One of the most clever elements of ESPN's NASCAR coverage is its annual ad campaign, showing NASCAR drivers with the kind of absurdity that we love. Already this year we've seen Jimmie Johnson caring for a pricklebear and Carl Edwards contemplating cannibalism, and now we have Brad Keselowski triumphing over vast odds to continue winning. If winning were easy, losers would do it.
Saturday
Lewis Hamilton: ?There was no real benefit bombing around today??
Lewis Hamilton has put in some spectacular drives in the wet over the years, but today in Spa he was pretty subdued as he used the day to gain a little more knowledge about McLaren?s latest updates. Hamilton ran only … Continue reading 
Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2012/08/31/lewis-hamilton-there-was-no-real-benefit-bombing-around-today/
Friday
Paul Menard penalized 25 points; crew chief Slugger Labbe fined $100,000
Paul Menard and the Richard Childress Racing No. 27 team was docked 25 points for infractions found in post-race inspection at Michigan, and crew chief Slugger Labbe was fined $100,000 and suspended until October 3 for frame rail modifications.
According to the release from NASCAR, "The No. 27 team was found to be in violation of Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4K (race equipment that has been previously certified or previously approved by NASCAR for use in an event, pursuant to sub-section 8-12, has been altered, modified, repaired or changed in any manner. Intentionally modifying frame rails for the purpose of deceiving NASCAR's inspection gauges) of the 2012 NASCAR Rule Book."
Menard finished 9th at Michigan. The penalty dropped him from 15th to 16th in the points standings.
Car chief Craig Smokstad and crew member Grant Hutchens were also suspended until October 3 and both he and Labbe are on probation until the end of the year. Childress said that he was going to appeal the penalties, so until the appeals process is complete, Labbe will be on top of the pit box.
Thursday
Senna Looking To Maintain Williams Form
Bruno Senna is confidant that both he can impress at this weekend?s Belgian Grand Prix, and build on his recent upturn in form. The Brazilian finished seventh in Hungary, before the mid-season break, arguably his best performance of the season. He is now looking to put a good sequence of results together to guarantee his [...]
Lewis and McLaren
Time is ticking on and we are awaiting more driver announcements for 2013. Red Bull Racing is done, but beyond that there is plenty of room for manoeuvre, but very little obvious action. Felipe Massa’s future at Ferrari remains uncertain, but the big question for the Italian team is who would be best to drive [...]
Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2012/08/27/lewis-and-mclaren/
On The Ground: Grand-Am at IMS
Programming Note: I am awash with guilt because NASCAR and Grand-Am are receiving features on a website specifically devoted to indycar racing. However, this weekend?s events took place at our open wheel home so we were all paying a bit … Continue reading 
Source: http://anotherindycarblog.wordpress.com/2012/07/31/on-the-ground-grand-am-at-ims/
Wednesday
Denny Hamlin?s Bristol win was the 200th for No. 11
When he took the checkered flag Saturday night at Bristol, Denny Hamlin scored the 200th win for the No. 11 car in the Sprint Cup Series, the most wins for any car number.
Say what, you say? Doesn't Richard Petty have 200 wins? And didn't he drive the No. 43 car? Yes and yes. But Petty won 192 races in the 43; with six wins coming in the No. 41 and two in the No. 42 for Petty Enterprises. The No. 43 has 198 wins, and its last win was John Andretti at Martinsville in 1999.
That meant that Hamlin's win at Kansas earlier in the season pushed the No. 11 to the top of the list. The winningest driver in the No. 11 is Cale Yarborough, who scored 55 wins with the number and Ned Jarrett is second with 49. Heck, the entire roster of winners in the 11 is practically a who's who of racing history and includes five NASCAR Hall of Famers. Check it out:
Cale Yarborough, 55 wins
Ned Jarrett, 49 wins
Darrell Waltrip, 43 wins
Denny Hamlin, 20 wins
Junior Johnson, 11 wins
Bill Elliott 6 wins
Geoff Bodine, 4 wins
Terry Labonte, 4 wins
Bobby Allison, 3 wins
Buddy Baker, 2 wins
A.J. Foyt, 1 win
Mario Andretti, 1 win
Parnelli Jones, 1 win
At one point, it wasn't unfathomable to think that the No. 43 would never have been caught as the most victorious car number. But coupled with Hamlin's 20 wins in 6+ seasons and an over 12 year winless drought for the 43, it's reasonable to think that the No. 11 could extend it's lead and stay at the top of the list for a while. (The No. 3 is a distant third place with 97 wins.) What do you think? Will Hamlin keep racking up the wins or will the No. 43 get its mojo back in the near future and reclaim the top spot?
Earnhardt?s tires will be the difference at Michigan, Letarte believes
Letarte recently spoke with Frontstretch about the repave and the way it eliminated the high groove: "It is going to be years before you get back up to the wall again. You used to run up high because there was a little bit more banking and a little bigger radius to the corners, which was a little bit easier on your lateral load. Now that there is a tremendous amount of grip about one groove up, where there is the first groove with banking and that is where the preferred groove is. That is where you're going to see the majority of your cars." (That sounds like the threat of a one-groove track.)
On the plus side, Letarte noted that the cars have plenty of go: "I really think people underestimate just how much power we lose when we go to a restrictor plate track. We have a ton, a ton of power when we go to an open track."
Junior will be the odds-on favorite to repeat at Michigan. It won't be easy, but the fact that Letarte isn't taking anything for granted is a good sign for the 88's fans.
Danica Patrick?s day ends just after it begins at Watkins Glen
At Road America, the first Nationwide road course race of the season, Danica Patrick was in fourth on the final lap before getting spun into the gravel trap by Jacques Villeneuve. At Watkins Glen on Saturday, contact was the main storyline for Patrick once again. Except this time, it was on the first lap rather than the last one. And not only was it on the first lap, it was on the first turn.
[Related: Carl Edwards wins Nationwide race in first start this year]
As the field went into Turn 1 after taking the green flag, Ryan Truex got loose and slid into the grass on the inside of the downhill right-hander. As he attempted to gather the car up, he slid back onto the track, right into the path of Patrick and the rest of the field. And that was that for Patrick's chances. The damage to her front fender and radiator forced her to take the car to the garage. She finished dead last at 43rd.
It was Patrick's sixth DNF� (did not finish) in 21 starts this season. She has one top-10 finish.
As quoted in USA Today, "I wish I would have done it differently," said Patrick. "But that's the way accidents happen.
"It's unfortunate, because we really felt like we could have a strong finish... I just feel so bad," Patrick continued. "I wish it would've gone differently."
Carl Edwards ended up winning the race.
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Tuesday
Just what he needed? Carl Edwards wins Watkins Glen Nationwide race
Is this the catalyst for a charge to the Chase for Carl Edwards?
Edwards, making his first start of the season in the Nationwide Series, seized the lead from one-time nemesis Brad Keselowski after a restart with nine laps to go and then held off Keselowski on a furious two-lap dash for the win at Watkins Glen.
[Related: Danica crashes on first turn of first lap at The Glen]
After finishing second to Tony Stewart via wins at the end of last year's Sprint Cup season, Edwards decided not to run any Nationwide races this season to focus on the Sprint Cup Series. Last season, Edwards won eight races in 33 Nationwide Series starts.
"This is huge for us. ... It's nice to be in victory lane," Edwards said, as he rattled off his multitude of sponsors.
Through 21 races in the Cup Series, Edwards is 12th in the points standings, 60 points out of 10th. Plus, he's winless, so that means his likeliest way to the Chase is through victory lane, a place he hadn't been in since the October Charlotte Nationwide race. Yeah, his victory backflip, albeit successful, was admittedly a little ugly. But that's A-OK for Edwards, and it could be the boost he's looking for to go for the Cup championship again.
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Monday
Kyle Busch?s Wild Card chances take a hit after problems at Pocono
Kyle Busch's wild card chances dimmed when he hit the wall on Lap 19 of Sunday's Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono. After climbing from 20th to 10th, Busch had a part failure in the rear of the car that flattened the left-rear tire and he pancaked the Turn 1 wall.
"Just disintegrated a rear brake rotor and blew through the caliper after that, so going down into Turn 1, the fastest part of the racetrack and you have three wheel brakes it ain't too much fun," Busch said.
"But, just the way our year's been going. It's kind of our luck. I hate it for all these guys, everybody at M&Ms, but what do you do?"
When Busch had made those comments, his main competition for the second wildcard position were still Joey Logano and Ryan Newman, the other two drivers with a win between 11th and 20th in the standings. After the checkered flag flew, Jeff Gordon joined them in the one-win category, and for the time being, leapfrogged Busch, Logano and Newman for the final wild card spot.
Because of his ability to reel off wins in bunches, Busch has been considered to be the favorite for that second spot for some time. And despite myriad of parts failures, had been able to cling to the position. Now, after yet another mechanical miscue, he's on the outside looking in with five races to go.
After reeling off four straight top fives from Richmond to Charlotte, Busch hadn't finished any higher than 10th in seven races before last week's second place at Indianapolis, a finish that vaulted him to 11th in the points standings. However, Sunday's 33rd-place finish canceled it out and Busch is now 15th, 12 points behind both Gordon and Newman and 24 points ahead of Logano.
While Busch may not have seemed to optimistic after climbing out of the car on Sunday ? his comments sounded quite Tony Stewart-ish from Michigan of last year ? all isn't certainly lost, especially if the team doesn't have any reliability issues in the next five weeks. But now he's behind not one, but two direct competitors for the final Chase position.
On The Ground? IndyCar at Mid-Ohio
The Alarm was�supposed to wake up at 5:45 race morning so I could get a good start on the nearly four hour drive out to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the Honda Indy 200. Instead, the most intense lightning … Continue reading 
Source: http://anotherindycarblog.wordpress.com/2012/08/09/on-the-ground-indycar-at-mid-ohio/
Jeff Gordon was really unhappy with Dale Earnhardt Jr. in Michigan
Everything was going so well for Jeff Gordon. He'd been charging forward for the last few months, working his way up the standings from joke to afterthought to respectable competitor to wild-card holder. Then came last week and a spin at oily Watkins Glen, and then Sunday at Michigan, when absolutely nothing went right.
As you can hear in the video above, Gordon was furious at Dale Earnhardt Jr. for hard racing ... much to Earnhardt's surprise. The issue, apparently, was how Earnhardt was handling restarts:
[Related: Danica Patrick hits a shoe while leading Montreal Nationwide race]
"He took me four-wide [on the restart] and that wasn't that big of a deal, but then he slid up in front of me off of Turn 2, and I had to check up or I would have wrecked all of us," Gordon said afterward. "So, I just didn't think that it was the smartest thing to do, especially as teammates. But, he chose to do it and that's fine. It all worked out. I don't care who I'm racing out there; I'm going to show my displeasure if I'm not happy about something. But that one was pretty close; but no big deal. I'm glad to see he's running good. Those guys have really got their car dialed-in here at Michigan this year."
Quality response by Gordon, especially considering he was off the track soon afterward for unrelated engine issues, and a smart one for the long term. Chances are this "feud" is already over and done with, but still ... makes for some good radio, yes?
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Sunday
Relive Montreal?s best finishes
The Nationwide Series race at Montreal has quickly become such a highlight since the track's NASCAR debut in 2007. So much so, in fact, that there's significant clamoring for the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve to host a Sprint Cup Series race, especially as the friendly sentiment for road course racing has grown in the wake of Sunday's crazy last lap at Watkins Glen.
The track, which has hosted Formula 1 races since 1978 is scenically located in the midst of the St. Lawrence River and thanks to the tight corners and long straightaways, has translated incredibly well to stock cars. Really incredibly well.
So, in honor of Saturday's race, here are some of the best Montreal finishes, including Boris Said beating Max Papis to the line in 2010, Carl Edwards capitalizing on Marcos Ambrose's mistake in 2009, and, of course, Robby Gordon's meltdown in 2007. Enjoy!
New and Used Smart Cars: A Very Smart Option for Car Buyers!
If you?re looking for a used Mercedes for sale and if, on a day-to-day basis, you are really focused on city driving and would love to minimise the hassle when trying to find a parking space on the crowded city streets ? you should consider looking at the Smart range. These stylish and attractive compact [...]
Source: http://www.autocarblog.co.uk/283-new-and-used-smart-cars-a-very-smart-option-for-car-buyers.html
Fred Agabashian Kurt Ahrens Jr Christijan Albers Michele Alboreto
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