The Phoenix Racing No. 51 has a smiley face on the hood

With Kurt Busch in the Furniture Row Racing No. 78 for the remainder of the season, Phoenix Racing went with a new paint scheme for its first race with Busch in another car.

This week at Charlotte, the red No. 51 has a smiley face on the hood and the sides of the car. Why? We'll let car owner James Finch explain:

From Fox Sports:

"If you wreck 25 cars this year, you haven't been smiling much," Finch said. "That's 25 wrecks. I don't think the whole garage has used that much sheet metal this year ? except at Daytona and Talladega.

"Twenty-five wrecks would make anyone dizzy. For a small team to repair 25 wrecks and show up for every race on time, I think they did a great job."

Regan Smith, who was in the No. 78 until Busch replaced him this week, was scheduled to be in the car this weekend, but he was called into action over at Hendrick Motorsports after Dale Earnhardt Jr. was diagnosed with a concussion. That opened the spot for AJ Allmendinger, who is making his first start after completing NASCAR's Road to Recovery program.

Allmendinger was suspended just before the July Daytona race after failing a drug test after the Kentucky race, and was replaced in the Penske Racing No. 22 by Sam Hornish and eventually released from his contract at Penske. He qualified 38th for Saturday night's race.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/phoenix-racing-no-51-smiley-face-hood-020912633--nascar.html

Elie Bayol Don Beauman Karl Gunther Bechem Jean Behra

102 and still Running Strong!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nofenders/zbjv/~3/o0CLImYuzmM/102-and-still-running-strong.html

Thierry Boutsen Johnny Boyd David Brabham Gary Brabham

For RHR To Win The Championship

Source: http://www.16thandgeorgetown.com/2012/09/for-rhr-to-win-championship.html

Tony Brooks Alan Brown Walt Brown Warwick Brown

Matt Kenseth says Talladega win was a boost for his final six races at Roush

Still in 12th in the Chase points standings after Sunday's win at Talladega, Matt Kenseth's championship hopes are pretty much nonexistent in his final season at Roush Fenway Racing, and Kenseth said Tuesday that the win was integral in helping him feel better about he and the team's split when they officially part ways in six more races.

"Well, it's made me feel a little bit better about certain things," Kenseth said."I mean, it's really important for me to finish this thing off on a high note.�It would just break my heart if the thing was broken when I left.�So I certainly didn't want that."

"And we had a really rough few weeks in The Chase with parts breaking and following off and not getting good finishes and not running good and everybody was getting close to being at each other's throats and things like that.� So it's important for me to try to really try to keep that whole unit as a cohesive front-running championship-contending unit.� So I'm hoping in the next six weeks we can continue this momentum, hoping we can get another win or two and finish as high as we can in the points and end this thing on a high note."

Kenseth was the series' best driver at restrictor plate tracks this season, also winning the Daytona 500 and finishing third twice. Drivers rarely move on to other teams when things are going well, so that's one reason that Kenseth became just the third different Chase driver, along with Tony Stewart in 2008 and Kurt Busch last year, to win a Chase race the season before leaving for a new team. But Kenseth said that once he met with Joe and JD Gibbs, his decision to take over the driving duties of the No. 20 wasn't as difficult as you might have expected.

"When I've talked to Joe and JD and went and saw some of their stuff and spent some time with them, I just really felt like that was the right place for me," Kenseth said. "I felt really comfortable with everything.� I feel really good about their stuff, when you watch how good all their cars perform on the racetrack and how many races they win and all that kind of stuff, I just felt like that was the place for me."

"It really wasn't as hard or I wasn't probably as conflicted as one might think."

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/matt-kenseth-says-talladega-win-boost-final-six-215319505--nascar.html

Bob Christie Johnny Claes David Clapham Jim Clark†

China Cancelled, IMS The Only Answer

Source: http://www.16thandgeorgetown.com/2012/06/china-cancelled-ims-only-answer.html

Giovanna Amati George Amick Red Amick Chris Amon

Here?s Jeff Gordon with a mustache

Jeff Gordon has kept his promise.

Gordon said earlier this year that he would grow a mustache like the one he spored as a young driver in the early 1990s if his team made the Chase. He made the Chase Saturday night at Richmond thanks to a second place finish and Kyle Busch's misfortune.

During Chase media days on Wednesday, Gordon had sported a full facial stubble look, saying that yes, everything but the mustache would be clean shaven before race festivities kicked off at Chicagoland Speedway. And there it is.

With only a week's worth of growth, it's not as awesome as, say, this picture. But hopefully Gordon keeps the stache long enough to rival not only the look from 20 years ago, but Junior's beard's status as the most famous facial hair in modern-day NASCAR.

Follow Nick Bromberg on Twitter.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/jeff-gordon-mustache-020223530--nascar.html

Michele Alboreto Jean Alesi Jaime Alguersuari Philippe Alliot

FIA presents new Concorde Agreement to F1 teams | F1 Fanatic round-up

FIA presents new Concorde Agreement to F1 teams is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.

In the round-up: New Concorde Agreement ready ? Ferrari complete straight-line aero test of new parts ? Renault shows 2014 V6 turbo F1 engine

FIA presents new Concorde Agreement to F1 teams is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.

Source: http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2012/10/23/f1-fanatic-roundup-2310/

Raul Boesel Menato Boffa Bob Bondurant Felice Bonetto

Let's celebrate a great British Grand Prix

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/jakehumphrey/2012/07/lets_celebrate_a_great_british.html

Michele Alboreto Jean Alesi Jaime Alguersuari Philippe Alliot

Chase Power Rankings: Really? You want us to make sense of that Talladega mess?

The fourth race of the Chase is over, and that means it's time for Power Rankings! But we're doing things a little differently now that we're in the postseason. It's all-Chasers, all the time. Good job, good effort for those of you that didn't make it, but we've got bigger fish to focus on. We'll be judging who's running well, considering not just finishing position but quality of run, expected potential, and general gut feelings. As always, we hate your guy and are biased against him. Now, enjoy.

1. Brad Keselowski: All right, here's the deal. There's absolutely no way to make any kind of objective judgment about how each driver is doing based on Talladega, so we're going completely the other direction. We're using the Mafia Name Generator to transform your favorite NASCAR drivers into the world's fastest mob. Hey, it makes about as much sense as determining a race winner by who survives a 31-car pileup. Brad Keselowski? He's @Kes no more. Now he's "Slug-Like Marco Santoro," which makes like no sense in any direction. Hmmm. Clearly this isn't a flawless system.

2. Jimmie Johnson: "Valentino the Stink-Eye." Don't know about the Valentino aspect, but when Johnson lasers his eye on you, you're going to start stinking. Just like the end of Sunday's race did for most Chasers.

3. Denny Hamlin: "Tony Lottaspaghetti." Hmm. No bueno for Denny. But you know what was bueno? The way he managed to dodge most of the mess on Sunday. Of course, hiding out in Birmingham while the rest of the race happens is one way to do that.

4. Jeff Gordon: "Green Jack Ricci." That sounds more like a post-Bieber singer than a made man. Gordon, for his part, continues his amazing run of top-3 finishes, and so once he takes that mulligan he'll be in fine sha- what? No mulligan? Oh. He's screwed.

5. Clint Bowyer: "Luca the Wolf." Yes. YES. Now THAT'S a badass name. Of course, Bowyer ended up like the three little pigs, not the wolf, on Sunday. He looked like he was in line for a big jump, but, well ... no.

6. Kasey Kahne: "Angelo the Bookie." Nah. Kahne's too pretty to be a bookie. Bookies look like they blocked punts with their faces. Kahne? Not so much. He won the pole but not much else at Talladega, and the debt is coming due on his season.

7. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: "Paolo Rubberface." Rub 'er face? But I don't even know her! OHHHHH! Junior was in the lead for awhile, which is mandatory at Talladega, but he got caught up in that whole bloodthirsty wreck and looked more than a little shellshocked afterward. Time's up.

8. Tony Stewart: "Decrepit Roberto Rossi." If there's one thing Stewart is NOT, it's decrepit. Whatever. Just curious, though: what do you think Smoke's reaction would have been if any, and I mean ANY, other driver had caused that wreck? He'd have pulled the guy's skeleton out of his skin.

9. Martin Truex Jr.: "Fat Alphonso Barrow." Aw, come on. Hell, Truex is the only Chase driver who legitimately looks like he could be IN the Mob. AND he's from New Jersey! Hmmm. Anyway, as we've discussed, Truex's window is pretty much slammed shut at this point.

10. Matt Kenseth: "'Heavy Load' Bruno." Yeah, victory when you just happen to be in the right place at the right time is indeed a heavy load to carry. Little bit too late, though, for Kenseth's Chase chances.

11. Kevin Harvick: "Tony Fatface." Hmmm. That seems like it might best apply elsewhere. You know who else ought to apply elsewhere? Anybody working on the 29 crew this season.

12. Greg Biffle: "Twisted Oscar DiMarco." Twisted like Biffle's championship chances, amirite? Better luck next year, Greg.

All right, this didn't quite turn out as well as we'd hoped. Hey, sometimes these columns are ridearounds, too. Anyway, your turn. Oh, and by the way, my Mafia name? "Carlo Chainsaw." YEAH.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/chase-power-rankings-really-want-us-sense-talladega-015925837--nascar.html

Felice Bonetto Jo Bonnier Roberto Bonomi Juan Manuel Bordeu

Phillip Island To Name Turn 3 After Casey Stoner

The Phillip Island circuit is to name Turn 3 after Casey Stoner. A ceremony is to be held on Thursday at 11:45am local time to name the corner in honor of the 2007 and 2011 World Champion. Stoner joins Mick Doohan and Wayne Gardner, Australia's other two premier class World Champions, in have a part of the iconic Australian circuit named after him. Doohan has the first corner named after him, and the front straight running past the pits and into Doohan corner is named after Gardner.

It is fitting that Stoner should have Turn 3 named after him. The Australian has consistently named that corner as one of his favorite corners on the MotoGP calendar. It has everything which Stoner believes are the ingredients of an exciting turn: it is very fast, long, and the more courage you use in attacking the corner, the faster you go through there. It is a corner where Stoner slides the rear to help turn the bike, a skill at which he excels.

read more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MotoGPMatters/~3/IG3LqEyh138/phillip_island_to_name_turn_3_after_case.html

Paolo Barilla Rubens Barrichello Michael Bartels Edgar Barth

Chase Watch: Keselowski?s empty fuel tank tightens up the points race

For a significant portion of Saturday night's Bank of America 500 at Charlotte, status quo looked like it was going to be maintained at the top of the points standings.

Brad Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin, the top three drivers in the points standings entering the Chase, were bunched together at the front of the field and even occupied the top three spots in the race for a segment. It was going to take something big to catalyze a meaningful shift in the points standings.

When the caution flag flew on lap 223 for debris just after the field had cycled through green flag pit stops, Johnson and Hamlin pitted to try to make it the rest of the race on one stop. Keselowski stayed out. It wasn't terribly surprising; Johnson has admitted that saving fuel is a weak link for his team, the fuel mileage of the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas has been much discussed and exceptional fuel mileage was a reason that Keselowski won two weeks ago at Dover.

What happened next was surprising, however. As the field started the green flag pit stop cycle again, Keselowski, who was the race leader and had led the most laps, cruised past the entrance to pit road with 59 laps remaining in the race. His car started sputtering.

[Related: Clint Bowyer reminds us that he?s still a force in the Chase]

Keselowski coasted around to the pits, losing precious seconds both while he coasted on the track and in the pits as the crew worked to refire the car. He rejoined the race in 16th place, and was going to need to pit again to make it to the end on fuel.

He moved up to 11th by the time the checkered flag flew thanks to a combination of differing strategies and the speed of his car, but the (minimal) damage had been done. Thanks to that caution flag pit stop, Hamlin was able to push until the end and finished second, and while Johnson had to back off the throttle significantly over the final few laps, the cushion he had built in third was more than enough to maintain the position.

"It's like playing blackjack. Sometimes you get a good deal but you're not going to win them all," Keselowski said. "You know that, and you hope that when you're sitting there with 13 that you can just not have a lot of chips in the pile. We didn't lose too much. We got 11th out of day where everything kind of fell against us; the cautions at the beginning and the lack of them at the end and we still put out a respectable effort."

But yes, like Keselowski said, the damage in the points standings could have been much worse; it's not often that drivers who run out of fuel for an entire lap late in a race come back to finish 11th. And the points lead is still Keselowski's, the cushion is just smaller.

Who's up? We'll give this one to Hamlin and Johnson. While Clint Bowyer might have just made this Chase a four man race, Johnson essentially cut the deficit between he and Keselowski in half to seven, and Hamlin is now 15 points back. After this race last year, Tony Stewart was 24 points behind.

Who's down? No, this is not going to be a cop-out paragraph that will just say Dale Earnhardt Jr. and then be done with it. This award goes to Jeff Gordon, whose pit road speeding violation on lap 219 meant that he went a lap down serving the penalty. Gordon was never able to make the lap back and finished 18th, the lowest finishing position of any Chaser.

Who's out? And Gordon's penalty leads us to this. Sorry Jeff, you're now officially in the out column, 50 points back of Keselowski in 9th place. The same goes for you Tony Stewart. Smoke and company made a valiant effort after sustaining some substantial front-end damage on a restart crash early in the race, but a 50 point deficit is too much to overcome at this point. We're not going to split hairs, either. at 49 points back, you're done too, Martin Truex Jr.

Other popular content on the Yahoo! network:
? Notre Dame stands tough to beat Stanford in OT
? Slideshow: Derek Jeter breaks ankle in Yankees' loss to Tigers
? Smush Parker fires back at Kobe Bryant
? Y! Travel: Ten great 'trip of a lifetime' ideas

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/chase-watch-keselowski-running-fuel-tightens-points-race-035206098--nascar.html

Adolf Brudes Martin Brundle Gianmaria Bruni Jimmy Bryan

Tony George Resigns From Hulman Board

Source: http://www.16thandgeorgetown.com/2012/10/tony-george-resigns-from-hulman-board.html

Jaime Alguersuari Philippe Alliot Cliff Allison Fernando Alonso

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 →

Source: http://anotherindycarblog.wordpress.com/2012/09/18/how-i-saw-it-the-speechless-season-finale-edition/

Pablo Birger Art Bisch Harry Blanchard Michael Bleekemolen

Hamilton's tough decision

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/09/hamiltons_tough_decision.html

Karun Chandhok Alain de Changy Colin Chapman Dave Charlton

2012 Sepang Moto2 Warm Up Result: Espargaro Leads Smith

Result:

Race Details

Round Number: 

16

2012

read more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MotoGPMatters/~3/kNUgyP8e_lI/2012_sepang_moto2_warm_up_result_esparga.html

Ettore Chimeri Louis Chiron Joie Chitwood Bob Christie

Never forget how great Michael Schumacher was

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/10/never_forget_how_great_schumac.html

Johnny Boyd David Brabham Gary Brabham Jack Brabham†

Felipe Massa: ?Ferrari is my racing family?

After Stefano Domenicali suggested on Sunday that an announcement was imminent Ferrari did indeed confirm today that Felipe Massa will stay on for 2013. The team says that it issued the news earlier than planned to end speculation, but the … Continue reading →

Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2012/10/16/felipe-massa-ferrari-is-my-racing-family/

Stefan Bellof Paul Belmondo Tom Belso JeanPierre Beltoise

AJ Allmendinger completes ?Road to Recovery,? reinstated by NASCAR

Good news for fans of AJ Allmendinger: He's completed NASCAR's Substance Abuse Policy Road to Recovery program, and that means he's been reinstated by NASCAR. He's now eligible to drive once again at any level.

Allmendinger had been suspended indefinitely earlier this summer for testing positive for a still-unrevealed stimulant at the Kentucky race. Allmendinger and his team had initially called the test results into question, but once a second sample turned up the same result, he consented to NASCAR's judgment. He told a curious story about taking Adderall, but in the end, he didn't disagree with the sport's judgment.

The knock on Allmendinger was that he would follow in Jeremy Mayfield's footsteps, fighting every inch of the way. He didn't; he took the wiser route and is now back in the sport faster than perhaps anyone expected.

Of course, he returns to a NASCAR changed even since he was suspended in July. Joey Logano has taken over his old seat, and there's no guarantee of another coming available for him anytime soon. He's indicated that he'll take time to explore his options. But at least now he has them.

Other popular content on the Yahoo! network:
? Yunel Escobar suspended three games for gay slur
? Jalen Rose admits trying to hurt Kobe during the 2000 NBA Finals
? Vitor Belfort jumped at chance to face another phenom in Jon Jones
? Y: News: Jesus had a wife, newly discovered gospel suggests

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/aj-allmendinger-completes-road-recovery-reinstated-nascar-212448224--nascar.html

Karun Chandhok Alain de Changy Colin Chapman Dave Charlton

INDYCAR: The Friday Setup (Fontana)

Source: http://www.popoffvalve.com/2012/9/14/3330856/indycar-the-friday-setup-fontana

John CampbellJones Adriбn Campos John Cannon Eitel Cantoni

Richard Petty Motorsports re-ups with Ford

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Richard Petty Motorsports announced Friday that it will stay with Ford for the 2013 season.

"Our team relationship with Ford Racing has helped us win races and be competitive in both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series," RPM co-owner Richard Petty said in a release. "They have been our partner over the past three seasons and we're proud to continue that relationship into next season, especially with the debut of the new Ford Fusion in the Sprint Cup Series. We expect to continue to win races and challenge for championships in both series with Ford Racing."

RPM will stay a two car team in the Cup Series, but the drivers of the cars were not identified. Both Marcos Ambrose and Aric Almirola, the team's current drivers, have contracts that expire at the end of the season. Ambrose, who won at Watkins Glen earlier this year, said he is close to an extension with the team. Stanley and DeWalt will continue to sponsor the No. 9 car next year, and Smithfield Foods will continue its relationship with the No. 43.

"We are all squared away as far as what the expectations are on both sides and it is just a matter of finishing off at this point. I can't see any reason why I wouldn't want to be a part of Richard Petty Motorsports in 2013," Ambrose said.

Ambrose has 8 top 10s and two poles this season and is 18th in the points standings. Almirola has two top 10s and a pole at the Coca-Cola 600 and is 21st in the points.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/richard-petty-motorsports-ups-ford-155150487--nascar.html

Giancarlo Baghetti Julian Bailey Mauro Baldi Bobby Ball