Off The Wall Racing News

NASCAR

Daytona!

Okay… The hype begins… Go to the following site, Driver Averages at http://www.driveraverages.com/nascar/track.php?trk_id=6 to see who has run at the top of the Daytona 500 since 2009...

I was really surprised to see Matt Kenseth at the top of that list... Harvick? Edwards? Kurt Busch? Those I can understand. Maybe Matt's the one to watch out for with that new Ford power package...
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NASCAR Drivers on “The All Time Dirtiest Athletes List”?

I’m devastated… Guess who made The 50 Dirtiest Athletes of All Time list that was recently released by the “Complex Media Network”…
Roush Fenway Racing’s Carl Edwards was listed number 48 on the list of 50. The “Complex Media Dot Com” write up on Edwards reads as follows: “we all get road rage at times but, when it happens in NASCAR, careers and lives are put in danger. Such was the case at the 2010 Kobalt Tools 500, (at the Atlanta Motor Speedway), when Edwards repeatedly tried to take revenge on Brad Keselowski for a crash causing block laps before. Edwards eventually succeeded, sending Keselowski’s car airborne at 190 MPH. Don’t let the endorsement cake and wry smile fool you. Edwards knows all about riding dirty.”
That’s all fine and good… Edwards deserves it. But only 48th out of 50?

This is the one I’ve got a real problem with… Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch was listed at number 38 on the list and, yes, with only two drivers on the list, that makes Kyle the supposed dirtiest driver in NASCAR.


Kyle gets the following accolades: “from causing wrecks to flipping off officials and even breaking s**t after victories, (that would be the famous Gibson Guitar incident), Busch makes cars going around in a circle 400 times slightly more entertaining. The thing that makes Busch one of the most loved and loathed drivers is the fact that he knows he’s an a**h**e, but simply doesn’t give a f**k.”

Nice commentary… I certainly hope Kyle takes a gander at this…

For those with inquiring minds, here’s the whole list:

1. Marty McSorley – Boston Bruins – NHL 2. Luis Resto – Pro Boxer
3. Roy Keane – Pro Soccer 4. Brusce Bowen – San Antonio Spurs – NBA
5. Bill Romanowski – Denver Broncos – NFL 6. Ulf Samuelsson – NY Rangers – NHL
7. Bryan Marchment – Hartford Whalers – NHL 8. Vinnie Jones – Pro Soccer
9. Tonya Harding – Ice Skating 10. Steve Downie – TB Lightning – NHL
11. Bill Laimbeer – Detroit Pistons – NBA 12. Todd Bertuzzi - Vancouver Canucks – NHL
13. Dennis Rodman – Chicago Bulls – NBA 14. Karl Malone – Utah Jazz - NBA
15. Elizabeth Lambert – New Mexico – NCAA Soccer 16. Ty Cobb – Detroit Tigers – MLB
17. Sean Avery – NY Rangers – NHL 18. Chris Pronger – Phil. Flyers – NHL
19. Albert Haynesworth – Wash. Redskins – NFL 20. Mark van Bommel – Pro Soccer
21. Alex Rodriguez – NY Yankees – MLB 22. Ron Artest – LA Lakers - NBA
23. Reggie Evans – Toronto Raptors – NBA 24. Roger Clemens – NY Yankees – MLB
25. Dale Hunter – NHL 26. Pete Rose – Cincinnati Reds - MLB
27. Rasheed Wallace – NBA 28. Hines Ward – Pittsburgh Steelers – NFL
29. Robert Horry – San Antonio Spurs – NBA 30. Marco Materazzi – Pro Soccer
31. James Harrison – Pittsburgh Steelers – NFL 32. Louis Suarez – Pro Soccer
33. Gilbert Yvel – MMA 34. Rodney Harrison – NE Patriots – NFL
35. Darcy Tucker – Toronto Maple Leafs – NHL 36. Roy Williams – Dallas Cowboys – NFL
37. Nigel de Jong – Pro Soccer 38. Kyle Busch – JGR - NASCAR
39. Sammy Sosa – MLB 40. Mike Tyson – Pro Boxer
41. Reggie Miller – Ind. Pacers – NBA 42. Gaylord Perry – MLB
43. Raja Bell – Phoenix Suns – NBA 44. Cortland Finnegan – Tenn. Titans – NFL
45. Kobe Bryant – LA Lakers – NBA 46. Antonio Margarito – Pro Boxer
47. Zola Bud – Olympic Runner 48. Carl Edwards – RFR – NASCAR
49. Jack Tatum – Oakland Raiders – NFL 50. Steve Ott – Dallas Stars - NHL

It’s interesting that 42% of the dirtiest athletes (21 of 50) are from the winter sports, the National Basketball Association (11) and the National Hockey League (10). Cabin Fever?

I was really surprised to see anyone from NASCAR or auto racing in general on this list. These guys play with fire. They shouldn’t be doing anything that qualifies as dirty on the race track.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.

Are you ready for this? A rock band named Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jr.? Not a bad sound (I’m kind of an unofficial music connoisseur and I’ll probably buy it!) and it appears the use of an icon’s name is spelling recognition as they are busily filling a performance schedule with their first album due out this coming spring…
Here’s one of several videos available on Youtube:

Pretty imaginative. Wonder what Junyer has to say about it…

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Jennifer Jo Cobb featured on CNN

I hoped to present the interview video here but CNN being CNN, access to the embed code was restricted… (Just another reason why I don’t tune in to this wonderful “news” network)
Jennifer Jo is interviewed by CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta with questions circling the physical demands of racing, the fear of racing accidents and how Ms. Cobb deals with it.

Here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFEaOwIYtYY
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Australian Sprintcar

What's Tony Stewart do when NASCAR's not racing? He goes out and finds another racing circuit! This isn't the first NASCAR off-season when Tony's run down to Australia (of course it's summer down there right now...), but wouldn't ya think he'd be on cruise control and relaxing in the sunshine? Not Tony the Tiger. I guess he's just got to be standing on a throttle pedal, even if it's in an Australian Sprint Car! That led to the following headline:

STEWART FINISHES SECOND, SCHATZ THIRD IN AUSTRALIAN SPRINT CAR GRAND PRIX

Link: http://www.tonystewartracing.com/news/1/Stewart-Finishes-Second-Schatz-Third-in-Australian-Sprint-Car-Grand-Prix-46/

Maybe that's just how Smoke relaxes...

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IndyCar

Indianapolis is gearing up for the Centennial celebration of the Indianapolis 500 this year... Here are some commemorative stories...

1911 Indianapolis 500

The 1911 Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, or International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Tuesday, May 30, 1911. A departure from previous Speedway policy of holding numerous smaller racing meets during 1909 and 1910 racing seasons, the singular, large-scale event attracted widespread attention from both American and European racing teams and manufacturers, and, despite controversy surrounding its conclusion, proved far and away a successful event, immediately establishing itself both as the premier motorsports competition in the nation, and one of the most prestigious in the world.
From the archives…

Things have certainly changed in 100 years... Isn't it great that we can actually see back then on film?
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Stamp Commemorates 100 years of racing at Indianapolis 500…

The 100th anniversary Indianapolis 500 will be honored on a United States Postal
Service commemorative stamp that will go on sale in May 2011.
The stamp will be a "Forever Stamp," always equal in value to the current First Class Mail 1-ounce letter regardless of price changes in the future.
Illustrator John Mattos created the stylized, art deco illustration of Ray Harroun driving the Marmon "Wasp," winner of the inaugural Indianapolis 500 in 1911, on the Indianapolis 500 Forever Stamp. Text along the bottom of the stamp reads "Indianapolis 500," with small type along the bottom of the stamp opposite the year 2011 reads "100 YEARS OF RACING."

"It's a great honor for the Indianapolis 500 to be featured on a United States Postal Service stamp," said Jeff Belskus, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation president and chief executive officer. "The stamp recognizes the '500' as a vital part of American culture and is a wonderful addition to our celebration of the 100th anniversary of the race in 2011."
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Indianapolis 500 Centenary Countdown: First Times for a Legendary Trio
In one hundred races at the Brickyard there are but three drivers who have won four Indianapolis 500's in their career.

Here's a link to the story: http://www.racer.com/indianapolis-500-centenary-countdown-first-times-for-a-legendary-trio/article/192748/

The names resonate with racing fans the world over... A.J. Foyt (won in 1961, '64, '67 and '77), Al Unser (won in 1970, '71, '78 and '87) and Rick Mears (won in 1979, '84, '88 and '91). Notice how the three overlap in the years they won in and yet outside of this 30 year span there hasn't been another... 2011 marks the second year when another driver will have a chance to join this elite group... One of Kristen's favorites, Hélio Castroneves.

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Will Power’s will power wears down…

Coming off his best IZOD IndyCar Series season of his career, Verizon Team Penske driver Will Power is having a good offseason as well. Power married his longtime girlfriend Elizabeth Cannon in Maui, Hawaii a few days ago.
Will first met Cannon, who is from Texas, when he came to the United States from his native Australia to race cars in 2006. The two worked together at Walker Racing and they began dating.
Cannon now is employed as a public relations representative for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing in the IZOD IndyCar Series while Power has established himself as one of the rising stars of motorsports following a runner-up finish in the 2010 series championship.
Power will return to action in the number 12 Verizon Team Penske Dallara /Honda in 2011 looking to defend his Mario Andretti Road course championship and once again fight for the overall IZOD IndyCar Series title.

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Formula One

Team Lotus verses Group Lotus

The beat goes on with the Lotus split. Team Lotus will continue racing with the familiar forest green and bright yellow Lotus colors while Group Lotus has adopted black and gold for their Renault partnership cars.

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Petrov confirmed at Renault until 2012

Lotus Renault announced they will retain Vitaly Petrov for the next two seasons.

"I am very happy to continue with the team and proud to be representing Lotus Renault GP for the 2011 and 2012 seasons,” said Petrov, who has just completed his rookie F1 campaign with the team. “I learned a lot about the sport, the circuits and the car this year. That will help me improve even more in the future.

“I am very excited about working with this great team once more, and I'm confident that I will deliver. In many ways, 2010 was about learning. 2011 will be about performing. Today, I feel I am ready to rise to this challenge."

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D’Ambrosio lands Virgin race seat for 2011

The Virgin team announced Belgian driver Jerome D’Ambrosio will partner with Timo Glock in their race line-up for the 2011 Formula One season.

Last month, 25 year-old D’Ambrosio successfully concluded an evaluation role with Virgin, taking part in Friday practice sessions at the Singapore, Japanese, Korean and Brazilian Grands Prix. In addition, he conducted a further half-day program in the team’s VR-01 car during last month’s Abu Dhabi young driver test.

“I’m thrilled to have achieved my goal of a Formula One race seat with Marussia Virgin Racing,” said D’Ambrosio. “When I came to the team in September this year it was everything I could hope for.

“I had a tough test to complete because there was a lot of competition for this seat, but at the same time I got on well with the team and felt that I had found my home. I feel very comfortable with them - they are extremely professional and ambitious people and it is exciting to think that I can be a part of shaping the team’s future.”
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Finally... What do Cadillac STS, Cadillac DTS, Chevrolet Cobalt, Chrysler PT Cruiser, Honda Element, Kia Borrego, Kia Rondo, Lexus SC, Lincoln Town Car, Ford Crown Victoria, the complete Mercury line of automobiles, Mitsubishi Raider and the Volvo V70 have in common? 2010 was the last year all these models and one make of automobiles were manufactured...

1951 Mercury Convertible... So long to another American icon...

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47 Days Kristen, Gene...