Press releases from the World Supersport and World Superbike teams at Assen after qualifying on Saturday:
Year:
2012
Bob Anderson Conny Andersson Mario Andretti Michael Andretti
Wednesday
2012 Assen World Superbike and World Supersport Saturday Post-Qualifying Press Release Round Up
Press releases from the World Supersport and World Superbike teams at Assen after qualifying on Saturday:
Year:
2012
Mini-racing: Get the best of the Kansas race in 10 minutes
Did you miss Sunday's Kansas race? Get on your local highway and drive for several hundred miles; you'll get the vibe. Or just watch the video and see all the dramatic elements, like ... like ... all right, come on, we know there were some somewhere. Denny Hamlin won, that's pretty cool. Check it all out right here. Enjoy!
Power Rankings: Biffle triumphant
It's a new season, and that means a new year of Power Rankings. Each week throughout the season, we'll size up who's rising and who's falling, based on current standings, behind-the-scenes changes, expected staying power, recent history and general gut feelings. It is not scientific, nor is it meant to be. And remember, whoever your favorite driver is, we're biased against him and like someone else better. We continue with a guy who's sticking around the top, like it or not...
1. Greg Biffle: Well, look at that. We drop Biffle to 8th in the Power Rankings, make fun of his name, and he comes back and wins the damn race the next week. I do believe we have the power to dictate races now; drivers, email me if you want me to mock you for a week. It'll pay off. Last week: 8.
2. Jimmie Johnson: Hearing Jimmie Johnson get mad on the radio, as he did on Saturday night, is like hearing your parents cuss. You know they do it, but it still sounds weird and wrong. And the fact that Johnson is that ticked over a second-place finish (and that he's finishing second now) should have everybody else very concerned. Last week: 3.
3. Matt Kenseth. So apparently one of the Best Buys that is shutting down is right next to Kansas next weekend. That's a wee bit awkward. I'm thinking Kenseth won't be doing an appearance at that one. There could be some very unhappy employees there to greet him. Last week: 4.
4. To
ny Stewart: I honestly believe that there are two Tony Stewarts: one who's a champion driver and one who just comes and ticks off laps in a competent but not championship fashion. What I want to know is, what's the champion driver doing when the lap-ticker is on the track? I bet that's a lot better story than the other way around. Last week: 1.
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: If Junior is disappointed with a top-10 finish, that's a step forward. Credit to the 88 team for trying experiments with their setups at Texas, though I think we can safely say that this particular experiment didn't exactly work out for the best. Last week: 2.
6. Martin Truex Jr.: Won the pole and led quite a few laps, but couldn't quite hold it together against the Roush-Fenway horde this weekend. Still, as with Junior, the fact that you've got multiple MWR cars ranked high in the standings is a very positive sign that the organization is taking steps forward. Dance steps, probably, but still. Last week: 5.
7. Kevin Harvick: So apparently a tire changer dropped a lug nut and then tripped while coming around the back of Harvick's car during one of the early pit stops at Texas. In unrelated news, the No. 29 hauler was spotted making an unscheduled trip back in from the Texas countryside. Last week: 6.
8. Denny Hamlin: Unremarkable week for Hamlin, quite the contrast from last week. There, he caddied for Bubba Watson at Augusta in a little par-3 contest, and then Watson went on to win The Masters. Hey, Hamlin! Get over here and carry my bags, pronto!� Last week: 9.
9. Jeff Gordon: Amazing that we're barely into mid-April and Gordon and teammate Kasey Kahne are already almost in must-win situations in order to get into the Chase. You can't afford to start slow, friends. Last week: 12.
10. Clint Bowyer: Bowyer was the lowest-finishing Michael Waltrip Racing car, and he finished 17th. There was a time, like last year, that 17th would have been the top-finishing MWR car. Oh sweet heaven, that means we have to hear more of Mikey gloating. And nobody needs that. Last week: 11.
11. Ryan Newman: Jimmie Johnson was roundly ticked at Newman for blocking while being a lap down. But then, everybody says that about Newman. I'll bet he's one of those guys who never lets you cut ahead of him on a crowded street. I'd pay money to walk right behind him in downtown Manhattan and watch him wreak havoc. Last week: 7.
12. Carl Edwards. Hey, welcome back, Carl! Another good-if-not-great week for Edwards, who finished 8th and held up his end of the deal for the Roush-Fenway Texas dynasty. Somewhere, Amanda Beard punched out a waiter in frustration. Last week: NR.
Dropping out: Brad Keselowski. #blownengine #sorrybro
Lucky Dog: Mark Martin. Can't somebody convince this ol' feller to run a full season? Gucci Mane, get on the phone, dawg!
The Kasey Kahne DNF: The guy who throws the yellow flag. He basically got a week off with pay this week. Don't spend it all in one place, fella.
Next up: Kansas! Come up with your best lame Dorothy/Toto jokes, and send your comments to us via Twitter at @jaybusbee, via email by clicking here, and via Facebook. Go!
Tuesday
Christian Horner on Bahrain: Political if you race, political if you don?t
Christian Horner says that his Red Bull team focussed on the sport in Bahrain over the weekend despite the obvious distractions that surrounded the event. ?We?ve focussed on motor racing this weekend,? said Horner, who had a chat with the … Continue reading 
Carlo Abate George Abecassis Kenny Acheson Andrea de Adamich
Join us for the latest Y! Sports NASCAR live chat, Tuesday at 1 p.m. ET
Time again for another Yahoo! Sports live NASCAR chat. Perhaps we'll go the full distance, perhaps we'll be cut off by rain. You never know, do you? Join us here at 1 ET for the festivities.
Bob Anderson Conny Andersson Mario Andretti Michael Andretti
Monday
Kasey Kahne victorious in NASCAR return to Rockingham Speedway
Kasey Kahne climbed through the field after starting in the back to win Sunday's Camping World Truck Series race at Rockingham Speedway, the first NASCAR race at the track since 2004.
Kahne started at the back of the field because he missed practice and qualifying thanks to his Sprint Cup duties at Texas Motor Speedway, but quickly broke into the top 10 and planted himself there. He took the lead under green from pole-sitter Nelson Piquet Jr., and stayed out front after a restart with 26 laps to go.
[ Also: Rick Hendrick puts four cars in the top 10 at Texas, but none at No. 1 ]
Piquet was starting to reel in Kahne before that caution flag, and exited the pits in second behind Kahne. However, he was tagged for speeding as he accelerated out of his pit box ? the final pit stall on pit road ? and had to start at the rear of the field. He finished seventh after dominating the race, leading 107 laps. (A Piquet win would have been symbolic of the changes in NASCAR since the sanctioning body's final race at The Rock in 2004, a track with limited corporate amenities that was struggling to sell tickets. Who would have thought eight years ago, the driver with the most laps led at the track's next NASCAR race would be a Brazilian former Formula 1 driver?)
The racing was great, thanks to Rockingham's abrasive surface, multiple grooves and significant tire fall-off. As NASCAR officials crowed about the sanctioning body's return to the track rehabbed by owner Andy Hillenburg, it sparked thoughts this was potentially a case of never missing a good thing until it's gone. And for the sake of racing and racing fans, let's hope the track isn't gone again any time soon.
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2012 WSBK Assen Superpole: Wet superpole.
Wet Superpole rules were in place, meaning all 16 qualifying riders were on track at the same time with half being cut at the end of the first of two 20-minute sessions.
Result:
George Connor George Constantine John Cordts David Coulthard
Christian Horner on Bahrain: Political if you race, political if you don?t
Christian Horner says that his Red Bull team focussed on the sport in Bahrain over the weekend despite the obvious distractions that surrounded the event. ?We?ve focussed on motor racing this weekend,? said Horner, who had a chat with the … Continue reading
Asphalt! Drivers talk track surfaces and impending Kansas repave
KANSAS CITY, Kan. ? With the track changes at Bristol Motor Speedway underway and the imminent repaving of Kansas Speedway scheduled to start moments after the conclusion of Sunday's STP 400, repaving and track surface discussion dominated Friday's driver media sessions at Kansas Speedway.
Here are the comments from some drivers about repaving. And spoiler alert: old pavement is preferred, though Jimmie Johnson says that he views track repaves as an opportunity for he and his team to gain an advantage.
"No, it might be that mindset for some drivers, but for me I look at it as an opportunity," Johnson said. "The tracks are going to change, and it's going to be different. Whoever figures it out first will have the advantage and win. So, I'm excited about the new surfaces that go down. Some of them are very challenging, and I hope people pay attention to the tracks that have instant success and the others that take a long time to come around, and we can learn from that as well. I'm excited for the opportunity, and I love to test. I love to be at the race track learning, and am excited to have testing at tracks we race at. We can really get data files on tracks other than Milwaukee or Nashville, and these tracks that we don't race at anymore. I'm happy we have some testing at the real tracks on the correct tire."
Jeff Gordon says that the track surface looks good from a driver's perspective. However, track officials and engineers say that the repave at Kansas is absolutely necessary because of a combination of weather and environmental factors.
"I don't really understand why they are paving this race track," Gordon said. "It looks great out there. This place is awesome. I wish they wouldn't touch it. I'm not the business person. I'm not an engineer that looks at the construction, foundation, all the things that they feel like why they need to do it. Whatever they put in front of us we will just go about it the best way that we can. I feel like ISC has gotten enough information and experience paving race tracks that I have faith they can do the right thing. I think Homestead is a perfect example. They did a great job at Homestead. That was one of the only race tracks I can remember being repaved where we came there and raced the first race and it was a fun race. Of course, what they had before was so bad, it was easy to improve. What they have here is going to be hard to improve."
Carl Edwards said he'd love to race on a track that would never be repaved.
"I would not resurface this track ever. I wouldn't resurface tracks ever if it were up to me," Edwards said. "I'd patch the holes and keep on running."
Kansas Speedway is moving to progressive banking, which is it what is currently installed at Homestead, Bristol and Las Vegas. Bristol is concrete, a surface that Dale Earnhardt Jr. says doesn't respond as well to progressive banking as asphalt does.
"When you're using concrete, concrete has a lot of limitations for our cars," Junior said. "We only have a few tracks that are concrete or have been concrete in the series or the sport. None of them truly became multi-groove race tracks. Dover is the closest thing that we have to a multi-groove track, but to be honest with you, the majority of the racing is done on the bottom of that race track as ell. In a perfect world, in m opinion, if I owned the race track and had all the money that [SMI president Bruton Smith] has or the technology that we have today, I would pave the track with the configuration that they currently have with the progressive banking with asphalt. But its not my decision and I think what they're doing is going to be fun and I like that they're making a change. Even though when you pave a race track, it typically doesn't put on the best races after a few years of weather and wear on the surface, it tends to work out okay and the track really comes into its own again. As much as we'd like to have a lot of the tracks stay with the older asphalt, it's just some of them are deteriorating so bad that it's just not an option.
"I think progressive banking has done wonders at a lot of race tracks and been a real plus at a lot of places. It's just the combination of progressive banking and the limitations of that concrete is what's challenging to Bristol."
Join us for the latest Yahoo! Sports live chat, Tuesday at 1pm ET
Time for the latest Yahoo! Sports live chat! Hang with us here and chat about Texas, Kansas or whatever else crosses your happy minds. Be here!
Eugene Chaboud Jay Chamberlain Karun Chandhok Alain de Changy
Sunday
Tony Stewart notches second 2012 victory in rain-shortened California race
Last year, Tony Stewart famously said that his team didn't deserve to be in the Chase for the Sprint Cup after the August Michigan race. This year, they may very well be locked into the Chase after the season's first five races and all talk about Smoke's customary slow starts to seasons can be officially put to rest for 2012.
The reigning champion defied conventional wisdom (and his own) on his way to a blistering performance in last year's Chase for the Sprint Cup after a relatively porous regular season in 2011 and he's doing it again in 2012 after grabbing his second win of the season in the rain-affected Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway on Sunday -- his seventh win in the last 15 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races dating back to last year's Chase opener at Chicagoland.
Like David Reutimann and Joey Logano, winners of rain-shortened races in 2009 who found themselves in the right place at the right time because of well-timed decisions not to pit, Stewart's win was also because he didn't elect to pit when the only caution came out for rain on lap 123.
But unlike Reutimann and Logano, who were afterthoughts until the rains came, Stewart had arguably the best car of the race's 129 (of 200 scheduled) laps. Smoke, who qualified 10th, started moving through the top 10 after the first handful of laps clicked off, and quickly ran down the Joe Gibbs Racing cars of Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin, who started on the front row. Green flag pit stops stymied Stewart's attempts at the lead through the race's first 85 laps, but he took the lead for good after passing Busch on lap 85.
Hamlin was able to briefly close in on Stewart's bumper a handful of laps before the rains came, but Stewart pulled away as quickly as Hamlin arrived.
However, Hamlin didn't finish in second. When Stewart elected not to pit, Hamlin and crew chief Darian Grubb, Stewart's championship-winning crew chief who was let go from Stewart-Haas before the Chase began, chose to hit pit road, betting that the rains weren't going to last very long. For a split second, it looked that Stewart had snookered Hamlin into pitting, deking to pit road before peeling back onto the track before descending upon the infield grass, but it was a calculated decision for the No. 11 team that ended up being the incorrect one. Hamlin finished 11th.
Hamlin grabbed the final wild-card spot in last year's Chase with one win, while Brad Keselowski snagged the other with three wins. With two wins, Smoke's sitting pretty in fourth in the points standings. At this rate, the wild card sure as heck isn't going to matter.
Into the Crystal Ball? Drama in the LBC, Edition
Pandora’s box has surely been opened this week. Nearly half the field will see grid penalties this weekend in Long Beach, the setting for the longest running street race in the western hemisphere. Open wheel racing has descended on the … Continue reading 
Source: http://anotherindycarblog.wordpress.com/2012/04/12/into-the-crystal-ball-drama-in-the-lbc-edition/
Kasey Kahne?s struggles continue at Martinsville
If Jimmie Johnson had a golden horseshoe you-know-where during his run of five straight championships from 2006-2010, there's no telling what color horseshoe his Hendrick teammate Kasey Kahne has right now. Because it's definitely not good.
At Daytona, Kahne was caught up in a crash and he slapped the wall at Phoenix. He was involved in a multi-car accident at Bristol when he made contact with Regan Smith, and on Sunday, his engine blew up after he started on the pole for the second time this year. It's been that kind of season.
"Well I mean it is and it isn't (disappointing)," Kahne said. "I am upset that we haven't run great this year, but we are great on Friday and Saturday, we were fast again today, and we have the speed so when it's our time we will be ready to take advantage of it."
Six races into the season, Kahne sits 31st in the points standings, behind Kurt Busch, David Ragan, David Gilliland, Dave Blaney and Casey Mears. Crazy, eh?
It's a start eerily reminiscent of Mears' first season in the No. 5 car in 2008. That year, Mears opened with finishes of 35th and 42nd in the season's first two races, and finished 42nd again at Bristol and entered Martinsville on the brink of falling out of the top 35.
That year, Mears, however, only had six top 10s and one top five. With the speed that Kahne has shown, those six top 10s could come in the next six races. Thanks to the Wild Card, a Chase berth is still a legitimate possibility.
2012 WSBK Assen QP2: Wet, wet, wet
Riders who were able to bank a fast lap yesterday will head off to Superpole and those who missed out will be regretting the fact they didn't get off the mark quickly enough. Yesterday's rains were no surprise as the radar system warned of rain at 15:30 local time, which is why everybody was out immediately trying to put in a 'banker' before conditions got too dangerous for slicks. Today's session was all about finding wet settings.
The big names missing out on Superpole are Max Biaggi and Hiroshi Aoyama who will start from the fifth and sixth rows respectively. It remains to see if Zanetti will be allowed to race as he was outside the 107% required, but Race Direction may allow him to continue at their discretion.
Results:
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MotoGPMatters/~3/bxmdf5urzEs/2012_wsbk_assen_qp2_wet_wet_wet.html
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