Indy Car Info: 6/3/12

Saturday

Ryan Newman nearly takes out Clint Bowyer?s crew

This almost got ugly. Ryan Newman was peeling out of his pit box when he nearly took out Clint Bowyer's crew. It was an understandable mistake, of course, with Bowyer coming in right on his right side and leaving him no room to move. Fortunately, no harm done other than some terrified crewmen.

You'll recall that Newman's crew went insane over Kurt Busch almost running them over at Darlington. Think Bowyer's crew will have a similar response?

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/ryan-newman-nearly-takes-clint-bowyer-crew-201240183.html

Lorenzo Bandini Henry Banks Fabrizio Barbazza John Barber

Video: Prepare for the Coca-Cola 600 right here!

It's time for the longest race of the year! Who's the favorite, who's likely to blow up? Your favorite Yahoo! Sports Jays, Hart and Busbee, hazard a few guesses here. Will engines survive? Will tempers fray? Can anybody outrun Jimmie Johnson? All this and more, right here. Enjoy.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/video-prepare-coca-cola-600-135143813.html

Luki Botha JeanChristophe Boullion Sebastien Bourdais Thierry Boutsen

Join us for the latest Yahoo! Sports NASCAR live chat, Tuesday at 1pm ET

Time again for another Yahoo! Sports NASCAR chat. You'd better ask good questions, or we'll come over there and beat the Busch out of you. Festivities begin at 1 pm ET; join us, won't you?

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/join-us-latest-yahoo-sports-nascar-live-chat-144716941.html

Derek Daly Christian Danner Jorge Daponte Anthony Davidson

Inside ROP: Katherine Legge

Source: http://www.16thandgeorgetown.com/2012/05/inside-rop-katherine-legge.html

Jo Bonnier Roberto Bonomi Juan Manuel Bordeu Slim Borgudd

Playing Find duh IndyCar ?Live? stream

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nofenders/zbjv/~3/OfF5OgBT3rU/playing-find-duh-indycar-live-stream.html

Fernando Alonso Giovanna Amati George Amick Red Amick

Friday

2012 Misano World Supersport FP1 Results: Parkes Steals Honours From Lowes

Misano was a little overcast but dry. It didn't take long for the usual suspects to post the faster times. Ten minutes in and last year's winner Broc Parkes, Sam Lowes and Kenan Sofuoglu were the fastest men on track, and the first into the 1'41s.

Ronan Quarmby and Jules Cluzel managed similar times shortly after. When Fabien Foret joined the top men in the 1'41s, Lowes and Sofuoglu bumped it up a notch and settled into the 1'40s where they were promptly joined by Parkes and Cluzel.

With a few minutes remaining, Lowes and Parkes both posted 1'39s, but it would be Broc Parkes that took the fastest time of the session with a 1'39.902.

Results:

Race Details

Round Number:

2012

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MotoGPMatters/~3/9ZFD6UnLgSQ/2012_misano_world_supersport_fp1_results.html

Giancarlo Baghetti Julian Bailey Mauro Baldi Bobby Ball

Notes From A Small Island: The 2012 Isle of Man TT

A crash at 142mph is fairly reasonable in anyone's book. At Mugello, Silverstone, Brno it would be noted and not given a second thought. A slide across the track, maybe, and into some welcoming gravel. On Mona's Isle, however, it is a different story.

Simon Andrews crashed at that speed on Saturday. He misjudged his velocity on the entry to Graham Memorial and ran out of two-lane blacktop. After hitting a bank and laying in the road for probably longer than was entirely necessary, he was taken to hospital with nothing more than a broken ankle, wrist, shoulder and blood in his eyes. He should be dead.

But this is the Isle of Man. A place where Giacomo Agostini raced Mike Hailwood raced Phil Read, once upon a time. It was a Grand Prix. Not so now as the dangers of the place proved too much and Barry Sheene, who did just one lap of the place on a 125, was instrumental in it being removed from the calendar.

Heroes are made here. But they are only heroes in certain places. John McGuinness has now won 19 TT races. Those who follow MotoGP in Spain will have no idea who the man is but McPint does six laps of the 37.73-mile circuit at average speed of 129mph. Read it again. Average speed. On normal roads. His lap record is 131.5mph and tomorrow it will fall, so long as the rain doesn't intervene.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MotoGPMatters/~3/AEP2IdlPheA/notes_from_a_small_island_the_2012_isle_.html

Alberto Crespo Antonio Creus Larry Crockett Tony Crook

Day 3 Wrap Up And Photos

Source: http://www.16thandgeorgetown.com/2012/05/day-3-wrapup.html

Richard Attwood Manny Ayulo Luca Badoer Giancarlo Baghetti

Leaving McLaren?

There are some fairly wild reports floating about that Lewis Hamilton could leave McLaren before the end of this year. This makes no sense at all. This is a season of ups and downs for different drivers, with no major winners and no major losers. Six different drivers have won the first six races and [...]

Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2012/06/02/leaving-mclaren/

Giorgio Bassi Erwin Bauer Zsolt Baumgartner Elie Bayol

INDYCAR sets aero kit commitment deadline for May 25

Source: http://www.popoffvalve.com/2012/5/24/3041265/indycar-sets-aero-kit-commitment-deadline-for-may-25

Jim Clark† Kevin Cogan Peter Collins Bernard Collomb

Thursday

Brooklyn Decker and Danica Patrick hung out together before the Coca-Cola 600

Despite being a North Carolina native, Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 was Brooklyn Decker's first NASCAR race and she spent the afternoon before giving the command hanging with Danica Patrick, and taking a pace car ride around Charlotte Motor Speedway as a guest of the race's sponsor.

Patrick and Decker, the 2010 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover model, first met when Patrick posed for the 2008 Swimsuit issue. That appearance, plus Patrick's multitude of GoDaddy ads and other endorsements, have made her the transcendent (and polarizing) figure that she is. On Sunday, Decker said that she respected Patrick's cross-market appeal.

"So the fact that she can transcend demographics and fans and people who aren't maybe a fan of the sport ? who are just a fan of her ? I think she brings people to the sport and I think if anything that shows her strength in the sport," Decker said.

"A, I think the fact that she's a woman and B, the fact that she uses (status as a public figure) to be a woman, she isn't shying away from that and I think that's really impressive. And I think the attention that she's brought to the sport and to herself as an idol and as a driver, I think it's to be respected."

Decker also said that she'd pick Patrick to be her hypothetical getaway driver (a question that's a From the Marbles interview staple), because while she may be a huge name, she also has the ability to blend in.

"I would say Danica, A because I know her and I feel like we could have some of that ? we could make hand signals and know what we're talking about," Decker said. "And also I think she could be a little bit ? you could put a baseball cap on her and people would just think she's just a college student walking around. We could hide easily."

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/brooklyn-decker-danica-patrick-hung-together-coca-cola-223114468.html

Francois Cevert Eugene Chaboud Jay Chamberlain Karun Chandhok

Rosberg answers critics in emphatic style

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/04/rosberg_answers_critics_in_emp.html

Jack Brabham† Bill Brack Ernesto Brambilla Vittorio Brambilla

Did lapped cars cost Ryan Truex a win on Saturday?

During the final laps of Saturday's Nationwide race, eventual race winner Joey Logano was closing in on teammate and race leader Ryan Truex. But while Logano was closing, and closing fast, it wasn't a guarantee that he was going to get to Truex's rear bumper before the checkered flag flew.

And then lapped traffic happened. In turns 1 and 2 on lap 194, Truex, chasing his first Nationwide Series win at the site of his older brother's only Sprint Cup Series win, came up quickly on the cars of Jamie Dick and Brad Teague, who were both multiple laps down and off the pace.

Truex, who was battling a loose racecar over the closing laps, saw his momentum blunted as he threaded in between the lapped cars. That was Logano's chance. He was able to close in on Truex and zipped by, easily taking the win.

Dick finished the race six laps down while Teague was 10 laps down. So, no, they weren't battling for position. Should they have been two-wide at that point in the race? Yes, Truex caught them in an awkward spot, but at what point should lapped cars move over for the race leaders?

Or should they not move over at all, and was the events that led to Logano's pass for the lead "one of them racin' deals?" Drop us a line in the comments.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/did-lapped-cars-cost-ryan-truex-win-saturday-133605767.html

Bob Christie Johnny Claes David Clapham Jim Clark†

Ryan Newman nearly takes out Clint Bowyer?s crew

You'll recall that Newman's crew went insane over Kurt Busch almost running them over at Darlington. Think Bowyer's crew will have a similar response?

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/ryan-newman-nearly-takes-clint-bowyer-crew-201240183.html

Chris Amon Bob Anderson Conny Andersson Mario Andretti

Red Bull forced to remove floor holes for Canada

As expected the FIA has clamped down on the controversial Red Bull floor by clarifying its position and stating that the holes in front of the RB8?s rear wheels are not permitted. The ruling, given via the traditional route of … Continue reading →

Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2012/06/02/red-bull-forced-to-remove-floor-holes-for-canada/

Johnny Boyd David Brabham Gary Brabham Jack Brabham†

Wednesday

Create-a-caption: Danica, I think I see your problem

Here's what's left of Danica Patrick's car after Sunday's Nationwide race. Create your best caption right here. (And no hack "women drivers" lines. You're better than that.)

After the jump, we observe Jimmie Johnson's unconventional pit road strategy.

Furiousd:
Jimbot: "Pit entrance processing error404. Pit entrance processing error404. Pit entrance processing error404"

Kevin H.:
"Just gettin' her ready for inspection, boys. Be there in a bit!"

Kingsharky:
Hey Jimmie, we'd love to get down and shake your hand, but Kurt Busch is still loose. It's just not safe yet, man.

Kingsharky

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/create-caption-danica-think-see-problem-122131762.html

Chris Craft Jim Crawford Ray Crawford Alberto Crespo

There is, alas, a speed limit on the Jeff Gordon Expressway

Jeff Gordon has his very own highway! On Friday, North Carolina and Mecklenburg County officials dedicated a 1.6-mile section, or about the distance Gordon had left to win Martinsville this year before getting taken out, of Interstate 85 in Gordon's honor. The section of the highway will run from the city of Charlotte to the Cabarrus County line.

"I'm going to have a big smile on my face because I travel on that road every week," said Gordon, who was the first non-North Carolina native NASCAR driver to have a state road named in his honor.� "Every time I see that sign, I'm going to smile and be very proud of this moment. ? Not every day you have an expressway named after you."

Gordon joins Richard Petty, Junior Johnson, Dale Earnhardt, and Benny Parsons as NASCAR drivers with North Carolina roads or highways named in their honor. How awesome would it be if he got a speeding ticket on his own highway?

And now, since we're an environmentally sensitive blog, we're going to recycle some of the jokes from the first time we ran this story. Join us, won't you, in speculating what the highways named for other drivers would look like. For instance:

? The Tony Stewart Expressway, naturally, would run right through the drive-thru of a Burger King.

? The Jimmie Johnson Freeway would actually be the fastest, most efficient route to get to your destination, but people would still bitch and say that the old-timey cracked-pavement roads were much better.

? The Dale Earnhardt Jr. Expressway would start out smoothly enough, but strangely, your exit that's only supposed to be a mile away never seems to get any closer ...

? The Kurt Busch Freeway would get you almost to your destination, then put you right into a wall and force you to rent a far cheaper car to go the distance.

And...you're up!

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/alas-speed-limit-jeff-gordon-expressway-174354072.html

Eric Bernard Enrique Bernoldi Enrico Bertaggia Tony Bettenhausen

2012 Catalunya MotoGP Test Round Up: Progress For Some, But Honda Hampered By New Bridgestone

Timesheets don't tell you everything. That much is clear from looking at the results of Monday's MotoGP test after the race. After a race weekend where everything has been focused solely on going faster than the others, the finishing order is not quite as important during testing. Cal Crutchlow summed it up perfectly: "You know when a test is just a test when the race winner by 5 seconds is 7th or 8th. So you can't take anything from today's results."

Crutchlow's day did not start off as planned. The Englishman had a 200 km/h crash on the way into turn 4, which completely wrote off his bike and took a good deal of skin off his shoulders and leg. Crutchlow said it was entirely his own fault, but it is not an unusual crash at Barcelona, as Andrea Dovizioso explained. "I had exactly the same crash in FP1 two or three years ago," he said. The problem is caused by the bridge which runs over the track, which provides just enough shade that when a track is drying after the rain, a few wet spots can still remain, but these are impossible to differentiate from the dry tarmac.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MotoGPMatters/~3/swRQw079cxo/2012_catalunya_motogp_test_round_up_prog.html

Adolf Brudes Martin Brundle Gianmaria Bruni Jimmy Bryan

How Webber turned tables on Vettel

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/04/how_webber_turned_tables_on_ve.html

Luciano Burti Roberto Bussinello Jenson Button Tommy Byrne

Tuesday

2012 Catalunya Moto2 And Moto3 Sunday Post-Race Press Releases

Press releases from the Moto2 and Moto3 teams after the races at Barcelona on Sunday:

Year:

2012

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MotoGPMatters/~3/JP2snovcHag/2012_catalunya_moto2_and_moto3_sunday_po.html

Jack Brabham† Bill Brack Ernesto Brambilla Vittorio Brambilla

Robby Gordon?s Stadium Super Trucks Series: Awesome thing or awesomest thing?

We haven't seen Robby Gordon much around the ol' track this year, and this is a major reason why: he's launching Robby Gordon's Stadium Super Trucks Series in 2013. It's a whole new offroading experience: offroading in a stadium. (What? There aren't any roads in a stadium.)

"Stadium racing helped Jimmie Johnson, Casey Mears and myself launch our careers," Gordon said in a promotional stop this week. "SST offers attractive racing venues, remarkable track designs, substantial purse, and opportunity for network TV a lot like NASCAR because you can visualize the whole track."

The series will kick off next year with a 10-race slate to include stops in Los Angeles and San Diego. Each race will be a two-day event, featuring qualifying, heat racing and showdowns as the sun sets on Saturday night. Both Bigfoot trucks and SSTs, featuring stock parts and 600-hp engines, will race in various events. Drivers will draw numbers at each track, so they won't race the same truck each race.

Gordon noted that each race will have a $60,000 purse, with money going to the top 3 finishers, and the overall series champion will pocket a cool $500,000.

With its fan-friendly angle, SST is clearly looking to fill the "NASCAR doesn't care about us" niche in the hearts of racing fans. And given Gordon's perpetual outsider status, he could well be onto something. Starting a new race series in this economic climate seems borderline insane, but then "borderline insane" could be the title of Gordon's biography. We'll be watching this one closely.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/robby-gordon-stadium-super-trucks-series-awesome-thing-195212751.html

Fernando Alonso Giovanna Amati George Amick Red Amick

INDYCAR: Power Rankings (Detroit)

Source: http://www.popoffvalve.com/2012/5/31/3054525/indycar-power-rankings-detroit

Bernard Collomb Alberto Colombo Erik Comas Franco Comotti

Opening Day Wrap Up

Source: http://www.16thandgeorgetown.com/2012/05/opening-day-wrapup.html

Martin Donnelly Carlo Abate George Abecassis Kenny Acheson

Inappropriate Twitter name makes it onscreen during ?Wind Tunnel?

Mistakes happen.

It's what we tell ourselves, anyway, and speaking from NASCAR Live Chat experience, you sometimes don't know that you've let in something a tad inappropriate until it's a little too late.

That's what happened on Sunday night's episode of "Wind Tunnel." Dave Despain and Larry McReynolds were taking questions from Twitter, and when they went to answer the final question (about drivers and anger issues, of course), well, you can see from the picture above that it's highly unlikely that Mr. McGee is using his given name.

Video can be found here. Props to Despain for catching himself and rolling right along with it as he's reading the teleprompter. But how in the world did McReynolds not react? That's either the greatest stifle of amusement in history or he totally missed it.

(H/T Deadspin)

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/inappropriate-twitter-name-makes-onscreen-during-wind-tunnel-014632474.html

Eric Brandon Don Branson Tom Bridger Tony Brise

Monday

Blue Crown Spark Plug Specials (Part 4)

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nofenders/zbjv/~3/M9HxbbpFvDA/blue-crown-spark-plug-specials-part-4.html

Mario Andretti Michael Andretti Keith Andrews Elio de Angelis

My dinner with Buck

Source: http://www.popoffvalve.com/2012/5/24/3040951/nascar-my-dinner-with-buck-baker

Harry Blanchard Michael Bleekemolen Alex Blignaut Trevor Blokdyk

Power Rankings: Jimmie Johnson retakes the throne

The race is done, and that means it's time for Power Rankings. Each week throughout the season, we'll size up who's rising and who's falling, based on current standings, behind-the-scenes changes, expected staying power, recent history and general gut feelings. It is not scientific, nor is it meant to be. And remember, whoever your favorite driver is, we're biased against him and like someone else better. We continue with a guy who knows his way around the top of the charts...

1. Jimmie Johnson: Seriously, was there any doubt? And there also should be no doubt that Johnson is, at this moment, the favorite to win the 2012 Sprint Cup championship. Yes, I know it's May, but we're all about the snap judgment around these parts. And if we're wrong, we'll pretend we never said this. But right now, it doesn't look like we're gonna be wrong. Last week: 3.

2. Matt Kenseth: You think Kenseth was getting a wee bit nervous Saturday night after seeing his two teammates' cars explode? Yeah, probably. But he must've fed the hamsters in his engine better than Edwards and Biffle did theirs. Still, the dude got himself a segment win and a $50K check. Use it to pay for a new engine. Last week: 1.

3. Greg Biffle: Time again to consider how in the heck NASCAR drivers do what they do, and how you and I would absolutely freak if we were in their firesuits for even a minute. If your engine exploded and your car was full of smoke the way Biff's was on Saturday night, you'd be traumatized and telling that story for the rest of your life. Biffle? He'd forgotten it by the time he got back to his RV. Last week: 2.

4. Kyle Busch: For just a moment it looked like we were going to have a great Kyle-JJ battle there for the first segment. And then Vader shut the door on Kyle, and that was that. But if Kyle does manage to catch up to Johnson on a regular basis, it'd be one hell of a Hobson's Choice for the fans who hate both of 'em. Last week: 4.

5. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: We called it last week: Junior won not just once, but twice at the All-Star race, and yet the streak persists. BUT THIS MEANS HE HAS MOMENTUM GOING INTO THE COCA-COLA 600 AND SO HE'S GOING TO ... aw, I can't even fake it. If he wins, he wins. Last week: 6.

Carl Edwards 6. Brad Keselowski: I'm frankly a little disappointed that @Kes didn't come up with some kind of rock-n-roll strategic mojo to figure out how to catch up to Jimmie Johnson in the final 10-lap shootout. If Keselowski couldn't figure out a way to catch him, that's not good news for the anti-48 crowd. Last week: 7.

7. Tony Stewart: You gotta love Stewart. When asked about his setup at the All-Star race, he basically said that the only thing they learned was never ever to bring that car to Charlotte again. I bet the guy would be the best boss in the world to work for, as long as he was attacking somebody else. Last week: 5.

8. Kasey Kahne: The early-season woes of Kahne appear to be over and done with, as he's putting together solid run after solid run. He missed out on the third segment win by the width of this sentence. Would he have been able to catch Johnson? Probably not, but the fact that he had the chance is worlds removed from this spring. Last week: 10.

9. Denny Hamlin. Nice run for Hamlin this weekend; he challenged for one of the segment wins and didn't embarrass himself, which is really all most of us want out of life. I don't really know what else to say about Hamlin here, so I'll say this: I get a fair amount of FedEx packages delivered to me. Waiting for the driver to emerge from the truck is always like Christmas morning, with the possibility of disappointment ... please be a new golf club, please be a new golf club, AW SHOOT it's a small package. Last week: 9.

10. Martin Truex Jr.: Tough go for Truex, as he couldn't transfer into the main event Saturday night. And he's got to be thanking heaven that the other Junior's non-winning streak is still getting so much attention, because once it ends, Truex, who hasn't won in FIVE years, is the one on the hot (or cold, very very cold) seat. Last week: 8.

11. Carl Edwards: I'm not going to lie, I like Carl Edwards doing the broadcast thing when he wrecks out of a race. Sure, he does have that just-a-bit-too-smooth sound to his voice, but it's a nice counterpoint to the start-the-banjos-and-cook-the-possum twang of the Waltrips. Last week: 11.

12. Kevin Harvick: Paul Menard peeled the lid back on Harvick as a teammate over the weekend, noting that Harvick has shown him no respect even though they're teammates. I wonder what the RCR Christmas parties are like. This year's going to be an awkward one, yes? Last week: 12.

Lucky Dog: Bobby Labonte. Wait, Bobby Labonte won the fan vote? Over The (former) Beard? How the heck did that happen? Great news for LaBobby, though. You think he's still got enough to warrant another big-time ride? Maybe yes, maybe no, but he's not embarrassing himself.

The Jeff Gordon DNF: Jeff Burton, Jamie McMurray, Truex and all the other cats who couldn't quite transfer into the main event. Race better next time, dudes!

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/power-rankings-jimmie-johnson-retakes-throne-142013666.html

Pedro Matos Chaves Bill Cheesbourg Eddie Cheever Andrea Chiesa