Daytona in July - 400 miles of firecracker Fast Laps
by Charlie Turner
I'm Charlie Turner co-host of the syndicated, mostly NASCAR radio show On Pit Row. Thanks for stopping by OnPitRow.com and the Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie blog. Oh yeah, Steve is an idiot.
July 2, 2007 10:22 am CDT 9 CommentsIf you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
There’s something NASCAR didn’t tell us about the car of tomorrow. They forgot to tell us that it was a Chevy. I mean, come on - the top eight finishers at Louden were all bow-tie boys. They were followed by the token Ford and Dodge of Kenseth and Newman. Toyota was allowed to get the poll thanks to Dave Blaney, who promptly put it in reverse for the race.
Daytona takes us back to our roots. The ugly, deformed, melted candle that is the old car. Maybe, just maybe, one of the Ram Tough , Blue Oval or…. whatever that Toyota thing is, can cheat quiet enough to steal one here.Â
Meanwhile fireworks will fly along with pithy comments to the following queries. (like that one too, Luke?).
1)Â Did the “Curse of the Bambino” extend to the Roush/Fenway–Carl Edwards pit stop?
2) Should Martin Truex Jr. have let Jeff Gordon by, seeing he had no chance of catching Hamlin?
3) Reports that had Joe Gibbs Racing switching from Chevrolet to Toyota, now seem to have reversed themselves. Who, in their right mind, would not want to drive a Chevy ?
4)Â Could the TNT television coverage possibly be the worst ever?
Remember, these are Fast Lap questions. One hundred witty words or less. ‘Course there is no limit on counter commenting. Or on wit.
Happy Fourth of July!
Comments
9 Responses to “Daytona in July - 400 miles of firecracker Fast Laps”
Got something to say?
Did you know you can log in with your
Thunder Lounge account, and have your
personal avatar and site link available when you comment at On Pit Row?
Don't have an account yet? Sign-up for free.
About the Fast Lap blog
Fast Laps! Welcome to the On Pit Row Fast Lap blog. Every week On Pit Row we pose four Fast Lap questions. Four corners - four questions. On the radio show, Steve and I have 30 seconds each, to give our response to each of the four. If you are a listener, you already know that we rarely agree on any answer. The Fast Lap is NASCAR debate. Hannity and Colmes. Lincoln and Douglas. Wronkowicz and Turner. OK, maybe not Lincoln and Douglas. We have more fun than Lincoln and Douglas. Here's the challenge. We will post our Fast Lap questions some time each Monday. Four questions on topical NASCAR related subjects. Your mission is to comment with your answers and each answer is limited to 100 words. The questions, answers and comments will form the basis of this blog for that week. Comment on the Fast Lap questions. Comment on the comments. Insult the commenters. Witty ridicule is rated at least as highly as cogent commentary. Just remember that you have limited words and penalties are severe. Or not. Steve and I will select worthy blog entries to be featured on an edition of On Pit Row. That's the plan. I'm sure we will have some other things to post about each week but the intention is to pose most posts as questions. I want to argue with you! Bring it on.
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
Google Search
NASCAR Fantasy Racing
On Pit Row is glad to be a part of such a great NASCAR fantasy racing game like Champs, Chumps & Sleepers. Grand prize is a Dale Jarrett Racing Adventure. How cool is that?
Just a housekeeping note:
Pole as in pole position
Poll as in a voting contest
That’s it, carry on!
Thanks Bill. It is, of course pole for Bud Pole Award. Luke’s spell checker is apparently, a baseball fan and a Democrat.
How ’bout the questions? You’re here aren’t you?
Ouch. That cut, buck-o.
So as we wrap up the 20th consecutive day of rain here, I’ll have to let the cat out of the bag that indeed we have a spell checker, but it is far from automatic. Oops!
So let’s hit to it on the Q&A, huh?
1) Well, that and my vote for the fugliest paint scheme of the decade. That thing was horrid, and he shoulda wrecked it to save the embarrassment of having to drive it. Talk about making it look like a last minute scramble. So it may have been the curse. The curse on the paint scheme, leaving the crew dumbfounded wondering… “Is that really our car?” And taking an extra 30 seconds or so to figure out that it wasn’t a joke.
2) If you want the position, earn it when the money is on the line. If Truex had been a lap down, then Gordon should have spun him. Since it was for position, all is well. Jeff isn’t our buddy flip-flop, you know.
3) Michael Waltrip, maybe? Right now, Toyota has nothing to offer. In time though, they will. And those willing to suffer a bit up front will be handsomely rewarded I’m sure. with the COT there isn’t going to be much parity. Well, in comparison to as much as there is now. Engines will be even more important, and I bey Gibbs could tune one without missing much of a beat.
4) Well, I always dreaded when Fox kicked it over to them and NBC. I wasn’t looking forward to them being on board for even the minimal 6 races they managed to sneak into. Hmmm… TNT. Turner Network Television, right? Wouldn’t that be the same Turner listed at the bottom of NASCAR.com? Meaning, Ted? Hmmm. Yep, I smell a rat.
The one positive thing I hope can come of the TNT Fiasco™ this season would be if the “whatever they call it” special coverage of the 400 this weekend actually does well. It could open it up to more potential races, and maybe ESPN can implement their version (maybe FOX, too) next season.
Other than that, I’d rather listen to MRN (if it was available here, which it isn’t). Hmmm, may be time for HotPass, although the misery is almost over.
— — —
I see Charlie’s derrière is rather educated.
I still owe ya some comment on your little Mr Clean deal last week. It’s coming. Just have to find the time.
I have always thought it better to be educated than not. But should you disagree, Steve provides the alternative.
1. Carl Edwards’team’s comedic tire change act was barely even believable. If you want to blame that on trading Babe Ruth, I guess you can. My guess is that Jack Roush will make like Steinbrenner and fire somebody over this. That was one ugly paint job. I recall a baseball themed car that maybe Jr. drove a couple years back that was pretty cool. This one on the #99 was minor league.
2. I said on the show that I don’t know where this question came from. Why in the WORLD would Truex LET the #24 pass him? Truex needs those extra 5 points. Jeff does not. Ludicrous.
3. Some team is going to make this switch. It will take courage and forsight. Short term, a successful team like JGR might take a half step back. But with teams in the top 35 in owner points and the wealth and commitment of Toyota behind them, the long term benefits would be huge. According to Lee Spenser, the key may be getting Tony Stewart out of his Chevy contract. This is not dead.
4. It is bad. Much of the bad is due to poor execution of decent ideas though. The good stuff has been Kyle Petty - excellent -and the fact that they may be listening to critics of other the networks’ coverage. The cameras stayed on the finish line long after Gordon and Hamlin crossed it. That wouldn’t have happened with Fox, and we would have missed Kurt Busch’s spin, recovery and tire smoking finish. They could bring their grade up significantly if the Daytona broadcast really does something about commercial interuptions. We’ll see. I have doubts.
Short and sweet as the week winds down after the 4th of July. Charlie didn’t let me answer these on the show either.
1) Bill Buckner and Buster Keaton would have been proud of the comedy act performed by these guys.
2) Neither Truex, nor anybody else has a resposibility to pull aside for another car regardless of the circumstances. However, these things have a way of biting in the tush, someone who isn’t willing to step asside.
3) So far it looks like anyone “in their right mind” can’t be accused of driving anything else. But, I agree Luke, Toyota will be the boys to beat eventually.
4) TNT has done nothing, except hire Kyle Petty, to prove they deserve this coverage. Other than money, and a long standing relationship with Turner Broadcasting, they bring little to the table. Especially to the race fan who is subjected to watching on a weekly basis. I implore NASCAR to look at their broadcasting “partners” and ask for–no demand–better.
What’s the matter Charlie–too many brats yesterday? I’d really like to hear your meager thoughts on these seeing as you spent the entire segment, talking around the topics
Ahem.
Steve, you ignorant slut.
Weren’t you the one always complaining that Fox cut away too soon after finishes during their broadcasts?
Was Buster Keaton somehow involved with the:
A. Red Sox
B. Yankees
C. never mind
?
Be afraid Martin. Be very afraid.
I do have a prediction of sorts. If nobody else switches to Toyota, (I still think someone big will) Bill Davis Racing will emmerge as a power simply due to the long term commitment that BDR has made to Toyota.
Class dismissed.
Damn, Charlie’s gettin all Dan Aykroyd on us.
I think that if (according to Jim Hunter) NASCAR is going to listen to the media and let it affect their policies (banning suspended members from a public place while suspended), then they should also be willing to watch the media and hold their coverage to a certain level of respectability.
Had this been the case, TNT would have had their asses handed to them on a platter at least twice this season for cutting their coverage shorter than advertised (last week by 15 minutes, give or take), or for cutting to another program and cutting their post-race coverage short and leaving the audience hanging.
On top of all the other crap they’ve pulled this season as well.
We won’t even get into previous seasons.
I will note that ESPN did a shortcut with the Bristol event last spring, but someone must have sent them a message as it hasn’t happened again (and could have).
So Charlie is equating me with Jane Curtain. Hmmmmm–She’s okay, but I always liked Susan St. James better. Name that series Chucklehead.
I must admit–I don’t have the slightest idea what that all referenced anyway. Where did I say that it was okay for TNT to cut coverage short. I said they need to up their ante and put out a decent product.
Luke maybe you can explain what I’m missing in Chucklehead’s comments.
Gonggggggg(sound of receding echo, echo, echo) Gongggggg(ditto
) This is what actually hearing Steve’s empty head being knocked on for attention sounds like.
I was complimenting TNT for focusing more on the WHOLE FIELD than on just the winner. You have bitched about Fox doing that all freakin’ year, moron!
I prefer my Susan St. James as McMillan’s wife. See, I know Rock wasn’t really takig care of her, if you know what I mean.
You should pay as much attention to NASCAR as you do TV Land.