Indy Car Info: 12/8/13

Saturday

It?s Your 2013 Exit Interview: No. 21 Juan Pablo Montoya

Welcome to From the Marbles' 2013 driver reviews. Here, we're going to critique, praise and bloviate about the top 30 drivers in the 2013 NASCAR season. It may be our final time to reminisce about the jet dryer incident. Oh heck, no it won't. We're never going to get tired of it.

Juan, we'd like to thank you for your service to NASCAR. While we can say that it wasn't the most successful of ventures, there were some positive moments, and man, was it an eventful career.

You started your NASCAR career with a fireball that few people may remember. It was in the Nationwide Series in 2006. It would be overshadowed, understandably. But we'll get to that.

First there was a win in your rookie season at Sonoma, which probably set the expectations above where they would have been otherwise. Then, two years later, you made the Chase for the only time in your career thanks to 18 top 10s in 36 races. You'd never come close to making it again.

That season ends up looking like an outlier -- you followed it up with a finish of 17th, but no other finish was inside the top 20 in points. Whatever magic combination that you had in 2009 disappeared. And that probably stings a little bit given what Jamie McMurray accomplished in 2010.

We're not sure exactly how not winning an oval race will define your NASCAR career. It's not like you didn't come close -- the top 10s in 2009 are an example of that, and you had legitimate chances that just didn't go your way this season like at Dover and at Richmond. In the latter race, you were damned either way because of that late caution.

But that's going to be a footnote to what happened at Daytona. It's only human nature. People remember the crazy things, and you'll always be remembered as the jet dryer fire guy every year. Not a Daytona 500 will go by without that replay being shown, and if it does, a television producer has not done his or her job. It's something that's still unbelievable today. And we were there to see it in person.

Enjoy your time in IndyCar, Juan. Go win a championship or two. We'll always remember you. It'll just be for that.

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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
Follow @NickBromberg

Previous Reviews: No. 23 Denny Hamlin, No. 24 Casey Mears, No. 25 Mark Martin, No. 26 David Gilliland, No. 27 Danica Patrick, No. 28 David Ragan, No. 29 Tony Stewart, No. 30 Dave Blaney

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/2013-exit-interview-no-22-juan-pablo-montoya-204303377--nascar.html

Larry Crockett Tony Crook Art Cross Geoff Crossley

Friday

From the Marbles Video Taste Test: The Shake ?n Bacon Brew

By now you've heard of the bacon beer milkshake being sold this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. Black lager, vanilla ice cream and bacon maple syrup blended up and topped with whipped cream and bacon bits.

Having expectations for a flavor combination like that was almost impossible. I've never had the three before, so I didn't know what to expect. And it pretty much tasted like all three flavors in one.

So is the Shake 'n Bacon Brew any good? Watch the video!

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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
Follow @NickBromberg

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/marbles-video-taste-test-shake-n-bacon-brew-173445036--nascar.html

Ivor Bueb Sebastien Buemi Luiz Bueno Ian Burgess

Thursday

Ferrari 458 Spider By Capristo

Posted on 12.12.2013 16:00 by Simona

We’ll have to be completely honest with you, we are not too fond of the concept of upgrading Ferrari models in any way. They are masterpieces right from the factory, and by trying to change that, you run the risk of completely ruin that Ferrari look.

In the case of this Ferrari upgrade by Capristo, however, we feel the tuner did a pretty good job at revising the 458 Spider without changing a lot of the car’s elements. From the looks of things, all of the changes it made fit in well with the character of the 458, while making it look a little bit more aggressive.

Capristo wanted to give the 458 a look to match its 562-horsepower, V-8 engine, so it replaced the original engine cover, which doesn’t give you a good look at the mighty engine, and replaced it with one that features glass viewing pane and extra vents to more effectively draw the heat away from the engine compartment.

Click past the jump to read more about the Ferrari 458 Spider by Capristo.

gallery: 2012 Ferrari 458 Italia Spider

Ferrari 458 Spider By Capristo originally appeared on topspeed.com on Thursday, 12 December 2013 16:00 EST.

Source: http://www.topspeed.com/cars/ferrari/2013-ferrari-458-spider-by-capristo-ar161610.html

Rene Arnoux Peter Arundell Alberto Ascari Peter Ashdown

Wednesday

TEN Potential Future F1 Venues

As we approach the Monaco Grand Prix ? one of the oldest and most traditional weekends on the Formula One calendar ? it is a good time to reflect on the changing settings for this high-octane sport. We are rapidly being treated to more and more events in exotic locations all around the world, and [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Formula1Fancast/~3/FjegswdcjwI/ten-potential-future-f1-venues-3

Piers Courage Chris Craft Jim Crawford Ray Crawford

Jimmie Johnson survived his SportsCenter hosting appearance

If you thought that the bright lights of being a TV anchor were going to make the newly crowned six-time Sprint Cup Series champ sweat, well they did. But Jimmie Johnson passed the teleprompter test.

Johnson joked before he became the first athlete to host ESPN's SportsCenter that he was nervous about using a teleprompter. However, it probably helped that he had Lindsay Czarniak, who hosted TNT's Countdown to Green NASCAR prerace show before she moved to ESPN.

Plus, Johnson got to appear without having to shave or wear a tie. That makes me pretty jealous, as the those are not two of my favorite things.

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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

Follow @NickBromberg

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/jimmie-johnson-survived-sportscenter-hosting-appearance-030259065--nascar.html

Bill Aston Richard Attwood Manny Ayulo Luca Badoer

Tuesday

Interviewed At The Sachsenring: Jeremy Burgess Speaks About Ducati, And Rossi's Return To The Yamaha

Following Valentino Rossi's shocking decision to part ways with his long-term crew chief Jeremy Burgess, there has been much speculation about Rossi's reason for the split. Mick Fialkowski spoke to the experienced Australian earlier this year at the Sachsenring, where Burgess shed some light on the last few seasons of their cooperation. Burgess told Fialkowski about their time at Ducati, the return to Yamaha, and where Rossi has struggled this season. With the benefit of hindsight, this interview makes for a highly illuminating read.

Mick Fialkowski: Jeremy, what went wrong at Ducati when you were there for two years with Valentino between 2011 and 2012?

Jeremy Burgess: I think you probably have to ask that to Ducati, because we tried very hard to get them to work in a way that we had been using for many years but unfortunately it was a mentality of Ducati which even Valentino wasn't able to change. As much as we tried and as you can see this year, the situation doesn't seem to have improved significantly at all. I think there have to be some really big changes in the way Ducati believes that they should go about their MotoGP racing.

Q: What do they need to change?

JB: The people at the circuit are very good. These projects are not lost by the people working at this level. The people in each garage here work to the level of the equipment and the funding that they have. If there is somebody in the higher position that is blocking the development or not believing what the riders are saying and believes that their design is OK, then this is when it suffers at the race track. Ducati regularly tests in Mugello, they compete in MotoGP and see the results every week. It's really in the hands of the directors of the engineering group to put the right people in place back in Ducati.

Q: After years with Honda and Yamaha, were there any significant differences between working with a Japanese and an Italian factory?

JB: Very much so. The Japanese factory listens to what we say and responds to our requests. Ducati, whether they've listened, they've heard, for sure, but they didn't respond. They believed for some reason that what they've had was good enough and that in some miraculous way everything would be OK next week. And then it wasn't and of course you start to lose the bond between the engineers and the rider to work together to improve the machine. Fundamentally Ducati needs to regroup, go back, try and build again and perhaps hire the very best rider, change their structure and their strategy somewhat.

Q: What were your first thoughts when Vale told you that you're going back to Yamaha for 2013?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MotoGPMatters/~3/SblaDu1c7tQ/interviewed_at_the_sachsenring_jeremy_bu.html

Bernard Collomb Alberto Colombo Erik Comas Franco Comotti

Monday

The future of the Korean Grand Prix

The disappearance from the calendar of the Korean Grand Prix has not been greeted with much sadness in Formula 1 circles. The race has not been a great success since it began in 2010 and the general feeling is that it was a waste of energy for all concerned. However, the Korean politician who has […]

Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2013/12/05/the-future-of-the-korean-grand-prix/

Roberto Bonomi Juan Manuel Bordeu Slim Borgudd Luki Botha

Sunday

WSBK Press Release: World Superbikes Returns To South Africa

Dorna, as organizers of the World Superbike series, and GAS Sports, the event organizers, issued the following press release on the World Superbike series' return to South Africa in 2014:

South Africa on WSBK provisional Calendar for 2014

Barcelona (Spain), Monday 2 December 2013 - South African motorcycle racing fans are in for a special treat next year when WSBK should return to South Africa after a break of three years.

South Africa appears on the provisional calendar for the 2014 eni FIM World Superbike Championship with a round scheduled to be held at Phakisa Freeway in the Free State, on October 19.

“We have signed a Terms of Contract short-form agreement with Dorna, the WSBK Promoters, and will enter into a long-form agreement subject to certain conditions being met - said Anthony Lauter of GAS Sports, who are organisers of this event. “We still need to secure the necessary financial guarantees required by Dorna and the Phakisa Freeway must first pass an FIM circuit inspection. We’re confident we will meet these conditions. The race weekend programme will also include World Supersport series and several top South African riders can be expected to be seen in action.”

Year:

2014

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MotoGPMatters/~3/i2vXFet4fJg/wsbk_press_release_world_superbikes_retu.html

Bill Aston Richard Attwood Manny Ayulo Luca Badoer