Source: http://www.popoffvalve.com/2012/9/6/3298289/on-mergers-and-unifications-enduring-the-long-road-ahead
Friday
A recruit at Faenza?
Jody Egginton, until recently the Operations Director at Caterham F1, has joined Scuderia Toro Rosso as its new Head Of Vehicle Performance. Egginton was at Caterham from five years, initially as Chief Engineer. Prior to that he was a race engineer at Force India for five years after joining the Silverstone team from Aston Martin […]
Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2014/09/03/a-recruit-at-faenza/
Thursday
Wednesday
Tony Stewart returns to the Sprint Cup Series at Atlanta
Tony Stewart is going to be back in a race car at Atlanta.
Stewart will return to the Sprint Cup Series for Sunday's race after missing three races after he struck and killed Kevin Ward Jr. in a dirt track event in upstate New York on Aug. 9.
Stewart-Haas Racing revealed Stewart's plans Thursday afternoon.
Jeff Burton had filled in for Stewart at Michigan and at Bristol. His substitute appearances had been announced on Wednesday afternoon both times. Regan Smith was Stewart's substitute at Watkins Glen the day after Stewart struck Ward.
The investigation into Ward's death is still ongoing though the Ontario County (N.Y.) Sheriff's Department said earlier this week that it was in its final stages. Stewart struck Ward after Ward exited his car and walked down the track towards Stewart's car under caution. He was hit by the right rear tire. When Ontario County Sheriff Philip Povero last spoke to the media, he said no charges were currently pending against Stewart nor was there evidence of criminal intent.
Before the race at Michigan, NASCAR announced that drivers wouldn't be allowed to leave their cars before safety workers arrive in response to the incident between Stewart and Ward.
Shortly after Stewart-Haas announced that Stewart would return Thursday, NASCAR released a statement and said Stewart had been cleared by the sanctioning body to resume racing.
?Tony Stewart has received all necessary clearances required to return to all racing activities, and therefore is eligible to compete this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway," NASCAR Executive VP Steve O'Donnell said. "NASCAR has remained in constant contact with his race team, and we will stay very close to this situation as Stewart returns to competition.?
Stewart will have a press conference at 1 p.m. ET Friday at Atlanta while NASCAR President Mike Helton will speak at 2 p.m.
Since he missed three races, Stewart would have to win at Atlanta on Sunday or at Richmond on Sept. 7 and receive a waiver from NASCAR to get into the Chase.
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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!
Marco Apicella Mбrio de Araъjo Cabral Frank Armi Chuck Arnold
Tuesday
Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Concept-S
The current Mitsubishi Outlander is on its last leg, which explains why Mitsubishi is giving it a fresh look before an entirely new model arrives in 2017. There?s still little information about this ?new model? but as it turns out, Mitsubishi is giving us a little preview at the Paris Motor Show with the debut of the Outlander PHEV Concept-S.
It?s unlikely that the successor will be called the Outlander because that would go against the premise of the new model taking the Outlander?s place in Mitsubishi?s lineup. Instead, Mitsubishi is promoting the Outlander PHEV Concept-S as a preview of the Outlander PHEV production model, complete with refined design aesthetics that combines the technology of the company?s twin-motor PHEV system with the spirit of a tried and true 4x4 SUV.
We?ll know more about the Outlander PHEV Concept-S at the Paris Motor Show in October. For now, indulge yourselves with these two teaser photos that Mitsubishi graciously sent to our inbox.
Click past the jump to read more about the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Concept-S.
Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Concept-S originally appeared on topspeed.com on Tuesday, 2 September 2014 15:00 EST.
Alex Marquez Signs Two-Year Deal To Race With Marc VDS In Moto2
Alex Marquez is to join Marc VDS in the Moto2 class. The Spaniard has signed a two-year deal with the Belgian racing team to compete on their Kalex Moto2 bike for the next two seasons. Marquez will join Tito Rabat at Marc VDS to form a Spanish dream team in Moto2, with Rabat once again challenging for the title, while Marquez gets up to speed.
The Marquez announcement will likely be the first of many in the weeks leading up to the Aragon entry deadline. Both Jack Miller and Alex Rins will also be leaving Moto3, with Miller widely rumored to be moving up to MotoGP, and Rins off to join the Pons team with Luis Salom. However, there were whisperings at Silverstone that Miller may not be going straight to MotoGP after all. LCR's new British sponsor is believed to want a British rider on the production Honda. In that case, Miller would go to Moto2 with the Pons team. Whether that would mean Sito Pons would expand his team to three riders is unclear, but with a title sponsor now on board, that could be a possibility.
Monday
Jeff Gordon passes Joey Logano on late restart to win at Michigan
There are hardly any downsides to being in first place in an auto race. But at Michigan on Sunday, getting to first place as soon as possible after the final restart was of the utmost importance.
Jeff Gordon and Joey Logano both knew that whoever won the battle that ensued off the race's last restart was going to win the race. Logano got the jump immediately after the green flag waved with X laps to go, but Gordon pulled to the inside and pulled away for the win.
"That last restart was it," Gordon said. "We had the car to win, our car was amazing, but whoever got out front had such a huge advantage so I got a good restart and [third-place Kevin Harvick] for some reason wasn't getting good restarts ? Joey was out there by himself and I was able to get to his [quarterpanel], once I got to his quarter I drug him back and I was able to shoot to the bottom and get by."
Before Gordon was able to pull away too much, Logano had one last chance to get him. He wasn't able to complete the pass and his car got loose underneath Gordon's.
"We were battling on these restarts really hard and used basically every trick in the book that I had," Logano said. I knew the 24 was also, he was laying back really hard. So every game that could be played was being played on the restarts. I had a really good one the last one and I had a run and then I was clear I guess and I should have pulled down in front of him and gotten the draft from him. Instead he had enough momentum to get up to my quarterpanel and pull me back and had position on me going into the corner and was able to carry that momentum into the lead."
"Then I gave it one more final shot there and tried to get underneath him off of two there and almost had him and once again pulled me back."
The final 28 laps of the race featured three restarts. Logano had been able to take the lead into turn one on the first two, but not the third. Gordon had a restart similar to his exceptional one at Indianapolis to take the win.
Of course, the dash to get to the front as soon as possible after a restart is not unique in the Cup Series. It was the same situation at Indianapolis where Gordon won in July and at most other tracks over a mile in the series. It's a pattern that meant Logano and Gordon knew exactly what the stakes were when they were battling for the lead.
It's Gordon's first win at Michigan since 2001 and his third win of the season, tying him for the series lead with Brad Keselowski and Hendrick teammates Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Harvick finished second at Michigan, the fourth straight time he's finished second at the track.
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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!
Sunday
Happy Hour: Forming an opinion without a solid foundation
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.
But there's not much happiness this week, is there? The events of Saturday night where Tony Stewart struck and killed Kevin Ward at a dirt track after Ward exited his vehicle has easily been the biggest motorsports story in the last 10 years. It's an incredibly unfortunate incident.
Because of the magnitude of the accident, lots of people have either seen the video of the incident or read multiple stories. And because it's been such a big story, people feel they have something to say about it. Let's start with this now-deleted tweet that I got on Wednesday.
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This is an utterly absurd notion. First, those NASCAR journalists who have been in New York have turned out some incredible work. Who was Kevin Ward? What was he like? When new facts, yes, facts, are released and found, they're being distributed and written about.
Second, this is an ongoing police investigation. The crime scene is a speedway that's not a public intersection. Information is extremely limited. Two people were directly involved in the incident. One is tragically dead. The other hasn't said anything largely because, as was just mentioned, this is an ongoing investigation.
Third, let's be blunt. Opinions mean excrement when it comes to this situation. Absolute excrement. The opinion of mine, yours, your cousin, your friend who you haven't spoken to in 10 years but races some dirt track events or anyone else not directly involved in what happened mean absolutely nothing.
We know that Ward was tragically hit by Stewart's car 24 seconds after his car came to a rest from contact with the turn two wall. Anyone who thinks they can explain any other detail from intent to circumstance or anything else from a one-minute blurry video from across the track is projecting. It's as simple as that.
However, the limited information hasn't stopped the projections. Since we don't know the equation that led to the ultimate outcome, many people think they need to find it.
Sometimes it's OK to not know. And sometimes it's OK to not form an opinion on a matter due to a lack of data. This can certainly be one of those times.
In an information-based world, I realize that may be tough to say or read. But it's the truth. We may eventually find out what part of the equation is when the investigation is complete and/or via potential litigation in the future. But right now we don't know much beyond what we can clearly see and the facts presented by the Ontario County (N.Y.) Sheriff's Department. If you're willing to build on such a perilous foundation, do so at your own risk and with the knowledge that the foundation may not even exist in the first place.
And another thing. If you don't typically go to a source for your racing news, don't go to that source for information or perspective regarding what happened. In events like this, those most responsible are typically the ones with the most familiarity with the situation and its context. Keep that in mind. There's a lot of noise out there. Just because it exists doesn't mean you have to listen to it.
Alright, off the soapbox. Let's talk some Cup racing.
It's certainly a scenario that NASCAR had in mind when building this Chase format. NASCAR really suffers with a lack of surprise in single races and throughout the course of a season. Very rarely can a team have an untelegraphed turnaround from year-to-year and with the exception of restrictor plate tracks and road courses, it takes a confluence of extreme events to lead to a winner who you wouldn't have had on a relative short list before the weekend began.
But is having two teams like that simply making the Chase good enough for the underdog and surprise element? For the angle to get some traction, either driver will have to be around after the first and maybe second potential rounds of elimination. And because of the preceding paragraph, it's extremely tough.
In regards to pressure, the most obvious driver would have been Stewart. But that's not even worth considering at the moment. Therefore it's Kasey Kahne. He needs to join his three teammates in the Chase.
With the crew chief change back to his former Nationwide Series crew chief, it stood to reason that Stenhouse would be better in 2014. And yes, while Roush has struggled relatively speaking, Stenhouse has simply been off the map.
When you're looking at disappointments among drivers who you didn't expect to make the Chase before the season began, Stenhouse is at or near the top of the list.
The Chrome Horn will be back shortly. Promise. We had some issues holding up production in July, but now it's a matter of time and scheduling. It has not disappeared.
(And for the record, the studio gets all of the sports channels save the Pac-12 Network. Work on that, Pac-12.)
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Since it was announced way back at 'Dega that there aren't any plans to move the last race of the year any time in the future from Homestead, how is that going to affect teams this year, and especially next year, in testing? Specifically those teams that have historically horrible average or inconsistant finishes there. For example: -Jimmie Johnson has never won there, but has 8 top 10's in 13 starts (average finish of 22nd in the past two years though) -Kyle Busch has an average finish of 21st in 9 starts, with only 3 top 10's
Do the "contenders" put testing at Homestead on their radar in the future, or do they just assume they'll find a hot streak if they're still in it when they get to that race like the 99 and the 14 did when they dueled it out? Or in conspiracy theory land, are the stats not completely true because drivers are shockingly not giving 100% when they're not battling for the championship? - Brian R.
Does it change at all? If a team wanted to test at Homestead and use one of your four NASCAR tests there, you could say the team was making the assumption that it would be in the championship hunt when the time came.
You can argue that teams believe there's more of a shot of Homestead meaning something to them at the end of the year. In previous Chase years we haven't seen four drivers eligible for the title in the final race. Now it's guaranteed to be that. Does the combination of a potentially bigger chance at being eligible for the title and a more weighted race mean we see an increase of testing? It's an interesting thought.
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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!
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