Old school Fast Laps on the Martinsville half mile
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 15, 2007 8:17 am CDT 6 CommentsIf you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
I fell asleep while watching the Nextel Cup race at Lowes Motor Speedway Saturday. When I woke up and went to the computer to find that Jeff Gordon had won - again - I sure wasn’t surprised.Â
I had managed to stay awake long enough to see the unsurprising dominance of the early race by Jimmy Johnson spin away. Johnson managed to salvage a decent finish from near disaster and those are the kinds of things that lead to championships. Johnson can’t afford to let his team-mate get much farther ahead, so a battle at the Martinsville paperclip is up for the weekend.
Clint Bowyer is hangin’ in there, but he needs to win a couple more races if he plans on winning the Cup. Tony Stewart had a good run in the Home Depot Chevy but at almost 200 points behind the leader the fat lady is tunin’ up for the aria.
Martinsville could be as much of a wild card as Talladega when it comes to potential points catastrophe. While you wait for it, try these fast, flat corners.  Â
1)Â 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?
There you go - have at them. We want your input for the Fast Lap segment ON PIT ROW this week. Come on, join the debate.
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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.
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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?
1) Not “weapons”, no, but they are something that needs “extra-attention” when trying to run for a title. Mainly, don’t piss anyone off because the same “rules” apply in the last 10 as the first 26. Do unto others…
2) Both, really, and this is a fact they don’t deny. Jarrett even said it himself that he was going to try to get the #44 into the Top 35 during the first 5 races, and if he doesn’t use up his “provisionals” during that time (note, he’ll still have 1 left) he “could” come in to use it if need be.
Oh, and it’s technically 7 races as he’ll run the Shootout and the All-Star race.
3) This just reeks of money. WTH happened to Subway or some of the others rumored? We’re they not willing to pony up as much dough? I don’t “grasp” why Geico can’t stay on a car ala Cingular/Alltel style. Guess it just didn’t work out in Cup, so they didn’t even try. At least they were kind enough to provide what, a 2 year grace period? By that time, the kid commercials (while entertaining now) will have most likely worn out their welcome. Even the “How bad have you got it?” commercials came to an end.
4) It’s possible, yes. But looking back at the 31 previous races, who has been the most consistent? Johnson got the gift of 1st after it was all sorted out after Richmond, but where was he before the reset? Clint got in, but at the bottom of the pile. Right now, Gordon is on a mountain that only he can climb and survive on. That being his personal life. If you look back at his Cup career, you can tell the years where he was a “mess” off the track, and when he wasn’t.
Right now, he’s on a roll outside of the track, and as I said at the beginning of the season, watch out.
While he can be mathematically caught, even from 12th (for another race or two), he has to stumble. Every year you can look back at the Champion for “signs” of that horseshoe. Right now, it’s all over that 24 and has been all season.
Sorry I’m late. Uh… my dog ate my… answers.
1. Weapons? Since when does Smoke need “weapons” as an excuse to do what he wants on the track? Tony is the arbiter of all that is right in NASCAR. Or is it wrong? You know, I almost incurred a $10,000 FTC fine on the show because of this question. I’m tired of Stewart’s whiney bull#@*%! Hey, does the FTC have any power at the Thunder Lounge?
2. That fifth Cup race won’t even be his last. Besides the all-star races that he plans to run, he’ll have at least one champ’s provisional left - probably more - and if MWR needs to get a car into a particular race - say Indy or Bristol, he’ll be back. I have no problem with this. These are the rules. Don’t like the rules? Change ‘em.
3. They avoided the potential of AT&T type problems by giving GEICO the 2 year window. If I were GEICO, I would look for alternative marketing opportunities if I was pissed - or explore Truck and Cup options.
4. I said on the show and have said before that I think the champ needs three wins in the Chase races. Gordon still needs at least one more win to lock out Johnson. If Jimmy wins three out of five, I think he gets the Cup. Bowyer? Who knows with two more wins and a couple of minor stumbles from the HMS boys, it’s possible.
Where are you Stev-O?
Well, I dunno what the Federal Trade Comission has to do with anything, but neither they, or the Federal Communications Comission have a thing on us!
I’ve never been good with letters, memory, authority or criticism. But thanks for pointing out the thorough lack of oversight that this site has. It is refreshing. That said: Tony Stewart is full of shit.
Thank you.
Well, we didn’t nickname him Flip-flop for nothing you know.
Although you know, sometimes I’d bet that $10k fine could be soooo worth it.
I coulda swore I answered these, but here goes:
1- Tony needs tomotivate himself somehow and his fav way to do it is by making himself out to be a victim. This deal was no different. Doesn’t the guy on pit road have the right to the space?
2- Past champs provisional is the most pathetic rule in NASCAR. Everyone who uses it and is not a full time driver is a scab.
3- NASCAR likes to show the tree who the dog is. There is no way in the world that Nationwide could be hurt by having Geiko hang around. Competition is the American way. Oh yeah this isn’t a democracy–its a fifedom.
4- Its a two man race. JJ can catch Jeffy. If I gave two shits about either, it could be fun to watch, but its like the Mets playing the Yanks–other than their fans–who cares.