Source: http://www.autocarblog.co.uk/407-do-your-bets-to-make-nyc-trip-stylish.html
Saturday
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 [...]
Joey Gase?s car gets lifted off the ground after hard hit from Brad Sweet in Nationwide practice
Joey Gase took a big impact from Brad Sweet after he stopped on the track to stay out of the way of Brad Teague's car during Nationwide Series practice on Friday at Bristol.
Gase was on the backstretch pointed diagonally towards the inside wall after trying to avoid Teague's spinning car. Sweet saw Gase's car coming off of turn two, but when he stabbed the brakes, he hit them a little too hard and they locked up. That sent Sweet's car careening into Gase's.
The impact basically obliterated the back end of Gase's car and the front end of Sweet's. (Kevin Harvick sustained some minor damage in the incident.) Sweet, driving for JR Motorsports, has a backup car. Gase, driving for Hamilton Means Racing, a team that shows up to the track most every week but scrapes to get by, didn't. That means he won't get to race on Saturday.
Nationwide driver Jeremy Clements suspended for unknown comments
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.
Oven-ready Red Bull?
In a hot and very humid practice session in Sepang on Saturday afternoon, Sebastian Vettel showed that while the Red Bull team might struggle to keep up the pace over a series of laps, the cars certainly have one-lap pace. The World Champion ended the third session a tenth faster than Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes, which [...]
Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2013/03/23/oven-ready-red-bull/
JeanChristophe Boullion Sebastien Bourdais Thierry Boutsen Johnny Boyd
Friday
Wikipedia and IndyCar Need Our Help!
For better or worse, Wikipedia is the largest public information repository to be found anywhere on the internet; all of it is all user created and maintained. In some eyes, wiki has a poor reputation, but sometimes with good reason. … Continue reading 
Source: http://anotherindycarblog.wordpress.com/2013/02/07/wikipedia-and-indycar-need-our-help/
Jenson Button: ?We won?t be fighting at the front??
Jenson Button expects McLaren to have a better weekend in Malaysia than in Australia, thanks to the smoother nature of the circuit. The team?s big weakness was its inability to run the car as low as desired, due to the … Continue reading 
Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2013/03/21/jenson-button-we-wont-be-fighting-at-the-front/
Some Advice For Christmas
There was an article in the Charlotte Observer last week�about a woman named Christmas Abbott who is attempting to become a tire changer. She’s being supported in her effort by Turner Motorsports and is being coached by veteran jackman and coach Shaun Peet and the guys at Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR and Turner have a [...] 
TheNASCARInsiders.com
Follow the Insiders on Twitter or be a fan on Facebook!
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNascarInsiders/~3/527IvTHlEAI/
Saved From Destruction: Historic Racing Photographs, circa ?60s-?80s
Hello and welcome back, again! Long time readers of this blog know that I am quite the racing history junkie and today we will indulge ourselves with some lost photos. I have a friend who recovered these pictures from a … Continue reading 
Thursday
Power Rankings: Wait, is it still 2012?
A new year means a new set of Power Rankings! After every race, we'll opine about who we think is at the top of the Sprint Cup heap and how and why they got there. Remember, this isn't scientific, as our formula is the perfect blend of analytics and bias against your favorite driver. So let's get on with it, shall we?
6. Kasey Kahne (LW: NR): Congratulations on your first Power Rankings appearance of the season, Mr. Kahne. I have a feeling you'll be here a while. We know how good Kahne has been throughout his career at intermediate tracks. He led a race-high 114 laps on Sunday. You want to draw conclusions? Well, start putting him at the top of the Chase standings at the end of the year.
Dropped Out: AJ Allmendinger, Casey Mears
Lucky Dog: Tony Stewart, who got the Lucky Dog en route to salvaging an 11th place finish.
The Ryan Newman DNF: Front Row made it through the entire race without a crash! So until further notice, our DNF is named for Ryan Newman who blew a motor a week after blowing two right front tires.
Memorable Moments on Yahoo! Sports:
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Aston Martin Vanquish AM 310 New Promo Clip
Aston Martin knows that is staking its future short-term events such as the Geneva Motor Show , an event related to the automotive world which should be able to dazzle your prospects just to acquire one of their vehicles instead to rival the likes of Ferrari, Lamborghini or McLaren, brands may have in their catalogs [...]
Source: http://www.autocarblog.co.uk/429-aston-martin-vanquish-am-310-new-promo-clip.html
Rubens Barrichello Michael Bartels Edgar Barth Giorgio Bassi
Christian Horner: ?We know that we?ve got a quick car??
Christian Horner insists that the Australian GP was a good weekend for Red Bull, despite the team managing only third place after Sebastian Vettel started from pole. Horner says that while tyres were an issue on Sunday over the course … Continue reading 
Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2013/03/18/christian-horner-we-know-that-weve-got-a-quick-car/
Wednesday
Derbi DRD 125 SM
Like any respectable dirt bike, the Derbi DRD 125 SM features an unstoppable character and is able to deal with any type of terrain without too much fuss.
The motorcycle is powered by a 124 cc, 4 Stroke, 4V Euro 3 engine which is paired with a six speeds gearbox. The engine rewards you with a peak power of 11 kw achieved at 9750 rpm and 11.4 Nm of torque available at 7500 rpm.
In terms of design, the Derbi DRD 125 SM features a pretty modern style and we especially like the aggressive graphics and the sharp lines.
The motorcycle rides on a front inverted fork with a 41 mm � bar and a rear adjustable shock absorber. This sporty suspension configuration allows it to tackle any track with poise.
The stopping power is assured by 260 mm front and 220 mm rear disc brakes with radial mount calipers.
Hit the jump for more information on the 2013 Derbi DRD 125 SM.
Derbi DRD 125 SM originally appeared on topspeed.com on Thursday, 21 March 2013 00:40 EST.
Source: http://www.topspeed.com/motorcycles/motorcycle-reviews/derbi/2013-derbi-drd-125-sm-ar148365.html
BMW M5 by Vorsteiner
If you ask a Bimmer fan which is the best model launched on the market in the past few months, the M5 will most likely be on the top of the list. In fact, even the guys over Top Gear were impressed by the sports sedan. So, why update it? Well, because you can!!
Vorsteiner, for example, has prepared a tuning kit for the M5 that includes a new aerodynamic kit made in carbon fiber, new wheels and numerous performance products.
For the exterior, the new kit includes a new add-on spoiler, a new splitter and for the rear, a new deck-lid spoiler and a new lightweight trunk lid with integrated wing profile. The tuner also replaced the rear diffuser, so it now integrates the new exhaust system offered in two versions: either stainless steel or titanium.
The Vorsteiner M5 will be offered with new forged wheels offered in various sizes, depending on customer’s wishes: 20, 21 or 22 inches. For the interior, the modifications are limited to embroidered floor mats and trunk mat accessories.
The new BMW M5 kit will be available starting April 2013.
BMW M5 by Vorsteiner originally appeared on topspeed.com on Tuesday, 19 March 2013 19:00 EST.
Source: http://www.topspeed.com/cars/bmw/2013-bmw-m5-by-vorsteiner-ar150482.html
Tuesday
Happy Hour: Yes, we?re talking about Danica
New season, new Happy Hour! You know the drill. 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. Right? Oh who are we kidding, this is NASCAR. No one is ever happy.
So, last week. Daytona. Hope you enjoyed our coverage. It was damn fun to be a part of a pretty special crew with some pretty special stories throughout the week. A big part of that coverage? You-know-who. But she did her part to earn that coverage. We'll start with her. (P.S. that's the face I imagine Erin Andrews made as soon as she got a chance to react to her encounter with 50 Cent.)
Can we please give Danica enough respect and stop bringing up she's a girl and start referring to her as just a racer? I don't see the same ooh-and-ahhs for Johanna Long and I think she's hotter.
- Jimmy
I understand the Danica hype. This was one of 4 races she legitimately has a chance to win. So they pumped her up continuously for ratings. She will be trolling between 28-42 for the next few weeks until we get to Dega. Plate tracks take out a lot of driver skill and make everything even. Winning a pole at Daytona doesn't make one a superstar, see Loy Allen Jr. Hope she does great because my girls love her, but ready to see her perform on tracks that take a lot of skill. I think she will struggle all year, but so will Stenhouse and all other rookies.
- Jeff
Note: These are not from Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon.
Danica Patrick has always walked the fine line of wanting to be known as a racer first and foremost while using her, uh, talents as a girl to make space for herself in the public spectrum. Sometimes the former can get lost in the latter. There's no denying that.
Do I blame her for it? No. She, and her publicists, knew that she could create a niche for herself and she's done it quite well. Now, onto the Johanna Long comparison. You also haven't seen Johanna Long in Maxim or the SI Swimsuit Issue. And that's a perfectly legitimate way of going about your business as a female driver too. There's no right way to do things. And, let's be real here, Johanna's situation (not as many articles, no Super Bowl commercials, small team) makes for the perfect contrast. If there wasn't so much of a contrast, fans wouldn't pit them against each other so much.
As far as Loy Allen is concerned, Patrick already has him beat in the best career finish category. Allen's highest finish was a 10th place at Talladega. Will Patrick make the Chase? Likely not. But this was a great building block. We now will see where it goes from there.
_____________________
Dale Earnhardt's death spawned a revolution of driver safety in NASCAR. I can only hope that NASCAR realizes how close they came to having to start a fan safety revolution after this weekend. They are playing with fire and if they don't figure out a better way to keep these cars or parts of them out of the stands. They are going to get burned. After multiple incidents in the last 10 years where a car has left the ground and ended up destroying sections of fencing just yards away from thousands of fans. How have they not looked into a second layer of fencing that separates the fans from the action on the track? This wouldn't be needed around the entire track but not having this in grandstand sections seems almost negligent.
- Darrell "Furiousd" Watts
Who will never complain about Junior's TV time ever again!
You can always be safe, but you can never be too safe. Daytona re-evaluated and reinstalled its fencing after Carl Edwards flew into the catchfence at Talladega. Is there an even better option? Likely, but we also probably don't know it or it hasn't been significantly tested yet.
We also have to keep in mind that for the most part, the catchfence did it's job, so maybe it's not a matter of reinventing the whole concept. Is a second layer realistic? The tire did fly over the fence. Can the fence go any higher without compromising the structural integrity of the design?
A solid option is probably not a realistic answer at this point. Yeah, plexiglass sounds like a great idea, but you'd have cars bouncing off of it if they hit it and I don't want to even think about what would happen if it shattered. I'm very certain that this is something that you can trust NASCAR will look into thoroughly to find the best possible option to prevent this from happening again.
EDIT: Thanks to an email from Paul and some quick sleuthing by Geoffrey Miller, the tire went through the fence as viewed from this video here. So to reiterate, we're going to have a solution as soon as possible.
_____________________
Yesterday was the one year anniversary of the Jet Dryer, as PTI reminded us during the end of the show. Which made me think, I don't even remember seeing anything about it during the entire Daytona broadcast (I could have missed an earlier segment, though) That's the type of incident you don't forget and seems like something they would at least acknowledge. It was even used in the NASCAR promo.
Do you think the incident on Saturday made producers not show a clip, or do you think a decision was made beforehand? Looking back, it just seems like an event you would at least talk about a little.
- J Rob
I wasn't paying as much attention to the race broadcast as normal as I was following the race from the press box and missed most of the pre-race soaking in the Daytona festivities. Is this true? I do know that Juan Pablo Montoya does not like talking about the incident as he's not a big fan of fire. Given the crashes and insanity that I saw on the Fox promo before the race, however, it does seem odd if they didn't show it.
_____________________
- Steve Wallace
Another note: This is not that Steve Wallace. I think.
This is awesome. Give Steve some love, y'all! It's a perfect country song and bonus points for the checkered flag shirt! Love the creativity and it's a perfect way to end this week's mailbag. Steve beats the heck out of "Let's Go Racin' Boys."
Twelve-year-old boy races car to photo finish
James Gallaugher is a 12-year-old Australian kid who's fast. Unbelievably fast. Like, getting-called-the-next-Usain-Bolt fast. We've written about him before here for an amazing relay race, but now he's stepping up his competition: he's racing an actual car.
This past weekend at the Top Gear Festival in Sydney, Gallaugher raced a Nissan GT-R in a 100-meter dash. Now, since obviously not even Usain Bolt could beat a car head-to-head (unless you were driving it, slowpoke), the race was a there-and-back affair. Gallaugher gets beaten badly on the way down, then ... well, let's just say it takes a bit of time for the driver to find REVERSE, time enough for Gallaugher to get a substantial lead. Did he take the checkers? We think not, but it was still a fine effort.
Australian news reports say Gallaugher has run a 100-meter sprint 11.72 seconds. To put that time in perspective, it would have won the 1896 Olympics and is the fastest ever recorded in the U.S. or Australia for someone his age. Now, take such figures with a shakerful of salt, but what's indisputable is that the kid's got wheels. We'll find out on a world stage whether he's the real deal or not.
The car? It's probably being laughed at by its car brethren for being so slow.
-Follow Jay Busbee on Twitter at @jaybusbee.-
Eugene Chaboud Jay Chamberlain Karun Chandhok Alain de Changy
Warped Wednesday: No flyovers? No big deal
A staple of the ever-present patriotism at NASCAR races is the pre-race flyover. Yeah, it isn't always timed perfectly (but, in a rare moment of Warped Wednesday clarity, it takes a ton of precision to time it correctly) and some are better than others.
But it's the flyover. America. Military. Power. Don't touch it. Hell, there was even a statement issued at the Daytona 500 after low clouds prevented the flyover from happening.
The sequester has touched it though. As part of the budget cuts, you won't be seeing fighter jets buzz the track at the next race you attend. (Unless it's Texas, which is bringing in private jets for a flyover.)
Is that really a bad thing? It's not exactly the most efficient use of our tax dollars.
Be honest, if the reason you like flyovers wasn't listed in the second paragraph? What is it? You can't possible come up with a constructive reason. And where would you rank the flyover on the race day experience scale? You don't leave an uninteresting race raving about the flyover.
Think of the money the U.S. government will save without the costs of flyovers coming out of its military training budgets. Or think of the good those tax dollars could do instead of making sure some 80,000 NASCAR fans can feel good about their country for 15 seconds. It's not like the national anthem, giant flag covering the infield and the honoring of troops can't do that.
No, this isn't a NASCAR specific provision; all sporting events won't have flyovers as part of the sequester. But this isn't like cutting funding for education, something that you'll notice years down the road. If sporting flyovers never returned, a few years from now would people even remember how important they thought they were?
Kurt Adolff Fred Agabashian Kurt Ahrens Jr Christijan Albers
Monday
Press Release: Aprilia WSBK Team Conclude Test at Jerez
The factory Aprilia WSBK team issued the following press release after concluding two days of testing at Jerez:
Year:
2013 
Keith Andrews Elio de Angelis Marco Apicella Mбrio de Araъjo Cabral
Strategic superiority gets Raikkonen and Lotus off to a winning start | 2013 Australian Grand Prix review
Strategic superiority gets Raikkonen and Lotus off to a winning start is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.
Kimi Raikkonen made his way up from seventh on the grid to win the first race of 2012 by making one pit stop fewer than his rivals.
Strategic superiority gets Raikkonen and Lotus off to a winning start 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/2013/03/17/2013-australian-grand-prix-review/
Power Rankings: The Empire Strikes Back
A new year means a new set of Power Rankings! After every race, we'll opine about who we think is at the top of the Sprint Cup heap and how and why they got there. Remember, this isn't scientific, as our formula is the perfect blend of analytics and bias against your favorite driver. So let's get on with it, shall we?
Dropping Out: Dude, it's the first one of the season.
Lucky Dog: Aric Almirola. Not too often that you can bounce back from a pit road speeding penalty under green and come back to finish 13th.
DNF: Carl Edwards. Got in his fifth crash of Speedweeks. Honorable mention goes to Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick. They all finished outside the top 30 too.
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