Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2014/06/09/just-six-hours-after-the-race/
Tuesday
Just six hours after the race
Formula 1 put on a hell of a show in Montreal on a sunny Sunday afternoon as the Mercedes team fumbled and victory went to Infiniti Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo, the Australian’s first Grand Prix victory. The race was breathless in the closing stages as Nico Rosberg tried to hold off Sergio Perez, Ricciardo, […]
Monday
Tony Stewart playing it coy about when he'll race a sprint car next
Tony Stewart drove laps in a sprint car this week for the first time since he broke his right leg in August, a crash that forced him to miss the conclusion of the 2013 Sprint Cup Series season. But he's not saying when he's going to be in a race in one.
"I will be able to tell you how it went," Stewart said Friday at Dover. "Let?s put it that way.� You won?t know when it?s coming.� When I do go nobody is going to know about it.� I?m going to just slide in and do it.� I want to enjoy it.� I don?t want it to be a cluster.� Judging off the fact of how many people showed up just to talk to me about going and testing for a couple of hours I can imagine what the group is going to be like after I run my first race.?
Oh, Tony. Had you not tweeted the pictures of getting into the car on Monday, few, if anyone, would have known about the matter. When you scream into a megaphone, you can't even fake that you're mad when it gets people's attention.
Guess who got back in a sprint car for the first time today :) #smokewillrise pic.twitter.com/HBWg4dno8q
? Tony Stewart (@TonyStewart) May 27, 2014 ?I?m smiling because I am laughing at you guys because it?s like my God I went and tested a sprint car," Stewart said. "I still laugh about how big a deal this has all been made.� We had Cup drivers get hurt last year.� One had a broken wrist, one had a broken back and nobody said anything.� It was all minor news.� I?ve made more news by getting hurt in a dirt car than any of these guys.� It?s bigger news than the guy that had the same injury I had falling off a bicycle last week. I get chuckled.?
Well, a scar that size in the picture below looks like a big deal, right? And Denny Hamlin missing four races was a big deal at the time, while Martin Truex Jr. didn't miss a race with his wrist injury. And no offense to either Hamlin or Truex, but neither of them are a three-time Sprint Cup Series champion.
And for the grand finally after therapy... pic.twitter.com/CfW3Yh2qvw
? Tony Stewart (@TonyStewart) May 29, 2014 We're not chastising Stewart -- next to racing sprint cars, one of his favorite hobbies is ribbing media members, his comments aren't unexpected. But it's important to note that not everyone can have everything on his or her terms.
Stewart knows that too. He just wants to show he's the same old Tony Stewart. And what better place to do that than at the site of his last Cup win?
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @NickBromberg
Sunday
Saturday
Friday
Iowa Rain Out Causes Pit Crew Problems
On a normal NASCAR weekend when the Truck Series and/or Nationwide Series run companion to the Cup cars, there are a lot of pit crew members who double or triple dip. Crew members make some extra cash and get more reps, and the teams get top talent pitting their cars. But this last weekend presented […] 
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Thursday
Power Rankings: All hail Jimmie Johnson, new overlord of the top spot
Our Power Rankings are far from a scientific formula. In fact, it's the perfect blend of analytics and bias against your favorite driver. And you think we dislike your favorite driver, so it makes sense, right? Direct all your complaints to us at happyhourmailbag@yahoo.com.
1. Jimmie Johnson (LW: 2): Before smoking the field at Dover, Johnson revealed he had hernia surgery after the banquet in December. He actually had three; bilateral hernias and one near his bellybutton. So of course, we need to ask if Johnson will have more hernias or Sprint Cup Series titles in his lifetime. (No, we don't.) Anyway, let's get back to the race. Johnson's best track statistically is Dover and after leading 272 laps on Sunday, he's now led more than 50 percent of the laps at Dover since 2009. Yeesh.
2. Matt Kenseth (LW: 4): Oh man, we've got another winless points leader. How is the world going to survive this madness? As with Johnson, it's pretty obvious that Kenseth is going to get a win sometime soon. You don't run up front like he has (and lead laps late) without getting a win sooner, rather than later. But even without a win, Kenseth is in a good spot right now. He's not going to miss the Chase if he's near the top of the standings without a win.
3. Jeff Gordon (LW: 1): The handling on Gordon's car flat disappeared late in the race and his finish of 15th is not indicative of the speed he had all day. Before he started falling to the back, he worked his way up into the top five and was fifth on the next-to-last restart. Suddenly he started falling back and never recovered. No points lead is no big deal, especially because Gordon has the Kansas win, but do you really think he wanted to lose it?
4. Kevin Harvick (LW: 3): Another fast car, another something that went wrong for Harvick. This time it was a flat tire that derailed him while he was leading. It necessitated a green flag pit stop and Harvick lost laps that he was never able to recover. The bad finishes Harvick is piling up with fast cars are a bit of a double-edged sword. He's not wondeing about his car's speed on a weekly basis, which is a great thing. But at the same time, he's wondering what could go wrong next.
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (LW: 7): Pick a driver, any driver! We're going to go with Junior after hie finished ninth, one spot ahead of Joey Logano, five spots ahead of Carl Edwards and a whole bunch of spots ahead of Kyle Busch. While Junior is likely content with another top 10 finish, he may be happier about his Tuesday morning eBay purchase.
6. Carl Edwards (LW: 5): With every week of no news about Edwards' contract status, the speculation about his future is only going to increase. And based off previous timing of Roush announcements, we may not know for a few more weeks at least. When Edwards re-upped with Roush in 2011 it was announced in August and when Kenseth departed for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2012 he was announced at his new team in September after informing Roush he was leaving in late June.
7. Brad Keselowski (LW: 10): Brad sure tried like craszy to catch Jimmie Johnson over the final laps of the race, but there was just no way he was going to do there. You could tell how aggressively he was driving his car into the corners, but the aggressiveness was sapping his corner exit speed. For the space he gained on Johnson into the corners for the first few turns, he lost it all (and then some) as Johnson cruised away from him on acceleration. Yeah, the No. 48 team had a really, really good car.
8. Joey Logano (LW: 8): Similar to Charlotte, Logano had a good car but not a great one, and hovered near the front of the field all day, even if he wasn't "at" the front. It was Logano's seventh top 10 of the season and he's looking like he's heading towards a second straight season of a better than 50 percent top 10 rate. In four seasons at Joe Gibbs Racing he never did that.
9. Jamie McMurray (LW: 9): McMurray was very fortunate that he was able to avoid smashing into the backstretch wall after the chunk of Dover concrete ate the front splitter of his car. And the people in the pedestrian bridge above turn 2 were also incredibly fortunate that the piece of concrete that cracked a window up there wasn't big enough to pierce it and hurt someone. But props to Dover's track crew for getting the track patched in such a quick fashion and that the patch held so well.
10. Kyle Busch (LW: 6): Had Busch gotten to Clint Bowyer's bumper and retaliated against him after the two wrecked, what do you think the punishment would have been for him? It was reminiscent of what happened in 2007 between Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart at Dover. Heck, it was almost the same type of incident. Kurt Busch shut the door on Stewart, though he got the worst of the crash.
You may remember that after the wreck, Busch and Stewart had some shenanigans on pit road and Busch was parked for the rest of the race after a crew member of Stewart's had to avoid his car. In addition to the parking, Busch was docked 100 points later in the week. Had Kyle crashed Bowyer (and given what happened at Texas in 2011), it's not much of a stretch to think that a parking would have been appropriate Sunday.
11. Denny Hamlin (LW: NR): The two drivers at the bottom of Power Rankings last week had problems so it's time for two new faces. Hamlin moved up a couple positions on the final restart of the race thanks to a two-tire pit stop. He was the first car to come down pit road for tires and was able to make up some ground, finishing fifth. And despite missing a race, Hamlin is ninth in the standings. Yes, with just four top 10s and one missed race, Hamlin is in the top 10. Avoiding bad finishes will do that to you.
12. Kyle Larson (LW: NR): Anyone else not going to miss a certain NASCAR TV analyst's fascination with Larson? There's not one person who doubts his talent, especially after he's won two Nationwide Series races this year. But much like Chase Elliott in the Nationwide Series, it's OK to give him some space and let him develop. The accolades will (and already have) arrive. There's no need to douse them with hyperbolic lighter fluid. And he, on the space note, it looks like Larson has a lot of it now in his new house.
The Lucky Dog: Martin Truex's sixth-place finish was the higest of his season so far. While you wouldn't have guessed Furniture Row would repeate the excellence it had with Kurt Busch, did anyone think Truex would be 25th through 13 races?
The DNF: Greg Biffle and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. got Allmendinger'd, though Allmendinger said Stenhouse came down on him.
Oh, the dog that Stenhouse and Danica Patrick share now has a Twitter account.
Dropped Out: Brian Vickers, Ryan Newman
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
Tony Stewart is on Twitter, at last, and this could be amazing
Tony Stewart has joined Twitter! Sing hallelujah, NASCAR social media fans!
NASCAR's most outsized personality has finally decided to connect directly with his fans, and it could be one of the most amazing celebrity Twitter feeds around. If Stewart in fact does give his followers an insight into his ridiculously cool life, he'll be a must-follow. (He may also bring down the law/NASCAR brass on his head, but that's a risk we're willing to take.)
As of Monday morning, Stewart had tweeted exactly five times, messages of support and race updates ... fairly straightforward stuff. His first photo was an awww moment for his fans:
Hey, wait a second. WHO TOOK THE PICTURE?
Anyway, as long as Stewart approaches this honestly, and the feed doesn't get overwhelmed with "Please RT #sponsor #sponsor #sponsor for a chance to win some Tony Stewart swag" nonsense, it'll be a lot of fun. It's a delicate balance, truth and commerce, but if anybody can straddle that see-saw, it's Stewart.
The model for holdout athletes in any sport leaping into Twitter has been Dale Earnhardt Jr., who spent years avoiding the social network. But after his Daytona 500 win earlier this year, Junior took the plunge, and his Twitter feed has instantly become one of the best celebrity follows around: funny, revelatory, interactive.
Will Stewart follow in Earnhardt's tire tracks? A big question is whether Stewart will be able to handle the torrents of negativity that Twitter brings. The idiots and the noise have effectively run Matt Kenseth and Jamie McMurray off Twitter, their feeds largely limited to generic congratulations of teammates and contest giveaways. Even Jimmie Johnson has gotten frustrated with the backseat drivers critiquing his performance. One can't imagine Stewart, who barbecues the media for dumb questions, will take too well to some clown from Alabama calling him out.
Stewart's leap means Carl Edwards is the only major driver without a Twitter presence. Given how cagey Edwards is even in the best of circumstances, it'd be a surprise if he starts exposing his private life on Twitter any time soon.
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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter.
Wednesday
Tuesday
Into The Crystal Ball: It?s Duals Time Edition
Now, for something totally different. Before the ink is even dry on the 2014 Indy 500 chapter of the season, the circus moves to Milwau? nope? Tex? nope? Detroit? You got it. Nothing against the event, but it really feels … Continue reading 
Source: http://anotherindycarblog.wordpress.com/2014/05/30/into-the-crystal-ball-its-duals-time-edition/
Monday
Kyle Busch crashed after contact with Clint Bowyer at Dover
Kyle Busch's chances for a weekend sweep hit the wall thanks to the rear bumper of Clint Bowyer.
Busch, the only driver to win a truck race, Nationwide race and Sprint Cup Series race on the same weekend at the same track, had crossed off the first two races on Friday and Saturday at Dover. A win Sunday in the Cup race would have given him the second triple of his career and he started on the pole.
However, when Clint Bowyer slid up in front of him on lap 125, Busch ended up crashed into the wall and furious with Bowyer.
After his car was battered from the contact, Busch basically chased Bowyer around the track as Bowyer was forced to accelerate around the cars ahead of him to avoid being retaliated against. Cooler heads prevailed after Busch was told by his team and NASCAR not to do anything and he pulled into the garage without further incident.
Busch's team also told him that Bowyer's spotter had cleared him. Before the crash, Bowyer's spotter encouraged him to get up in front of Busch in his lane before the No. 18 had a run off the high side of turn four. However, when Bowyer heeded his spotter's advice, Busch was already outside of him and contact was unavoidable.
"I hated that with Kyle," Bowyer said. "We're teammates, so to speak, with the manufacturer (Toyota) and it was a bad deal. Obviously I thought I was clear and he kind of got up there and I thought he was going to give it to me and he didn't. Ruined his day for sure and certainly didn't help ours."
Bowyer didn't escape the accident unharmed, either. The right-rear of his car was damaged and his team spent the next part of the race fixing the damage. They did a good enough job of it to allow Bowyer to drive back in to the top 10 and he briefly took the lead late after a two-tire pit stop.
On the race's final restart, Bowyer restarted fourth and tried to give Matt Kenseth, Busch's Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, a push into turn one. However, he hit Kenseth a bit awkwardly and Kenseth's car squirted into the outside wall, though he finished third, one spot ahead of Bowyer. Busch, meanwhile, finished 42nd.
"I was just trying to help him, man we were all spinning (the tires) like crazy and I had a pretty good run at him and he was still spinning when I hit him and knocked him into the wall and I was like 'not another Gibbs car,'" Bowyer said.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @NickBromberg
Sunday
Hamilton-Rosberg ?not like Senna-Prost? | F1 Fanatic Round-up
In the round-up: Wolff plays down Senna-vs-Prost comparison ? Teams may revive testing ban
Source: http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2014/05/30/f1-fanatic-round-3005/
Colin Davis Jimmy Daywalt JeanDenis Deletraz Patrick Depailler
Saturday
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 […] 
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNascarInsiders/~3/7quHncspnAg/
Friday
Camping World to continue to sponsor Truck Series through 2022
While the Nationwide Series looks for a sponsor after the end of the 2014 season, the Camping World Truck Series is holding steady.
Camping World has extended its sponsorship of the Truck Series through 2022. The current contract was set to expire after the 2015 season. The deal is approximately worth $5 million per season.
?The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series has one of the most consistent and durable audiences in all of sports, averaging approximately 800,000 or more television viewers per event over the past six years,? NASCAR Chief Marketing Officer Steve Phelps said in a release. ?Camping World?s seven-year continued commitment to our sport demonstrates its confidence in our on-track product and strength of our brand loyal fan base.?����
According to the Sports Business Journal, it's a deal that's worth more than $5 million per season.
In September, Nationwide announced it was vacating its sponsorship of NASCAR's second-tier series after this season. The company wanted to move up to the Cup Series and after transitioning to NASCAR's top level with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (a two-time Nationwide Series champion), it announced Friday that it'd sponsor Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the next three seasons.
The insurance company's deal totals $30 million over three seasons. Nationwide will sponsor Junior in 12 seasons in 2015 and 13 each in 2016 and 2017.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @NickBromberg
Jeff Gordon takes advantage of late pit stop to win at Kansas
KANSAS CITY, Kan. ? Jeff Gordon took the lead from Kevin Harvick during the final set of pit stops during Saturday night's 5-Hour Energy 400 at Kansas Speedway and held Harvick off at the line by less than a car-length for his 89th career victory.
Harvick had the evening's dominant car ? heck Gordon even said so after the race ? and methodically worked his way back to the front of the field after he was twice was trapped in the middle of the pack when caution flags came out during green flag pit stop cycles.
And he was leading when he headed to pit road for the final time. However, when Harvick ran out of gas getting on pit road, Gordon was able to take advantage.
"Then there at the end, we ran out of gas coming to pit road there, and I was looking at the fuel pressure gauge instead of the tach and I lost a bunch of time down pit road and off of pit road, wound up getting stuck behind (Gordon)," Harvick said.
Gordon had pitted two laps before Harvick and didn't realize he was ahead of him until he saw Harvick on the backstretch. He then was able to maintain the advantage over Harvick, who led 119 laps, as the margin between the two yo-yoed going through lapped traffic.
"That whole last run was really strange for me," Gordon said. "I felt like we had a good stop ... and a lap or two later I saw Kevin come off pit road on the back straightaway, got ahead of him and knew it was on at that moment."
"At the end, I was trying to stay away from traffic," he said. "I didn't want to get closed in on anybody, wanted to try to have a clean lap. (On the final lap) I got through one and two pretty good and I got over to three and the car just went completely sideways on me and I couldn't get in the gas. And I felt I'd look like a bigger idiot if I spun out leading than just trying to make sure I get back to the line first. And so I gave up some speed there, but we won the race."
The speed Gordon gave up allowed Harvick to close a significant gap over the final two corners. But it wasn't enough.
The last time Gordon was in the lead late in a race with a rock-solid chance for a win was at California earlier this season. But as he was heading towards the white flag, a caution came out for Clint Bowyer's spin. Gordon subsequently lost the lead during pit stops and finished 13th. He got the lead at the beginning of a green-white-checker restart at Texas because of a two-tire pit stop, but was no match for Joey Logano and his four fresh tires.
There was no pit decision or restart to worry about Saturday night, and it led to a win. With it, Gordon is now virtually locked into the Chase and he also extended his points lead to 15 over Matt Kenseth.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @NickBromberg
Francois Cevert Eugene Chaboud Jay Chamberlain Karun Chandhok
Thursday
Wednesday
Ferrari must be more creative ? Allison | F1 Fanatic Round-up
In the round-up: Allison wants more freedom for Ferrari designers ? Caterham 'not right for Haas' ? Row will be forgotten - Rosberg
Source: http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2014/05/28/f1-fanatic-round-2805/
Tuesday
Clint Bowyer made contact with Kyle Larson on lap 1 and then finished last at Richmond
If Clint Bowyer could get a redo of Saturday night's race at Richmond, he'd start over all the way back to before the green flag even flew.
Bowyer ultimately finished last Saturday after a fire in the right-front tire area of his car, but his issues began in turn one on the first lap.
He started third and had a run on polesitter Kyle Larson into turn one. Since he had an opening on the bottom lane and momentum, Bowyer went for the lead. However, Larson came back down to the bottom of the corner and the two made contact, spinning Larson's car around.
?I really hate that happened," Bowyer said. "I really like Kyle (Larson) and I?m a big fan of his. Him and (Brad Keselowski) kind of spun the tires and I just got such a big run him when he moved up. Then I was like, ?Okay, I guess I?m going to go to the bottom if you?re going to give me the bottom.? Then at the last minute he arched it in and I just wasn?t ready for him. I tried to get on the brakes and just got into him. I?m so glad he didn?t hit the wall. I was afraid he hit the wall and ended his night. It certainly didn?t help it at all.?
When the race went back green, Bowyer's car didn't have much long-run speed. He faded back and was forced to pit for a tire issue. Not long after that, the caution came out and Bowyer was caught a lap down.
Then, while pitting for another tire issue, there was a small fire under the right front of Bowyer's car. As he exited the pits, the fire didn't extinguish itself. Instead, it intensified. Bowyer's car, and his night, was cooked.
Mechanical and pit road issues have been a theme for Bowyer this season. While teammate Brian Vickers has found consistency in 2014, Bowyer hasn't. He's now 21st in the standings after qualifying for the Chase and finishing second and seventh in the past two seasons.
There's plenty of time for Bowyer's season to turn around, and a win in the new Sprint Cup win-and-you're-in Chase format would go a long way to doing so.
Right now, his team doesn't look like it's close to winning. Though Talladega, the roulette wheel of NASCAR tracks, is up next. And Bowyer's been pretty good there.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @NickBromberg
George Connor George Constantine John Cordts David Coulthard
Monday
The Weekend Rewind ? How Safe Is Safe Edition
Was it a normal weekend at the Grand Prix of Long Beach, or a dry run for Toronto and Houston? Yes. For a while it seemed like the drivers would be able to control themselves. Sure, we saw Rahal, Power, … Continue reading 
Source: http://anotherindycarblog.wordpress.com/2014/04/15/the-weekend-rewind-how-safe-is-safe-edition/
Sunday
If you are going to Montreal?
Joe Saward will be hosting an Audience in Montreal at its usual venue, at the Pub St Paul, 124 rue St-Paul Est, Vieux-Montr�al, Qu�bec H2Y 1G2. This is down in the old port area. The Audience will take place on Friday, June 6. The event will be for a limited number of Formula One fans […]
Source: https://joesaward.wordpress.com/2014/05/21/if-you-are-going-to-montreal/
BMW M6 GranCoupe PD6XX By Prior Design
The folks over at Prior Design have been rolling out some great mods lately, and we’re not talking just about the White Phoenix kit for the 2014 Audi R8. No, the company’s PD550 package for the 2014 Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class is way cooler, especially for bringing a Black Series-like look to the four-door coupe before the company even thought about doing it. The German specialist is also known for having a thing for BMWs. It has been modifying anything from compact 3 Series to the larger 7 Series in the past, but, more recently, the tuner turned its focus to the M6 GranCoupe, the four-door coupe we’ve already had an in-depth look at.
As with most Prior Design projects, the M6 GranCoupe received a more aggressive appearance via a body kit that changed everything from the bumpers to the fenders, and added a brand-new hood and a trunk-lid spoiler. The larger rear diffuser blends perfectly with the bumper’s lateral air outlets, and a set of beefier wheels and tires are in place to make sure this M6 stays glued to the road.
Click past the jump to read more about the BMW M6 GranCoupe PD6XX By Prior Design.
BMW M6 GranCoupe PD6XX By Prior Design originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 23 May 2014 17:00 EST.
Johnny Cecotto Andrea de Cesaris Francois Cevert Eugene Chaboud
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