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Up to now I have been able to ignore the fact that the weather around here has turned cold. A much longer, and warmer fall season and the fact that NASCAR was racing somewhere relatively semi-tropical helped. Now both are over for another year.

Unlike many of the regular NASCAR TV and radio shows that close it down for the winter months, ON PIT ROW and the blogs at OnPitRow.com are active all year long. Though this Fast Lap blog got a bit bogged down the last two weeks. My bad. If you missed the radio show last week, here are the Fast Lap questions that Steve and I chewed on during the week immediately following Jimmy Johnson’s historic three-peat. 

1: With all the pending layoffs forecast in NASCAR, should the drivers take a pay cut to help curb expenses?

2: With the close points races in the Truck and Nationwide Series’ should the Chase go the way of the spinner wrench?

3: Are you saddened by the end of Jeff Gordon’s 14 season win streak?

4: Should NASCAR be worried that only three drivers won 27 of the 36 races in 2008?

I think we may have laughed about these topics more than argue this time. That is not normal. Let us know what you think about ‘em.

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

Let’s not kid each other, OK? Jimmy Johnson has this thing about as locked up as a chastity belt on prom night or the next Detroit Lions opponent. Johnson’s going to win the Sprint Cup - his third straight - unless aliens come down from the Planet Roush and take Jimmy and Chad Knaus away to some world that’s never heard of bump-stops, restrictor plates or the difference between loose and tight. 

But that doesn’t mean that there’s nothing to argue about. This here Fast Lap blog will never run out of topics that Steve can raise the idiot quotient on. Like the four fast, high-banked doozies that follow.

1: The truck series saw Ryan Newman pass teammate Ron Hornaday to win, but cost Hornaday 10 points in his championship battle. Should there have been team orders?

2: How can Carl Edwards be happy with the tire at Atlanta while most other drivers were complaining about no grip?

3: Does AJ Allmendinger being the best finishing Gillett-Evernham car again show that he’s better than the equipment he had been driving?

4: Because David Reuttiman could have won the Nationwide race if he had “moved” Carl Edwards out of the way on the final lap, but didn’t; is he a good sport or a fool?

Let fly with your opinions but be prepared to defend yourself.  Because there are no limits to Steve’s confidense in his positions. Or my disdain for the same. The Fast Lap is NASCAR debate. You can hear it live at OnPitRow.com every Tuesday at 5 PM ET or do the digital version right here any day of the week.

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc

For me, there has always been something special about Atlanta Motor Speedway. I think it goes back to the days when Bill Elliott was stomping everyone in that old Melling T-Bird. The track was - and still is - wicked fast and the Elliotts had it figured out. Or something figured out, anyway.

Now it seems that Chad Knaus, Jimmy Johnson and that no. 48 Chevey team are the ones with most of the answers, while many of their competitors are still trying to figure out what questions to ask. Johnson will be tough to catch if he doesn’t slip up some how. At this point in 2007, Jimmy was one race into a string of four straight wins that closed out his second straight Chase to the Cup championship. The hopes of fans who want to see “anyone but Johnson” at the head table in New York, rest on the likelyhood of J J running headlong into somebody else’s “racin’ deal”. Good luck with that.

And good luck with these four, highly banked, non-restrictor plated Fast Lap questions.

1: Should NASCAR start the Chase drivers in the front of the field every week of the Chase?

2: Has the time come for car owners to start releasing their lame-duck drivers to make room for the 2009 line up?

3: Is there any place with better racing than at Martinsville?

4: What is the most probable merger scenario?

 Remember, 100 words or less for your answers. But this is a debate blog, you know? Come on back and tell me what you think of my comments. Or Steve’s, or whomever’s. Stir the pot you know and we may use your insight on the next ON PIT ROW.

I love Martinsville. Or maybe it’s just a short track hang-over from the ARCA Championship weekend at the equally short, and fun as hell, Toledo Speedway. At least it was fun for Steve and me. Don’t know about Scott Speed and Ricky Stenhouse Jr or any of the others who got their rides short-tracked to greater and lesser extents. I can tell you it was a blast to watch.

Congrats to Justin Allgaier for keeping his head on and winning the race and the ARCA RE/MAX Series championship.  It’s on to the Nationwide Series in Penske Racing’s no. 12 and by the looks of Allgaier’s Friday showing at Lowes, he’ll do just fine.

Scott Speed had major short-track issues and may find a distinct lack of allies as he tries to make his Sprint Cup debut at Martinsville this weekend. Speed might want to tackles these four, tricky Fast Lap questions to work out some of his frustration, hmm?

1:  NASCAR threw up a trial balloon at Lowes this week seeking reaction to shrinking the field size at all three series races, How will that help NASCAR?

2:  While everyone else has moved up and down in the Chase standings, Johnson has held firm at the top. Can Burton or Biffle knock him out of the lead?

3:  If one of the NASCAR axioms is that crew chiefs and drivers must have “chemistry”, what are teams hoping for with their “driver de jour” programs?

4:  How might a GM-Chrysler merger affect NASCAR?

Go ahead. Show Speed how it’s done. Be assertive, but know your limits - 100 words or less - and don’t take any schtuff from your fellow Fast Lappers. We’re looking for the best for the new Fast Lap Show, coming to a blog near you.

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

That three car battle for the Chase to the Cup that many - including me - were predicting seems to be shaping up.  Jimmy Johnson got his first 2008 Chase win.  Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle each grabbed another top three finish.  Throw a blanket on those three with the pack over ninety points back already.  

And the pack doesn’t include any Toyotas at all.  The Joe Gibbs Racing gang is falling farther behind with each poor showing.  Wait until next year coach. Oh, and Kyle, the pressure’s off now. Go ahead and win some races.

Kansas was a pretty predictably dull race other that Carl Edwards’ banzai pass attempt at the end and Juan Pablo Montoya’s cheating penalty in qualifying.  My guess is, that Talladega will be a different story.

Want to spice up the race interest at the office?  Start a big-one pool and try to pick what lap the semi-annual wreck will occur.  I say 155.  But there will be plenty of Fast Laps before that.  Try the next four, restrictor-plated, four-wide, warm-ups for the weekend.

1: Was the penalty to Juan Pablo Montoya for over-filled shocks during qualifying appropriate?

2: Should Kansas get a second Cup date, in part because a casino is being built next to the track?

3: Can Joe Gibbs Racing return to respectability during the Chase?

4: Paul Newman?

That’s it.  That’s the Talladega 2 edition of ON PIT ROW’s Fast Lap.  Steve and I will kick these things around on Tuesday’s show.  Listen live right here and call us between 5 and 7 PM EDT at 877-502-8255 and give us your take on any or all of the above.  And, of course, leave your thoughts here in the comment section.  Just be nice to your friends.

Photo credit: con Sports Media, Inc.

Greg Biffle finally got the win that I and plenty of others had called for at various venues this year.  With what he called a “text-book pass” the Biff relegated Jimmy Johnson to runner-up status at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.  

Johnson was good again.  Tony Stewart was good for a change.  Dale Earnhardt Jr was tough early, and petulant late.  None of them won.  Kyle Busch sucked (maybe because of his crew).  Earnhardt bitched (at his crew).  Stewart apologized (to his crew).  Johnson probably shrugged and told his crew, “we’ll see how good they are at Dover”.

Chase week one is done and gone.  Chase race number two is on deck.  Biffle was probably a long shot to be a factor for the championship before Sunday night.  If he can win at The Monster Mile in Dover - and he’s been among the best there for better than three years - he will stamp himself as the “real deal” in the early playoffs.

This is the Fast Lap blog and it is a comment blog.  We want to read what YOUR opinions are to the four Fast Lap topics which follow.  And then we plan to assault your opinions and cause huge, vociferous debate.  Take a shot.

1: Should NASCAR be more flexible with qualifying and not so quick to cancel-but move it?

2: The much anticipated debut of Joey Logano was not too impressive; was it driver or equipment?

3: Can Kyle Busch’s championship hopes be realized now?

4: Last week it was Stewart/Zippadelli-this week its Earnhardt/Eury. Are these spats showing cracks in their relationships or just idle chatter?

Got any opinions on those babies?  Are you ready to defend your position.  Better yet, are you prepared to have your thoughts thrown out to the ON PIT ROW studio audience?  It could happen.  We want it to happen, in fact.  Come on, I want to argue with you!

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

Well at least we know who won’t win the Sprint Cup.  Michael Waltrip is officially elliminated, costing Buffy Waltrip uncalculated bucks.  So too are Robby Gordon, Kasey Kahne and David Ragan.  Ragan and Kahne were close to getting into the Brian France Invitational.  Robby, sadly was not.  So he’ll sue somebody.  Like we need another law suit.

The most disappointing, and to me surprising failure was that of the Penske Racing teams.  After Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch finished one-two at the season opening Daytona 500, they bombed.  Oh, Kurt won a race on a roll of the dice, but other than that, nada. 

Is the Chase a battle between NASCAR’s dynamic dozen or is it really just the big three and other nine?  Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards are getting heat from two time defending Cup champ Jimmy Johnson.  Who else really has a shot?  Tune in Sunday to the track known widely as Martinsville on Steroids, for your first taste of the the 2008  Chase for the Sprint Cup.  But first, try your wit at the ON PIT ROW Invitational - the Fast Lap.

1: Has Jimmy Johnson surfaced as the “man to beat” for the championship?

2: How will Dodge’s announcement to pull factory support from the Craftsman Truck teams affect the rest of their programs?

3: Is Tony Stewart trying to get released from Joe Gibbs Racing early by being a PITA and A-hole?

4: Robby Gordon or Gillett Evernham Motorsports?

That’s it.  So what do you think?  The Fast Lap is a comment blog and lately, we’ve been a little weak in the comment department.  Give a brother a break.  Tell me what you think.  I promise not to treat you any worse than the Falcons treated my Lions yesterday.  I think I’m gonna be sick. 

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

Nineteen heat races and a ten lap feature. That Allstate 400 at the Brickyard was more like what we’re used to at the Friday and Saturday night short track races around here than one of NASCAR’s biggest extravaganzas.

I’ll bet Jimmy Johnson doesn’t care about that though. Johnson had the best car all day, even if he only got to show it off in ten lap sprints. But with his win, you have to look at Jimmy as one of the guys who may be able to challenge Kyle Busch, once we get to the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Throw Carl Edwards into that mix too.

Goodyear’s tire woes made for a less than satisfying Brickyard race. But this stuff has happened before, and with the continuing development of the New Car, it’s likely to happen again.

There was plenty to talk about after the race. Toss your opinions in on these four Fast Lap questions and place your bets on whether the Pocono tire will be better.

1: Will Tony Stewart be able to successfully juggle his responsibilities as driver of the #20 and as owner of the #14 through the rest of 2008?

2: Would an open test at Indy have been able to head off the tire problems before the race weekend?

3: NASCAR’s attempt to cut Toyota horsepower in the Nationwide Series didn’t slow down Kyle Bush on Saturday. Is engine restriction the best way to regain parity?

4: Did Rusty Wallace lose some of his credibility by saying Ryan Newman was fired by Penske; then have Roger turn around and say he wasn’t?

Limit your answers to 100 words or less, but come back throughout the week to defend your ground and throw some tire debris those not as smart as you. This is the Fast Lap comment blog and we will be taking selected questions and responses to use in an upcoming video feature for OnPitRow.com and Bench Racing TV.

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

Can anyone stop Kyle Busch from running away with the 2008 Sprint Cup Series championship? That’s the question I read and heard most during the, so-called, week off just passed.

It’s the same question that was on most lips this time last year as the Cupsters cruised into Indy. The difference is that in 2007, the can’t miss winner was - Jeff Gordon. How’d that work out?

The guy who won the ‘07 Cup was the same one who kissed the Bricks at Indianapolis - Jimmy Johnson. In fact, taking the checkered flag at the Brickyard has been a good predicter of that year’s champ. Six of the winners in the fourteen year history of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard have gone on to win the series the same year.

Now six out of fourteen isn’t all of them. But if Kyle Busch wins this week at Indy, my money goes on him in the Chase for sure.

Chase these four, sharp, flat lefties as you wait for the the Greatest Spectacle in…. oh…sorry….The Brickyard 4…..what, it’s not that either? Here is your weekly Fast Lap assignment.

1: Jeremy Mayfield’s PR guy has been working overtime this week trying to get his boy on owner’s lips for some of the openings for 2009. As a car owner would his good outweigh his bad?

2: Matt Kenseth won the race at his hometown track-Slinger Speedway in Wisconsin on the off weekend. Other drivers spread themselves around the country doing the same thing to relax. As a car owner wouldn’t you be a bit worried?

3: Is this year’s rookie pool disappointing and who is your Rookie of the Year candidate now?

4: Does NASCAR belong at Indy?

Remember, no more than 100 words per answer. We will be using the best stuff ON PIT ROW and in a new, regular video segment on Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie.

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

Two weeks off until the Cupsters resume at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

That was a hell of an end to the Lifelock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.  Kyle Busch once again won the last lap dash to the checkered flag.  This time he bested his old teammate, Jimmy Johnson.  It was impressive.

But I get the feeling that Johnson is taking the measure of the Shrub.  Dialing in, along with the best crew chief in the business, Chad Knaus, the #48 Lowes Chevrolet for when it really counts.  The last ten races. The Chase to the Sprint Cup.  Just like 2007.  Can’t hardly wait, myself.

Until then, we’ll have to cope.  Cope with unrelenting silly season stuff.  Wade through a hip-deep slop of rumors about who will drive for whom.  And in what car, painted in whose colors.

Enough for now.  Watch the Craftsman Trucks and the ARCA RE/MAX cars at Bruton’s new baby, Kentucky Speedway, this weekend.  And maybe sip on a Bourbon while thinking about these four, fast left handers .

1: Is Kyle Busch’s seventh win good for racing like Tiger Woods winning every week is  good for golf?

2: How did the TNT coverage stack up to the Fox coverage

3: Should Kyle Petty take a full time broadcast gig in 2009, if offered?

4: Over or under-Michael Waltrip Racing will field two and a half cars in 2009.

It’s the Fast Lap and these questions will be a big part of this week’s ON PIT ROW.  The best answers and comments will be considered for a brand new video segment OnPitRow.com.  So don’t hold back.  Kyle Busch doesn’t.

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

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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?

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