Source: http://www.16thandgeorgetown.com/2012/12/q-with-conor-daly.html
Saturday
Importance of Trucking and Transportation
Transportation is vital to every business, as your business would have many needs that would be fulfilled with the help of transportation. Transporting products from one place to another requires a good fleet of trucking and transportation facility and making sure that you have a good business that will help your business transfer products in [...]
Source: http://www.autocarblog.co.uk/471-importance-of-trucking-and-transportation.html
Power Rankings: Another race, another week of Five-Time
It's time for Power Rankings! After every race, we'll opine about who we think is at the top of the Sprint Cup heap and how and why they got there. Remember, this isn't scientific, as our formula is the perfect blend of analytics and bias against your favorite driver. So let's get on with it, shall we?
1. Jimmie Johnson (LW: 1): After finishing third at Kansas, Johnson now has an astonishing 37 point lead over now-second place Kasey Kahne. This is the third year of NASCAR's current points system, and Johnson's lead is by far the largest a driver has ever had after eight races. If he keeps this up, he's going to be able to take a race or two off in the summertime to run a triathlon and still have the points lead.
2. Brad Keselowski (LW: 4): Sorry Kasey, you're up next. Brad gets this spot by virtue of a proverbial chicken salad out of chicken you-know-what weekend at Kansas. The No. 2 didn't have much speed on Friday or Saturday and sustained some damage early in Sunday's race. That's a recipe for disaster, right? Wrong. Yeah, Keselowski benefited from the caution his flapping rear bumper caused, but stop with the nonsense already. Was NASCAR supposed to send him to the back? On that precedent, we'd have to find the specific reason for every debris caution to penalize the offending driver.
3. Kasey Kahne (LW: 3): Think Kasey can convince Matt Kenseth to move over if the two find themselves in the same situation at Darlington or Charlotte? Since finishing 36th in the Daytona 500 and then 19th at Phoenix, Kahne's lowest finish is 11th. The only thing that would make this six race stretch better is if Kahne got that number he was looking for Thursday night.
4. Matt Kenseth (LW: 7): Lots of talk about how Kenseth made the right move to go to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2013. But had he stayed at Roush, it's entirely likely Gibbs wouldn't be on the run they're on to start the season and there would be absolutely zero talk about how Kenseth made the wrong decision to stay with the only Cup team he's ever known. Regardless, Kenseth is a contender, JGR is benefiting from his presence and accident at Kansas notwithstanding, Joey Logano may be flourishing at Penske. That's a win for everyone.
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (LW: 6): There are a lot of options for the fifth spot here, but we'll go with Junior. Why? He was simply a victim of circumstance when the final caution flag fell and instead of likely finishing in the top five had the race stayed green, he finished 16th. Much like last year, the speed the No. 88 is showing isn't matching its finishes in the first part of the season, but now it's an opposite relationship.
6. Carl Edwards (LW: 4): There was a moment in Sunday's race that made you wonder if the finish was going to be a battle for Missouri-Kansas supremacy between Edwards and Clint Bowyer. And then that quickly faded, certainly helped by that caution that felled Earnhardt Jr.'s chances because it felled Edwards' too.
7. Kyle Busch (LW: 2): Just a momentary drop for Busch, right? And he was probably the happiest person to get out of of the middle of the country Sunday afternoon given his career stats at Kansas. The reason we think this is a momentary drop is because Busch is heading to one of his best tracks (yeah, yeah, one that failed him last year when he needed to make the Chase, but alas) and one of his strongest competitors for the checkered flag may not be in the field.
8
. Martin Truex Jr. (LW: NR): That's back-to-back top five finishes with laps led for Other Junior at 1.5 mile tracks. And his other top 10 of the season came at Las Vegas, yet another 1.5 mile track. If Truex is going to succeed at just a certain type of track this season, he's certainly picked the right one given the preponderance of them on the schedule.
9. Clint Bowyer (LW: 11): All three MWR cars finished in the top 10 and Bowyer was the second of the two, finishing fifth. Earlier in the week, he officially opened the Clint Bowyer Autoplex in his hometown of Emporia, Kansas. And he also went to the Braum's there too. As much as having my own car dealership would be cool, I may be more jealous that Bowyer went to Braum's.
10. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (LW: NR): As the esteemed Geoffrey Miller noted in our chat, a Stenhouse win would have been a perfect time to break out the "Danica visits victory lane" headlines. And damn if it wasn't looking like we'd be using that headline. But like Junior and Edwards, Stenhouse's chances at a win were blown up by the caution for Keselowski's bumper.
11. Paul Menard (LW: 12): PFM DOES NOT LEAVE THE POWER RANKINGS UNTIL HE WANTS TO. And PFM doesn't want to just yet. Another top 10 run and another day carrying the banner for Richard Childress Racing. The gap between he and Kevin Harvick is 16 points.
12. Aric Almirola (LW: NR): Almirola by Morning wasn't up too much from San Anton' on Sunday. Yes, it was his second straight top ten finish and man, did that car look pretty, but I'll admit that I expected more from Almirola given his performance at Kansas last year. But when an 8th place finish may have that feeling of leaving something on the table, that's when you know things are going in the right direction.
Dropped Out: Greg Biffle, Joey Logano, Jeff Gordon
Lucky Dog: Jeff Gordon. Finished 13th in a backup car that started at the back of the field and was almost start-and-park slow during Saturday's practices.
The DNF: Huzzah, Tony Stewart! You've handed off the title of this award despite finishing 21st and finishing outside the top 20 for the fifth time this year. In your place comes Marcos Ambrose, who crashed for the second straight race. Wait, what was that? Ambrose still finished a spot ahead of Smoke? Oh, yikes.
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Friday
Rain washes out qualifying at Talladega; Carl Edwards will get the pole
Rain has washed out qualifying for the Aaron's 499 at Talladega, meaning that the field will be set based on the first practice speeds from Friday. That puts Carl Edwards at the front of the field. However, Mother Nature being fickle, even though Edwards starts at the front he won't benefit from the pole position for the purposes of qualifying for the 2014 Sprint Unlimited.
"We were all driving like idiots out there in first practice knowing it was probably going to rain today," Marcos Ambrose said shortly after qualifying was rained out. Ambrose will start third, and he's pleased: "It's good to start at the front. It eliminates a lot of accidents."
Edwards paced the field with a time of 47.958 seconds for 199.675 miles per hour. Lining up alongside him on the front row is Martin Truex Jr., who was just 0.025 mph slower than Edwards. Filling out the rest of the top 10: Ambrose, Joey Logano, Ryan Newman, Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne. (Full qualifying order via practice is right here.)
Hamlin will be the focus of the early segment of the race. Out for the past four weeks after suffering a compression fracture in his back, Hamlin ran 16 laps in practice on Friday and felt so good he allowed for the possibility that he might run the entire race.
''If it wasn't for my crew chief, I would have ran it out of gas,'' he said after his qualifying session. ''I just wanted to feel speed again. We're competitors and when you see the people on TV in other sports fighting through injuries to come back to the field or the court, we feel that same thing. We have alligator blood. I don't know what to say. We're a different breed. We're willing to throw caution to the wind just to get back to what we are doing.''
More likely, he'll turn over the car to Brian Vickers during a caution. Hamlin and Vickers practiced the driver switch on Friday and were able to pull off the exchange in about a minute. That maneuver will allow Hamlin to receive points for the weekend's race and aid him in trying to clamber back into the hunt for the 2013 Chase.
Left out of Sunday's race: Elliott Sadler, driver of the No. 81 Alert Energy Gum Toyota. NASCAR's rules for rainouts left Sadler on the outside looking in even though he ran the 36th fastest speed. Only 44 cars had sought to qualify for Talladega.
Rain will almost certainly be a factor in Sunday's race, scheduled for 1 p.m. ET. The National Weather Service is predicting a 70 percent change of rain. Talladega has no lights, and sunset is about 8:30 p.m. ET. NASCAR's new Air Titan track-drying system could dry the track in well under the typical two hours necessary to get the track in racing condition.
-Follow Jay Busbee on Twitter at @jaybusbee.-
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Penalties against Matt Kenseth, JGR substantially reduced on appeal
An appeals board has sharply reduced the penalties against Joe Gibbs Racing and Matt Kenseth stemming from the Kansas race, dealing a stinging blow to NASCAR and giving Kenseth a boost in his race for the Chase.
During postrace inspection after Kenseth's victory at Kansas, NASCAR discovered that one of eight connecting rods in the car's engine was light by the weight of three grams. (A penny weighs 2.5 grams.) Kenseth was docked 50 points, crew chief Jason Ratliff was suspended six races and fined $200,000, owner Joe Gibbs was suspended six races, and manufacturer Toyota was served with a five-point penalty.
However, JGR argued that the engine was produced by Toyota and that the team had no access to the engine's rods. In addition, JGR argued that the rod could not have given the No. 20 a competitive advantage. Toyota immediately took responsibility for the rod, which may have had a role in the appeal.
The three-member National Stock Car Racing Appeals Panel reduced Kenseth's penalty from 50 points to 12, and reduced Ratliff's suspension to one race and waived Gibbs' entirely. The fine against Ratliff remained, and Toyota's fine was increased to seven points.
With the reduction in points penalty, Kenseth sees an immediate jump in the standings, from 11th to fourth. The bonus points from the win now will count in the Chase, and the win will count in the calculation of a wild card, if necessary, as unlikely as that now appears for Kenseth.
NASCAR has no further recourse, and the organizing body made known its thoughts on the matter shortly afterward. "Our sport has a due process system in place that has served this sport very well for more than 65 years, and that due process resulted in this decision here today," NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp said. "While we are disappointed by today's outcome, we stand firmly behind our inspection process. The inspection of engines, and engine parts and pieces has always been regarded as the holy grail throughout the industry -- that along with fuel and tires. In violations such as these, we have no other reinforcement process than to penalize the team owner and team members. That's how our system works."
Gibbs indicated that there would be no further appeals, but declined to state who would be taking Ratcliff's place this weekend at Darlington or whether JGR would pay Ratcliff's fine.
?We?re committed to make sure it never happens in the future,? Gibbs said. ?After going through this process, we have great respect for our sport and in particular NASCAR. All of us at Joe Gibbs Racing are committed to being good partners. We want to race with NASCAR forever. We?re going to work extremely hard with [Toyota] to make sure that this doesn?t happen again.?
Kenseth, for his part, offered up the following tweet:
Glad to have today behind us so we can get our focus back on racing. I respect NASCAR and the appeals process, I feel like they got it right
? Matt Kenseth (@mattkenseth) May 8, 2013
NASCAR's appeals board has heard 151 appeals. Of that total, 106 were upheld, 32 were reduced, 11 were eliminated and two were increased.
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2013 Jerez MotoGP Sunday Post-Race Press Releases
Press releases from the MotoGP teams and Bridgestone after Sunday's spectacular race at Jerez:
Round Number:
3 Year:
2013 Keith Andrews Elio de Angelis Marco Apicella MŠ±rio de AraŃjo Cabral
Joe Saward?s F1 Blog
I have heard that some readers have been having trouble accessing the blog with its WordPress address and would like to suggest a solution which is much easier to remember. If you go to www.joeblogsf1.com, you can get directly to the blog. You can bookmark the page and also set up your own systems to […]
Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2013/05/06/joe-sawards-f1-blog/
Juan Manuel Bordeu Slim Borgudd Luki Botha JeanChristophe Boullion
Thursday
Kyle Larson blows tire and narrowly misses safety truck during Texas Nationwide race
Kyle Larson avoided a Juan Pablo Montoya-like incident after blowing a tire on the backstretch under caution during Friday night's Nationwide Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.
Just laps earlier, Larson had caused the caution after spinning off of turn four. He didn't hit anything, and to stay on the lead lap, his team only changed right side tires. As Larson was accelerating coming out of the pits to catch back up to the field, his left front tire blew and his car went sliding towards the sweeper truck that was hugging the inside wall.
As the car was careening towards the truck, it wouldn't turn back to the right because of the blown tire. Though thankfully at the last moment, it appeared that Larson was able to get the car to dart to the left and miss hitting the truck, and his car pounded the inside wall.
In last year's Daytona 500, a part failed on Juan Pablo Montoya's car as he was speeding to catch up to the field under caution and he went sliding into a jet dryer in turn three. The collision resulted in an explosion and fire that delayed the race for over two hours. The driver of the jet dryer was unhurt. (There was no jet dryer on the back of the truck that Larson missed.)
Larson, who is signed as a developmental driver for Chip Ganassi, Montoya's Sprint Cup Series car owner, was also the driver whose car was ripped apart in the catch fence in the crash on the final lap of the season opening Nationwide Series race that injured at least 28 fans at Daytona. As the pack was racing to the finish, Larson's car was catapulted into the fence and the engine was ripped from its mounts upon the impact with the fence. Larson was uninjured in the crash.
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Happy Hour: Talking about Martinsville?s 12th place finisher
You know the drill. Throughout the week you can send us your best questions, jokes, rants and just plain miscellaneous thoughts to happyhourmailbag@yahoo.com or @NickBromberg. We'll post them here, have a good time and everyone's happy. Right? Oh who are we kidding, this is NASCAR. No one is ever happy.
From the slowest track in NASCAR to one of the fastest we go. And while talking about Danica Patrick may be (ok, is) tiresome to many of you, it has to be better than talking about the miniscule chance that a feud will be renewed, right?
How come Danica, finishing 12th , received less money than any of the other drivers in the top 26?
-Frank
Prize money in NASCAR is determined by a myriad of factors including contingency money and career accomplishments. And sometimes those two factors go hand in hand. One thing's for certain, however: don't judge a driver's performance by the money listed in the box score.
_____________________
I was really impressed with Danica?s M?Ville run. With that, and her competitive runs at road courses last year, it appears to me that she has a strong command of how to drive the cars at tracks that require hard braking. Is that something she would have learned in Indycar driving all the road/street courses? I did chuckle at the ?rookie? comparisons people made, noting how Kyle Busch, Johnson, Junior, etc., did so much worse on their rookie runs. I?m not sure that is a good barometer ? they were really young as rookies and were just learning how to race in top competition. Danica is a 31 year old rookie ? she has maturity to help her navigate these more smartly.
All that said, what she did at Martinsville was far more impressive to me than what she did at Daytona. I was impressed that in one lap, she passed Menard and Junior, and flat outraced her boss for position towards the end. I believe Tony Gibson when he says her feedback is outstanding. Las Vegas aside, she drastically improves her car as the race goes on. I think her conservative style of racing is well suited for Sprint Cup races ? long races where patience and saving your stuff gets you the best result. It?s no accident that the Indy 500 was always her very best race in Indycar.
That is a long winded way of saying that her strong critics should definitely keep an open mind about what she may accomplish in her Sprint Cup career. When all is said and done, and she retires from racing, I think Sprint Cup will be where she got her best career results
-Sue B
Yes, I heard, but funny thing. I have Danica added to my newsfeed. I started pulling for her for the same reason I started pulling for Gordon in the 90s - all the hate from NASCAR. And the mysogyny in this case. Anyway, I have her on my newsfeed. And odd thing is, she finished 12, which is widely reported, but the number of articles on her is down by I would guesstimate more than half. Usually there is a steady stream of articles and this week it is a trickle. Curious.
Back to the discusson on Red Byron, I think I was put off by the Ted Williams reference. Satchel Paige might have been a better reference. I grew up near Boston, and besides flying 5 years in WWII, Williams also flew 3 years in Korea and lost 8 years out of his prime. At that, he still hit the triple crown twice and is the last batter to hit for 400 for a season. And 4-500 homers - I don't memorize statistics. Lifetime 300 hitter. Even with the lost time, he has the stats for the HOF. Not sure he was a good analogy
- Dean
Was Danica's performance at Martinsville more impressive than her performance at Daytona? I lean to yes, given her prior experience at Daytona and her lack of experience at Martinsville and also because the car plays a bigger role at Daytona than it does at Martinsville.
Sure, you're going to have the critics that will say her performance was a fluke because she took the wavearound twice in a row to get back on the lead lap and get that finish, but if you're doing that, you also have to immediately discount Mark Martin's 10th place finish too.
As far as the Martinsville attention not matching that of Daytona's, I think the easy answer to that is because it's Martinsville, and that was Daytona. Everything at the Daytona 500 can tend to be overstated and given the week between qualifying and the race, there was plenty of time for media attention on Florida.
And regarding Red Byron, I knew the analogy wasn't perfect, but Ted Williams is one of the most famous American athletes ever, so he'd be at least a good reference point. I made sure to note that NASCAR wasn't around yet when WWII happened, but NASCAR or no NASCAR, that was still a significant portion of Byron's career that we'll never know about, much like Williams'.
_____________________
I have 2 things that are bothering me this week! 1. Why is JPM still in CUP? I mean he is one of the WORST drivers week in and week out! This week even the likes of Gilliland, Stremme, and even Danica were better than that guy and he is in top equipment! He needs to get off the pot and let guys like Elliot S and Hornish Jr get up there and do what is supposed to be done...RACE and not be a speed bump for other BETTER drivers. 2. What was up with the restarts from the JGR boyz? For at least 5 restarts Busch and Kenseth INTENTIONALLY started on the non preferred line(Outside) so that they could hold up the preferred line(Inside) and let his teammate in?!? Noticed the announcers didnt have much to say about it of course! I listened to the in car radios and just about all the drivers affected by their antics were pretty PO'ed! I think that NASCAR should look at that the same way as they looked at Rocket trying to bring out a caution! Oh and BTW...once again FOX outdid themselves with the abundance of commecials, always gettin the cautions and race lead changes during commercial and of course the INCESSANT gab of the Waltrip Bros! NASCAR needs to listen to its fans like they say they do!
-Kaiya
Let's talk about Montoya first. Martinsville was bad luck as a cut tire ruined his day and he never recovered. That's pretty hard to blame on him, no? And he also had bad luck at Daytona too, getting caught up in the early crash with Kahne, Stewart and Harvick.
That said, he has not performed well otherwise this year, and the margin of error to blame it on the team may be getting smaller if Jamie McMurray stays in the top 15 going into the summer. While Montoya may be a contender for a win or two each year, especially at Sonoma at Watkins Glen, I think future Chase contention is unrealistic.
Now on to the Gibbs cars: the leader is the only car to choose which line to start in, and everyone else must follow the odd to the inside and even to the outside restart formation. Therefore, the if the JGR cars were 1-2, the leader would get to pick the outside or inside line and the second place car would take the other spot.
While they did start 1-2 on a few restarts, there was absolutely nothing wrong with what they did on those restarts when the car on the outside slipped to the inside. At a track like Martinsville where track position is so important, why should you risk hanging your teammate out to dry if it's not in the final laps of the race? Teammates swap spots all the time at restrictor plate tracks (and even other tracks) so that they can each get a bonus point for leading a lap.
Now if Busch and Kenseth had been battling for the lead late and JD Gibbs told Busch to not pass Kenseth or vice versa, then we'd be opening up a can of Formula 1 worms.
_____________________
Larry Phillips nominated before Alan Kuwicki is just WRONG!
-Michelle
You know what the most baffling omission is? Ray Evernham. As the Wood brothers revolutionized pit stops before him, Everham modernized them and was the driving force for how the current pit crew is comprised and constructed. Not to mention he was a pretty good crew chief on that ol' No. 24 machine.
Boy, Kulwicki's case to be on the list is tricky. His historic 1992 championship win over Bill Elliott will forever be cemented in NASCAR lore, but he only had five wins and two top 10 points finishes in his career. Yes, his career was tragically cut short in 1993, but of drivers who were competing in 1992, 15 of them ended up with more career wins than Kulwicki, including Kyle Petty (8) and Ernie Irvan (10). Does his case for inclusion change knowing that his statistics ultimately don't stack up favorably to drivers of his era? Or does that title and the fact that Kulwicki likely had 5-7 more productive years behind the wheel override that?
Larry Phillips' inclusion on the list is likely because of the local track influence on the Hall of Fame voting panel, as Phillips has five weekly touring series championships. But given the other names on the nomination list, it will likely be a while before he gets in.
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Thoughts about a new McLaren sponsor
It was announced a few weeks ago that McLaren’s relationship with Vodafone will finish at the end of the season after seven years as the team’s title sponsor. The sport was chosen to help Vodafone become one of the leading global brands and the telecommunications company said that this was very successful “We have been […]
Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2013/05/07/thoughts-about-a-new-mclaren-sponsor/
Piero Carini Duane Carter Eugenio Castellotti Johnny Cecotto
It?s shaping up to be an intriguing week for NASCAR rulings
NASCAR has a chance to set a precedent for penalties for violations with its new Sprint Cup Series car. And it can possibly reinforce one for crashing a driver under caution. But before those rulings have been announced, the lines for what can and can't be said about the sport by its drivers have become muddled even further.
Saturday night, after the conclusion of the NRA 500 at Texas, defending Sprint Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski was outspoken in his frustration with how he feels his team has been targeted. Before the race, NASCAR officials had the Penske teams make modifications to the rear-end housings on its cars, after NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton said that what the Penske cars had done to their cars was "not in the spirit of the rule."
After finishing ninth, Keselowski said to a group of reporters that "There's so much stuff going on you have no (expletive) idea what's going on. And that's not your fault and that's not a slam on you. I could tell you there's nobody, no team in this garage with the integrity of the 2 team. And the way we've been treated over the last seven days in absolutely shameful."
The Penske cars were each parked next to a Hendrick car. Does that mean anything? It could, or it couldn't. What we do know, however, is that NASCAR won't penalize Keselowski for his comments.
"No, we?re not because that?s the beauty of NASCAR, we do allow the drivers to express themselves in that way, even if they say things that we would disagree with," NASCAR CEO Brian France said in an interview Monday morning on Fox Business Channel. "I would certainly disagree with everything that he said, but look they?re frustrated, this is the most intense racing in the world so not surprising that every once in a while when things don?t go your way you just sort of blow off a lot of steam.?
If you did a double-take after reading France's comments, you're not alone. And Denny Hamlin surely crossed your mind as well. Hamlin was fined $25,000 for comments that he made after Phoenix about the quality of racing with NASCAR's new car, saying that the car didn't race as well as the previous car.
Though the specific subject matter was different, Hamlin's comments were far more innocuous than Keselowski's. By the Hamlin standard, Keselowski's fine was set up to be considerably higher. Instead, there won't be one at all. And that doesn't make much sense.
When announcing Hamlin's penalty, NASCAR said in part that it "will not tolerate publicly made comments by its drivers that denigrate the racing product." Isn't speaking of bias in the inspection process by definition denigrating the racing product?
By (ridiculously) penalizing Hamlin, it looked like NASCAR had made a pretty clear statement that criticism wouldn't be tolerated, right? Apparently not. Or only in certain circumstances. Or only if those certain circumstances involve a machine without senses rather than the inspectors and rules enforcers that NASCAR relies on to give the sport as level a playing field as possible.
In a vacuum, not penalizing Keselowski and France's comments are an admirable show of restraint by the sanctioning body. But in the Hamlin-fine world that NASCAR chose to operate in during the season's second weekend, it's further ammunition for the belief that NASCAR is inconsistent when it comes to enforcing issues that consist of any gray area.
Speaking of gray areas, as Jenna Fryer noted in the linked article above, in his comments about the rear end housings of the Penske cars, Pemberton never said that they were illegal. But either Tuesday or Wednesday, both Logano and Keselowski will likely be docked points and crew chiefs Todd Gordon and Paul Wolfe will be suspended. (NASCAR's usual penalty announcement day is on Tuesday, but Keselowski is scheduled to take his championship visit to the White House that day.)
While rear-end parts and configurations have been penalized and confiscated many times before, it's the first violation of any kind on the new car. Under the current points system, 25 points has been the norm for similar violations.
After the race there were other inspection issues too, as second-place finisher Martin Truex Jr.'s car was deemed too low in post-race inspection. Those violations have previously drawn a six point penalty and a crew chief fine.
The trickiest circumstance is in the Camping World Truck Series. Late in Sunday's race at Rockingham, Ron Hornaday crashed Darrell Wallace, Jr. under caution. Hornaday was unhappy with the way he felt Wallace raced him, and wanted to deliver a message to Wallace about his unhappiness. But, much like Hamlin at Bristol with Logano, Hornaday, who said he felt like an idiot, said he ultimately didn't mean to crash Wallace.
"I don't have a reputation for doing it," Hornaday said to ESPN. "I've never been sat down or suspended or been watched in NASCAR. I've never been the bad boy of anything, so I don't know if it's the same or not the same."
The same that Hornaday is talking about is the penalty that was given to Kyle Busch for wrecking Hornaday under caution at Texas in the Truck Series in 2011. Busch was suspended for the following Nationwide and Cup Series races. In that race, Busch was parked immediately after the incident. Sunday, Hornaday was sent to the rear of the field for the final restart.
Because the incident was under caution, do Hornaday's actions warrant a suspension like Busch's? Texas is a track with higher speeds than Rockingham, and Busch was a full-time Cup driver (with a history, though it's unclear just how much past incidents played in the suspension) driving in the Truck Series for the weekend.
Or will Hornaday merit a points penalty similar to what Jeff Gordon received at Phoenix last year for intentionally crashing Clint Bowyer? Phoenix is a slightly slower track than Rockingham, and Gordon completed his retaliation under the green flag. For his actions, Gordon was penalized 25 points and fined $100,000 but not suspended for the final race of the season at Homestead, a race in which he won.
Along with the Penske cars and Truex, we'll find out shortly.
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Wednesday
Audi TT Ultra Quattro Concept
Every year at the W�rthersee event, Audi makes sure that its presence is felt significantly.
This year, the German automaker is presenting the ?Home of quattro? and it’s got a pretty impressive concept on tap to make its debut in the form of the TT Ultra Quattro Concept.
It’s based on the Audi TT, the German brand’s resident sports car. That’s as far as similarities go because the TT Ultra Quattro Concept is more like the TT’s hotter and sexier cousin, dressed more provocatively to accentuate its sexier curves.
Sure, it’s a concept, which is a real shame, and if Audi ever decided to bring the car to production, it might have to do so at the cost of what makes this car really unique.
At the end of the day, the TT Ultra Quattro is a fantastic concept that will probably give Audi headaches should it decide to green light production. But in its current state, it’s remarkably awesome in every sense of the word.
Updated 05/08/2013: Audi unveiled new images of the TT Ultra Quattro Concept and a new video featuring Le Mans-winning driver Andre Lotterer behind the wheel. Enjoy!
Click past the jump to read more about the Audi TT Ultra Quattro Concept
Audi TT Ultra Quattro Concept originally appeared on topspeed.com on Wednesday, 8 May 2013 15:30 EST.
Source: http://www.topspeed.com/cars/audi/2013-audi-tt-ultra-quattro-concept-ar153864.html
Jaime Alguersuari Philippe Alliot Cliff Allison Fernando Alonso
Aston Martin Vanquish AM 310 New Promo Clip
Aston Martin knows that is staking its future short-term events such as the Geneva Motor Show , an event related to the automotive world which should be able to dazzle your prospects just to acquire one of their vehicles instead to rival the likes of Ferrari, Lamborghini or McLaren, brands may have in their catalogs [...]
Source: http://www.autocarblog.co.uk/429-aston-martin-vanquish-am-310-new-promo-clip.html
Tuesday
Ben Spies To Miss Le Mans, Return At Mugello
Ben Spies' long road to recovery from the shoulder injury he suffered at Motegi last year has gotten a little longer. Today, Ducati boss Bernhard Gobmeier told reporters at the Jerez post-race MotoGP test that Spies had been advised to skip the Le Mans round of MotoGP in France, and only return two weeks later at Mugello.
Spies is still recuperating from shooting pains in his chest caused by overcompensating at COTA in Austin, when he raced there two weeks' ago. The Texan received medical advice that he should miss one more race before attempting a return. Ducati test rider Michele Pirro will ride the Ignite Pramac Ducati as a replacement for Spies. As a replacement rider, Pirro will have to use the bike fielded by Pramac, rather than the laboratory machine he raced as a wildcard in Jerez.
Below is the official press release from the Ignite Pramac team:
Ben Spies back on track at Mugello.
Following today’s additional medical check in Dallas, the doctor supervising Ben Spies recommended that the Texan undergo a period of extended rehabilitation.
Despite his wish to return to the track as soon as possible, Spies will miss the French Grand Prix and will join the team again at the end of May, at Mugello.
Colin Davis Jimmy Daywalt JeanDenis Deletraz Patrick Depailler
Raikkonen Disagrees With Webber Qualifying Claims
Kimi Raikkonen believes that Mark Webber?s grim assessment of qualifying this season is untrue. The Aussie claimed that Saturday sessions are no longer as important as they used to be, suggesting that Pirelli?s tyres are too unpredictable to make a concrete strategy. However, Raikkonen believes that getting a good spot on the grid is key [...]
NASCAR Still Working Out New Inspection Process
The introduction of the Gen 6 car this season has brought with it some new equipment for the inspection process, namely the new laser measuring rig (see details and a photo here). The laser system helps NASCAR more accurately measure the chassis and things like where and how the rear end is located. But the [...] 
TheNASCARInsiders.com
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Watson: Vettel And Webber WILL Clash Again
Former F1 star John Watson believes that Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber are likely to clash at least once more before the 2013 season is finished. The Red Bull pair had a public falling out in Malaysia, when the German elected to pass his team-mate for the race win, despite being told to stay in [...]
Monday
Dale Earnhardt Jr. loses battery power while running third, finishes 29th
A week after finishing outside the top 10 for the first time all year, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was working his way towards the front of the field during Saturday night's NRA 500 when his race went awry.
Junior was running third when the main battery on his car started to fail. Without power, Junior elected to take his car to his pit thinking that something else was amiss. But when he got to his stall, he and his team deduced that it was a battery issue and Junior could have switched his car's power supply to the backup battery from the driver's seat.
"We just had a battery go dead and didn't diagnosis it correctly to just switch it," Junior said. "We have two batteries in there we have a switch in the driver?s seat that goes from one to two. I didn't know it was a battery until we got down on pit road and I got to looking at the gauges and really understanding."
Then things got worse from there. Because he was without power coming down pit road, Junior didn't have a working tachometer and was clocked for speeding. Then, while serving his pass-through penalty for the speeding penalty, crew chief Steve Letarte wanted to go ahead and change tires on Junior's car. That's against NASCAR rules, so that drew another penalty.
"At that point we had lost a couple of laps. I couldn't control my speed on pit road because the motor was not running coming on. So we sped there and we came down pit road to serve the penalty but Steve wanted to get tires. You can't get tires serving a penalty so we had to come back and then serve the penalty," Junior said.
When that sequence was mercifully over, Earnhardt Jr. was five laps down and his chances for a good finish were as kaput as his main battery.
"All the gauges just went haywire and so I couldn't read the gauges to really diagnose what was happening, but once you start to think about it you are like, 'Well if all the gauges are going bad we have electrical issues'," Junior said.
"Then you go right to the battery. The thing quit running going into three and I couldn't stay on the track if it wasn't the battery we would have stopped on the track and lost all those laps. I came down pit road, sped, no motor, no tach,� figured out by the time I got to the pit stall it was the battery. We changed the switch over to battery two, get fired up, take off, come down pit road change tires, came down pit road serve the penalty and that was the night."
Last week at Martinsville, Junior was spun after contact from Danica Patrick and Brian Vickers and ended up 24th, losing the points lead to teammate Jimmie Johnson. After Texas, he's now fourth in the standings, 35 points behind Johnson.
"It has been rough, but we had a really good car tonight," Junior said. "If we were running bad and having these kinds of nights we would have a hard time making that Chase, but running good eventually things will turn back around for us. We will get going. We have a lot of confidence. We've got a lot of positive attitude and feel like we will have no problem rebounding."
Jack Brabham† Bill Brack Ernesto Brambilla Vittorio Brambilla
Who else? Jimmie Johnson wins from the pole at Martinsville, takes points lead
At least once a year, there's a race that Jimmie Johnson so thoroughly and utterly dominates to serve notice to the entire Sprint Cup Series field, on the very off-chance that they've forgotten, that he's the man to beat.
That happened on Sunday at Martinsville, a track that has become commonplace for those showings, and it also vaulted Johnson atop the points standings.
After starting on the pole, Johnson led 347 of the race's 500 laps en route to his eighth career Martinsville win, easily holding off Clint Bowyer and Jeff Gordon.
[Also: Danica overcomes early spin for best finish since Daytona]
Johnson restarted with Bowyer to his outside and Gordon immediately behind him with eight laps to go after Kurt Busch's car caught fire to bring out a red flag. You may remember that those three were the principal players in a late race restart a year ago at Martinsville, when Gordon restarted first with Johnson to his outside and Bowyer in third.
On that restart, Bowyer dashed to the inside after a huge shove from Ryan Newman and made contact with Gordon and Johnson as the front three went for a spin in front of the entire field as Newman drove away for the eventual win.
This year, there wasn't even a fraction of the drama. Johnson immediately cleared Bowyer, who immediately slid in front of Gordon and maintained the advantage over final laps for the win. And no, Gordon and Bowyer didn't make any contact either. While Gordon briefly hung on to Bowyer's back bumper, he was never close enough to attempt a pass, let alone a nudge.
[Related: Engine fire ends day for frustrated Kurt Busch]
"Fortunately we didn't have any craziness with two tires or four tires at the end and the fastest car won the race," Johnson said in victory lane.
Yes, that's an accurate statement. Johnson never ventured far from the top five all day, and swiped the lead from Matt Kenseth for good on lap 363. It was the sixth time that Johnson has won at Martinsville and led at least 100 laps, and in 23 starts at the half mile paperclip, he's finished in the top 10 20 times.
"I think the last stop or two, we really got our car adjusted right," Johnson said. "And got some clean air, got track position, which was very important."
Johnson took the points lead thanks to teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s struggles and 24th place finish after spinning out late in the race. Through six races, Johnson is the only driver with two wins and leads Brad Keselowski by six points, while Junior is 12 points back in third.
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Gerhard Berger Eric Bernard Enrique Bernoldi Enrico Bertaggia
Kyle Busch completes weekend sweep at Texas
Saturday night's Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway looked a lot like Friday night's Nationwide race.
On Friday night, Kyle Busch drove away from the field after a late race restart to grab the win. And on Saturday he did the same thing, taking advantage of a super fast stop by his pit crew to snatch the lead from Martin Truex Jr. under caution and speed away when the race went green with 16 laps to go.
Truex was leading at the time of the caution with 21 laps to go, which came when Mark Martin hit the wall in turn 4. But Busch's team was quicker than Truex's as the entire field hit the pits and Busch led the pack out of the pits.
That preferred inside line was all he needed, as Truex was never able to mount a serious charge for the win.
"But if it wasn't for my pit crew, who is the most awesome group ever, and since 2008 we've been together, haven't had any changeover, those guys are just awesome," Busch said. "They pulled out one heck of a stop right there at the end to put us up front and give us that lead and be able to bring it home."
Points leader Jimmie Johnson finished sixth and extended his lead to nine points over Brad Keselowski, who bounced back from being a lap down to finish 9th. Busch is now in third, 18 points back.
It's Busch's second win of the season, and much like his first win at Fontana three weeks ago, he led the most laps.
For Truex, it was a similar ending to what was his last best chance at a win almost a year ago at Kansas Speedway. Then, Truex was passed for the lead with 31 laps to go by Denny Hamlin. Saturday, Truex's lead was over a second when that final caution flag flew.
"I'm just disappointed," Truex said. "The race was over when we got beat out of the pits. The bottom was so fast for the first couple laps and I was really worried, honestly, that I'd lose second because Carl (Edwards) was on the inside of me and I just was somehow was able to run one and two wide open to get him cleared. And then, that guy that gets clean air is hard to catch for 10 laps. And I just was a little bit tight behind Kyle and started catching him as we were running, and just (ran) out of time."
After the race, Truex's car failed post-race inspection from being too low in the front. Any penalties will be announced on Monday or Tuesday.
George Constantine John Cordts David Coulthard Piers Courage
Sunday
Warped Wednesday: Teams return to true stock cars after Penske penalties
Welcome to Warped Wednesday. On this, we'll put out the rush to judgment mat, go a little too far and have a little fun. Will it be funny? Sometimes. Will it be crazy and largely unbelievable? Probably. Will not everyone get it? Definitely.
Reacting to the penalties that NASCAR levied against the Penske teams on Wednesday, sources exclusive to Yahoo! Sports' Warped Wednesday have learned that all teams in the Sprint Cup Series garage are returning to stock car racing's roots.
Both Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano were docked 25 points and crew chiefs Paul Wolfe and Todd Gordon were, among others suspended for six races. The crew chiefs were fined $100,000 as well, all for the setups that the cars had in their rear end housings.
When NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton discussed the confiscation of parts from the Penske teams on Saturday, he said that what they had done to the backs of the cars was "not in the spirit" of NASCAR rules. There's no word if that spirit was holy or haunting the garage area, but one thing's for certain: no one wants to mess with these spirits again.
Frightened by the specter of losing crew chiefs and other key members, all 45 teams attempting Sunday's Cup race are preparing to show up at Kansas Speedway with factory made and driven-off-the-showroom-floor versions of the Chevrolet SS, Ford Fusion and Toyota Camry. One team even inquired about a Volkswagen Passat, but after being unsure of NASCAR's potential reaction, it decided against making the switch.
Because of this garage mutiny, NASCAR will not be in a position to hand out penalties, and the teams are prepared to tell NASCAR that this is, after all, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, so if they can't race stock cars, what does NASCAR actually stand for?
Teams will have the option to purchase cars equipped with leather seats and satellite radios, and there is no restriction on engines. Some are opting for the V8 options for increased acceleration, but others are looking at the smallest engines possible for the best fuel economy possible given Kansas' history of fuel mileage races.
Yes fans, that means speeds will be down, but many in and around NASCAR have said that fans won't notice if the cars were slowed down 40 MPH or so. The pole record will certainly not be threatened this weekend, but in the name of rules abidance and fiscal responsibility, one team member told Warped Wednesday that this was a determination made in the best interests of the sport moving forward.
It's unclear how long this movement will last, though one prominent team owner said that it could be this way for the rest of 2013, and was already calling his fleet of cars that he purchased Wednesday morning the "Gen-7 car."
Vittorio Brambilla Toni Branca Gianfranco Brancatelli Eric Brandon
Craziest Moment: Kyle Busch?s pit road penalty gets rescinded and then he gets caught in a crash
After getting a reprieve from NASCAR, Kyle Busch's good fortune quickly disappeared after he was caught in a crash just laps after he had a pit road penalty rescinded during Saturday night's race at Richmond.
When the caution flag flew for oil on the track from Travis Kvapil's blown engine on lap 309, the yellow presented a dilemma for many cars on the lead lap. It had been just 11 laps since the previous caution (for Kvapil hitting the wall), and the entire field had been to pit road then. Do you stay out and gain track position or do you come into the pits for more fresh tires?
Busch made the decision to come to pit road, and in an attempt to not show the team's choice too early, Busch made a late dive to pit road. A dive that initially was viewed as too late by NASCAR officials. That meant instead of restarting sixth, Busch would restart in 26th, the last car on the lead lap.
The entrance to pit road at the 3/4 mile oval is on the apron of turn four, and the close proximity means that in lieu of a cone demarcating the start of pit road, there's an orange box at the corner where the pit road timing line meets the banking. At all tracks with a commitment cone, drivers must drive to the inside of the cone to get to pit road. Any contact with the cone is a penalty. That's not the case with the orange box at Richmond.
At Richmond, all drivers must do is have their two left side tires on or inside the orange box. Busch did that, but just by a mere inch or two. After extending the caution flag to look at the freeze frame clips from the cameras at the entrance to pit road, NASCAR took the rare step of reversing its call and gave Busch the sixth spot in line back.
That ultimately didn't work out well at all for Busch. Restarting on the outside line, Busch got bottled up on the restart and fell outside the top 10. More importantly, it put him behind Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson when Stewart got loose entering turn one making a pass on the inside of Johnson and the two drivers spun around.
As Johnson spun to the inside, Busch dove to the apron but ran out of room, running square into the right front fender of Johnson's car. His chances for the win had vanished just nine laps after getting his spot back in line.
To make matters worse, just 11 laps after that, Busch sustained more damage slowing down behind a crash involving Mark Martin, Kasey Kahne and Brian Vickers. After extensive repairs on pit road, Busch briefly went a lap down late in the race before getting it back during the race's final caution. He finished 24th.
Getting a van on contract hire
Leasing a van gives you flexibility in your logistics, and doesn’t carry the costs of committing to a large purchase. The day to day haulage needs of a company can vary drastically, and if you lease, you can tailor your van to the needs of your business. Leasing provides a more affordable option to new [...]
Source: http://www.autocarblog.co.uk/434-getting-a-van-on-contract-hire.html
Enrique Bernoldi Enrico Bertaggia Tony Bettenhausen Mike Beuttler
The economics of F1 in Spain
Anyone who thinks that Valencia will ever be back on the Formula 1 calendar is an optimist. The race may have drawn some more tourists to the city, but the spending involved was colossal. The race was not supposed to cost the taxpayers anything, but the money that was supposed to come from private developers [...]
Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2013/04/30/the-economics-of-f1-in-spain/
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