Carolina Fast Laps on my mind
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.
October 8, 2007 9:39 am CDT 3 CommentsIf you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
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NASCAR held a restrictor plate race in Alabama Sunday. It looked more like an short track bicycle race from the Olympic games though. Lap after lap of sand-bagging boredom finished off with a dash for the cash at the end.
Jeff Gordon got himself career win number eighty and the lead in the Chase for the Nextel Cup. The Toyota teams blasted their way into the race in qualifying and were competitive all day. Nice job by Dave Blaney to grab the first non-Hendrick spot in third place.Â
The DEI/RCR engine program took a hit with at least three and probably four bad motors out of the six that they fielded. Three of those four used to be Chase contenders, too. Used to be, but not no mo’.
The Chase comes down to Gordon and Johnson - as it probably should - with a little Bowyer and a dash of Smoke for talking points. Speaking of talking points, try these four, high banked Lowes Motor Speedway corners - and do it fast before Bruton Smith moves them on us.
1)Â 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?
This is the Fast Lap, brought to you every week by Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie, ON PIT ROW and the Thunder Lounge. We want your opinions! I promise to respect you in the morning.
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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.
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1– The finish makes you forget about the long single file racing in the middle. It was a plate race for heavens sake. What were you expecting. Lets do a bit of CoT tweaking in the off season and see where its at.
2– Much to the chagrin of Charlie and a host of Cup drivers, Jacques didn’t single-handedly cause the race to turn into a crashfest of biblical proportions. Jacques earned the respect of the vets by announcing his intention to travel to the back of the pack and get some experience. Way to go Jacques!
3– They realized that they were heading for trouble at the start. The middle looked a lot like a typical plate race. The finish was great–real plate-like.
4– The drivers need to adjust their position in thecar if they can’t see. Mikey wasn’t complaining. Maybe some of the puny guys need a booster seat to see over it.
1) Yeah, it wasn’t exactly exciting for the majority of the race. I’ll have to agree with the current points leader’s diagnosis of it: It came down to more of an on-track test, and feeling out the cars than anything.
About every driver said they were cautious, but that the car actually handled pretty well. Better than they thought.
Another unknown was how these cars would handle the bumping. Would they break? Would they get the “bumpee” off balance and out of shape?
Heck, we should know from Martinsville last Spring that you can honk that chrome horn rather loud, and keep the nose in decent shape.
Needless to say, they learned a lot Sunday. Now, the question will be how much of that will apply to Daytona next February. Will it be another choo-choo fest, until it’s time to make some money? Or can these guys get in there and race a bit while waiting for the money shot?
No, not that kind of money shot, Steve. Ya sicko.
2)Yeah, it was obviously the right call. And “before” the green flag flew too. That carried a lot of weight with the garage, and was a good thing for the future too. It told the rest of the field that he knew his role that day, and by his showing of respect he’ll see it returned in the future. Of course, unless he does something stupid.
3) Going back to our current points leader, he admitted he yawned in the race car. Something he had never done before. It was a learning experience, and I think a lot was learned all the way through. They all learned that 5 or 6 cars in a line can run down the lead. They learned how the car drafted, closed, bumped, etc.
It was far from an ideal show for most of it, but it will get better. They’re really just beginning with this car. It will take some time, but they’ll get the hang of it.
What I wonder, is what will next spring at Vegas and California look like? Texas? Charlotte? How will this race on the 1.5’s? It should do pretty well at Michigan, I would think. But flatten it out in the corners, and what happens? Kansas? Chicago?
The upcoming test at Hotlanta will be interesting, to say the least.
4) Some have said a clear wicker would help. Would 1″ or so really matter? I’d think it would be more of the wing itself, and the angle of view from the seat. And you’re right, Mikey wasn’t complaining about anything other than that tear-off.
1. I watched the whole dang thing. It sure looked different than the Talladega races I have in my mind’s eye. The beginning and the end were closer to my vision and the ending was exciting,plate track stuff. But make up for the middle? Not quite for me. They should have gotten the testing done before the real thing.
2. He retreated like the French army at the border. I think that people will consider him a chump for this. If he’s good enough to allow to race - and then good enough to qualify sixth - he should have raced from there. It feels contrived to me.
3. In the middle, they bided time to the end. It better get better than this or NASCAR has a problem at plate tracks now.
4. Stop whining about it. They just ran 500 miles. Nobody made a wrong turn. Get Biffle a periscope.