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Lack of Suspension for Carl Edwards Inexplicable

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by Chris Leone, Special To NASCAR commentary,NASCAR video,NASCAR pictures, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

If OnPitRow.com was a NASCAR team, I’d be the development driver of the bunch. In the same way that young hotshots like Joey Logano have been driving since they were in grade school, I’ve been following and writing about all forms of motorsports since I was barely old enough to talk.

March 11, 2010 4:07 pm CST 2 Comments

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I have been a fan of Roush Fenway Racing since I was a small child, watching Mark Martin pilot the No. 6 Valvoline car. Through the years, watching the team expand into one of NASCAR’s first multicar powerhouses, I have become a fan of almost every driver to slide behind the wheel of their Fords.

This means that yes, to some extent, I am a Carl Edwards fan. Say what you will about his personality, but he shows flashes of brilliance as a racecar driver, the nine-win season in 2008 included. I think his 2009 Talladega wreck may have affected his psyche a little bit, and may make him a more careful driver in the long term, but he’s still got talent.

That aside, however, his actions in Sunday’s race at Atlanta were inexcusable. I’m sure that everybody knows what happened by now – after Brad Keselowski (the same driver who put him into the catchfence at Talladega last year) got into him early in the race, he returned to the track and ruined a great run by the Penske Racing driver with five laps to go.

Keselowski’s car flipped and landed on its roof, most of the pressure on the driver’s side, before rolling back on all four wheels. Keselowski was shaken up to say the least, and Edwards was parked for his deliberate actions, which he all but admitted to later on.

The problem, however, is NASCAR’s decision only to put Edwards on probation for three races for this incident. Given his history with Keselowski, as well as the complaints that others like Denny Hamlin make about the young driver, these incidents are likely not over. They’ll just wait until Edwards’ probation is over. NASCAR didn’t even wring Edwards’ hands – they wagged a finger. That’s all that the meeting between the two drivers and their owners will be, too.

Marty Smith wrote on Twitter that a “precedent has been set” for these types of retaliatory actions – that no driver should be afraid to dive-bomb a rival they’re angry at now. I understand NASCAR’s desire to open up the racing this year, and I applaud it, but not laying the hammer down in deliberate accidents, especially ones where the wrecked driver could have been seriously hurt, is a mistake.

My opinion: NASCAR should have parked Edwards for at least one race. I might have waited until the next Atlanta race to do it, however. I don’t want a driver who’s going to race like that to make his way into the Chase, and Atlanta is the penultimate regular season race. Taking Edwards out of a race so close to the cutoff could knock him out (if he’s in) and make it far more difficult to make up ground, whereas missing Bristol would give him about 20 more races to get back to the front.

Filed under: Atlanta Motor Speedway, Brad Kesolowski, Carl Edwards 

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Hamlin To Race With Torn ACL, But Is It Worth The Risk?

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by Chris Leone, Special To NASCAR commentary,NASCAR video,NASCAR pictures, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

If OnPitRow.com was a NASCAR team, I’d be the development driver of the bunch. In the same way that young hotshots like Joey Logano have been driving since they were in grade school, I’ve been following and writing about all forms of motorsports since I was barely old enough to talk.

January 24, 2010 3:04 pm CST 1 Comment

ESPN reported today that Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, recently tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during a game of pickup basketball.

It’s the second knee injury Hamlin has suffered in recent months from playing basketball. He had surgery in December to repair a torn meniscus in his other knee. With the season just about to start, however, Hamlin has decided to defer the necessary surgery to repair his other knee until the end of the year.

The repercussions of this story, because of the nature of Hamlin’s injury (considered catastrophic in many other sports), have a wide span.

A team spokesman said that Hamlin should have no problem driving the car, but driving hurt means that he won’t be the same caliber driver he normally is. Keep in mind that Carl Edwards failed to score a single top five finish last year after breaking his foot during a game of Frisbee.

An injury the nature of Edwards’ takes about six to eight weeks to heal. In any other sport, it would certainly be a cause for concern in an athlete, but after healing, the athlete should be fine.

Hamlin’s injury, on the other hand, can undo the entire career of some other athletes. At the very least, it’s a season-ending injury that should take about eight months to a year to be fully rehabilitated, and even then, the athlete will likely never be the same. All-world NFL quarterback Tom Brady suffered a torn ACL in the first week of the 2008 season, and didn’t return until the next year.

And we expect Hamlin to drive with this?

The worst feedback that can possibly come out of racing with an ACL tear is a flare-up of the old “drivers aren’t athletes” argument. “If they can race with an injury that is catastrophic to sports,” the naysayers will inevitably contend, “then what makes them a true athlete? None of these injuries were suffered during racing. They were suffered while the athletes played other sports.”

And seeing that these injuries were suffered while playing recreational sports, will team owners begin introducing stricter recreation clauses in athletes’ contracts? Already many athletes, in all sports, are prohibited from doing anything that could cause serious injury to them, or else they risk their contracts being voided.

Sure, deferring surgery until the end of the year allows Hamlin to race in the meantime. But there are plenty of other variables he has to consider. For one, deferring reconstructive surgery means that his rehab will have to go through 2011, meaning that if his driving is affected (and it probably will be), he could be out of contention for the good part of two years.

Hamlin is also reportedly a free agent after this season. What if he has a terrible year? Will he be as attractive to other teams - even as attractive to Gibbs - if he’s still nursing a pickup basketball injury?

There really isn’t a good reason for Denny Hamlin to drive through an ACL injury. It puts too much at risk. It’s smarter for him to properly rehabilitate the injury and come back stronger when it’s fully healed. Joe Gibbs Racing can certainly find a worthy candidate for fill-in duty until Hamlin returns.

Filed under: Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing 

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Sponsor Switches in NASCAR Just Part of the Business

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by Chris Leone, Special To NASCAR commentary,NASCAR video,NASCAR pictures, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

If OnPitRow.com was a NASCAR team, I’d be the development driver of the bunch. In the same way that young hotshots like Joey Logano have been driving since they were in grade school, I’ve been following and writing about all forms of motorsports since I was barely old enough to talk.

December 24, 2009 4:41 pm CST No Comments

I saw the weirdest thing a few days ago.

I was in the middle of one of my thrice-daily Jayski.com runs, checking the paint scheme gallery for some of the cars that will run next year, when I saw a No. 99 Roush Fenway Racing Ford for Carl Edwards that had Kellogg’s and Cheez-It decals plastered all over it.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I had been aware of this sponsorship switch for at least a month. I knew it was coming. But something about seeing a tangible representation of the scheme just felt weird.

For one, it maintained the bright yellow that Kellogg’s had been using with Hendrick Motorsports since 2004, as well as the red and blue that had been accent colors. I knew they were Kellogg’s colors, but something about them felt more like Hendrick colors. Keep in mind that before Dale Earnhardt Jr. joined the team, all four cars ran that shade of yellow in their numbers. The blue also matched up best with CarQuest Auto Parts, a remaining Hendrick sponsor that had partnered with Kellogg’s on the No. 5 car for the past few years.

It felt kind of like a Hendrick Motorsports Ford, and kind of like somebody’s Photoshop project for a NASCAR computer gaming website. It felt like one of those ideas that sounded good at the time, but didn’t quite work out.

That’s when I remembered that it was a real car, due to hit the track in 2010, and that the 16-year relationship between Hendrick and Kellogg’s was no more.

It’s just part of the business - sponsors go wherever they feel they can get the most bang for their buck. Two races with the young and fit Carl Edwards made more sense to company execs than 18 races with the older (but similarly fit, and better performing on-track) Mark Martin.

Sponsor loyalty cannot be relied upon in the business anymore. How else can one explain Valvoline returning to Roush in a primary sponsorship role with Matt Kenseth next year, nine years after leaving Mark Martin for an ill-fated experiment in team ownership?

For what other reason would Subway shift its loyalty from Greg Biffle to Tony Stewart to Carl Edwards over the past three years?

It happens with every team, both big and small. Richard Childress Racing snagged two defectors; Caterpillar ended a 10-year relationship with Bill Davis Racing after the 2008 season to back Jeff Burton, while Cheerios ended an eight-year pact with Petty Enterprises to sponsor Clint Bowyer. Budweiser spent seven years with DEI from 2001 to 2007 before putting their money on Kasey Kahne when Earnhardt Jr. left. DeWalt had been with Kenseth since the late 1990s before leaving this year, although the company has chalked that up to not having the marketing dollars.

Regardless, it’s rare to see a driver, team, and sponsor stick with one another for any significant length of time anymore. We just don’t see as many Richard Petty-STP, Robert Yates-Texaco, or Morgan-McClure Motorsports-Kodak combinations anymore.

Sure, there will always be a DuPont car for Jeff Gordon, a Lowe’s car for Jimmie Johnson, and a Menards car for Paul Menard. Miller Lite will continue to adorn the hood of a Penske car, Interstate Batteries and the Home Depot will stay with Joe Gibbs Racing, and Michael Waltrip will always be able to bank on NAPA sponsorship dollars. Red Bull owns its own team. Aside from that, it’s a free-for-all.

NASCAR has gotten considerably more expensive as of late, with most team owners fielding at least two to three cars. Everybody wants to have four. This facilitates an environment in which sponsors are, as of late, less willing to be patient or stick with a good thing in place. Instead, they’re always trying to take the next step up, looking for a way to align themselves with a better driver for less money, even if it means sponsoring fewer races.

It’s unfortunate that it’s the way of the business, but it’s the nature of the beast these days. So when you see Jeff Gordon rejoin the Coca-Cola Racing Family, Tony Stewart appear on Cheerios and Wheaties boxes, or Joey Logano someday pitching Budweiser, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

I mean, Mark Martin’s a GoDaddy driver now, after all. It can’t make any less sense than that.

Filed under: Carl Edwards, Hendrick Motorsports, Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth, Roush Racing 

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Tony Stewart Gives NASCAR Fans the Show They Crave at Daytona

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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 5, 2009 8:47 am CDT No Comments

Tony Stewart was able to make the last lap pass of his former teammate, Kyle Busch, to win the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona.

However; in the process, Busch went spinning in a last lap wreck that saw him get airborne and land on Kasey Kahne’s car, very reminiscent of the final lap at Talladega where Carl Edwards went into the spectator fence.

The Shrub was able to get out of his mangled race car and walk toward the garage, where he was intercepted by track personnel that escorted him to a safety vehicle for a trip to the infield care center.  Busch was later released with no injuries other than a bruised ego.  Busch was able to get past Stewart on the white flag lap when Tony slowed, trying to make his pursuers lose momentum and avoid the last lap onslaught.

The move backfired on Stewart with Busch taking the lead and then going into full blocking mode.  Stewart was able to get his #14 just up to Busch’s quarter panel when they touched, sending Stewart to a win and Busch to the wall.  Stewart explained:

It’s nobody’s fault, it’s just racing.  I mean, it’s a product of the environment.  It doesn’t mean the environment is bad, it just means that’s the way it is.  Like I said, he did what he had to do, and he defended his spot and we held our(s).    It wasn’t even that we tried to hold our ground, we just got on his quarter panel, and that’s just how you suck up.  As soon as he moved, I didn’t anticipate him moving, and went across the nose.

Stewart had the dominate car all race as he never fell outside the top three.  During the seven pit stops for the Burger King car; each time he came in first and left first.

One other thirteen car melee took out some of the cars battling for the final positions in The Chase.  Most of the cars involved in that incident were able to repair their cars and finish the race.  Twenty-eight cars finished on the lead lap, with Jeff Gordon bringing up the rear of the lead lap cars.  Mark Martin ended his day in 38th and David Reutimann finished 36th, severely hampering their efforts to make it into the Chase.

Therefore; this week’s BUZZ ON PIT ROW is:

Aren’t the finishes at Talladega and now Daytona, exactly what NASCAR fans say they have been missing from the other tracks?

Let us know what you think and we may use your comments on this week’s ON PIT ROW radio show.  Listen live every Tuesday from 5-7pm ET.  Give us a call on the Bench Racing Hotline at 1-800-645-2946 and if we pick your call as the Shell Nitrogen Enriched Call of the Day you will win a Kevin Harvick bobblehead.

photo credits: Jerry Markland (wreck), Rusty Jarrett (Stewart)/Getty Images for NASCAR

Filed under: Carl Edwards, Chase for the Cup, David Reutimann, Daytona International Speedway, How to fix NASCAR, Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch, Mark Martin, NASCAR, On Pit Row The Fastest Two Hours on Radio, Sprint Cup Series, Tony Stewart 

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Kyle Busch Wins the Race - Loses a City

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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.

June 7, 2009 3:21 am CDT 4 Comments

Kyle Busch added to his bad boy image after winning in Nashville.

Busch felt like he had a monkey on his back at Nashville SuperSpeedway.  Saturday night that monkey was removed when he beat Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards to the checkered flag.  Shrub did a burn out (or burn up as Edwards called it) that caught his tires on fire.  The fans were actually cheering him on.

Those cheers will have turned to jeers when Nashvillians see his victory lane antics on the local and national news.  Bush saw fit to “share” his Sam Bass Gibson Guitar trophy with his entire team.  That act may have been altruistic and warranted, but the way he chose to divvy up the prize left much to be desired.  Listen to Shrub’s explanation and back-peddling here.

Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

The Shrub, being squeezed by a huge brain cramp, took the prize and proceeded to divide it up by smashing it against the floor of victory lane.  Not only did he suck at the smashing attempt, but someone forget to tell him that the smashing guitar thing is associated with ROCK music performers.  Nashville is the home of COUNTRY music and their artists don’t smash the instruments that define their careers.

Smashing the race trophy was paramount to spitting in the face of the city of Nashville generally and the country music industry in particular.  I’m sure Sam Bass was quite thrilled to see a piece of his art work bounced off the victory lane floor.  What would the reaction be if Busch would take a race boot to a Martinsville grandfather clock after a win or a similar action to any other winning prize?

If Busch really was interested in sharing the race prize with his entire crew, he should have accepted to race prize, done his thank yous and given it to a crew member or PR person to show respect.  Once removed from the track it could have been cut into as many pieces as needed to spread around to his crew.

It will be interesting to see if and what NASCAR does to Busch for this post-race indisgression.  This was truly an “action detrimental to stock car racing”.

photo credit:  Chris Greythan/Getty Images/NASCAR

Filed under: Brad Kesolowski, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, NASCAR, NASCAR Bidness, NASCAR officials, Nashville Superspeedway 

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Kurt Busch Out Runs the Competition with Help from a Gasman

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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.

March 10, 2009 7:04 am CDT 3 Comments

The complexion of the race in Atlanta on Sunday changed faster than a teenager with a Hershey bar.

Jimmy Watts, gasman for Marcos Ambrose, took off after an errant tire that was headed for the racing surface.  NASCAR saw Watts sprinting after the Goodyear and threw a caution flag during the round of green flag pit stops.  The caution threw a monkey wrench into many teams strategies as some very good race cars went a lap down to the leaders.

Only nine cars remained on the lead lap after the Watts inspired caution.  Thanks to the “lucky dog rule” those nine swelled back to fourteen later in the race, but Kurt Busch help off late race challenges from Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards to gain the win.  Busch dominated the activities on Sunday leading on six different occasions for more laps than anyone.

Busch’s crew chief Pat Tryson had Kurt still on the race track when the Watts caution was thrown by NASCAR–good luck.  Luck plays a part in all of racing.  Just ask Bill Elliott who was caught up in an accident that was not of his doing–bad luck.  But, that is part of racing and how teams deal with adversity is what will separate winners from also rans.

Did luck need to play into this race however; as we look at this week’s BUZZ ON PIT ROW:

Did NASCAR over react with its yellow flag for the loose tire chased down by Marcos Ambrose’s gasman Jimmy Watts?

Let us know what you think and we could use your thoughts on this weeks ON PIT ROW.  Listen live from 5-7pm ET every Tuesday at www.onpitrow.com.

photo credit:  Icon Sports Media

Filed under: Atlanta Motor Speedway, Carl Edwards, It's Only Cheating if You Get Caught, Kurt Busch, NASCAR, NASCAR Bidness, NASCAR officials, On Pit Row The Fastest Two Hours on Radio, Penske Racing 

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