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Double J and The Luck of A Golden Horseshoe

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by Clance' McClannahan, Special To NASCAR commentary and driver pictures, 2011 NASCAR schedule, video, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

Clance' McClannahan, famous author behind The Church of The Great Oval and also one of the much appreciated Contributing Authors at Thunder Lounge.

February 27, 2010 12:04 am UTC 1 Comment

How much does luck really have to play in NASCAR? Auto Club Speedway was a perfect example of both good luck, bad luck, skill and strategy.

Race Day at ACS started out cloudy, with the threat of rain looming overhead in in the future. Lovely Katharine McPhee, Season 5 American Idol runner-up, performed the National Anthem, after stating “I’ve never watched a NASCAR game before.” Personally, I am really glad she said that prior to the first inning, or it might have been embarrassing for her later.

Andy Garcia was able to give the command. “ Gentlemen, start your engines!” and still be politically correct.

Pole sitter Jamie Mac led the race for about 5 seconds, and then Juan Pablo Montoya politely said “Excuse me?”, and took the lead. If you would reach far back into your memory…(I mean, it’s a stretch for me),  you will remember that JPM led 60 laps at ACS in October, and in one truly horrendous moment, lost that race. Juan Pablo Montoya meant serious business and opened up a lead of more than 3 seconds by Lap 12. By Lap 29, Jimmie Johnson’s good luck began to show, and the 42 car’s not so good 30th lap, gave him a brush with the wall.  Soon after…it was Good vs. Bad for JPM, Kasey Kahne and a few others. Namely Dale (**NOTE to Jr. Nation: Dale doesn’t want to be called Jr. or June Bug, anymore).

In the meantime, a war was beginning to rage. Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson had begun the battle that would continue throughout the race, which culminated in one of the finest moments in NASCAR History.

Lap 97 began to get a little more interesting. Now we will get into the good luck, bad luck, strategy (?) syndrome that happenedthat day.

Martin Truex Jr. loses power. Later, Martin Truex Jr’s engine blows.
JPM begins to battle with Jeff Gordon for 5th position. Harvick and Johnson continue to dance the Flamenco (to impress Juan Pablo Montoya) for 1st and 2nd, not being able to decide who would lead and who would follow.

In one of the most endearing and heart breaking moments of the race, Kasey Kahne, being conscientious of the bleak economy, decided he would help out some poor souls, who needed to make some money to feed their kids, by making sure they had jobs replacing the sod he tore up.
Ryan Newman’s engine blew up. DNF. Again.  JPM, looking very competitive, was out of contention once again, after a great 140 laps. It also, was due to another kaboom of a large quantity of moving parts, critical to the car continuing to run..

Kevin Harvick discovered that one of Jamie Mac’s pit crew has a part time job with Cirque du Soleil. Scary.

Then there was Dale Earnhardt Jr. It seems like the last few years, if it’s going to happen to someone it will be Dale Jr. Personally, I don’t think he has any better or worse luck than many driver’s. I think his worst luck is the scrutiny he is constantly under. Much more than other driver’s. Broken Axle. Axle Broken. Race over for the 88.

Jimmie Johnson seemed to be going backwards for a small moment in time. Then… From out of the blue…comes JJ again. Jamie Mac, startled, said “”How can he be leading? “He was on pit road, wasn’t he?!!”
Why yes, he was. Double J won. 48/48.
Luck? Strategy? All of the above?

Kevin Harvick , at the end of the race, summed it all up, in one sentence. Possibly one of the finest quotes in NASCAR History. I am honored to have been able to do small tribute to that little quip at The Church.
“They have a golden horseshoe stuck up their ass.”
…And that, Dear Fans, was the finest finish to a race I have seen since the Daytona 500.

*What wondrous events shall LVMS bring us this weekend? Aw…the suspense is killing me!

Filed under: Auto Club Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Danica Patrick, Diversity and NASCAR, Jamie McMurray, Jeff Gordon, jimmie johnson, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kasey Kahne, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Martin Truex Jr., NASCAR, NASCAR Conspiracies, Ryan Newman 

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Fantasy Pick’Em: 2010 Auto Club 500

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

I do weekly Fantasy Pick'Em columns here at OPR, as well as the occasional opinion and analysis piece. I also provide the IZOD IndyCar Series coverage. For more on that, head to my site, OpenWheelAmerica.com. My Twitter handle is @christopherlion.

February 18, 2010 12:27 am UTC No Comments

One race down, 35 to go, as the Sprint Cup Series heads to Auto Club Speedway for the Auto Club 500. Jamie McMurray will look to repeat Matt Kenseth’s 2009 feat of sweeping the first two races of the season, at a track where he has an average finish of 16.4. California is McMurray’s fifth best track of those on the current schedule.

My pick for Daytona, Tony Stewart, finished 22nd, leaving me with 97 points on the weekend. My dark horse, John Andretti, slapped the wall and ended up 38th. As for my other three suggestions, only Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a strong run, finishing second; Mark Martin faltered to finish 12th and Marcos Ambrose blew a motor after 79 laps to wind up 41st. Not a great start to my year, but that’s Daytona.

If you’re looking for a sure bet at California, don’t just go by who won the 500; since Fontana assumed the second race of the season in 2005, only Kenseth has done the double. Jimmie Johnson finished second at the track in 2006, but in none of the other cases has the Daytona winner finished better than double digits. Daytona winners’ average finish at California over the past five years is an even 12, mostly brought up by those two.

The winners at California usually come from the middle of the pack at Daytona. Ignoring Kenseth’s win last year, the average finish of California winners at Daytona between 2005 and 2008 was 21.5.

Regardless of all that, my pick for California is Matt Kenseth. This one seems like an easy call. Roush Fenway Racing Fords have won the past five spring races at California, as well as 10 of 19 races at the track overall. Kenseth won this race in 2006, 2007, and last year. His average finish of 9.2 is third best among active drivers. A victory could propel Kenseth into the points lead.

As for a dark horse, I’m picking David Ragan. We can call him a dark horse, right? He still hasn’t won a Sprint Cup race, and he had a generally horrible season in 2009. But his seventh place in the fall California race was his second best finish of 2009. He’s also never failed to finish below 17th at the track, which is either a really good omen for Sunday or a hint that he’s overdue for a bad finish.

Per tradition, three other suggestions:

Jimmie Johnson’s an easy pick. You don’t just stumble into a 5.8 average finish in the Sprint Cup Series at any given track – you’ve gotta be good. Johnson’s obviously good, as his four Sprint Cups attest to. He’s even better at California, with no finishes worse than 16th, no DNFs, zero finishes off of the lead lap, and at least 31 laps led in the past six races at his home track. I only pick against him because none of his four wins at the track came in February.

Kyle Busch is a solid, yet interesting, choice if you’re looking to spice things up. He’s not as easy of a pick as the Roush or Hendrick drivers, but he did have a streak of eight California top-10s before last fall’s 24th-place finish, and not even Jimmie Johnson (six and counting) can say that.

I’m going to give Jamie McMurray the benefit of the doubt and my final pick. The past four years have been pretty abysmal for the Daytona 500 winner, especially at California, where a sixth place finish in his second race with Roush was the lone high point; since then, he’s never been better than 16th at the track. But McMurray was never worse than 15th when he drove for Chip Ganassi, his current owner, with an average finish of 7.2 in five starts between 2003 and 2005.

Filed under: Auto Club Speedway, David Ragan, Jamie McMurray, jimmie johnson, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing 

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Can McMurray, Ganassi Sustain Daytona Success?

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

I do weekly Fantasy Pick'Em columns here at OPR, as well as the occasional opinion and analysis piece. I also provide the IZOD IndyCar Series coverage. For more on that, head to my site, OpenWheelAmerica.com. My Twitter handle is @christopherlion.

February 15, 2010 1:48 pm UTC No Comments

Almost nobody expected Jamie McMurray to win the 2010 Daytona 500. It was his first race with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing after four lackluster years as the fifth driver at Roush Fenway Racing, and nobody knew whether or not the combination would work out.

Chip Ganassi was the first owner to give McMurray a shot in Cup, promoting him in 2002 when Sterling Marlin was injured, and McMurray rewarded him by winning in his second career start. But it took McMurray almost five years to win again.

He’s never made a Chase (despite coming close for Ganassi twice in the mid-2000s), and plenty of folks thought his career was dead in the water after the four years of middling performance at Roush.

The combination of Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Chip Ganassi Racing before last season was also a huge question mark, although Juan Montoya’s consistent performance throughout the regular season and early part of last year’s Chase answered his side of the equation. Martin Truex Jr., on the other hand, struggled desperately to perform, and left the team for Michael Waltrip Racing at the end of the year.

This opened the door for Ganassi to bring back McMurray, and he rewarded the racing magnate’s judgment by winning the biggest race of the year.

Now, the biggest question is what kind of team McMurray’s will be for the next 35 races of the season.

Glory at Daytona can be used to propel a driver into the championship hunt. Ernie Irvan and Davey Allison used their 1991 and 1992 victories, respectively, to assert themselves as legitimate championship contenders. Irvan in 1991, Allison in 1992, and Sterling Marlin in 1995 (the year of his second consecutive 500 win) had their best career finishes in points coming off of Daytona victory.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a great season in 2004 after winning the Great American Race for the first time. His six wins that year were a career high, and although he slipped two positions in the final standings from his career-best third in 2003, he was a legitimate title contender the whole year.

Jimmie Johnson’s 2006 victory in the race led to his first career Cup title, despite regular crew chief Chad Knaus being suspended for the race. Jeff Gordon and Dale Jarrett each won the first race of the season the year after winning championships, in 1999 and 2000 respectively.

But plenty of drivers have seen their triumph at Daytona lead to a long dry spell.

Let’s start with last year. Sure, Matt Kenseth also won the next week’s race at California, but he missed the Chase for the first time in his career as well. Neither Ryan Newman (2008) nor Kevin Harvick (2007) have won points-paying Sprint Cup races since their respective Daytona 500 triumphs.

Michael Waltrip wasn’t able to turn either of his Daytona 500 triumphs, in 2001 and 2003, into season-long success, falling to 24th and 15th in points those two years, respectively. His win in fall 2003 at Talladega remains his final Cup win to date.

The worst season by a Daytona 500 winner in recent memory, however, belongs to Ward Burton, who finished 25th in points after his triumph in 2002. Burton started the season by leading at least one lap in the first five races, but 15 finishes outside the top 10 in the first 19 races of the year killed any hopes he had of championship contention. By the end of the next season, he was no longer employed at Bill Davis Racing.

The big question, then, is this: Will Jamie McMurray have a Sterling Marlin type of season after winning the Daytona 500, or a Ward Burton year?

We know that Chip Ganassi’s equipment is stellar in every racing series he enters. His IZOD IndyCar Series teams have won the past two championships, his Rolex Sports Car Series team is always contending for the title, and Montoya elevated the Sprint Cup team to a new level last year. The equipment and resources are certainly available.

McMurray’s also got a fire inside after the past four years at Roush. He needs to prove that he’s still “got it,” or perhaps that he ever “had it” at all; three of his four wins in Sprint Cup came on restrictor plate tracks, where anything can happen. This currently puts him in a category with Waltrip, as both were marketable mid-pack drivers who collected all of their mid-career victories in plate races.

McMurray needs to return to the form that nearly propelled him into the first Chase in 2004, and the Ganassi equipment has to stay as strong as it was last year. But if one or both of those things doesn’t happen, we could see yet another fluke Daytona 500 victory.

Filed under: Daytona 500, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, Jamie McMurray 

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NASCAR’s Coolest Fan Promotion Returns

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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

October 30, 2008 10:34 pm UTC No Comments

 

Jamie McMurray's special Crown Royal paint job for Texas

Jamie McMurray's special Crown Royal paint job for Texas

The special paint job on Jamie McMurray’s hood for this weekend’s Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway is a reminder to NASCAR fans to enter the Crown Royal “Your Name Here” contest for a chance at what has to be the ultimate prize for a NASCAR fan.

Naval engineer Dan Lowry was the winner last year. As part of the prize, the spring 2008 Sprint Cup race at Richmond International Raceway will forever be known as the Dan Lowry 400. 

I mean…come on. How cool was that? We interviewed Dan ON PIT ROW, from Richmond that weekend. That interview was set up by the marketing department from Crown Royal and we have a great relationship with those folks. We’re happy to help spread the word on the best fan promotion we’ve seen yet. Visit CrownRoyal.com to enter the contest by describing an accomplishment or honorable act worthy of toasting with Crown Royal.

Selected finalists will enjoy an all-expenses-paid trip in February to the Daytona 500 where they will participate in an unveiling ceremony to announce the ‘Your Name Here 400′ grand prize winner. Last year, the winner’s name was unveiled by pulling a 10,000 square foot banner off a huge mosaic copy of the “Crown Royal presents the Dan Lowry 400″ race logo, that was built into the desert floor outside of Las Vegas. Lowry watched that from a helicopter along with Jamie Mac. 

In addition to having their name officially incorporated into the race, the grand prize winner will serve as the Grand Marshal in Richmond – allowing them to do everything from delivering the trophy in Victory Lane to yelling the most famous words in racing, “Gentlemen, start your engines!”

I mean really. Dan Lowry, you dog.

As an aside; the company that made and installed the 10,000 square foot banner that covered the desert logo is from right here in northwest Ohio – CGS Imaging . Congrats Chuck.

Filed under: Jamie McMurray, NASCAR, NASCAR & the Media, On Pit Row The Fastest Two Hours on Radio, Richmond International Raceway 

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Tight in Turn Two at Bristol Motor Speedway

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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

August 22, 2008 9:58 am UTC 3 Comments

I guess you can only be Loose in Turn 3 for so long.  Sooner or later, you have to make adjustments.

Bruce, from NASCAR Bits, Tim of Do You NASCAR? and the Bench Racing blog have been playing with this NASCAR round robin that we called Loose in Turn 3.  Tim is moving to other things, but Bruce and I are too dumb to stop.  Hence, we are now Tight in Turn 2.  Here goes.

It looks like the Ford teams will have, maybe, nine cars for 2009 – Roush-4, Yates-3, Wood Brothers-1 and JTG-1. Who will fill the seats?

Charlie: Roush-Fenway is easy with Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and David Ragan.  I think Yates Racing will be David Gilliland, Travis Kvapil and Roush developement driver Eric Darnell.  We know that  Marcos Ambrose will drive for JTG Racing.  But who will the Wood Brothers have, Jon Wood? And what about Colin Braun and Jamie McMurray?  The Cup seats are filling fast.  Colin Braun will likely run in the Nationwide Series, but Ricky Stenhouse Jr  will be pushing for that seat by 2009′s end.  If the Ford Racing folks haven’t soured on Jamie, I look for him in the No. 21.

Bruce:  Of available drivers who will be floating around, I’m not sure I can disagree with you on this one as far a Jamie McMurray goes, but with how the 21 shop has been doing of late, this season and last, would Jamie go for it? The only other angle I’d be worried about is how dedicated the 21 shop
has seemed to be towards Jon Wood. I can only hope logic and / or reason pans out in this one, no matter who they go with!

That’s what we think.  What do you think?  Let us know in the comments section.

Then head on over to NASCAR Bits for Bruce’s discussion on this topic…

Several staff on the Gibbs Nationwide team felt it necessary to try this stunt.  Or as DW calls it, reverse cheating, seeing as how the cars had to run with less power available to them through the entire race.  How does this make people feel about Joe Gibbs Racing, or the sport in general?

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

Filed under: It's Only Cheating if You Get Caught, Marcos Ambrose, Robert Yates Racing, Roush Racing, Sprint Cup Series, The Wood Brothers, Turn 2 posts 

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Roush-Fenway Dominates Michigan

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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.

August 19, 2008 4:26 am UTC No Comments

Carl Edwards win on Sunday has him set up as the number two seed in The Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Jack Roush has always maintained that it is more important to win at Michigan than probably anywhere else on NASCAR’s top circuit. The proximity to Detroit and Ford’s headquarters in nearby Dearborn makes the two races in the Irish Hills important to Roush-Fenway Racing from a PR standpoint if nothing else.

Edwards was able to out duel points leader Kyle Busch after a late caution to secure his spot behind Busch in the points and assure himself of having at least the second most bonus points going into The Chase.

Roush ended up with all five of his cars in the top ten on Sunday with only Jamie McMurray and the #26 team outside the top five. Edwards has won two of the last three races and with his win in the Carfax 250 on Saturday, becomes only the second driver, along with The Shrub, to do a Sprint/Nationwide double this year and the first since Mark Martin did it at Michigan in August of 1993.

Martin’s double came in Roush Fords as well.

Edwards late surge along with his strong start leads us to this week’s BUZZ ON PIT ROW:

Carl Edward’s win at Michigan is having some people say he is “peaking” at the right time. Is there such a thing in NASCAR, or is momentum a fleeting concept?

Let us know your opinion on this week’s BUZZ and we could use your response on Tuesday nights ON PIT ROW radio show. You can listen live starting at 5pm ET and may hear your answer ON PIT ROW. Stay tuned and listen to INSIDE ARCA immediately following ON PIT ROW at 7pm at arcaracing.com

photo credit: Icon Media Sports

Filed under: Carl Edwards, Chase for the Cup, David Ragan, Inside ARCA, Jamie McMurray, Kyle Busch, Live blogs, Michigan International Speedway, NASCAR, On Pit Row The Fastest Two Hours on Radio, Roush Racing, Sprint Cup Series 

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