Indy Car Info

Thursday

Crash ensures Tony Stewart?s winless Daytona 500 streak continues

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- As has become customary, Tony Stewart entered Sunday's Daytona 500 as one of the favorites. And why not? He has 19 victories at Daytona International Speedway, second only to Dale Earnhardt.

But as has also become customary, Stewart left Daytona Beach on Sunday night without the Harley J. Earl trophy. His 15th attempt at winning the Daytona 500 was effectively ended by a lap 34 crash.

Of Earnhardt's 34 victories, only one of them came in the Daytona 500. He went 18 years before winning his first 500 in 1998. Stewart's 15 year streak isn't there yet, but it's creeping so ever closer.

The crash started ahead of Stewart when Kasey Kahne went spinning towards the infield and Kevin Harvick hit the wall as the field checked up behind Kahne. Harvick's car spun to the inside, but when he was tagged by Juan Pablo Montoya it spun back up the track. The avenue that Stewart had to potentially get by on the high side was blocked and Harvick's car slammed into his.

Being taken out so quickly meant Stewart would take an early points hit. But when he was asked about that, the importance of winning a Daytona 500 was obvious in Stewart's answer.

"To hell with the season. I wanted to win the Daytona 500," Stewart said. "We had a car that we could pass with today. We were passing cars by ourselves ... Happy with our car, was just waiting for it all to get sorted out again. I don't know what started it, but we just got caught up in another wreck."

Last year, Stewart was caught in a crash on the tri-oval and finished 16th. In 2007, he and Kurt Busch crashed while Stewart was leading. While he's won the summer Daytona race four times, has three Sprint Unlimited victories and won Saturday's Nationwide Series race for the seventh time in nine years, the closest he's come to victory lane at the Great American Race is in 2008 when he was passed by Ryan Newman for the lead on the final lap.

There are other drivers with longer winless streaks; third-place finisher Mark Martin made his 29th Daytona 500 start without a win on Sunday. But the three-time champion Stewart has accomplished just about everything else in the Cup Series except win the 500, much like it was for Earnhardt until he won his first 500 at age 47. And that quest will continue into 2014.

Related video from Yahoo! Sports:

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/crash-ensures-tony-stewart-winless-daytona-500-streak-233633967--nascar.html

Fabrizio Barbazza John Barber Skip Barber Paolo Barilla

Wednesday

An entertaining Top-10 list to Challenge Your Knowledge of Aristocracy...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nofenders/zbjv/~3/zBc6zhFGEvk/an-entertaining-top-10-list-to.html

JeanChristophe Boullion Sebastien Bourdais Thierry Boutsen Johnny Boyd

Raikkonen misses out on testing mileage | 2013 F1 season

Raikkonen misses out on testing mileage is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.

Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen goes into the first race of the season having completed less than half the testing mileage of many of his rivals.

Raikkonen misses out on testing mileage 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/2013/03/04/raikkonen-misses-testing-mileage/

Roberto Bonomi Juan Manuel Bordeu Slim Borgudd Luki Botha

Cool, canny Alonso seems to have all the answers

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/07/cool_canny_alonso_looks_diffic.html

Paul Belmondo Tom Belso JeanPierre Beltoise Olivier Beretta

More Historic Racing Photos Saved From Destruction

After the huge response to the old racing pictures that were posted a bit over a week ago, I decided to go through the stack again and find a few ?B? level ones. These 27 pictures are not as stellar … Continue reading →

Source: http://anotherindycarblog.wordpress.com/2013/01/29/more-historic-racing-photos-saved-from-destruction/

Mike Beuttler Birabongse Bhanubandh Lucien Bianchi Gino Bianco

Kyle Busch wins second Budweiser Duel in caution-free fashion

Kyle Busch capitalized on a Jeff Gordon pit road speeding penalty to capture the second Budweiser Duel qualifying race for Sunday's Daytona 500.

Gordon started on the pole for the race by virtue of qualifying second during last weekend's pole qualifying session and kept Busch, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth and others at bay until the race's first set of pit stops.

As Gordon led the field onto pit road, he was penalized for speeding entering pit road in sections four and five of the race. It was a penalty that puzzled Gordon, who said he was under his prescribed tachometer reading while he drove to his pit at the far end of pit lane.

"We've got a major problem with the tach then, I was way under," Gordon radioed to his team after he was informed of the penalty, which put him a half a lap behind.

That handed the lead to Busch, whose team had audibled as he entered his pit stall. Instead of taking two tires as they had planned, crew chief Dave Rogers made the decision to take fuel only, and it put Busch at the head of the pack, a position he held for all but one lap the rest of the way. He'll start fourth in Sunday's Daytona 500.

On the final lap, Kahne was able to get around Kenseth on the backstretch for second, but didn't have enough time or momentum to make a move on Busch before the checkered flag. Much like the first duel race, this race was dominated by cars on the outside line of the banking. But unlike the first race, which saw a late caution bunch up the field and provide a flurry of multi-lane racing to the finish, this race never got one.

And that caution flag would have been Gordon's only hope of getting back within sniffing distance of the lead. The race's only moment that could have been caution-worthy happened just before Gordon's speeding penalty. As he was entering the pits behind Gordon and others, Ryan Newman's car wheel hopped under braking, and he spun towards the outside wall at the entrance to the tri-oval. But because the field was spread out due to the green flag pit stops and he was able to continue on his own, it didn't fly.

Gordon finished 12th.

Mike Bliss, who had to serve a black-flag penalty early in the race because his window net fell down, finished 22nd and joined Brian Keselowski as the only two drivers to miss the Daytona 500.

The full Daytona 500 lineup:

1. Danica Patrick
2. Jeff Gordon
3. Kevin Harvick
4. Kyle Busch
5. Greg Biffle
6. Kasey Kahne
7. Juan Pablo Montoya
8. Austin Dillon
9. Jimmie Johnson
10. Clint Bowyer
11. Kurt Busch
12. Matt Kenseth
13. Tony Stewart
14. Mark Martin
15. Brad Keselowski
16. Paul Menard
17. Casey Mears
18. Jeff Burton
19. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
20. Jamie McMurray
21. Joey Logano
22. David Ragan
23. Bobby Labonte
24. Marcos Ambrose
25. David Gilliland
26. Aric Almirola
27. Joe Nemechek
28. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
29. Michael Waltrip
30. Dave Blaney
31. Scott Speed
32. Josh Wise
33. Trevor Bayne
34. Ryan Newman
35. Denny Hamlin
36. Carl Edwards
37. Martin Truex Jr.
38. Michael McDowell
39. Terry Labonte
40. Regan Smith
41. JJ Yeley
42. David Reutimann
43. Travis Kvapil

Related NASCAR video from Yahoo! Sports:

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/kyle-busch-wins-second-budweiser-duel-caution-free-223431793--nascar.html

Carlo Abate George Abecassis Kenny Acheson Andrea de Adamich

Tuesday

F1 gets set to launch the Balloons and go Pre-season testing...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nofenders/zbjv/~3/YnWzGLBbU8A/f1-gets-set-to-launch-balloons-and-go.html

Art Cross Geoff Crossley Chuck Daigh Yannick Dalmas

2013 Phillip Island World Superbike Weekend Round Up

The opening race weekend of the year was at a freshly-resurfaced Phillip Island, a job that's needed doing for a while that required building an asphalt batching plant on the island. This 3 million Australian dollar undertaking that required 5,000 tonnes of secret Phillip Island recipe asphalt even carried on into the weekend as support staff were seen pumping seams of epoxy resin into newly formed gaps at the edge of the track after the stresses of the first race.

Pirelli knew of the surface composition in advance, being one of the few people sworn to secrecy by the track owners, and constructed tyres accordingly. The grip levels on the track were increased, causing more abrasion than previously and in the Superbike class, the wheels were increased from 16.5" to 17", throwing two unknowns at Pirelli. Luckily, there were two tests at the island track just before the race, giving everyone the feedback necessary. Unfortunately, the proximity of the test to the race would not give anyone time to make drastic changes, if they became necessary. Going in to the race weekend, this thrust tyre talk to the forefront of any conversation, drowning out even discussions of Ducati's new race bike.

Race Details

Round Number:

2013

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MotoGPMatters/~3/HrLoFspfAcc/2013_phillip_island_world_superbike_week.html

Bernard Collomb Alberto Colombo Erik Comas Franco Comotti

2013 Season Preview: No. 3 Brad Keselowski

As we count down to the 2013 Daytona 500, we're also counting down how we think the Chase will play out this season as predicted by Nick Bromberg, Jay Busbee, Jay Hart and Geoffrey Miller. So sit back, relax, and watch the 2013 Chase unfold before your very eyes. Though you should be warned, we picked Carl Edwards to win last year.

2012 Finish: 1st. 5 wins (Bristol, Talladega, Kentucky, Chicago, Dover)

2013 Predictions:
Bromberg: 3rd
Busbee: 2nd
Hart: 4th
Miller: 3rd

Crew Chief: Paul Wolfe

When we last saw Keselowski: Did Keselowski get to have a live interview on SportsCenter after winning the championship? I can't remember. The champ's fuel strategy moves near the end of the race at Homestead proved to be a non-factor as Jimmie Johnson had rear-end gear trouble and Keselowski was able to clinch the championship before the race ended. (For good measure, however, Keselowski finished 15th, good enough to win the championship even if Johnson would have won the race).

Big Question for 2013: Can anyone not named Jimmie Johnson repeat? Johnson is the only Chase-era winner to repeat (four more times) and Jeff Gordon is the only other active driver with a Cup Series title that has won them back to back. Can Keselowski join them? He proved last season that he had few glaring weaknesses -- something that's visible simply by looking at his wins, which encompass four distinctly different types of tracks. (Oh, he also finished second at Watkins Glen.)

Track most likely to win at: Let's go with Talladega or Bristol, the only two tracks that Keselowski has won more than once at.

Track most likely to require a miracle to win at: Las Vegas has not been Brad's friend. (We'll avoid a snake eyes gambling reference.) In four starts, his highest finish is 26th and last year was derailed by fuel-injection issues.

How Keselowski could win the Chase: Do what he did last year. Deep, eh? Keselowski split the head-to-head battles with his main rival and minimized the points loss at perhaps his worst Chase track, Martinsville, which is Johnson's best. He finished no lower than 15th throughout the entire Chase. Because of that, when Johnson had his first bad finish of the Chase, he wasn't able to recover.

How Keselowski couldn't: You won't find many people who feel that Penske Racing's transition to Ford will be a significant hurdle in Keselowski's title defense. Will there be an adjustment period? Possibly, but it would be a stunner if it took more than a few races.

A Haiku:
I'm a champion
A champion Twitterer
Follow me, will you?

College basketball video from Yahoo! Sports:

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/2013-season-preview-no-3-brad-keselowski-135833814--nascar.html

David Coulthard Piers Courage Chris Craft Jim Crawford

Hamilton's tough decision

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/09/hamiltons_tough_decision.html

David Brabham Gary Brabham Jack Brabham† Bill Brack

Monday

2013 Season Preview: No. 7 Carl Edwards

2012 Finish: 15th. Winless

2013 Predictions:
Bromberg: 9th
Busbee: 7th
Hart: 5th
Miller: 6th

Crew Chief: Jimmy Fennig

When we last saw Edwards: When did we last see Edwards? When he won the Nationwide Series race at Watkins Glen? When he was penalized for a restart violation while leading at Richmond? When he won the pole at Daytona? Or, maybe if you're an Edwards fan, you think back to the final race of 2011 and pretend that 2012 didn't happen.

Big Question for 2013: When will he get back to victory lane? Crazy to think that we're saying that about a driver who won nine races in 2008, but it's true. And also not unprecedented. After winning six races in 2007, Jeff Gordon went 47 races without a win before he won at Texas. But for Edwards, the streak is at astonishing 69 races.

Track most likely to win at: Homestead. Two wins and seven top 10s in nine races bodes well for Edwards' chances if he's in the thick of the championship hunt going into the final race. Of course, he did finish second in 2011, but we'll stop talking about that now. Promise.

[Also: Drivers hounded about relationship between Danica Patrick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.]

Track most likely to require a miracle to win at: Talladega just doesn't like Edwards. In 17 starts, his average finish is outside the top 20 and he's finished in the top five just once.

How Edwards could win the Chase: Just win, baby. In the four seasons since that 2008 season, Edwards has won three races -- two in 2010 and one in 2011. That's it. As you can see, we're banking on that to happen this year. Edwards and Jimmy Fennig may take a few races to learn each others' tendencies, but they are both too good in their respective positions and working with too good of equipment to make Edwards' slump much more prolonged than it is.

How Edwards couldn't: He and Fennig don't gel together and Edwards has yet another crew chief. The odds of that happening are pretty slim -- you have to think Jack Roush will stick together with the pair for a while. However, you had to think the odds of Edwards finishing 15th and being a non-factor last year were pretty slim too.

A Haiku:
Hey Clint, yes I do
Just need to win some races
And we'll make the Chase

NBA video from Yahoo! Sports:

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/2013-season-preview-no-7-carl-edwards-003359936--nascar.html

Bill Cheesbourg Eddie Cheever Andrea Chiesa Ettore Chimeri

Clements confirms remark that resulted in NASCAR suspension was racial

On Tuesday, NASCAR suspended Nationwide driver Jeremy Clements for what it termed an "intolerable and insensitive remark." On Thursday, Clements gave ESPN's Marty Smith the broad outlines of the remark, without explicitly repeating it.

Apparently Clements was walking through the garage with an MTV reporter and a representative from NASCAR. According to Clements, he was escorting them to Johanna Long's hauler and was not in a specific interview situation. During the walk, he was talking with the reporter and made the remark. The remark was not recorded, and conversation continued afterward.

So what exactly did he say? He would not disclose the exact word or phrase. Here's the breakdown:

In a one-on-one interview with ESPN, Clements would not verbalize the specific comments he made, but when pressed for clarity about whether or not it was racial, he paused. Asked again, "Was it racial or not? Maybe not in context, but in term?" Clements replied: "Correct."

"When you say 'racial' remark, it wasn't used to describe anybody or anything," Clements said. "So that's all I'm going to say to that. And it really wasn't. I was describing racing, and the word I used was incorrect and I shouldn't have said it. It shouldn't be used at all."

Clements owned up to making the comment. He will be suspended for a minimum of two races, and will need to undergo an as-yet-undetermined form of speech advisement. He expressed surprise that he was suspended.

Although there have been questions about Clements' rights of free speech, this is a private situation with a private organization. The constitutional right of free speech does not apply in this situation. More specifically, Clements is free to say whatever he wishes, but not free from consequence for those words if they reflect badly on himself, his team or his organization.

And given that this is a racially charged word, even if not used directly in regard to an individual, you can understand why NASCAR is so interested in keeping a lid on this one. The sport has more than enough problems appealing to races other than whites without its own drivers adding to the problem.

-Follow Jay Busbee on Twitter at @jaybusbee.-

Related video from Yahoo! Sports:

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/clements-confirms-remark-resulted-nascar-suspension-racial-192845322--nascar.html

Trevor Blokdyk Mark Blundell Raul Boesel Menato Boffa

Razia: Bad Luck Cost Me Marussia Seat

Luiz Razia believes that bad luck contributed to his dismissal from Marussia. The Brazilian was replaced by Jules Bianchi last week, as issues surrounding his sponsorship funding came to light. Razia says that missing out on the seat was not his own fault, and put the disappointment down to misfortune “It was bad luck, not [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Formula1Fancast/~3/lR37BW2yfqA/razia-bad-luck-cost-me-marussia-seat

John Cannon Eitel Cantoni Bill Cantrell Ivan Capelli

Gutierrez targets better tyre management | 2013 F1 season

Gutierrez targets better tyre management is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.

Esteban Gutierrez says managing his tyres is an area where he still needs to improve after completing his pre-season testing.

Gutierrez targets better tyre management 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/2013/03/03/gutierrez-working-tyre-management/

Gerhard Berger Eric Bernard Enrique Bernoldi Enrico Bertaggia

Sunday

Meanwhile in Italy

I expect I will be accused of racism (by some muppet) if I write about the Italian elections, but as Ferrari boss Luca Montezemolo was considering a political career based on the outcome of these elections, it is worth reporting what happened. The electorate failed to produce a clear-cut result, by voting in sufficient numbers [...]

Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2013/02/28/meanwhile-in-italy-2/

Francois Cevert Eugene Chaboud Jay Chamberlain

Don?t forget Grab Bag Sport?s Blogathon this weekend...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nofenders/zbjv/~3/gi7voqXx8JA/dont-forget-grab-bag-sports-blogathon.html

Derek Bell Stefan Bellof Paul Belmondo Tom Belso

Saturday

Warrior Alonso bides his time

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/10/post_4.html

Henry Banks Fabrizio Barbazza John Barber Skip Barber

The Little Engine That Couldn?t

It?s situation normal on the engine side of things in indycar world. A decision a few years ago is biting them in the rear and there?s not much they can do other than wait out the contract cycle. Ask anyone … Continue reading →

Source: http://anotherindycarblog.wordpress.com/2012/12/27/the-little-engine-that-couldnt/

Derek Bell Stefan Bellof Paul Belmondo Tom Belso

Is 3D or Ultra HD the future of F1 broadcasting? | Debates and polls

Is 3D or Ultra HD the future of F1 broadcasting? is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.

F1 testing is being shown in 3D for the first time. Is the technology the future of F1 television coverage?

Is 3D or Ultra HD the future of F1 broadcasting? 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/2013/03/01/3d-ultra-hd-4k-8k-future-f1-broadcasting/

Thierry Boutsen Johnny Boyd David Brabham Gary Brabham

Clements confirms remark that resulted in NASCAR suspension was racial

So what exactly did he say? He would not disclose the exact word or phrase. Here's the breakdown:

In a one-on-one interview with ESPN, Clements would not verbalize the specific comments he made, but when pressed for clarity about whether or not it was racial, he paused. Asked again, "Was it racial or not? Maybe not in context, but in term?" Clements replied: "Correct."

"When you say 'racial' remark, it wasn't used to describe anybody or anything," Clements said. "So that's all I'm going to say to that. And it really wasn't. I was describing racing, and the word I used was incorrect and I shouldn't have said it. It shouldn't be used at all."

-Follow Jay Busbee on Twitter at @jaybusbee.-

Related video from Yahoo! Sports:

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/clements-confirms-remark-resulted-nascar-suspension-racial-192845322--nascar.html

Georges Berger Gerhard Berger Eric Bernard Enrique Bernoldi