Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie

NASCAR Non-News Now

I feel so used.  Sucked in by the implied respectability of network television coverage of our beloved sport and the desperation of one of the biggest players in NASCAR media to invent stories when they are tough to find.  Nice job ESPN.

I admit it.  I bit.  Shortly before leaving to get to our ON PIT ROW broadcast location Tuesday, I saw a blurb about MRN stalwart and Sirius Satellite radio host  Dave Moody checking on a report that ESPN the Magazine was breaking a story about some Toyota team being caught red-handed with a top-secret Jack Roush Racing part. 

Now we broadcast the show from our winter home,  a sports bar called Frickers, just outside the right field wall at Fifith Third Field - the home of the Toledo Mud Hen’s and like all respectable sports bars, it’s full of TV’s - and one radio show that’s full of….itself.  Just before our scheduled air time,  ESPN’s NASCAR Now was on the tube, with a “special breaking news” report from Terry Blount.  My suspicion level  began to tick upward.

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.

Jack Roush ain’t afraid of the rice burners

A big deal was made during the Daytona 500 weekend about the comparative horsepower results from NASCAR’s post Dual 150 dyno tests of Sprint Cup Series cars.

Most of the noise was - depending on which side you listened to -  either crowing or complaining about how the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas had up to a 30 hp advantage over the Chevy teams.  I never did see any definitive numbers for Dodge or Ford, but the quotes that I did see didn’t deny Toyota’s overall power advantage.

That impressive win at the Auto Club 500 by Roush-Fenway’s Carl Edwards seemed to be argument enough that Jack Roush’s Fusions are plenty strong though.

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.

What does NASCAR testing mean?

With one week of testing in the books and the second week under way--what have we learned?  Anyone--anyone--anyone?

We have seen that the cars from Hendrick Motorsports are fast.  Is it learning if you already know the answer?   The Toyotas have been fast in all test sessions.  But, perhaps they have the most to prove and are just not part of the sandbag parade that has been so prevalent in years past.

It hasn't really been much of a secret that many teams would come to Daytona testing without much to prove and would, therefore, go through the testing sessions without their best cars or intentions.

There have been exceptions to the rule.  Years past would see new car owners, new manufacturers or new drivers with a message to send and Daytona in January was a great place to send that message.

Could that be what Toyota is using the 2008 test for?

This week the Fast Lap asks:

1) With Morgan-McClure being the latest team to close their doors due to lack of sponsorship dollars, who might be next?

2) Are the speeds being turned by the Toyotas at testing, indicative of their 2008 performance?

3) Would Teresa have allowed Junior to open a nightclub in Charlotte and risk distraction?

4) Darrell Waltrip ran a poll to see if he should boogity-boogity-boogity, or not.  How do you vote?

Let us know how you feel about these questions, or anything else that happened since last February in Daytona.  If we like your comments, whether we agree or not, we may use them on the air during Tuesday's ON PIT ROW.  Leave us a comment on the blog or call the show--toll free at 1-877-502-8255 between 5-7pm ET on Tuesdays.

Which of the Preseason Thunderers has the most to prove?

Even after an admittedly short, semi-off-season without NASCAR's Chargers and Impalas, it's tough to guard against putting too much stock in the daily results of the Preseason Thunder testing going on this week in Florida.

The NASCAR news for the last couple days has been full of reports of how Kyle the Younger Busch has been faster than anyone in Daytona.  Kyle's switch from his Hendrick ride to a Gibbs Toyota would have been the big story most years in the France Republic. But 2007 saw his story barely make the top five, behind the loss of the late Bill France, a couple of Earnhardt related sagas and the Gibbs to Toyota switch.

One of our Fast Lap questions ON PIT ROW this week asked who has the most to prove at testing this month.  It might be Kyle, and if it is, he is showing some pretty good stuff so far.

Busch's Joe Gibbs Racing team and even his manufacturer of choice, Toyota, have plenty to prove to sizable numbers of NASCAR watchers too.  Staunch Tony Stewart/Chevrolet followers are going to take plenty of convincing that Smoke's kidnapping by them evil fereners was, in the long run, a good thing.  Tony being fast out of the 2008 box would help with that.

I'm sure that Earnhardt Jr feels some pressure to start well and he probably will.   How about Michael Waltrip, who may be feeling heat from sponsors and his manufacturer?  Do you think that J J Yeley might have a little extra motivation to put that Hall of Fame Racing Camry in front of a Gibbs car or two?

Yates Racing is looking for sponsorship.  Gillette-Everham Motorsports sucked last year and has all new sponsors - and partners - to please.  On and on and on, throughout the garage the pressure -  if it ever let up at all during the shortest winter in sports - is back on in full.  Thank you NASCAR.

Picture credit: Sam Greenwood - Getty Images for NASCAR

The worst of NASCAR 2008

Alright NASCAR, we wouldn't want you to get too big a head or anything.  As I sit here preparing the tactics I will employ in the twin tasks of stalking roasted turkey and dealing with the likely disappointment the Detroit Lions will leave me with tomorrow - I thought I would remind the France family that 2007 wasn't perfect.

• It all started in Daytona.  The much anticipated debut of Toyota in the Nextel Cup Series along with the masterfully assembled and promoted flagship team of Michael Waltrip Racing crashed before it ever got started due to a stupid attempt by someone at MWR to doctor the fuel in Waltrip's own NAPA Camry.  The resulting penalty was devastating to Mikey, his sponsors and the team.

• Has there ever been a rule - in any sport - so universally reviled as the obsolete "Top thirty five" qualifying deal?

• There just should have been some way for the surviving Earnhardts to work things out.  In the perfect NASCAR world, Dale Junior fans and everyone else involved from sanctioning body to media to sponsors would want to have Junior driving that #8 Budweiser Chevy. The story was a huge distraction throughout the first half of 2007.

• After signing a high profile, big ticket contract with Waltrip's startup Toyota team, classy ex-champ Dale Jarrett suffered through a wasted year as he struggled to make races and showed poorly when he did qualify.  Jarrett's last full season in cup should have been better.

• Maybe DJ and sponsor UPS knew something when he left Robert Yates Racing for the joys of Toyota racing.  The slide of RYR has been fast and steep.  The one-time Ford super team is just a shadow of itself and will now operate as Roush - East.

• Craftsman Truck driver Aaron Fike's arrest for alleged heroin possession in the parking lot of an Ohio amusement park.  Nuf' said.

• Robby Gordon's meltdown in Montreal.

• ESPN's coverage of the Nextel Cup.  The early season Busch Series broadcasts gave me hope.  The fact that they never fixed the pathetic NASCAR Now with the awful Eric Kuselius should have been warning enough.  The race broadcasts went steadily downhill. 

I'm probably forgetting something significant.  But my stomach is growling and I better go dig out my Honolulu Blue and Silver turkey hunting gear.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Johnson takes fourth in a row and seals champ bid

Jimmy Johnson makes another late race push to the front and moves to a commanding points lead.

Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart all made late race runs at JJ but none seriously threatened to take the lead.  Johnson and Chad Knaus seem to have it figured out and nothing short of a disaster at Homestead next week can derail this train.

The best finishing Toyota was Brian Vickers in 21st.  The desert wasn't a kind place for the Toyota group as none of Michael Waltrip Racing's entries made the field.

With Dale Jarrett not making the race and Mark Martin and Ken Shrader not entered - there has now not been a driver who has participated in all the Phoenix Cup events.

The Buzz ON PIT ROW is:

Is America's love of the underdog strong enough to make Gordon haters root for him to win the Championship?

The Fast Lap this week asks:

1)  Will the 48 team continue their "race to win strategy" at Homestead or will they race for 18th?

2) Is Homestead the best place to finish the season?

3) Should Petty Enterprises merge/partner with Gillett-Evernham?

4) Will any of the three 2008 open wheel rookies not make it to the end of the season?

Let us know how you feel about these questions, or anything else that happened at in the desert.  If we like your comments, whether we agree or not, we may use them on the air during Tuesday's ON PIT ROW.  Leave us a comment on the blog or call the show--toll free at 1-877-502-8255 between 5-7pm edt on Tuesdays.

photo: Jason Smith/Getty images/NASCAR

Michael Waltrip Racing faces setback

Not since early in the season has Michel Waltrip had such a disappointing qualifying performance.

All three of Mikey's Toyotas failed to make the field at Phoenix International Raceway.The #00 of David Reuttiman had engine problems and didn't get a lap in.  The #44 with Dale Jarrett behind the wheel was way off the pace and didn't have a chance to make the field.  But, Waltrip's  NAPA sponsored Toyota was better than a handful of other qualifiers and should have made the race, if indeed NASCAR saw fit to let the BEST cars race.

The Top 35 Rule has claimed another MWR victim.

Brian France said earlier this weekend that there are no changes planned for The Chase for 2008.  Let's only hope the same is not true for the lame Top 35 Rule.  Brian--its time to let the best race and send the rest home.  Lets make NASCAR's weekly test a true test of only the best.  If you're not good enough to make the field on a given week--then you don't deserve to race against the best of the week.

The Top 35 Rule no longer protects the big names of NASCAR against the "two laps and gone" Morgan Shepherds of the world.  If you remember, that was the intent.  At one time NASCAR had to pay, yes pay, guys like Shepherd, or Stanton Barrett to haul a decrepit old dinosaur of a race car to the coast to make sure the field was full.  They would run their 2, 3, 5 or ten laps and take it to the garage to collect their payday.

That problem no longer exists.  We are now in an era of more quality cars showing up to the track every week and some of those cars having to go home.   Add to that the inherent inequality of top 35ers getting to work on race setup while the Outsiders have to put all their efforts into getting into the race then switch over to race mode.  Its another case of the rich getting richer.  Lets even the playing field a bit --okay Brian?

photo: msnbc

NASCAR's Watergate

Conspiracy theorists are everywhere in the world of NASCAR.  Dale Earnhardt Jr is the most conspired against person who never appeared in an X-files episode. 

It's always something isn't it?  In the past, his step mom was scheming to keep his much loved number - Eight-gate.  Lately with eight (there's that number again) DEI engine failures in his Bud  Chevy , rumblings of  Engine-gate have been  common.   When a wheel came off of his car Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the blanket, Theresa-gate is what most of Junior Nation probably thought.

But it looks like Earnhardt and the DEI folks are out of the latest weirdness in the kingdom of France. Water-gate.  Denny Hamlin apparently ran out of fuel as he led the field to the final re-start.  He claims it was due to water in his fuel.

"All day we'd been getting water in our fuel," Hamlin said. "The water displaces fuel and so we weren't getting the full potential of fuel. We just took it apart again and pulled some gas out of the fuel cell and once again, we got water.

How about this quote from the Dave Blaney's camp - thanks to Lee Spenser:

"We didn't know what was going on (with the engine)," said Blaney's crew chief, Tommy Baldwin. "We drained (the fuel cell) and it was half water, half fuel. I'm guessing maybe it was because we were one of the first ones, us and (Hamlin), to get fuel this morning."

Even NASCAR's John Darby is getting Gate-shy, I guess.

"There's no reason to think about conspiracy, going back to the fact you have a Chevrolet team and a Toyota team. There's no connection there that would make anybody think of some evil spirit trying to sabotage somebody's race car."

Oh really?  So, where were Ray Everham and  Jack Roush on the night of October 27, 2007, huh?

Hamlin finds water at drought plagued Atlanta

Jimmy Johnson wins again at Atlanta to sweep the season series in Georgia.

A late race wreck fest led to opportunities lost for Kurt and Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr.  Johnson only led eight laps but they were the last eight to gain the victory and close the points deficit on team mate and the co-owner of Johnson's car, Jeff Gordon.

The last caution and the one that led to an attempted Green-White-Checker finish was caused as Denny Hamlin, who was leading at the time, couldn't get up to speed.  Original thoughts had Hamlin running out of fuel on the restart but it was later determined that Hamlin and at least one other car - that of Dave Blaney - had water in their fuel cells. 

After receiving the contaminated fuel samples from the two teams, John Darby, Nextel Cup competition director conferred with Sunoco officials:

"What you don't know is when the water got introduced," Darby said. "What doesn't make sense about it, if you look at the 22 and 11, you're dealing with a Chevrolet team and a Toyota team. It's not like three teams out of one organization have the problem.

"We're trying to backtrack to see where this came from. There's no reason to think about conspiracy, going back to the fact you have a Chevrolet team and a Toyota team. There's no connection there that would make anybody think of some evil spirit trying to sabotage somebody's race car. Our focus is on trying to understand where the water came from, especially in one of the largest drought states."

The Buzz ON PIT ROW is:

Is NASCAR becoming like the NBA-you only need to watch the ending?

The Fast Lap this week asks:

1)  Is Chad Knaus the best crew chief ever?

2) Is there anything to the Dale Jr. cospiracy theories?

3) Who is to blame for the tire problems, then wrecks, at Atlanta; Goodyear, NASCAR or the crew chiefs?

4) Does the GREEN -WHITE-CHECKER finish need adjusting?

Let us know how you feel about these questions, or anything else that happened in front of half empty stands at Atlanta.  If we like your comments, whether we agree or not, we may use them on the air during Tuesday's ON PIT ROW.  Leave us a comment on the blog or call the show--toll free at 1-877-502-8255 between 5-7pm edt on Tuesdays.

McDowell graduates Magna cum laude in ARCA finale

If the rumors are true that the #00 Toyota Camry of Michael Waltrip Racing will be at least shared by young MWR development driver Michael McDowell, the guy certainly graduated in style.

He dominated the Hantz Group 200 Sunday for the ARCA Championship Weekend at the fast, half mile Toledo Speedway.  McDowell led from the pole and, despite some significant looking damage incured while negotiating lapped traffic early on, stayed out front.

A bit of a bobble in traffic with less than 30 laps to go cost him the lead to James Buescher.  A major leagur move at the end added a first short track win to the three other ARCA ReMax series victories from earlier in the season.

"When James (Buescher) got by me, I figured we could get the lead back in short order but he owned that bottom line and I wasn't sure if moving up one groove would work or not. I didn't want to get into the back of him, but that move was my only chance to do it. He's going to be an outstanding driver and he raced me clean, which I appreciate. I had a blast today. It was such an awesome race. I love this track and this is one last memory I'll hold on to from this year." more...

I watched McDowell in pre-race interviews and at a fan autograph session.  He has the poise and easy manner of a natural.  A driving resume that includes experience and  wins in the Star Mazda Series and the Rolex Grand Am Series and the Champ Car World Series (he is the youngest starter ever) indicate that he is ready to move up.

Michael is scheduled to test for MWR this week.  ON PIT ROW hopes to have him as a guest in the next couple weeks. Stay tuned.

Photo credit: Beth Anne Heisler - ON PIT ROW