It's Champions Week in Vegas, and Tony Stewart is toting his Sprint Cup championship trophy anywhere and everywhere he can. Behold a photo gallery of Smoke in Vegas...
Carl Edwards, meanwhile, was spotted plugging nickels into a greasy slot machine in Stinky's Casino downtown, muttering, "gotta get lucky someday ... gotta get lucky someday ... "
The MotoGP schedule for the 2012 season has been tweaked a little, and there is some good news for fans: the season starts seven days earlier, with the Qatar MotoGP round having been moved up a week to April 8th. The move is in response to the Formula One calendar, which sees the Chinese Grand Prix scheduled for April 15th, the date originally planned for Qatar, and so the decision was taken to start the MotoGP season a week earlier.
The other changes to the calendar are merely confirmations of what had been widely expected. The German GP is now officially set to take place at the Sachsenring, although as the contracts are yet to be completed, the date is still listed as being subject to contract. Those contracts are a mere formality, however, as the ADAC and the regional government came to an agreement earlier this month to keep the German round of MotoGP at the circuit in Hohenstein-Ernstthal. The Jerez round has also been confirmed, with the mayor of the circuit stepping in to ensure the 2012 date. Beyond 2012 is another matter, however, as the circuit is still in financial turmoil, stemming from alterations made back in 2001, and with new rounds in Argentina and Texas scheduled for 2013, Jerez could well be dropped after that date.
Slim Borgudd Luki Botha JeanChristophe Boullion Sebastien Bourdais
Time again for another NASCAR live chat! Join us as we talk, well, whatever. Kurt Busch's new ride? What your favorite drivers want for Christmas? It's all a possibility. Hang, won't you?
[UPDATE at 1:30: CoverItLive has gone down. Shoot. Sorry, folks.]
Grubb now has one of the more enviable resum�s in racing, having worked for, in succession, Hendrick Motorsports, Stewart-Haas Racing and now Joe Gibbs Racing. And he's used to performing under pressure, not just of the championship variety but of the driver-induced (and soon-to-be-unemployed) variety as well.
That trait should come in handy as he works with Hamlin, who's long been one of NASCAR's most mercurial personalities. He doesn't generally have the rage of, say, a Busch brother, but Hamlin needs constant support, particularly when not running well, and Grubb will need to add part-time psychologist to his list of crew chief duties.
Former 11 team crew chief Mike Ford often clashed with both Hamlin and JGR brass. There's also a pervasive sense that the team never really recovered from its disastrous performance in the penultimate 2010 race. There, poor strategy turned what would have been a huge lead heading into the season finale into a minuscule one, and Hamlin would go on to lose the championship to Jimmie Johnson. Hamlin drove poorly all season in 2011, and although he made the Chase, he was the barest shadow of the dominant driver he'd been in 2010.
Regardless, the hiring of Grubb is an unquestionable win for Hamlin and JGR, and it should return the 11 team to competitiveness in 2012.
Source: http://www.autocarblog.co.uk/83-electric-delorean-go-on-sale-in-2013.html
Kurt Adolff Fred Agabashian Kurt Ahrens Jr Christijan Albers
One more question mark can be removed from the provisional MotoGP calendar for 2012. The ADAC - the German automobile association which organizes the German round of MotoGP and owns the Sachsenring - have invited the press to a press event to be held in pit lane at the Sachsenring on Friday, December 2nd, to be attended by the Prime Minister of the Free State of Saxony and the President of the ADAC's sport section. The subject of the event is the future of the German round of MotoGP, and though the invitation says nothing about what is to be announced at the event, the guests and the location point to just one conclusion: The Sachsenring is to continue to host the German MotoGP race for 2012, and, according to leading German-language magazine Speedweek, well beyond.
We know that Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards produced the closest point standings finish NASCAR will ever see (because, well, it was a tie) and we know that Kurt (hey, he's looking for a job!) and Kyle Busch produced the two worst efforts of the Chase.
But guess who was more effective late in the race than any of those Chase for the Sprint Cup contenders? AJ-freaking-Allmendinger, that's who.�What surreal NASCAR world is? Oh, just the world of NASCAR's intuitive loop data ? where crazy stats can tell you a whole lot or very little about many a driver's season.
HOT: Yeah, you read that right: A J Allmendginer ? the former open-wheeler turned NASCAR driver currently piloting Richard Petty Motorsports' iconic No. 43 ? was the Sprint Cup Series' tour de force while the final laps came into view this season.
The Dinger picked up a masterful 134 positions in the last�10 percent of the season's 36 races, for an average of 3.7 spots per race. With NASCAR's point system basically equaling a point per position, Allmendinger gained 134 points thanks to his late-race heroics ? or the difference between 15th and 24th in the final standings. Strangely (or not) Allmendinger's teammate Marcos Ambrose was second-best with 85 late-race passes.
The rest of the Closer Top-10 goes like this: Kevin Harvick (+78), Edwards (+76), Brian Vickers (+63), David Gilliland (+53), Kasey Kahne (+48), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (+32), Travis Kvapil (+26) and Matt Kenseth (+23).
Being a great finisher, however, wasn't a barometer of success ? even if it was maddening to watch for fans of drivers who were beaten to the line more often than not. Jeff Gordon ranked 70th of all 2011 Cup drivers with 26 lost spots, and still beat out fellow Chasers Tony Stewart (-27), Brad Keselowski (-34), Ryan Newman (-38), Denny Hamlin (-70), Kyle Busch (-74) and Kurt Busch (-84).
Perhaps, just perhaps, such luck inspired Kurt's Homestead meltdown?
NOT: Kyle Busch's consistency continues to be his biggest downfall in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. I say that because he was nothing short of damn fast all season.
Busch was the fastest car early in a run (first 25 percent of a run after pit stops) and the fastest car late in a run. He also averaged the fastest green-flag speed (over Johnson and Edwards), the most laps in the top 15 (79.6 percent of all laps, 5 percent more than Edwards) and had the most laps led (1,455 total, topping Johnson's 1,115).
Yet Busch, even before his Texas suspension, had dropped to 7th in the Chase and 57 points out of the lead.
NEUTRAL: Dale Earnhardt Jr. made the Chase for the first time since forever (also known as 2008) but didn't�win a race and proved to be more of an also-ran for much of the year. However disappointing that was, the season had all of the hallmarks of him driving in a Steve Letarte-led operation.
Earnhardt completed 90.31 percent of his season on the lead lap, third only to Gordon and Harvick. But Earnhardt�led only�52 laps this season, good for 12th-best among Chase drivers. The 11th-most laps led among Chase drivers? Brad Keselowski's 298. He won three times.
Remember it was Letarte who led Jeff Gordon to a NASCAR-record 30 top-10 finishes in 2007 ? and not a championship.
HOT: Kasey Kahne and Martin Truex Jr. didn't score Chase berths this season, but it wasn't for a lack of trying when the green flag waved. Seventh and eighth fastest respectively on restarts, Kahne and Truex were the only non-Chasers above 13th.
HOT: It's probably of no surprise that Jimmie Johnson actually had a pretty good year trying to defend his five consecutive championships streak. Heck, aside from his wreck of�over-aggression�at Charlotte and tough Talladega finish, his Chase was shaping up in very good fashion.
Johnson had the fourth-best average running position in the Chase (11.4) and had the highest percentage of fastest laps run. He even led the second-most amount of laps among Chasers, behind only Tony Stewart.
Yet Johnson finished sixth, 99 points back. Another cat doomed by a lack of consistency.
How about some quick "makes you hmmm"stats? Let's go:
HOT: Juan Pablo Montoya completed the most total laps this year (10602) and the most total miles (14,165.25). Interestingly, Tony Stewart completed just 1.89 miles less than Montoya in 2011 while completing 23 fewer laps. Chalk that up, I'm told, to varying track sizes. It's a scientific fact.
NOT: Looking for some hard statistics about why Michael Waltrip Racing replaced David Reutimann next year? Reutimann's average finish dropped year-to-year over four spots to 22.3 in 2011, and he had seven fewer lead-lap finishes than in�2010.
HOT: Three drivers finished every race this season, including Montoya, Carl Edwards and Ryan Newman.�Thirty drivers finished at least 30 races this year on track. Attrition? You have no place in today's NASCAR.
NEUTRAL: Trevor Bayne made 51 percent of his Sprint Cup earnings in 2011 by winning the Daytona 500. He raced 16 more times. If anyone is offering, I'll gladly pitch your product and push Jeff Gordon all day in the 2012 Daytona 500 ? just like Mr. Bayne.
HOT: 31 lead-lap finishes was the most by any driver this season, a mark held by ? who else ? Stewart and Edwards. Meanwhile, Brian Vickers and Jamie McMurray each had 17 to easily illustrate the gulf between contenders and those who are not.
HOT: Perennial terrible�qualifier�Matt Kenseth tied for the most poles this season with three. Five drivers scored that number, meaning 2011 was the first season since 1997 that a single driver didn't have at least four poles in a season. Ryan Newman, what happened?
NEUTRAL: Likewise, Tony Stewart's five (all in the Chase!) wins led all Sprint Cup drivers this year. Not since 2002 (when Matt Kenseth had a season-high five wins) had NASCAR had a season without a six-or-more race winner.
With those stats, and the tied finish for the sport's top�achievement, you could say parity and consistency held some pretty big esteem in 2011. That's good, because they helped produce�noticeably-increased TV ratings over the 2010 numbers. Who knew fans hated someone stinking up the show with dominance?
Oh, everyone? You don't say...
Back to your regularly-scheduled NASCAR Silly Season.
Source: http://anotherindycarblog.wordpress.com/2011/11/23/murderdromes/
The MotoGP schedule for the 2012 season has been tweaked a little, and there is some good news for fans: the season starts seven days earlier, with the Qatar MotoGP round having been moved up a week to April 8th. The move is in response to the Formula One calendar, which sees the Chinese Grand Prix scheduled for April 15th, the date originally planned for Qatar, and so the decision was taken to start the MotoGP season a week earlier.
The other changes to the calendar are merely confirmations of what had been widely expected. The German GP is now officially set to take place at the Sachsenring, although as the contracts are yet to be completed, the date is still listed as being subject to contract. Those contracts are a mere formality, however, as the ADAC and the regional government came to an agreement earlier this month to keep the German round of MotoGP at the circuit in Hohenstein-Ernstthal. The Jerez round has also been confirmed, with the mayor of the circuit stepping in to ensure the 2012 date. Beyond 2012 is another matter, however, as the circuit is still in financial turmoil, stemming from alterations made back in 2001, and with new rounds in Argentina and Texas scheduled for 2013, Jerez could well be dropped after that date.
Source: http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2011/12/16/gp2-support-f1-singapore-bahrain-malaysia/
JeanDenis Deletraz Patrick Depailler Pedro Diniz Duke Dinsmore
Brian Barnhart is set to be removed from his position officiating Izod IndyCar Series races.
According to a report from SPEED.com, Barnhart has been offered to stay within IndyCar but his new position wouldn't be involved with race control.
SPEED can report that Barnhart will be offered to stay on the payroll as president of operations but will no longer have anything to do with the officiating or managing of IZOD IndyCar Series races.
INDYCAR CEO Randy Bernard was unavailable for comment but indicated a few weeks ago that some major changes were forthcoming.
In addition to removing Barnhart as chief steward and director of racing, Bernard is also replacing Terry Angstadt with Mark Koretzky, who served as director of business development for IndyCar in 2011.
IndyCar has had an uneven recent history when it comes to race control decisions from the disbursement of blocking penalties to the starting of the Baltimore Grand Prix when there was still a safety vehicle exiting the track in turn one as the field came barreling after the green flag.
And of course, there's the whole episode at New Hampshire that led to Will Power's double middle-fingered salute towards the race control box. That New Hampshire race had been restarted with the track damp from rain, and when many drivers hit the gas pedal, they lost control of their cars.
After his tirade, Power had this to say about Barnhart:
"[Barnhart] makes such bad calls all the time," he said. "They cannot have this guy running the show because that was a decision to put many drivers in danger. It's no condition to race in; shame on him."
In October, Al Unser Jr. was suspended indefinitely from his position in IndyCar Race Control for his third alcohol related arrest.
Gerhard Berger Eric Bernard Enrique Bernoldi Enrico Bertaggia
Source: http://anotherindycarblog.wordpress.com/2011/11/23/murderdromes/
The Sprint Cup Series' Champion's week came to an end on Friday night with the annual awards ceremony in Las Vegas. Well, officially, anyway. There's probably a handful of NASCAR-types still partying as you read this.
Didn't stay up for the banquet Friday night? No problem, we've got you covered.
? Speed led off its coverage with a red carpet special similar to a Hollywood awards show preview. The key takeaway? Yes, Amy, Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s girlfriend, is real.
?�When Tony Stewart was introduced at the head table, Jimmie Johnson walked out ? much to everyone's surprise�? and feigned surprise that his name wasn't on the dinner card. That Jimmie, he sure is vanilla, eh?
?�Host Reba McEntire was solid and got in a couple of zingers including this one:
"Earlier I was out front and saw Kyle Busch drive right past the valet," McEntire said. "Well, I guess NASCAR officials are only allowed to park his car."
(Busch wasn't an official honoree at the banquet as he finished outside the top 10 in points.)
?�When Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski were introduced, they were emphasized as the winners of the wild card that went to the two drivers with the most wins in 11th-2oth place in the points standings before the Chase. However, Hamlin and Keselowski were 11th and 12th in the points and would have gotten into the Chase anyway under the previous top 12 format.
?�Yes, the video of Jeff Gordon breakdancing got played.
?�For you east coast NASCAR fans, it must have been really weird to see Johnson speaking before midnight.
?�Robert Weaver, the Ice Cream Man, won the Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award. Weaver, an 83-year-old Talladega native, won for his over 50 years of volunteerism for the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind.
?�One of the reasons that the NASCAR banquet can be a snoozer��? yes, even more so than your typical race at Pocono��? is the scripted speeches for all of the drivers honored. Mad props to Keselowski, who clearly went on stage and winged it. It was compelling and well done, simply because it was clear that it wasn't off a teleprompter or a page of notes. Plus, he was even able to joke about his past history with Carl Edwards.
?�Matt Kenseth said that if he would have known that there wasn't going to be a comedian, he would have told some jokes. We all missed out. And he thanked Ollie's Bargain Outlet in his speech and snuck in a toilet-related Fluidmaster joke. You don't hear that every day.
?�During his speech, Edwards compared being honored (again) for finishing second as akin to sitting in the dentist's chair. Edwards handled the remarks about the championship battle with class all throughout the evening and he'll be at the head table very shortly.
?�Sprint CEO Dan Hesse announced that the company has extended its sponsorship of the Cup Series through 2016.
?�Stewart, who shared the head table with his former crew chief Darian Grubb, thanked Grubb for his commitment and dedication to Stewart-Haas since the organization's inception. Stewart's car was on display off to the side of the head table, but unfortunately didn't change to a Mobil 1 paint scheme two-thirds of the way through the evening.
Kurt Busch has been fined $50,000 for "actions detrimental to stock car racing" after his expletive-laced rant while waiting for a potential interview with ESPN and pit reporter Dr. Jerry Punch�during�last Sunday's Ford 400.
From NASCAR:
NASCAR determined that Kurt Busch violated Section 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing ? inappropriate hand gesture; abusive language) of the 2011 NASCAR Rule Book.
In issuing the penalty, NASCAR cited Kurt Busch's "poor judgment in making an inappropriate hand gesture" when he drove his car into the garage early in the race after it experienced transmission problems.�In addition, NASCAR said Kurt Busch showed "disrespect towards a media member," an incident that followed similar inappropriate media confrontations earlier in the season.
Busch was shown on his in-car camera flipping someone off as he was pulling into the garage. The previous incident mentioned involved Busch ripping a reporter's transcript in half when asked about comments at the Richmond race before the Chase.
Kudos to NASCAR for immediately making this fine public. The last time (that we know) a driver was fined for comments was Brad Keselowski, when he was monetarily punished for his words about electronic fuel injection at a NASCAR fan forum. That fine was initially a "secret" fine and was reported two weeks after Keselowski's comments took place.
In a press conference before Sunday's race, NASCAR chairman Brian France said that NASCAR didn't see a benefit to having a public fining system "at the time" but that the sanctioning body would take a look at fining procedures in the offseason.
"The way we looked at it, what would be the benefit?" France said. "The drivers know exactly what we're after. We have these annual meetings with them, right?� And then we have semi-annual meetings with them, and we meet with them every weekend at the track.�We have formal meetings in the off-season.
"So they know exactly what we expect out of them.�When they don't handle that, the only way we can control that is obviously a fining system.�But look, don't panic over this.�We'll look at it in the off-season, if we need to change it, we'll change it.� Not a big deal."
Carlo Abate George Abecassis Kenny Acheson Andrea de Adamich
