Source: http://www.popoffvalve.com/2012/8/31/3282052/indycar-the-friday-setup-baltimore
Thursday
Turner Motorsports changes name to Turner Scott Motorsports
The biggest Nationwide and Truck Series only team is getting a revised name.
Minority owner Harry Scott has expanded his role in Turner Motorsports, and the new team will be called Turner Scott Motorsports. The team announced the change on Friday.
?Harry becoming a co-owner is very positive for this organization as a whole,? Steve Turner said in a release. ?This team has grown and accomplished so much in the last few years, and it is still continuing to grow. Harry has been committed to our racing program, its drivers and our sponsors for several years, and he is a vital part of our organization. He is passionate about our sport and our employees, and has proven himself as a very successful businessman, so putting him in charge of our marketing and business efforts is a natural and perfect fit. We have always considered him to be an integral part of the Turner Motorsports family, and this is an opportunity for him to formally take over some of the reins as we continue to build this organization into one of the most successful teams in NASCAR. I am very optimistic that Turner Scott Motorsports will build upon our solid base and achieve continued success.?
Scott was a minority owner at Braun Racing when Turner puchased the assets of Braun Racing in 2010 and renamed it Turner Motorsports.
Turner won the 2012 Camping World Truck Series title with James Buescher and earlier in the week Buescher announced that he would be returning to the series to defend his title. The team also announced a sponsorship deal with Rheem that will see the company sponsor Buescher for 15 Truck Series races in 2013. Rheem last sponsored the Richard Childress Racing truck that Cale Gale drove to victory lane in the final Truck Series race of 2012.
Buescher also won the season opening race at Daytona in the Nationwide Series for Turner after a last turn crash took out the leaders. On Wednesday, Kasey Kahne and Brad Sweet and sponsor Great Clips moved to JR Motorsports in 2013 while, in turn, a report linked Danica Patrick to Turner for her 10 Nationwide Races this season. According to Fox Sports, the team is expected to field entries in either the Truck or Nationwide Series for Miguel Paludo, Jeb Burton and Justin Allgaier in addition to Buescher
Honda S2000 A New Generation Seems more than Likely
Any comment or confirmation of one of the leaders of Honda may seem “little” to the news, though, as always, it all depends on what you speak or want to give nuance. This time the buzz responsible S2000 organized around a new generation has been caused, neither more nor less, than Nasshi Suehiro, head of [...]
Source: http://www.autocarblog.co.uk/380-honda-s2000-a-new-generation-seems-more-than-likely.html
Kurt Adolff Fred Agabashian Kurt Ahrens Jr Christijan Albers
Wednesday
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.
Eugenio Castellotti Johnny Cecotto Andrea de Cesaris Francois Cevert
How I Saw It? 2012 Super Review Part 1: Nuts and Bolts Edition
2012 will be remembered for close racing and an entirely new chassis/engine package that revolutionized the on-track product in the INDYCAR series. Not revolutionized, no, it was more of a renaissance of sorts. A return to a more historically correct … Continue reading 
Clint (Bowyer) has Clint (Eastwood) on his new helmet
Clint on Clint.
Before testing (finally) kicked off at Charlotte Motor Speedway after the rain subsided and the track was dry, Clint Bowyer tweeted a picture of his new helmet with Clint Eastwood on the back of it. It's pretty freaking awesome.
Now, should we give Clint Bowyer a new nickname? "Blondie" could work given his hair color. "Man with No Name" really wouldn't work because then we'd be calling a man with a name "Man with No Name", and that takes more effort than just saying "Clint Bowyer." Thoughts?
And because you know that we're not averse to boring, tired and cliche jokes, we have to wonder if Clint Bowyer will now talk to his empty driver's seat before every race now.
JeanPierre Beltoise Olivier Beretta Allen Berg Georges Berger
Pata Honda Reveal 2013 World Superbike Livery for Rea, Haslam, Van der Mark and Zanetti (With Photos)
The Pata Honda World Superbike team unveiled their 2013 colors at the Verona motorcycle show on Saturday, showing off the colors which Johnny Rea and Leon Haslam will be defending in the World Superbike championship, and Michael van der Mark and Lorenzo Zanetti will be wearing in World Supersport. The team issued the following press release, complete with a selection of photos:
Pata Honda team unveiled at Verona
The new Pata Honda team was finally unveiled at Verona in Italy this afternoon, as it prepares for its dual assault on the World Superbike and World Supersport championships.
New sponsor, snack manufacturer Pata, supported by Tonello Energie, has joined forces with Honda, the world’s largest and most successful motorcycle manufacturer to target this season’s two principal production-based world championship titles.
Sporting all-new livery on their Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade machinery, World Superbike riders Jonathan Rea and Leon Haslam, both from the UK, took to the stage in front of a big crowd at Motor Bike Expo, Verona’s annual motorcycle exhibition.
They were joined by two World Supersport debutants, Dutch flyer Michael van der Mark and Lorenzo Zanetti from Italy, who will compete on Honda’s multiple championship winning CBR600RR.
Year:
2013
Tuesday
Ecclestone says Scorpion F1 bid is too late
Bernie Ecclestone has played down the chances of HRT being replaced by a new entity called Scorpion Racing. It emerged today that a group of what are described as American and Canadian investors are behind an attempt to gain a … Continue reading 
Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2013/01/29/ecclestone-says-scorpion-f1-bid-is-too-late/
Conny Andersson Mario Andretti Michael Andretti Keith Andrews
2012 season in the rear view: Jeff Gordon
Vitals: 1oth in the points standings. 2 wins, 11 top 5s, 18 top 10s. 5 DNFs.
Moment to remember: Yeah, yeah, yeah, there was that whole thing at Phoenix. But we're saving that for Clint Bowyer. Instead, we're going to go with Gordon's surprise win at Pocono after he went from sixth to first in less than a third of a lap.
As the pack entered turn one, Gordon had Kasey Kahne to his inside and Martin Truex Jr. to his outside. But leader Jimmie Johnson got loose while racing Matt Kenseth and the two made contact and washed up the track. Brad Keselowski and Greg Biffle, the drivers immediately behind them, were forced to check up, and that opened the door for Gordon, who was in front by the time that Kenseth spun into Denny Hamlin, causing the yellow flag to fly. Before the race got back going, the skies opened up, and the race was called. Gordon was in victory lane.
(However Gordon's win was marred by the death of a fan outside of Pocono Raceway after the race. The significant weather had been tracking towards Pocono for some time, and as the race wasn't called until the rain started falling, may fans ran out of time to take shelter before the storm hit. In the aftermath, many tracks emphasized severe weather policies.)
Moment to forget: Because he made the Chase, Gordon doesn't have to cleanse his brain of the awful start to his 2012 season, but man, it stunk. There was the blown engine at Daytona, contact with Dale Earnhardt Jr. that led to a flat tire at Bristol, a crash at Talladega, and more tire issues at Darlington. After all that in the first 11 races, Gordon was 24th in the standings.
And then after he qualified for the Chase by the skin of his teeth at Richmond, Gordon's playoffs started just like his regular season. At Chicago, his throttle stuck as he entered turn one and he slammed the wall. He finished 35th.
The wrap: After that awful start, Gordon needed a strong midseason kick to make the Chase. And he got it, finishing in the top 10 in 10 of the remaining 15 races. But it wasn't necessarily a departure from the beginning part of Gordon's season. He wasn't running poorly, he just had some crazy bad luck.
Case in point, after that 35th place finish at Chicago, Gordon was back up to fifth in the standings after Texas with two races to go. But then was quickly back to 11th after that whole Phoenix thing. But, in true Gordon fashion, he scrambled back into the top 10 by winning the season finale at Homestead.
How I Saw It? The Speechless Season Finale Edition
High, low and everywhere in between, in a sight unseen for many years of indycar racing, no part of the track was safe. The drivers earned their money Saturday night with a race for the ages, and once again the … Continue reading 
Monday
Brivio Plays Down Suzuki MotoGP Link
Reports yesterday linking Davide Brivio to running Suzuki's 2014 MotoGP effort appear to have been premature. Less than 24 hours after reports first emerged on Italian TV, and were later picked up by other outlets, including this one, Brivio has issued a clarification on his Twitter page.
Brivio wrote: "Suzuki contacted me for MotoGP but I'm just talking and I'm not the only one. They have not yet decided yet about 2014 but only testing 2013."
Jay Chamberlain Karun Chandhok Alain de Changy Colin Chapman
2012 season in the rear view: Ryan Newman
Vitals: 14th in the points standings. 1 win, 6 top 5s, 14 top 10s. 5 DNFs.
Moment to remember: Ryan Newman, king of the stealth victory. His only win in 2010 came when he held off a race dominating Jeff Gordon after a late two-tire pit stop for track position at Phoenix. And his only win in 2012? Well that was even stealthier.
Newman was third on the inside line after a late-race caution for David Reutimann, and he made contact with Clint Bowyer's bumper before they dove into turn one. Bowyer was committed to the inside line and had a ton of momentum. Too much, in fact. There was no room for he and Gordon and Jimmie Johnson side-by-side-by-side in Martinsville's tight corners, and the three went around, opening the door for Newman to take the lead and hold on for the win.
Moment to forget: With three races to go in the race to the Chase, Newman was ahead of both Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch for the final Wild Card Chase berth. But then Newman crashed at Bristol after contact with old nemesis Juan Pablo Montoya and finished 36th.
And then, to add insult to injury, Newman crashed the following week at Atlanta.
The wrap: Those two races -- two of Newman's three worst finishes on the season -- couldn't have come at a worse time, as they dropped him from 13th to 17th in the points standings. Newman was never a true title threat all season, but in typical Newman style, racked up enough top 10 finishes to stay in the Chase conversation for most of the season.
2013 Jerez WSBK Test Press Release Round Up - Goldbet BMW and Pata Honda WSS
The BMW Goldbet World Superbike and Pata Honda World Supersport teams issued the following press release after two-day test at Jerez:
Year:
2013
Interview: Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda's Two-Way Bet For The Title
Everyone knows that Honda Motor Company have, without a shadow of doubt, been the prime movers behind the return and development of four-stroke engines in the Motorcycle Road Racing World Championship in the past decade. The MotoGP 990 era (2002-2006) saw the Japanese manufacturer achieve their greatest success - running an exotic V5 engine - first in the hands of Valentino Rossi and later in those of Nicky Hayden. The years on the 800's (2007-2011) were finally rewarded with a solitary crown at the very last attempt, thanks to the most successful rider of the 800cc class, Casey Stoner.
However, Honda's efforts to repeat that victory in the class they more or less invented translated into the slower development of the new-for-2012 MotoGP 1000cc prototype, and this time the closest man was the Spaniard, Dani Pedrosa. By the end of 2012 it was clear that Honda had the best 1000cc machine, but even if it was too late to close the gap to Yamaha and Jorge Lorenzo, Pedrosa got one more victory than Lorenzo and got extremely close to the world title.
With Stoner now caught between fishing and racing V8 cars, Honda will make another strong bet on the 2013 title race, lining up Dani Pedrosa plus 2012 Moto2 World Champion Marc Márquez.
Motomatters.com had this correspondent in Madrid, attending the Repsol Honda Team official presentation last Friday, and had the chance to speak with both riders after the show. I thought I would never see some hallucinatory images in my life, such as seeing Shuhei Nakamoto walking and smoking on Méndez Álvaro Street, a very depressed area in the south east of Madrid for last two decades, now in a renovation process thanks to some big companies choosing the place to built their new aluminium/glassed headquarters. Designed around three colossal buildings, the surrounding garden seems to be inspired in the film "2001, a Space Odyssey", even more so with the signals and 'racetrack-look' small roads placed for the occasion.
Keith Andrews Elio de Angelis Marco Apicella Mбrio de Araъjo Cabral
Sunday
Brivio Plays Down Suzuki MotoGP Link
Reports yesterday linking Davide Brivio to running Suzuki's 2014 MotoGP effort appear to have been premature. Less than 24 hours after reports first emerged on Italian TV, and were later picked up by other outlets, including this one, Brivio has issued a clarification on his Twitter page.
Brivio wrote: "Suzuki contacted me for MotoGP but I'm just talking and I'm not the only one. They have not yet decided yet about 2014 but only testing 2013."
Random facts about the 2012 Nationwide Series
Needing some random and totally useless NASCAR facts about the 2012 season to tantalize your friends with at your New Year's Eve party? You've come to the right spot! Today, it's the Nationwide Series!
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. scored 29 more points to win the title this year than he did last year. That's attributable in part to four more wins (6 to 2) and three more top 10s (19 to 16).
In fact, both Elliott Sadler and Austin Dillon scored more points in 2012 than Stenhouse did in 2011 when he won the title.
Just like younger brother Ty in the Camping World Truck Series, Austin Dillon completed the most laps in the Nationwide Series and completed all but one circuit. That's pretty impressive. That one lap he missed was at the second Iowa race when he finished 15th, the first car a lap down.
To continue the Dillon theme, he had the highest average finish of all Nationwide regulars with an average finish of 7.1. Stenhouse's average finish was 7.3, while Sadler's was 7.5.
13 drivers started all 33 Nationwide Series races. Jason Bowles was the only one of them to not score a top 10 finish.
Drivers who weren't eligible for Nationwide Series points won 20 races, led by Joey Logano with nine. Other points-ineligible winners were Brad Keselowski (3), Kevin Harvick (2), Kurt Busch (2), Carl Edwards, Regan Smith, James Buescher, Nelson Piquet Jr. and Nur Ali. (OK, so we're kidding on that one.)
413 points separated Stenhouse from the 10th place driver in the Nationwide standings, Danica Patrick. To put that in an average finish perspective, while Stenhouse's points average out to approximately 7th place, Patrick's average finish was 18.8.
Stephen Leicht boasted the series worst start-to-miles driven ratio. In five races, Leicht completed 24.57 miles, good for an average of 4.914 miles per race. And Leicht made no starts at tracks shorter than a mile.
The first race on the new configuration at Kansas Speedway boasted the most cautions in the series at 12. The only other race in double digits in the yellow flag category was the second Phoenix race. The fewest number of cautions came at Kentucky (2).
Predictably, the three races with the most lead changes were the three restrictor plate races. The non-restrictor plate race with the most lead changes was the fall Charlotte race with 21. 15 races featured fewer than 10 lead changes.
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