Indy Car Info: 5/12/13

Saturday

Power Rankings: Five-time is feeling the heat for first from Kyle Busch

It's time for 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?

1. Jimmie Johnson (LW: 1): At one point during Saturday night's NRA 500, Fox TV analyst Darrell Waltrip opined that the rest of the field needed to capitalize on Jimmie Johnson's struggles. He was sixth at the time. Waltrip quickly corrected himself, seemingly after taking a glance at the scoring monitor or getting word from the production truck that Johnson was much closer to the front than he was to 20th. But such is the NASCAR world that we live in where the first instinct is to call running just outside the top five a "struggle" for the 48 team.

2. Kyle Busch (LW: 5): Hello, Kyle. You've got some elite company above and below you. We're not doubting that you belong here by any means, because you've won two of the last three races and you're in that elite discussion. You just don't have the hardware that these guys do. Will you? Probably. Will you have it this year? If you keep this up you will. But we'll worry about the Chase when we get there in 19 races.

3. Brad Keselowski (LW: 2): Can you justify moving him down much more after his anger-fueled charge to ninth over the final 16 laps? And did the cars of both he and Logano pass inspection on Friday? If they did, then there's some added intrigue to the whole debate about what's in the spirit of the NASCAR rules and how one deviates from it.

4. Carl Edwards (LW: 10): Did anyone else figure that Texas was going to be a case of one step forward, one step backwards for the No. 99 team? Instead, after issues both apparently related to the engine and to his seatbelts (!), Edwards rallied for a third place finish and his fourth top five of the year. Which is also known as "one more than he had all last season."

5. Kasey Kahne (LW: 4): Kahne's run at Texas was in the same vein of Johnson's. We've come to expect Kahne will do so well at intermediate tracks that an 11th place finish is almost a surprising moment. Another intermediate track awaits on Sunday, and the guess here is that Kahne will be in the top 10.

6. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (LW: 3): Ol' Junior has gone from leading the points by 12 to trailing by 35 in the span of two races. Though he certainly didn't run poorly at Texas, he just had some bad luck combined with a moment of muddled thought from both he and Steve Letarte that turned a moment that could have been overcome into one that couldn't.

7. Matt Kenseth (LW: 6): Flatline keeps on flatlining. He ran in the top 10 most of the day before finishing 12th. We're going to use this space as a plea to Matt: start tweeting more often again. Flatline was one of the funniest follows in NASCAR, but over the past few months his Twitter frequency has decreased. Come on Matt, you can tweet from your phone! Just don't do it in the car.

8. Greg Biffle (LW: 9): Nice rebound for Fiffle after starting 35th, especially given Ford's performance on intermediate tracks so far. Side note: if we're not counting laps led during pit stop cycles (both under caution and green), only three drivers truly led Saturday night's race: Busch, Truex and Jeff Gordon.

9. Joey Logano (LW: NR): Keselowski's charge was impressive and so was Logano's run the entire race after he barely made the start of the race. Had Logano not been able to get in the car before the field rolled off pit road, we could have had our first opportunity to see a rally-type start in NASCAR, with Logano sprinting to his car as the field is rolling around the track. That could have been something else.

10. Jeff Gordon (LW: 8): Speak of the Gordon! A rare calamity (a broken left hub) struck Gordon and sent him to the garage late in the race while he was running in the top five. Stop me if you've heard that before. His finish merits more than a one spot drop, but his performance doesn't. Tenth it is.

11. Clint Bowyer (LW: 7): Just a nondescript day for Bowyer, who finished 15th. It was a synergistic weekend of sorts for Bowyer. He was sponsored by Gander Mountain and the Duck Dynasty folks were at Texas -- Bowyer was on the show in November. Apparently it's a popular show. Quack?

12. Paul Menard (LW: 10): The Nardburns is still hanging by a moment like a Lifehouse song in the early 2000s. He's still 14 points ahead of Kevin Harvick for top RCR car honors after finishing 17th at Texas.

Dropped Out: Jamie McMurray

Lucky Dog: Aric Almirola, who is returning to Kansas after a Texas top 10. His fall race performance before a tire issue derailed his day might have been the strongest one of his career.

The Tony Stewart DNF: Smoke finished outside the top 20 again, so should he get to carry the mantle of his own award? Or should this be renamed the Kurt Busch DNF after a strong run at Texas was derailed by mechanical issues for the second straight week?

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/power-rankings-five-time-feeling-heat-first-175603754--nascar.html

Alex Blignaut Trevor Blokdyk Mark Blundell Raul Boesel

Indycar Lore? 1980 CRL Season

What had started in 1978 as an honest attempt at increasing the marketability of championship racing sanctioned by The United States Auto Club, spiraled out of control almost instantly. The ?White Paper?, a simple inter-team memo, sparked the formation of … Continue reading →

Source: http://anotherindycarblog.wordpress.com/2013/04/16/indycar-lore-1980-crl-season/

Johnny Boyd David Brabham Gary Brabham Jack Brabham†

2013 Le Mans Moto2 And Moto3 Press Releases Previews

Press releases from the Moto2 and Moto3 teams ahead of this weekend's races at Le Mans:

Round Number:

Year:

2013

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MotoGPMatters/~3/sC45c53cvbg/2013_le_mans_moto2_and_moto3_press_relea.html

Peter Ashdown Ian Ashley Gerry Ashmore Bill Aston

Caption Contest: Brad meets the President

What's Brad explaining to President Obama? You know the drill, drop us a line in the comments.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/caption-contest-brad-meets-president-024451210--nascar.html

Andrea Chiesa Ettore Chimeri Louis Chiron Joie Chitwood

Friday

Matt Kenseth wins from the pole at Kansas

KANSAS CITY, Kan. ? Matt Kenseth benefited from the timing of the final caution flag to take the lead in Sunday's STP 400 and held off Kasey Kahne over the final laps to get his second win of the season.

It's the third straight Sprint Cup Series race in which the winner has won from the pole and the fourth win for Joe Gibbs Racing in eight races in 2013. Though outside of Kenseth, it wasn't a rosy day for the rest of the team.

Kenseth was up front the entire day, but was running fifth as the pit window for the race's final pit stop ended. As the pit stop cycle started and the four cars ahead of him pitted, Kenseth stayed out and inherited the lead.

In the midst of all of that, Brad Keselowski's rear bumper cover was flapping in the breeze thanks to damage he had sustained earlier. Three laps after Kenseth took the lead and before he had a chance to pit, it flew off and landed on the track. The cars that were in front of Kenseth were suddenly going to restart behind him when the green flag waved again on lap 225.

That also put Kahne near the front too, and he charged to second place. Over the last 20 laps, the race strongly resembled the third race of the season at Las Vegas, where Kenseth had kept Kahne at bay to get his first win of the season and first with Joe Gibbs Racing.

As the laps wound down, Kahne would close in to within mere carlengths of Kenseth's bumper. But then, on the next lap, he'd lose some of the ground he'd make up, much like what happened at Vegas. On the white flag lap, Kahne got to Kenseth's bumper in turns one and two, but wasn't able to maintain his momentum and Kenseth pulled away down the backstretch.

It's also back-to-back wins at Kansas for Kenseth, who won last year's fall race while with Roush Fenway Racing. On Sunday, he led 163 of the race's 267 laps and was not passed for the lead on the racetrack all afternoon.

The other three JGR cars all crashed separately Sunday, including last week's winner Kyle Busch, who spun twice. The first time he didn't hit anything, but the second incident ended his day when he slid down the track and was collected heavily by Joey Logano.

Elliott Sadler, making his first Cup start of the season, crashed in turns three and four on lap 88 and Brian Vickers, subbing for the injured Denny Hamlin, hit the wall and spun on the backstretch on lap 175.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/matt-kenseth-wins-pole-kansas-210503815--nascar.html

Luca Badoer Giancarlo Baghetti Julian Bailey Mauro Baldi

May Day: Remembering Ayrton...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nofenders/zbjv/~3/6ZfUtXRqol0/may-day-remembering-ayrton.html

Larry Crockett Tony Crook Art Cross Geoff Crossley

Thursday

Into the Crystal Ball? The Sambadrome Edition

Welcome to May! Before we hit the famed Brickyard, there is one more stop to make: The Streets of Sao Paulo Brazil. Without a doubt, this track is a favorite of fans and drivers alike. Half of the circuit consists … Continue reading →

Source: http://anotherindycarblog.wordpress.com/2013/05/02/into-the-crystal-ball-the-sambadrome-edition-2/

Tony Brooks Alan Brown Walt Brown Warwick Brown

Craziest Moment: Major Talladega wreck sends Kurt Busch flipping onto Ryan Newman

TALLADEGA, Ala. - Pack racing is a thrilling spectacle because the threat of a catastrophic wreck is present on every inch of the track. And it doesn't take much to turn pack racing into pack wrecking.

With only a half-dozen laps remaining, the front of the field was tighter than a white-knuckle fist. At that speed, with such little distance between cars, the tiniest mistakes magnify. And that's exactly what happened. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. appeared to bounce off the wall, sending J.J. Yeley right into Kurt Busch. Busch vaulted into the air and began flipping, and only stopped when he landed atop the hood of Ryan Newman.

That set off a cascade of wrecks; Terry Labonte and Danica Patrick sustained enough damage to go to the garage. And, naturally, it also set off the drivers involved.

?My mom doesn?t come to four races a year ? Daytona and Talladega. Wonder why," said Kurt Busch, in a postrace interview that lasted all of about eight seconds. When told he still had a good race, he replied, "Good races don't matter if you leave on a hook. We'll end up only getting about seven points out of this." (He actually got 15, for what it's worth.)

Ryan Newman was even more pointed in his criticism. "They can build safer race cars, they can build safer walls, but they can't get their heads out of their asses far enough to keep them on the race track, and that's pretty disappointing," Newman said. "I wanted to make sure I get that point across, and y'all can figure out who 'they' is." (Spoiler: "They" is NASCAR.)

David Ragan would go on to win the race, but less than half the field would finish on the lead lap. And Talladega would once again live up to its reputation as the most dangerous, and controversial, track on the circuit.

-Follow Jay Busbee on Twitter at @jaybusbee.-

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/craziest-moment-major-talladega-wreck-sends-kurt-busch-010257765.html

Slim Borgudd Luki Botha JeanChristophe Boullion Sebastien Bourdais

Tony George?s Smile to Light Up IMS?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nofenders/zbjv/~3/p3ZeFraWeaQ/tony-georges-smile-to-light-up-ims.html

Eugenio Castellotti Johnny Cecotto Andrea de Cesaris Francois Cevert

The Tomaso Files: Spinin? Wheelz, 4-lefts really Does Make a Circle!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nofenders/zbjv/~3/8zLKXkUvRlE/the-tomaso-files-spinin-wheelz-4-lefts.html

Warwick Brown Adolf Brudes Martin Brundle Gianmaria Bruni

Kyle Busch starts early Talladega wreck that claims 13 cars, including Kahne, Harvick, Biffle

TALLADEGA, Ala. - Some of the world's greatest drivers are circling at Talladega. And to the high banks of the superspeedway, that doesn't matter one bit. The track can force even the best among them into mistakes like they were rookies.

In turn 1 of lap 44 of the Aaron's 499, Kyle Busch made an ill-advised move to try to get around Kasey Kahne. The resulting spiral of carnage took out 13 cars, including nine of the top 14. Involved in the accident were Kevin Harvick, Brian Vickers, Greg Biffle, Tony Stewart, and many others.

"I don't really know what happened," Busch said afterward. "I know I got in the back of the 5 and I guess I was trying to go to the outside of him, but he just moved up in front of me and I wasn't expecting it. I tried to got o the outside of him and before I could get to the outside of him, I got in the back of him."

"Felt the No. 18 pushing me and next thing I know I was spinning," Kahne said. "You just can?t push with these cars. We learned that at Daytona, he was pushing me and spun me in the wall and then happened again, so that is what it is."

The crews of Busch, Vickers, Biffle and Kahne worked furiously to get their cars back into shape for the rest of the race. Harvick and Stewart were able to return to the track immediately, though both with significant impact to their performance.

Of note: Vickers took over the No. 11 just minutes before the wreck, substituting for Denny Hamlin. This was Hamlin's first race after four weeks out because of a back injury, and a vicious wreck that collected him was the absolute worst-case scenario. Hamlin may be the only one in the entire wreck feeling fortunate.

"I just hate that I caused a hell of a melee for everybody," Busch said. "I hate that. A lot of cars got torn up, and it's way too early in the race to be doing any of those sorts of moves, whether he made it or I made it."

-Follow Jay Busbee on Twitter at @jaybusbee.-

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/kyle-busch-starts-early-talladega-wreck-claims-13-184457034.html

Ray Crawford Alberto Crespo Antonio Creus Larry Crockett

Wednesday

Carmelo Ezpeleta Speaks To Reuters: On Races In Brazil And Asia, And On Spanish Riders In MotoGP

That MotoGP is too Iberocentric - too many Spanish races, and too many Spanish riders - is obvious to all who follow the sport, with the possible exception of a blinkered Spanish journalist or two. The series has to change, to move away from having four races a season in Spain, and to explore new markets in South America and Asia.

This is exactly what is to happen, according to an interview Dorna boss Carmelo Ezpeleta gave to the Reuters news agency on Friday. Reuters reporter Alan Baldwin spoke to Ezpeleta at the Barcelona circuit, where the Dorna CEO was attending the Formula 1 race. In the interview, Ezpeleta laid out his intentions to move away from Spain and, to a lesser extent, the US, and towards Asia and South America, with new races to be held in Brazil and Asia, though as he has done before, Ezpeleta would not be drawn on exactly which Asian country.

The race in Brazil is scheduled to take in Brasilia, the capital of the South American country. Whether that is at the Brasilia race track (the Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet in Brasilia) is unclear, but Ezpeleta told Reuters that work was currently underway on the circuit, and the hope was it would be finished by the end of the year. That would make scheduling a race for 2014 difficult, but Ezpeleta was confident that there could be a race in Brazil from 2015 onwards. Ezpeleta did not give any details of the race planned for Asia, but Reuters reporter Baldwin suggests that it could take place in Thailand. Previously, Dorna sources have hinted that a race could take place in Indonesia, though currently, neither country has a circuit that would pass an FIM safety inspection. Given the explosion of interest in the sport in the region, however, that could change quickly.

Source:

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/05/10/motorcycling-ezpeleta-idUKL3N0D...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MotoGPMatters/~3/Gu608B-vV_I/carmelo_ezpeleta_speaks_to_reuters_on_ra.html

Pablo Birger Art Bisch Harry Blanchard Michael Bleekemolen

Vettel takes over at the top

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/10/as_sebastian_vettel_put_down.html

Joie Chitwood Bob Christie Johnny Claes David Clapham

Danica Patrick scores on first try in intermission contest at Chicago Blackhawks game

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Is this an omen for Talladega?

Danica Patrick was in attendance as the Chicago Blackhawks faced the Minnesota Wild in Game 1 of their opening-round Stanley Cup Playoffs series and was a contestant in the Blackhawks' famed "Shoot the Puck" contest in the second intermission.

And guess what? She put it in the back of the net in her first shot at her first-ever Blackhawks game. Patrick's hometown is Roscoe, Illinois, which is northwest of Chicago.

Wearing a Blackhawks jersey with her name and number emblazoned on the back, Patrick advanced to the final round but in that round put her shot to the left. Another omen?

Patrick is making her first Sprint Cup Series start at Talladega on Sunday and figures to be a contender for the pole and potentially another top 10 finish. At Daytona, the series' other restrictor plate track, she became the first woman to start on the pole for the Daytona 500 in February and led a lap and finished 8th, the highest finish for a woman in the 500.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/danica-patrick-scores-first-try-intermission-contest-chicago-125142615.html

Pedro Diniz Duke Dinsmore Frank Dochnal Jose Dolhem

Dale Earnhardt Jr. loses battery power while running third, finishes 29th

A week after finishing outside the top 10 for the first time all year, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was working his way towards the front of the field during Saturday night's NRA 500 when his race went awry.

Junior was running third when the main battery on his car started to fail. Without power, Junior elected to take his car to his pit thinking that something else was amiss. But when he got to his stall, he and his team deduced that it was a battery issue and Junior could have switched his car's power supply to the backup battery from the driver's seat.

"We just had a battery go dead and didn't diagnosis it correctly to just switch it," Junior said. "We have two batteries in there we have a switch in the driver?s seat that goes from one to two. I didn't know it was a battery until we got down on pit road and I got to looking at the gauges and really understanding."

Then things got worse from there. Because he was without power coming down pit road, Junior didn't have a working tachometer and was clocked for speeding. Then, while serving his pass-through penalty for the speeding penalty, crew chief Steve Letarte wanted to go ahead and change tires on Junior's car. That's against NASCAR rules, so that drew another penalty.

"At that point we had lost a couple of laps. I couldn't control my speed on pit road because the motor was not running coming on. So we sped there and we came down pit road to serve the penalty but Steve wanted to get tires. You can't get tires serving a penalty so we had to come back and then serve the penalty," Junior said.

When that sequence was mercifully over, Earnhardt Jr. was five laps down and his chances for a good finish were as kaput as his main battery.

"All the gauges just went haywire and so I couldn't read the gauges to really diagnose what was happening, but once you start to think about it you are like, 'Well if all the gauges are going bad we have electrical issues'," Junior said.

"Then you go right to the battery. The thing quit running going into three and I couldn't stay on the track if it wasn't the battery we would have stopped on the track and lost all those laps. I came down pit road, sped, no motor, no tach,� figured out by the time I got to the pit stall it was the battery. We changed the switch over to battery two, get fired up, take off, come down pit road change tires, came down pit road serve the penalty and that was the night."

Last week at Martinsville, Junior was spun after contact from Danica Patrick and Brian Vickers and ended up 24th, losing the points lead to teammate Jimmie Johnson. After Texas, he's now fourth in the standings, 35 points behind Johnson.

"It has been rough, but we had a really good car tonight," Junior said. "If we were running bad and having these kinds of nights we would have a hard time making that Chase, but running good eventually things will turn back around for us. We will get going. We have a lot of confidence. We've got a lot of positive attitude and feel like we will have no problem rebounding."

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/dale-earnhardt-jr-loses-battery-power-while-running-051341510--nascar.html

Joie Chitwood Bob Christie Johnny Claes David Clapham

Tuesday

Bahrain? G-O Fish!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nofenders/zbjv/~3/i5r7x77_vJA/bahrain-g-o-fish.html

Fernando Alonso Giovanna Amati George Amick Red Amick

Lewis stays ahead

Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time of the Q2 session in Spain on Saturday, beating the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel, the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen’s Lotus. Completing the top 10 were Mark Webber, Nico Rosberg, Sergio Perez, Felipe Massa, Romain Grosjean and Paul di Resta. Knocked out were Daniel Ricciardo and […]

Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2013/05/11/lewis-stays-ahead/

Julian Bailey Mauro Baldi Bobby Ball Marcel Balsa

Bahrain GP, not Politicalized, really?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nofenders/zbjv/~3/kfSxTb-m3V0/bahrain-gp-not-politicalized-really.html

Jose Dolhem Martin Donnelly Carlo Abate George Abecassis

Hamilton saga nearing endgame

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/09/hamilton_saga_nearing_endgame.html

Pedro Diniz Duke Dinsmore Frank Dochnal Jose Dolhem

Denny Hamlin not returning to car at Richmond

Denny Hamlin will not make his return to the No. 11 at Richmond on Saturday night.

Hamlin had expressed optimism at Kansas that he could be cleared to drive at his hometown track, but after conferring with doctors, the decision was made for Hamlin to wait at least another week before coming back.

"Unfortunately I won't be racing this weekend at Richmond. It kills me to not be in the car for my team and sponsors but after long discussions with the doctors we have decided to wait on my return back to racing. Thanks to all of my fans who have sent encouraging messages over the last month. I'll be back in no time," Hamlin tweeted.

After sustaining a compression fracture to his L1 vertebra in a last lap crash March 24 at California, Hamlin was initially diagnosed to be out of the car five races, a six-week span that penciled his return in at Darlington on May 11. However, Hamlin has said that the healing process is going well and has talked about his desire to at least start the May 5 race at Talladega before getting out of the car for a relief driver. Because of Talladega's size and it's nature of racing, that's scenario a logical option if Hamlin is cleared to race.

Brian Vickers will continue to be behind the wheel in Hamlin's absence.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/denny-hamlin-not-returning-car-richmond-225230646--nascar.html

Anthony Davidson Jimmy Davies Colin Davis Jimmy Daywalt

Monday

Craziest Moment: Logano barely starts race on time after inspection issues, Keselowski furious

Joey Logano's car was rolled to the grid after the field fired its engines for Saturday night's NRA 500 at Texas Motor Speedway because of a rear-end housing issue that was found during pre-race inspection on both Penske Racing cars.

NASCAR officials confiscated parts from the backs of Logano and teammate Brad Keselowski's cars Saturday afternoon, and the teams then scrambled to change the configuration and parts in the rear of their cars to be ready to race. After Saturday's race, Keselowski was angry and said that his team has been targeted over the last week in the garage area.

"I have one good thing to say and that's my team and effort they put in today and fighting back with the absolute bull(crap) that's been the last seven days in this garage area, the things I've seen in the last seven days have me questioning everything that I believe in and I'm not happy about it," Keselowski said. "I don't have anything positive to say and I probably should just leave it at that"

But he continued, telling reporters that "There's so much stuff going on you have no (expletive) idea what's going on. And that's not your fault and that's not a slam on you. I could tell you there's nobody, no team in this garage with the integrity of the 2 team. And the way we've been treated over the last seven days in absolutely shameful." (Thanks to Jim Noble, click here for the full text of Keselowski's quotes.)

It's unclear why Keselowski feels his team has been targeted, though both drivers were able to overcome their pre-race adversity and post top 10 finishes despite each being a lap down at some point in the race. Logano wound up fifth and Keselowski was ninth after getting his lap back on the final restart with just 16 laps to go.

"It was a little too close for my comfort, to be honest with you," Logano said about being rolled to the grid so late. "Having to start from the back, worked our way up. (Crew chief) Todd Gordon did a great job keeping everyone under control, not getting overwhelmed by everything, focused in, made his adjustments, got our car a lot better than it was."

Before the race, NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton said that what the sanctioning body found in the rear end housings of the Penske cars was not "in the spirit of the rules."

After the pre-race adjustments were made to NASCAR's liking, both cars passed inspection and were ready for the race. However in Logano's case, that barely happened. His car was on the scales being weighed as the command to fire engines was given.

Both drivers were allowed to start in their qualified starting positions after the issues were found, but because Logano's car wasn't on the grid when the engines were started, he had to start in the back. Any fines, suspensions or points penalties will likely be announced on Monday or Tuesday, though Tuesday is when Keselowski visits the White House as the 2012 champion.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/craziest-moment-logano-barely-starts-race-time-penske-045213901--nascar.html

Kurt Adolff Fred Agabashian Kurt Ahrens Jr Christijan Albers

Just how big is Jimmie Johnson?s points lead?

Yes, the points will be completely reset following the Sprint Cup Series' next visit to Richmond, but it's hard not to notice the commanding points lead that Jimmie Johnson has built up during the first quarter of the season.

Despite sustaining damage in the aftermath of a spin with Tony Stewart, Johnson finished 12th on Saturday night at Richmond, which extended his lead to 43 points over new second-place driver Carl Edwards. That margin is essentially an entire race; it's the base points a driver gets for a win minus a point for leading a lap and three bonus points for the win.

In the three years of the Cup Series' new points system, it's the largest lead a driver has had through nine races. Last year, Greg Biffle was the leader by five over Dale Earnhardt Jr. In 2011, this year's roles were reversed and Edwards left Richmond nine points ahead of Johnson.

Johnson's been able to build that lead by maximizing poor performances. He had a tire issue and hit the wall earlier in the year at Bristol but still finished 22nd, his lowest finish of the year.

How does Johnson's lead stack up going even further back? Through 2001, the first year that the series expanded to the since-standard 36 races, only Jeff Gordon has held a bigger lead through the first nine races. Gordon's lead in 2007 was 207 points over Jeff Burton. And being the leader at the quarter pole is nothing new for Johnson. (Under the old scoring system, a driver received 185 points for a win until an additional five point bonus for a win was added in 2007.)

2001: Dale Jarrett, 145 point lead
2002: Sterling Marlin, 109
2003: Matt Kenseth, 51
2004: Dale Earnhardt Jr., 94
2005: Johnson, 130
2006: Johnson, 21
2007: Gordon, 207
2008: Burton, 22
2009: Kurt Busch, 5
2010: Johnson, 26

Pssst, 2006 and 2010 were also the bookends to Johnson's five-year title reign.

If Penske Racing wins its appeal Wednesday and gets the points penalties against Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano overturned, then Johnson's lead is down to a measly 34 points. But even that stacks up to well to the points leads at this point in time over the last 12 years. Will we see a nine race stretch like this in the Chase?

Related NASCAR video on Yahoo! Sports

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/just-big-jimmie-johnson-points-lead-234151329.html

Tony Brooks Alan Brown Walt Brown Warwick Brown

Spanish Grand Prix: Winners & Losers

The dust has now settled on an enthralling Spanish Grand Prix, with Fernando Alonso thrilling his supporters with a fine win. As always, there were winners and losers, sand here is our run down. CLICK HERE TO REVEAL THE WINNERS & LOSERS

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Formula1Fancast/~3/s3PEd4nafJY/spanish-grand-prix-winners-losers

Giulio Cabianca Phil Cade Alex Caffi John CampbellJones

Mark Webber: ?You?ve got to take it on the chin??

Mark Webber will start the Spanish GP from seventh place after his tyres gave up over the last few corners of his final lap in Q3. Webber was initially eighth, but gained a spot after Felipe Massa was penalised for … Continue reading →

Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2013/05/11/mark-webber-youve-got-to-take-it-on-the-chin/

John Cannon Eitel Cantoni Bill Cantrell Ivan Capelli

Into the Crystal Ball? The Sambadrome Edition

Source: http://anotherindycarblog.wordpress.com/2013/05/02/into-the-crystal-ball-the-sambadrome-edition-2/

Erwin Bauer Zsolt Baumgartner Elie Bayol Don Beauman

Sunday

Raikkonen favourite to taste victory in Belgium

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/08/raikkonen_favourite_to_taste_v.html

Giorgio Bassi Erwin Bauer Zsolt Baumgartner Elie Bayol

Last of Minardi?s Two Hundreder?s...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nofenders/zbjv/~3/z6pyESuKSbY/last-of-minardis-two-hundreders.html

Adriбn Campos John Cannon Eitel Cantoni Bill Cantrell

Hector Barbera And His Girlfriend Sentenced After Altercation In Hotel

Hector Barbera and his 23-year-old girlfriend have both been convicted of assault in a summary justice procedure in the Spanish courts. An altercation between the couple in a hotel in Jerez got out of hand late Thursday night, resulting in physical violence between the two, leading to them both being convicted for assault. Barbera was given a sentence of six months, and his girlfriend, referred to in reports only by her initials D.P., received a sentence of five months, both of which were commuted to fourteen months' community service, Spanish media are reporting.

Source:

http://www.abc.es/deportes/motos/20130510/abci-condenado-hector-barbera-...

http://www.motoworld.es/actualidad/actualidad/hector-barbera-detenido-po...