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Attack of the Two-Headed Loose in Turn 3

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

July 25, 2008 10:55 am UTC 3 Comments

It’s Brickyard 400 weekend so put your hype hats on. Be prepared to be blasted with the history of Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Having been there a few times, I will say that Indy has a different feel than most race tracks. And no place looks quite like Indy.

But if you wrote an unbiased history of what the NASCAR racing has been like at the famous track, it would be more like the story of Millard Filmore than that of Abe Lincoln. Not real compelling.

But we’ll be watching. And someone is bound to get Loose in Turn 3, and slide up into the short shute wall.

This week, veteran Looser, Bruce of NASCAR Bits, is on assignment. TZ of Do You NASCAR? has recruited, or kidnapped, loyal reader Roc to fill in for Bruce. Here is my query.

Tony Stewart, currently tenth in Sprint Cup points, is 49 markers ahead of 13th place Clint Bowyer. Four drivers, icluding Denny Hamlin and Kasey Kahne, within 49 points of each other with only three spots up for grabs. Who doesn’t make it to the Chase?

Charlie: Everyone talks about this being Stewart’s time of the year. In the past, it has been. It didn’t happen for him at Chicagoland, but
betting against Smoke is tough. Kasey Kahne is the only two-time 2008 winner in the bunch, so I can’t take him out. Too many good Kahne tracks left on the schedule. Hamlin and Bowyer must be drawing confidence from their Nationwide Series years. The unsettledness of Stewart’s year is the deciding influence. I say that Tony will miss the Chase.

TZ: Great timing for this question, because I just talked about this on my site a few days ago, and without a race taking place between then and now, I can’t really backtrack on my answer. Charlie, you talk about how there’s plenty of Kahne tracks left on the schedule, but the funny thing is that Stewart’s actually won a Cup race at every track left except for Talladega, and there he has one of the top driver averages. With the weight of controversy off his shoulders, Stewart’s in by a long
shot and even competes for the championship. Kahne, on the other hand, has proven to me that he’s a very streaky driver, and he’s lost a lot of steam the past couple of weeks. I also haven’t been too impressed with Hamlin as of late, who to me still lacks a lot of discipline behind the wheel. I say Kahne and Hamlin are both out of the Chase, Clint Bowyer and Brian Vickers are in.

Roc: Well I sure wouldn’t bet against any of these drivers for the Chase but Tony will be in. Hamlin is not having the perfect year but his teammate is, so they have the cars to beat and he’ll be in there as well. My choice for the third spot is a little harder. I do like TZ dreaming of Vickers, but I think that Bowyer will also make the Chase. Kahne has had a good year but he always seems to find the bad
luck bug. Still think Stewart maybe one of the two or three drivers to beat for the championship. Tony has had a weight lifted off of his shoulders and with the Brickyard this weekend and the anouncement of his second driver maybe on friday I look for him to charge.

That’s what we think. What do you think?

And go over to TZ’s place tell us what you think about this…

NASCAR recently placed restrictions on the engines in the Nationwide Series, limiting the airflow, and therefore putting a restriction on the horesepower. Should we expect to see similar measures be implimented into the Sprint Cup Series, and if so, when?

Photo credit: BethAnne Heisler – ON PIT ROW

Filed under: Brian Vickers, Car of Tomorrow, Chase for the Cup, Clint Boyer, Denny Hamlin, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Kasey Kahne, Sprint Cup Series, Stewart Haas Racing, Tony Stewart, Turn 2 posts

Tagged with: blog, Brian Vickers, Brickyard, Chase, Clint Bowyer, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Kasey Kahne, Loose in Turn 3, motorsports, NASCAR, Sprint Cup Series, Tony Stewart

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Does Anyone Care Clint Bowyer’s Going To Win The Nationwide Title?

by Matt Mercer, Special To NASCAR commentary and driver pictures, 2011 NASCAR schedule, video, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

I'm the former blogger of The Catfish Show NASCAR Blog and a contributor to On Pit Row. Follow me on Twitter: @mattmercer

July 22, 2008 12:44 pm UTC 13 Comments

NASCAR’s number two series has undergone a pretty successful transition to new series sponsor Nationwide. Those B-word mentions are infrequent, but the championship points leader has been mentioned almost as infrequent. Clint Bowyer leads the standings, and has done so for most of the year.

I’ll admit my own fault in this, I’ve been more than happy to talk about the Joe Gibbs dominance and anxiously waiting for David Ragan to finally win a race, but Bowyer’s year has been championship caliber. He has 11 straight top 10s and only three finishes outside of the top 10 – and hasn’t finished worse than 25th. That, my friends, is impressive. What may be giving most everyone trouble is that Bowyer’s year has been low-key, matching his personality. He has no pole positions and just one win, which came at Bristol. Yet his 18 top 10 finishes blow everyone else out of the water, as Keselowski and Ragan are next behind him with 13. His year reminds me of Matt Kenseth’s 2003 championship year. He goes about his business, records top 10 finishes, and doesn’t beat himself. Look at the results during this 11-race stretch: 9th, 2nd, 6th, 9th, 4th. 9th, 3rd, 9th, 4th, 7th, 8th. Kenseth would go multiple races inside the top 10, and in his early season stretch in ’03 – from Daytona through Michigan – he finished outside of the top 10 twice. Bowyer’s year has been the same way, and also similar to Kenseth – it hasn’t been covered.

Bowyer’s lead in the standings has been bouncing between 150 and 200 points. Currently, Keselowski sits in 2nd place 170 markers out while Carl Edwards takes 3rd, 201 back. In the final 14 races of the year, this one’s going to be won by one of those three. Edwards seems to have regained his form after coasting the rest of the ’07 year and getting off to a sluggish start in ’08, recording two wins under new crew chief Drew Blickensdurfer since the change was made five races ago. Keselowski has been no slouch, he has nine consecutive top 10s and hasn’t finished worse than 15th since Talladega. He also recorded his first career win at Nashville.

Bowyer might not win the Nationwide title this year, but I hope if he doesn’t, his performance through the first 21 races doesn’t become just a footnote. If he does win the title, it will be because of those finishes earlier in the year no one noticed.

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media

Filed under: Busch Series, Clint Boyer, David Ragan, Joe Gibbs Racing, Matt Kenseth, NASCAR, Nationwide Series, Roush Racing

Tagged with: Brad Keselowksi, Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, Joe Gibbs Racing, Matt Kenseth, NASCAR, Nationwide Series, racing, rcr

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Joe Gibbs Racing On Pace To Set Nationwide Records

by Matt Mercer, Special To NASCAR commentary and driver pictures, 2011 NASCAR schedule, video, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

I'm the former blogger of The Catfish Show NASCAR Blog and a contributor to On Pit Row. Follow me on Twitter: @mattmercer

July 7, 2008 9:52 am UTC 2 Comments

The two cars ran from the Joe Gibbs Racing shop could very well be headed towards history in the Nationwide Series. Taking a look at the stats following this week at Daytona, the level of domination has been nothing short of incredible. Consider that through 19 races in the season, the two cars from Gibbs, the #’s 18 and 20, have a total of 12 wins, 18 top 5s, and 20 top 10s. I’ve been trying to rack my brain and remember how many races one team has won in a season. Last season, RCR drivers Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, and Clint Bowyer teamed up for 13. I know Roush has broken double digits as well. Personally, I’m more impressed with the Gibbs performance, because it has been done fielding one team full-time and one team part-time. Roush has put a mind-numbing 7 in the field in the past, and RCR used three last year.A lot of drivers and owners have been complaining that the Toyotas are much better than the Fords, Chevys, and Dodges, especially in this series. That’s possible, but I think it’s the result also of four supremely talented drivers – Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Tony Stewart, and Joey Logano – in good equipment. On the Cup side, Busch has won 6 times, Hamlin once, and Stewart has had multiple races slip from him. I enjoy seeing records broken, and I’m anxious to see what these guys can do throughout the rest of the year.Doing my best Bill Weber impression, I’ve done the research… so enjoy:

#20 – 9 wins 12 top 5s 14 top 10s

Daytona – Stewart – pole, 1st
California – Stewart – 1st
Las Vegas – Stewart – 27th
Atlanta – Busch – 24th
Bristol – Hamlin 26th
Nashville – Busch – 16th
Texas – Stewart – 10th
Phoenix – Hamlin – 3rd
Mexico City – Busch – 1st
Talladega – Stewart – pole, 1st
Richmond – Hamlin – 1st
Darlington – Stewart – 1st
Charlotte – Hamlin – 2nd
Dover – Logano – 6th
Nashville – Logano – pole, 31st
Kentucky – Logano – pole, 1st
Milwaukee – Logano – 2nd
New Hampshire – Stewart 1st
Daytona – Hamlin – 1st

#18 – 3 wins 6 top 5s 6 top 10s

Daytona – Busch – 2nd
California – N/A
Las Vegas – Busch – 31st
Atlanta – N/ABristol – N/A
Nashville – N/A
Texas – Busch – 1st
Phoenix – Busch – pole, 1st
Mexico City – N/A
Talladega – Busch – 16th
Richmond – N/A
Darlington – Hamlin – DNQ (!)
Charlotte – N/A
Dover – Hamlin – 1st
Nashville – N/A
Kentucky – Busch – 30th
Milwaukee – N/A
New Hampshire – Busch – 3rd
Daytona – Busch 2nd

Filed under: Busch Series, Clint Boyer, Daytona International Speedway, Denny Hamlin, Jeff Burton, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, NASCAR, Nationwide Series, Richard Childress Racing, Roush Racing, Tony Stewart

Tagged with: Busch Series, Clint Bowyer, Denny Hamlin, Jeff Burton, Joe Gibbs Racing, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, NASCAR, Nationwide Series, rcr, Roush-Fenway Racing, Tony Stewart, Toyota

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Eldora Daydreamin’

by Charlie Turner

June 7, 2008 8:41 pm UTC 3 Comments

I can’t decide if it would be good to have more events like Tony Stewart’s Prelude to the Dream. If there were too many, it wouldn’t be as special, I guess. But it’s a shame more fans can’t get there to experience it live.

23,000 some fans did make it though. According to the track announcer, people from 46 states ordered tickets to the ’08 Prelude as did fans from Denmark, Germany and Australia. For a race on dirt in the middle of a bunch of cornfields in western Ohio, that had about a fifty percent chance of getting rained out. Amazing.

OK, not just any dirt race. Darrell Waltrip didn’t drive the water truck this year but he did do a half dozen laps in a dirt late model with a lucky young fan along as passenger.

Eldora veterans – from their younger, pre-superstar days – were there. Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Dave Blaney, Ryan Newman, David Reutimann, Matt Kenseth and Ken Shrader. Others with lots of experience on the dirt raced as well. Clint Bowyer was fast. Kenny Wallace and old-timer Red Farmer made the trip and were quick. Mark Martin, J J Yeley and Aric Almirola wrecked. Bill Elliot had mechanical woes.

Kyle Busch and Jimmy Johnson brought there own late models. Robby Gordon drove a Scott Bloomquist-prepared car to second place. Johnson and Robby G have plenty of time driving in the dirt. Johnson in motocross and Gordon off-road.

During the driver intros, homeboy Tony got the loudest cheers. But Jeff Gordon had plenty of fans too. Even Kyle Busch heard more cheers than boos – until he stoked the booing with his “I can’t hear you” pose. From then on, the only cheers Kyle got were when he either hit or broke something. Both of which happened a lot.

Our seats were in turn three – which was the down-wind corner – so by the time the cars got to us, the twenty mile an hour breeze had brought the dirt kicked up in turn one to us and we got a double dose of dirt track in our faces each lap. I’ve got to get a pair of those yellow plastic goggle/glasses they were selling before next year’s race.

I wouldn’t miss it if I were you.

Photo credit: Split Second Sports and Panther Creek Design & Photo

Filed under: Clint Boyer, Dave Blaney, David Reutimann, Denny Hamlin, Eldora Speedway, Jeff Gordon, Jimmy Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Kenny Shrader, Kenny Wallace, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth, Nascar Legends, Prelude to the Dream, Robby Gordon, Ryan Newman, The Pettys, The Waltrips, Tony Stewart

Tagged with: Clint Bowyer, Darrell Waltrip, Eldora Speedway, Jeff Gordon, Jimmy Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Kyle Petty, Prelude to the Dream, Tony Stewart, Victory Junction Gang Camp

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Who Will Be the Sprint Cup’s Next First-time Winner?

by Charlie Turner

May 30, 2008 9:32 am UTC 6 Comments

Martin Truex Jr grabbed his first and, so far only, Cup Series win at Dover Downs in 2007. By my count, he was one of three drivers to accomplish that feat last year – Casey Mears and Clint Bowyer were the others.

I’m looking at the line up for this week’s tilt at the Monster Mile and wondering who will be the next first timer. The answer is not obvious. David Ragan would seem the best bet. He drives for one of the major teams, as did all of 2007′s first time winners. Ragan has lately been running up front and looked like a contender at Charlotte. But who else. Is there anybody else?

Before his injury, Dario Franchitti would have been my pick if only because of the two road courses where he should be one of the contenders. His lost seat-time may not hurt his chances at Sonoma and the Glen, but it steepens the learning curve elsewhere.

Fellow Dodger Reed Sorenson looked strong coming out of Daytona. Since then though, his team has been a big part of Ganassi’s funk. The stirring of that pot by Chip doesn’t bode well for the Target car.

Dave Blaney is the only non winner in a Toyota who seems a candidate. A J Allmendinger didn’t convince me at Lowes. David Reutimann looks like a journeyman.

Who do you like in a Chevy? All of 2007′s virgin winners were Bowtie Boys. But who’s left? Regan Smith? Too soon and not enough chances. Same for Aric Almirola. The Haas CNC teams probably killed their chances by losing crew and car chiefs for six races.

No, the next winner looks to be a Ford man. If not Ragan then maybe one of the Yates guys. Travis Kvapil looks primed.

Filed under: Casey Mears, Chip Ganassi Racing, Clint Boyer, David Ragan, David Reutimann, Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, Haas CNC Racing, It's Only Cheating if You Get Caught, Martin Truex Jr., Red Bull Racing, Reed Sorenson, Robert Yates Racing, Sprint Cup Series

Tagged with: Aric Almirola, blog, Clint Bowyer, Dario Franchitti, David Ragan, Martin Truex Jr., motorsports, NASCAR, Reed Sorenson, Regan Smith, Travis Kvapil

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Wimmer Wins in Opryland

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.

March 24, 2008 5:56 pm UTC 4 Comments

After the off week for the Sprint Cup, the battle for the Nationwide Series championship becomes clearer.

This week at Nashville SuperSpeedway only a handful of Sprint Cup drivers decided to cut their Easter Break short and run the race on the mile and a third high banked track in the middle of Tennessee. Scott Wimmer got his first victory in 57 attempts by barely beating out his team mate, and Cup regular, Clint Bowyer.

Everything becomes clearer after a stand alone event as the Cup guys who will run the entire Nationwide Series schedule step forward.