With the rain falling before the start of the race, the race was declared wet and the distance was reduced to 17 laps to allow for the extra time to change the bikes to their wet configurations.
George Constantine John Cordts David Coulthard Piers Courage
The race is done, and that means it's time for Power Rankings. Each week throughout the season, we'll size up who's rising and who's falling, based on current standings, behind-the-scenes changes, expected staying power, recent history and general gut feelings. It is not scientific, nor is it meant to be. And remember, whoever your favorite driver is, we're biased against him and like someone else better. We continue with a new face 'round these parts:
Dropping out of the rankings: Ryan Newman. Just barely. Call him 12.1.
Lucky Dog: Marcos Ambrose, of course. He's a longshot to make the Chase, but with just one more win, he'd be in. That's either very cool or a traveshamockery, one of the two. Still, good on ya, Aussie.
The Carl Edwards DNF: Jamie McMurray, who continues an inexplicable (well, maybe a little explicable) slide into irrelevance.
All right, your turn. Fire away, friends.
Welcome to the latest Happy Hour mailbag! You know how these work: You write us with your best rant/ joke/one-liner at happyhournascar@yahoogroups.com or on Twitter at @jaybusbee, we respond to your messages, everyone goes away with a smile on their face.
Is it hot where you are? At the risk of descending into hack comedian material, SWEET MOTHER OF MERCY IT'S SO HOT I JUST SAW A SQUIRREL BURST INTO FLAME. You know it's hot when you get into the pool and it doesn't feel cool, it just feels like you're sitting in the kiddie pool. (Ew.) Anyway, your favorite NASCAR drivers are ... oh, wait, they're in like 200-degree cars for four hours while we watch in air-conditioned comfort. Never mind.
Your letters:
Carl Edwards can say what he wants, but he simply isn't over the 2011 season. The telling quote was toward the end of his interview [after Kentucky] ? he first says he's "not tore up" over losing to Tony Stewart last year on a tiebreaker, but then later states, "We got beat on a crazy call by Darian Grubb" ... so basically, yeah, he's still tore up over last year, and anyone who knows Carl or has been around the garage ? journalists included ?�know that it's true.
He absolutely cannot let it go (not saying that I blame him, just saying that it's a fact). You didn't get beat on a "crazy call", Carl - you got beat in 10 races, 5 of which Stewart won. The Chase isn't won or lost by one call by one crew chief on one occasion. Your choices are: 1) Get over it or 2) Miss the Chase. I'm betting on #2.
Nathan Bitner
Asheville, N.C.
There certainly seems to be something to this second-place curse, and I can't even imagine how tough it must be for Carl Edwards to lose the closest championship run in all sports history. Seriously, even an extra-inning World Series Game 7 has to finish with one team winning. The 2011 Chase finished with both drivers dead freaking even.
What Edwards should have taken from his defeat, though, is that nobody is ever, ever out of it when the Chase begins ... and, hell, even five or six races into the Chase. Therefore, the rule is simple: Get. In. The. Chase. Can he do it? I think so, but unless something changes in a hurry, I don't see him making any noise even if he does. That team is still shell-shocked, whether they're willing to publicly admit it or not.
____________________
Re: Dinger. [Potentially libelous jumping-to-conclusions deleted] I believe it will end his career because this is a sponsor driven sport and nobody will stake their name on even a suspected drug user. It will not make a real difference if his B sample comes back clean because he will already be labeled.
Dale
(AKA Gator)
Allmendinger's situation is so ever-changing right now that I'm hesitant to even comment on it because you might read this article after he's been found innocent of all charges, and then won't I look stupid calling for his head? Anyway, perception is reality in NASCAR, and you're right, he's dug himself a huge hole here. Best-case scenario, short of a "B" sample exoneration, is that he puts this behind him and doesn't get into an ugly he-said/NASCAR-said fight. We know how that will turn out. But again, let's hold off on making him into a NASCAR drug kingpin until we know more.
____________________
NASCAR seriously needs to re-think what they're doing at Daytona and Talladega. What they're offering us at these two tracks is boring to watch, unless you like to see torn-up race cars.There's no racing, no passing, everyone just rides around waiting for the crash. They've just messed around with things to the point where these plate races are a waste of time to watch. Brian France should fire himself!
Bruce Collier
Richmond, Va.
(Throws up hands in absolute defeat on the plate-race issue)
____________________
I'm very disappointed in a lot of the Nationwide drivers from Friday's race. [Danica Patrick] had a very powerful and stout car that could almost run by itself and didn't need someone pushing her. I think had she not been wrecked the big story of the weekend would have been her first win. But the reason I'm so disappointed is the blatant and obvious attitude of the other drivers toward the 7 car. The only two drivers that would work with her were the 22 and the 88. Everyone else seemed to avoid working with her like she had cooties. I have to feel like this was a very bad black eye for the drivers and makes me embarrassed to think to how they may treat others who are different in the future just because they have a perceived notion that "someone" doesn't belong with them on the race track.
Cliff Francis
Ashland, Kent.
____________________
Jay: I would really like to see how NASCAR fans feel about Austin Dillon keep bring up that he would like to drive the #3 in cup series. I hear this all the time and in my opinion, he has been groomed by grampa [Richard Choldress] for awhile now and gets the best everything money can buy, and he keeps asking for more and more and now he wants to drive #3 in cup series. It looks as if he is begging for it and putting grampa on the spot in front of the media hoping he will jump up and say "Yes." It's kind of pathetic for someone to want something to special when he has not earned it, and personally I think it should be retired.
"MidMichigan Online Auctions"
Interesting name there, friend. Anyway, I'm in the "retire the number" camp for the 3, the 43 and certain others, though many do disagree with me. I understand the appeal of having a number out there every week, but to me it does diminish the value of the number itself. And yes, many drivers have jumped numbers throughout their career, but certain numbers are iconic and should stay that way.
____________________
It seems that perhaps Brad Keselowski is the only Cup Series driver who "gets it;" that once you're in the top 10 in points as the season winds down to the Chase, WINS MATTER. Seems like everyone else in the Cup series (other than perhaps Kasey Kahne, who's desperately trying to get into the Chase) is just on cruise control, as if 3rd is as good as a win, which is as good as 5th place. Have the other drivers truly forgotten about the Chase bonus for wins, or is the fear of losing a spot or two when actually racing for a win that large of a fear?
Where else in sports do we see that attitude, where "almost" winning is good enough?
Mark D. Knight
New Salisbury, Ind.
Wrigley Field.
And yes, losing a spot or 20 is a huge fear, particularly when you've got so many drivers bunched around 10th place and so many fighting for a wild card spot. We're going to have several drivers with one win on the outside looking in. The solutions? Either let everyone who wins a race into the Chase, or amp up the point value for high finishes. Make a top-10 finish worth more than one point better than an 11th-place. Or, hell, do away with the Chase altogether and don't worry if the season is already settled by September.
And on that note, we're out. Thanks to all our writers this week. You want in? Fire up the computer and hit us with whatever's on your mind, NASCAR-wise, at happyhournascar@yahoogroups.com. You can find Yahoo! Sports' NASCAR coverage on Facebook right here, and you can follow me on Twitter at @jaybusbee and on Facebook here. Make sure to tell us where you're from. We'll make you famous!
Source: http://anotherindycarblog.wordpress.com/2012/07/12/airing-of-grievances-the-false-hope-edition/
Time again for another Yahoo! Sports NASCAR chat! Off week? Forget that! We're back at it, talking Indy this weekend and other matters of interest. Join us at 1:30 ET (a half-hour later than usual) on Tuesday and we'll roll it!
Sunday was a tragic day in NASCAR history with the death of a fan to a lightning strike, and we should never minimize that. Before that, however, there was a race ... here's what happened there.
Source: http://www.autocarblog.co.uk/275-smart-cars-in-india-from-dream-to-reality.html
JeanChristophe Boullion Sebastien Bourdais Thierry Boutsen Johnny Boyd
 |
When we decided to pit the two top supercars against one another, the list had to include the Bugatti Veyron, the Goliath of the supercar world. Its competitor, on the other hand, wasn’t nearly as clear cut, as there are numerous cars that you can match up against the Veyron and get a good fight.
The first one that we looked at was the Hennessey Venom GT and its 1,244-horsepower V-8. In all honesty, the Hennessey just feels more like a kit car to us, thanks to its Lotus Elise base. Granted, that’s one bad-ass, Bugatti killing kit car, but it still just didn’t feel right to us.
After spanning the globe trying to find a good competitor, we ended up right back in the U.S. with the all-new SSC Tuatara. This limited production supercar definitely has the power to handle the likes of the Veyron on paper, but we really need to dig in deep to see what really happens when we put them up against each other.
To find out who wins you’ll have to click past the jump.
SSC Tuatara vs. Bugatti Veyron: An Automotive David vs. Goliath originally appeared on topspeed.com on Thursday, 9 August 2012 19:00 EST.
AJ Allmendinger's business manager said Wednesday that the driver tested positive for amphetamines, however, they were unsure of what the amphetamine exactly was.
Allmendinger's business manager, Tara Ragan, confirmed multiple media reports Wednesday that an amphetamine triggered the positive test. Ragan said Allmendinger was waiting for additional data from the laboratory that might help identify the source of the amphetamine.
''What is it, exactly? That, we still don't know,'' Ragan said.
NASCAR spokesman David Higdon said on SPEED's Race Hub Wednesday night that it was protocol to inform Allmendinger of the specific substance. Allmendinger was suspended indefinitely from NASCAR Tuesday after his 'B' sample corroborated with the positive drug test of his 'A' sample after the Kentucky race on June 30.
"Actually, specific substance, not stimulant, that is something that they said. We don't reveal the actual substance," Higdon said. "But it's part of the protocol that's outlined in our rulebook, the medical review officer does in fact inform the competitor of the exact substance that he or she has tested positive for. That information is also conveyed to NASCAR."
Well then, that's interesting, isn't it? Penske Racing President Tim Cindric said that the team hasn't been notified of the specifics, saying that all the team knows is what's been released by Allmendinger's camp publicly.
Earlier Wednesday, Ragan confirmed that Allmendinger would be entering NASCAR's Road to Recovery Program immediately in an attempt to return to the track as fast as possible. Given the likely timeline of the program ? generally five months or so ? it's doubtful that Allmendinger will be eligible to compete before the end of the season. Sam Hornish is scheduled to be in the car on Sunday at Indianapolis and the following weekend at Pocono.
A press release on all the reasons why you should go to Indy for the Red Bull Indianapolis GP. There's a lot of them:
PLENTY OF ACTION, EXCITEMENT AT RED BULL INDIANAPOLIS GP
'The Ultimate Motorcycle Race in America' includes great activities for all riders, fans
INDIANAPOLIS, Thursday, Aug. 9, 2012 - The 2012 Red Bull Indianapolis GP features exciting, 200-mph racing by the world's best riders on exotic, prototype machinery, and there are plenty of other activities geared toward motorcycling enthusiasts during "The Ultimate Motorcycle Race in America" on Aug. 17-19 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
MotoGP superstars Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner will race against American standouts Nicky Hayden, Ben Spies and Colin Edwards aboard 1000cc prototype motorcycles from Ducati, Honda, Yamaha and more on the IMS road course Sunday, Aug. 19, with practice Friday, Aug. 17 and practice and qualifying Saturday, Aug. 18. Exciting competition also will take place in the Moto2 (600cc) and Moto3 (250cc) World Championship classes featuring riders from around the world.
