NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity has a Star in the Making

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

February 1, 2010 10:55 pm UTC No Comments

The NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown is always a gas to watch and a terrific way to say adios racing’s winter season. Saturday’s event was extra special though.

Joe Gibbs Racing star Joey Logano won his second Showdown. He was the consensus favorite coming in. But it wasn’t Joey who stole the show this time.

NASCAR Drive for Diversity find, Sergio Pena started it all by taking pole on Friday – Logano was second fastest. That would have been good all by itself.

But I haven’t had as much fun watching a race in a long, long time. Pena and Logano raced bumper to bumper and door to door for the whole race. Repeated re-starts made Pena and Logano work hard. They raced clean. It was great stuff.

I can’t wait to see more of the 16 year old Pena. Maybe an ARCA season is in the offing.

Check out Joey Logano’s NASCAR statistics here.

Photo credit: Getty Images for NASCAR

Filed under: Irwindale Speedway, Joey Logano, NASCAR

Tagged with: NASCAR drive for diversity, Sergio Pena, Toyota All Star Challenge

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Bump Linkin’ on an All Star Showdown Friday

by Charlie Turner

January 23, 2009 5:05 pm UTC 5 Comments

I just read something disturbing from my friend the Diecast Dude. It’s raining in California.

Well make it stop! There’s a race out there tonight in at Irwindale Speedway and I need it to run as scheduled. I’m not sure my rather shaky well being can take a weather delay in THE FIRST RACE OF THE YEAR! Let it rain in Florida tomorrow – or all weekend. Those sporty car guys will drive in anything and I kind of like watching road racing in the rain.

But that’s just me.

The best thing I’ve read this week about the state of the Kingdom of France was Fox Sports’ Lee Spencer’s piece about the five questions that NASCAR fans deserve to have answered by the sports’ royalty. Here’s a favorite part…

“with chairman Brian France up top, the person steering the ship should have every bit as much passion for running the sport as the people who spend their hard-earned money to sit in the stands every weekend.

Unlike his father and grandfather, Brian France just doesn’t fit that bill. No time was it more evident than when he stated last December that he “will not have a 30-year run like my father for a variety of reasons.”

“Somebody has got to stand up and take charge, somebody who can rally the troops and infuse enthusiasm to fans. That person is currently not in charge of NASCAR.”

The Catfish Show has a piece on the driver he thinks will be Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year. I like Matt’s choice, but I’ll take Justin Allgaier, who just got full season sponsorship for his Penske ride.

Steve has been talking - or is it squawking - a lot about the potential for a resurgence of the start-and-parkers of some years back. The NASCAR Insiders have a great article on that too…

And the high priestess of Church of the Great Oval has begun her annual astrological projections of NASCAR’s best, starting with Jeff Gordon and Jimmy Johnson.

Now stop the rain. I wanna watch a real race tonight.

Photo credit: Getty Images for NASCAR Media

Filed under: Brad Coleman, Brian France, Irwindale Speedway, Justin Allgaier, NASCAR, NASCAR officials, Nationwide Series, Penske Racing

Tagged with: Brian France, Irwindale Speedway, Justin Allgaier, Michael Annett, NASCAR astrology, Nationwide Series, start and parkers, Toyota All Star Challenge

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