Saturday

F1 WAG: Petra Silander

Jean-Eric Vergne is certainly popular among F1′s female following, so it’s little winder that the Frenchman has bagged himself an absolute stunner! The Toro Rosso man is dating the bewilderingly stunning Petra Silander, and we have gathered a few pictures of the model for your pleasure. Enjoy! CLICK HERE TO REVEAL OUR PETRA SILANDER GALLERY [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Formula1Fancast/~3/1DYgAeZ-WJE/f1-wag-petra-silander

Thierry Boutsen Johnny Boyd David Brabham Gary Brabham

Friday

From the Marbles Video Taste Test: The Shake ?n Bacon Brew

By now you've heard of the bacon beer milkshake being sold this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. Black lager, vanilla ice cream and bacon maple syrup blended up and topped with whipped cream and bacon bits.

Having expectations for a flavor combination like that was almost impossible. I've never had the three before, so I didn't know what to expect. And it pretty much tasted like all three flavors in one.

So is the Shake 'n Bacon Brew any good? Watch the video!

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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/marbles-video-taste-test-shake-n-bacon-brew-173445036--nascar.html

Sebastien Buemi Luiz Bueno Ian Burgess Luciano Burti

Thursday

The Top TEN ?Lovable Losers?

By the nature of Formula One not everyone can be a winner. Come Sunday for every one man stood atop the podium there are over 20 left disappointed, for some this feeling of disappointment comes around far more often than others. Still if the world sport has taught us one thing, everyone loves an underdog, [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Formula1Fancast/~3/pfzap7BEmcg/the-top-ten-lovable-losers-2

Carlo Abate George Abecassis Kenny Acheson Andrea de Adamich

Significant Technological Innovations of the 2000s

Car technology is evolving all the time. With each new generation, the performance, safety, efficiency and fuel economy of cars get better because new innovations constantly bring progress in the industry. With the 2000s well behind us, here is a look at some of the most important and most revolutionary industry innovations that happened during […]

Source: http://www.autocarblog.co.uk/579-significant-technological-innovations-of-the-2000s.html

Andrea de Cesaris Francois Cevert Eugene Chaboud Jay Chamberlain

Wednesday

Fuel Economy Tips Courtesy of Hypermilers

Hypermiling is a sensation which is sweeping the nation and becoming more and more common. In order to make your car as fuel efficient as absolutely possible, it is the act of using every little trick in the book. This can turn a relaxing drive into a stressful one since you have to pay attention […]

Source: http://www.autocarblog.co.uk/574-fuel-economy-tips-courtesy-of-hypermilers.html

John Cordts David Coulthard Piers Courage Chris Craft

Tuesday

Here?s Greg Biffle spinning Jimmie Johnson around by the collar (GIF)

Need proof that Greg Biffle grabbed Jimmie Johnson by the scruff of his firesuit? Here it is.

Kudos to Johnson for staying incredibly calm in the aftermath. While a kerfluffle would have been intriguing, a la Clint Bowyer and Jeff Gordon at Phoenix last year, Johnson's got much more to worry about than Greg Biffle. And that calmness that Johnson showed in the GIF above is a big reason why he's so successful.

Biffle later apologized on Twitter.


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(H/T Jeff Gluck)

Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/greg-biffle-spinning-jimmie-johnson-around-collar-gif-163543200--nascar.html

Chuck Arnold Rene Arnoux Peter Arundell Alberto Ascari

Monday

Schumacher on Vettel: ?I?m glad I?m not his team mate!?

Lest we forget Michael Schumacher remains an ambassador for Mercedes, and this week he filmed a short interview for the company in which he shared his thoughts on the team’s form in 2013, his life in retirement, and Sebastian Vettel. … Continue reading

Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2013/11/29/schumacher-on-vettel-im-glad-im-not-his-team-mate/

Bill Cantrell Ivan Capelli Piero Carini Duane Carter

Sunday

Weekend Review? A Texas Ramble Edition

Instead of the usual five point rundown to review the weekend, I want to prose a bit on the current state of indycar at Texas. On a warm Saturday night last weekend, in front of a sparse looking crowd, indycar … Continue reading

Source: http://anotherindycarblog.wordpress.com/2013/06/11/weekend-review-a-texas-ramble-edition/

Peter Collins Bernard Collomb Alberto Colombo Erik Comas

Friday

The value of an F1 budget cap

There is only one possible conclusion when one looks at the Formula 1 teams: they are not very good businessmen. They use all their energy to spend all that they earn – and more – in order to win. In doing so they burn through indecent amounts of money, which simply serve to cast the […]

Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2013/11/27/the-value-of-an-f1-budget-cap/

Kurt Ahrens Jr Christijan Albers Michele Alboreto Jean Alesi

SRT CEO denies poor Viper demand

SRT Viper

Back in October we reported that SRT needed to slow production of the new generation Viper, due to poor demand. However, it looks like now Ralph Gilles, president and CEO of Chrysler?s SRT Brand and Motorsports, says that the car has indeed a bright future and that the company has "several hundred units outstanding we still have to build."

Gilles said that the Viper indeed had some problems at launch and this is why the company had to postpone initial deliver, but now the interest in the new Viper is very strong.

It looks like the problem was not the car, but the dealers whom had no idea how to promote the car. The new Viper has a base price of $97,395 - a lot more than the previous car, so it was to be expected to hear that customers will ask more for the money. SRT wants to allow its customers to choose "their color, their stripe, their package, their interior," but the dealers wanted to "anticipate the market and ended up creating a car that may not be the right car."

To fix the problem SRT launched a fourth-quarter training program called "All Access Tour" that brings together dealers, current owners and potential customers. Basically thanks to this new program, the potential buyers will have the chance to test the car and see what they will get for the money.

Gilles confirmed that all the Anodized Carbon were spoken for and that the new Time Attack edition sold out in just three days.

Click past the jump to read more about the SRT Viper.

SRT CEO denies poor Viper demand originally appeared on topspeed.com on Thursday, 28 November 2013 13:00 EST.

read more



Source: http://www.topspeed.com/cars/car-news/srt-ceo-denies-poor-viper-demand-ar161401.html

George Constantine John Cordts David Coulthard Piers Courage

Thursday

The future of Nico Hulkenberg

In Formula 1 things can move quickly so something that is said 36 hours ago may not always be true if written today. However on Sunday I was assured by Force India and by Nico Hulkenberg’s people that no agreement had been signed between the two of them. This was not really a surprise. Although […]

Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2013/11/19/the-future-of-nico-hulkenberg/

Tony Brise Chris Bristow Peter Broeker Tony Brooks

Tuesday

Here?s Greg Biffle spinning Jimmie Johnson around by the collar (GIF)

Need proof that Greg Biffle grabbed Jimmie Johnson by the scruff of his firesuit? Here it is.

Kudos to Johnson for staying incredibly calm in the aftermath. While a kerfluffle would have been intriguing, a la Clint Bowyer and Jeff Gordon at Phoenix last year, Johnson's got much more to worry about than Greg Biffle. And that calmness that Johnson showed in the GIF above is a big reason why he's so successful.

Biffle later apologized on Twitter.


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(H/T Jeff Gluck)

Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/greg-biffle-spinning-jimmie-johnson-around-collar-gif-163543200--nascar.html

Jenson Button Tommy Byrne Giulio Cabianca Phil Cade

Monday

Stewart-Haas Racing names Daniel Knost as Kurt Busch?s crew chief

Daniel Knost will be the crew chief for Kurt Busch at Stewart-Haas Racing next year.

The team announced Knost's promotion along with some other organizational changes on Tuesday, including the official announcement that Chad Johnston would be atop the pit box for Tony Stewart.

Greg Zipadelli, who was Stewart's crew chief at Joe Gibbs Racing and has served as the team's competition director, will be the teams vice president of competition. Matt Borland, formerly Ryan Newman's crew chief, will be the team's vice president of engineering.

Knost has been with the team since before it was Stewart-Haas Racing and was Haas-CNC Racing. He formerly served as the race engineer for Newman's car.

Rodney Childers will be Kevin Harvick's crew chief and Tony Gibson will be staying with Danica Patrick.

?Our greatest asset at Stewart-Haas Racing is our people,? Stewart said in a release. ?Obviously, there is a lot of change happening for 2014 as we grow to four teams and bring in Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch. But with our new management structure and the crew chiefs we have in place, we?re well positioned to handle whatever challenges come our way. Collectively, we have the experience and wherewithal necessary for each of our teams to perform at the highest level possible.?

In other crew chief news, Mike Kelley will be the crew chief for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. next season, replacing Scott Graves. Graves is moving to the Nationwide Series for Roush Fenway. Kelley and Stenhouse won the 2011 and 2012 Nationwide Series titles together.

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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/stewart-haas-racing-names-daniel-knost-kurt-busch-203627388--nascar.html

Bill Cantrell Ivan Capelli Piero Carini Duane Carter

Sunday

Lotus and Heikki

The Lotus team confirmed Heikki Kovalainen for the last two races of the year this morning Texas time after Caterham gave the go ahead. No racing team ever does anything for nothing, if there is something it wants in exchange and I hear that there was a quid pro quo with Lotus agreeing to release […]

Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2013/11/14/lotus-and-heikki/

Jack Brabham† Bill Brack Ernesto Brambilla Vittorio Brambilla

PHOTOS: Rahal, Briscoe Run Successful IMS Test

Source: http://www.16thandgeorgetown.com/2013/09/photos-rahal-briscoe-run-successful-ims.html

Jaime Alguersuari Philippe Alliot Cliff Allison Fernando Alonso

Saturday

Happy Hour: Your reactions to Fox Sports 1 and more

Throughout the week you can send us your best questions, jokes, rants and just plain miscellaneous thoughts to happyhourmailbag@yahoo.com or @NickBromberg. We'll post them here, have a good time and everyone's happy. Right? Oh who are we kidding, this is NASCAR. No one is ever happy.

Last week I posed the question about why people were so unhappy with the transition from Speed to Fox Sports 1. And y'all responded. Thanks for that. This week's mailbag will primarily focus on that, as there was some good reaction. Let's get started.

If you can not agree that FS1 is a major face change from SPEED you must not be watching on Fridays, SPEED was all about racing, granted the stupid reality stuff with Rutt and Kyle and Kenny was utter nonsense, but it focused primarily on racing and cars. FS1 is about competing with ESPN, I do not care about soccer or the British commentators. It is just weird to hear the accent describing NASCAR, and it is just wrong. The race day coverage is still using that cheating Waltrip, who needs to listen to that fool. The commercials are relentless, the same stupid tired rerun that never changes. The racing commercials like Home Depot, or Subway are few an far between because the major sponsors are bailing out at an alarming rate, it's all about the chase, and the sponsors know if they are not in, NO COVERAGE, the package will change for only the first 26 shows, then nothing. If the 24 wins the CUP after being given a spot, you will see the biggest revolt that ever happened in NASCAR, THE FANS ARE TIRED OF THE MANIPULATION OF THE RACES. When folks go to the short track instead of the CUP race, it's says it all. Again, if you do not see and feel a difference, you are in the wrong business!
- Jim

First off, I never said that it wasn't a big change, and stop with the British nonsense. You mentioned a key point when you said "utter nonsense." The key parts of NASCAR programming has been kept on television (again, with the exception of Wind Tunnel and SpeedCenter). Many of the other non-live event programming that was on Speed was superfluous.

Racing commercials being on a racing network but not an all-sports network shouldn't be that hard to figure out. And Jim, you don't have to worry about Jeff Gordon any longer.

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I can put up with Fox 1 but what really frosts me is that Fox 2 has usurped so much of the action programming. Dish Network has split the two Foxes and will only provide me with Fox 2 if I buy an expensive addition to my existing coverage package. Don't tell me that NNS qualifying was never televised - that's bunk - and of the two practice sessions on Saturday, at least one was televised by Speed. Since Dish brags about their viewership, how many fans are being shut out or shaken down? If nothing else this, coupled with the boring racing, is having the effect of weaning me from NASCAR.
- Carol

Carol, sorry, but you're caught in the middle of a nice carrier and company dispute. If you're in Fox's shoes, wouldn't you be putting programming that people want to watch on your No. 2 channel in the hopes that someone would move it to a stronger tier? You would.

If you're the cable company, would you not want to be strong-armed into paying a higher rate for the unproven No. 2 channel all while hoping that you could recoup more money from the people that need to upgrade to a higher tier to watch it?

I'm not picking sides, I just hope people realize all of this. And also that in 2013, sports programming and cable television isn't free, though I do think it's absurd that a channel like NBC Sports Network wasn't on my family's Dish satellite tier package when I went to watch the F1 race Sunday morning while in Texas.

Most of my television programming is sports related, and I realize that on my bill accordingly. It's about the tradeoff. More to come after this next one...

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Here is why many people don't like the change from Speed to FoxSports 1. We already have ESPN, and ESPN2, and 10 other sports channels, which mostly focus on football, basketball, and baseball. Speed was about cars, racing, motorcross, monstertrucks, boats, ATV's and such. That was the appeal to that channel. If you wanted other sports, tune in somewhere else. Now FS1 takes over, and it's a channel that at best runs 20% motorsports programs. The rest is just a copy of ESPN, with some MMA mixed in.

I still watch it, but I don't sing praises about the change. The other fun feature is if you want to get a little more race coverage, switch over to FS2, except you have to upgrade your dish/cable package to get it for another $20 per month. No thanks. I miss Speed.
- Carl

Speed was once in a very small position and had to grow their audience and distribution incrementally. This is not something that's a new phenomenon for FS2. And if memory serves me correctly, for Directv subscribers, Speed was on the current package that Fox Sports 2 is now. It's a process, and while a la carte pricing may be closer than ever, it's still a long way away.

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Why? indeed!
How about, SpeedTV was about motor sports.
Now, we have a channel that is about all kinds of sports.
They feel compelled to compete with ESPN, ESPN2, ComcastSports, NHL Network, NFL Network, NBCSports, local sports channels, etc.
So Fox 1 covers Baseball, Football, etc.

I turn on SpeedTV and can see any number of different motor sports.
Now, I get three hours of post RedSox World Series victory coverage. (And I'm a SoxNation sports fan!)
I want motor sports coverage. Everything else is just a game...I have dozens of channels here in Boston to get coverage of silly games...

Where's my SpeedTV?
- Greg

Yes the racing coverage is still there but most of the other programs are gone. Two Guys Garage, My Classic Car, and pretty much anything but the race coverage. But the worst is all the promos about other sports shows and commercials unrelated to cars and racing, etc.

SPEED channel was about cars and racing ? it was aimed at us gearheads and we miss it. I don?t want to hear about football and the other stick and ball sports. FS1 is trying to be ESPN ? God help us and save us from that crap.
- Larry

I know this isn't a popular around these parts, but does anyone who is mad about the change want to give credence to the idea that there wasn't an audience for a motorsports-only channel any longer? Or should I say the widespread audience for a motorsports channel? We saw the direction that Speed was going with more and more NASCAR-centric racing programming and ridiculous shows like Pinks and the like. Other racing series were hardly mentioned, and if the two news shows that we mentioned above were drawing audiences that were sustainable in the eyes of executives, they wouldn't have disappeared.

Change is hard. I realize that. But there's nothing that can be done, and there will not be a motorsports channel anytime soon. Your best bet for that is NBC Sports Network in 2015. A bunch of racing and soccer? That's a perfect channel in my eyes, and no, I'm not just saying that because of our alliance.

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I was reading the debate about caution laps not being counted so I'll put my 2 cents worth in. Don't count caution laps in the last 10 laps.
- Mary

I'd be good with this, and I'd also be good with the idea that the race isn't over if a caution comes out on the last lap. It would also help eliminate those stinking fuel mileage races that so many people seem to dislike.

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Harvick- Pot calling the kettle black. Since the arrival of Jeff Gordon, all the drivers have been spoiled little rich kids. Harvick is a very good driver, but he would never have had the opportunity to develop his skills if he had not been a rich kid.
- John

Harvick's father was a firefighter and local racer. That's a far cry from the empire that is RCR.

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NASCAR is not stock car racing and it shouldn?t be. You had a letter that a gentleman wanted stock car racing, try going to your local track. About 8 years ago when I lived in Ocala, Florida, I went to the weekend races at the local track. They had five races: 4 cylinders ? usually won by Mustangs and a couple Toyota pickups, 6 cylinders ? a Buick Skylark and a Nissan Maxima seem unbeatable, 8 cylinder ? various winners, Modified ? most could not tell what the original car was, and finally sprint car ? offset tires, roll cage with sheet metal and bore out motor. It was a blast every time, but of little or no interest to anyone outside the local community. Drivers attracted family and friends. Beer, burgers, and bonfires followed the race on those hot Florida summer nights.
NASCAR tried going back to its root with the IROC series. Matched cars that were shuffled between drivers so no one had an advantage and it died on the vine in the 90s. NASCAR is about top teams using top equipment for top results, period. That is what true NASCAR fans live for. I feel that NASCAR has already address most of the issue with the Truck Series, Nationwide and the Sprint Cup. If you want more look into ISMA and Road Rally.
- Kenn

Kenn nails it. If there was enough of an audience for true "stock" racing, it'd be around. Heck, try watching the V8 Supercars.

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hello i am writing to find out where i can buy the jimmie johnson car ??
- Charlene

You have come to the wrong place, Charlene. Try Hendrick Motorsports. Though I'm not sure they're looking to sell any of Jimmie's cars or if you could afford one.

Thanks everyone! We'll see you next week.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/happy-hour-reactions-fox-sports-1-more-211522277--nascar.html

Eric Bernard Enrique Bernoldi Enrico Bertaggia Tony Bettenhausen

Thursday

Piquet undergoes heart surgery

Nelson Piquet is on the road to recovery following an operation in Sao Paulo to place a stent in his heart to improve the blood flow. The 61-year-old triple World Champion was treated at the Albert Einstein Hospital, where he remains for the time-being. Piquet has been suffering from heart problems for a couple of […]

Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2013/11/14/piquet-undergoes-heart-surgery/

Kurt Adolff Fred Agabashian Kurt Ahrens Jr Christijan Albers