Wringing out soggy late night Fast Laps from California
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.
February 26, 2008 10:46 pm CST 5 CommentsIf you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Well, that sure was fun. Didn’t NASCAR dump Rockingham because of the bad February weather? Once the track at the Auto Club 500 got sufficiently wrung out the racing was decent and Jack Roush’s charges showed that 2007 is in the rear view mirror. The Fords will be there to challenge for the Chase and the Sprint Cup.
Matt Kenseth finished a solid 4th, Greg Biffle and Jamie McMurray hung around up front for most of the race. Even Travis Kvapil showed some strength before falling to mechanical problems in the Yates Racing #28.
But the Fusion that relentlessly ran down the front running Jimmy Johnson and Jeff Gordon was the #99 of Carl Edwards. According to Mr. Excitement, Jimmy Spencer ON PIT ROW tonight, Carl had been the favorite of nearly everyone in the garages all weekend.
The NASCAR caravan is headed to the mile and a half Las Vegas Motor Speedway and the first race for the new car on one of NASCAR’s best tracks. While you wait for a hopefully on-time start to Sunday’s big race, give these four variably banked Fast Lap questions your best shot.
1. In the interest of safety, should NASCAR stop drivers from climbing fences and doing back flips off of cars?
2. Would you have picked Kyle Busch to be leading the points after two races?
3. Did NASCAR handle the rain delays at California properly?
4. Will/should Bobby Labonte move to Richard Childress Racing in 2009?
Go high or go low, but remember to limit your answers to 100 words. This is The Fast Lap and we have big plans for some of the best comments here. Stop back often during the week to defend your position and trade some paint with commenters who don’t necessarily agree with your line through turn two.
Photo credit: Jeff Gross - Getty Images
Some would say the best Fast Laps ever - the 50th 500
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.
February 18, 2008 2:17 pm CST 6 Comments 
After listening to the various announcers in the immediate after-race of the 50th Daytona 500 I’m not sure if they were more excited by Ryan Newman’s very popular victory or the stunningly competitive performance of the New Car. The Great American Race lived up to it’s name in one of - if not THE - best of all time. And the CoT has arrived.
Newman’s triumph was Roger Penske’s first ever Daytona 500 win too and that was another feel good thing about the race. The Penske one-two finish, with Kurt Busch an adventurous second place headed a surprising seven Dodges in the top ten.
The Hendrick Motorsports power house and Roush-Fenway’s Ford factory team struggled. The Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas looked to be the strongmen most of the day but in the end, could not hold off Flyin’ Ryan and the Dodge Boys.
Those might well have been the best Fast Laps ever - we’ll talk about that. Next up is a trip to the Republic of California and these four un-restricted Fast Laps.
1. Were the Daytona 500 results a preview of the rest of 2008 or just the usual plate-track one offs?
2. Where do you rank this 500 in relation to past Daytona 500 ’s
3. Have we seen the end of the “Big One” with the arrival of the New Car?
4. Did anyone expect the over/under on Jacques Villeneuve’s NASCAR career to be the under at one race?
The Fast Lap has no restrictor plates but you’re answers are limited to 100 words. Give us your best and don’t forget to come back and defend your position throughout the week. We’ll use the best stuff for a future ON PIT ROW.
Photo Credit: Matthew Stockman - Getty Images for NASCAR
Hip deep in Fast Laps from the land of the big mouth bass
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.
February 11, 2008 1:56 pm CST 3 Comments
Do you ever get the feeling that most of these NASCAR drivers would rather be fishing for lunkers on Lake LLoyd than lapping the tri-oval? I mean, watching interviews with Ryan Newman, Martin Truex Jr and Greg Biffle feels like an episode of the Bassmasters TV show. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
The ARCA 200 was the exciting, crash filled kick-off to Speedweeks that I expected. Congrats to Michaael Annett on his win there. The Budweiser Shootout was, what - fabulous, fantastic - certainly a tough act to follow, right? Nice job Jr, you made Green Nation stand up and scream.
Jimmy Johnson won the poll. Michael Waltrip won vindication, maybe - and a front row start, for sure, in the big race. But there are still 324 Fast Laps to go this week between the Twin 150’s, the Daytona 500 and the four warm-ups that we call The Fast Lap.
1. Should Tony Stewart or Kurt Busch be penalized for their confrontation on the race track during Budweiser Shootout practice?
2. Was this the best Bud Shootout ever?
3. Whose qualifying effort was more surprising; David Reutimann’s or Joe Nemechek’s?
4. Will Casey Mears become an after thought at Hendrick Motorsports?
As Larry McReynolds says “cinch those belts up good and tight”. This is the Fast Lap and we want your opinions on all this stuff. I already know that Steve is gonna be wrong. Help me convince him or join forces with the clueless one and take me on. We need your input ON PIT ROW.
Finally Fast Laps that really count - sort of
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.
February 4, 2008 11:26 am CST 4 Comments
Now that the Daytona 500 of football - the NFL’s Super Bowl - is over the nation is free to focus on what’s really important - racing. And this coming week it ain’t sporty car racin’. No sir, it’s time for fender bangin’, side draftin’, ear pullin’ (sorry Kurt, couldn’t resist) stock car racin’.
Mixed in with the practicing at Daytona International Speedway for NASCAR’s three divisions and the ARCA RE/Max Series will be an all-star race. The Bud Shootout will be the first chance to see at least a partial field of CoTs running in anger at Daytona.
The Shootout is a sprint race and a money race - there’s no saving the equipment for the long hall. Between the ARCA race in the afternoon and the Shootout Saturday night, there’s going to be a big pile of bent sheet metal.
Those won’t be the only Fast Laps this week. Try these four high banked, left-handers but remember the speed limit - one hundred words or less.
1) Who will benefit most from the new alliance; Robby Gordon or GEM?
2) With The Wood Brothers being the only full-time independant Ford team left, is Ford interested in anyone other than Roush carrying the Blue Oval banner?
3) Everyone is well aware of the lack of a rivalry between Jimmy Johnson and Jeff Gordon. Is there anything currently close to the Petty/Allison or Waltrip/Yarbrough rivalries of the past?
4) Twin 150s or the 500?
So, which all-star clash will be the better competition - the Shootout or the No Fun League’s Pro Bowl? Get real - right? Give the Fast Laps your best, but be prepared to defend your position. And don’t plan on getting any tips on how to do that from the Pro Bowl.
Picture credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images
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?
