Tuesday
Michael Schumacher: ?There?s going to be some excitement??
Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2012/11/24/michael-schumacher-theres-going-to-be-some-excitement/
Enrique Bernoldi Enrico Bertaggia Tony Bettenhausen Mike Beuttler
Chase Power Rankings: When a spoiler is not a spoiler
The sixth race of the Chase is over, and that means it's time for Power Rankings! But we're doing things a little differently now that we're in the postseason. It's all-Chasers, all the time. Good job, good effort for those of you that didn't make it, but we've got bigger fish to focus on. We'll be judging who's running well, considering not just finishing position but quality of run, expected potential, and general gut feelings. As always, we hate your guy and are biased against him. Now, enjoy.
1. Jimmie Johnson. Admit it: when Johnson backed into the wall, you thought that was it for his championship chances. You thought he was done, toast, finito. NOT SO! Look, if nothing else, the way that Johnson got himself back into the Kansas race, and by association the Cup, ought to endear him to some good ol' boys; the 48 was taped together like a redneck lawnmower. Last week: 2.
2. Brad Keselowski. If Keselowski does win, he'll point to the Busch/Newman wreck he dodged Sunday as a key point. He knew this, and said as much in the car. The guy is already preparing his Victory DVD. Last week: 3.
3. Denny Hamlin. Not a good week for Hamlin, who had a chance to make up some ground and couldn't quite do it. On the plus side, he didn't completely torpedo his chances, so, you know, always look on the bright side of life. Last week: 1.
4. Clint Bowyer. Homecomings have to stink. I mean, this is your home track (if you're Clint Bowyer, that is) and you've probably got a ton of family asking for tickets, especially that Uncle Spuckler you can't stand but you have to keep him happy because he's your mom's little brother and he's been a little touched since he got kicked in the head by that mule when he was a kid and ... Last week: 4.
5. Martin Truex Jr. You've got to figure that Truex wishes the season was about 70 weeks long, because he's been on a steady, if slow, upward trend for months now. Alas, nobody else wishes that, Martin. Go home. Last week: 6.
6. Kasey Kahne. For much of the day Sunday, Kahne was driving the NASCAR equivalent of a wagon going down a steep hill. He's still mathematically in all this, but he's so, so far behind that it's going to be just about impossible for him to catch up. Last week: 5.
7. Matt Kenseth. Two wins in the Chase? He's gotta be leading, right? Well ... no. Is he a case for reworking the points scheme to keep people in the mix later? Perhaps. Last week: 9.
8. Tony Stewart. Even though he's effectively done this year, Stewart continues to get in scraps with his fellow drivers. This week, it was Kasey Kahne. Got to love Smoke. Last week: 10.
9. Jeff Gordon. The long, slow fade of 2012 continues for Gordon. He's still relevant, he's still a top-flight driver, but this year it's all over and done with. Last week: 7.
10. Greg Biffle. Like Kenseth, he ran well at Kansas. Like Kenseth, it really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. Like Kenseth, he'll be classy in defeat. Last week: 8.
11. Kevin Harvick. Yeah, uh ... well, at least he made the Chase, right? We look for small victories for most guys at this point in the season. Last week: 11.
12. Dale Earnhardt Jr. So Junior was coming back at Martinsville, then maybe he isn't. What concerns me most is the "impact test" Rick Hendrick was talking about on Sunday. That doesn't sound like something you want to give a concussion victim. Last week: 12.
Non-Chaser of the week: Paul Menard. Wait, Paul Menard got third place? Is that right? And this wasn't a rain-shortened race? Huh. Nice job, PFM.
All right, you're up. Where should everyone go? Go!
Chase Watch: Brad Keselowski is now in, uh, the driver?s seat
And then there was ... one? Not quite, but the championship picture cleared up considerably on Sunday at Phoenix.
All day long, Brad Keselowski had a better car than Jimmie Johnson, and better strategy as well, sneaking up to grab a lap-led bonus during pit stops while Johnson was unable to do the same. And for much of the afternoon, it looked like we'd go into Homestead with the two leaders virtually tied; shades of 2011, when Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards were in the same spot.
And then came lap 236. Several cars had been having right-front tire issues, a side effect of increased breaking and increased tension on that tire. And at the worst possible time, Johnson's tire gave out. He hit the wall hard enough to cause damage to his vehicle, and had to go behind the wall for more than 30 laps. By then, Keselowski had avoided enough drama to end up in sixth place
Who's up? Keselowski now takes a 20-point lead into the season's final race. "Certainly if you have the choice you always want to be in the lead of the points, especially in the closing races, so I'm thankful for that," Keselowski said. "But I also know that the troubles that they had are the same troubles that we could have next week, and so you try not to take anything for granted."
Who's down? Johnson is in trouble now. "It's way, way out of our control after the problem we had today," he said. "We still have to go to Homestead and race, and anything can happen down there. But not the position you want to be in leaving Phoenix." Of note: in 2010, Johnson was 15 points behind Denny Hamlin and came back to catch him. He's only five points behind that figure now.
Who's out? Jeff Gordon effectively eliminated Clint Bowyer from any championship possibility, which is a shame because at the time, Bowyer was only a handful of points behind Johnson. Trouble with the 2 in Homestead, and Bowyer could have been right back in it. So, yes, everyone south of Johnson is mathematically eliminated.
What's next? One race left. Even if Johnson wins and leads the most laps, Keselowski still only needs to finish no worse than 15th to win the championship. Aggression or prevent defense? It'll be a fascinating test to see how he handles the challenge.
Monday
FIVE Lessons From The Brazilian Grand Prix
Piero Carini Duane Carter Eugenio Castellotti Johnny Cecotto
Chase Power Rankings: After Martinsville, and then there were ?. two?
The seventh race of the Chase is over, and that means it's time for Power Rankings! But we're doing things a little differently now that we're in the postseason. It's all-Chasers, all the time. Good job, good effort for those of you that didn't make it, but we've got bigger fish to focus on. We'll be judging who's running well, considering not just finishing position but quality of run, expected potential, and general gut feelings. As always, we hate your guy and are biased against him. Now, enjoy.
1. Jimmie Johnson. Relentless. That's the way Johnson has been all season, and this weekend it finally paid off. Johnson was expected to run well at Martinsville, and he did exactly that, winning both the pole and the checkered flag. How many grandfather clocks does one man need? Last week: 1.
2. Brad Keselowski. It's tough to say that a sixth-place finish is a victory, but that must have been what it felt like for Keselowski, starting 32nd and facing Johnson and Denny Hamlin at one of their best tracks. Now we got us a race. Last week: 2.
3. Clint Bowyer. An outstanding run for Bowyer. This has to be frustrating as hell for anybody who's not the 2 or the 48; those guys just will not quit. But Bowyer is fast becoming a top-tier driver right before our very eyes. Last week: 4.
4. Denny Hamlin. How many ways can Denny Hamlin lose? That was just cruel, seeing how his championship chances evaporated Sunday. NASCAR needs to have a shooting range where you can just take out your frustrations when your season goes up in smoke. Last week: 3.
5. Kasey Kahne. Another strong run from HurriKa - er, nope, let's not use that nickname. What will be interesting is seeing whether the new stars of this year's Chase (Kahne, Bowyer, Keselowski) follow in the footsteps of previous ones (Edwards, Harvick). Last week: 6.
6. Martin Truex Jr. Ain't going to lie: kind of running out of stuff to say about the non-Cup contenders this late in the season. So let's take a moment and talk about Halloween. What's your favorite candy? I'm going with Reese's. I used to inhale those things. We'll continue this theme next entry. Last week: 5.
7. Jeff Gordon. JG has dressed in a few lively Halloween costumes in his day, including the One Night Stand. Slick. My best? Fat Axl Rose. Shut up. Last week: 9.
8. Matt Kenseth. Worst Halloween candy has to be Mounds. That stuff bites. In order to conceal from our parents how much candy we were eating, we used to throw the wrappers back into the pillowcase where we kept our loot. The result was that within a week or so, we'd be digging through wrappers like garbage pickers, pulling out a lone Mounds or a bank lollipop or something equally lame. Last week: 7.
9. Greg Biffle. Hey, Biff. Continuing: what is the protocol for someone who gives you non-candy in the 21st century? Like popcorn or apple slices or pennies in a bag? You have the right to torch their car if they do that, right? Last week: 10.
10. Tony Stewart. What's your favorite Halloween rumor? Mine is "look out for the kids spraying Nair!" The idea being, of course, that if somebody sprayed you with that, your hair would instantly fall out. Tony Stewart would be interested in that. Last week: 9.
11. Dale Earnhardt Jr. If I was Dale Earnhardt Jr., I'd go out on Halloween wearing a Bud No. 8 firesuit and see how many people yelled at me because "Junior doesn't wear that sponsor anymore." If I was Dale Earnhardt Jr., I'd spend a lot of time messing with people. Last week: 12.
12. Kevin Harvick. Whoever the guy is who's been dressed as Kevin Harvick all Chase, stop it. Go put on a Bane costume or something. And let Harvick out of whatever closet you've been keeping him in. Last week: 11.
Non-Chaser of the Week: Aric Almirola. Wait, Double-A finished fourth? This was a rain-shortened race, right? No? Did everyone else crash? No? Huh. Nice job; he's going to make people remember that No. 43.
All right, you're up. Who goes where? Have your say.
2012 Brazilian Grand Prix result | 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix
2012 Brazilian Grand Prix result is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.
Jenson Button won the Brazilian Grand Prix as Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa took second and third.
2012 Brazilian Grand Prix result is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.
Source: http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2012/11/25/2012-brazilian-grand-prix-result/
Sunday
Alonso boosted by Maldonado grid penalty
Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2012/11/24/alonso-boosted-by-maldonado-grid-penalty/
Enrico Bertaggia Tony Bettenhausen Mike Beuttler Birabongse Bhanubandh
BMW Press Release: Davies And Melandri Test At Aragon
BMW issued the following press release after completing testing at Aragon:
BMW Motorrad - WSBK - Winter Testing - Motorland Aragón
Alcañiz, 15th November 2012. After the rain-hit test last week at the Spanish Jerez circuit, BMW Motorrad scheduled two more days of testing this week at “Motorland Aragón” near Alcañiz (ESP). There the factory riders Marco Melandri (ITA) and Chaz Davies (GBR) continued the preparation for the 2013 FIM Superbike World Championship yesterday and today. Again the team was not too lucky with the weather conditions. Yesterday, Wednesday, and last night it rained again. This morning the track was still damp, but then it dried up. Therefore, at least this afternoon, the team found good conditions to continue its comprehensive testing programme. The highest air and track temperatures reached 17 degrees Celsius.
BMW Motorrad had taken numerous newly developed components for several areas of the BMW S 1000 RR to Alcañiz, which were evaluated by Marco and the team. His new team mate, Chaz, used the time to further familiarise himself with his RR. In total, Marco and Chaz completed 114 laps or 607 kilometres of testing on their RRs.
Crunching The Numbers: How Does Marc Marquez' First MotoGP Test Compare?
Marc Marquez was heaped with praise in the media after his first laps on the Repsol Honda at Valencia on Wednesday. So much praise that some MotoGP fans grew sceptical, questioning whether ending the test over a second behind his new teammate and fastest man Dani Pedrosa was the great result that was being touted by the press. After all, Marquez had finished just 7th, behind all of the prototype riders from last year, and that was without the presence of Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi on the factory Yamahas.
So who is right? Are the media right to be excited about the times Marquez posted on Wednesday, or are they still blinded by his performance on Sunday, winning the Moto2 race from the back of the grid? Are the fans correct to point to his position, behind the satellite bikes despite being on a factory Honda? One answer may lie in the times.
Saturday
Vettel: I Deserve To Be Driving The Best Car
Earnhardt Childress Racing won?t change name after Earnhardt Ganassi switch to Hendrick power
The partnership between Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing and Earnhardt-Childress Racing was easy to understand. Earnhardt-Ganassi was the team that fielded cars for Jamie McMurray and Juan Pablo Montoya in the Sprint Cup Series, and the engine shop was Earnhardt-Childress Racing, which supplied horsepower for those two cars as well as the teams of Richard Childress Racing.
Pretty straightforward, huh?
[Related: Matt Kenseth could play spoiler in Texas]
On Friday, EGR announced that it would be switching to Hendrick horsepower for the 2013 season. So that meant that the engine shop known as Earnhardt-Childress would disappear since Earnhardt-Ganassi wasn't going to be involved anymore, right?
Earnhardt Childress Racing was formed when Richard Childress Racing merged its engine-building operation with Dale Earnhardt Inc.'s Sprint Cup team in 2007. DEI then merged with Chip Ganassi Racing in late 2008, changing the team's name to Earnhardt Ganassi Racing.
Because DEI independently remains a partner in Ganassi's Sprint Cup team and in Childress' engine shop, neither entity is changing its name.
On Friday, Childress said that EGR's decision wouldn't have a huge impact on ECR's operations, as the shop will continue to provide engines for his three Sprint Cup teams (and Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series teams), Furniture Row Racing and other race teams.
McMurray and Montoya are in 20th and 22nd in the Sprint Cup points standings, respectively. The highest driver with ECR power is Kevin Harvick in 11th, behind four drivers who have Hendrick horsepower. No ECR car has a race win -- compare that with 12 for Hendrick powered cars.
However, it's important to note that the Hendrick cars also have Hendrick chassis, an almost equally vital part of the mechanical spectrum. Will the simple switch in power plants for EGR lead to better performance, or is the Hendrick secret the total package? We'll find out in 2013.
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