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Somebody’s Gonna Hurt Someone ‘for this Race is Through

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 22, 2011 8:38 pm UTC No Comments

It’s Talladega Super Speedway and for the first time in my memory – and maybe ever – there is worry that The Big One won’t happen like it used to.

There are five races left in the 2011 Chase to the Sprint Cup. This might be the most important. It will be a decider for some. The eliminator for a few.

NASCAR is playing with restrictor plate sizes. Drivers are not talking trash. Just get through it.

It’s a potential fluke race. Wild card, we call it. Pressure is what it is.

I can’t wait. I may try to sleep until the last five laps. But it won’t work. I’ll be on the edge of my chair, just like always. I hope you will too.

Photo credit: Round girl Cindi by BethAnne Heisler for OnPitRow.com

Filed under: Chase for the Cup, NASCAR, Sprint Cup Series, Talladega Superspeedway

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Fantasy Pick’Em: 2011 Aaron’s 499

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.

April 13, 2011 11:23 am UTC No Comments

Before you even read another word of this column, keep the following in mind. We’re trying to predict fantasy NASCAR at a restrictor-plate superspeedway. There is literally no rhyme or reason to this whatsoever. There will almost undoubtedly be a giant accident or three that will eliminate 20 cars from contention, and more likely than not the following three drivers will all be involved.

That being said, let’s start the guesswork.

Look, nobody predicted that Trevor Bayne would win the Daytona 500 (except, well, for me… and way to drop the timestamp, Twitter). Nobody predicted Brad Keselowski to win at Talladega in a Phoenix Racing car two years ago, either. That’s how much of a crapshoot restrictor-plate events are. They’re the great equalizer – 36 races on these tracks would likely produce 36 different winners.

It’s not about speed, it’s about survival. But these three are generally good at it. You know how it goes – my pick first, then an alternate, then my dark horse. Don’t be totally shocked.

Carl Edwards: Edwards has been the strongest, most consistent driver in the sport thus far this year. That’s probably going to be more of a curse than a blessing this weekend, as you think that bad luck is going to have to get to him eventually. You also wonder, after the wreck in 2009 that saw his car go flying, if Edwards has that nagging conservatism in him on restrictor plate tracks. But that conservatism might help him if it causes him to stay way back of the wrecks and make it to the final few laps.

Brad Keselowski: Keselowski’s actually got three top-10s in four Talladega starts, including the win in his track debut, giving him a 13.2 average finish that tops all active drivers. Consistency is a difficult concept at Talladega, but Keselowski’s as good as any.

Trevor Bayne: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice… well, the point is NOT to fool me twice. Even if you think Bayne’s got more Michael Waltrip in him than Jeff Gordon – and I think you’re wrong if you do – some drivers are just incredible on the restrictor plate tracks, and for all we know, Bayne will be one of them throughout his career.

Filed under: Brad Kesolowski, Carl Edwards, NASCAR Fantasy Gaming, Talladega Superspeedway, Trevor Bayne

Tagged with: Aaron's 499, Brad Keselowski, Carl Edwards, Fantasy Pick'Em, Talladega Superspeedway, Trevor Bayne

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Looks Like a Chevy vs Toyota Showdown at Talladega

by Charlie Turner

October 30, 2010 7:57 pm UTC No Comments

Juan Pablo Montoya took his second career pole at Talladega Super Speedway and along with Clint Bowyer, gave Chevy the front row and six of the top eight spots on the grid.

Earlier, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota drivers Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch topped 201 MPH (lap average speed) in practice, while drafting together – which they just may do some on Sunday in the race.

The AMP Energy Juice 500 shapes up to be Fast and Fabulous, as are most races at the big track. Despite a nice qualifying showing by the Penske Racing Dodges of Kurt Busch (3rd) Sam Hornish Jr and Brad Keselowski (10th and 11th), the Racing for Glory this week shapes up to be between the Bow-tie camp and the Rice Burners.

With lots of three and four wide action, there will be plenty of the old Rubbing’s Racing talk during and after this one. And there is bound to be a big wreck or two. Maybe the Fords can shake their problems and the Dodges are for real. It is Halloween after all. Strange things do happen.

Filed under: Brad Kesolowski, Chase for the Cup, Chevrolet, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin, Hendrick Motorsports, Jeff Gordon, jimmie johnson, Joe Gibbs Racing, Joey Logano, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Kyle Petty, Mark Martin, NASCAR, Sam Hornish Jr, Sprint Cup Series, Talladega Superspeedway

Tagged with: Amp Energy Juice 500, Chevy racing, Dodge, Ford Racing, restrictor plates, Toyota Motorsports

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Roush-Fenway Drivers Feeling Good Vibrations? Not

by Charlie Turner

October 30, 2010 7:27 pm UTC 1 Comment

Abandon ship! Abandon ship!

That is, or maybe should be, the line of thought – theme of advice – you get from the NASCAR prognosticators, when it comes to the Roush-Fenway Racing drivers heading into Talladega.

The Roushketeers’ cars have vibrations. And there ARE no Good Vibrations in a Cup Car at a Plate Track.

Paint it however you want, but after two practices at Talladega, the following was the most positive comment that I read from a Roush driver (Greg Biffle) (thanks to SceneDaily.com) …

“Depending on the vibration, it blurs your vision a little bit because your head is vibrating against the headrest, or you’ve got to hold your head off the headrest,” he said. “You forget about it after they throw the green flag.”

Uh, no you don’t. You try to ignore it after the green flag. Then you kind of wait for the worst. No confidence – no win.

Bad Vibrations.

Filed under: Carl Edwards, Chase for the Cup, David Ragan, Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, NASCAR, NASCAR Tech, Roush Racing, Talladega Superspeedway

Tagged with: restrictor plates, Roush-Fenway Racing

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Fantasy Pick’Em: 2010 Amp Energy Juice 500

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

October 27, 2010 11:32 pm UTC No Comments

Kurt Busch heading out to practice at Indianapolis

Talladega Superspeedway hosts the Amp Energy Juice 500, the seventh race of this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup. Three drivers – Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, and Kyle Busch – enter the race within a weekend’s points haul of leader Jimmie Johnson, with Hamlin the closest at six markers back.

Talladega is widely understood to be the most unpredictable track in the Chase, with its restrictor-plate-engineered pack racing perpetuating the threat of a 20-car accident at any corner. Any driver can encounter bad luck at Talladega. Most have. The points leader coming out of this weekend will not necessarily be the guy to win the race, it will be the guy who survives the big one – if it happens.

With that in mind, recognize that the following picks are a crapshoot.

As far as the luckiest driver at Talladega goes, it’s Kurt Busch, with only three DNFs in 19 career Talladega starts. His resultant 12.8 average finish is the sport’s best. From the end of 2004 through 2007, he had a seven-race streak at the track of single-digit finishes, though he has never actually won at the track.

Looking at a dark horse, Jamie McMurray is your best bet. This race’s defending winner, he’s doubled his career win total this year alone, as the Earnhardt Ganassi team re-establishes itself as a weekly contender. McMurray’s won half of his career races at Daytona and Talladega, the sport’s two biggest tracks and the only two to require the use of restrictor plates.

Three more for the sake of three more:

Hey, remember that time Dale Earnhardt Jr. won four Talladega races in a row? He’s still a track favorite, even if that streak ended in 2003. He’s led in his past nine Talladega starts and in 19 out of 21 career races run, which has to count for something, even as lead changes seem to become more frequent every time Sprint Cup comes to the speedway.

Tony Stewart’s only Talladega win came at this race in 2008, but it was not without controversy. Most fans believed that, despite passing Stewart below the yellow line on the final lap, Regan Smith deserved the win for passing cleanly and not wrecking his competitor. Regardless, it finally validated a solid Talladega record that includes a half-dozen runner-up finishes.

Finally, let’s look out in left field for our final pick, since it more often than not seems like at least somebody in the top ten at Talladega gets there on sheer luck. Scott Speed was that lucky gentleman in the spring of 2009, placing fifth in his debut at the track. He’s only got three starts at the track, one of which ended in a wreck, but the other result, a 15th place run this spring, wasn’t too bad either. I mean, Talladega’s a crapshoot anyway; you could really do worse than to tape a bunch of driver headshots to a dartboard and pick whomever you hit. (Not that I recommend doing that. Not that I did that for this week’s column, either… I swear.)

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

Tagged with: Amp Energy Juice 500, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jamie McMurray, Kurt Busch, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing, Scott Speed, Talladega Superspeedway, Tony Stewart

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NASCAR Monsoon Season: Texas to Talladega

by Charlie Turner

April 25, 2010 11:11 am UTC No Comments

What a long wet week it has been for the NASCAR fleet.

After a weekend washout at the Great American Speedway that caused a Monday doubleheader, the Saturday slate at Talladega Superspeedway was lost to another deluge – and some scary weather in general.

So we’ll play two today. We hope.

In fact the weather is more predictable than the races will be. The tune doesn’t change much. No matter who is singing it. Drivers, talking heads, journalists, bloggers or fans; nobody has a real clue who will win this thing.

Dale Earnhardt Jr compared Talladega races to playing the lottery. And Junior has had alot of success at “Dega. Read Bob Pockrass’ article here.

The good thing about Talladega – for me at least – is that the races are exciting. It keeps me on the edge for more of a given race than any other track. The “almost anyone can win” nature of the place is both frustrating and exciting. The “big one” looms throughout.

But it will be hard to have a bigger “big one” than they had at TMS on Monday.

Photo credit: Round girl Jen by BethAnne Heisler for OnPitRow.com

Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR, Sprint Cup Series, Talladega Superspeedway

Tagged with: Aaron's 499, Great American Speedway, Round girl Jen

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