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NASCAR’s Race to the Chase comes down to Fast Laps on my favorite track

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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.

September 3, 2007 11:38 am CDT 4 Comments

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500 miles in 100 plus degrees heat at California Speedway is NASCAR’s version of the Dakar Rally.

Jimmy Johnson won the thing and if that surprised you - well, you must be Steve. Give Dale Junior credit. Earnhardt Jr  hung it out all night.  He was so close to the wall for so long that I question his judgement - when a slip would have removed doubt about making the Chase.  Nicely done.

Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch look like Cup contenders. Kudos to Brian Vickers in the Camry and Bobby Labonte in the #43.

And now, on to Richmond. What a great race track. Hopefully this time, mother nature will let the thing go as scheduled. Earnhardt Jr still has a mathmatical chance to make the Cup playoffs and Happy Harvick is holding on for dear life.

While you wait, try these four fast flat lefties. They come quick on a one miler.

1.  Will Joe Gibbs Racing switching to Toyotas in 2008 affect their Chase in 2007?

2. If Goodyear sets minimum tire pressures, should NASCAR enforce it’s use?

3.  Should there be any concern over ownership of teams moving away from traditional racing roots?

4.  Will the timing of the final Junior announcements vary depending on whether he makes the Chase or not?

This is a big week in NASCAR-land.  The Gibbs presser and the Chase clincher.  We still need your input ON PIT ROW.  Take your shot but don’t be surprised if someone shoots back.  It’s the nature of the Fast Lap.

Filed under: Fast Lap Questions, NASCAR, On Pit Row the Fastest two hours on radio 

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Comments

4 Responses to “NASCAR’s Race to the Chase comes down to Fast Laps on my favorite track”

  1. User Avatar Luke on September 3rd, 2007 5:25 pm

    It very well could. If Chevy has any “additional” information, they may not be willing to share it. Then again, if Gibbs is thick in the hunt against another manufacturer, who knows. OK, OK. Like a Chevy isn’t going to take the Cup again this season.

    Isn’t that kinda like your mom saying… “I wouldn’t do that if I were you”, and then you do it anyway? Teams know the risks/rewards. If they want to push it, it’s on their shoulders.

    That’s kind of like trying to take a whiz on a 5 alarm fire, when you could have done it while it was just a spark. To be honest, what does it matter at this point? If it can bring in additional funds so teams can compete, so be it. It would have been easier at the spark stage to keep it under control, but it’s a free country you know. Maybe one day NASCAR will realize it bought a pair of britches that were a couple sizes too big, and the retailer is laughing at them with no offer of help at all, then decide that it’s more wise to shop where the folks want your business.

    He isn’t making it. Sorry to disappoint, but Slim is zipping up the suitcase and getting ready to catch a cab. Some will cry foul on the 100 point penalty, but this fate rests squarely on the motor shop. He’s run well this season, but all those blown motors are biting him in the driver’s seat.

  2. User Avatar Steve on September 6th, 2007 7:39 am

    1- It’s a long held policy in racing that if your guy is in a lame-duck status; information will not be passed along. So why would that be any different on a team/mfg basis? Chevy may not shut them out of meetings but I have to believe that there may be a couple of meeting that occur in a Motel 6 somewhere that JGR is not invited to.

    2- NASCAR sticks its nose into everything and wants to control everything. Why should tire pressures be any different? NASCAR has figured a way to test everything else, they surely can come up with a way to legislate tire pressures before use.

    3- I think it is great that stick and ball guys want to plop their money down to go racing. It means there must be money to be made. That is a good thing. But what happens when they grow tired of a sport that is not part of their comfort level and want to move on? That will leave these teams in worse shape than before and then where will they be? Selling their ravce shops for pennies on the dollar–just like happened to Ricky Rudd and Bill Elliott.

    4- Junior will not make the chase therefore, expect a news conference for Tuesday the 11th. Se you there with a Dew in hand.

  3. User Avatar Charlie on September 8th, 2007 1:10 pm

    1. What better way to embarass Joe Gibbs Racing about theit decision than for them to win in the Chevy they spurn? I still say that the guys with the bow-ties would support Henry Ford or Richard Petty if they happened to be driving a Chebby at the time. Hendrick is going to win though.

    2. Unlike my unfortunate friend Steve WRONG-kowicz, I feel that the world has enough rules. I trust common sense and the existing laws of physics to police the minimum air pressure issue. The only rule that I want NASCAR to add is the one forcing all teams to have cheerleaders.

    3. Excuse me Steve-o. weren’t Rudd and Awesome Bill traditional race rooted? Maybe what NASCAR, and other sponsor driven sports, need is better business men running the business end. I haven’t seen any shortstops working in the garages or tight ends in the engine shops. Face it - NASCAR is big-time and needs something more than the moonshine boys and their offspring running the shows.

    4. I agree with both of you that he won’t make it. I can’t believe I just wrote that. They have dragged this out so far that when they finally do have the presser, maybe nobody will show up. I think it has to be in the next 2 weeks.

  4. User Avatar Luke on September 11th, 2007 10:32 am

    How ironic that Junior yet again blew another motor. Make that 5, and it’s more than obvious now where he stands over at DEI.

    You don’t see Truex blowing up like that.

    I’ll tell you though, that crap was crazy. Watching Flip-flop, Junior, and David Regan rolling into 3 neck and neck, and Jr. blowing out like that.

    Crazy, I tell you.

    I’ve got pictures out the wazoo, and some really good ones of Montoya’s little marshmallow roast. Yeah, that was literally right in front of me.

    I’ll throw the fans a bone, though. JPM got the boo’s during introductions, but he got thunderous applause when he got out of his car OK.

    Just goes to show that most people don’t want to see someone get hurt.

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