Source: http://www.16thandgeorgetown.com/2011/12/pagenaud-joins-schmidt.html
Thursday
Wednesday
Porsche 911 Cabriolet
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Now that Porsche has unveiled the new generation 911/991 at the Frankfurt Motor Show, the company has started to test the convertible version. Obviously, the two models will more or less be the same, but the Cabriolet will feature a canvas soft-top - and not the folding hardtop previously suggested.
Like with the coupe version, the 911/991 Cabriolet will receive an updated exterior featuring an even more muscular stance, a new headlamp design, remodeled exterior mirrors, and new wheels. The interior will be more driver-focused and will offer better technology.
As for the engine line-up, the standard Carrera will get a 3.4 liter direct-injected flat-six engine that will deliver a total of 350 HP, while the S version will feature a 3.8-liter flat-six with direct injection engine delivering a raised output of 400 HP. Performance times would obviously suffer just a tad with the added weight of the soft top, but shouldn?t be too far off of the 0-62 mph time of 4.6 seconds for the Carrera and 4.3 seconds for the Carrera S.
Expect the new 911 Cabrio to debut in the upcoming months.
UPDATE 12/27/2011: It’s been a month since the 911 Cabriolet’s official launch and Porsche wants to reignite interest in the drop top with a new video of it in action. Enjoy!
UPDATE 01/04/2012: Porsche has announced today that the new 911 Cabrio will be making its North American debut at the Detroit Auto Show and they have also unveiled a new video of the car. Enjoy!
Porsche 911 Cabriolet originally appeared on topspeed.com on Tuesday, 27 December 2011 17:00 EST.
Source: http://www.topspeed.com/cars/porsche/2013-porsche-911-cabriolet-ar116477.html
Richard Petty Motorsports interested in hiring Kurt Busch
After his release from Penske Racing, it seemed that there would be a slim chance that Kurt Busch would be in a competitive ride in 2012.
Those chances may be a lot fatter than initially figured. Richard Petty Motorsports COO Robbie Loomis said Tuesday that the team is interested in the 2004 Sprint Cup champion.
"Best Buy has been a great partner for a long time, and AJ Allmendinger has done a fantastic job for us. He's coming off his best season yet, but I can tell you there is a lot of interest on our part in having Kurt Busch in the fold. It makes sense to have Kurt with our team, if we can make it work."
And he added this:
"I would mortgage my house to make Kurt a part of this team," said Loomis. "We value what he has done on the race track. He has won a [Sprint Cup] championship and worked for a first-class operation like Penske Racing. Guys like that don't come along every day."
According to the report from Sirius Speedway, Busch would be a candidate to replace AJ Allmendinger in the No. 43 Ford in an attempt to keep sponsor Best Buy with the team. Allmendinger was one of the better performers in the Cup Series over the final weeks of 2011. Since RPM was a two-car operation with Allmendinger and Marcos Ambrose last year, they would have room to expand for Busch, but�? and stop me if you've heard this before ? sponsorship would have to be found.
Interest in Busch from RPM seems a little odd on the surface given the relationship between Busch and Jack Roush. Roush's team is the flagship Ford operation and provides chassis and Roush-Yates engines to RPM. Busch was fired from Roush in 2005 after a traffic stop outside Phoenix International Raceway. And when he was asked who he wanted to win the 2011 championship, Busch picked Tony Stewart�? a man who he's had on-track run-ins with before�? because of Roush, Carl Edwards' co-owner.
If Busch does join RPM, it would be yet another instance of how uber-talent can earn multiple chances. Yes, Busch has acknowledged his actions in the cockpit and how his attitude affected his professional relationships, but we haven't yet had a chance to see that Busch's actions match his words. Will it happen? His future employer will find out soon enough.
Engines Engines Engines
It?s been a while since I have pontificated on the new chassis, but there really hasn?t been much new news on that front and the number one news item was kind of lost in the wake of Las Vegas. We … Continue reading 
Source: http://anotherindycarblog.wordpress.com/2011/11/08/engines-engines-engines/
Tuesday
Two Teams In The Seat We All Strive For
Do you remember when you were a little kid in your backyard playing whiffle ball with your buddies? �You always pretended it was the bottom of the ninth in game seven of the World Series. �There were two outs, the bases were loaded, and your team was down three runs. �You strode to the plate [...]
TheNASCARInsiders.com
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNascarInsiders/~3/KRIZfRj0QOM/
Ten Kate To Prepare Honda Engines For Gresini CRT MotoGP Bike
After many years of success in the World Superbike and World Supersport series, Ten Kate is to take their first steps in the MotoGP paddock. The Dutch race shop has been contracted by Gresini to supply race-prepared Honda CBR1000RR engines for Gresini's CRT machine in MotoGP, along with the fly-by-wire electronics system the Ten Kate team developed together with Cosworth for their World Superbike machine.
According to the Dutch racing website Racesport.nl, Ten Kate Racing Products, the commercial arm of the race team and the Honda dealership owned by Ronald and Gerrit ten Kate, signed a contract with the Gresini team just before Christmas to seal the agreement. Ten Kate will supply complete Honda CBR1000RR engines, tuned and prepared by them, along with a complete electronic system, including the fly-by-wire system used on the WSBK machine. The Ten Kate engine is to be fitted into a custom chassis designed and built by FTR. Both FTR and Gresini were very keen to work with Ten Kate, given their long experience and success in the World Superbike series.
Source:
George Connor George Constantine John Cordts David Coulthard
Monday
Four-time Sprint Cup champion Jeff Gordon breakdances
NASCAR's Champion's Week festivities in Las Vegas have been a gold mine of hilarious moments so far, but Jeff Gordon stole the show during Thursday's "After the Lap" event.
The day after all 12 Chase drivers participated in the NASCAR version of "The Newlywed Game," they were back on stage for "After the Lap," which ended up turning into a group roast of sorts for the Chasers.
While there were many funny moments to be had ? 2011 Sprint Cup champion and noted Burger King connoisseur Tony Stewart joked about having to change clothes next to runner-up and fitness freak Carl Edwards�? Gordon had the best moment of them all when he showed off his breakdancing moves on stage.
Yes, seriously.
The California-raised Gordon has transformed himself from anti-NASCAR establishment young gun into one of the best drivers in the sport's history with 85 wins and four Sprint Cup titles over the course of his 20-year career.
[ Related: Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins Most Popular Driver award for ninth time ]
If a guy like Scott Speed�? a former Red Bull driver who came to NASCAR from Formula 1�? breakdances, it doesn't seem out of the ordinary. But Jeff Freaking Gordon? One of the seemingly most unlikely NASCAR drivers to have any breakdancing skills? That's just awesome. It's like Tiger Woods deciding to get down after a round at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am or if Peyton Manning boogied at the Pro Bowl.
It took some prodding for Gordon, 40, to finally show off his moves, but he reluctantly did for about 10 seconds to roars and applause from fans and his fellow competitors, even prompting Denny Hamlin to laughingly tell Gordon "don't bring that [garbage] into my club." (Hamlin owns a club in the Charlotte area.)
The four-time champion admitted that he was an avid breakdancer when he was younger and that the last time that he had breakdanced (publicly) was at five-time Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson's wedding.
And while there were quips about Gordon's ability to get a girl soon after he got down�? Gordon also once had an awesome mid-1990s mustache and a rainbow-colored firesuit ? they aren't exactly based in any truth. Gordon is married and has two children with model Ingrid Vandebosch.
For more motorsports news, follow us on Twitter at @FTMNASCAR.
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Bravo to Kurt Busch for seeing a sports psychologist
Amid the festivities and silliness of Champions Week, there have been some serious, even sobering moments. Kurt Busch, who's had a rough season from a public relations perspective, acknowledged this week that he's seeing a sports psychologist.
"I need to be a better person on the radio, to the team, as a leader," Busch said. "It's personal issues, of course, and working with a sports psychologist, I've gotten obviously a small grasp, but there's obviously bigger things that I need to accomplish and things can't happen overnight."
[ Related: Four-time Sprint Cup champion Jeff Gordon breakdances ]
Busch marred a promising year with several outbursts, ranging from profane radio chatter to unruly behavior at Richmond to a foul-mouthed shot at Homestead captured on YouTube. He became a walking punch line ? we too got in on the jokes ? who could explode in rage at any moment.
But the revelation that he's seeing a sports psychologist is very good news indeed. Certainly, there will be those who can't understand this, who see this as either quack science or a way of dodging those "personal issues." That's completely the wrong approach to take here.
Most of us can't possibly understand what it's like to compete at this level. Sorry, but chances are your job and mine aren't the kinds that jack your adrenaline through the roof for hours on end and involve the very real threat of bodily harm. So it's not surprising that you see guys act like Kurt Busch. What's surprising is that you don't see more like him.
Busch conceded, though, that the environment is no excuse, and acknowledged how much harm one can do to one's image with just a single outburst. "You can work 364 days on being positive and building toward a better platform, and it can take just one day to knock it all back," he said. "I need to harness what happens in the race car and keep it there, and then I need to step out of the car and understand that if we didn't reach our goal for that day or that moment, that it's going to be all right at the end."
None of this is meant to say Busch is mentally ill. But the brain needs a tune-up every now and then, too. Bravo to Busch for recognizing that, and for taking the necessary steps. As much fun as it is to hear him explode, it's got that watching-a-car-crash voyeuristic element to it ... if that car was self-destructive and driving itself into guard rails at every turn. Best of luck to Busch with the treatment.
Other popular stories on Yahoo! Sports:
? Donovan McNabb's fall from grace could keep him out of Hall of Fame
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Sunday
IndyCar will not return to site of Dan Wheldon?s death in 2012
When Dan Wheldon died in October at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the hue and cry from many quarters focused on the track itself: too banked, too wide, too much room for open-wheeled cars to get into trouble. No less than Jimmie Johnson himself said that he didn't believe IndyCars belonged on certain ovals.
Now, it appears IndyCar is heeding those cries. The series has announced that it will buy out the 2012 race and review contract options for 2013. IndyCar is in the midst of an investigation into Wheldon's death, and a return to Vegas is, in part, contingent on those findings. So many questions still remain, with few answers in sight. (Of note: the series has already committed to returning to Texas, a similar track, for 2012.)
The 15-car wreck that claimed Wheldon's life 12 laps into the race could have been caused by the high banks of the track, and accordingly, the series has held off on releasing its 2012 schedule. However, other reasons for the catastrophic wreck could have been an overcrowded field or the high number of relatively inexperienced drivers.
Bruton Smith, owner of Speedway Motorsports Inc. and the Las Vegas track, has long demanded that IndyCar honor its three-year commitment to the track. However, he agreed to a buyout of 2012, with 2013 yet to be determined.
Brian Pattie named Clint Bowyer?s new crew chief
Hey, news that doesn't involve ugly separations! In a confirmation of long-running rumors, Brian Pattie, former crew chief for Juan Pablo Montoya, will take over top-of-the-box duties for Clint Bowyer as both join Michael Waltrip Racing.
Bowyer will be driving the No. 15 Five-Hour Energy Toyota Camry. Pattie has won 18 times on the Nationwide circuit, and he guided Montoya to a Chase berth in 2009 and a Watkins Glen win in 2010. Plus, he was able to handle the radio presence of Montoya, hands-down one of the most critical drivers in Sprint Cup.
Bowyer, Pattie and Waltrip all had glowing words for each other in the press release announcing the hiring.
? Waltrip: "Brian is someone whose [sic] been on our radar for a very long time."
? Bowyer: "We both grew up working on dirt cars and have pretty similar backgrounds ... I think we speak the same language."
? Pattie: "I know how close [MWR] is to joining the upper echelon of the Sprint Cup series."
So nice to see team, driver and crew chief so happy together, isn't it?
Carlo Abate George Abecassis Kenny Acheson Andrea de Adamich
Matt Kenseth will wreck you in absolutely anything, anywhere
Check out Matt Kenseth racing Green Machines at Travis Air Force Base as part of a Gatorade promotion. The lucky fellow who won the chance to race Kenseth could have taken a lesson from Brian Vickers: you never, ever wreck Flatline with time still left in the race.
Yep, it's the offseason. How long till Daytona, again?
Out goes Sutil
The Sahara Force India Formula One Team has confirmed that Paul Di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg will form its line-up for the 2012 season. This means that the star of the team’s 2011 World Championship challenge, Adrian Sutil,has been left in the lurch. The team did not name a reserve driver. “Our new line-up means [...]
Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2011/12/16/out-goes-sutil/
Ladies and gentlemen, Dale Earnhardt Jr.?s girlfriend
Yes, the rumors and legends are true: Dale Earnhardt Jr. does have a girlfriend. He revealed her to the world Friday night at the Sprint Cup Championship banquet. (We think this is the big reveal; we don't really keep up with such things.)
For years, everybody figured this was one of those "she lives in Canada, you don't know her" kind of things, but hey, here she is. Her name is Amy Reimann, and you may recall that she and Earnhardt were the subject of some ugly National Enquirer rumors a year or so back. But they were all smiles at the banquet, so we'll raise a glass to the happy couple and hope for more news that's actually about, you know, racing sometime soon.
Eugenio Castellotti Johnny Cecotto Andrea de Cesaris Francois Cevert
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