Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie

Ganassi guys are good at the Daytona Rolex 24

We've moved the home of Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie to the new OnPitRow.com site.  We'll continue to post over here for awhile, but please check out the new site and change your bookmarks. Thanks.

Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good.  In auto racing - and especially endurance racing - it's really better to be both.

With an hour to go in the 2008 version of the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway, the #01 Lexus Riley driven by Juan Pablo Montoya, Dario Franchitti, Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas has about a four lap lead and is coasting towards Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates Racing's third straight Daytona Prototype victory at  America's premier sports car race.

Speed TV is doing a great job covering the event that - probably - only geeks like me have watched for hours on end.  They just showed an image of Brian France - yes, the Prince of the France Republic -  up on the pit box with Chip himself.  Pretty cool, actually.

The Ganassi/Sabates cars have led more than half of all the laps contested in this race the last three years.  That's lucky and good.

Picture credit: Randy Stevens Photography

Geeked over the Rolex 24

We've moved the home of Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie to the new OnPitRow.com site.  We'll continue to post over here for awhile, but please check out the new site and change your bookmarks. Thanks.

25 Daytona Prototypes will start the 46th running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway tomorrow. That should give some comfort to NASCAR fans who are nervous about the future competitiveness of the Racer Formerly Known as CoT.

Daytona Prototypes were introduced to skeptical sportscar racing fans in 2002 by, basically the same folks who are force-feeding you that other car.  The field for the 2002 Rolex included only a handful of DPs - and they weren't very fast - or very pretty. 

The Grand Am Series' new-at-the-time stewards - that would be the Family France - said many of the same things about DPs back then as they have been telling NASCAR fans about CoTs.  They'll save teams money.  It's a safer car.  We won't permit any cheating.  You'll grow to think they're cute.

Whether or not the new NASCAR-car makes for better racing is up in the air.  Way up there, in fact.  But there is really no argument that the DP saved big league sportscar racing in this country.  That field tomorrow is big, competitive and - with the sponsor decal-friendly broad sides, hoods and tops - colorfully NASCAR-like.

And....and.... it will be a real race -  Finally

Picture credit: John Raoux/Associated Press

NASCAR's second twelve has winners too

Fourteen different drivers have won races in the 2007 Nextel Cup Series.  Three of those winners failed to make the Chase to the Nextel Cup.

Jamie McMurray, Casey Mears and Juan Pablo Montoya each captured a win this season.  Despite the hype that smothers the twelve Chase qualifiers - including the winless Clint Bowyer - I like the chances for upsets from the ranks of the non-champ contenders. 

Does anyone think that Ryan Newman, Dale Earnhardt Jr and Mark Martin are incapable of pulling out a win in the next ten races?  What about Kasey Kahne, Greg Biffle or even Petty Enterprises' Bobby Labonte.

I believe that this year's champ will come from the trio of Gordon, Johnson and Stewart.  It wouldn't surprise me though, if three or four non-Chasers manage to grab the checkered flag  before we're all done.

Picture credit: allposters.com

NASCAR rumors are what they are but The Coors Series sounds good to me

When it was announced last week that Coors Brewing Company was leaving the #40 car and Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates the popular guesses were that  that the beer maker might move to DEI to replace Budweiser or maybe nostalgically re-connect with the past and a certain #9.

Today rumors have surfaced that NASCAR may have found the replacement for Anhueser Busch as the title sponsor for the number two north American racing series, NASCAR's Grand National Series.

Lots of speculation has floated since early this season when the Bud folks announced that they were going to focus their NASCAR marketing in Nextel Cup and let the long running Busch Series sponsorship go. 

Wal Mart, Subway and Dunkin Donuts were prominently talked about - along with the rumored $30 mill that the family France was supposedly asking for the naming rights. 

For me, none of those names had the right sound.  I had begun to think that the powers at Anhueser Busch might reconsider once Dale Earnhardt Jr left them for greener sponsorship. 

Who knows if this latest NASCAR rumor will prove to be the real deal?  I admit though that I kind of like the sound of the Coors Series.  As an avowed Yankee hater there is no way the Subway Series was going to work for me.

From the strictly business standpoint, this looks good for Coors.  They drop the lead sponsorship of an underachieving Cup team and replace one of their main competitors  as title sponsor to a hugely successful sports entity.  I like it.

Dunkin Donuts Series? No competition.

No big surprises in NASCAR's Friday news

Here's a shocker.  The Hendrick Motorsport's CoT Impalas of Jimmy Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Kyle the younger Busch grabbed the top spots in qualifying for the Saturday night Sprint Nextel Cup race at Richmond International Raceway.  It wouldn't surprise me a bit if they finish that way tomorrow night as well.

I was a bit caught off by the announcement that Robert Yates will retire at the conclusion of the 2007 season.  The move clears the way for Doug Yates to take the reins of the 2 car Ford team.  Canceled in the move is the earlier announced merger with the law firm of Newman-Haas-Lanigan.  I guess the accident chasers will have to find another failing team to prop. 

If N-H-L is looking for another dance partner, maybe Michael Waltrip Racing would suffice. David Reutimann, one highly thought of, fast riser in the garage is worried that sponsorship may not surface for his MWR ride for 2008.  He's talking.  He would be as hot a property as is left in the fast evaporating NASCAR Hot Stove league.

Speaking of the Nextel Cup silly season -  with the announcements of Regan Smith  for the #01 at Dale Earnhardt Inc, Travis Kvapil headed for the #88 for the new Yates Racing and - surprise - Dario Franchitti probably taking the #40 at Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates, and friends, the field is thinning fast.

Sadly, Kenny Wallace looks like the short-term solution to the #88 vacancy.  So, the Herminator is available.  So are, David Stremme, Scott Riggs, Joe Nemechek, Sterlin Marlin and Tony Raines.  Step right up sponsors!  That'll be $ten mill please.

The other two big, non-news items were;

1. Hendrick Motorsports knows who the sponsor for Dale Jr will be.  But Rick Hendrick announced that they won't announce it just yet.  Got t's to cross. I's to dot.  And that sticky number deal is still keeping them up at night.  Apparently the #28 has crept into the conversation.  Wake me when it's over - please.

 2. Joe Gibbs Racing will not be invited to Chevrolet's 2008 planning meetings.  Duh?

I think that about covers the Friday night headlines.  Pick up your subsciption to the Daily Bugle wherever bird cage supplies are sold.  Good night and good news.

NASCAR teams play musical chairs with their beer sponsors

After 14 years--Coors Brewery has decided to leave the sponsorship of Chip Ganassi's #40 Dodge.

There is always plenty of speculation this time of year about changes in the world of NASCAR.  Driver changes, manufacturer changes, and sponsor changes usually head the lists.  The "what ifs" start surfacing about mid summer as teams drop out of contention for a shot at a championship (in years past) or qualifying for the Chase for the Championship.

Sometimes you get caught off guard; as happened this week with the announcement that long time Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates sponsor Coors Light would be moving along in 2008.

"After much evaluation on both of our parts, we agreed that having Coors Light back as a sponsor on the #40 Dodge was not going to meet the marketing objectives of either organization," said Chip Ganassi Racing Teams' President Steve Lauletta. "Coors has been a tremendous partner over the last 14 years and we wish them nothing but the best. We continue to weigh our sponsorship opportunities for the #40 and an announcement on that will be forthcoming. CGRFS has always prided itself on not only our long-term partnerships but also on our ability to attract new sponsors to the sport - just as we did earlier this year with Wrigley and Memorex."

Budweiser has been looking for new opportunities since Dale Earnhardt Jr. decided to fly the DEI coop and it looks now like DEI may be a front runner to land Coors as a replacement for Bud.  Could Regan Smith be the new--younger--hipper spokesman for the Rocky Mountain Brew?  Don't count against it, as we could see Kasey Kahne as the new Bud (Light)-man, Regan pushing lo-cal Coors and Kurt Busch continuing to hawk the Miller Lite brand.

  Or could the drop-dead curveball be Kasey driving the #9 Coors Lite Dodge?  Where have I seen something like that before?

photos: (#40)  ON PIT ROW-BethAnne Heisler       #9 (ta-sports.net)

Ganassi leads a Dodge charge and continues his racing roll

Chip Ganassi Racing has six wins in the last thirty days.  Between Nextel Cup, the Busch Series, the IRL and Grand Am Sports Car Series, Chip is livin' large.

Though there were no  Ganassi  race wins (unless I missed something) Saturday may have been the biggest day yet.

Juan Pablo Montoya, driving the #42 Havoline Charger came second in qualifying for the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.   As the only man here who has won the Indy 500, Juan had outside pressure and expectations that exceed common sense. 

Topping that though, was the pole winning run by last week's Busch Series winner, Reed Sorenson in Ganassi's Target #41 Dodge.  Reed's run was early and it was expected that cooling track temps would allow later qualifiers to bump him off pole.  Didn't happen.  It became obvious fairly early on that Sorenson was going to be tough to top. Only four drivers came within a second of his time.

Dodges have five of the top six starting positions, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. the only non-Dodge up front.  People smarter than me say the Chargers don't handle well in traffic.  People, after a few laps there isn't much traffic at Indy.  It gets stretched out until NASCAR wants to tighten it up, usually.

Sorenson, Montoya, Newman and Kurt Busch wouldn't be a bad perfecta.  If I were a betting man.  How do you spell perfecta, anyway?

Picture credit: Beth Anne Heisler - ON PIT ROW