Source: http://anotherindycarblog.wordpress.com/2012/10/10/2013-silly-season-whos-where-and-whats-what/
Saturday
2013 Silly Season? Who?s Where, and What?s What
It may only be October, but it?s never too early to start thinking about silly season in indycar world. Without the post-Vegas fallout to contend with this year, silly season has picked up steam much earlier this year than in … Continue reading
2013 BMW M6 Gran Coupe
If yesterday were many ways that echoed a possible leak of official photos where you could see the final appearance of the new BMW M6 Gran Coupe today we find that BMW itself has been the surprises us with an official statement where we presents with rather little detail the new family member M6 , [...]
Source: http://www.autocarblog.co.uk/383-2013-bmw-m6-gran-coupe.html
Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins 2012 Most Popular Driver Award
Brace yourselves. Prepare to not be surprised.
On Wednesday, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was announced as the 2012 NMPA NASCAR Most Popular Driver at the Myers Brothers Awards Luncheon in Las Vegas.
It's the 10th straight year that Junior has won the award, which ties him with Bill Elliott for the most consecutive wins in a row. Elliott won the award from 1991-2000. Elliott is also the last driver outside if Junior to win the award, having done so in 2002. (In 2001, the year he died at Daytona, Dale Earnhardt Sr. won the award.)
Over 934,000 votes were cast for the award. The preliminary voting period ran from February-September, and then the top 10 vote getting drivers had their totals reset for the final vote. 2012 Sprint Cup Champion Brad Keselowski wasn't one of the ten finalists, however that can likely be attributed to the cut-off of the early voting period.
The rest of the top 10 went like this: Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth and Bobby Labonte.
2012 season in the rear view: Casey Mears
Vitals: 29th in the points standings. 0 wins, 0 top 5s, 0 top 10s. 11 DNFs.
Moment to remember: It's certainly not often that a team that starts and parks on occasion also starts on the pole for a Sprint Cup Series race, but that's what happened for Casey Mears and Germain Racing at Bristol in August. OK, OK, it wasn't a pole the traditional way, but let's not nitpick.
In the weekend's first practice session, Mears and team ran a quick lap in qualifying trim that held up while most teams were running race setups. Before the scheduled qualifying session, a thunderstorm moved over the track and wiped out qualifying. And with NASCAR's rule that the starting is determined by speed in the first practice if qualifying is rained out, Mears found himself on the pole. He led the first 26 laps of the race before finishing a lap down in 21st.
Moment to forget: The week after Bristol, Mears qualified 19th at Atlanta, poised to capitalize on the momentum from the previous race. However, his engine expired and he finished third.
Or we could go with Talladega in the fall, where Mears looked like he could have 1. pushed Michael Waltrip to the win or 2. won the race himself. But 3. he got caught up in that crash when Waltrip and Stewart made contact and 4. officially finished 26th.
The wrap: Mears' 11 DNFs are a tad misleading, because he retired due to "brakes" or a "vibration" five times in 2012, including both Pocono races. (Insert "It's Pocono, can you blame him for leaving early?" joke here.) When Mears went the distance, there were some promsing runs like four straight top 20 finishes at Michigan, Sonoma, Kentucky and Daytona. But immediately after that, the realities of an underfunded single car team hit and Mears start and parked two of the next three races.
Skip Barber Paolo Barilla Rubens Barrichello Michael Bartels
Friday
2012 season in the rear view: Marcos Ambrose
Vitals: 18th in the points standings. 1 win, 3 top 5s, 8 top 10s. 4 DNFs.
Moment to remember: Hey, we have a winner! Being the lowest ranked winner in the points standings isn't much of an honor, but Marcos Ambrose's win was sure fun to watch. Let's watch it again.
That win was followed by two top five finishes, suddenly making Ambrose a legitimate Chase contender as the Sprint Cup marched towards the final race before the Chase at Richmond.
Moment to forget: And then things started sputtering from there. In the 12 races since his fifth place finish at Bristol, Ambrose's highest finish was a 12th place at Kansas Speedway. In that stretch, Ambrose had three crew chiefs (Todd Parrott, Mike Ford and Drew Blickensderfer) and finished outside the top 20 six times, including crashing at Talladega and then at Texas after losing a tire.
The wrap: After Richmond, Ambrose was 15th in the points standings, but was 17th after Chicago and then settled into 18th. He showed enough flashes at non road courses to stay inside the top 20 for the final 26 races, but was only a true threat to win at Watkins Glen.
A Fairly Accurate Ferrari Enzo Replica with Bimmer Power Hits Ebay
Okay, if you have ever wanted to own a Ferrari Enzo, but just don?t have the $1 million, or more, in the bank needed to procure one, you may consider a kit car as a viable option. Well, kit cars, for the most part, share little with the car they are designed after and are typically powered by an engine that isn?t going to get you anywhere fast (See: Fieraris).
Sometimes, however, you come across a kit car that is about as close as you can get to the original at a relative bargain and we have one for you now. Straight off of the German subsite of Ebay (Ebay.de), we have a BFE-AE 750 ? an Enzo lookalike ? that also packs quite a punch with its 5.0-liter V-12 BMW engine that cranks out 400 horsepower and 500 Nm (368 pound-feet) of torque. Sure, that?s a far cry from the 660 horsepower and 657 pound-feet of torque the original Enzo made, but that?s enough to fool most people into believing.
Where this kit car really will fool people is from the outside, as it is literally identical to the Enzo, from a distance. The only flaws we can make out is the shape of the rear window and that the bodylines on the nose don?t quite match up to the body. It even has the Ferrari badges, which the poster wisely blacked out to avoid issues from German authorities that like to impound illegal kit cars.
Now, it loses us once you get inside, as you just cannot replicate the Enzo?s interior that closely. But, unless the person riding is lucky enough to have been inside a real Enzo (I sure haven?t) he would have no idea what it?s supposed to look like.
What really puts this over the top is that its current bid is only at ?40,043.33 (about $52,800 at the current rates). The reserve hasn?t been met yet, but that number looks pretty promising that this may be a steal.
So hop to it if you?re in the market for a pretty sick kit car that actually has some cajones under the hood.
A Fairly Accurate Ferrari Enzo Replica with Bimmer Power Hits Ebay originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 4 January 2013 09:00 EST.
Thursday
Out now, the GP+ Review of the Year
GP+ was the first e-magazine in Formula 1 and five years later it is still going strong. It is produced within hours of the chequered flag at every Grand Prix. It is put together in the Media Centres, written by professional F1 journalists and featuring the work of highly experienced F1 photographers. We have access [...]
Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2012/12/21/out-now-the-gp-review-of-the-year/
Red Bull RB9 may not appear at first test | F1 Fanatic round-up
Red Bull RB9 may not appear at first test is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.
In the round-up: Red Bull to decide if RB9 will be at first test ? Sauber to launch C32 on February 2nd ? Hill says "motorsport is still dangerous"
Red Bull RB9 may not appear at first test is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.
Source: http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2013/01/04/f1-fanatic-roundup-0401/
Eight Late Gifts For A Motorcycle Racing Fan
With just one more day to go until Christmas, time is running out to find the perfect gift for the motorcycle racing fan in your life. Fortunately, there are still a few options left open to you. Some, you will be able to present to your loved one on the day itself, others may not arrive in time for Christmas, but you can be certain they will be a massive success for the diehard motorcycle racing fan. Below are eight options for when the shops are shut:
Motocourse Annual
Often referred to in the paddock as the Bible of motorcycle racing, the Motocourse annual is an almost compulsory purchase for any serious motorcycle racing fan. Compiled by veteran Grand Prix reporter Michael Scott, the Motocourse annual contains a race-by-race review of the MotoGP and World Superbike seasons, a technical review of the MotoGP machines, and in-depth articles explaining the background to all of the big events in the world of motorcycle racing. The AMA and BSB series are also covered, as well as the Irish and international road racing scene.
The annual is available at Amazon and other sellers, but anyone buying the book directly from the Motocourse website will also receive a bonus worth the purchase price alone: access to Motocourse's online archive of historic editions, currently featuring the years 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981 and 2010. The online archive is also available as a separate digitial subscription, giving access to the same historic editions.
Price: GBP 35 for the 2012 Motocourse Annual, GBP 25 for the online subscription.
More information: The Motocourse website
Kamui Kobayashi: ?I have to admit that it is very sad?
With Romain Grosjean confirmed at Lotus earlier today Kamui Kobayashi has now conceded that he won?t have an F1 race seat for next season ? but he insists that he will return in 2014. The Japanese driver has been ousted … Continue reading 
Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2012/12/17/kamui-kobayashi-i-have-to-admit-that-it-is-very-sad/
KTM Press Release: Ajo Confirmed As KTM Factory Moto3 Team
KTM and Aki Ajo have finalized their agreement for Ajo to run the factory Red Bull KTM Moto3 team. KTM issued the following press release announcing the deal:
Year:
2013 Conny Andersson Mario Andretti Michael Andretti Keith Andrews
Wednesday
Joey Logano wore his firesuit suit to the Nationwide Series Banquet
Joey, we're glad you had the opportunity to wear this beauty one more time before you head off to Penske Racing.
Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Wide Body by Galpin Auto Sports
Galpin Auto Sports is taking its designation as an authorized Shelby Mod Shop seriously with a pair of programs for the exclusive Shelby GT500. One of these programs was actually displayed as the Shelby show car at Pebble Beach Concours d?Elegance.
It turns out that the program comes with plenty of modifications, highlighted by a wide-body kit and a power upgrade that turned the already powerful American muscle into a menacing ride. The first noticeable change made to the car was the installation of a wide-body kit that extends the muscle car?s body by 9 inches and the use of an "Aston Martin Morning Frost Pearl White" finish on the GT500?s body.
The color is then complemented by an interior that now sports a customized Crimson Red raised-grain leather interior that extends all the way to the trunk. If that isn?t enough, Galpin also installed a 7-Channel audio system that delivers an ear-popping output of 1,000 watts and was specifically built for this vehicle by McIntosh.
As far as performance goes, Galpin took care of that too, putting in a Ford Racing/Shelby supercharger that bumps the output from the muscle car?s 5.8-liter V8 engine to 750 horsepower from 650 ponies. Completing the extensive upgrade for the Shelby GT500 are Shelby 6-piston front and rear brake calipers, a Magnaflow Quad Exhaust, and last but not least, a Ford Racing Performance Suspension system.
Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Wide Body by Galpin Auto Sports originally appeared on topspeed.com on Wednesday, 2 January 2013 10:00 EST.
Grosjean hangs on to Lotus seat for 2013
One of the last remaining pieces of the 2013 F1 puzzle fell into place when Lotus confirmed that Romain Grosjean will stay on alongside Kimi Raikkonen next season. The Frenchman, who won the Race of Champions in Bangkok on Sunday, … Continue reading 
Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2012/12/17/grosjean-hangs-on-to-lotus-seat-for-2013/
Yes, Clint Bowyer finished second in the points standings
After Sunday's Ford 400, Clint Bowyer said that after the events at Phoenix International Raceway with Jeff Gordon, his focus was on finishing ahead of one of Gordon's Hendrick teammates in the points standings. That teammate was Kasey Kahne, who was two points ahead of Bowyer after Gordon took out Bowyer at Phoenix in retaliation for contact a few laps earlier.
With his second-place finish Sunday, Bowyer stayed plenty ahead of Kahne, and he also passed another Hendrick car in the points standings, five-time champion Jimmie Johnson, to finish second overall.
"To be honest with you, I had no idea. I didn't even think I could reach second," Bowyer said. "I was focused on two points behind [Kahne]. That was my goal was we had to somehow beat the 5, and that's no easy task. They've been running well each and every week. Seems like Kasey will have a good day or a good weekend and then we have a good weekend and we never could really separate ourselves throughout the Chase. Seemed like one common denominator separated us for a few weekends and put us right back."
Kahne finished 21st because of a pit road speeding penalty, so given Bowyer's performance, making up those two points was a fairly easy task. But thanks to Johnson's rear gear issues, Bowyer made up 33 points on him. He entered the race 32 behind, taking second place in the standings by a single point in his first year with Michael Waltrip Racing.
"No, I mean, when we made the Chase, my realistic goal was to be in the top 5," Bowyer said. "I thought that was a reachable goal for our race team the way we had been running leading into the Chase. And to be able to exceed that, I mean, we had a shot at it until last week. You just can't ask for more than that out of a brand-new group like that. Just very proud of all their efforts."
However, it's not crazy to think that Bowyer might have had a substantial portion of the NASCAR fan base rooting for his car to run out of gas or suffer a fate similar to Johnson's. Why? Look no further than Carl Edwards.
Edwards finished second to Tony Stewart last year after losing a tiebreaker and finished 15th this year, a drop of 13 spots. He also became the third driver in the Chase era to miss the Chase the following season after finishing second. Since the Chase's inception, a second-place finisher has dropped five or more spots the following season in six of eight seasons. Johnson finishing second would have given many of those Vader-haters a slice of optimism that the "curse" of second-place would now apply to Johnson and that -- *gasp* -- missing the Chase for the first time would be a possibility.
Of course, Johnson is one of those two second-place outliers. After finishing second in 2004 to Kurt Busch, he finished fifth the following season, and would have likely finished higher if it wasn't for a crash at Homestead.
Here are the Chase's second-place finishers and how they performed the next season in parenthesis.
2004: Johnson (5th)
2005: Greg Biffle (13th)
2006: Matt Kenseth (4th)
2007: Gordon (7th)
2008: Edwards (11th)
2009: Mark Martin (13th)
2010: Denny Hamlin (9th)
2011: Edwards (15th)
2012: Bowyer (?)
After moving on from Richard Childress Racing, where he made the Chase in three of his six full-time seasons, Bowyer wasn't widely expected to be within sniffing distance of the title in his first season with Michael Waltrip Racing. But MWR was undoubtedly the series' most improved team in 2012, and Bowyer reaped the benefits. He won three times (Sonoma, Richmond and Charlotte), and teammate Martin Truex Jr. also made the Chase for the first time at MWR. If their uptick in performance continues into 2013 with the new Sprint Cup Series car, it'd be hard to see Bowyer not in the thick of the championship hunt next year.
Of course, we all thought that Edwards was going to win this year's title.
Tuesday
2012 season in the rear view: Regan Smith
Vitals: 24th in the points standings. 0 wins, 1 top 5, 4 top 10s. 4 DNFs.
Moment to remember: After Dale Earnhardt Jr. was sidelined for two races after suffering a concussion at Talladega, Regan Smith was summoned into the driver's seat of the No. 88 and performed admirably, even though it's not reflected in the final results of his first race replacing Junior.
Smith finished 38th at Charlotte after blowing an engine just 61 laps into the race, but the following week at Kansas he finished 7th after bobbling on his qualifying lap and qualifying 39th. Not bad for a guy that had parted ways with his team the week before Charlotte.
(In his final race for Furniture Row Racing before being replaced by Kurt Busch, Smith finished fifth.)
Moment to forget: Smith underwent a horrid stretch of five races in the summer from Michigan to Loudon where he didn't finish higher than 26th and finished below 30th three times and dropped two places in the points standings.
The wrap: Smith and Furniture Row didn't take a huge leap forward in 2012 after a surprise win at Darlington in 2011 but despite missing two races, Smith actually finished two spots higher in the driver's standings in 2012. Those two missed races came after he replaced Junior, as Phoenix Racing kept AJ Allmendinger (the replacement to Smith's replacement of Kurt Busch) in the car for Martinsville and Texas before Smith drove the final two races of the season. But that performance and connection with Dale Earnhardt Jr. came in handy. Smith will run for the Nationwide Series championship in 2013 for JR Motorsports, and he'll be one of the favorites after winning the final race of the season.
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Happy Hour: The last words on the Bowyer-Gordon Donnybrook in the Desert
Welcome to the latest Happy Hour mailbag! You know how these work: You write us with your best rant/ joke/one-liner at happyhournascar@yahoogroups.com or on Twitter at @jaybusbee, we respond to your messages, everyone goes away with a smile on their face.
It's the season finale, and you know what that means: ten more days till Daytona! Or at least it seems that way. We'll be here with you throughout the offseason, so don't fret and keep sending in your questions. For now, we wrap up with a cavalcade of letters about, well, you know. We received more letters on this topic than anything ever, including all the Busch bros. antics, so here's a representative sampling...
Jeff Gordon. Yes, fine him, suspend him, whatever. But taking 25 points away this late in the season is nothing. Probation. Nothing. $100,000. I am sure they made that much selling hats at the team hauler. If NASCAR wants any credibility at all, when they know, and there is conclusive evidence or proof of intent, the offending driver's team should have to pay for the replacement cost for any/all cars his actions cost. So if Jeff took out 5 cars, Hendrick pays a fine equal to the replacement of those 5 cars. Want to make it more on the driver? Then you put the driver on probation for the next 10 races regardless of what season that race is in. So this season would be 1, and then the next 9 of 2013. You also strip him of Champions Provisional for the year and start him from the back of the pack for the first 5 races regardless of qualifying position. I think that would send a message. Have at it, but be prepared for the consequences.
? Brian Williams
Auburn, WA
___________________
Was the penalty [on Gordon] enough? Way too much! His move was so subtle, he could have done a lot worse. NASCAR, wake up! What happened to "have at it boys"? You're in the entertainment business and the way I see it, it was a touchdown!
? Bob
___________________
I'm neither a supporter or hater of either Jeff Gordon or Clint Bowyer, but I have to take Clint's side on what happened Sunday. As an avid race watcher I do not feel that Jeff's assumption that Clint has been racing him in a questionable manner all year is true. There has been hard racing, yes, but that takes place between many drivers over the course of the year. I feel Jeff is just trying to blame someone else for his bad year and the fact that he is no longer the hotshot on the track that he once was. Over the past few years he has taken potshots at several others to cover his career ebbing from what it one was. Even Jimmie Johnson has been the recipient of his ire.
? Joyce Keith
___________________
What ever happened to two guys meeting out behind the barn for a good old fashioned meeting of the minds butt-kicking contest? Whoever walks out is the winner. Guess the current crop of drivers just don't have the guts for that kind of thing. Might screw up their next photo shoot or commercial. Every time I see Tony Stewart or Gordon or even Harvick run their mouth it invariably makes me want to reach through the screen and smack them. It is always funny how their pit crew is around to protect them. Where are the Allisons, Earnhardts, Yarboroughs, Waltrips, Bakers and a host of others who settle issues in a heartbeat the old fashioned way? NASCAR should just put up a boxing ring at every event and instead of bringing drivers to the NASCAR hauler, just have them meet in the ring and settle their differences there!
? John Lewis Neatherlin
___________________
So from here in the Heartland what Jeff did to Clint looks like a good ole boy just getting even. Jeff loses a mere $100,000 but does he stands to make a bit more 'cause his car (48) finishes the season at worst number two in the standings and maybe his teammate gets the third-place trophy. Admittedly, I am a little biased seeing as how I am from just up the road from Emporia [Bowyer's hometown] but what an opportunity to take one for the team by saying "I was tired of this crap."
? Ozawkie N. G.
___________________
All of the shenanigans that happened this weekend are what NASCAR needed! Right or wrong on all of the issues (wrecks, cautions, fines, etc), it brought NASCAR alive and has the fans excited. Let's be honest, the majority of the year has been logging laps and everyone getting along. Let's hope some of the excitement continues into 2013!
? Dayna B.
California
___________________
I went to my first NASCAR race when I was 9 yrs old in 1974. I've never been so disappointed in a truly great driver as I am in Jeff Gordon right now. Completely uncalled for. Took out a championship contender and almost took out the #2. Aggressive racing, yes, but there was a handful of laps to go. Won't be wearing my #24 shirt anytime soon.
? Don Mulder
Naperville, IL
Whew. There you go. I think we covered the gamut there, right? My take: Gordon should have been suspended. I can understand, in NASCAR's reasoning, why Gordon is racing (no prior history, golden child, etc.) but to me, the black flag and the championship contention for Bowyer outweigh that. Anyway, all done now.
___________________
The tragedy of Phoenix is that the high-school stuff between Gordon and Bowyer is taking the place of what should be talked about. And that is the fact that NASCAR, in their never-ending quest for safety, decided to continue the race after Danica Patrick walloped the turn four wall. As she tried to get her car out of the way, NASCAR simply let the race go to completion. Didn't anyone see that there was a crippled car in the way of the oncoming herd?
[Related: Is NASCAR a sport or is it entertainment?]
I'm sick of NASCAR puffing up their chest with safety-first messages, when they clearly were not inclined to put safety first and stop the race. Is the media so concerned about being deprived of access that they are not even talking about this issue?
So, a complicit media talks and talks about the pushin', shovin', and "boys, have at it." All the while NASCAR is thanking God above for Gordon and Bowyer, because of the cover that it gave them.
? Jim Bromwell
Allentown, PA
I saw several articles focused on the Danica/no-flag issue, actually. The issue wasn't so much that Patrick's car was in the way (it wasn't) as that it was dropping oil on the track. NASCAR officials claimed they couldn't see the oil, and others backed them up on that. But it's a judgment call, and after the debacle that we'd just seen, NASCAR wasn't going to throw a caution for anything short of a thermonuclear strike.
___________________
I'm afraid I will be joining that list of "I'll never watch NASCAR again" fans. Well, I'm not going to rant like most of them and I'm not drunk while composing this email. But I am very displeased. I am a long time fan who spends money on the NASCAR industry ... tickets, racing junk (hats, shirts, etc...), and other related items. What's my beef? The same as many. One bad wreck in the Chase and you are out of it. I know that applies to other sports (you lose a game and you're gone) but until NASCAR has a playoff like those sports the comparison doesn't stand. We have the weirdest system and it's broke.
Until NASCAR fixes the problem, they won't get any more of my money. I'll check the news ever once and a while to see if things have changed but otherwise I'm looking for a new sport to waste my money on.
? Tim Palmer
I suggest college football. That sport makes total sense and is so well organized. You'll love it.
___________________
I realize the media is always looking for a good story. But I spent all last week (before the Phoenix race) laughing at every article/video/talking head I saw that basically stated the Sprint Cup Championship was over. No one could make up 7 points on JJ. And now (while I laugh more this week) the tide has turned and all those same folks are talking about how it is anything but locked up for BK because "20 points is nothing." I even saw a noted NASCAR reporter state that Jimmie made up 15 points in the final race in 2010 to beat Denny Hamlin. Does he not realize that was the equivalent of 3 positions on the track, and not 20 in today's point system?
? Ken Hall
Yukon OK
Uh ... I think he's talking about me. (Well, except for the "noted" and the "reporter" part.) I confess I made that error when discussing the Chase, and I flat-out forgot the points change. Of course, Hamlin fumbled so badly in 2010 that Johnson could've been a thousand points back and still won. (Not really.) Still, I will cop to the fact that I thought, absent a dramatic catastrophe, I thought this was Johnson's Chase to lose. And so did you. But hey, that's why they run the races.
___________________
What are you thinking? Clint Bowyer can call people "retards" all he wants, but you don't have to reprint that. It is hate speech. When I was a kid I used to play with Billie Coyle, who has Down's Syndrome. Billie is great guy. People who use these terms cause folks like Billie a great deal of pain.
I expect better from you Jay.
? Dean
Centerton, AR
We went back and forth over whether to print the "retard" line and ultimately went with the news value, rather than shock value or indifference. At this point in our society, the "r-word" has not yet ascended to the level of offensiveness of the "n-word", but I can certainly see how plenty of people feel that it has. Dean helpfully sent along a link to a letter a member of the Special Olympics sent Fox News commentator Ann Coulter decrying the use of the "r-word"; I previously wrote about that here. It's well worth reading.
___________________
Dale Earnhardt Jr. was docked 25 points several years ago for saying _____ ... and not even while mad! Brad Keselowski says every _____ing word in the _ _ _ _ing book during his _____ing interview and calls a half dozen drivers a bunch of _____ing _____holes! Where is his _____ing fine and points deduction?!?! I am not a Johnson fan and would rather see Brad win it, but what is the� _____ deal with one being fined and docked and not the other? That is bull _____, and it pisses me off!
? _____hole Frankie in _____ing Virginia
That was _____ing beautiful. Only reason I can think of why Keselowski skated was that the press conference, while freely available online, was not broadcast on television. But oh, his lines were far worse than Junior's. Can you imagine if NASCAR had deducted points from Keselowski? Apocalypse!
And on that note, we're out. Thanks to all our writers this week. You want in? Fire up the computer and hit us with whatever's on your mind, NASCAR-wise, at happyhournascar@yahoogroups.com. You can find Yahoo! Sports' NASCAR coverage on Facebook right here, and you can follow me on Twitter at @jaybusbee and on Facebook here. Make sure to tell us where you're from. We'll make you famous!
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2012 season in the rear view: Clint Bowyer
Vitals: 2nd in the points standings. 3 wins, 10 top 5s, 13 top 10s. 4 DNFs.
Moment to remember: Clint Bowyer's first season at Michael Waltrip Racing netted him his first road course victory and (surprisingly) his first victory at a 1.5 mile track in the Sprint Cup Series.
In June at Sonoma, Bowyer started sixth and was damn good, leading 71 of the race's 110 laps. He had Kurt Busch alongside him and Tony Stewart behind him when a caution to bring out a green, white, checkered restart flew, but easily pulled away from Stewart and Busch over the final two laps for the win.
In the fall race at Charlotte, Bowyer took the lead on lap 310 from Greg Biffle and made it to the end on fuel for the win. The victory moved Bowyer to within 28 points of leader Brad Keselowski with five races to go.
Moment to forget: This is only here because of the impact it had on Bowyer's Chase chances, because this sure as hell isn't a forgettable moment.
After Bowyer and Jeff Gordon made contact racing for position, Gordon took matters into his own hands (car? fender?) and took out Bowyer. And then that led to one of the greatest garage sprints in NASCAR history.
Bowyer left Phoenix 52 points behind Brad Keselowski, mathematically out of championship contention.
The impact of Gordon's retaliation to Bowyer's championship hopes was an afterthought to the chaos that had occurred. But when Jimmie Johnson had his issue at Homestead, that allowed Bowyer to slip into second place behind Keselowski.
Bowyer was running in the top 10 at the time of his contact with Gordon, and by virtue of his 28th place finish, likely lost about 20 points. His chances going into Homestead would have been slim, and he wouldn't have caught Keselowski regardless, but Bowyer would have been at the championship press conference and in the discussion. Instead, while he was storyline 1A at Homestead thanks to the conflict, his championship hopes were an afterthought.
The wrap: Speaking of afterthoughts, when we look back on the 2012 season in five or 10 years, will people instinctively think that Johnson finished second to Keselowski? That's not discounting anything that Bowyer did -- what he accomplished with a new team and the improvement that Michael Waltrip Racing made is one of the best stories of the year.
It's just that the championship battle moments, the duel at Texas, the comeback at Kansas, the turning point at Phoenix, all involved Keselowski and Johnson. Yeah, even the most casual fans of NASCAR will remember Bowyer for what happened at Phoenix, but hopefully they'll remember that he finished second too.
Monday
Video: The Making Of Gymkhana 5
Six months after Ken Block released Gymkhana 5, we now have a pretty good idea on how the hooning series was made. It?s a little odd to release a "making-of" video so long after the actual thing was released, but then again, you won?t find any complaints from us.
Besides, there?s always something to learn about extravagant productions like this. If you recall, Gymkhana 5 was set in San Francisco and featured some of the hottest drifts and hooks done on some of the Bay Area?s most famous landmarks.
That video shows off the creativity, the thought process, and Block?s overall talent that went into creating a production like this. All of this work was in the name of giving drift fans something to look forward to every year.
Check out the "Making of Gymkhana 5" and if you?re in the mood, you can hop on over after the jump to watch Gymkhana 5.
Video: The Making Of Gymkhana 5 originally appeared on topspeed.com on Sunday, 30 December 2012 18:00 EST.
Source: http://www.topspeed.com/cars/car-news/video-the-making-of-gymkhana-5-ar141400.html
Jaime Alguersuari Philippe Alliot Cliff Allison Fernando Alonso
KTM Press Release: Ajo Confirmed As KTM Factory Moto3 Team
KTM and Aki Ajo have finalized their agreement for Ajo to run the factory Red Bull KTM Moto3 team. KTM issued the following press release announcing the deal:
Year:
2013
Sunday
Analyzing Jorge Lorenzo's 2012 MotoGP Championship: A Triumph Of Consistency
What does it take to be a world champion? A little bit of luck, certainly. A whole heap of talent, for sure. But above all, it takes preparation: physical, mental and mechanical. That, most of all, is the lesson of Jorge Lorenzo's 2012 MotoGP championship. The 2010 champion came better prepared to the title chase, and ground down his opponents with his sheer consistency.
Lorenzo's assault on the 2012 championship started in Yamaha's racing department in 2011. The new 1000cc M1 may have been visually almost identical to the 800cc 2011 machine, but beneath the similarities was a very different machine. Yamaha's engineers had made the bike longer to cope with the extra torque and horsepower, and completely redesigned the engine to cope with the new rules. Modified electronics improved traction, while better wheelie control meant the bike lost less time in acceleration. The improved wheelie control alone cut a tenth of a second from the lap time.
It was obvious to Lorenzo that the 2012 bike would be competitive as soon as he rode it for the first time during the post-race test at Brno in August 2011. Where on the 800cc bike, he had been nearly half a second slower than Casey Stoner during Sunday's race, the day after, on the 1000cc M1, he was immediately within a tenth of the Australian on the Repsol Honda. Yamaha had done their homework, and Lorenzo knew that the rest was down to him.
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