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Thinking about Michael Waltrip

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 24, 2008 5:59 pm UTC 8 Comments

What’s this about Michael and Buffy Waltrip, maybe, having…issues? I gotta get out more often. Valli was a guest ON PIT ROW Tuesday. She says that’s the most popular search on her blog. I’m shocked.

So I saw this post about Michael Waltrip Racing’s big plans for the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard at Scene Daily. They didn’t ask Mikey about his domestic tranquility, or lack of same. Waltrip did talk about what he calls generation three of MWR’s version of the CoT, and how his team has improved the car – citing lower weight, and how lowering the center of gravity is a key, to him, in improving the New Car.

“Drivers talk about how this car is heavier than the old cars. That means the center of gravity is very critical. A way that I can explain this is if Jeff Gordon and I are racing, and if he has a lower center of gravity in comparison to mine, then he will have the ability to make it through the corners faster.”

Of course, if Mikey has a lower center of gravity than Jeff Gordon, Gordon will still be faster through the corner than Waltrip. I mean, he’s Jeff Gordon for cryin’ out loud!

Filed under: Car of Tomorrow, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, It's Only Cheating if You Get Caught, Jeff Gordon, NASCAR & the Media, NASCAR Rumors, NASCAR Tech, On Pit Row The Fastest Two Hours on Radio, Sprint Cup Series, The Waltrips, Toyota

Tagged with: blog, Buffy Waltrip, Car of Tomorrow, Jeff Gordon, Michael Waltrip, motorsports, NASCAR, NASCAR Rumors

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Bench Racing TV’s First Monday Morning Crew Chief

by Charlie Turner

July 3, 2008 2:44 pm UTC No Comments

Welcome the newest member of the Pit Crew – Mindy Monday - to OnPitRow.com and the Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie blog. Mindy’s video posts will be a regular feature of our new Bench Racing TV section. Let us hear your comments and remember – Stay classy NASCAR!

Download Monday Morning Crew Chief #1

Filed under: Bench Racing TV, Jeff Gordon, Jimmy Johnson, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kyle Busch, Monday Morning Crew Chief, NASCAR Rumors, Sprint Cup Series, The Waltrips, Toyota

Tagged with: blog, Jeff Gordon, Jimmy Johnson, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kyle Busch, Michael Waltrip, Mind Monday, Monday Morning Crew Chief, motorsports, NASCAR, NASCAR video

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Do All-Stars Get Loose in Turn 3?

by Charlie Turner

May 16, 2008 8:33 am UTC 8 Comments

Yes it’s NASCAR’s All Star weekend. Speed TV has begun a 48 hour marathon of All Star coverage, beginning with the Pit Crew Challenge and ending some time long after the race winner has been feted. I’m not a huge fan and luckily for me, the ARCA RE/MAX Series is in town and that will keep me busy and distracted. I’ll have to TIVO most of the All Star coverage. That is a plus for me.

The race itself will probably be pretty good. And yes, even All Stars get Loose in Turn 3. The captains of the blogs, Bruce’s NASCAR Bits and Pieces and Tim’s Do You NASCAR? join me again to carve up three different NASCAR issues in this week’s Loose in Turn 3 triple play.

My question this time is a scenario and it goes like this….

NASCAR world has been turned upside-down. All of the drivers are free agents – the ultimate silly season has been declared. You are a team owner and you have three seats to fill with five year contracts. What manufacturer and which three drivers do you stick yourself with?

Charlie: Toyota is my car choice. I believe that Jack Roush is right – Toyota will take over NASCAR. Jimmy Johnson heads my team. He’s a two time champion with at least ten years left in him. Kasey Kahne is my number two. All he needs is equipment. Kyle Busch has to be in because it seems that he doesn’t even need that!

Bruce: That’s loaded. Does you having picked mean I can’t pick those now? I’m sticking with Ford.. Clint Bowyer, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and I like Kasey Kahne also. Clint is quietly consistent and I’ll take that any day of the year… heck, I won and online league by being in the top 5 every race with only one win. Jr: He’s pretty consistent this year and he’s showing what he can do with good equipment, so I have faith in him. Kahne: The only thing that held him up last year was a poorly programmed computer program that caused the team to make incorrect adjustments… once they got back on track, they’ll be good to go, or more to the point, Kahne will be good to go on my Ford powered team. (Yea, Yea, the guys will all have to break their manufacturer contracts to be on my team, what of it? That’s what silly season is all about!!)

TZ: Like Bruce said… definitely a loaded question. I’ve gotta go with Charlie on the manufacturer for my team, though. Forget about tradition and what got this sport where it is now. If I’m a team owner, I’ve got dollar signs in my eyes, and I’m going with the new wave, which has to be Toyota. As for my team itself, from a business perspective, I start with Jimmy Johnson for immediate on-track success and a bid at the Cup, and I actually build my team around him. Back-to-back titles, how can you argue with that? Then, I back him up with Carl Edwards. The cat’s only 28 years old, he wins, he does great with the media and I see him as a solid partner for Johnson. I finish up with the youngster to protect the future on my company, and for that I look no further than the 22 year old David Ragan.

OK, that’s what we think. What do you think?

Tim’s post query is…. There’s been a lot of talk about the “changing of the guard” in NASCAR this year. Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards have been running hot. Are they the future of our sport?

Bruce’s post starts with this…. Seasoned drivers and when is it their turn?

Enjoy the discussion and the All-Star extravaganza this weekend.

Photo Credit: Harold Hinson/HHP Images

Filed under: ARCA Remax Series, Carl Edwards, Clint Boyer, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmy Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch, NASCAR & the Media, Sprint Cup Series, Toledo Speedway, Turn 2 posts

Tagged with: All Star weekend, blog, Carl Edwards, David Ragan, Jimmy Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch, Lowes Motor Speedway, Michael Waltrip, motorsports, NASCAR

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Jamie McMurray answers the Martinsville challenge

by Charlie Turner

March 28, 2008 11:00 pm UTC 4 Comments

Jamie McMurray started the day only four points short of the thirty fifth spot in Sprint Cup owners’ points. So close that climbing back into the warm and fuzzy side of NASCAR’s goofy qualifying bed was in easy reach, if only he could make this race on his own speed. He did.

If he had not, the best case result for him would have been going into qualifying next week, 37 points out of 35th place. It could have been a bunch worse.

Four drivers failed to make the field for the 2008 Goody’s Cool Orange 500. John Andretti, Joe Nemechek, Tony Raines and Kyle Petty are out. Petty, the highest placed of the go-homers, will be at least 93 points out of the top thirty five when he gets to Texas.

Kyle the Good wasn’t whining – Scene Daily story:

“We missed this race at Daytona when we had fuel-pressure problems. We missed this race at California when we had brake issues. We missed this race at Atlanta and Las Vegas when we don’t understand bump stops and they kicked our butts six ways to Sunday and we had two of them fail.

“And that was our fault. You don’t just show up at a race and miss it. You put yourself in a position months ahead of time to be in this
position and this is where you’re at.”

There has been speculation that Petty Enterprises would swap the points of Bobby Labonte’s #43 with Kyle in a move that would put the #45 solidly back in the top 35. But today NASCAR denied a request by Michael Waltrip Racing to swap the owner’s points of it’s #44 and #00 teams – a move that would have eased the pressure on the UPS sponsorship by taking that team from 34th to 30th. NASCAR has ruled that point swaps may only happen during the off season and must be due to fundamental changes in a team.

So Kyle and the #45 will face a year of fighting to make races and then struggling to make up a big points deficit to the top thirty fivers. Too bad.

When you watch Sunday’s race ask yourself why four or five more cars on that track would be a bad thing.

Picture credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

Filed under: David Reutimann, Jamie McMurray, Sprint Cup Series, The Pettys, Top 35 Rule

Tagged with: blog, Goody's Cool Orange 500, Jamie McMurray, Kyle Petty, Martinsville, Michael Waltrip, motorsports, NASCAR, Sprint Cup Series, top thirty five rule

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All in all it was a classy day in Thunder Valley

by Charlie Turner

March 16, 2008 11:26 pm UTC 4 Comments

Dale Jarrett’s last Sprint Cup Series race didn’t go as well as he and his fans hoped. His 37th place finish in the Food City 500 was disappointing.

But he did hand over his #44 UPS Camry with 34th place owner’s points – a critical accomplishment for his employer, Michael Waltrip Racing. DJ was the epitome of class to the end. Scene Daily had this quote…

“Well, it wasn’t the finish I would have liked,” Jarrett said. “I’m able to go out with the best sponsor in the business in UPS, and I would have liked to have had a better day for them, but I really can’t be too upset when you take into consideration the kind of career I have been fortunate to have.”

The win went to another of the classiest members of the NASCAR circus, Jeff Burton. Burton has been running around up front all year and the win at Bristol was no stunner. Maybe the fact that Jeff Burton was the driver to capture Chevrolet’s first 2008 victory was a surprise. Richard Childress Racing Impalas finished top three in a race led mostly by two Joe Gibbs’ Camrys.

Tony Stewart led the most laps – again at Bristol – only to get taken out by a Kevin Harvick bobble that will come to be seen as “one of those racin’ deals” after a couple days of cool-down. Stewart was sarcastic after the race. Scene Daily again…

“I thought I left him plenty of room, but I don’t know,” Stewart said. “I was far enough ahead of him that I didn’t see where he hit me or when he hit me. I’m sure somehow it was my fault. I’m just sorry I got in his way.”

Harvick wasn’t ducking culpability. He clearly got loose under Smoke, impatience maybe causing a mistake.

“I clipped the apron, just lost the thing. If I’d have had it to do over again, I wouldn’t want to spin out. But, you know, it’s just one of those deals where I was just trying to get all I could and just got a little too far.”

All-in-all a kinder, gentler Bristol. I’m writing this at midnight and can find no reports of cheating or tire tirades. The race went full term, without rain, snow or – luckily – tornado delay. No punches thrown, nor helmets either. Just classy drivers acting – well, classy.

I think Atlanta was more fun.

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

Filed under: Dale Jarrett, Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick, Sprint Cup Series, Tony Stewart

Tagged with: blog, Dale Jarrett, Harvick, Jeff Burton, Joe Gibbs, Kevin, Michael Waltrip, motorsports, NASCAR, Richard Childress, Tony Stewart

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NASCAR is already full of surprises

by Charlie Turner

February 11, 2008 10:25 am UTC 4 Comments

We are barely started in the 2008 season and who can believe what has happened?

One year after “fuelgate” Michael Waltrip has put his NAPA Camry on the front row for next week’s Daytona 500. Oh yeah and the not so surprising part; joining him on the front row–Jimmy Johnson. Johnson hasn’t missed a beat from 2007, by putting his Lowes Chevrolet on the pole.

Here are this week’s Fast lap questions:

1– Should Tony Stewart or Kurt Busch be penalized for their confrontation on the race track during Budweiser Shootout practice?

2– Was this the best Bud Shootout ever?

3– Whose qualifying effort was more surprising; David Reutimann’s or Joe Nemechek’s?

4– Will Casey Mears become an after thought at Hendrick Motorsports?

So, what do you think? Remember; if we like your comments, whether we agree or disagree, we could use them on this week’s broadcast of ON PIT ROW. ON PIT ROW can be heard live via streaming audio every week, Tuesdays at 5pm ET. Just click on LISTEN LIVE on the home page.

Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett – Getty Images for NASCAR

Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports, It's Only Cheating if You Get Caught, Jimmy Johnson, Joe Nemechek, NASCAR, NASCAR officials, Sprint Cup Series, The Busch Bros, The Fast Lap, The Waltrips, Tony Stewart