Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2013/07/29/the-f1-calendar-for-2014/
Friday
The F1 calendar for 2014
It looks like the Formula 1 calendar in 2014 will have 19 or 20 races, depending on various financial and political questions that still need to be sorted out. It seems one event that has been decided is the Australian GP in Melbourne, which will be in mid-March as usual, allowing the teams to do […]
Thursday
Cup Start-And-Parks Dwindling
The practice of starting-and-parking has been a much discussed topic over the last couple of years. If you aren’t aware, starting-and-parking refers to a system in which teams enter a race and pull into the garage after only a few laps with a perfectly good race car in order to collect prize money. Teams can [...] 
TheNASCARInsiders.com
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNascarInsiders/~3/7quHncspnAg/
Wednesday
Tony Gaze 1920 ? 2013
Tony Gaze has died in Geelong, Victoria, at the age of 93. He was a man who led the life a comic book hero, which included being Australia’s first Grand Prix driver. Below is an article I wrote about him in the GP+ e-magazine earlier this year: Tony Gaze has led what can only be […]
Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2013/07/29/tony-gaze-1920-2013/
Tuesday
Indianapolis Stays On MotoGP Calendar For 2014, In Talks For Long-Term Extension
Below the press release from Dorna confirming that all three Grand Prix classes will return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for 2014:
Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix To Return To IMS in 2014
FIM MotoGP™ World Championship event expected in August
The Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix will return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a seventh consecutive year in 2014, with an expected race date in mid-August to be announced in the future.
Next year is the final year of the agreement between IMS and sanctioning organization and commercial rights holder Dorna to bring all three classes of the MotoGP World Championship – MotoGP™, Moto2™ and Moto3™ – to the Brickyard. But IMS and Dorna have started discussions about a long-term relationship past the terms of the current contract. MotoGP first came to IMS in 2008.
Round Number:
10 Year:
2013
Monday
Sunday
Time for a break?
As one grows older, one seems to lose that magical childhood ability to unthinkingly make an afternoon last forever. Afternoons were always timeless in my memory of the high summers of my childhood, birds floated lazily in clear blue skies and the air was filled with the humming of hard-working bees. There was always something […]
Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2013/08/01/time-for-a-break/
Saturday
Classic cars, tracks and drivers confirmed for F1 2013 | F1 Game
Codemasters have confirmed details of the classic cars, drivers and tracks which will feature in F1 2013.
Source: http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2013/08/16/classic-cars-tracks-and-drivers-confirmed-for-f1-2013/
Friday
Thursday
Tony Stewart breaks leg in Iowa sprint car wreck; Max Papis to fill in at The Glen
Tony Stewart broke his right leg in a sprint car wreck on Monday night at Southern Iowa Speedway. He will miss this weekend's race at Watkins Glen at the very least ? road-course specialist Max Papis will fill in ? and this almost certainly kills his chances of winning another Sprint Cup championship.
Stewart was leading the 30-lap main event in Oskaloosa, Iowa when he got collected in a multi-car wreck. He broke both the tibia and fibula in his right leg. According to his team, he has already come through surgery.
UPDATE: Stewart will undergo a second surgery. According to Stewart Haas Racing, the first surgery "served as a preliminary procedure to stabilize and clean the Grade 2 injury." Stewart remains hospitalized for observation.
"It looked like he got into a lapped car," race winner Brian Brown told The Des Moines Register. "When I got close, he was flipping cage down. I didn't really have time to watch and see what was going on."
This marks Stewart's third wreck in recent weeks. Last week, following a wreck in Canada in which he flipped several times, Stewart took shots at the media for daring to question whether this is the wisest activity for one of the sport's most significant drivers.
"You mortals have got to learn, you guys need to watch more sprint car videos and stuff," Stewart shot back during his media session at Pocono. "It was not a big deal. It's starting to get annoying this week about that. That was just an average sprint car wreck. When they wreck, they get upside down like that."
Stewart of course cancelled a Tuesday testing session at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and the team announced Tuesday that Papis will replace him at Watkins Glen. The team did not reveal how long Stewart will be out.
"I told someone to go get my phone or else I was going to get up and get it myself," Stewart wrote on his Facebook page. "Finally got reconnected to the world and just want to say thank you for all the prayers and well wishes. My team will remain strong and I will be back."
This would be the first Cup race without Stewart since 1998, a string of 521 consecutive starts.
Stewart is currently 11th in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, and with a win does hold one of the wild-card spots. However, missing significant time will likely drop him below fellow one-win drivers Ryan Newman and Martin Truex Jr., who are 10th and 19th points behind Stewart, respectively.
-Follow Jay Busbee on Twitter at @jaybusbee.-
More news from the Yahoo! Sports Minute:
Related coverage on Yahoo! Sports:
? Danica Patrick and Travis Kvapil tangle again
? Power Rankings: Hendricks dominant at the top
? How long will regret of Jeff Gordon's restart whiff last?
Jay Chamberlain Karun Chandhok Alain de Changy Colin Chapman
Wednesday
Tuesday
Nationwide Craziest Moment: Travis Pastrana?s flat left rear tire sends him around
Haven't we mentioned before that Travis Pastrana is making regular appearances in this post?
In the first Iowa Nationwide race this season, Pastrana was part of it with Max Papis, Brian Vickers, Alex Bowman and others. On Saturday night, he was all by himself.
As Pastrana headed into turn three, his left rear tire went down and as a result, his car went spinning around, hitting the wall with the front end. There was no warning -- Pastrana went into the corner like normal and around the car went.
Brad Keselowski won the race. Pastrana ended up 27th.
Monday
Sunday
Citroën C5
The Citroen C5 is looking quite fresh since its recent restyle that added softer double-chevron badges and a more flowing style for the company?s executive flagship from nose to tail.
The revisions really work: this car barely seems the same as the dowdy original model that launched for 2008. In fact, the two cars share a great deal of their styling and body panels, but tasteful new detailing is much better than the deep black sills and bumpers that cheapened the appearance of the original Citroen.
Reading reviews in international magazines is always interesting, but not quite as informative as it could be with all the measurements in metric. For most American enthusiasts, reading the horsepower in ?kW? and torque in ?Nm? might as well be meaningless.
This review of the C5 corrects those gaps in our collective ability to convert number formats, and will also be unique because it evaluates the C5 based on U.S. buyer preferences. With pricing for the C5 that converts to about $40,000, this Citroen is a mid-size luxury car.
Key competition for the C5 in its home market comes from the Peugeot 508 and Renault Laguna, with real encroachment from the super-efficient 5 series BMW diesels in Europe.
With throne-like seating and a plush hydraulic suspension, is the C5 up to the task? Click past the jump for the full review of the revised 2013 Citroen C5.
Citroën C5 originally appeared on topspeed.com on Sunday, 11 August 2013 06:00 EST.
Source: http://www.topspeed.com/cars/citroen/citro-n-c5-ar159910.html
Saturday
Happy Hour: Johnson (who else?), Larson, Montoya and Vickers
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.
Happy Hour is back! Glad to be here, and I promise to pull up a chair and stay a while. Watkins Glen has always been one of my favorite race weekends of the year, because of my affinity for road course racing and given how entertaining the races seem to be. But I'll admit that it's going to be really weird without Tony Stewart, who has been in 521 Sprint Cup Series races. That was when I was... well, it's been a long time when there's been a Cup race without Stewart.
This week, we talk a little Stewart, but let's start with two divergent Jimmie Johnson letters. Not only do they have different opinions, they're also very different in length too. Let's do this, shall we?
When I read a NASCAR story on Yahoo!, I always try to read as many of the fan comments as I can. These days, it seems there are two distinct camps: those who believe Jimmie Johnson is the Second Coming, and those who are tired of Jimmie Johnson.
Now, why would anyone be tired of Jimmie Johnson? The idea of five consecutive championships comes to mind. Look at the two men who have seven championships, Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt. Neither EVER won more than TWO consecutive championships [Petty in '71-'72 and '74-'75, Earnhardt in '86-'87, '90-91, and '93-94].
In other words, there was some uncertainty in the outcome of the points races in those days. There was a level of parity, if you will, among the upper-tier teams. Compare that with Johnson's 5 consecutive championships, when not even one of the other three cars fielded by his own owner group came close. It makes people begin to wonder if, indeed, "the fix is in." I'd like to believe it's NOT, but SOMETHING is holding back 42 other teams and 50 drivers.
Part of the allure of racing is the uncertainty...not knowing who is going to win. When you take that away, and announcers and so-called "journalists" start sounding like fawning Johnson sycophants, and it doesn't take long for fans--especially fans of the other drivers--to become fed up.
I doubt that you'll do much with this letter, because I believe from what I've seen in Yahoo! race chat that Yahoo!'s reporters are already in the "all-Johnson, all-the-time" corner, and will write me off as a "hater." But my experience as a NASCAR fan goes back to the times when local favorite "Chargin' Charlie" Glotzbach was still winning races now and then--again, that "uncertainty" thing made those days exciting. Petty didn't win 'em all; Pearson, Baker, Yarborough, and even Brickhouse and Hamilton won a few. And I remember when guys like Bonnett and Allison and yeah, even a Waltrip and a Rudd won some races. NO ONE was as dominant in the "golden age" of NASCAR as Johnson is today; that's probably a big part of the reason it WAS the "golden age" of NASCAR, because there was a bit of parity.
Sometimes, in those days, NASCAR would change a few rules to ensure parity. And sometimes that angered some drivers and teams. But Big Bill France and Bill Jr. apparently realized that, like the first Talladega race, it's all about the show. And in those days, there were MANY stars in the show. Today, it's quickly becoming the Jimmie and Chad show, and some of us are wondering when some level of parity may return to Cup racing. Until it does, lots of fans seem to be tuning out of the reruns. SS/DD/JJ ["Same Stuff, Different Day, Jimmie Johnson"] doesn't seem to be a winning programming strategy. The thrill is gone, as B.B. King said, because the suspense is gone, for the most part. Bring back some suspense, bring back some parity among the drivers--hell, a little parity even among just the HENDRICK drivers would be a huge improvement over the product NASCAR is selling today.
[And the press fawning over no-win Danica is part of the same type of coverage that alienates fans. Michael Waltrip went 462 races before he won one; I'm beginning to wonder if Danica will approach Mikey's level of futility before she sees the inside of Victory Lane.]
- Buzz
It's really not often that I'm accused of being a Jimmie Johnson homer. Does that make me one of Vader's stormtroopers?
The concept that Jimmie Johnson has utterly dominated the show in NASCAR and is doing it to historic levels is both overblown and also true. Has Johnson been the best driver in NASCAR over the past 10 years? Yes. Has that been clear in perhaps the most competitive era in NASCAR? Yes. On a purely statistical level, does it rank at or above the seasons posted by drivers in the NASCAR Hall of Fame? No, five straight championships excepted. (Though given the disparity in points rules, ranking Chase titles vs. non-Chase titles is an intriguing discussion.)
In his best season, 1967, Richard Petty won 27 races in a 49 race season. (He competed in 48 of those.) He finished in the top 10 40 times that year, and won 18 poles. Jimmie Johnson's best season in terms of raw numbers is 2007. In that year, he won 10 races, scored 24 top 10s and won 4 poles. Petty's ratios are much stronger.
Petty won 10 or more races seven times, including 13 wins in 30 races in 1975. Pearson did it five times, including 11 wins in 18 races in 1973. Cale won 10 races twice. Johnson's hit double digits just that one season. There's been much more of this "uncertainty" that you speak of in the Johnson era.
And do I need to mention how many races were won by lapping the field in the times of Petty, Pearson and Yarborough? Sorry Buzz, but I think you're looking back through some rose colored glasses.
The power rating should say Jimmie Johnson on top again with the other losers behind........
-Jimmy
I love when we get that aforementioned contrast. Power Rankings have been a little vanilla (see what I did there?) this year at the top spot, simply because of Johnson's crazy points lead and the inability of other drivers to capitalize on the "bad" finishes the team has posted this year, like on Sunday at Pocono.
_____________________
What is the possibility of having Kyle Larson drive as Tony's replacement? It's my understanding that he's sort of in Ganassi's camp as his development driver but since he's not racing full-time in Cup, could he be a consideration? Or does the fact that he's racing full-time in Nationwide preclude that possibility?
- R
I wouldn't discount the possibility, but at the same time, I'm not sure that it's incredibly strong, either. Larson has shown how good he can be the more track time he gets on a circuit, and that track time is only going to increase as the Nationwide Series hits tracks for the second time this season in the late summer and fall. And while no one is denying his talent, is 20 races enough experience to promote him to cars with more horsepower? I don't have the answer to that.
That said, when I think of the idea of Larson in Stewart's car, I can't help but think of Jamie McMurray in Sterling Marlin's car. McMurray was in his second full Nationwide season that year, but after Marlin's neck injury, he won in his second start and his Cup career was off and running. No, that doesn't mean I think Larson would win if he jumped in Stewart's car -- but the parallels are there.
_____________________
Given how many incidents JPM seems to be in & how hyped he was coming into NASCAR, is he a considered a bust (2 wins/8 years)?
- Chris
This is a good question. Is there a middle ground here? It's not that Montoya hasn't acclimated himself well to stock cars -- it seems that whenever he has a good oval run something goes wrong. And Ganassi has struggled recently with equipment, so Montoya (and McMurray) haven't been in top-flight stuff recently, though the team has made strides this season.
It ultimately comes down to how you view former F1 drivers' expectations when coming to NASCAR. And whatever standards they are, they need to be similar for a driver like Nelson Piquet Jr. too.
Montoya's free agent status at the end of the year is an interesting one. If he doesn't re-sign with Ganassi, is he still in the Cup Series in 2014?
_____________________
Will anybody be able to beat Vickers this weekend?
-Sean
The Vickers contingent is back! Of course not, Sean. Brian is going to lead every practice, get the pole, and lead every lap of the race. And then afterwards we'll still do the song and dance with MWR and Aaron's, with the company still hemming and hawing about its return to the team next year with Vickers as the driver.
See! There's no Johnson above everyone else conspiracy here!
Related coverage on Yahoo! Sports:
? Race team preparing for life without Tony Stewart
? Max Papis to fill in for Tony Stewart at Watkins Glen
? Power Rankings: Hendricks dominant at the top
Friday
Stoner, Lorenzo, Rossi, And De Puniet Back On Track: MotoGP Testing Resumes At Motegi And Brno
With MotoGP's summer break halfway done, testing resumes later this week for some of the top names in the sport. Current and former champions take to the track at Brno and Motegi, with Yamaha, Honda and Suzuki all testing a range of material.
The most relevant test for this year's championship will be held at Brno, where Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi will be testing the factory M1s. Lorenzo's aim will be to test his collarbone, while Rossi continues to work on set up, chasing minor improvements to the major step forward made during the Aragon test. The Yamaha pair will also hope to be testing Yamaha's seamless gearbox at the two-day test, the first time that the factory riders will get to try out the new seamless transmission. So far, it has only been tested by Yamaha's test riders in Japan, working on reliability. Whether the Brno test means that the seamless gearbox will be ready for use later this season remains to be seen.
Kyle Busch calls Ryan Newman ?the biggest stupid idiot out here? after New Hampshire race
Kyle Busch had some choice words for Ryan Newman after Sunday's Camping World RV Sales 301, calling Newman "the biggest stupid idiot out here" and "a big ogre."
From the SiriusXM post-race show:
?Ryan Newman is the biggest stupid idiot out here," Busch said. "He?s a big ogre and can do whatever he wants because he can probably kick anybody?s butt. So no sense getting in a fight with him. Glad he?s out of a job."
The topic of Newman came up when Busch started talking about older brother Kurt, who qualified second and ran up front until he crashed with Newman on lap 226. However, the wreck started when Kurt Busch passed Matt Kenseth low on the entry to turn one and slid up in front of Kenseth on the inside of Newman. With Kenseth right on Kurt Busch's bumper, the back end of Kurt Busch's car slid around and Newman got wrecked in the process.
After the crash, Newman said he was disappointed in what he thought was extremely aggressive racing immediately after restarts at the one-mile oval and mentioned contact from Kyle Busch when talking about his incident with Kurt Busch.
?We just got whacked by a bunch of guys,?? Newman said. ?(Kyle Busch) hit me first. (Brad Keselowski) hit me next and then I guess it was Kurt that went underneath ... clipped us and knocked us into the fence and took himself out. I guess (Matt Kenseth) had a little influence on it. We kind of were in a bad spot having a little bit older tires.??
On Friday, it was officially announced that Kevin Harvick would be driving the No. 4 for Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014 and that Newman would be leaving the team. With no ride lined up as of yet for next season, Newman and Kurt Busch are the top two drivers with expiring contracts at the end of the season.
But why would Kyle Busch have such pointed comments about Newman? While Newman and Kyle Busch haven't had any public feuds, Newman and Kurt Busch aren't on the best of terms. At Darlington last May, Kurt Busch peeled through Newman's pit box, inciting his crew, and hit Newman's car on pit road after the race. Those events led to a mini melee of sorts, with Busch screaming at Newman's crew and Newman saying after the race that Busch's "chemical imbalance speaks for itself."
More NASCAR video from Yahoo! Sports:
Related coverage on Yahoo! Sports:? Brian Vickers gets first Sprint Cup win in four years
? Tony Stewart runs out of gas, falls out of top 10
? Danica Patrick crashes into boyfriend during Sprint Cup race
Conny Andersson Mario Andretti Michael Andretti Keith Andrews
Thursday
Wednesday
Sam Michael: ?I don?t want to predict anything??
McLaren sporting director Sam Michael says that the Hungarian GP indicated that the team is making progress ? and adds that the race could have been better had the team been able run its preferred strategy. Jenson Button finished seventh … Continue reading 
Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2013/07/31/sam-michael-i-dont-want-to-predict-anything/
Enrico Bertaggia Tony Bettenhausen Mike Beuttler Birabongse Bhanubandh
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