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Carroll Shelby and the Avengers

by Charlie Turner

Thanks for stopping by OnPitRow.com and the Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie blog. The best NASCAR and IndyCar news and opinion, exclusive pictures and video. I'm Charlie Turner. Follow me on Twitter @onpitrow

May 16, 2012 10:08 am UTC No Comments

One of my heroes passed this past weekend. Carroll Shelby died at age 89.

I don’t want to recap Shelby’s life in this post. Others have written that story over the past several days. The truth is, I’m a little late to be writing an epitaph on the man. From the moment that I heard the news of his passing though, I’ve known I had to write about my feelings.

I was a kid in the late fifties and sixties. I loved all sports but auto racing was a magnet for my attention. I’ve written before about how tough it was to get timely racing info back then. Especially so for the things that happened mostly in Europe, like Formula One and Sports Car racing. Lucky for me, that my dad subscribed to Sports Car Graphic and Road & Track. There I found coverage of men who became, and remain, my heroes.

F1 and endurance racing was then, as it is again today, dominated by European manufacturers. Ferrari and Porsche in sports cars, Lotus, Cooper, BRM and Brabham in F1. But a handful of Americans – and man, did they ever look the part of All-Americans – went over there and competed. When they had the right ride, guys like Dan Gurney, Roger Penske, Richie Ginther and Carroll Shelby won, against the best in the world.

For a few of them, winning in someone else’s, some other country’s, car wasn’t enough. They must have heard the comments like; “yanks can only build cars that go in circles”. I think they got pissed.

Shelby, Penske, Gurney and Jim Hall are my Avengers.

They built cars here, in the states, and went to Europe and beat the best in the world. I can remember to this day, how proud I was when Shelby’s Cobras won and Hall’s Chaparrals and Dan Gurney’s Eagle Westlake F1 car won at Spa. That Eagle was the first, and only American F1 winner until The Captain, Roger Penske went back to Europe with his own car.

The greatest achievement, most significant anyway, may have been when Shelby lead a team of Ford MK IVs to victory in the 24 hours of Lemans, beating the best of Enzo Ferrari’s 330 P4s. Glorious.

In the Avengers comics, Tony Stark is Ironman. He designed his famous suit of armor to protect a damaged heart. He did more with it than that.

Carroll Shelby was one of the longest lived recipients of a heart transplant. He accomplished much after, and lived an amazing life.

When I heard of Shelby’s death, I texted Steve and asked that he try to get Dave Despain On Pit Row this week to talk about ‘Ol Shell. Here is the highlight of Daves interview. I hope you enjoy it.

Photo credit: Sports Illustrated

Filed under: Formula One, NASCAR & the Media, SPEED TV

Tagged with: Carroll Shelby, Dan Gurney, endurance racing, Jim Hall, Lemans, Roger Penske, Sebring, sports car racing

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Bipolar Bud Shootout Practice was Weird

by Charlie Turner

February 12, 2011 12:31 pm UTC No Comments

I watched final practice for the Budweiser Shootout Friday. In fact, I watched it twice. A am a geek after all.

It was strange. A dozen or so pairs of, what looked like, welded together cars taking turns blowing by one-another. Or, I guess, two-another.

I didn’t watch every minute. I had the Speed TV broadcast with Darrell Waltrip, Larry Mac and Mike Joy on the tube (dating myself again) while I worked on the late Fast Lap 140 NASCAR video.

I did hear DW say that he thought the drivers were making a mistake by spending so much of their time trying to see how fast they make their cars go in pairs. Might be better to drive in packs and get the cars handling in the turbulence of three wide racing, which is more of what they will experience during the Bud and, especially, the Gatorade Duels and the Daytona 500.

Made sense to me. I just thought it looked weird.

Photo credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR

Filed under: Car of Tomorrow, Darrell Waltrip, Daytona International Speedway, NASCAR, NASCAR & the Media, NASCAR Tech, SPEED TV, Sprint Cup Series

Tagged with: Bud Shootout, Budweiser Shootout, Larry McReynolds, Mike Joy

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Waitin’ for the Big Show at Talladega Superspeedway

by Charlie Turner

April 25, 2009 11:56 am UTC 1 Comment

I’m an ARCA RE/MAX Series fan. Have probably always been one, but 2008 made it a permanent affliction when Steve and I were able to be part of some of the race broadcasts and host the INSIDE ARCA radio show.

But that ARCA RE/MAX 250 at Talladega Superspeedway yesterday wasn’t a very good show. I’m happy for race winner Justin Lofton, who has been a frequent ON PIT ROW guest. But that’s two straight races on the biggest tracks in the series, that have been pretty goofy. Needs to get better guys.

Sunday will undoubtedly be a different story as the Sprint Cup Series spends a few hours running three and four wide and keeps most fans on the edge of their seats.

Speaking of Sundays – last Sunday will be known by me as One Bad Sunday from now on. I checked my email in the morning and was greeted by the announcement that the best NASCAR fantasy racing site on the net was closing up shop. One Bad Wheel was one of the websites for which I had genuine “site envy”. On Pit Row helped to sponsor the Champs, Chumps and Sleepers game at OBW last year and it’s founder Darren is a friend and has helped me alot over the past three years.

OnPitRow.com is going to continue a few of the popular features from OBW. One of the most popular – the NASCAR Fantasy Experts Picks – will be a weekly feature here. Stay tuned for more announcements.

Our own Mindy Monday has a brand new Monday Morning Crew Chief video up. Mindy apparently isn’t impressed with NASCAR probation, but old geezer racers may be a different story. Watch Mindy’s latest video here.

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

Filed under: ARCA Remax Series, Bench Racing TV, Inside ARCA, Monday Morning Crew Chief, NASCAR, NASCAR Fantasy Gaming, NASCAR video, On Pit Row The Fastest Two Hours on Radio, SPEED TV, Talladega Superspeedway

Tagged with: Aaron's 499, Champs Chumps and Sleepers, fantasy racing experts, fantasy racing picks, Inside ARCA, Juston Lofton, Mindy Monday, One Bad Wheel

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David Reutimann Nails it: On Pole for the Samsung 500

by Charlie Turner

April 3, 2009 11:45 pm UTC No Comments

I watched David Reutimann today as driver after driver tried to take away his top qualifying spot for Sunday’s Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. I think I was more nervous than Reut.

He sat calmly chatting with several people along the pit wall as the best of the best went after his time. Maybe he just knew that he’d run the perfect lap today.

According to Darrell Waltrip – talking on the Speed TV broadcast of qualifying – Reutimann calls himself “The Franchise” when trash-talking with his boss, Michael Waltrip. I don’t think that’s too much of a stretch.

Watch video of David here as he talks about his pole and what it means to his Michael Waltrip Racing team.

Filed under: Bench Racing TV, David Reutimann, Michael Waltrip, Michael Waltrip Racing, NASCAR, NASCAR & the Media, NASCAR video, SPEED TV, Texas Motor Speedway, The Waltrips, Toyota

Tagged with: NASCAR video, pole qualifying, Samsung 500, SPEED TV

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SPEED TV Hits an All Time Low with NASCAR Smarts

by Steve Wronkowicz

I am co-host of the syndicated radio show: ON PIT ROW. Over ten years on the air and three on the net; see what can happen when I don't let the facts get in the way of my opinions.

February 8, 2009 9:27 am UTC 16 Comments

NASCAR Smarts has to be the worst television game show–no, make that worst television show ever.

Not only were the questions inane; the entire premise and execution of the show looked as if it were thrown together fifteen minutes before air. NASCAR Smarts producers couldn’t keep track of the score properly and the celebrity contestants, which included Kyle Petty and Rutledge Wood, took the entire production as a joke. At one point Petty started soliciting answers from the ever diminishing crowd.

This replacement for Trading Paint, was embarrassing for the fans of NASCAR to watch. Hopefully no one was seeing this show as their first exposure to NASCAR or SPEED because it reinforced every bad stereotype ever associated with the sport. Even the two contestants fit the bill; one a spacey bleach blonde and the other a refuge from overnights at Wally World, rarely had anything to offer.

Lets hope that NASCAR and SPEED put this one out of its misery in a hurry. Whoever thought up this debacle should be made to watch it over and over again non-stop until the end of speedweeks. If this show is supposed to be a farce in the Gong Show image, then make sure there is no doubt that is how it is taken. If, heaven forbid, it is supposed to be a serious game show then start over and take it seriously. The fans that watched it at the race track surely didn’t, as they were seen leaving in droves as the show progressed.

The kindest thing to do is proclaim this show an experiment gone bad and bring back Trading Paint. Hopefully Kyle Petty will disassociate himself from this piece of television garbage.

photo credit: Icon Sports Media

Filed under: Daytona 500, Kyle Petty, NASCAR, NASCAR & the Media, On Pit Row The Fastest Two Hours on Radio, SPEED TV

Tagged with: Kyle Petty, NASCAR Smarts, Rutledge Wood, SPEED TV

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