Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nofenders/zbjv/~3/BjkzoihA9fg/twisted-holiday-veterans-day.html
Wednesday
Tuesday
Four Wide: Looking back at the promising rookies of 2006
Rounding up some links for your week to keep you up with what's new in the NASCAR world. Enjoy, and feel free to hold court in the comments below.
? This is kind of cool: a look back at the 2006 NASCAR rookie class, which featured sprightly youngsters like Clint Bowyer, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. Guess who the predicted big gun of the field was? [Athlon Sports]
? As good as the season-ending Chase was, the fact that three recent race winners in David Reutimann, Brian Vickers and David Ragan are still seeking rides means the sport's not out of its woods yet. [Scene Daily]
? Kevin Harvick is already ready to start 2012, and based on how close he's come to the Cup the last two years, you can't really blame him. But will a new crew chief give him better results? [Speed]
? Your guide to Champions' Week online and TV broadcast info. Get those tuxes ready! [The Daly Planet]
? For all of us who thought the Busch brothers were going to change and become more "mature," guess what? Joke's on us. [ESPN.com]
? A classic Dale Earnhardt-lecturing-Dale Earnhardt Jr. photo. Where did that Earnhardt swagger get its start? [LOLRacepics]
Got a link/tip for us? Hit us up at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or via Twitter at @jaybusbee. And follow us on Facebook here and Google+ here. Go!
You want a fast car? How does 462 mph suit you, pal?
Hey, it's right after Thanksgiving, so don't even pretend you're going to be doing anything close to real work for a little while. Instead, kick back with this video about the "Speed Demon," a single-engine, piston-driven beauty that hit an exit speed of 462 mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats earlier this year. It didn't break the world record because it failed to replicate the feat on the return trip. This video breaks down George Poteet and Ron Main's efforts to take the record, and is a fascinating look at the behind-the-scenes machinations of speed.
[Via Jalopnik]
Kimi R�ikk�nen?s NASCAR experiment is officially over
Kimi R�ikk�nen's dalliance with NASCAR is over after just two official races.
Reports out of Europe indicate that R�ikk�nen will return to F1 in 2012, driving for Lotus Renault GP in the first year of a two-year contract.
R�ikk�nen had driven two races in NASCAR's national series, one apiece in the Camping World Trucks and Nationwide series, for Kyle Busch and Joe Nemechek, respectively. He splashed into NASCAR with acclaim, but finished 15th in the trucks race and 27th at the Nationwide race. He also tore up Robby Gordon's car in testing, and didn't end up driving in the Sprint Cup race at Sonoma, as had been predicted.
R�ikk�nen, the 2007 World Driver's Champion, paid truck owner Kyle Busch an estimated $100,000 per race, and while he initially said he would be running three to five races, Busch said R�ikk�nen only paid for two.
R�ikk�nen had left F1 after the 2009 season, driving rally cars and dabbling in NASCAR while never really parting from the F1 scene. His name frequently came up in team rumors, and now it appears he'll be back where he belonged all along.
[Via SBNation.]
Monday
Paris Hilton's Black Friday Purchase: A Red Ferrari California
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The Ferrari California isn’t the newest model in Ferrari’s line-up, so there typically isn’t any reason to splatter news about it on the front page. That is, until a celebrity decides to do a little Black Friday shopping in a Ferrari dealership.
Paris Hilton has chosen a bright red Ferrari California as an early Christmas present for herself and, although we think the 460 HP California is an amazing supercar, we have to wonder why she opted for this particular model and not for Ferrari’s newest roadster model: the 570 HP 459 Italia Spyder. Maybe she’s had her fill of the super speedy since she just received a 560 HP Lexus LF-A for her 30th birthday. Or maybe she just got a really good Black Friday deal. Either way, this beautiful, red Ferrari California has just joined the elite group of amazing vehicles owned by Hilton’s princess.
Paris Hilton's Black Friday Purchase: A Red Ferrari California originally appeared on topspeed.com on Monday, 28 November 2011 18:00 EST.
Video: Porsche's winter experience is returning to Canada
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As winter is about to start in half of the world, knowing how to handle your car on snow is essential. Especially if you want to drive the same car next spring. And this is one of the reasons why many car makers are offering intense winter driving courses.
In Canada for example Porsche will bring back its famous "Winter Experience." A fleet of over 20 Porsche Caymans and 911 Carrera models, including the all-new "991" generation 911 Carrera S, will descend on the Mont-Tremblant region in late January 2012. Named "Porsche Camp4 Canada" this new snow driving course will have its home on the Mecaglisse snow- and ice-driving facility. Test Porsche performance and your own driving skill against everything a Canadian winter can muster.
The course will be held between January 31 and February 11, 2012. Enjoy it!
Video: Porsche's winter experience is returning to Canada originally appeared on topspeed.com on Sunday, 27 November 2011 23:00 EST.
Sunday
Fernando Alonso: ?We have no big worries??
Fernando Alonso has qualified in his customary 2011 fifth place in Interlagos, and the Ferrari driver is hoping that a wet race will give him a chance to record another podium finish at a track where he has yet to … Continue reading 
Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2011/11/26/fernando-alonso-we-have-no-big-worries/
Eric Bernard Enrique Bernoldi Enrico Bertaggia Tony Bettenhausen
Hot/Not: Edwards, Stewart tangled in second-closest title race in 30 years
Ice skating race cars? Judging driver reaction, that was the case on the repaved, reconfigured Phoenix over the weekend. Join us as we break down one title fight that stayed tight while another that loosened dramatically.
HOT: This week, NASCAR's championship week, is a great one for superlatives. The NASCAR title fight between Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards truly "comes down to one race" and is the closest, tightest scramble for the championship trophy that the sport has seen in 20 years.
The final race really is NASCAR's very own "Game 7 moment" ? or just how NASCAR�chairman Brian France wanted it when he announced the restructuring of the points system last January.
In fact, scoping 30 years back in NASCAR's history, just one fight to the finale was closer with one race left. That year was 1990 and it saw Dale Earnhardt lead Mark Martin by a mere six points heading to the season finale.
Earnhardt survived, winning his fourth of seven NASCAR Cup championships.
A mere three points (roughly 10-13�under the old points system) separate Edwards and Stewart with just 400 miles remaining Sunday afternoon at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
In 1990, Martin's six-point deficit was just 4.2 percent of the maximum amount of points available, while Stewart stares at a deficit of 6.4 percent. Position-wise, Martin could have beat Earnhardt in 1990 by finishing two spots ahead (not taking into consideration bonus points for laps led). Sunday, Stewart needs to either win or finish at least three positions ahead of Edwards to take the championship.
The first part of Stewart's requirements to take the title is probably what has France smiling the most. For the first time in that 30-year span, the championship will be guaranteed for Stewart or Edwards should either win. It won't matter what their competitor did on-track.
Even in 1990, Martin could have won the season finale and lost the championship had Earnhardt led a lap and finished second. The fact that a race win could determine the title is almost humorous, really, after Stewart's four Chase wins without leading the point standings left many ? including us ? complaining that something was slightly amiss in the points structure.
This year's Chase for the Sprint Cup also goes down as the tightest since the introduction of the Chase format in 2004. Last year's championship fight held that crown when Jimmie Johnson came to Homestead trailing Denny Hamlin by 15 points, or 9.3 percent of the maximum available points.
Johnson, of course, overcame and won his fifth NASCAR Sprint Cup title. Is that the same course Tony Stewart will take Sunday? We'll find out when you do.
Ex-open wheelers ruled this weekend in Phoenix, and Danica was there, too! The highs and lows from the Valley of the Sun:
HOT: Phoenix International Raceway opened in the 1960s with the intent of being a hub of West Coast open-wheel racing, and later CART and IndyCar made it a pivotal stop on their calendars before those days sailed.
Taking that in to account, it almost seemed fitting to see two former open-wheel drivers, Kasey Kahne (2000 USAC National Midget Series champion) and Sam Hornish Jr. (2006 Indianapolis 500 winner) take checkered flags this weekend.
HOT: Though many drivers complained and at least one called it unsafe, the overall scope of improvements to the layout of PIR was a big success. Suddenly, the track seems faster and will eventually permit great side-by-side racing.
And the backstretch dogleg is a real treat to watch on TV and provides the track with some great individual character.
NOT: How, in the massive PIR renovation, did someone not think to surround the entire track with SAFER barriers? That issue should be addressed ? especially near the dogleg. It's far too easy for a car to get hooked into those concrete walls.
NEUTRAL: Jason Leffler made a mistake during the final laps of Saturday's race and the result was Elliott Sadler being eliminated from title contention. However, the blame for the incident shouldn't juse be on his shoulders.
Leffler (who admittedly has quite a history of rough driving) contributed to that crash as much as Sadler did with his wild swing to the backstretch apron. It was a racing incident, pure and simple.
NOT: Does anyone blame Denny Hamlin for demanding a switch away from Joe Gibbs Racing Engines? Kyle Busch blew two motors this weekend at Phoenix ? an utterly unacceptable issue for any team that wants to battle for a championship.
HOT: Jeff Burton now has four top 10s this season after a fourth-place finish Sunday. Three of those have come in the last four races.
HOT: Another weekend, and another set of good runs for Richard Petty Motorsports. AJ Allmendinger and Marcos Ambrose were sixth and eighth Sunday at Phoenix. If you're looking for some dark horse winners in 2012, look no further.
NOT: Hendrick Motorsports may have had their most atrocious weekend of the 2011 season at Phoenix. Jimmie Johnson, eliminated from winning his sixth title, led the team with a 14th-place run. Otherwise, it was Mark Martin (16th), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (24th) and Jeff Gordon (32nd). What has happened to that group?
FINAL: Don't take the final throes of this season lightly. Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart are putting on a title fight that is truly for the ages, and that was nowhere more evident than when they were running nose-to-tail for so long Sunday at Phoenix.
Crowning a title in the final race is something we've grown used to in the Chase, but Sunday's race figures to be on a completely different level. Enjoy it.
Jaime Alguersuari Philippe Alliot Cliff Allison Fernando Alonso
Sebastian Vettel: ?We need to make another step?
Sebastian Vettel was happy with Red Bull?s progress at Interlagos today, but said that there was more to come ? and cautioned that everything could change anyway if the expected rain arrives. Vettel was fourth in FP1 today and moved … Continue reading 
Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2011/11/25/sebastian-vettel-we-need-to-make-another-step/
Harry Blanchard Michael Bleekemolen Alex Blignaut Trevor Blokdyk
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