Fast Laps in the Lair of Al Capone
by Charlie Turner
Thanks for stopping by OnPitRow.com and the Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie blog. The best NASCAR and IndyCar news and opinion, exclusive pictures and video. I'm Charlie Turner. Follow me on Twitter @onpitrow
July 8, 2008 10:12 am CDT 2 Comments
For a long time I thought the trips to Chicagoland for NASCAR races felt odd. You just don’t think of NASCAR when you think the Windy City. But I’ve changed my mind. Stay with me now.
Chicago of the 1920’s was the home of one of the most notorious gangster-bootleggers of all time - Al Capone. I don’t know if any of Scarface’s drivers ever aspired to take their Duesenburgs and Packards to the race track or not. But not much more than a generation later, bootleggers of a different sort took to the tracks of the south just fine, thank you. And Bill France built an empire from that.
I doubt that Capone’s guys could put the muscle on the Sprint Cup Series any stronger than Kyle Busch has so far in 2008. The season is officially half over, and the Race to the Chase is two races deep. Six wins in eighteen races is more than a trend. The Shrub is putting his stamp on this thing. Of course, Jeff Gordon did the same in 2007. And Jimmy Johnson got hot in the Chase and took the Cup. As Big Al may have said - it ain’t over ’til the shootin’ stops.
Here are this week’s Fast Lap questions, brought to you by the fine folks at ON PIT ROW and the all new BenchRacers home for wayward racing lovers. We hope you will check them both out, repeatedly.
1. Could NASCAR continue, as is, without involvement from the big three?
2. Was TNT’s “Wide Open Coverage” of the Coke Zero 400 distracting or a model for others to emulate?
3. What purpose does it serve NASCAR to impound all cars after qualifying, when only a few have to really qualify to get in the race?
4. What fate does NASCAR hold for the Martin Truex team after having their car confiscated for illegal roof height?
Limit your answers to 100 words or less. But remember also, to come back and comment on the opinions of others and be prepared to defend your own positions. This is the Fast Lap. We are going to be using the best of the commentary here in a new feature ON PIT ROW. We want your absolute best shot. Bring it on.
Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.
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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. Sure, why not, it’s been done before.
2. I can’t answer directly having watched the event via TNT’s Race Buddy function, but from the comments I’ve seen the majority that commented on it liked how it worked.
3. None. Get rid of it, that’s especially true if they maintain without mods the top 35 rule. As it is dirvers like Jon Woods this past weekend pull it into the garage after a couple laps to change “special” qual mods they implemented just to get in the event.
4. It seals the deal on the team making the Chase and makes it all but academic Truex Jr. will sign with another owner in 2009.
1. NASCAR wouldn’t go away. Budgets might change. Some of the rooting interest would flag too. Even though the cars don’t look like the showroom products, Chevy fans are still Chevy fans. Right Tony?
2. Didn’t care for it myself. I found that I couldn’t concentrate on either the race or the commercial.
3. I don’t get it. Why don’t the go-or-go-homers that don’t go home, just say they have a blown engine, replace the qualifying oil and alternators and belts and start at the back of the field. What is the rule?
4. The big one. The real big one.