Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie

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.

Title sewn up for Gordon?

Just when everyone thought Jeff Gordon was out of fuel--he found enough to win at Lowe's Motor Speedway and lengthen his lead over the field of fellow Chasers.

Back to back wins at Lowe's and 'Dega has put Gordon in the cat-bird seat to win his fifth championship.  There were many pretenders at Lowe's on Saturday night but Gordon was the true class of the field after Ryan Newman hit the wall with a handful of laps remaining.

Kyle Busch had a shot late in the race after all but ignoring team owner Rick Hendrick's radio orders to not wreck each other at the conclusion of the race.  Rowdy went for the win and was pressuring Jeffy when Newman went to pass and met the wall.

So its on to Martinsville and a visit to the paper clip.  This is always fun.  Let the brake rotors start glowing!

The Buzz ON PIT ROW is:

Is Jeff Gordon having one of those "story book" seasons, where everything just goes right?

The Fast Lap this week asks:

1)  Was Tony just being Tony, or are non-Chase drivers "weapons" to be dealt with?

2) Dale Jarrett will retire after running 5 races in 2008.  Is that his farewell tour, or further abuse of the past champion's provisional rule?

3) Was NASCAR so desperate for a sponsor to take over the Busch Series that they sold out their first insurance company sponsor--Geico (and Loren/Warren/Lauren Wallace)?

4) Will Jimmy or Clint catch Jeffy?

Let us know how you feel about these questions, or anything else that happened while getting some home cooking at Lowe's.  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: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images/NASCAR

NASCAR's Snoozer in Bama

Toyota and their teams really turned things around drastically this week-- or was this a one time qualifying aberration?

There were lots of surprises at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend.  Toyota and Michael Waltrip taking the pole, all the Go or Go Homers that qualified in front of the field and rookie Jacques Villinueve starting sixth.  With all of those oddities you would think the race couldn't get any goofier.  Wrong--wrong--wrong.

This race actually started out rather racy and showed some potential until two strategies took over.  First the Hendrick Chasers decided to hang back and watch what transpired and the rest of the field decided to form a conga line and dance their way around the top of the racetrack for a good portion of the event.

The middle portion of the race started to resemble the early laps of an Olympic Short track cycling race.  Seeing how slow you can go without loosing the lead draft is not most fans idea of a good race and the strategy employed by Jeff Gordon and Jimmy Johnson will not endear them to any fans other than their most ardent followers.  While successful, we can only hope that NASCAR makes sure its not something we will see in any kind of regularity.

It's time to head back home to Charlotte while pondering these:

The Buzz ON PIT ROW is:

Can we expect to see more "lay back and wait" racing in the future with the CoT??

The Fast Lap this week asks:

1)  Was the finish good enough to offset the rest of the race at Talladega?

2) Did Villinueve do the right thing by giving up his sixth starting spot and moving to the back of the field?

3) They were racing 3-4 wide at the start--and at the end--what happened in the middle?

4) What is the fix for the poor visibility with the CoT?

Let us know how you feel about these questions, or anything else that happened while waiting for the big one this week at Talladega.  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: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images/NASCAR

NASCAR paint schemes--Too much of a good thing isn't a good thing.

Many of the NASCAR race cars that are seen, week in and week out, are sporting more elaborate paint schemes than ever before.

But they aren't really paint schemes at all.  Say hello to the "vinyl wrap".  Much of the graphics on current race cares are what we would have termed "decals" in the past.  Now almost entire cars are being wrapped in thin vinyl decals--making for some gorgeous "paint" treatments.  Would you like to paint all those m&m's on the side of the 38?

By using modern computer graphic programs and new materials from 3M and others, the modern stock car has come a long way since Ned Jarrett said: "we ran number eleven because it was easy to make two white lines on the door."

Our friend 4ever3 on his blog has his list of the 20 best looking cars of all time.  Check it out.  But along with some great new car looks; have come some really awful ones as well.

Leading the list of cars that are just trying too hard, is almost everything with a number 24 on it.  Especially anything to do with Nicorette.  The puke green Chevys that Jeff Gordon Drives when Nicorette is involved are horrid.  As a matter of fact--give me back the "rainbow" cars of yesteryear.  With much deference to Darrell Waltrip--flames don't always make a car look faster--sometimes they just make it look sillier.  Don't believe me?  Check out the other photo images at Jayski's site.

Bill Elliott's 1997 McDonald's Mac the Night car ranks right up there with some of the rankest schemes ever also.  There are tons of other less than appealing schemes.  We would like to know what you think are the ugliest paint schemes of all time.  Let us know what you think by leaving us a comment.

In a lot of cases the truly ugly cars have way too much use of neon colors.  What is the most overused color?  Neon--anything.

Now Kahne and Earnhardt Jr can focus on winning

Just win baby.  That is the famous saying of Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis.  It's been awhile for old Al and Raider Nation.  It has been too long for two of NASCAR's most popular and talented stars, as well.

Two days of press conferences, sponsor and number talk are over.  Dale Earnhardt Jr and Kasey Kahne have announced their liveries for 2008.  A summer of rumors and tumult can now settle in to an autumn of racing, at last.

The blogatorials will redirect focus on the Chase to the Nextel Cup Championship, the crowning of Carl Edwards as the last Busch Series champ and tight and interesting Craftsman Truck Series and ARCA ReMax Series stretch runs.

I wonder if either Earnhardt or Kahne can get it together enough to win a race this year. 

Kahne was a six time winner in 2006.  His Evernham Motorsports team  fell behind the curve early in 2007.  Recent strong qualifying runs and a near dominating performance at Bristol in the night race -  if it wasn't for that #99 car -  have had Kasey close.

Dale Junior drove desperately in the closing races of the Race to the Chase for the Cup.  He seemed always to be running in the top five, only to be taken out by engine problems or a dominant drive by someone else.

With the pressures of the business end of NASCAR reduced a bit, I look for both of these guys to get a win in somewhere in the final nine races.  How about Kasey at Charlotte and Martinsville for Junior?

Picture credit: Beth Anne Heisler - ON PIT ROW

Dale Junior's new rides are lookin' good

I found these pictures of Dale Earnhardt Junior's new Amp Energy Drink and National Guard paint schemes for the 2008 Sprint Cup season. 

The Mountain Dew presence is a bit more subdued than I expected but I like the look of both cars.

That National Guard car has a very patriotic look to it.  It's going to take a little while for that #88 to sink in though.  Probably about 100 laps at Daytona.

88 it is for junior

My favorite writer, Lee Spenser of Fox Sports should be boarding the Hendrick Motorsports jet about now.  Lee was our guest ON PIT ROW last Tuesday night and we had to ask her feelings on the Dale Earnhardt Jr press conference, scheduled for early Wednesday afternoon.

She unequivically told us that the number will be 88 - with the fonts styled to match Junior's old #8.  Heads up tatooists.

As for sponsors - it's Mountain Dew and the National Guard with Pepsi's Amp Energy Drink as associate sponsor on both paint schemes.  For those paint schemes, Junior will sport a predominantly white and green car with Mountain Dew as primary sponsor on one ride.  The other car -  be white up front with blue. aft and National Guard as primary   The #88 will be red on both.

There was more to the interview than Junior.  I'm going to try to get a transcript up in the next day or so.  You can hear the whole thing on the re-broadcast of ON PIT ROW Thursday at 7:00 pm edt at RaceTalkRadio.com.

The picture of Lee and Reid Spencer with Steve and me at Indy this year was taken by Beth Anne Heisler for  ON PIT ROW.

Jeff Gordon is willing to play by NASCAR's Chase rules as they are

Is it Just me or have the last few days been surprisingly quiet?  Especially considering that today opens NASCAR's big Chase to the Nextel Cup, the stories I have been reading have seemed pretty canned. We need these guys to start wrecking each other.

Did you catch Jeff Gordon and ON PIT ROW pal, Jeff Hammond on Speed's Trackside Friday?  Hammond was trying to make the case that NASCAR should reward the points leader - or the regular season champion -  with some sort of extra bonus going into the final ten Chase races.  Hammond proposed ten points for each 100 points of lead over the second place car. 

Gordon asked " What if I had won eight races? ", insinuating a 130 point total bonus, saying that he agreed with NASCAR's attempt to eliminate, boring, run-a-way championships.   The whole discussion was interesting - with Gordon defending the current Chase set-up and Hammond acting as an advocate for Gordon.

Picture credit : Beth Anne Heisler - ON PIT ROW

NASCAR discussion ala the Fast Lap blog

Steve and I are always looking for ways to make ON PIT ROW more interesting - for ourselves as well as our listeners.  For about seven years the show has featured a segment called the Fast Lap.

Our Fast Lap format is a familiar one to sports talk listeners.  We are asked four questions - for the four corners on most NASCAR tracks - and are limited to 30 seconds of response time.  The arguments that ensue make the time limit a bit arbitrary.  We have fun with it.

This year we started posting our Fast Lap questions on Mondays here and at our Fast Lap blog at the Thunder Lounge site.  We take comments that we get before our live broadcast - Tuesdays 5-7 pm edt - and use them as discussion points during most shows.

The Fast Lap discussion doesn't end there though.  The Fast Lap blog is intended to be a comment blog.  We hope to keep the debate over the four questions going throughout the week.  See, your initial answers are limited, supposedly,  to 100 words or less - like the time limit on the radio show.  There is no word count limit on what I call counter commenting, or debating the merits of your fellow responders.

This week's debate has been pretty lame.  Just way too much agreement.  The following is an example:

4 Responses to “Life in the Fast Lap lane is good for Jimmy Johnson”

1. 1…
   Richmond has always been a good show. Bristol this past August was too. OK, there weren’t a ton of wrecks, but there was a ton of door-to-door action all over the place.

   But, I think what a lot of people feel makes Bristol so “special” is the tempers flaring, and the drivers getting into that “super” beating and banging mode. Guys getting knocked out of the way, and occasionally ending up in the fence or taking a little ride on the “loop”. This past race, the chrome horn wasn’t needed as you could just go around in another groove.

   Richmond was plum crazy. There wasn’t a lap go by where someone wasn’t pushing it 3-wide in the corners. It was incredible, and that new surface (OK, it’s 5 years old now but still) is really coming into its own.

   It’s no doubt one hell of a show, and no wonder they just had their 32nd sellout in a row.

   2…
   I’m going to have to go with Hornish on this one, mainly because he’s been through the motions a few times before.

   As long as both can keep their fenders clean, and roll through, I think they will be fine though.

   Franchitti should at least have one thing on his side in the back of his mind… “If I wreck, I’m in a much safer vehicle”.

   3…
   This is a toss up, really. And I’ll quote The King directly when he flat out said that indeed they would need to look for someone with better business access. In his words, “they” [PE] know “racing” folks, and there are a lot of people out there that know many more “business” folks. He went on to say that [PE] needed better access to potential sponsors, and that was just the nature of the business.

   What that means specifically to a PE-GEM merger or partnership is anyones guess.

   As for signing Patrick Carpentier, who knows. He did run well up north last month, but can that translate to an oval? Maybe, but who knows.

   4…
   Heck, I’ll spot you the 5, and just take Gordon and Johnson. And from there, I might just spot you Johnson too.

   Even with Jimmie having a “20″ point spread at the moment, I still think that this whole deal is Gordon’s to lose. He hasn’t been points racing for the better part of a month or more, and once he “goes back” to his other approach, he’s going to tear it up. That approach would be the one that put him atop the standings by over 300 points.

   Richmond was the beginning of this transition back into “the points groove”, as he could have pushed it a little harder, but kept it pointed in the right direction (no thanks to Junior) and brought it home in 4th. Two weeks prior he very well may have pushed it harder, but it’s time to get back into it, and go for #5.

   That being the case, Johnson will be strong as well, but can he keep it together for 10 races, as that pressure mounts to repeat his performance of 2006, and successfully defend his title?

   Hamlin’s my dark horse pick, he’s been flying under the radar, but between him, Flip-Flop, and some shady Holliday Inn meetings, I don’t know if they’ll have that finite extra “push” that they would have had.

   Luke said this on September 11th, 2007 at 11:13 am

2. Kumbaya my boys, kumbaya. I sense too much agreement among the throng after last night’s ON PIT ROW and reading Luke’s comments here. But right is right.

   1. The Richmond races are always among the “prettiest” on the Cup schedule. Add to the look the ultra competitive nature of the track and the surface and RIR is maybe my favorite track. I like Bristol because it is unique and the night race a true sport spectacle. That said, the racing this year - at least for the lead - couldn’t hold a candle to Richmond.

   2. Sam hasn’t shown much so far in his Busch Series starts but I give him the nod here for slightly more experience and better equipment/team support from Penske. But I have doubts.

   3. Toss up. I’ll go with the Carpentier rumor because I did on the show(I think) but I am not really sold on the idea. The Pettys almost certainly will merge with someone. Too bad the Diamondback’s group went with H O F. The marketing contacts that those guys have are exactly what PE needs. But a strong driver to team up with Labonte would help as well.

   4. I took the field on the show. Can I change my mind? Actually, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch look good to me. Throw in the RCR cars and Hamlin and the field has a chance. Pucher’s chance at least. I’m not putting any money on though without big-time odds.

   charlie said this on September 12th, 2007 at 11:05 am

3. You know, the funniest thing Richard Petty said?

   Oh, Kyle’s all right. He runs about as well as he feels that day.

   That killed me. It was quite funny. Although, to be honest, that’s probably about right. I can’t imagine being in Kyle Petty’s shoes.

   Luke said this on September 12th, 2007 at 11:22 am

4. 1- The Bristol night race was a dud. At least for one trip around the sun, a night in Virginia was by far more entertaining than the one up on the border with Tennesee. Most of that had to do with getting fans aclimated to seeing a new way of racing with the CoT. It’ll return to form by this time next year.

   2– Hornish would seem to be the logical choice. But who ever accused me of using logic? All defectors will have a hard time making races. Just getting into these fields is a monumental task. Visiting the truck series may be the best bet any have in getting some seat time for next year. But to answer the question–Hornish.

   3– I can see the Petty-GEM deal getting done. It seems that Kyle and Ray have some mutual respect. I could see Kyle taking a managment role in a new partnership and leaving the driving to Carpentier.

   4– If I had a million bucks lying around–which I don’t–I’d throw it down on the Hendrick boys in a NY minute. Sure “the field” includes the Gibbs cars and the RCR cars; but my money, as much as it pains me, would go with Hendrick. That really does cause me pain.

   Steve said this on September 16th, 2007 at 6:54 am

You can find the questions here.  We invite you to join the conversation.

NASCAR press conference logic

First came word of Hendrick Motorsport's Wednesday press conference set to finally let us all know Dale Earnhardt Jr's new number and sponsors.  That was followed within minutes, it seemed, by Evernham Motorsports announcement of their own presser for Tuesday. 

It's probably a good thing that Monday is the rain date for the New Hampshire Chase kick-off.  Otherwise these guys might have been upstaged by Doug Yates debuting the #28 Candy Bar Car for Travis Kvapil's 2008 campaign.

Junior's deal will be held in Dallas - the coincidental home of PepsiCo's annual meeting - so some combo of Amp Energy Drink and Mountain Dew along with The National Guard seems a lock.  Steve was at least one of the first to call Mountain Dew for Junior way back.  But no body predicted the National Guard back then.  I'm real interested in what the cars will look like.

The new speculation is that the car may wear the #88 - the number run by J R Motorsports Busch Series entry and by Yates Racing in Cup.  What number could possibly be better?

The Tuesday meet-up is a bit more shrouded in intrigue.  Diligent reportage by The Daily Bugle staff - which is me, Steve wants no part in this - has come up with a more secluded, laid back location for the Kasey Kahne revelations, as pictured here. 

So much for the come back of the Coors Light #9.

As always, your comments to The Daily Bugle are welcome.  So are tips.