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.

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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.

Four will go and the rest go home

Boris Said is an ON PIT ROW favorite. He said yesterday that he’s either going to get his 7 Eleven - Spurpie - No Fear Racing Fusion into the Daytona 500 or it’s going home in a basket. Boris will be racing with six other go-or-go homers for two spots in NASCAR’s Super Bowl.

Warren Wallace’s other second cousin, Kenny Wallace, Red Bull twins  Brian Vickers andA J Allmendinger, Awesome Bill Elliott, Daytona winner Sterling Marlin and Carl Long are the competition for Boris in race number one of the Gatorade Dual 150′s.

The wild card in that race is Kurt Busch.  Busch’s owner’s points were transferred to teammate Sam Hornish ......

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Bench Racing’s top 18 Budweiser Shootout countdown

OK, Kurt Busch is on the pole for Saturday’s Budweiser Shootout but does that mean anything?  It might.  Check out our countdown of compelling Bud Shootout factoids and impress your friends at the 2008 NASCAR kickoff party.

70 - Total laps in the race, up from the 20 run the first year of the event in 1979

44 - No, not DJ’s UPS truck car number. It's the most laps led in a single Bud Shootout, by Greg Biffle in 2005

22 - Largest field in event history in 2002 also the number of career starts by Awesome Bill from Dawsonville

19 - Dale Earnhardt Jr’s starting position in ‘03, the farthest back anybody has started and won also the number of consecutive starts by Mark Martin, most by any driver also..... Go to the new home of the Bench Racing blog for the rest of this post.

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.

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 changes according to Hammond

My favorite part of being involved with ON PIT ROW is the people that I get to work with.  Last night, Jeff Hammond was one of our guests.  Jeff has been a pretty regular part of our show for three or four years now and there is more than one good story attached to his appearances with us.

We weren't sure that we were going to get him yesterday.  The craziness of trying to do a live radio show and actually hook up with busy NASCAR people to participate is tough.  Steve had been trying to make the Hammond connections all afternoon and we had resigned ourselves to failure.  Then at about 6:30 pm we got a cell phone call from an out of breath Jeff Hammond - who said he had run in from somewhere on his property, to do the show.  Pretty cool stuff for us.

Earlier in the show, we had as a guest, Michelle Thierault - Busch East and ARCA ReMax Series driver and participant in the Toyota NASCAR All Star Challenge over the weekend. Michelle is a big talent and is on track to get to one of the major series in NASCAR soon - maybe even the Cup Series. I asked Jeff what he thought was going to happen with all of the new, young talent entering the NASCAR ranks.

Hammond predicts a large turnover in the driver ranks of NASCAR's top series.  No real surprise there.  But he also told us that he thinks that drivers like Tony Stewart , Jeff Gordon and others will go the Mark Martin route - opting for more part-time participant status in the Cup Series.  He feels that the importance of winning the Cup Series championship will revert to more of what it was in the old days - less important than winning races - especially the high profile races like the Daytona 500, the Brickyard and Bristol night race.

No body is better connected in the NASCAR garages than Jeff Hammond.  We don't see him as much as when Fox Sports is the lead dog in NASCAR TV coverage.  Even so, Jeff is very visible on Speed doing the Trackside show.  He is also a big part of the Direct TV Hot Pass programming.

I had a chance to watch some of the Hot Pass stuff recently.  If you are a NASCAR geek, it is a fantastic way to experience a race.  Currently, you have five different drivers to choose from each race and you essentially become part of the crew for that driver.  There are multiple split screens, in-car camera views, full scanner audio and commentary by guys like Jeff Hammond and Larry MacReynolds.  It's frickin' awesome.  Get a dish and buy it.

Update:  The Black Flag Blog has a very cool contest running where the creative creature in you can win Direct TV Hot Pass prizes!  Check it out.

Can NASCAR thrive without Jarrett, Rudd and Marlin?

Gradually, the face of NASCAR is being changed in a big way this 2007 season.

Dale Jarrett announced last week that he's going to move to the broadcast booth on a permanent basis after five races in 2008.  Ricky Rudd says he's not coming back next year.  Sterling Marlin's prospects for the Cup series don't sound very promising.  Those are three faces and personalities that are very recognizable to NASCAR fans.  Everybody  walking the garage area or hanging on the fences around the infield knew who these guys were.  You knew the Coors Light uniform, or before that the Kodak yellow was Sterling.  Ricky Rudd was the Tide #10.  D J and UPS have been synonymous.  That's all gone or soon to be.

The #10 will be driven by Patrick Carpentier.  Coors Light is going too, but that's OK because  Dario Franchitti's in that car now.  And Jacques Villeneuve will drive a Toyota.  I have no problem with any of this really.  It's just that the atmosphere at the track is bound to change.  Those three veterans had loyal fans - and they were traditional NASCAR fans.

I read somewhere today, that there are only four active, Nextel Cup drivers born in North Carolina, the home of the sport. One of them is Kyle Petty. Change is inevitable, I know.  I wonder how much longer Kyle will drive?

Dale Jarrett to leave Waltrip - Aliens invade Pocono

It must have been the rain. Maybe the negative waves generated by all the Jeff Gordon haters over his controversial, rain shortened win in Sunday's Pocono 500 caused a mini-flurry of NASCAR rumors to briefly light up a dull internet scene.

First there was the scary news that a plane had crashed in the Pennsylvania mountains and Jeff Gordon was a passenger.  Geoffrey Miller of AOL's Fanhouse has a quote from Gordon's publicist.

The rumor, which apparently started in northeastern Pennsylvania, said the aircraft was believed to belong to NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon. However, John Edwards, Gordon's press spokesman, said Gordon's airplane is sitting safely in its hanger. more....

Follow that one up with this whole story that  Dale Jarrett is going to leave Michael Waltrip's Toyota team.  This one had me scratching my head.  And looking for the aliens.

Further rehashing of the trials of the MWR organization frustrates me.  The fact is, they are not that far behind.  Mikey missed Pocono by something like SEVEN THOUSANDTHS OF A SECOND!  Go ahead and blink.  It takes longer that .007 second.  But, whatever, if you want to think they just suck, fine.

Forget the fact that Jarrett's contract is rumored to be one of the biggest ever signed and he would presumably have to eat the bucks bullet.  Just answer this for me.  Where would Dale Jarrett go?

I read another Toyota team.  Why?  What team is better or more likely to improve faster than MWR?

The other scenario was that DJ would return to Ford.  Let's see, Roush is full.  The Woods have Awesome Bill's 5 remaining provisionals and two other drivers for their one car team.  Yates?  Riiiight.

I'm telling you, watch the evening skies.  Something weird is going on.