Scorching hot Arizona Fast Laps are on deck
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.
April 7, 2008 11:38 pm CDT 5 CommentsIf you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Carl Edwards loves NASCAR’s new car. Can’t say that I blame him. He has three wins out of seven 2008 Sprint Cup races and he could have had at least one more. The best part - for Carl - is that yesterday’s Car of Tomorrow is so in the heads of every other team on the track that Edwards is starting every race with a half lap lead.
Jeff Gordon finished dead last. That statement ought to be followed by exclamations of “liar” or at least “no way”, but the statement is true. The Rainbow Warriors had their asses handed to them and they still don’t have enough answers, apparently, to restore their confidence. Going to Phoenix isn’t likely a remedy as that is not one of Jeffey’s best tracks.
NASCAR moves on and so does the Fast Lap. Check out the four tricky, flat and fast lefties below. Tight in or loose out doesn’t matter - but your opinions do. Be prepared to stick up for yourself though - cause nobody else wiil.
1. More names have been thrown into the Richard Childress Racing fourth car sweepstakes. Who will it be?
2. If you owned a race team, would you hire Kyle Petty as your driver?
3. Who will be the focus of Chip Ganassi’s promised “sweeping changes” if his teams don’t start performing better?
4. Should NASCAR consider making mid-season changes to the new car?
The Fast Lap feature has been a regular part of ON PIT ROW for over seven years now. The debates and arguments that Steve and I get into during Fast Lap segments are pretty heated more often than not. Your input would just make it better. Don’t expect a bunch of Kumbaya agreement though. That’s not what this blog is all about. Bring your best and bring it on!
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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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1. Dick Trickle. No really. Or was it Cole Trickle?
2. No, his resume sucks and he’s plus forty on the chronological scale.
3. Well, its a lead pipe cinch Pilito numer uno and Dario Judd aren’t going anywhere. That leaves Sorenson feelin’ a bit, um… sore. (And a whole bunch of crew chiefs)
4. Minor changes only. It was rumored they would tweak the splitter prior to Atlanta and they didn’t. (Guess that rumor was about as valid as Dilner’s lazer cut rims fantasy)
They need to take the crew chiefs and drivers from RCR, HMS JGR and Roush (minus swaybar that could be used as a weapon), place them in a room under the Cone of Silence and pick their brains on tweaking the front-end geometry to gain more bite into and out of a corner.
And getting a real wild hair up Pembertons’ butt he could get together with JRM and use the teams new found ties to the Aussie V8 Series. Take a bundle of cash buy a V8 Supercar, ship in north and test it on a NASCAR oval.
Yes, I hear ya, they are set-up for the twisty bits of a road course. I say so what, there are still things that can be learned by seeing how the V8 splitter works in comparison with NASCAR’s
1. It’s not going to be any of these big names that everyone’s anticipating because of the top-35 rule. I’d be expecting someone more along the lines of Johnny Sauter, or maybe a rookie.
2. Probably not.
3. I’d say that the drivers are pretty much safe for the time being. Any mid-season changes will likely come either in the pits or internally.
4. No. As much as I’d like them to, I’m also a fan of consistency. Besides, knowing NASCAR, they could also find a way to make it worse.
1. I gave my list earlier in the week at my site, but one name I missed was Martin Truex Jr. Here is a thought, what if the sponsor was interested in running for the Championship with the car owner and not the driver. That way Richard could put ’specailty’ drivers in the car for each type of track (ie Boris Said or Ron Fellows for a road course, Mark Martin for a super speedway, and so on). That would truly be a team effort and it would be something that hasn’t been done in nearly 50 years.
2. Not as a driver, but he would be an excellent PR guy.
3. Initially it will be crew chiefs and car engineers - maybe the engine shop too. The drivers will be the last, especially JPM.
4. No, it is still way too early to do that. There should be no major changes to the car until the season is over, but even then I don’t think there will be to tell the truth. The only thing I see them changin within the next 10 months is something to do with the shocks and the ‘bump stops’ but they probably won’t do that until the All Star race. They might allow them to run that race without the bump stops to see what happens, and then evaluate the data to make changes before July.
I am going to try to not give ARCA answers. I really am, but I may need some help as I have ARCA on the brain after the last couple of weeks. Humor me, please.
1. I still think that Tony Stewart is a real possibility. Tony needs leverage to max out his next contract and there are a limited number of realistic options to use for that purpose. RCR would be one. It’s also a Chevy team - thought to be a mutual attraction for driver and manufacturer - and it very well could be a Cup Championship team again this year. Lots of draws there.
2. I said on the show that I would probably not choose Kyle for a Cup drive. If I had a Nationwide Series or truck - OR ARCA RE/MAX SERIES - team, I would for sure look at Kyle. But only if he was really committed to the idea. I would expect him to use his influence, for example his fatherly influence, to avoid conflicts that kept him from driving. Like weddings.
3. Chip is an ex-driver. I would expect that he would start with the pit-box and the garage. I think he likes his drivers.
4. Nope. Run the rest of the season and see what you have. The teams the adapt the best - or have the best drivers - will thrive. I would allow more testing. Steve is going to take the other side of this argument. I will be back to belittle, insult and otherwise highlight his ignorance as soon as he shows his stupid cursor.
1– It ain’t gonna be Smoke. See “Why Tony Stewart Is Not Leaving Joe Gibbs Racing” on the Bench Racing page. But it well could be one of the Rousch drivers. I’m not convinced that The Biff is happy with his situation at the Ford camp.
2– Not in a million years. Love him–but I wouldn’t hire him to drive MY car.
3– Reed Sorenson will be made the scapegoat in this deal. Chip loves his open wheel transplants–so they aren’t going anywhere.
4– Make a change at the mid way point. I like David Poole’s idea from our show–let them all go practice their butts off at Lowe’s until they come up with a solution. No advantages to any one–just lets get it figured out to make the best racing possible. We want rubbing, passing, slingshots and lead changes.