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Fantasy Pick’Em: 2010 Kobalt Tools 500

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 4, 2010 2:05 am CST 2 Comments

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Three races into the season, and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to the Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Kobalt Tools 500. Jimmie Johnson, sponsored by Kobalt Tools in his Cup efforts, will attempt to win his third consecutive race this weekend… and with the old formalities down, let me tell everybody that it’s my midterm week here at school, and combined with reading too many sarcastic IndyCar blogs in preparation for that season, I’m going to be a little more bitingly sarcastic than usual. Strap in, folks.

Speaking of winning, guess who picked the winner last week? That’s right. I called him an easy pick, but sometimes it’s worth it to take the easy money (and the gift win)… especially when the rest of your picks were relative duds. Jeff Burton wound up 11th, Kyle Busch was 15th, and Denny Hamlin finished 19th, while my dark horse, Bobby Labonte, was 51 laps down in 38th.

I would love to pick Johnson again this weekend, but my conscience tells me to be a little more interesting. Fair enough. How about Jeff Gordon? 23 top-fives in 35 Atlanta starts, with four wins, and a dominant car last weekend in Vegas suggest that the DuPont team may be a force both this weekend and beyond.

(For the record, if Johnson wins this week, I will attempt to write some revisionist history by suggesting I picked the 48 this week and the 24 last week, all in the name of sounding smart. This is what happens when you write a fantasy racing column for too long and want to finally sound smart.)

As for a dark horse, how about A.J. Allmendinger? Last weekend was a struggle for sure, but the ‘Dinger heads to the best track on which he has started more than two races. He’s been consistent, if nothing else, with all four of his finishes between 14th and 20th. And while that’s not “race-winning dark horse” material, it does seem like a gimme for a solid, reasonable finish, and I’ll take what I can get. Perhaps we simply have varying definitions of “dark horse.”

Three more for all you skeptics:

Jimmie Johnson. There. I said it. It’s 1 AM and I’m very tired. Next.

In what is sure to raise a cheer from the majority of people who read this column, my next pick is none other than Dale Earnhardt Jr., the second best active driver at Atlanta (behind his superhuman teammate, of course). Yes, he hasn’t been the same driver the past two weekends as he was at Daytona, but come on, the curse of the last Hendrick car can’t apply every weekend. Even Casey Mears won in a fourth Hendrick vehicle, and Casey Mears hasn’t accomplished half of what Dale Jr. has.

For my final pick, I’m going to go with Joey Logano. This has nothing to do with his Atlanta track record in Cup, which is pretty abysmal. It has everything to do, however, with the fact that eighth in points is the highest he’s ever been in Cup. Sliced Bread is finally starting to really get things together with the No. 20 team, and he could do what David Ragan almost did in 2008 by making the Chase in his sophomore year.

Filed under: A J Allmendinger, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Joey Logano, jimmie johnson

Tagged with: A.J. Allmendinger, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, jimmie johnson, Joey Logano, Kobalt Tools 500

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Double J and The Luck of A Golden Horseshoe

by Clance' McClannahan, Special To NASCAR commentary,NASCAR video,NASCAR pictures, 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 CST 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, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kasey Kahne, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Martin Truex Jr., NASCAR, NASCAR Conspiracies, Ryan Newman, jimmie johnson

Tagged with: American Idol, Andy Garcia, Auto Club Speedway, Cirque du Soleil, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Daytona 500, diversity, Golden Horseshoe stuck up his, Jamie McMurray, Jeff Gordon, jimmie johnson, jimmie Johnson Golden Horseshoe, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kasey Kahne, Katharine McPhee, Kevin Harvick, Las Vegas, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Martin Truex Jr., NASCAR, Ryan Newman

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Like a broken record…

by Clance' McClannahan, Special To NASCAR commentary,NASCAR video,NASCAR pictures, 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 26, 2010 8:40 pm CST 1 Comment

Dear Bruton Smith,

You have more money than God. Please fix the traffic coming in and out of the track. In fact, could you just fix it in all of Las Vegas? The wait at the airport sucks too. Wayne Newton would do it for his fans, I bet.

Love,

All of us that make you have more money than God.

P.S. Good job with the track. It’s really fast! The traffic may be worth it, if the race is as good as qualifying was. Too bad we missed 10 driver’s attempts, including Kurt Busch beating Jeff Gordon who beat out Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the pole.

But that wasn’t your fault.

Filed under: Bruton Smith, Dale Earnhardt Jr., How to fix NASCAR, Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, NASCAR, NASCAR & the Media

Tagged with: Bruton Smith, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, LVMS, NASCAR, NASCAR Records

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Can McMurray, Ganassi Sustain Daytona Success?

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

February 15, 2010 1:48 pm CST 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

Tagged with: Dale Jarrett, Davey Allison, Daytona 500, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, Ernie Irvan, Jamie McMurray, Jeff Gordon, jimmie johnson, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Michael Waltrip, Ryan Newman, Sterling Marlin, Ward Burton

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One and Done: AMP Energy 500

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

October 29, 2009 12:35 pm CDT 2 Comments

For the first time in its history, Talladega Superspeedway hosts a race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, as NASCAR’s premiere series heads to Alabama this weekend for the AMP Energy 500.

Of the ten tracks in this year’s Chase, Talladega is by far the most unpredictable. Only four drivers boast an average finish better than 10.0 at the track, and they have a combined four starts - all of which occurred in this spring’s race. That event featured a wacky finish in which Brad Keselowski found himself in victory lane, but Carl Edwards found himself airborne.

At a massive track like Talladega, where the cars reach some of their highest speeds and restrictor plates bunch up the field, the “big one,” a massive 20-something car pileup, is looming around every corner, on every straightaway, in every drag race to the finish line. For that reason, picking this race is a crapshoot. Take everything with a full shaker of salt, and go with any hunch you might have.

Seriously. Scott Speed finished 5th here in the spring. Think about that.

If there’s any weekend where staying within the confines of Chase drivers isn’t necessary, it would be this one, because of the likelihood that an incident will wipe out half the field. Whoever survives the wreck, if it happens, probably won’t have the best car in the field, just the best luck, and luck doesn’t discriminate based on the points standings. But week in and week out, the Chase drivers give fantasy players the best chance of scoring a lot of points, so we might as well stick with the established system, no?

The five Chase drivers with the best records at Talladega:

Kurt Busch (avg. fn. 12.1): The older Busch brother has quietly assembled a solid Talladega record, with 12 top-10s in 17 starts. He has also led at least one lap in 13 of his 17 Talladega starts. Only two of his last 10 Talladega starts have been worse than eighth. While he’s never won a Cup race at the track, the first thing you look to do at Talladega is survive, and he’s only crashed out twice.

Tony Stewart (avg. fn. 13.8): Smoke “won” this race in controversial fashion last year (and as far as I’m concerned, that still should have been Regan Smith’s win). He’s led laps in 10 of the past 11 Talladega races, with the lone exception being this spring’s race. Smoke’s crashed out in four of his 21 starts, a slightly worse percentage than Busch, but he’s also been able to do something that Busch can’t say: finish better than third (one win and six second place finishes).

Mark Martin (avg. fn. 16.1): Martin only has five crashes at Talladega in 43 starts, a slightly better percentage than Busch, and both of his wins came after his horrendous 1994 incident, proving that bad crashes don’t negatively affect everybody. But the last of those wins came in 1997, and Martin only has six laps at Talladega under race conditions in the new car: he skipped the track altogether in 2007 and 2008, and his spring race was cut short by an early incident.

Jeff Gordon (avg. fn. 16.4): The spring race didn’t go well for Gordon, as he finished 60 laps off the pace in 37th. But he swept the track in 2007, and generally finds himself up front: he’s led laps in 12 of the last 14 Talladega races (including six of the last eight). A statistic that should bring pause, however: In 11 starts since 2004, Gordon has won four, but has not finished better than 15th in the other seven.

Ryan Newman (avg. fn. 18.5): Well, Newman ran well and led laps in the wacky spring race… He also hasn’t wrecked out of a Talladega race since 2005, as he kept the car going during the Edwards wreck and scored his career best finish at the track (third). Here’s a question for you: If taking another stock car off the hood meant improving by another couple of spots, think he would take it?

Filed under: One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing, Talladega Superspeedway

Tagged with: Amp Energy 500, Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Mark Martin, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing, Ryan Newman, Talladega Superspeedway, Tony Stewart

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ESPN Disrespects NASCAR Again

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.

October 27, 2009 11:04 am CDT No Comments

Twice in the past week on-air personalities at ESPN have made light of NASCAR, its fans and in one case a driver.

ESPN paid dearly for the rights to broadcast NASCAR’s top two series and tell the stories of Dale Earnhardt, Jr, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and the rest. They have exclusive broadcast rights to the Nationwide Series and have the most coveted portion of the Sprint Cup Season. ESPN has the rights to broadcast all aspects of the second half of the Sprint Cup season–including the “Race to the Chase” and the “Chase to the Cup”.

ESPN also broadcasts college football. Its college football coverage takes precedence over its racing coverage. It always has and it most likely always will. Race fans have come to expect that when football and NASCAR bump into one another; its the NASCAR coverage that gets moved–either to another ESPN property or its start time delayed.

What NASCAR shouldn’t have to accept is the total disrespect it receives by its stick and ball oriented personalities. It has been well documented over the past week about Bob Greise’s comment toward Juan Pablo Montoya. During a NASCAR promo on a football telecast that Greise worked; one announcer asked where Montoya was, when discussing the top five drivers. Greise’s response was “Out eating a taco”.

Greise apologized–twice–on air during the telecast and has been suspended by ESPN for one game. Greise’s comments may have been more insensitive than mean spirited, but does show the lack of respect that NASCAR garners from its broadcast partner.

To add more insult to the NASCAR on ESPN week; Mondays morning Sport Center broadcasts included highlights of the Sprint Cup race won by Denny Hamlin. The highlight package ended with the comment by ESPN’s anchor saying; ” Now for those of you north of the Mason-Dixon line…”; this within days of Greise’s gaff.

It would seem it is an acceptable practice at ESPN to demean NASCAR, its drivers and their fans. If it is not deemed as acceptable, it would not continue to happen. It leaves fans wondering how NASCAR is perceived at ESPN’s offices. If on air personnel are not respecting NASCAR it may be because they are carrying down the disrespect they hear from their bosses around the office. Employees tend to take on the attitude of their superiors. If NASCAR coverage is looked down upon by ESPN’s hierarchy then it is no wonder that the trickle down lands on air.

This week’s BUZZ ON PIT ROW asks:

Does NASCAR and its coverage get the respect it deserves from its broadcast partner–ESPN?

Let us know what you think and we could use your comments on this weeks ON PIT ROW radio show. Listen live every Tuesday from 5-7pm ET. Call the show at 1-800-465-2946 and you could win a Kevin Harvick bobblehead as Shell’s Nitrogen Enriched Call of the Day.

photo credit: Icon Sports Media

Filed under: Denny Hamlin, ESPN, NASCAR, NASCAR & the Media, NASCAR Bidness

Tagged with: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin, ESPN, Jeff Gordon, jimmie johnson, NASCAR

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