the famous racetrack that is held near and dear by many NASCAR fans. After a four year absence of competitive racing, the city of Rockingham has embraced this revival of big time stock car racing.

There are several twists to the ARCA event. Bringing back two day knock out qualifying will be a hit amongst fans. Qualifying, that at last count, would see fifty-seven cars vie for fifty starting positions. That’s right FIFTY starting spots. While NASCAR has vehemently held to its forty-three car fields, ARCA and The Rock will venture where few have been willing to go in recent years.

Charlie has long beat the drum for expanded fields in the Sprint Cup Series; it took Hillenburg and ARCA to realize that bigger may well be better. There are some inconveniences involved. There are only forty-three pit stalls, so poor qualifying teams will be sharing pit space until cars start falling out of the race. The front runners will be lapping back markers within laps of the start, causing some huge traffic problems. But this race has all the makings of a must attend event, from both a fan and team standpoint.

Hillenburg was a guest ON PIT ROW on April 29th and made a point of mentioning that this event could become one of the best attended “one off” races for drivers who don’t normally drive on the RE/Max circuit. Kenny Schrader and Bobby Hamilton, Jr. will compete. Tony Stewart will be on hand to wave the green flag; while Stewart crew chief Greg Zippadelli will be piloting the pace car. Ricky Rudd will be parading in the 51st starter with a lucky fan in the passenger seat.

When asked about the possibility of Rudd tossing the passenger and starting the race, Hillenberg replied:

We will only have enough fuel in the car for Ricky to make the required parade laps; therefore ensuring that doesn’t happen.

On-track testing begins at 2pm on Friday. The first round of qualifying is set for 11am on Saturday, with the second round slated for 2:30. The green flag is set for noon on Sunday to be televised on SPEED. Be sure to tune in to our ARCA Insider Phil Parsons and the rest of the SPEED team for live coverage.

Fifty cars - FIFTY. If ARCA can pull this off, then NASCAR will need to take a serious look at expanding their fields as well. It will give more teams and more importantly, more sponsors more for their sponsorship dollars. And we all know it’s not about the dollars–it’s about how many dollars - and cars.

photo credit: rockinghamspeedway.com

Filed under: ARCA Remax Series, Inside ARCA, Kenny Shrader, On Pit Row The Fastest Two Hours on Radio, Phil Parsons, Top 35 Rule, the Rock

Tagged with: Andy Hillenburg, ARCA Remax Series, blog, motorsports, ON PIT ROW, Phil Parsons, Rockingham Speedway, the Rock

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