Michael Andretti Keith Andrews Elio de Angelis Marco Apicella
Monday
Sunday
Saturday
Chase Watch: The drama of the next two weeks got ratcheted down
Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer and Greg Biffle are suddenly feeling pretty safe.
12 drivers have won a race this season and Matt Kenseth, who is winless and in fifth in the points standings, is a virtual lock to make the Chase barring two disastrous finishes. If the Chase started now, 24 races into the season, the next three spots would be filled by winless drivers. And those winless drivers would be Newman, Bowyer and Biffle.
By avoiding poor finishes on Saturday night at Bristol, the three put some separation between all other winless drivers in the battle for the final three Chase spots.
As we said last week, it's possible that a winless driver could win before the Chase begins. But there have only been two first-time winners in the last 12 races. The odds aren't good, especially when you consider those first-time winners came at a restrictor plate track and a road course.
Based on that, we're going with the assumption that there are three "bubble" spots for the Chase. And, well, they're not really much of a bubble after Bristol. Here's how the battle for the final Chase spots looks with two to go.
Matt Kenseth (5th in points, 57 points ahead of Greg Biffle): We're just putting Kenseth here to show how much of a crater he'd have to fall into at Atlanta and Richmond to miss the Chase. He finished third at Bristol.
Ryan Newman (9th, +16): Newman started 11th and finished 13th, which about sums up his season to-date, don't you think?
Clint Bowyer (10th, +5): Bowyer sustained some pretty severe damage in his run-in with Kyle Busch but it was far from terminal. It meant Bowyer only lost a couple of laps and ended up 17th.
Greg Biffle (11th, 26 points ahead of Kyle Larson): If Biffle makes the Chase, he has Marcos Ambrose to thank. Biffle was being black flagged for a flapping rear bumper cover after contact on track, but instead of having to serve the penalty and remove the bumper under green, Ambrose crashed and brought out a caution. Biffle's team made the repairs under yellow and he ended up finishing 10th.
Kyle Larson (12th, -26): Finishing in the same vicinity as the guys you're racing against isn't horrible unless you need to make up a lot of points on them. Larson needs to make up a lot of points. He finished 12th.
Kasey Kahne (13th, -33): Kahne had to pit under green for a loose wheel and lost two laps. Not long after that, a caution came out and Kahne was essentially trapped. Then he had to go behind the wall later in the race. Look for the No. 5 team to go for broke at Atlanta. He finished 35th at Bristol.
Austin Dillon (14th, -40): Dillon hit the wall early and that meant a really long night. He finished 28th.
Paul Menard (15th, -45): PFM is less than a full race out of the Chase and finished 9th so we can't ignore him. Yet, anyway. He's going to have to make up points at Atlanta to be more than just on the mathematical periphery at Richmond.
- - - - - - -
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!
Friday
Tony Stewart will not race at Bristol as Jeff Burton substitutes for him again
Tony Stewart is not driving at Bristol.
The team announced Wednesday afternoon that Jeff Burton would substitute for Stewart again. Burton drove the No. 14 at Michigan. Stewart has not driven in a Sprint Cup Series race since he struck and killed Kevin Ward at a dirt track in upstate New York on August 9.
Just like with Burton's appearance in Stewart's car last week, the team said the decision only pertains to Bristol and that any decision on Atlanta, the next race on the Sprint Cup circuit, hasn't been made.
The investigation into Ward's death is still ongoing by the Ontario County (N.Y.) Sheriff's Department. Last week, Sheriff Philip Povero said the investigation could take two weeks. There are no criminal charges pending against Stewart at the current time and Povero said last week there was no evidence of criminal intent.
Burton's ride at Michigan was cut short because of a broken tailpipe on Sunday. The team said a crack in the tailpipe meant heat was catching the heat shields underneath the car on fire.
Burton has driven in three Cup Series races this year. He drove twice previously for Michael Waltrip Racing and is going to be an analyst for NBC's race coverage in 2015.
- - - - - - -
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!
Pit Gun Technology Speeding Up Pit Stops
It’s been a common thread this year; a driver has a shot to win, but a bad pit stop or two derails the whole day and somebody ends up getting called out on the radio or national television. Yes, the pressure is as high as it’s ever been on the pit crews with track position […] 
TheNASCARInsiders.com
Follow the Insiders on Twitter or be a fan on Facebook!
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNascarInsiders/~3/8Tix6IzDGf0/
Thursday
Infiniti Q80 Inspiration
While everybody seems to be all caught up with the Q50 Eau Rouge, Infiniti is preparing another vehicle that?s expected to steal some shine away from the sports sedan. I mean that in a good way, of course. The model in question is called the Q80 Inspiration and not surprisingly, it?s headed to the Paris Motor Show.
The Japanese automaker is promising the world with the Q80 Inspiration, describing it as the peak of its model lineup. Those are big words for a company that?s been aggressively trying to reinvent itself as a premium brand capable of giving its German rivals a serious run for their money.
If the Q80 Inspiration lives up to its hype, then you better believe that Infiniti will get the attention of BMW, Audi, and Mercedes.
The Q80 Inspiration has been scheduled to make its debut on October 2, 3:30 p.m. local time in Paris. That?s 9:30 a.m. EDT on the East Coast.
Click past the jump to read more about the Infiniti Q80 Inspiration.
Infiniti Q80 Inspiration originally appeared on topspeed.com on Wednesday, 3 September 2014 17:00 EST.
Source: http://feeds.topspeed.com/~r/topspeed/~3/d406APzrRbY/2015-infiniti-q80-inspiration-ar165185.html
Eugenio Castellotti Johnny Cecotto Andrea de Cesaris Francois Cevert
Wednesday
Tuesday
Unfiltered Race Notes: Iowa 300 2014
Welcome back to another enthralling edition of whatever it is that you call this. Rain rain rain in Iowa this weekend so I hope we can get all 300 laps in at a reasonable hour tonight. Strap in and enjoy … Continue reading 
Source: http://anotherindycarblog.wordpress.com/2014/07/12/unfiltered-race-notes-iowa-300-2014/
Jaime Alguersuari Philippe Alliot Cliff Allison Fernando Alonso
Monday
Sunday
Bristol spring race in 2015 will move to April, Southern 500 back to Labor Day weekend
The Sprint Cup Series will be back at Darlington on Labor Day Weekend.
The move will become official on Tuesday when NASCAR announces the full Sprint Cup Series schedule, but Bruton Smith said Darlington Raceway was moving its race back to the weekend when Bristol Motor Speedway announced that its spring weekend would be moving from March to April on Friday.
Bristol's first race in 2015 will be on April 19.
"I think we did them a favor and they did us one," Smith said via USA Today. "I think they kind of needed that Southern 500 thing back in Darlington. So going back there, I thought that was a good thing."
The Labor Day weekend spot is now held by Atlanta, which took the date from California, the track that the Cup Series raced at after it moved Darlington's traditional Labor Day date. Atlanta, as reported by ESPN and SiriusXM's Jim Noble earlier this week, will move to March in 2015.
Atlanta, like Darlington, used to have two races but now has one. Darlington's race was on Mother's Day Weekend before being shifted to April this year. Kansas took the Mother's Day Weekend spot.
The schedules for all three NASCAR series will be announced at 5 p.m. ET Tuesday.
- - - - - - -
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!
Saturday
Hungarian Grand Prix Preview ? The Soap Opera Lands Again
Next stop for the Formula One soap opera carries on this weekend at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Nico Rosberg overtook Lewis Hamilton in the drivers’ Championship on his home patch at the German Grand Prix. The star, who was born and raised in Monaco, was not allowed to wear his racing helmet he created especially [...]
Friday
Denny Hamlin tossed his HANS device at Kevin Harvick after crashing
Denny Hamlin wasn't happy with Kevin Harvick again at Bristol.
Hamlin was leading on lap 162 Saturday night when Harvick was following him on the straightaway. As Harvick's car drifted towards the wall, he wasn't completely behind Hamlin and made contact with Hamlin's bumper, sending him spinning.
After Hamlin's car bounced off the inside wall, he collected Dale Earnhardt Jr., whose car got sheared on the left side like a can opener.
Hamlin emerged from his car unscathed but ticked. He tossed his HANS device at Harvick's car as Harvick drove by.
"Last year he was just not paying attention and he didn't know that I had a cut tire last year and he just thinks he knows everything and probably thought he knew everything again," Hamlin said. "I just wish I had some kind of car left so I could show him the favor back. We're not even halfway, we're racing for the lead -- it's a misjudgment. He's a good driver. He knows better, he just made a mistake."
Harvick apologized on the radio (and on Twitter) afterwards and said the move was not intentional. And yes, Hamlin did follow the new NASCAR protocol that bars drivers from exiting their cars before safety workers arrive in aftermath of Kevin Ward's death on August 9 at a sprint car race in New York.
As you can see from the video above, Hamlin threw his HANS device while near one of the safety trucks around him and did not venture out towards Harvick's car in what could be considered a dangerous manner. Plus, there's nothing in NASCAR's new rule that bans the throwing of equipment at cars. If drivers want to do it like Hamlin did Saturday night, they're going to have to work at long-tossing.
The incident Hamlin references last year is when Hamlin had a cut tire from contact with Brian Vickers. Harvick got into the back of him and a mess of cars were collected. After the crash, Harvick parked his car in Hamlin's pit stall and Hamlin pushed Harvick's car out of it with his own.
Harvick ended up 11th after a late race speeding penalty. Hamlin finished 40th.
- - - - - - -
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!
Eugene Chaboud Jay Chamberlain Karun Chandhok Alain de Changy
Thursday
Wednesday
Tuesday
2014 Brno MotoGP Sunday Round Up: Breaking The Streak
The hot-hand fallacy finally caught up with Marc Marquez. His amazing streak of consecutive wins stays at ten, the Spaniard being beaten for the first time this year. In his twenty-ninth race in the MotoGP class, Marquez and his crew finally failed to find a good enough set up to win, or even make it onto the podium. The Repsol Honda man has only missed out on the podium twice before, once at Mugello last year, when he crashed, and once at Phillip Island, when he was disqualified from the tire fiasco race.
Defeat had been waiting in the wings for Marquez for a while now. Look solely at the points table, and his dominance looks complete. But go back and look at his winning margin, and his advantage has not looked quite so large. Of his ten wins, only two were by a considerable margin: one at Austin, where he has always been better than the rest; one at Assen, where rain created large gaps. His advantage at Argentina and Indianapolis was 1.8 seconds, at Jerez, Le Mans and the Sachsenring under a second and a half. Marquez could only eke out victory at Qatar, Mugello and Barcelona, races he won by a half a second or less. At most races, Marquez was winning by a slender margin indeed, lapping on average just five or six hundredths of a second quicker than his rivals. It was enough, but it was really not very much at all.
Marquez' slender advantage over his rivals was a sign of just how close they really were. Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa had all come close to beating Marquez, and in the case of Pedrosa at Barcelona, Marquez had been forced to delve deep into his bag of tricks to beat his teammate. Marquez' talent may have loaded the dice he was rolling, but eventually they would fall another way. "People said winning was easy for me," Marquez told the Spanish media, "but I know how hard it was."
Why Andre Lotterer is driving for Caterham
Andr� Lotterer will drive for Caterham F1 Team at the Belgian Grand Prix and it is not really a great surprise. The team’s primary goal is to improve the performance of the CT05 and while Kamui Kobayashi is quick, he is not famed for his technical feedback, while the team’s second driver Marcus Ericsson does […]
Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2014/08/20/why-andre-lotterer-is-driving-for-caterham/
Monday
The latest from Germany
The reports that Bernie Ecclestone is offering $33 million to settle the criminal trial in Germany are just plain weird. There have long been rumours that Ecclestone was looking for a financial settlement, but it has always looked to be rather unlikely. A fine is OK for a parking offence, but only a politician could […]
Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2014/07/30/the-latest-from-germany/
Kurt Adolff Fred Agabashian Kurt Ahrens Jr Christijan Albers
Sunday
Live: 2014 Belgium GP3 race two | F1 Fanatic Live
Follow the 2014 Belgium GP3 race two on F1 Fanatic Live.
Source: http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2014/08/24/live-2014-belgium-gp3-race-two/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)