Caption Time!

Give it your best shot!

What in the world are these guys thinking / saying?

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Go get 'em Lug-Nuts!

Off The Wall Racing News

NASCAR

Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins eighth consecutive Most Popular Driver award
Junior Nation still looms large… Although I like Dale Jr., I think it’s about time for his fans to back off until he becomes relevant once again… Eight of these awards puts Dale Jr. in third place all-time behind Bill Elliot (16) and Richard Petty (9).

Others receiving votes (No, I didn’t put Kyle first, it’s alphabetical order… Ha!): Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart.

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Marcos Ambrose Is NASCAR Crash King With 19 Incidents in 2010. Elliot Sadler came in second having caused 15 yellow flag cautions. Kyle Busch and Joe Logano tied for third with 14 such occurrences, while the following drivers were involved in 13 spins or crashes drawing yellow flags during the 36-race schedule, or one every three races, Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne, Brad Keselowski and Juan Pablo Montoya.

Now let me ask... With 33% of all the Sprint Cup cars that ran in 2010, Chevrolet only has one driver on that list up above? There's 3 Toyotas, 2 Fords and Dodges and JPM... Is this a driver problem, just circumstances or a vehicle problem?
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For Gene Haddock and anyone else interested in NASCAR’s decline in popularity, here’s the best article I’ve been able to find to date…

NASCAR’s slide on TV continues
Street and Smith’s Sports Business Journal
By John Ourand AND Tripp Mickle Staff writers
Published November 29, 2010

The Link: http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/67435

I’ll leave it to you to go to the source and read the well written article, but here is the opening paragraph:

Four years after signing a record $4.48 billion media deal with Fox, ESPN and Turner, NASCAR has lost nearly a quarter of its TV viewership base, a four-year trend of massive viewer defections that has been punctuated by the erosion of the young male demographic.

The article uses graphs to display where NASCAR stands against the other major sports and to show the age groups that are watching…
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Which network does the best job with NASCAR broadcasts?

Since television plays such a huge role in racing generally and NASCAR in particular, here’s a little poll on which network does the best job in the eyes of the fans from NASCAR Insiders…

FOX (44%, 583 Votes)
SPEED (26%, 342 Votes)
TNT (16%, 215 Votes)
ESPN/ABC (14%, 186 Votes)
Total Voters: 1,329

Gene, doesn’t ole DW work for FOX? And it looks like Crusty Rusty is coming in last!
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Here’s a little rundown on the companies we need to support as NASCAR racing fans…

Sunoco fuel oughta be your motion lotion…
Pennzoil, Quaker State, Valvoline or Mobil One should be lubricating your motor…
Go to at Discount Tires to purchase your Goodyear tires …
Use Exide or Interstate for your automotive battery needs…
Maintain your vehicles with Wix and / or K&N automotive filters and Peak anti-freeze…
When you press on your brake pedal and have to say WHEEEEEE!!!! Remember to ask for Raybestos brake liners!
Work with Craftsman, DeWalt, Irwin, Lenox, Mac, Snap-On, Stanley, Okuma, Lincoln, Impact, Fastenal and Kobalt Tools…
Go to NAPA, O’Reilly or Car Quest for your auto parts needs and use Bosch, Royal Purple, Safety Kleen, AC Delco, Champion, Delphi, and SKF parts and products…
Use Carfax before buying a Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford or Toyota vehicle, then Carchex will put an extended warranty on your ride while LifeLock will protect it from thieves…
Freightliner should be pulling your Featherlite carrier…
If you’re into diesels, Caterpillar better be in your vehicles (or your crawler if you’re so inclined…)
Farmers and equipment operators should use New Holland equipment…
When you have to, use Avis to rent your car…
Go to Camping World for your Featherlite recreational vehicle needs then head off to Bass Pro Shops to outfit your outdoor excursions…
Get a Polaris ATV for the fun of it!
Remember, AAA Auto Club is ready to help with your travel needs…
Nationwide, GEICO, Hartford and/or AFLAC should cover your insurance needs…
When looking to buy or sell your ride go to Auto Trader or Coparts…
Use Sprint, Verizon or Alltel for your cell phone service…
Go to Office Depot for your computing and office needs being sure to purchase 3M and Z-Line products when you’re there…
TaxSlayer should be doing your taxes…
Get your household and building needs at Lowes, Menards and Home Depot where you should pick up USG, MasterCraft and DuPont products…
Fertilize your yard and protect your plants with Scott’s products…
Bravely wave the flag and support the U.S. Military (Air Force, Army, National Guard and Navy)…
Use Go Daddy and Time-Warner’s Road Runner for internet services…
Go to Aaron’s or Furniture Row for your home furnishings and electronics…
Shop Best Buy for televisions, theaters, stereos and for your entertainment needs (look for Samsung Mobile Phones, Insignia HDTV and Philips products)…
Use Target as your department store and look for Sylvania products…
Dollar General ought to have it if no one else does…
UPS, Fed-Ex and / or Con-Way Freight are ready to handle your shipping needs…
Bank of America or Citibank should be your bank and be sure to carry a Visa card…
Subscribe to Direct TV and Sirius satellite radio…
Watch Comcast programing and Showtime movies at home…
Wear a Tissot wrist watch…
Get your uniforms at Cintas…
Pull on Wrangler Jeans and tie up either Puma or Adidas Shoes…
Grocery shop at Krogers, Food City and Save Mart…
Chew Wrigley’s Gum (Doublemint’s my fav…)
Try to eat Hellman’s Mayo (Best Foods out west), Bubba Burger, M&M’s, Snickers, Cherrios, Kellogg’s Cereals, Hamburger Helper, Edy’s Ice Cream (Dreyer’s out west), Nabisco snacks, Pillsbury snacks, Combo’s snacks, Tom’s snacks, Tornado’s Mexican Foods, Heluva Good! dips/cheeses/condiments, Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches and Bush’s Beans…
When eating out you should find yourself at Burger King, Taco Bell, McDonalds, Long John Silver’s, A&W, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Zaxby's or Sub Way…
You and your kids should drink Coca Cola products, Pepsi Cola products, Gatorade, Red Bull Energy, Amp Energy, 5 Hour Energy, NOS Energy and Wave Energy…
Your adult beverages should be Budweiser, Coors Lite and Miller Lite beer, Crown Royal sipping whiskey and Diageo products (Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff, Jose Cuervo, Bailey’s, Guinness, Moet and others)…
Fire up the Bar-B with Kingsford charcoal…
Switch away from Old Spice deodorant and body wash (not a sponsor anymore) to Gillette personal care products…
Kleenex products should be kept on hand…
Get your hair cut at Sports Clips then slip on your Electric Sunglasses… Cool…
Wash your hair with Head and Shoulders…
Use Unilever brand health, personal and food items…
Use Zippo lighters to fire up your smokes then get on the Nicoderm bandwagon to quit smoking…
Poor performing men should use Viagara and Extenze…
This leads to Tylenol or Goody’s Powder for your mate’s headache relief and Prilosec OTC or Tums to cure the acid indigestion that sets in when turned down!

And when you’re done… Pack all the boxes, wrappers and whatever else is leftover all up in a Hefty bag!

Looking at that list of sponsors I think I’m doing a pretty good job supporting them on my end…

Thanks to all of them!
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Okay Kristen… Here ya go! How about the nickname “22 Skidoo Crew” for Kurt’s crew? I know… Kinda hokie…
(Kurt's shoes are on fire!)

The phrase originated in New York City. It was the result of policemen having to disperse groups of men who would hang out near the 23rd street subway stop to watch women’s skirts get blown up by air coming up from the subway airshaft through the sidewalk. 23rd street is the flatiron district and was known for a high concentration of women office workers. When the police showed up the men would “skidoo” to 22nd Street thus “22 skidoo”…
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Possible Rule Change Will Effect NASCAR’s Drivers

An expected rule change before the commencement of the 2011 season: NASCAR drivers will be limited to running for only one of the three major series championships.
With the last five Nationwide points champions being full-time Cup drivers it’s thought this change will effectively keep Cup drivers from running in the Nationwide series. To appease track operators who want the big name drivers to continue competing on their tracks in Nationwide and / or Camping World Truck Series events, the rule will allow Cup drivers to continue to run in their Friday or Saturday races, but they won't earn championship points.

Word is the drivers will have to declare what series they want to points race in when they apply for their license prior to Speed Week '11 at Daytona Beach next February.

Former driver and mediocre announcer Rusty Wallace (a Nationwide team owner) said last month at Homestead-Miami Speedway, “I don't think Cup guys will be getting points at all if they're running the Nationwide Series. Once they get their license, they'll have to commit: Do you want your points in the Nationwide Series, do you want your points in the Truck Series or do you want your points in the Cup Series? That's just a guess.”

NASCAR chairman Brian France has said he wants the Nationwide Series to build its own identity and personality, to become a solid and viable stand-apart series. The move to pony cars is testament to that philosophy.

Limiting drivers to accumulating points in just one of the major NASCAR racing series looks like a change whose time has come…

(I wonder how big the current NASCAR rule book is compared to that 1962 pamphlet...)
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IndyCar

Penske and Shell / Pennzoil are back in IndyCar!

In a remarriage of sorts, Team Penske announced December 2nd their new number 22 NASCAR Sprint Cup sponsor, Shell / Pennzoil, would also support Penske’s IndyCar team setting the stage for a joint venture that they hope will yield the same type of results as the venture enjoyed through the 1980’s.

Helio Castroneves is pictured next to his new ride. Note the predominate red color scheme as compared to Rick Mears’ racers…

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Team Commitments and Their Drivers for 2011:

Target Chip Ganassi Racing - Dario Franchitti & Scott Dixon.
Chip Ganassi Racing - Graham Rahal & Charlie Kimball (Conformation forthcoming).
Team Penske - Will Power, Helio Castroneves & Ryan Briscoe.
Andretti Autosport - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti & Danica Patrick are signed but word is Andretti will once again field a four car team…
Panther Racing – 2009 Indy Lights champion J.R. Hildebrand should replace Dan Weldon…
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing - Justin Wilson is back.
A.J. Foyt Enterprises - Vitor Meira
FAZZT Race Team - Alex Tagliani & Ho-Pin Tung (Ho-Pin will be confirmed shortly).
de Ferran Dragon Racing – Still searching for season-long sponsorship but expected to be back with Brazilian Rafa Matos as the team’s driver.
KV Racing Technology - Takuma Sato, Mario Moraes & E.J. Viso are all expected back along with increased participation from Lotus.
Dale Coyne Racing - Britain’s Alex Lloyd, rookie of the year in 2008, is expected back.
Newman Haas Racing – Funding remains a problem… Tony Kanaan or popular Canadian Indy Lights veteran James Hinchcliffe have been mentioned.
HVM Racing - Simona De Silvestro should be back and possibly a second, self-funded team.
Conquest Racing - Belgium’s Bertrand Baguette should be in one car and possibly, just as last year, a second car will be run.
Rahal Letterman Racing – with Graham leaving RLR may have 2009 Mazda Atlantic champion John Edwards in the seat.
Sam Schmidt Motorsports – Returns with Townsend Bell.
Bryan Herta Autosport - 2010 rookie Sebastian Saveedra will drive a proposed 6 race effort.

Free agent drivers: As yet unsigned… Tony Kanaan, Paul Tracy, Jay Howard, Dan Wheldon, Ana Beatriz, Bruno Junqueira, Hideki Mutoh and Tomas Scheckter.
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Formula 1

Virgin Racing Looks to 2011 with Confidence

Virgin Racing announced November 11th that Marussia Motors has acquired a significant share in the team, securing its long-term future ensuring it can continue to pursue its racing ambitions. From the 2011 season the team will be known as Marussia Virgin Racing.

Marussia was a new name to me so I went on a search… This is a Russian automobile manufacturer that has held a minority share of Virgin Racing since its launch in 2009. Marussia is headed by former racer Nikolay Fomenko.

Virgin Racing was established when Manor Motorsport joined forces with WR Technology Limited (‘WRT’) and Virgin to compete in the FIA Formula One World Championship.

“This is definitely a good news story for Virgin Racing and for Formula One,” said Graeme Lowdon, Chief Executive of Virgin Racing. “Marussia Motors has been a much-valued team partner throughout the 2010 season and we are delighted to introduce them formally as the significant shareholder in Virgin Racing and a major force in the team’s future. This announcement cements our place on the Formula One grid and is testimony to the hard work and dedication of every single member of our team.”

Marussia Motors has now moved itself to center stage in the worldwide automotive world. Marussia Virgin Racing is becoming a major Russian presence in Formula 1. The move is considered a big first step leading to the inaugural Russian Grand Prix to be staged in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi in 2014.

“This is the realization of a dream for Marussia Motors,” confirmed Fomenko. “While manufacturing, launching and marketing the Marussia B1, B2 and other concepts in Europe, we will have a Formula One team to promote these activities and demonstrate to the world that a new car manufacturer has arrived from Russia with truly international ambitions.”

Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin group of companies, commented: “Our first year in Formula One was always going to be tough – even more so as we were launching in the midst of a worldwide recession. Virgin is delighted to have secured a partner which shares our vision and spirit for challenging the establishment and we look forward to working together to move the team up the Formula One grid.”

A look at Marussia’s B2 sports car (Low Flying Mig?):
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Australian Grand Prix – The show will go on!

There was a question that had to be resolved before Melbourne’s Australian Grand Prix (March 24-27, 2011) could be run and it was thought the race may be in jeopardy but word has just come out… The race will go on!

Evidently the race promoter, Australian Grand Prix Corporation and the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport which supplies race officials for the event, have come to an agreement after several months of haggling.

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Green Machines

Jaguar's C-X75
How about a twin jet engine production car? Sound far-fetched? Well think again.
The jet engines are each only as big as large sized coffee thermoses as their function is to recharge the lithium batteries that actually store and supply electrical power to four separate electric motors, one for each wheel. This is a four-wheel drive electrical vehicle that can reach speeds in excess of two hundred miles per hour! Check out these shots of the futuristic Tata Motors’ vehicle that debuted at the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show held last November 19th through November 28th.
For more on this vehicle go to - http://www.racer.com/jet-set-go-jaguars-amazing-c-x75/article/191633/

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Other News…

20% unemployment gets trumped by the Sierra Club in California…

Well it looks like the Sierra Club has effectively killed the proposed race track in Tulare County California a project that would have meant millions upon millions of dollars year after year to the local and state economies… A Tulare County Superior Court Judge signed a writ of mandate ordering that certification of the project's EIR be voided. The writ also orders voiding of the Tulare City Council's project approval, zoning changes, general plan amendments and other land-use entitlements.

If those interested in seeing the proposal come to fruition continue to pursue it, they will now be faced with either appealing the ruling (it’ll be a cold day in hell when a California Appellate Court overturns that decision) or starting at square one again. I think it’s safe to say this is a dead issue… It’s a shame.


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Got your Christmas shopping done?

Super Cell!

During my early morning walkabout through the world on the internet I came across these amazing weather photos taken by amateur photographer Sean Harvey from Montana... Here's one of his shots and the link to the article -

Simply Amazing!

According to the article Sean is hoping to win a prestigious award from National Geographic for his work.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1334672/Jaw-dropping-image-enormous-supercell-cloud-Glasgow-Montana.html

Off the Wall Racing News

NASCAR

New Records set in NASCAR

In its 62nd year of operation, NASCAR’s 2010 season will go down as one for the ages. Here’s a listing of new records set this past season (from Speedway Media):

1. Average lead changes per race… 25.4 breaking the 1981 season record of 24.9.
2. 55 different drivers led laps in 2010 breaking the 2005 / 2007 years of 51.
3. There were 1,299 green flag lead changes in 2010. This literally destroyed the previous record of 994 set in 2006.
4. There were a total of 116,327 green flag passes breaking last season’s record of 110,626.

Individual track records:

1. Talladega’s spring meet had 88 lead changes among 29 drivers (67% of the field!).
2. The Daytona 500 set a new record in lead changes too with 22.
3. Sonoma’s Infineon race had 12 lead changes in the race setting a new record there.
4. Phoenix had 13 different leaders tying the record.
5. Texas had 33 lead changes during the later race setting the track record.

Last but not least, Marcos Ambrose set a dubious record last year in Sonoma when he became the first driver in NASCAR history to lose a race because he stalled the car during a caution flag playing with the ignition switches.
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And the 2010 Tissot Pit Road Precision Award Goes To…
They had to use a tie-breaker to determine this year’s Tissot Pit Road Precision Award. The season ended in a four-way tie between Matt Kenseth’s number 17 Crown Royal team, Kyle Busch’s number 18 M&M’s team, Jeff Gordon’s number 24 DuPont team (which one? Oh yeah, the one that finished on the 48 car) and Jamie McMurray’s number 1 Bass Pro Shops team.

The tie-breaker used was straight forward as the driver with the highest Sprint Cup point total at the end of the season being the winner. That happened to be Roush Fenway’s and Matt Kenseth’s number 17 team as they finished fifth in the final standings.
For winning the season-long Tissot Pit Road Precision Award title the No. 17 team
will receive a $105,000 bonus from Tissot plus Tissot watches for the pit crew members and driver. The No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing crew will also receive an all-expense paid trip to Las Vegas to accept the prize money and Tissot watches at the Champion’s Week Awards Luncheon, Thursday, Dec. 2 in the Bellagio Ballroom.

Kenseth’s over-the-wall crew consists of: Justin Nottestad (front-tire changer), Joe Crossen (front-tire carrier), Dave Smith (rear-tire changer), Garrett Reding (rear-tire carrier), Cameron Cobb (jackman), Brad Robison (gasman) and Dave McDonald (catch can). The crew chief is Jimmy Fennig and the pit crew coach is Andy Ward.

Way to go guys!
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NASCAR’s Television Ratings… Look a little deeper…


NASCAR being moved from ABC in 2009 to ESPN in 2010 (ABC has approximately 114 million households verses around 100 million households that receive ESPN) apparently played a big role in NASCAR’s huge ratings decline. ABC had an average share of 3.3 rating points in 2009 to ESPN’s 2.5 share in 2010. The 2.5 rating represents a 24% decline or a loss of approximately 1.12 million viewers.

Although NASCAR’s television ratings news seems to be full of gloom and doom as the
Ford 400’s viewership on ESPN (cable) November 21st was off .3 on ratings (3.3 share verses ABC’s 2009 season finale of 3.6), there is a definite silver lining inside the numbers… The male 18-34 year old demographic (popular sports television’s viewer bedrock) was actually up 33% verses 2009 running on cable/satellite while reaching only 87% of the potential viewers ABC would have reached. Comparing oranges to oranges concerning the Homestead Nationwide races (both shown on cable’s ESPN2 in 2009 and 2010) the 2010 rating was actually up one tenth of one rating point which equates to an increase of around 140,000 souls. So the change from a nationwide ABC audience to ESPN’s somewhat limited cable/satellite audience has worked to lower the Sprint Cup’s up front ratings. You just have to delve inside the numbers to find it’s really not as bad as it sounds after all.

I’ve given my opinion on this before… Just as the “Mainstream” media is slanted one way when it comes to politics in this country, I truly believe that same bias runs directly against auto racing generally and NASCAR in particular. You want to increase TV ratings and put more fans in the stands? There’s a mountain to climb trying to get a positive spin back in the media.
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Petty Motorsports shrinks to 2 cars for 2011


November 22nd Richard Petty announced Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM) has shored up its financial picture by finding sufficient backing to race the 2011 season with a reduced presence. Cutting the number of teams to be fielded in half, Petty appeared optimistic saying, ``Currently we are concentrating on building two solid programs. We are very fortunate to have an extremely loyal family of partners and are looking forward to the future.''

Petty’s new financial partners are Medallion Financial Corporation and DGB Investments with the King making the day to day decisions.

Here’s hoping A.J. Allmendinger and Marcos Ambrose get the attention they deserve and have a rewarding 2011.
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What do the drivers think would make the Chase better?

``I don't think they need to change the Chase,'' said Clint Bowyer. ``I think the competition is closer than it has ever been. That is what we were lacking. Hats off to everybody involved in this sport. This has been a great year.''

The championship contenders were asked the week before Homestead about their preferences. Harvick and Hamlin support a variation of tracks in the final 10 races. The venues have shifted slightly since 2004, but as NASCAR discussed tweaks to the 2011 schedule, the only change was moving Chicago into the Chase and removing California, which has had attendance problems.

``I'd like to see a little bit more diversity in the racetracks,'' Harvick said. ``I don't think the last 10 weeks should be the same racetracks over and over and over again. I think it should rotate around. You have it end at different places, have it start at different places. Maybe you go to some of the same racetracks, but I think a different 10 weeks, even a road course at the end of the year would put that full diversity on your champion.''

Johnson actually deferred on Chase changes and set his sights on two other NASCAR issues: The grueling 36-race schedule that stretches from February to November, and an abundance of 500-mile races that stretch more than three hours.

``I think a shorter schedule would be awesome. Shorter races, too,'' Johnson said.

Hmmm, I like Kevin Harvick’s idea about putting a road course race in the Chase. Maybe the new Austin Texas road course when it’s ready down the road? ___________________________________________________
Jeff Gluck’s latest poll on SB Nation… http://www.sbnation.com/nascar/2010/11/29/1842543/poll-what-was-the-most-memorable-moment-of-the-2010-nascar-season

What was the most memorable moment of the 2010 NASCAR season?
After 781 votes at 9:00 PM EST on Monday, November 29, 2010…

9% Jimmie Johnson wins historic fifth consecutive Sprint Cup championship - 75 votes

18% Veteran drivers Jeff Gordon, Jeff Burton fight after crash at Texas - 143 votes

44% Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins Nationwide race at Daytona in No. 3 car - 345 votes

6% Kyle Busch sweeps Bristol weekend after Brad Keselowski's "Kyle Busch is an ass" comment - 54 votes

9% Emotional Jamie McMurray wins pothole-marred Daytona 500 - 74 votes

5%Angry Carl Edwards flips Brad Keselowski at Atlanta - 45 votes

5% Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick clash at Pocono, prompting Logano's "firesuit" comment - 45 votes

Looks like Junior Nation is alive and well…

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Sign of NASCAR’s Times?

In celebration of Jimmie Johnson’s 5th consecutive Sprint Cup Championship ESPN put up a graphic with Jimmy Johnson on it…

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IndyCar

Pennzoil and Penske in IndyCar? Again?

I vividly remember Rick Mears’ Indianapolis 500 victories back in the mid 80’s… You
see I had more than one opportunity to actually sit down and talk with the man. I was living in a small resort area in the Central California Sierra Nevada Mountains where the lady that owned the local watering hole / restaurant / store was the mother of Rick’s first wife. I was a frequent visitor to the resort back in my bachelorhood days and there were times around the holidays when Rick might show up. Naturally I kept tabs on his racing career… Anyway those bright yellow cars he drove were burned into my memory banks. Now there are unconfirmed rumors that Roger Penske might just get his old sponsor back in IndyCar, this after the announcement seven months back concerning Shell / Pennzoil shifting sponsorship away from Richard Childress and Kevin Harvick in favor of Penske and Kurt Busch. If the Penske IndyCar / Shell-Pennzoil re-marriage comes to pass what’s next for Penske?

With one year left on Roger’s NASCAR contract with Dodge there will be a lot of speculation about that in the coming months. Is Penske German?

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Formula 1

Is it Sour Grapes or is Red Bull driving illegal equipment?

"Petty finger pointing" has Red Bull’s chief technical officer Adrian Newey unhappy
with the competition. Red Bull’s dominating RB6 model package Newey is responsible for developing has drawn consistent complaints over alleged technical illegalities.

Newey stated, "It wasn't a distraction, but it was an annoyance. I've got to say I've never known a season quite like this one for the petty finger pointing that's gone on in the paddock."
Even though every complaint survived F1A’s checks, the rules will be changed in the future as a result. The innovative Newey had F1A inspectors looking at such things as alleged adjustable ride height systems, flexible floors and flexible wings.

Nevertheless, complaints persisted. A common claim revolved around the fact that the RB6's drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber were able to increase their qualifying speed by as much as three tenths in the crucial 'Q3' qualifying.

Newey defended Red Bull against the allegations saying, "It's a myth! I'm not sure our Q3 performance has been particularly different to our Q1 and Q2 performance, to be honest.

"I haven't bothered looking through statistics, but I think it's one of these stories that starts when once or twice the drivers have improved in Q3 and suddenly everybody writes it and it becomes accepted without any real basis," he added.

Sounds like sour grapes to me… You know how those Europeans are! LOL

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They’re Still Racing!

Kurt Busch parlayed a ride in Rockingham’s Frank Kimmel Street Stock Polar Bear 150
November 27th to a second place finish behind Will Kimmel (Frank’s nephew)… Looks like a good time was had by all at the Rock.
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The Race of Champions in Dusseldorf Germany (November 27th-28th). The team race Nations Cup was won by Team Germany made up of F1 Champion Sebastian Vettel and fellow F1 driver and multi-championship winner Michael Schumacher. Team Great Britain finished second.

In the individual Race of Champions held Sunday, former Red Bull driver Filipe Albuquerque surprised everyone with the win.

Carl Edwards, Travis Pastrana and Tanner Foust made up the American team (I know this is an exhibition but what’s up with that???).
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Upcoming: Australian Supercar V8’s Season Finale - 2010 Sydney Telstra 500 December 3rd - 5th…
We'll have to refer to tez for the television times... tez, I found Speed TV's Schedule... This race won't be shown until December 19th... That's a shame.
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Now... Go Christmas Shopping!

A Little Levity!

How about a little Black Friday fun?

Captions Please!

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2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

As usual... The Zebras get the last laugh!

Hope you're all enjoying your holiday!

Off The Wall Racing News

NASCAR


Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson and Hendrick Motorsports for their come-from-behind 2010 Sprint Cup Championship! An unprecedented in NASCAR five in a row puts the number 48 Lowe’s team in rarefied air indeed…
Johnson now stands next to sports icons such as the New York Yankees (the best team money can buy), the Montreal Canadiens, the Boston Celtics, NHRA’s John Force and Formula 1’s Michael Schumacher, all with five consecutive championships…
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So… What do Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart have in common?

2010 – Kevin Harvick
2009 – Jimmie Johnson
2008 – Carl Edwards
2007 – Jeff Gordon
2006 – Jimmie Johnson
2005 – Tony Stewart
2004 – Jeff Gordon

Does that ring a bell? Yep, these are the “would have been” winners of the Sprint Cup if not for the Chase…

Are Johnson’s five consecutive championships tarnished? I’ve gotta believe Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Cale Yarborough and yes, current drivers Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart all did it the hard way…

Has NASCAR gained on any of the other major sports with its Chase? We all know the answer to that one…

So now we’re hearing that despite the greatest Chase in the format’s seven year history, more tweaks may be on the way as NASCAR still searches for those "Game 7" type moments.

Suggestion… Put some REAL money on the line and have a nationwide NASCAR sponsored fantasy league. The winner will get what… One hundred grand? Then feed diminishing returns to the top eleven finishers below the overall champ. You want people to pay attention? That might do it… I know in football, fans tune into every game just to check out how their fantasy players are doing. NASCAR needs that kind of participation and a little financial reward might yield great benefits.
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Here’s a driver’s answers to several questions… Who do you think is saying such things?
Who is the most talented driver in NASCAR? The most talented driver in the sport is... (thinks for a moment)... it's either Jimmie (Johnson) or Kyle (Busch). Probably Jimmie.
What's the worst track on the NASCAR circuit? I don't like Sonoma. I just don't think these cars were meant to go left and right. There's nowhere to pass, and we all run over the top of each other and wreck the shit out of each other to get positions.
If you were in charge of NASCAR, what would you change? Everything we do needs to be geared toward making the sport more accessible to the fans – the rules of the sport, how the race plays itself out, how people qualify into the races – everything needs to be as easy to understand as possible.
If a new driver came to you for advice, who is one driver you'd tell him to learn from and one driver you wouldn't? I'd tell ‘em to go learn from Mark Martin, and I'd tell ‘em to not do anything I ever did. Why's that? I don't know. Well...I just don't want to name any names in that category, so I named myself (laughs).
How much longer would you like to keep driving? Till I'm 50 or 55, that'd be awesome.
Who wins Sprint Cup in 2015? 2015? Shit! My dark horse is going to be Brad Keselowski, but...I'm going to go for me. I think I'm going to win it. So I'll pick me, and then Brad Keselowski as the dark horse.
Would you rather be known as a great driver or great person? A great person. That reaches all facets of your being, you know? Not just your job. When you say great person, that includes your family, your friends. I've already done enough to have earned ‘good driver,' so if I can be known as a great person and a good driver, that's better than only being a great driver.
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The 48 team’s pit crew won the Tissot Pit Road Award in Phoenix for spending the least amount of time on pit road (170.246 seconds) and finishing on the lead lap. How about some props for these guys? They are: Clay Robinson (front-tire changer), Mike Houston (front-tire carrier), Joe Slingerland (rear-tire changer), Matt Ver Meer (rear-tire carrier), Jeff Cook (jackman), Caleb Hurd (gasman), and Jamie Frady (catch can). The team's pit crew coach is Greg Morin.
Thinkin’ about it… I could be a great gasman!

Greg Biffle and Roush Fenway number 16 crew, pictured here, won the 2009 Season Tissot Pit Crew Award. The crew members received Tissot wrist watches and divided $100,000 between themselves...

Now, who deserves the Tissot Award this season?
Here were the standings through the November 7th race at Texas...

T1 24 Jeff Gordon 4 $20,000
T1 18 Kyle Busch 4 20,000
T1 17 Matt Kenseth 4 20,000
T1 1 Jamie McMurray 4 20,000
T5 33 Clint Bowyer 3 15,000
T6 56 Martin Truex Jr. 2 10,000
T6 00 David Reutimann 2 10,000
T6 14 Tony Stewart 2 10,000
T9 42 Juan Pablo Montoya 1 5,000
T9 12 Brad Keselowski 1 5,000
T9 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 1 5,000
T9 39 Ryan Newman 1 5,000
T9 2 Kurt Busch 1 5,000
T9 26 Boris Said 1 5,000
T9 16 Greg Biffle 1 5,000
T9 29 Kevin Harvick 1 5,000
T9 5 Mark Martin 1 5,000

This certainly begs the question... Gordon's 24 team was tied for the lead and then won the Phoenix race award on the 48 car... Does that knock them out of consideration? Four crew teams were tied for first after Texas. Go figure...
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Joe Gibbs on Kyle Busch

In an interview on NASCAR Radio’s Sirius Speedway with Dave Moody, Joe Gibbs stated that he’s spoken with Kyle Busch about the profanity laced tirade at Texas Motor Speedway.
"(Kyle) gets so uptight that every now and then, he makes mistakes," said Gibbs. "We've got to do everything we can here inside Joe Gibbs Racing to make sure that doesn't happen. That's what we're totally focused on. We've got a plan laid out, and Kyle has agreed to do the things he needs to do to ensure that we don't put ourselves in that position again. We think he's a huge talent; a smart, bright guy that we enjoy being around. His whole life is Sam (his fiancée) and racing. There are no issues with him running around drinking or anything. He doesn't care about any of that. He's totally focused, and all he wants to do is race cars. (Unfortunately) he gets so wound up at the race track that it's hard for him to handle some of the things he needs to handle. We love his competitive nature, but he just needs to learn to handle things better." Gibbs declined to speak specifically on what discussions have been had, or what guidelines have been put in place regarding Busch's future behavior. He stressed, however, that all parties agree that incidents like his recent outburst at Texas Motor Speedway cannot continue to occur. "(It) was not good for us at Joe Gibbs Racing, and it certainly wasn't good for our sponsor," he said. "We feel like there was a plan that we had to put out there, to assure that this doesn't happen again. We're going to keep that in-house, but it's something that we think is smart, and Kyle does too. He realizes where he is, and that's a great part of this. We just have to make sure it doesn't happen again.”
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Another Crew Chief Change in Junior’s Future?

Evidently the search is on for a new crew chief in 2011 for the 88 Chevrolet. Give me your honest opinion… Do you truly believe Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s problems getting into victory lane are centered on who’s making the calls from the pit box? Do you think the change is Rick Hendrick’s idea or is it Junior’s?


My idea… Put Tony Eury Jr. back on Dale’s box. Yeah I know what happened the last time but just maybe they can figure out how to get tunnel vision like last July when they partnered to win the Nationwide 250 at Daytona when Junior honored his dad’s memory driving the Wrangler number 3. Seems to me Junior needs that kind of incentive and Eury might be the guy to keep him focused. Just a thought…
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Speaking of Daytona, how are things going with the track resurfacing?

The repaving work has boiled down to the skid pads, the apron and pit road. Yes sir! The track itself is done. Wednesday and Thursday, December 15th and 16th, have been scheduled for Goodyear tire testing. The drivers for the test have not been named at this time but a bit of interesting information concerns fans wanting to watch the tests that will mark the first time race cars will be allowed on the track: The Oldfield Grandstands will be open for free access to anyone willing to come. Might be fun!

David Ragan and a couple of brave souls took a spin around the track in a bright red Ford Mustang last week… Check out the video and the wide eyed guy riding shotgun! That dude is not taking his eyes off the road while Ragan is virtually free wheeling! LOL

I can’t wait to enjoy the “World Center of Racing” next February!

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IndyCar

Two’s Company… So Is Three A Crowd?

Just on the heels of Chevrolet’s announcement they are getting back into IndyCar racing in a partnership with Cosworth, Lotus announced they’ll jump in as well.


Lotus Group CEO Dany Behar stated, "We want to really fight and compete with the big guys," Behar said. "But we have a Lotus way to do things. We always try to understand what we are getting into. That's why we started this year with a very small activity with Takuma Sato with one car to understand IndyCar racing and to see whether there was an opportunity for us to become a real contender.

"We made the brave decision. Yes, this is where we want to be. We believe in the series. We believe the series is developing very, very well. I think it fits perfectly very well our activities and strategies in the U.S., which is our biggest market"

The move sets up competition of sorts between the U.S. (Chevrolet), Asia (Honda) and now Europe (Lotus).

Once again the IZOD IndyCar Series appears to be growing at a time when NASCAR seems to be stagnating or shrinking.
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Last week it was a green article about the European Le Mans Prototype (LMP1) sports car division with news of a “flybrid” gasoline / electric engine being readied for 2011. Now there’s word of a Honda IndyCar concept frame by designer Nicolas Stone that may feature an innovative new propulsion system enabling the car to power itself with its own momentum by employing wind turbines to generate electricity from the air traveling over the car at high speeds. The IndyCar is said to be capable of reaching a top speed of over 230 mph! Not sure when or if a prototype will show up on the track, but here’s an artist’s rendition:

I don’t know about you folks, but personally I’m all for this kind of research within the auto racing industry. I see it as one more nail in foreign oil’s casket. The more we learn about alternative fuel powered transportation the closer we are to ending our dependency on people who don’t give a damn about us. The sooner this happens the better off we’ll all be.
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Speculation has popped up about a possible marriage between Graham Rahal and Target/Ganassi Racing for 2011. Hmmm… A top young talent and the dominate IndyCar team?
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Formula 1

Is Sebastian Vettel going to jump ship? Rumors are beginning to swirl that Red Bull may not have a lock on the newly crowned F1 champion. Earlier it was Mark Webber who might be gone… Now Vettel? What’s up with these Red Bull drivers? Or maybe it’s the other F1 team member’s just wishful thinking. But on the other hand Sebastian has stated in the past how much he’d like to drive for Mercedes and Ferrari (like Michael Schumacher)...

Here’s what Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz has to say on the matter: "The
whole 'dream team' - maybe that's exaggerated, but I think it's true - will remain together. They all got even more bound together by that success. I am sure this won't change after having won two titles. One thing is for sure however: in 2011 we will be the hunted ones, not the hunters anymore."
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More on Sebastian…

Winning the Formula 1 championship at 23 years of age, young Vettel is poised to become one of Formula 1’s dominate drivers for years to come. So says the man who brought him into major racing, BMW motorsport director Mario Theissen. "He did a fantastic job - especially in the final four races when the pressure was mounting," Theissen told AUTOSPORT when asked about his feelings on Vettel. "When it didn't go his way, he kept his cool. Among the four or five title contenders, the youngest one was the one who didn't make any mistakes anymore. That was really, really good. He is a top driver, one of the top drivers in Formula 1 already at 23. If it all goes well, he has another 15 years in Formula 1, so there are quite some championships he can win if the car is right."

I’ll bet Mr. Theissen wishes he could rethink letting Sebastian go to Red Bull back in 2007…
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With a new Italian racing venue looming on the horizon (2013 - a Formula 1 Grand Prix is scheduled to run through the streets of Rome), concerns are being raised about Monza’s Autodromo Nazionale course outside of Milan. Monza officials worry Formula 1 may opt for only one Italian site on their schedule in the future and with Rome’s influence Monza may be the odd race out.

Here’s a look at the proposed downtown circuit through Rome…
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Speaking of new circuits for Formula 1… The Austin Texas Environmental Board unanimously approved the United States Grand Prix Site in what is considered to be the most difficult approval to secure. The Austin Environmental Board raised the excitement level around central Texas by unanimously voting in favor of the 900 acre road course plan. Also out this month was the announcement that HKS, the same company responsible for designing Jerry Jones’ new Taj Mahal Cowboy Stadium near Dallas has joined the design team for this ambitious $250 million project. The track and multi-use stadium remains on schedule to break ground next month and be ready in time for races beginning in 2012. Here’s a look at the proposed course:

The 3.4-mile Austin track will combine 133 feet of elevation change and 20 turns.

I like it! Kinda looks like an Indian hatchet…

How many races will Formula 1 shortly have?
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Everybody have a good off-season and a great Thanksgiving!