TheNASCARInsiders.com
Follow the Insiders on Twitter or be a fan on Facebook!
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNascarInsiders/~3/527IvTHlEAI/
Monday
Some Advice For Christmas
There was an article in the Charlotte Observer last week�about a woman named Christmas Abbott who is attempting to become a tire changer. She’s being supported in her effort by Turner Motorsports and is being coached by veteran jackman and coach Shaun Peet and the guys at Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR and Turner have a [...]
Mercedes Confident 2014 Engine Will Give Hamilton Advantage
Mercedes engine managing director Andy Cowell believes that the team?s 2014 developments will give its drivers the advantage. Regulation changes will see engine capacity reduced and turbochargers introduced as the sport looks to evolve. Cowell feels that the new powerplant Mercedes are working on could be key and will hand Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg [...]
Sunday
HRC Press Release: Shuhei Nakamoto Looks Back At 2012, And Forward To 2013
With the kickoff to the 2013 season growing ever closer, those involved in motorcycle racing are starting to look back at 2012 and look ahead to 2013. After yesterday's review from Bridgestone, Honda are the next organization to issue a press release interview with a senior management figure. The press release interview with HRC Vice President Shuhei Nakamoto makes for fascinating reading, providing an insight into the 2012 season and expectations of 2013.
The interview covers the preparations for the switch to 1000cc, and the confidence with which HRC went into the new era. However, Honda soon ran into trouble, with the increase in the minimum weight added in December 2011, and the revised construction of Bridgestone tires supplied for the 2012 season, both the softer rear tire and the revised front tire (for additional detail into why the weight increase was announced so late, see the editor's note below the interview). Nakamoto provides some interesting details on how HRC dealt with the extra weight and the revised tires, revealing that it cost them half a season to solve the problems they had created. The HRC boss also explains why he believes that having multiple tire manufacturers is a better solution for all involved, creating more competition and allowing multiple solutions for different bikes. Nakamoto states that he believes this is one of the reasons why MotoGP racing has become so predictable.
Nakamoto also has very high praise for both Casey Stoner and Marc Marquez, the man brought in to replace him. His compliments on Marquez approach and talent are telling, Nakamoto revealing that at the HRC test in Sepang, Marquez was already lapping at the same pace that Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner were running. Nakamoto also provides insight into why he will miss Casey Stoner, and exactly how important the Australian was to Honda's racing program. Nakamoto rates Stoner above any other rider in the MotoGP paddock.
Year:
2013 
Piero Carini Duane Carter Eugenio Castellotti Johnny Cecotto
Clint Bowyer is sick of talking about Jeff Gordon
At some point in our lives, we've all gotten sick of talking about a significant moment, only for the topic to be brought up again and again. And it's safe to say that Clint Bowyer has reached that point when talking about Jeff Gordon.
As you've seen over and over again (and replayed to chariots of fire music and turned into a meme), Gordon intentionally wrecked Bowyer at Phoenix, the next-to-last race of 2012 after contact between the two had sent Gordon into the wall laps earlier. The intentional crash destroyed Bowyer's championship hopes (and his car) and after pulling to pit road, Bowyer made a full sprint to the garage area to find Gordon while the two drivers' teams ended up in a big scrum.
Bowyer hasn't forgiven Gordon for that moment, or if he has in private, he's certainly not showing it.
"Who cares? Really, who cares?" Bowyer said on Thursday when he was asked if he talked to Gordon between the banquet and Daytona testing. "Apparently you guys do way more than we do. I can promise you that. I missed that deer that I was talking about in Texas though, if that makes you feel any better. That was more important on my off-season list than figuring out where I was going to vacation and who I was going to vacation with. My neighbor shot it, it sucked. Yes. He was really happy -- I was not."
The subject was broached because Gordon and Bowyer spent New Year's in the same location -- on P. Diddy's yacht. And also because there has been no apparent resolution to the feud. In an era of NASCAR where drivers have been branded as "too vanilla," that's pretty rare. So yes, there were questions that needed to be asked.
"I was on the damndest boat you've ever seen in your life," Bowyer said. "I'm from Kansas. We don't have big boats in Kansas. We don't have very big bodies of water so I think (Gordon) was on that same boat, but there was a lot of other people on there and it was a big time being had. Yes, he was on there and I think it was on the same island. I'm pretty sure he was on there. It was pretty late. Put it that way."
"I had a great New Year's. I enjoyed myself very much," Gordon said.
So no, they didn't toast the arrival of 2013 together. Or did they?
"Yeah we held hands and walked on the boat, discussed the past year and enjoyed ourselves throughout the whole vacation," Bowyer said (sarcastically). "That was the one person I wanted to -- that I definitely wanted to vacation with."
"I could not wait to get there for that very reason."
Max Chilton confirmed at Marussia for 2013
Marussia has confirmed the not unexpected news that Max Chilton will partner Timo Glock in 2013. Chilton, who impressed in GP2 this season, drove for the team in FP1 in Abu Dhabi, and was its official reserve for the last … Continue reading 
Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2012/12/18/max-chilton-confirmed-at-marussia-for-2013/
Guido Forti 1940 ? 2013
Guido Forti was a racer in the 1960s and early 1970s but then decided to join forces with engineer Paolo Guerci joined forces to run a young Teo Fabi to the Italian Formula Ford 2000. The team was successful and moved up to Formula 3 the following year with Fabi in the Italian and European [...]
Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2013/01/12/guido-forti-1940-2013/
Saturday
Should Tony Stewart take Roger Penske?s offer of an Indy 500 ride?
During his speech at Friday night's Sprint Cup Series banquet Roger Penske offered Tony Stewart a ride in a Penske IndyCar for the Indianapolis 500.
It was a joke.
Right?
Wrong, apparently. When asked after the banquet about his line, Penske didn't exactly back away or laugh it off.
''If he wants to do the double, I'd put him in it,'' Penske said. ''We've talked about it before, I guess I made it official tonight.''
Well holy crap.
Stewart moved over from the IndyCar Series to NASCAR full time in 1999 and last ran the Indianapolis 500/Coca-Cola 600 Memorial Day weekend double in 2001. That year, he finished 6th in the 500 for Chip Ganassi and then third in the 600 for Joe Gibbs Racing, his only Sprint Cup Series team until he got an ownership stake in Stewart-Haas Racing and started driving for his team in 2009.
He has sworn off the double (NASCAR chatters, insert your Whopper jokes here) since then. But will Penske's public proclamation sway him? He's won 15 Indianapolis 500s, you know.
If a driver was going to do the Indy/Charlotte double in the near future, the favorite to do so looked like it would be Danica Patrick, who was entertaining the thought as recently as this summer. But with her move to the Sprint Cup Series full-time in 2013, wiser heads prevailed and those plans have been scuttled, for now at least.
However, should her NASCAR owner do it? Stewart has never won the crown jewel of IndyCar racing ? his best finish is a 5th with 64 laps led in 1997. He's also never won the Daytona 500, going 0-14.
So how about this proposal: if Stewart wins the 2013 Daytona 500, he takes Penske's offer. Only Mario Andretti and AJ Foyt (who Stewart chose his car number at SHR after) have won both races. Stewart would have the opportunity to be the first driver to win both in the same season, and if he prevents his 0-fer streak from getting one closer to Dale Earnhardt's in Daytona, why shouldn't he go for it in Indianapolis?
Of course, there are many logistics to sort out if Stewart was to take Penske up on his offer; namely sponsor conflicts (Mobil 1 vs. Shell Pennzoil) and the time juggling that would be required to maintain a regular Sprint Cup Series focus while getting in as much seat time as possible in Indianapolis.
After all, Indianapolis is the race that Stewart grew up attending and dreaming about. And it's a track that, like Daytona, has teased him with strong performances. With Daytona knocked off the bucket list, only Indy would remain unchecked. It'd be too tantalizing to pass up.
2012 season in the rear view: Juan Pablo Montoya
Vitals: 22nd in the points standings. 0 wins, 0 top 5s, 2 top 10s. 5 DNFs.
Moment to remember: Oh, gee, what could it be?
Even if Juan Pablo Montoya won the 2012 Sprint Cup Series title, nothing was going to top the jet dryer incident at Daytona in February. Nothing. And Montoya obviously didn't win the championship, so nothing was really a close second either.
So when it comes to performance on the box score (the blaze was performance art at its finest), the highlight of Montoya's season are the back-to-back poles that he scored at Pocono at Watkins Glen in August. But, as Montoya's 2012 tended to go, they lead us directly into the next section.
Moment to forget: Those two poles could have been a great launching point for Montoya to grab a win, jump into the top 20 and suddenly be in the discussion for a Chase wild card berth over the final three races of the regular season. But instead, Montoya finished 20th at Pocono and then 33rd at Watkins Glen after issues with his left front tire. And it wasn't like Montoya was at the front for very long in each of those races. He led a combined eight laps.
The wrap: Chip Ganassi made some personnel switches at Earnhardt Ganassi before the season, including putting Chris Heroy atop Montoya's pit box for the season, and hinted that there could be more on the way if the team's performance didn't pick up. And it didn't. Teammate Jamie McMurray was just one spot ahead of Montoya in the standings.
The team announced that it would field Hendrick engines next year, switching from Earnhardt-Childress Racing engines. Will the powerplant swap be a catalyst for an uptick in performance in 2013? Or is there more to Earnhardt-Ganassi's struggles?
Other popular content on the Yahoo! network:
? Players reject 11th-hour settlement offer from NFL in bounty case
? Juan Manuel Marquez gets closure against Manny Pacquiao | Photos
? Roy Hibbert expects to surpass Dwight Howard as NBA's top center
? Y! Shine slideshow: Cringe-worthy holiday photos
Grosjean hangs on to Lotus seat for 2013
One of the last remaining pieces of the 2013 F1 puzzle fell into place when Lotus confirmed that Romain Grosjean will stay on alongside Kimi Raikkonen next season. The Frenchman, who won the Race of Champions in Bangkok on Sunday, … Continue reading 
Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2012/12/17/grosjean-hangs-on-to-lotus-seat-for-2013/
FIVE Young Racers Set To Shine In 2013
Champions elect, Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull team have thoroughly dominated recent F1 history. After rampaging their way to three successive Constructors? and Drivers? Championships the Milton Keynes based outfit are the team to beat heading into the new season. But where does that leave Formula One in the long term? With revolutionary engine [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Formula1Fancast/~3/EHhd8VSqcDI/five-young-racers-set-to-shine-in-2013
Friday
Man shoots collection of Dale Earnhardt memorabilia after death of pet snake
How the snake died, however, is up for debate. Gary Wayne Ericcson says he shot the snake after it was dead, however, he was arrested Sunday and charged with killing it himself.
Gary Wayne Ericcson, 46, was arrested Sunday on multiple charges, including cruelty to animals, after the shooting at his home. He was released from custody after posting a $20,000 bond.
But Ericcson says the snake, which he said was named Anonymous, had died before the shooting.
He told NBC Charlotte that he couldn't bury the snake because "the other animals would get him." Ericcson said that he and his wife can't have children, so their pets, which include two cats and a dog, are their children.
There has been no word on the status of his Earnhardt collection.
Thursday
Andy Ahern is an entrepreneur par excellence
Andy Ahern has been at the helm in the transportations and trucking logistics sector since the day he went public with Ahern and Associates in 1987. Before Andy established his own truck transportation and logistics consultancy, he had garnered sufficient experience about trucking transportation. He had worked in senior positions in many companies. Even the [...]
Source: http://www.autocarblog.co.uk/373-andy-ahern-is-an-entrepreneur-par-excellence.html
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)