Dear @dennyhamlin: From @ChurchGr8Oval in 140 or more.

by Clance' McClannahan, Special To NASCAR commentary and driver pictures, 2012 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.

July 30, 2010 10:21 pm UTC 2 Comments

Dear Denny,

Hiya! I understand you had a rough day on the wallet, as well as has Ryan Newman.

Ryan Newman handled his disappointing fine with the grace and acceptance of The Rocketman. His Boss, tongue in cheek, ( I believe) felt the penalties were correct. As usual Mr. Smoke coming out of his ears blamed the media for the role they have played in blowing things out of proportion and encouraging the fans to believe negative things about NASCAR. I received a tweet from Ramsey Poston, regarding some of the negativity that you were complaining about.

I had sent a tweet/twit/twirp to Ramsey Poston that ”Protecting NASCAR & airing grievances privately is one thing, fining drivers just brings more negative light to the sport”. My opinion regarding both Ryan and yourself.

Then you began to go off about it being the fault of Twitter and Media and secret logs, etc….PUHLEEZE! Did you think things were confidential on Twitter? Take some responsibility, whether you agree or not with the outcome.

Mr. Poston’s reply to me was “”He’s not frustrated w/ NASCAR-he’s frustrated that drivers have been so supportive of the policy – and have been since Jan.” Hmmmm.

I retweeted his reply, and Lo and Behold!!!! It was amazing how many NASCAR Journalist’s and so called Journalist’s took credit for being the person that Ramsey Poston was referring too!

My advise? Listen to Tony Stewart… Or blame each and every writer who has become a Twitter Cluck and gained their hours or days or seconds of fame there, instead of through good writing skills. Skills most of them have, had, or lost somewhere since they started writing in 140 characters or less.

Remember…Twitter has become the new “News Media”. There are a lot of fans who now read the tweets and twits as gospel truth from the people they see tweet the most. He who clucks loudest wins and becomes most influential. There are a lot of fans that don’t even take the time to read articles any longer. They read Twitter.

I did think it was pretty funny how many Clucks jumped to take credit as the person upset since January, to be so mentioned personally by the Master Ramsey Poston.

Too funny. Laugh it off. Don’t stop tweeting. Your fans love it. Continue to engage in banter just don’t let certain people suck you in for their own fame. I know you know who I am talking about, but just in case there is confusion between those who are taking the most credit for your demise, DM me. Maybe they can split your fines.

Filed under: NASCAR, Shut Up and Drive

Tagged with: Denny Hamlin, NASCAR, NASCAR media, Ramsey Poston, Tony Stewart, Tony StewartDenny Hamlin, twitter

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Pocono Might Be Another Denny Hamlin Show

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

June 6, 2008 9:50 pm UTC No Comments

When Kyle Busch looks in the mirror these days, he may see Jeff Gordon staring back at him. I guess that wouldn’t be so bad if he saw Ingrid standing behind him too. Sorry Shrub. Don’t get you hopes up.

The mirror image comes from the similar ways the two NASCAR stars have dominated the Cup Series – Gordon in 2007 and Busch this season – the last two years.

After 13 races in 2007, Gordon had won three. Kyle has four wins so far this year. Gordon led second place Jimmy Johnson by 152 points while Busch has a 142 point advantage on Jeff Burton.

In the all important – at least to the NASCAR stat geeks – Loop Driver Rating, Gordon had a DR of 111.4 including five straight races of at least 120.0. Currently, Kyle Busch has a DR of 115.2 with four consecutive, single race DR’s of 120.0 or better.

Gordon won the Pocono 500 in 2007. His Driver Rating at Pocono Raceway going into the 500 is fifth best at 97.5. He is a four-time winner at Pocono and has a career Ave Finish of 10.2. Kyle Busch has a Driver Rating of 87.0 – 12th best – for the PA track and an Ave Finish of 16.7. Are you inspired yet?

Maybe we are looking at the wrong Busch. Brother Kurt has a DR of 116.6 and series best stats of 241 Green Flag Passes, 207 Fastest Laps, 343 Laps Led and 952 Ave Points Gained. But the two-time Pocono winner would be hard to pick, given his 2008 performances so far.

The Loop Stat stud of the week is Kyle’s teammate Denny Hamlin. In his four career Pocono appearances Denny has finished top five three times and won twice. His Ave Start – 2.5, Ave Mid-Race – 3.0, Ave Position – 4.6 and Ave Finish – 2.8 are all category leading. His Driver Rating is a stunning 133.1. Unlike Kurt Busch, Hamlin is having a very good 2008. He looks like the logical choice this weekend.

Smoke and Mirrors

Hamlin’s other teammate – Tony Stewart- has Pocono’s third best Driver Rating. 2008 has been somewhat a disappointment for Stewart fans. He remains win-less for ’08, often falling victim to race incidents that aren’t his fault. His scathing, back-handed slap at Elliott Sadler after the Dover big one was funny. The result, not so much. I wonder if the distractions of silly season are hurting Stewart’s on-track performance. But after watching him do everything but take tickets at his Prelude to the Dream exhibition race at Eldora Speedway this week – and then win the feature race going away – I would say he no problem with focus during a race. Smoke is a past winner at Pocono and has a couple of category leading stats too. If the karma from Eldora carries over this could be the week that starts his annual summer streak.

Ryan Newman is the only other driver with a DR over 100 – 101.9 to be exact. Newman has run more laps in the top fifteen than anyone else at the Green two and a half mile with 931. That team has been frustratingly inconsistent since Daytona. I have a hard time pulling the Rocketman’s trigger.

Jimmy Johnson swept both Pennsylvania races in 2004. He has seven top tens and no DNF’s in his carreer here. Driver Rating of 93.8 is ninth best behind Kevin Harvick, Mark Martin and my dark-horse pick, Brian Vickers.

Vickers’ DR of 97.0 is sixth best, he’s run 810 laps in the top 15 over the last six races and led 140 of them. The Toyota horsepower should be an advantage on the three long Pocono straights. Brian could win here.

But I’ve got to take Denny Hamlin. Same Toyota motor, much better track record. Mark it down.

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, inc.

Filed under: Brian Vickers, Denny Hamlin, Eldora Speedway, Jeff Gordon, Jimmy Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Pocono Raceway, Prelude to the Dream, Ryan Newman, Sprint Cup Series, Tony Stewart