Steve Addington named crew chief for Tony Stewart?s team

In a move that could legitimately qualify as NASCAR karma, Steve Addington, former crew chief for Kurt Busch, will take over the same position for reigning Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Jo -- oh, wait, sorry, Tony Stewart. (Going to take a little getting used to, that.)

Anyway, in all seriousness, Addington has just been named the crew chief for Stewart's No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 team, effective right now. Addington won 16 Sprint Cup-level races while crewing for both Kyle Busch (12 wins) and Kurt Busch (4 wins), and if you heard any of Kurt Busch's radio transmissions, you know that Addington must have either alligator-thick skin or selective deafness. In his career, Addington has also crewed for J.J. Yeley and Bobby Labonte.

Addington marks only the third crew chief Stewart has had in his championship career, after Greg Zipadelli and Darian Grubb, and to hear Stewart say it (at least in a press release), all will work out just fine: "I know Steve well and I know how he goes about setting up a racecar. My comfort level with him is already strong. He balances the technical part of our sport with the real-world experiences we get at the track, and that will allow for a smooth transition as we prepare to defend our title in 2012."

[Related: Power Rankings: Tony Stewart goes tops with exceptional Chase run

Of course, Grubb's status as fired-but-not-yet-gone crew chief was the most uncomfortable element of last week's championship celebrations. Stewart refused to give Grubb a vote of confidence even as the confetti was still flying.

"Darian was a very important part of the success we've had at Stewart-Haas Racing," Stewart said in a statement. "I'm very proud of everything he helped accomplish, especially this year when we all rallied to win the championship. He's a great person and I know he'll continue to be successful in this sport."

Just prior to the release of the announcement, Rick Hendrick confirmed that he has been in discussion with Grubb and has offered him an engineering position, since there are currently no open crew-chief jobs at HMS. But Hendrick added that Grubb has "a lot of offers."

You know, Grubb is a crew chief in search of a job. And we can now think of at least one driver who's in need of a crew chief, can't we?

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/blog/from_the_marbles/post/Steve-Addington-named-crew-chief-for-Tony-Stewar?urn=nascar-wp5439

Johnny Claes David Clapham Jim Clark† Kevin Cogan

Create-a-caption: Get a spatula for this Stewart fan

Hey! Fella! Wake up! Your boy won! Somebody caption this fine Getty Images photo of a Tony Stewart fan at Homestead. Before? After? Who knows?

After the jump, Stewart tries to get into Carl Edwards' head ... and we all know how that turned out, don't we?

Dick Smothers:
Carl: "I know it's you that keeps tapping me on the shoulder, Tony."

Joshua:
Even the media room showed how serious the owners were about putting progressive banking everywhere at Phoenix International Raceway.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/blog/from_the_marbles/post/Create-a-caption-Get-a-spatula-for-this-Stewart?urn=nascar-wp5489

Fred Agabashian Kurt Ahrens Jr Christijan Albers Michele Alboreto

Photographer's Blog: Working With the �ber-Talented Rich Lee

My attention was drawn to Rich Lee's MotoGP illustrations some time ago when I stumbled across his work on Facebook. As a long-time graphic designer who has worked with many illustrators, I am often amazed at what folks like Rich are able to do: draw! I can't draw at all. Not even a little bit. Just ask my 7-yr old daughter. "That doesn't look very good, Daddy." Seriously, you'd think a half-way decent dog would be pretty easy to draw. Perhaps I'm a photographer so that I can take a picture of a dog that looks just like a dog. 

As a designer I'm also very familiar with the software digital illustrators use to turn their sketches into finished art. I use them for my own projects at a level that doesn't come close to that of which these applications are capable, so when I see a skilled illustrator do the kind of shading and detail evident in Rich's work I'm further amazed and humbled.

read more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MotoGPMatters/~3/He6Yldii_ig/photographer_s_blog_working_with_the_ber.html

Felice Bonetto Jo Bonnier Roberto Bonomi Juan Manuel Bordeu

RIP Jim Rathmann

Source: http://www.16thandgeorgetown.com/2011/11/rip-jim-rathmann.html

Ernesto Brambilla Vittorio Brambilla Toni Branca Gianfranco Brancatelli

2012 World Superbike Test Dates Announced - Testing Added To Australian, Spanish, Italian And Russian WSBK Rounds

Infront Motor Sports, organizers of the World Superbike series, have announced the official test dates for the 2012 WSBK season. As part of the cost-cutting initiatives which are now a ubiquitous part of motorcycle racing, testing for the WSBK series has been linked to races, rather than at separate tests, with the aim of reducing travel and transport expenses.

The first test is the traditional pre-season test at Phillip Island, taking place on the Monday and Tuesday before the 2012 season season opener at the Australian circuit. The following test is at Imola, on the Monday after the race at the legendary Italian track at the beginning of April. The Spanish WSBK round at the Motorland Aragon circuit in July also features a test on the Monday after the race, while the teams will get a one-day test - in effect, an extra day of practice - ahead of the inaugural Russian round of World Superbikes at the Moscow Raceway being built just outside the Russian capital.

Below is the press release from Infront announcing the test dates:

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SBK official 2012 tests dates announced

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MotoGPMatters/~3/Zfflnw6VVDo/2012_world_superbike_test_dates_announce.html

Louis Chiron Joie Chitwood Bob Christie Johnny Claes

More troubles on the streets of Bahrain

There is a certain irony in the fact that on the day that the FIA World Council voted to have the Bahrain Grand Prix on the 2012 F1 calendar, there was more serious trouble on the streets of Manama, with the Bahraini security forces firing tear gas and rubber bullets as hundreds of anti-government protesters [...]

Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2011/12/07/more-troubles-on-the-streets-of-bahrain/

Paolo Barilla Rubens Barrichello Michael Bartels Edgar Barth

MILLER: Barnhart out of Race Control; Angstadt resigns

Source: http://www.popoffvalve.com/2011/11/29/2599530/miller-barnhart-out-of-race-control-angstadt-fired

Gerhard Berger Eric Bernard Enrique Bernoldi Enrico Bertaggia

2011 Jerez Combined WSBK And Moto2 Test Press Releases - BMW And Marc VDS Racing

Press releases from the BMW World Superbike team and the Marc VDS Racing MotoGP team, in which Marc VDS rave about the Kalex, and BMW emphasize that it is their own electronics they have been working on:

Year: 

2011

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MotoGPMatters/~3/u8cVy0RWUAg/2011_jerez_combined_wsbk_and_moto2_test_.html

Andrea de Cesaris Francois Cevert Eugene Chaboud Jay Chamberlain

Matt Kenseth will wreck you in absolutely anything, anywhere

Check out Matt Kenseth racing Green Machines at Travis Air Force Base as part of a Gatorade promotion. The lucky fellow who won the chance to race Kenseth could have taken a lesson from Brian Vickers: you never, ever wreck Flatline with time still left in the race.

Yep, it's the offseason. How long till Daytona, again?

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/blog/from_the_marbles/post/Matt-Kenseth-will-wreck-you-in-absolutely-anythi?urn=nascar-wp5640

Giulio Cabianca Phil Cade Alex Caffi John CampbellJones

Jerez Test Photos, Part 2 - More From The Aprilia, And Some Riders Too

Bradley Smith and Tom Jojic got Guy Coulon's handiwork up to speed, improving by nearly a second over the three days of the test

They're pretty handy with aluminium in Buckingham

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MotoGPMatters/~3/1JOG0QsnYW8/jerez_test_photos_part_2_more_from_the_a.html

Alex Blignaut Trevor Blokdyk Mark Blundell Raul Boesel

A Twisted Holiday - Veteran?s Day...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nofenders/zbjv/~3/BjkzoihA9fg/twisted-holiday-veterans-day.html

Johnny Claes David Clapham Jim Clark† Kevin Cogan

Lewis Hamilton centre stage in F1's Indian adventure

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2011/10/hamilton_takes_centre_stage_in.html

Christijan Albers Michele Alboreto Jean Alesi Jaime Alguersuari

AUTOS: Chevrolet turns 100 - Again...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nofenders/zbjv/~3/bIwmrJcepjY/autos-chevrolet-turns-100-again.html

JeanDenis Deletraz Patrick Depailler Pedro Diniz Duke Dinsmore

Photographer's Blog: Working With the �ber-Talented Rich Lee

My attention was drawn to Rich Lee's MotoGP illustrations some time ago when I stumbled across his work on Facebook. As a long-time graphic designer who has worked with many illustrators, I am often amazed at what folks like Rich are able to do: draw! I can't draw at all. Not even a little bit. Just ask my 7-yr old daughter. "That doesn't look very good, Daddy." Seriously, you'd think a half-way decent dog would be pretty easy to draw. Perhaps I'm a photographer so that I can take a picture of a dog that looks just like a dog. 

As a designer I'm also very familiar with the software digital illustrators use to turn their sketches into finished art. I use them for my own projects at a level that doesn't come close to that of which these applications are capable, so when I see a skilled illustrator do the kind of shading and detail evident in Rich's work I'm further amazed and humbled.

read more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MotoGPMatters/~3/He6Yldii_ig/photographer_s_blog_working_with_the_ber.html

Dave Charlton Pedro Matos Chaves Bill Cheesbourg Eddie Cheever