Hendricks finally win the last Fast Lap at Phoenix
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 14, 2008 12:18 pm CDT 4 CommentsIf you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Now the Hendricks Haters finally have something to focus on. Jimmy Johnson and Chad Knaus fueled the field, doing just enough to win the Subway Fresh Fit 500 and grab the first win of 2008 for the outfit that many look upon as the evil empire.
Speaking of evil - the recently evil handling new car looked pretty racy to me Saturday night. Three races and a few test sessions on the flat miler in the dessert paid dividends for drivers and fans of the Sprint Cup Series. Now if NASCAR would just set up some additional tests on the intermediate tracks, we might see better racing on those as well.
This would be the perfect time for just such testing, with an idle weekend on the Sprint Cup schedule this week. The Nationwiders are heading south - way south - to Mexico City and one of my favorite races to watch at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez road course.
While waiting for that action, and listening for private Sprint car testing news, try your digital hand at this week’s Fast Lap questions. Four turns, some left, some right. Put up your dukes, it’s debate time, ON PIT ROW style.
1. Is the anticipation at the end of a fuel mileage race as exciting as door-to-door racing at the end of an event?
2. Did FOX handle the overlapping baseball and racing coverage adequately?
3. Was NASCAR’s scheduled start time for the race at Phoenix too late?
4. Mark Martin said his crew chief didn’t know how much fuel he had saved during the end of the race. Should Martin have over-ridden the call from the pits to come and get fuel?
We look for the best Fast Lap comments to be used on a future broadcast of ON PIT ROW. Give it your best shot and you might just get a guest shot on the show, which can be heard online live right here on Tuesdays from 5-7 pm EDT and on re-broadcast at Race Talk Radio Thursday nights at 7 pm.
Remember the rules - comments are limited to 100 words or less, but there is no limit on attacking other commenters. Just be nice - like Jimmy Johnson.
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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. Is the anticipation at the end of a fuel mileage race as exciting as door-to-door racing at the end of an event?
Yes, because you get to see the driver work the car in a different way. You also get to see the strategy that goes into those kinds of decisions as well. It also gives some of those lesser teams out there a chance to pull off an unexpected victory too.
2. Did FOX handle the overlapping baseball and racing coverage adequately?
I don’t have a problem with the way they did it as long as NASCAR gets the same consideration when their event is delayed.
3. Was NASCAR’s scheduled start time for the race at Phoenix too late?
For us east coasters, probably yes but not for the west coasters.
4. Mark Martin said his crew chief didn’t know how much fuel he had saved during the end of the race. Should Martin have over-ridden the call from the pits to come and get fuel?
He certainly could have, but that isn’t Mark’s style. We all know that he isn’t racing for a Championship, so does that allow him to be more free in his decisions? Yes, but he also has to keep that car in the top 35 of owner points too and that outwieghs any gambled victory Mark may have gained but choosing to ignore his Crew Chief. It would be different if the car he was driving was only driven by him at certain events, then who cares? Go for it. But that isn’t the situation.
1. It all depends, really. I didn’t mind last weekend at Phoenix, because I thought Jimmie Johnson had a shot at winning the race anyway, even if fuel mileage had never been a factor. However, there’s also races like a couple years ago when Mayfield won at Michigan that just really annoy the crap out of me.
2. It’s really a fine line to be honest. Obviously baseball fans would have a different perspective than you or I, so you have to acknowledge that. That being said, this happens frequently with FOX because they try to jam everything back-to-back.
3. I don’t think so. Not even close to being too late, actually. And, yes, I’m an east coaster.
4. No way. IMO, the Crew Chief is the boss of that team when they’re racing, and that includes the driver. If an MLB player becomes insubordinate with the manager, he should be benched, and I would expect nothing less for NASCAR drivers.
1– Fuel mileage races suck. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, is worse than watching guys win races because of fuel mileage. You might call it drama unfolding, but it certainly isn’t exciting.
2– NASCAR again got the short end. Fans were repeatedly promised the start of the race and FOX didn’t deliver. For pete’s sake make a decision as to what program is going to what channel and when and stick with the decision.
3– Anytime a race finishes after midnight on the east coast, barring weather delays, it started too late. Westerners are used to having their events start early. The TV markets that NASCAR is worried about are in the eastern half of the country. Cater to them.
4– Martin needed to persuade his crew chief to take the gamble. Martin isn’t running for a championship, so why not run for the win? David Pearson would have!
1. Steve, you ignorant slut! If thirty six races all ended in photo finishes, photo finishes would become “ho-hum” - nothing special. You claim to love ARCA for its variety. I love the variety of ways teams and drivers figure out how to win races. Economy runs ARE exciting. You ARE an idiot.
2. They tried to. Maybe they did an imperfect job but they had an un-winable situation to contend with. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry is big. Trying to show all of that rain delayed game was the right thing to do for those baseball fans who had invested a big part of their Saturday watching that game. How would NASCAR fans have felt if after hours of anticipation and delay, Fox had left a resuming California (this is hypothetical - I know the race was delayed to the next day. Steve) race for baseball? Not perfect, but an honest effort to please all.
3. It was for me - but I live in the eastern time zone. Ask the Dude how he feels and I’m guessing you get a different answer.
4. Nope. If he couldn’t sell the crew chief, so be it. The crew chief should make the call - and pay the consequences.