Source: http://www.16thandgeorgetown.com/2012/09/for-rhr-to-win-championship.html
Zsolt Baumgartner Elie Bayol Don Beauman Karl Gunther Bechem
Saturday
A Car of Tomorrow Renaissance
I read a post the other day over at Autoextremist�(a fantastic automotive blog)�about the optimism surrounding the introduction of the Gen 6 car even in the face of continuing struggles for NASCAR, and it got me thinking about the recent evolution of our race cars. In the post, Mr. De Lorenzo talks about NASCAR’s unwillingness [...] 
TheNASCARInsiders.com
Follow the Insiders on Twitter or be a fan on Facebook!
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNascarInsiders/~3/kBBTXioYbPE/
Enrico Bertaggia Tony Bettenhausen Mike Beuttler Birabongse Bhanubandh
2013 MotoGP Austin Test Day 3 Press Releases: Repsol Honda, LCR Honda and Repsol Video
The Repsol Honda team and the LCR Honda team issued the following press releases after testing at Austin. Repsol also shared a video from the test:
Year:
2013
Remembering Dan Wheldon
There isn?t much more to say about the man that was Dan Wheldon. Many amazing columns have been written by people far more skilled than I. And honestly, what more is there to be added? October 16th will always be … Continue reading 
Source: http://anotherindycarblog.wordpress.com/2012/10/18/remembering-dan-wheldon/
Friday
Race Rewind: Phoenix 1
Did you miss Sunday's race at Phoenix? No worries, we've got you covered. In less than 10 minutes in fact!
Or maybe you just want to re-live the two and four tire debauchery in the desert? Well, it's your lucky day too. Though it's also a Monday, we'd understand how watching NASCAR is better than work.
Spoiler Alert: Carl Edwards wins.
Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/race-rewind-phoenix-1-140719364--nascar.html
Rubens Barrichello Michael Bartels Edgar Barth Giorgio Bassi
Do your bets to make NYC trip stylish
Riding any regular car in NYC can be a sign of you not being able to afford luxury service and this will never do for sure. In order to look and feel your best you have to get a taxi to JFK that looks and feels just like you are a superstar. So make sure [...]
Source: http://www.autocarblog.co.uk/407-do-your-bets-to-make-nyc-trip-stylish.html
A new face at Red Bull
There has been a quiet but important change at Sauber in recent months with the departure of one of the triumvirate of engineers who run the team’s technical operations. Pierre Wach�, a former Michelin engineer who was in charge of vehicle dynamics at Hinwil, working alongside chief designer Matt Morris and head of aerodynamics Willem [...]
Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2013/03/15/a-new-face-at-red-bull/
Reset
So, here we find ourselves again. Welcome back! Insert excuses galore, but the break was more due to soul searching than anything else. A few nights ago, I was navigating the crazy waters of youtube and stumbled across the much … Continue reading 
Source: http://anotherindycarblog.wordpress.com/2012/12/17/reset/
Thursday
KTM 990 Adventure
If you love two wheel adventures, then you?ll certainly love the KTM 990 Adventure too. The motorcycle has a pretty versatile character which helps it deal with any type of terrain with poise.
Born to be a tough enduro, the KTM 990 Adventure has received a long list of features which make it perfectly suited for off road riding.
With 114 hp under its belt, the 990 Adventure?s water-cooled V-engine delivers enough punch to fill your veins with adrenaline. The engine is brought to life by an electric starter and is mated on a six speed, claw shifted transmission. You also get the electronic Keihin engine management system which regulates the fuel injection system delivering top notch performances thus improving the rideability.
Other features include a stable chassis, disconnectable ABS, frame-anchored fairing and a lockable stowage compartment.
Hit the jump for more information on the 2013 KTM 990 Adventure.
KTM 990 Adventure originally appeared on topspeed.com on Thursday, 14 March 2013 20:01 EST.
Source: http://www.topspeed.com/motorcycles/motorcycle-reviews/ktm/2013-ktm-990-adventure-ar147763.html
Eric Bernard Enrique Bernoldi Enrico Bertaggia Tony Bettenhausen
Nationwide driver Jeremy Clements suspended for unknown comments
NASCAR announced Tuesday that it had suspended Nationwide Series driver Jeremy Clements for comments he made in an interview on Saturday.
What interview that was or what Clements said is unknown, however.
?During the course of an interview, Jeremy Clements made an intolerable and insensitive remark,? NASCAR Senior VP of Racing Operations Steve O'Donnell said in a release. ?NASCAR has a Code of Conduct that?s explicitly spelled out in the 2013 NASCAR Rule Book. We fully expect our entire industry to adhere to that Code.?
Tuesday evening, Clements posted the following statement to his team's Facebook page:
?I apologize and regret what I said to the NASCAR writer and to NASCAR, my sponsors, my fans, and my team. NASCAR has a Code of Conduct that everyone must follow and I unintentionally violated that code. I will not get into specifics of what I said but my comment to the writer was in no way meant to be disrespectful or insensitive to anyone or to be detrimental to NASCAR or the NASCAR Nationwide Series. I will do what I need to do in order to atone for my error in judgment. ?
There's no point in speculating about what Clements, 28, said; and it's entirely possible the comments he made will be published in an interview that's yet to be released. Or we may never know. Was it a TV interview that wasn't aired? Though that seems to be refuted by Clements' reference to a writer in the apology. And how would the comments found to be suspension worthy? The interview obviously wasn't conducted in the media center at Daytona. (Though I guess it seems logical that we've moved from secret fines from suspensions for unknown comments?)
Clements finished 14th in last year's Nationwide Series standings driving for his own team, Jeremy Clements Racing in the No. 51. At Daytona, he finished 33rd after only completing 88 laps because of an oil line problem.
Martin Whitmarsh: ?We?ve faced a challenging few weeks??
Martin Whitmarsh says that it?s impossible to predict the formbook for the Australian GP and beyond, and admits that McLaren has not had a straightforward winter testing season. ?In the days leading up to the Australian Grand Prix, it?s fair … Continue reading 
Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2013/03/08/martin-whitmarsh-weve-faced-a-challenging-few-weeks/
Nationwide driver Jeremy Clements suspended for unknown comments
NASCAR announced Tuesday that it had suspended Nationwide Series driver Jeremy Clements for comments he made in an interview on Saturday.
What interview that was or what Clements said is unknown, however.
?During the course of an interview, Jeremy Clements made an intolerable and insensitive remark,? NASCAR Senior VP of Racing Operations Steve O'Donnell said in a release. ?NASCAR has a Code of Conduct that?s explicitly spelled out in the 2013 NASCAR Rule Book. We fully expect our entire industry to adhere to that Code.?
Tuesday evening, Clements posted the following statement to his team's Facebook page:
?I apologize and regret what I said to the NASCAR writer and to NASCAR, my sponsors, my fans, and my team. NASCAR has a Code of Conduct that everyone must follow and I unintentionally violated that code. I will not get into specifics of what I said but my comment to the writer was in no way meant to be disrespectful or insensitive to anyone or to be detrimental to NASCAR or the NASCAR Nationwide Series. I will do what I need to do in order to atone for my error in judgment. ?
There's no point in speculating about what Clements, 28, said; and it's entirely possible the comments he made will be published in an interview that's yet to be released. Or we may never know. Was it a TV interview that wasn't aired? Though that seems to be refuted by Clements' reference to a writer in the apology. And how would the comments found to be suspension worthy? The interview obviously wasn't conducted in the media center at Daytona. (Though I guess it seems logical that we've moved from secret fines from suspensions for unknown comments?)
Clements finished 14th in last year's Nationwide Series standings driving for his own team, Jeremy Clements Racing in the No. 51. At Daytona, he finished 33rd after only completing 88 laps because of an oil line problem.
Clint Bowyer is ready to go racing ? and lion-hunting
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Clint Bowyer?s going lion-hunting.
This is not some cheap metaphor about how he?s going to chase down the biggest names in NASCAR. No, he?s literally going lion-hunting. The Monday after the Daytona 500 (unless he wins), Bowyer will head to Arizona to see if he can scare up a mountain lion or two. No, really.
Bowyer does plenty of hunting, even if it?s not always of the bow variety, as you?d think from those omnipresent Five-Hour Energy ads. (?You can?t really be walking around with a rifle in commercials these days.?) He?ll get away in the offseason when he can, and when he can?t, he?ll sneak in a little carnage during the year. (Last year, he bagged an eight-foot gator in Louisiana, and when it was stuffed by a Texas taxidermist, it was too big to fit anywhere but the back of the No. 15 hauler.)
Bowyer is one of the few current drivers you could actually see spending time in a freezing, fog-shrouded hunting blind. And for that reason, he?s one of the few drivers who hits all three marks of a successful driver: old-school credibility, talent, and sponsor satisfaction. He?s got a huge hill of public perception to climb (you know, drivers are all vanilla, nobody speaks their mind, et cetera), but as Brad Keselowski has shown, it?s possible to break out of the stereotype.
Nobody expected it to go this way. When Bowyer started the year with a new team, a new manufacturer, a new sponsor and a new crew, not even he thought he?d be anywhere near those heights by Homestead.
?The natural instinct is, change is dangerous, change is scary,? Bowyer said. ?Last year is proof that change isn?t always a bad thing. Literally picking up and starting over from scratch is what I did. Every face that I worked with was new.?
And it?s not like this was a foregone conclusion; at the time, the move from Richard Childress Racing to Michael Waltrip Racing was seen as a step down, if not off a cliff. Bowyer admitted to more than a little trepidation about his decision, both from inside and outside his circle.
?The media and everybody around you sure gives you a feeling about your decision when they?re asking, ?What the hell are you doing??? he laughed. And he was reminded, often, about how he once called his new owner Michael Waltrip ?the worst driver in NASCAR?: ?Ate a little crow with that, for sure. That?s why you never burn bridges. That?s a prime example of what can happen.?
Still, he started solid; by the fourth race of the season, he was in the top 12, and he?d remain in the top 10 from June onward. He won at Sonoma and Richmond, two tracks about as dissimilar as you could imagine. His second-place finish at Homestead, combined with a late-season fade by Jimmie Johnson, vaulted him up two spots into the runner-up spot, 39 points behind Keselowski.
It was impressive, yes, but skill on the track is only one part of the puzzle. Plenty of extremely talented drivers still have trouble attracting sponsors. The trick in 21st-century NASCAR is figuring out how to preserve enough of yourself to be able to look at yourself in the mirror, while still molding yourself into a sponsor-friendly, media-ready action figure. Some drivers remain themselves, to put it politely, so staunchly that sponsors want nothing to do with them. Some drivers are so eager to please sponsors that you can almost see the puppet strings at every press conference.
?We?re in this business as drivers to win races and do good on the race track,? he says, ?but in doing so we have to build brands not only for ourselves but our sponsors. It?s fun when you can have a sponsor that directly speaks about you. I?m wide-open, full of energy all the time. People ask, ?Have you always been on Five-Hour Energy???
See what he did there? Bowyer?s simple-country-boy routine conceals a guy who knows exactly what?s expected of him. He sits down for an interview, and inside the first two minutes has worked in plugs for both the new Gen 6 car, on behalf of NASCAR, and the Camry, on behalf of his manufacturer Toyota.
Of course, like any driver in the multimillion-dollar celebrity machine that NASCAR has become, even Bowyer falls prey to a diva moment now and then. Witness this exchange between Bowyer and SPEED TV host Rutledge Wood from Thursday?s Media Day, in which Bowyer gripes about a local Atlanta radio show that left him on hold for ? three minutes.
Three minutes? We?d consider that lightning-fast service from our cable company. Anyway, Bowyer did eventually reach out on Twitter with an offer to mend fences. And if nothing else, the mini-spat shows how maybe the virtually unceasing media access to drivers might not be the best thing for the sport.
?Honestly, I?m stir-crazy,? he said. ?I?m over talking about it. I?m ready to get down to business.?
Because of the rules in the latest iteration of the season-starting Sprint Unlimited race, Bowyer wasn?t in Saturday night?s lineup; he didn?t win a pole last year. He took to Twitter to vent his frustration: ?I have officially reset my 2013 goals.... Win a damn pole, this sucks!!!?
Over and above winning a damn pole, Bowyer has a clear idea of what he wants to do in 2013, and it?s exactly what he?s tried to do every year. Only now, he?s looking like a potential championship contender, and he?ll set the stage accordingly.
?Your goals are the same from the first time I won races and made the Chase in 2007: start out the year, win your first race,? he says. ?Get that footprint in the ground. Then build on that win. Hit that Chase in stride, hit it on a positive note. That?s why we?re here, to win championships.?
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Carlo Abate George Abecassis Kenny Acheson Andrea de Adamich
Wednesday
Who will win the battle of the team mates in 2013? | 2013 F1 season preview
Who will win the battle of the team mates in 2013? is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.
Which driver will come out on top in each of the teams this year? Compare them all and pick who will get the better of their team mates.
Who will win the battle of the team mates in 2013? 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/2013/03/13/2013-f1-season-preview-team-mates/
Michael Bleekemolen Alex Blignaut Trevor Blokdyk Mark Blundell
Kyle Busch wins second Budweiser Duel in caution-free fashion
Kyle Busch capitalized on a Jeff Gordon pit road speeding penalty to capture the second Budweiser Duel qualifying race for Sunday's Daytona 500.
Gordon started on the pole for the race by virtue of qualifying second during last weekend's pole qualifying session and kept Busch, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth and others at bay until the race's first set of pit stops.
As Gordon led the field onto pit road, he was penalized for speeding entering pit road in sections four and five of the race. It was a penalty that puzzled Gordon, who said he was under his prescribed tachometer reading while he drove to his pit at the far end of pit lane.
[Related: New Daytona 500 favorite emerges after Duel 1]
"We've got a major problem with the tach then, I was way under," Gordon radioed to his team after he was informed of the penalty, which put him a half a lap behind.
That handed the lead to Busch, whose team had audibled as he entered his pit stall. Instead of taking two tires as they had planned, crew chief Dave Rogers made the decision to take fuel only, and it put Busch at the head of the pack, a position he held for all but one lap the rest of the way. He'll start fourth in Sunday's Daytona 500.
On the final lap, Kahne was able to get around Kenseth on the backstretch for second, but didn't have enough time or momentum to make a move on Busch before the checkered flag. Much like the first duel race, this race was dominated by cars on the outside line of the banking. But unlike the first race, which saw a late caution bunch up the field and provide a flurry of multi-lane racing to the finish, this race never got one.
[Related: Danica Patrick flying high personally and professionally]
And that caution flag would have been Gordon's only hope of getting back within sniffing distance of the lead. The race's only moment that could have been caution-worthy happened just before Gordon's speeding penalty. As he was entering the pits behind Gordon and others, Ryan Newman's car wheel hopped under braking, and he spun towards the outside wall at the entrance to the tri-oval. But because the field was spread out due to the green flag pit stops and he was able to continue on his own, it didn't fly.
Gordon finished 12th.
Mike Bliss, who had to serve a black-flag penalty early in the race because his window net fell down, finished 22nd and joined Brian Keselowski as the only two drivers to miss the Daytona 500.
The full Daytona 500 lineup:
1. Danica Patrick
2. Jeff Gordon
3. Kevin Harvick
4. Kyle Busch
5. Greg Biffle
6. Kasey Kahne
7. Juan Pablo Montoya
8. Austin Dillon
9. Jimmie Johnson
10. Clint Bowyer
11. Kurt Busch
12. Matt Kenseth
13. Tony Stewart
14. Mark Martin
15. Brad Keselowski
16. Paul Menard
17. Casey Mears
18. Jeff Burton
19. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
20. Jamie McMurray
21. Joey Logano
22. David Ragan
23. Bobby Labonte
24. Marcos Ambrose
25. David Gilliland
26. Aric Almirola
27. Joe Nemechek
28. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
29. Michael Waltrip
30. Dave Blaney
31. Scott Speed
32. Josh Wise
33. Trevor Bayne
34. Ryan Newman
35. Denny Hamlin
36. Carl Edwards
37. Martin Truex Jr.
38. Michael McDowell
39. Terry Labonte
40. Regan Smith
41. JJ Yeley
42. David Reutimann
43. Travis Kvapil
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Matt Kenseth wins at Las Vegas on 41st birthday
Matt Kenseth held off Kasey Kahne over the final 26 laps of Sunday's Kobalt Tools 400 to win his first race with Joe Gibbs Racing on his 41st birthday.
Kahne was the race's strongest car, leading a race high 114 laps, but Kenseth found himself out front after he won the race off of pit road with 41 laps to go. Why? Well, because crew chief Jason Ratcliff had made the call to take no tires while most of the rest of the leaders took two.
On that caution, Kahne had to wait to leave his pit stall as Tony Stewart was entering his pit directly in front of Kahne's. That meant that Kahne restarted in sixth, but his car was strong enough that he was able to work his way back up to second.
But much like it was with the previous car (ha! NASCAR, you can't fine me!), clean air was a strong advocate for the car at the front, and when Kenseth jumped out on that final restart, he never lost the lead.
"I was real nervous, all day (Kahne) had the best car," Kenseth said in victory lane. "I told (crew chief Jason Ratcliff) with about 12 to go, I'm like 'I'm sorry man, we're going to get beat.'"
"I was getting too tight and I was killing the right front. I just had to make sure I stayed in front of him and didn't have quite the fastest car there at the end but we had it where it needed to be. Just great pit stops, great strategy and we were in the right place at the right time and took advantage of it today."
Yes, that dreaded reference to track position. Kahne was able to get close a couple times, though. Over the closing laps, he would be able to close towards Kenseth on the backstretch off of turn two but wasn't able to carry the run through turns 3 and 4 to catch Kenseth near the start finish line. His best opportunity came with 4 laps to go when Kenseth had to step out of the throttle because of lapped traffic, but while he closed the deficit to Kenseth, he was never able to drive up alongside him and attempt a pass.
When he emerged from his car, Kenseth was again optimistic about what's in store at JGR, and after the first three races, why shouldn't he be? He was one of the strongest contenders at Daytona before engine trouble and finished seventh last week at Phoenix. The 2003 Cup champ joked about how Sunday was his 29th birthday, but even though the first digit is actually a 4, it's not hard to see that some of his best Cup Series days may be ahead of him.
Gerhard Berger Eric Bernard Enrique Bernoldi Enrico Bertaggia
Denny Hamlin stands up to NASCAR?s fine, defends his criticism of new cars
NASCAR has a lot riding on the 2013 season, and in particular its new "Generation 6" car. Dwindling attendance, sliding TV ratings, vanishing sponsors and new safety concerns have shaken the sport. So you can understand why NASCAR brass might be a bit sensitive to criticism of their newest showpiece vehicle.
How sensitive? Denny Hamlin found out this week when he was fined $25,000 for what appeared at the time to be relatively innocuous thoughts on a still-new car. Speaking after last Sunday's Phoenix race, which was for the most part a long parade of cars, Hamlin said, "I don't want to be the pessimist, but it did not race as good as our Generation 5 cars [a.k.a. "Car of Tomorrow"]. This is more like what the Generation 5 was at the beginning. The teams hadn't figured out how to get the aero balance right. Right now, you just run single-file and you cannot get around the guy in front of you."
That was enough to tick off NASCAR, which took offense at the "disparaging" remarks Hamlin made against the car and determined that Hamlin had run afoul of Rule 12-1, "actions detrimental to stock car racing."
"While NASCAR gives its competitors ample leeway in voicing their opinions when it comes to a wide range of aspects about the sport," NASCAR said in a statement, "the sanctioning body will not tolerate publicly made comments by its drivers that denigrate the racing product."
NASCAR and its drivers exist in a mutually beneficial partnership; each side needs the other. And despite some occasional public spats, they tend to coexist in harmony. Except when they don't. This is one of those times.
[Also: 'First African-American female licensed by NASCAR' overstating claims]
Hamlin has been fined by NASCAR before; in 2010, he received a "secret fine" (believed to be about $50,000) for suggesting that NASCAR seems to throw caution flags to tighten up races that are too spread out. That one, he accepted with a minimum of grumbling and some jokes about needing to play the Lotto.
This time around, he wasn't so conciliatory. He immediately fought back, using the court of public opinion on Twitter (entire paragraph sic'd):
"The short of the long of it is I believe I was severely disrespected by NASCAR by getting fined," he wrote. "I believe that the simple fact of us not even having a conversation about this issue before I was hit with a fine has something to say about our relationship. What I said was 1 sentence taken completely out of context. Most drivers will tell you that we constantly have our AND nascars best interest in mind when speaking. On the other hand I am a person that worked very hard from the BOTTOM to get where I am today and someone telling me that I can give my 100 percent honest opinion really bothers me. Since being fined in 2010 I have been a lot more careful about what I say to media and I felt this past weekend felt completely in my rights to give a assessment of the question asked. I feel as if today NASCAR lost one of its biggest supporters vocally of where our sport is headed. So in the end there are no winners. I said today I would not pay the fine. I stand by that and will go through the process of appealing. Trust me, this is not about the money.. It's much deeper. I will now shift my focus on giving FedEx and my team what they deserve this weekend, a win."
It's worth noting that when Kyle Busch won the first race with the Car of Tomorrow back in 2007, he blasted the car's handling in victory lane. Some observers have raised the possibility that NASCAR believes the Car of Tomorrow never had a chance because of Busch's comments, and the sport is trying to head off a similar problem with the Gen6 car.
[Also: Will publicity from NRA 500 be detriment or benefit to NASCAR?]
Of course, "heading off a problem" is another way of saying "stifling dissent," and there are already signs that drivers have gotten the message. Asked about the Gen 6 car on Thursday, Clint Bowyer smiled and said, "It's good. The car is good. Everything is very, very good."
"I'm not going to say anything for the rest of the year, as long as it relates to competition," Hamlin said on Thursday. "I mean, you can ask me how my daughter is, talk to me after wins about what have you, but as long as it relates to competition, I'm out from here on out. The down part is I feel like I've been a pretty good spokesman for them, and being positive when things aren't always positive. They just lost one small spokesman today, that's all."
NASCAR faces a raft of difficulties going forward. But muzzling its most charismatic drivers, which are one of the sport's great assets, is a strategy that will do little to address the sport's many problems.
-Follow Jay Busbee on Twitter at @jaybusbee.-
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