The Return of the Fast Laps
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
December 16, 2008 10:57 pm CST 4 Comments
I know, I know. Call me a slacker. I am what I am, and that’s all what I am, as Popeye the Sailor Man used to say. Better late than never, as my dad often said on those nights when he stopped for a cold one, or four. Never eat spinach with a stranger was another saying, that seems like it should fit here, but doesn’t.
The digital Fast Laps are back after a couple week hiatus. The respite wasn’t planned, exactly, but it was appreciated by the hack that writes this thing. ON PIT ROW hasn’t missed a beat - Fast Lap wise - and Steve-O and I have had some spirited debate these past two weeks. But it just isn’t the same without you. Damn, that sounds like a Barry Manilow song. Whatever, it’s open testing at OnPitRow.com. Try these three cookiecutter-ish quick ones.
1: Will the lack of testing by Cup teams cause fans to loose interest in NASCAR during the off season?
2: With just two, as of now, drivers slated to run for Rookie of the Year honors in the Cup Series, will that battle be better than the 2008 crop produced?
3: What was a bigger story in 2008; Junior finally winning a race after two years or Jeffy not winning for the first time in 14?
4: What is your wild-yet plausible-prediction for the 2009 season?
Take a shot. Let us know what you think about these four NASCAR related topics. Limit your answers to 100 words or less, but then come back to ridicule your fellow Fast Lappers and to defend your place on the track.
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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: Fans paid attention to the offseason? Hell, no one cared about single-car testing at Daytona unless you were conned into being there for another reason. Preseason thunder was a NASCAR and media creation. I couldn’t care less.
2: In a word, yes. Better because it will be contested by drivers that won’t be battling just to make the race every week. Logano will come out on top, but Speed will get better as the year progresses.
3: It has to be Jeffy because Junior has won before. Jeff Gordon is acknowledged as one of the best today and of all-time, so for him not to win, that’s big - and hasn’t gotten the attention for some reason.
4: I’m going to say that NASCAR’s demise has been exaggerated, and the sport will do better than most expect in 2009. There’s a lot of negativity lately, and I’m buying all of it. The sport will continue, and if anything the sport will move back to its roots, something that has been needed for a while.
1) What is this “off” thing you speak of with such a forked tongue? Never heard of it.
2) People pay attention to the ROTY, other than at the end of the season? Really?
3) I agree with that Stink Bait fellow up there. Although, there’s a case for both sides. What really happened though? After 2007, you’d figure 2008 would be another great year. Nope… the rest of the field caught up. Notice that Johnson, although damn strong, didn’t really put the moves on until after Richmond.
4) Back to it’s roots, Matt? Which ones specifically are we talking about here? Half the field failing to finish, with a lot of races won by laps, or do you mean NASCAR will finally pull it’s head out of its ass and decide that in order to grow the sport, they really need to take their business where it’s truly wanted?
Unfortunately, they are what they are in 2009. For announcing the 2010 schedule, I don’t see much change at the moment. We’ll see how the season goes, but I seriously doubt it. Perhaps not from a lack of desire, but from a legal standpoint. Meaning, for the slow like Marc, that they made certain guarantees in their contracts with their sponsors, and some may not like the idea of scaling back the territory.
First, I meant to say NOT buying the negativity. Just noticed that.
Luke, “getting back to its roots” means getting back to focusing on the racing and less on the “show” and “spectacle” that’s been growing like kudzu around the sport in the last several years. The ESPN gimmicks are a great example. My hope is that the focus goes back to covering the racing, and the aspects of racing, and not the side stuff that has increasingly gotten in the way. NASCAR themselves won’t help with that but under the guise of the economic aspects I hope it’s the end result.
1– At least this year there was more than enough off track news to keep everyone interested. In many ways having a more true “off season” could really help get fans interested in a changing year. Was it PT Barnum who said “Always leave themm wanting more”?
2– 2008 was the rookie class that wasn’t. They were dropping like flies before the season was half over. 2009 should be much more fun to watch if my prediction that “Sliced Bread” will be gone before mid season doesn’t come true.
3– Jeffy not winning was a shocker. Junior did exactly as I thought he would. Junior was not going to become a multi winner in one year, but nobody expected jeffy to struggle without a win.
4– Just said it– Joe Gibbs Racing will loose patience with Joey Logano before the season makes the turn and will replace him somebody like Terry Labonte.