Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie

All in all it was a classy day in Thunder Valley

 

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.

to read the rest of this post go to the new home of the Bench Racing blog.

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.

Live Blog - NASCAR Awards Show

Watching NASCAR's year end awards banquet and show from the Waldorf in New York City is, to me, a painful experience.  But doing what I do, I feel compelled to watch it. That's kind of funny actually because I don't always feel compelled to watch the races.  Anyway, since I have to do this, I was hoping that some of you would join me in my pain. 

Steve and our producer/photographer Beth Anne have promised - under threat of me making their email addresses public on MySpace - to show up at some point and I have dropped pleading hints around the NASCAR blogosphere as well. 

So with the help of this great Cover it Live software we'll try our best to resurrect Joel, Tom Servo, Betsy and Crow of Mystery Science Theatre 3000 fame and totally de-construct NASCAR's most ludicrous night.

3 drivers to watch for NASCAR Chase's chasers

There is sure to be excitement at the front of tonight's Sharp Aquos 500 at California Speedway.  The Nextel Cup contenders will pull out the stops for the win and precious ten bonus points that come with it.  For Dale Earnhardt Jr and Ryan Newman fans, the drama will be at the back of the pack.  They hope.

Three drivers hold the keys to a chance at ultimate success - or relative failure  - for the #8 and #12.  Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr or Kurt Busch have big leads over their pursuers for the Chase's top twelve - roughly 160 to 180 points -  but catastrophe lurks.  Just ask Brad Kesolowski.

Kurt Busch has looked, to me, like a solid contender for the championship - if he can just get in the Chase.  Truex Jr had a couple non-descript races but has come on lately.  Harvick has faltered a bit. 

On the chaser side, Earnhardt Jr and Newman have been pretty solid for most of the last dozen races.  The problem has been that their respective team-mates have outshone them.  Not by much - just enough, it seems, each race to stretch the deficit to where it is today.  And it is their team-mates that they chase.

It shapes up to be an interesting race.  Could it be that if a Harvick or Truex Jr falls laps down, allowing Dale Jr to claw back into points contention, that NASCAR leaves the debris caution flags furled?  Lucky dogs be damned?

Picture credit: Beth Anne Heisler - ON PIT ROW