Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Formula1Fancast/~3/zfmwbg34kkU/f1-wag-natalie-sifferman-2
Tuesday
F1 WAG: Natalie Sifferman
Jerome d?Ambrosio may not be on the grid, but that shouldn?t stop us from taking a look at his other half, right? We think that?s the case, so here is out gallery of the lovely Natalie Sifferman. Enjoy CLICK HERE TO REVEAL OUT NATALIE SIFFERMAN GALLERY
2014 Japanese Grand Prix in pictures | F1 Pictures
The 2014 Japanese Grand Prix in pictures.
Source: http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2014/10/05/2014-japanese-grand-prix-pictures/
Monday
Sunday
Bianchi undergoes operation
Jules Bianchi is undergoing an emergency operation at a hospital near the Suzuka circuit following an accident during the Japanese Grand Prix. The Marussia driver went off and hit a tractor that was removing the Sauber of Adrian Sutil, which had previously crashed at the same corner. There were caution flags being shown when Bianchi […]
Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2014/10/05/bianchi-undergoes-operation/
Saturday
Happy Hour: It's a smorgasboard of topics this week
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.
The hot topic of the week is the schedule. Well, until a certain driver's possible appearance back in the Sprint Cup Series is decided officially or not. Let's skip the chit chat this week and dive on in. We've got time to pontificate below.
@NickBromberg Will NASCAR ever have the cojones to ever truly shake up the schedule?
? Chris Nulty (@RealChrisNulty) August 28, 2014 I'm not sure if it's a matter of cojones. We've seen innumerable things be tweaked and changed throughout the recent history of NASCAR that were fully controlled by NASCAR (see: the Chase.)
Instead, NASCAR primarily deals with two companies for the balance of its schedule. One of them just happens to be a cousin of NASCAR. And you know how intra-family drama goes. You don't start it unless you really have to. And NASCAR is nowhere near the "really have to" point.
In a perfect world I think you would see a rotating schedule based on a number of factors. Instead, tracks have to sell tickets and make money (as do the shareholders of Speedway Motorsports Inc. and International Speedway Corp.), and it's a mutual relationship. They're the majority of tracks on the schedule.
But what if a date on the schedule became a rotating date or two among tracks that normally don't host Cup events? That could answer a lot of "what if?" questions about tracks and satiate the demand for Cup schedule variety. If a track does well, NASCAR could deem it worthy of a permanent date. If it doesn't, well, there's tangible evidence that it didn't work.
Again, it's easier said than done with all of the factors at work here. But a promotion/relegation system of sorts with tracks could be possible on a limited scale. However, you need the dates to make it work. Where is NASCAR going to take a race from? Dover is a possibilty. It's not going to leave the Mattiolis at Pocono. The ISC and SMI tracks are pretty much off-limits barring some sort of change.
There's just not much wiggle room, especially for a sport with a schedule that many people believe could stand to be shortened. However, given all of the teasing about Tuesday's schedule announcement, it was almost impossible not to feel let down because the biggest change was something made public four days prior.
The next question is in response to Turner Scott's decision to send two trucks to Canada this weekend (Ben Kennedy and Cameron Hayley) instead of three, leaving Ron Hornaday out of a ride.
@NickBromberg Nope! Why did Turner-Scott DUMP the only 4x champ/winningest driver in @NASCAR_Trucks instead of younger/wrecking drivers??
? Seattle Six (@SeattleSix) August 28, 2014 One word: funding.
If Hornaday's truck had the backing to go to Canada this weekend, it would. Instead, it's foolish to go waste money to travel to another country for a Truck race. Last year, Hornaday was fifth in the Canada race. He won just over $19,000 in purse money. For comparison, at last year's Atlanta Cup race on the same weekend, Scott Speed earned over $66,000 to finish last. There is very little money in the Truck Series at all.
Economics aren't new to racing. To act like they are would be foolish. But I will say that it would have been interesting to see how the near future of Ben Kennedy would have gone. Kennedy, the son of Lesa France Kennedy, the chairperson of ISC, would certainly not have been without a ride for too long.
�
@NickBromberg Anyone can ask about schedule & the chase, but how big a setback was the Milka @NationwideNNS DNQ for the fans and the sport?
? Brian Cullather (@Briancullather) August 28, 2014 Disastrous. Horrible. How did the sport survive?
It might have been the most tweeted-about DNQ in Nationwide Series history. It's what happens when you have a driver who, well, is incredibly slow yet somehow still gets rides and moves up the racing ladder. (Yes, I can see that many of you haters want to make a Danica joke, aside from the fact that Duno and Patrick are both women, there aren't too many commonalities.)
Plus, there was some praise of her that seemed a little odd too. Since when have we gotten to the "good try!" status for someone who has significant financial backing missing out on a race? That's reserved for the people who have put every dollar and everything they have into building a race car in the hopes of making it into one NASCAR race. Not for someone like Duno, who is like a racing ant that just won't go away.
It goes back to the economics point above, but if there's an axis with money on one end and pure driving ability on the other, you'll see that most every driver in the sport is in between and skewed towards the driving side. In this case? Given our sample sizes, I think we're looking at an outlier.
Thursday morning on Twitter, I wondered out loud why NBC Sports Network was teasing the Auto Club IndyCar finale as being at the fastest track on the circuit. Here's the answer.
@NickBromberg Here's the records. It's been the fastest, but won't be this year. pic.twitter.com/zF22BOLDLA
? Alec Wiseman (@AlecWiseman) August 28, 2014 The fastest qualifying lap in ACS history was by Sam Hornish Jr. in 2003. He laid down a qualifying average of over 226 MPH. However, that season, the Indianapolis 500 pole speed was over 231 MPH. I realize that all open wheel records are claimed now, but using a CART speed from 14 years ago to make a claim like that is dubious.
But hey, the last IndyCar race of the season is Saturday night. Too bad it's up against college football.
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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!
Friday
Fiat 500X
Launched in 1957, the Fiat 500 evolved from a tiny economy car into a full lineup of vehicles incorporating various body styles and engines. The change occurred starting 2007, when Fiat unveiled the new 500, a modern car that features a distinctive, retro look similar to the new Mini Cooper and the Volkswagen New Beetle. Since its revival, the Fiat 500 range expanded to include the 500C, the larger 500L, the all-electric 500E and the high-performance 500 Abarth. As we move into the 2015 model year, the Italians are introducing a new model that signals the company’s entrance into the compact crossover market, a segment previously unexplored by the Italians.
Developed alongside the 2015 Jeep Renegade, the 500X is the largest 500-based Fiat yet and features a more rugged design, a revised interior and all the engines you can have with the regular hatch, save for the electric motor. Although Fiat has yet to confirm the 500X will come to the U.S., we know the crossover will join the Jeep Renegade in North America at some point. Until that happens, make sure you have a look at our review below.
Click past the jump to read more about the Fiat 500X.
Fiat 500X originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 3 October 2014 14:00 EST.
Source: http://feeds.topspeed.com/~r/topspeed/~3/m6eKw6rbN5o/2016-fiat-500x-ar127292.html
Thursday
Tony Stewart delivers emotional three-minute statement about Aug. 9 accident
Tony Stewart didn't answer any questions from media members Friday in his first public appearance since striking and killing Kevin Ward Jr. on Aug. 9 at a dirt track in upstate New York. Instead, Stewart read a nearly three-minute statement that clearly was emotional for him to compose.
A visibly shaken and stressed looking Stewart spoke softly but pointedly. He paused often, as if he was gathering himself at every opportunity. After his statement, Stewart-Haas vice president Brett Frood took questions about Stewart's return to the track. Frood said that Stewart had sent the Ward family flowers and a card for Ward's funeral.
"Tony has sent the family flowers and a card for the services," Frood said. "Besides that, he's been very respectful of them and their time to grieve. It is very important for Tony to spend time with the family and I do believe that will happen at the appropriate time."
Ward was racing with Stewart at the Canandaigua Motorsports Park in a sprint car race. Ward, 20, hit the wall as the two were side-by-side and after his car came to a stop, he exited and went down the track to confront Stewart. He was hit by Stewart's right-rear tire.
Sunday's race at Atlanta is Stewart's first appearance back in the Sprint Cup Series since the incident. He sat out races at Watkins Glen, Michigan and Bristol.
Here is Stewart's statement in its entirety:
"This is been one of the toughest tragedies I've ever had to deal with, both professionally and personally," Stewart said. "This is something that will definitely affect my life forever. This is a sadness and a pain I hope no one ever has to experience in their life. That being said, I know that the pain and the mourning that Kevin Ward's family and friends are experiencing is something that I can't possibly imagine. I want Kevin's father, Kevin Sr., his mother Pam and his sisters Christi, Kayla and Katelyn to know that every day I'm thinking about and praying for them."
"The racing community is a large family. As you guys know and everyone's saddened with this tragedy. I want to thank all my friends and family for their support through this tough, emotional time. And the support from the NASCAR community, my partners, all of our employees has been overwhelming. I've taken the last couple weeks off out of respect for Kevin and his family and also to cope with the accident in my own way. It's given me the time to think about life and how easy it is to take it for granted. I miss my team, my teammates, and I miss being back in the race car. I think that being back in the car this week with my racing family will help me get through this difficult time."
"I also understand that all of you have many questions and want a lot of answers. But however, I need to respect the ongoing investigation process and cannot answer and address the questions at this time. Emotionally I'm not sure if I could answer them anyway. I'm here to race this weekend and I appreciate your respect and there will be a day when I can sit here and answer the questions. Thank you."
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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!
Brad Keselowski takes lead with three-wide pass, wins at Chicago
Brad Keselowski saw Kevin Harvick and Kyle Larson battling for the lead ahead of him and as Larson went high and Harvick went low heading into turn one, Keselowski took the middle.
It was the right option.
Keselowski stormed past both drivers and held on for the lead through a last restart to win the first race of the 2014 Chase for the Sprint Cup on Sunday at Chicago.
Larson and Harvick were having a fantastic battle off a restart with 18 laps to go. Larson had the lead and Harvick, who restarted second, was able to hang with him. The two ran side by side for virtually the entirety of two laps, but the great racing came at a price.
Keselowski was hanging around in third and got an incredible draft of the huge hole in the air the two were creating with 16 laps to go. As Harvick headed to the white line and Larson went towards the wall, Keselowski cut the middle and was clear by the time he was on the backstretch.
"I'm not really sure," Keselowski responded when asked how he made the pass in victory lane. "I'll have to watch the ESPN replay to figure it out. But we obviously had a great car ... these Fords have really come together for a strong Chase run."
Last week, Keselowski won the last race before the Chase at Richmond for his fourth win, a victory that gave him solitary possession of first place for the Chase. With the win at Chicago, he keeps first place in the Chase and may put him in place for a repeat. Keselowski won at Chicago en route to the 2012 title. (Oh, and Keselowski is also guaranteed a spot through the first elimination round of the Chase.)
It was a win that came without the benefit of great track position too. Keselowski and his teammate Joey Logano have been the masters of qualifying this season but Friday's qualifying session was washed out. The lineup was set on practice speeds and both Penske cars started in the 20s. It ultimately didn't matter.
And neither did late pit stop trouble. Keselowski had to pit a second time under caution on lap 184 because of a potential loose wheel. He restarted 17th after starting at the back of the field but quickly sliced and diced his way up through the field. He was ninth within 25 laps and two more late cautions helped his ascent.
Jeff Gordon finished second and he's second in the points standings, seven behind Keselowski. Larson finished third while Joey Logano was fourth and Harvick was fifth.
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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!
Wednesday
Has Ferrari targeted Hamilton as Alonso?s replacement?
Rumours continue to circulate regarding Fernando Alonso’s future plans, and the consensus is that in the next few days we will learn a bit more about how the 2015 entry list will look. Alonso has been linked with McLaren and … Continue reading 
Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2014/09/25/has-ferrari-targeted-hamilton-as-alonsos-replacement/
Tuesday
Monday
Report: Nationwide Series will become the Xfinity Series
NASCAR's No. 2 series has found a sponsor for 2015.
According to the Sports Business Daily, NASCAR is expected to announce a deal with Comcast next week for the title sponsorship of what's now the Nationwide Series. It'll be a 10-year deal that turns the series into the Xfinity Series.
From SBD:
Comcast emerged as a viable replacement after the company?s sports TV group, NBC, signed a 10-year, $4.4B rights deal with NASCAR. As part of the deal, Comcast agreed to spend $10M marketing and promoting the sport. Its marketing team saw title sponsorship of NASCAR?s secondary series as a way to fulfill that obligation and also promote its cable TV, broadband and phone business unit, Xfinity.
The report says that Comcast initially wanted a shorter term deal than 10 years, however it decided to match the length of the deal signed by NBC.
Comcast will spend $9 million in rights fees, down from the $12-15 million NASCAR was reportedly asking. Nationwide paid $10 million per season. The insurance company is going to sponsor Dale Earnhardt Jr. for 12 races in 2015.
We're no marketers, but here's to guessing there will be some sort of promotional campaign about how drivers in NASCAR's No. 2 series are "the X factor." Or something's "the X factor." It has to happen, doesn't it?
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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!
Roberto Bussinello Jenson Button Tommy Byrne Giulio Cabianca
Sunday
NASCAR tweaks Talladega qualifying rules
There will be a different qualifying setup for the final restrictor plate races of the season.
NASCAR announced tweaks to the group qualifying format for the Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Talladega in October.
At Talladega in the spring and Daytona in July, qualifying was a game of wait and draft. Teams were trying to time runs so that they were all on the track at the same time and were catching up to a group of cars. With the draft, a group of cars is faster than a single car. The waiting to draft game meant that there were long stretches, especially in the first round of qualifying, where there wasn't much action.
There will still be three qualifying rounds where the field is whittled to 24 drivers and then to 12. However, the first round will involve two groups. Each group, which will be selected by a random draw, will qualify for five minutes. The top 24 speeds overall will advance to the second round. (The first round was previously 25 minutes long.
The second round will be five minutes instead of 10 and the fastest 12 drivers will advance to the final round. The final round will then be five more minutes, where the top 12 qualifiers will be decided.
It's a good move. The group qualifying format has had a tendency to drag on, especially in the first rounds at times. There's no problem with speeding up the pace of it, especially at a track where qualifying position is the least important.
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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!
Saturday
Low downforce and softer tires could help racing in 2015? Who'd have thunk it?
One of the best possible racing packages for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series cars in 2015 isn't a surprising combination of factors at all.
As ideas have been tossed around to help improve the ability of drivers to pass and hinder the ability of a lead car to be unpassable up front, two ideas have been tossed out more than any others. One is softer tires. With the speeds and force that Cup cars currently generate, Goodyear has struggled to find a tire that wears quickly that's also durable.
The other is low downforce. The aerodynamic sensitivity of Cup cars is what makes it so hard to pass the leader. A car without turbulent air in front of it is automatically faster than a car that has turbulent air around it. It's like the NASCAR version of a Mario Kart magic mushroom.
On Monday, NASCAR held a test to try various possibilities for rule changes in 2015. And of all the things that NASCAR had the teams in attendance try, guess what two factors produced the best racing? Yup, it was the low downforce and softer tires.
I thought that test at Michigan was really interesting," Matt Kenseth said. "They went through all the high downforce stuff and less power and kind of the direction they went this year, but even greater and it was honestly really bad. It was really singled out ? you couldn't pass, you could draft a little more on the straightaway, but you're almost wide open in the corners. It was really bad and at the very end they took all the downforce off and gave us all our power back and did all that and it was pretty much unanimous from the drivers and if you watch the film with just two of us, it was awesome."
"It was like going back 15 years in time or something like that and know you could actually pass in the corners instead of worrying about drafting in the straightaway. You could get one guy on the bottom and one guy on the top, the air wasn't so turbulent that you couldn't get outside of people so the track got really wide.� It was like the track aged 10 years and it was awesome. Everybody got out with a smile on their face."
Kenseth's comments bring some optimism to your mind, don't they? Many clamor about how the racing was infinitely greater in the past, and while that may not be exactly true, we can all agree that there's room for improvement when it comes to Cup drivers' ability to pass. And many people�? see: Edwards, Carl�? have clamored for this combination for a while. If there's some tangible results to look at, the possibility needs to be seriously considered more than ever.
Jeff Burton was pragmatic about the possibility of any changes. But he was optimistic if Goodyear can find a tire with more grip.
?Every time we?ve taken downforce away and not put on a better tire on the car, it?s always been worse,? Burton told Popular Speed. ?The one thing we?ve never done is take downforce away and added extra grip with the tires and that?s what the drivers have been clamoring for.
?If Goodyear can build a softer tire ? one that will last and stay soft, then it is a viable option. My question is that I don?t know if they can. I feel like that?s something we need to look at if we can. If they don?t feel like they can, then that?s not going to work. If you?re going to take downforce away you have to find a way to get grip in them because history has told that story.?
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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!
Philippe Alliot Cliff Allison Fernando Alonso Giovanna Amati
Friday
Thoughts at the airport
Regular readers will know that the life of a Formula 1 reporter is one that tends to leave a trail of destruction, with children in odd places and residences that once had a purpose. I even have a very dead car sitting in a barn somewhere, next to box loads of F1-related documentation and other […]
Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2014/09/17/thoughts-at-the-airport/
Thursday
2014 Singapore Grand Prix fans? video gallery | 2014 Singapore Grand Prix
At Singapore F1 fans can get much closer than usual to the action. How close? Take a look at these videos from the race weekend and find out.
Source: http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2014/09/25/2014-singapore-grand-prix-fans-video-gallery/
George Connor George Constantine John Cordts David Coulthard
Wednesday
Tuesday
Monday
Fernando Alonso: ?I gave back one position because I thought that was more or less fair??
Fernando Alonso dropped from second to fourth after the safety car in Singapore, and yet the Spaniard still pronounced himself happy with how the weekend unfolded for Ferrari. His race started with a trip across the first corner, after which … Continue reading 
George Connor George Constantine John Cordts David Coulthard
Brad Keselowski earns pole for race at New Hampshire
Is Brad Keselowski setting up to go two-for-two at New Hampshire in 2014?
The 2012 Sprint Cup champion and winner of the first race of the 2014 Chase at Chicago on Sunday won the pole Friday at New Hampshire, site of the second race of the Chase.
In July, Keselowski led 138 laps and won at New Hampshire. Because of that win earlier in the year, six-time champion Jimmie Johnson called Keselowski's team the team to beat before Friday's qualifying session.
?Yeah, I would expect him to be in a similar position for two reasons," Johnson said. "One, he had so much more pace than the rest of the field here in the spring race that it?s hard to believe that everybody could cover that gap and get back to him. And then when we went to Richmond, which wasn?t too long ago as a short track and they had that form there, too. So, I?d definitely say those guys are tough to handle.?
Keselowski won at Richmond, the last race before the Chase. Johnson turned out to be prophetic for Friday. Will be prophetic for Sunday?
Jamie McMurray qualified second, three-hundredths of a second behind Keselowski. Kevin Harvick qualified third, while Denny Hamlin was fourth and Kyle Busch was fifth.
Here's how all 16 of the Chasers stack up for New Hampshire
1. Brad Keselowski
3. Kevin Harvick
4. Denny Hamlin
5. Kyle Busch
6. Jimmie Johnson
7. Joey Logano
8. Carl Edwards
9. Ryan Newman
11. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
13. Jeff Gordon
15. Kurt Busch
16. Matt Kenseth
17. Kasey Kahne
21. Aric Almirola
26. Greg Biffle
27. A.J. Allmendinger
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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!
Birabongse Bhanubandh Lucien Bianchi Gino Bianco Hans Binder
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