Notebook: Brad Keselowski wins 3rd race of 2012 at Kentucky and Hendrick cars finish 2-4-5-6 in a boring race. #nascar

Earlier tonight just after lap 134, I tweeted " You know its bad when the KFC ad on TNT is trending more than NASCAR at Kentucky by NASCAR fans. I'm cooked".

But make no mistake that even though the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway was boring, the end of this one had its moments with Brad Keselowski picking up his third victory of 2012.

Notebook:
1. Hendrick team best at Kentucky: Kasey Kahne rebounding from a flat tire early in the race to pass the most cars to finish 2nd and to his Hendrick teammates finishing (Dale Jr) 4th, (Gordon) 5th and (Johnson) 6th. Damn those are good moments.

2. Chase nuggets: This victory for Keselowski puts the #2 in a good position for making the chase with three wins and currently the top 10 in points. And Dale Earnhardt Jr. moves to 2nd in points behind Matt Kenseth.

3. There was 21 total commerical breaks during this TNT broadcast according to several Twitter users.

4. Carl Edwards used up all of his racing luck last year in persuit of the championship and now in 2012, they are paying the price. The team is there, but no luck just like Jeff Gordon right now. And both teams don't look to be making the chase at this point with 9 races to go to the cut off at Richmond.

You know its bad when the KFC ad on TNT is trending more than NASCAR at Kentucky by NASCAR fans. I'm cooked. #nascar

By lap 135 of 267, NASCAR fans and media on Twitter were talking more about the bad TNT race coverage and all of the commercial breaks including the now famous on Twitter, KFC ad that TNT kept showing during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Kentucky Speedway than the race that was actually on television.

Sorry, but this Kentucky race is boring as hell and add to that all of the TNT broadcast going to commercial break all the time, that made for me to exit this race for a nap on this hot night.

NASCAR: Hell of job, Austin Dillon dominates and goes to victory lane in the Feed the Children 300 at Kentucky Speedway...update

Damn, while the Kentucky Nationwide Series race was boring, it was cool to see Austin Dillon do a victory burnout after winning his first Nationwide Series race and take the points lead. And also cool seeing a black #3 in the Nationwide Series heading to victory lane again. Congrats to Austin Dillon, the #3 team and RCR, hell of a win, they earned it.

Update: (6/30/2012)...After the race, Austin Dillon's #3 Nationwide Series racecar failed post-race inspection. NASCAR will have info and penalties on Monday or Tuesday. However I believe that if NASCAR stays consistent with there Nationwide Series penalties, then Austin Dillon will receive the same penalty of  6 driver and RCR 6 owner points and the crew chief will get a $10k fine as Elliott Sadler did for being too low at Iowa earlier this season. That will knock Dillon out of the points lead.

Photo: "Smoke em if you got em" Dale Earnhardt Jr. doing a victory burnout at Michigan.

FYI: Clicking on image will send you to the Dew Crew's Facebook page.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. does victory burnout after winning at
Michigan on Father's Day Weekend.
(Photo Credit: Mountain Dew)

Video: A 1967 Buick GS 400 and a 1969 Dodge Charger are featured on The Cars of Queens: Part 2 Big Muscle

A 1967 Buick GS 400 and a 1969 Dodge Charger

If your a muscle car fan, then you have got to check out these videos on YouTube entitled "The Cars of Queens". This video below is part 2 that features a 1967 Buick GS 400 and a 1969 Dodge Charger. Personally I think both muscle cars are amazing, they are your classic cars that have modern technology inside the that make the perform better.

Video: Finally a supercar I could be happy with, a Porsche 911 with Chevrolet LS7 V-8.

A Chevrolet LS7 engine inside a Porsche 911

There's a headline that will get your attention, man replaces flat-six with a Chevrolet 427 LS7 V-8. Damn that cool and its lighter. I just wish the man in video would have done a burn out or a ride along. Now I wonder, has anyone ever swapped about the engine in a Ferrari supercar with a Ford engine? That would be sweet too especially given Ferrari and Ford's history.



Source: MotorAuthority.com via YouTube

Video: MAX it Now with Jeff Gordon!

Thought since I shared the Pepsi Max bottles and video with you last month, that I would share this video today.

Surprisingly TNT's The Great Escape captured my attention.

I've been seeing the promo for The Great Escape for a few weeks now on TNT during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races and I decided to check it out. The Great Escape takes place on Alcatraz. The object is to obviously break of of prison while avoiding security guards. Interesting that the game starts with three teams being locked away in three different prison cells in the common area. At the stroke of midnight, teams race to find a map that details the different stages that the teams must complete and a key to unlock the cell.

It was interesting at times to watch these teams move through each stage looking for each part of the Great Escape key while trying to avoid being captured by security guards (each team did get captured at least once) and make their way from one side of the island to the other. Kind of interesting that when a team was captured, they were taking to the detention center and locked away in another cell and had to find a key to get out of that cell. Once out, they had to continue the task at hand and complete the next stage. 

Once a team finally moves through all of the stages on the island, they then must assemble the Great Escape key and bring with them a gas can and find their accomplice with a boat and head over to the San Francisco pier where the host would be waiting for them. Once the first team found the host and present him with the fully assembled Great Escape key, the host would place the key into a lock box inside a new vehicle and that would unlock the $100k grand prize in cash. 

Who wouldn't love $100k in cold hard cash for just one night's work considering it morning by the time the first team arrived and won. I was surprised that the red team won it, instead of the green team. However the red team simply had remembered everything they needed including numbers, a gas can and more to win the game.

All in all, very gripping. And here I thought the biggest reality show I would be watching would be Big Brother and The Glass House.


Update: Just saw the promos for Sundays episode of the Great Escape and its from another location that you have to break out of. This is an interesting show for sure.

IndyCar: Congrats to Ryan Hunter-Ray on back to back victories as he wins at Iowa Speedway.

In a season that was thought to be a classic Penske Racing vs. Ganassi Racing for the championship has turned with the addition of Andretti Autosport and Ryan Hunter-Ray grabbing back to back victories first last week at the Milwaukee Mile and earlier tonight at Iowa Speedway. What's even more sweet for Hunter-Ray is he now moves to second in points, only 3 points behind points leader Will Power that had troubles earlier in the race.

By the way, even with the rain delay, this race was pretty interesting to watch to say the least. I look forward to Iowa next year too. But one thing, sad to see James Hinchcliffe crash out, he was my pick to win and I believe that he will win a race soon. And yes interesting and racy, yet ugly indycar.

NASCAR: Nelson Piquet Jr. wins Nationwide race at Road America; Hopefully Danica Patrick and others pays Jacques Villeneuve back at Montreal.

Credit: Tyler Barrick/Getty Images
for NASCAR

What an interesting NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Road America earlier today and wouldn't you know it, it would be two former F1 drivers taking most of the headlines for two different reasons. First, it was Nelson Piquet Jr picking up where Turner Motorsports left off last year by winning his first Nationwide Series race at Road America over Michael McDowell and Ron Fellows. Very impressive and its interesting to note that the #30 was running the same chassis as Reed Sorenson when he won this race.

But on the other hand, it was Jacques Villeneuve once again making headlines for his overly aggressive and sometimes reckless driving having his moments of spinning out Elliott Sadler, banging doors hard with Max Papis (which got him hit hard back by Papis) and on the last lap in turn 5, punting Danica Patrick into the dirt and bring home the #22 Penske Racing Dodge in 6th position. Danica Patrick would end up finishing in the 12th spot and points leader Elliott Sadler would rebound in the 15th position.

Personally (and this is the race fan coming out of me in an unusual way) I don't know why Penske Racing keeps putting Jacques Villeneuve in the #22 Dodge when he clearly shows he can't drive these Nationwide Series races.

But even more, I really hope that the drivers that Jacques Villeneuve has wrecked in the past Nationwide races (there is a long list of them) including Danica Patrick decide to take "boy's have at it" and either at the upcoming Watkins Glen race or even better at the track that holds Jacques Villeneuve's father's name Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and punt Villeneuve hard off track to not only get his attention, but deny Villeneuve a victory or good race finish.

Sometimes the only way to get a drivers attention and voice your displeasure is to teach them a lesson on-track by well wrecking them. I don;t like it, but guess what the last resort sometimes has to be done. And I hope its Danica Patrick.

Dreaming of this 1969 Pontiac GTO "The Judge" that sold for $42,900 at the 2012 Barrett-Jackson Orange County.

I just couldn't resist highlighting one more muscle car from tonight's (Friday night's) 2012 Barrett-Jackson Collector Car auction in Orange County and when you see it, you will know why. Admit it, this 1969 Pontiac GTO "The Judge" Convertible with a 400cid engine caught your eye too just like it did with me that sold for $42,600 (w/commission). Yes its a restoration and not custom, but damn that orange paint, ivory interior and Judge appearance package just screams "look at me, love me". Of course I would actually love it more custom as well.

(Photo Credit: Barrett-Jackson)

An original black 1968 Dodge Super Bee sold for $46,500 at the 2012 Barrett-Jackson OC, good buy.

This is one eye catching muscle car for sure. A very rare, original black 1968 Dodge Super Bee with only 54,000 miles is one hell of a ride for sure. . This muscle car hammered away for $46,500 at the 2012 Barrett-Jackson Orange County.

Now personally if I could have a few muscle cars in my collection, I would actually have one from GM (most likely a Chevrolet Corvette or Pontiac Firebird, Trans am or GTO), a Ford (most likely either a Mustang or a Shelby GT350) and a Mopar (most likely either a late 1960's, early 70's Dodge Charger or this Super Bee).

(Photo Credit: Barrett-Jackson.com)

A 1965 Ford Ranchero Custom Pickup hammered away from $200,000 for Charity at the 2012 Barrett-Jackson OC

As a car guy, several times a year, I always seem to find myself sitting down in front of my HDTV and watching SPEED Channel's live coverage of the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auctions. I don't know what exactly it is, but I just enjoy the sights and sounds of watching collector cars and modern cars cross the auction block and see what they get hammered away for. I also enjoy the Fantasy bids on SPEED as well. But I just wish I could win an Apple iPad off of one of these.

Anyway, earlier tonight on SPEED's Barrett-Jackson coverage, a sweet, bright yellow custom 1965 Ford Ranchero that featured a Ford SVO 351cid V8 Windsor engine with 385hp and even two big bears in the bed hammered away for $200,000 which will benefit the Loma Linda University Children's Hospital. That's cool and so is the Ranchero.

(Photo Credit: Barrett-Jackson.com)

10 Exciting Races I'm Looking Forward To In The Rest Of The 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Season.

(Photo Credit: Wikipedia -
Bristol Motor Speedway)

I thought this article would be an interesting change of pase. As the 2012 Cup Series season continues to roll on 15 races in, I got to thinking about the remaining races (16-36) and what are the 10 races that I'm most looking for too.

1. The Toyota Save Mart 350 at Sonoma. Over the last few years, road course racing has gotten a lot better  with more side-by-side racing and some good passing. But for Sonoma specifically, turn 11 is the key and boy do fans see some real racing there. However I would like to see the old track layout with the same distance as now return for more passing.

2. Lenox Tools 300 at New Hampshire. After a few improvements to the turns over the years and the 300 miles, New Hampshire now acts as more of a short track than anything else and the racing has gotten better.

3. NASCAR at the Glen. The second road course race of the season and while its a different track than Sonoma, it still packs a punch in the good racing department.

4. Bristol Night Race. Despite the fact that Bristol has been changed over the years and I personally like the new configuration vs. the old configuration which doesn't matter now with the corners being changed again before this race. The fact is Bristol and Bristol and its fun to watch under the lights on a Saturday night. Let's hope it doesn't change.

5. AdvoCare 500 at Atlanta. Atlanta is normally hit or miss, but night racing on Labor Day weekend is cool and so is this race. The unrestricted speeds make it good for racing.

6. Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond. I like this track because short track racing is a lot of fun to watch. There is multiple groves, side-by-side racing and a lot of passing. However this isn't just any race, this is the final race to make the chase and its Saturday night under the lights.

7. Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire.

8. Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville. Despite the fact that Martinsville doesn't have a big crowd, Martinsville on a Sunday afternoon is very entertaining. Drivers really do beat and bang on each other. And its fun to watch.

9. Kobalt Tools 500 at Phoenix. Phoenix racing a lot like a short track and racing into the night makes it even better.

10. Ford 400 at Homestead. A combination of the progressive banking and the fact that this is the final race of the season (hopefully where the championship is decided is fun. But I do have to admit, racing under the lights would make it even better.

I'm looking forward to the rest of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season and it should be a lot of fun for sure. I just hope the race for the Cup title plays out like it did last season and go right down to the checkered flag.

ABC's The Glass House leaves this viewer with mixed feelings and yet wanting more than one show per week.

Late last night on ABC was the series premiere of the show they didn't want you to see (namely CBS), The Glass House and what a introduction it was. The Glass House was nothing like what I expected the show to be, namely very similar to CBS's The Big Brother. But the truth is, this new show isn't like Big Brother other than its a house filled with cameras watching the players every move.

Note: CBS needs to relax, besides you can't copyright players living in a house with cameras recording there every move. And this is nothing like Big Brother anyway.

The Glass House is a fully fan interactive reality show. The fans decide what happens next from what they eat, where they sleep, how the players are doing in the game to which player of two is saved and put back into the house vs. who is evicted for good. The players have a say in this game including which two players are up for limbo (in BB terms, nominated for eviction), but the fans ultimately decide who goes home (namely, who is evicted).

Personally after watching not only a half an hour of live streaming online last week, but watching the series premiere followed by some of the live 4 hours of streaming video from the house, I have mixed feeling for sure.

A few good things, the cast of character are pretty good and seem to be more down to earth. I can't really explain it, they are just more normal. The format seems to interesting. Right now it seems to be about teams in each challenge and the losing team's captain is sent into limbo (nomination) and the players vote on who will join the captain in limbo. Then the fans pick who stays and who goes for good (evicted). There doesn't seem to be a second chance in the game, which isn't a surprise, but not needed either.

However the two biggest disappointments seems to be that fact that it looks like The Glass House is only on television one night a week for one hour. I seriously hope that's not the case. There's so much going on in the house, but there's not many times to see it live.

So that brings me to the other disappointment, yes the live streaming video. Its cool that I don't have to pay for it like the other show, but there's good reason for that. There is no 24/7, 3 month long live streaming video (that means no fish, if you watch Big Brother feeds, you know what I just said) as its only live for 4 hours on Monday night after the show and 1 hour during the day, 3 days a week. Who is home or available at 3PM in the afternoon to watch one hour of live streaming video. Damn, in the words of the players in the house, that's lame.

Let's hope business picks up in The Glass House with another 1 hour show during the week and more live streaming video online. Otherwise the fan interaction is good, but watch select video isn't going to make fans happy. And yes I will be watching CBS's The Big Brother as I always do every year and Survivor for that matter.

Finally! Dale Earnhardt Jr. ends 143 race winless streak to win the Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan. Oh hell yeah.

Oh hell yeah, go ahead and burn them up Dale Earnhardt Jr., you earned it, you just won the Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway in amazing fashion. Congratulations to Dale Jr., the #88 team and Hendrick Motorsports, hell of a job. Wow, this has been a long time coming for us Dale Jr. fans (JR Nation).

Photo Credit: Wesley Hitt/Getty Images for NASCAR

Emotions, emotions, emotions. And I will leave it at that. Happy Father's Day to my father, a big Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan.

Video:Anthony Davidson Toyota Huge Crash at 2012 Le Mans 24 Hours.

Photo taken from video below.

It looked like the Ferrari driver just missed judged the rear of the Toyota hybrid when he made the corner and instead of falling in behind the Toyota, the Ferrari clipped the Toyota and sent both racecars spinning and into the retaining wall. Thankfully both drivers walked away.

NOTE: Sorry the video has been removed from YouTube.com, however the photo above gives a great shot of the accident.

NASCAR: Dale Earnhardt Jr's #88 The Dark Knight Rises Paint Scheme and The Batmobile.

From Hendrick Motorsports Facebook page: "Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Mountain Dew have teamed up with the summer blockbuster “The Dark Knight Rises” to race a specially-wrapped No. 88 Batman-themed Chevrolet at Michigan International Speedway. On June 14, Earnhardt showed off his cool No. 88 ride and the Batman Tumbler."

Personally while I didn't get the chance to vote (my fault), I like this #88 "The Dark Knight Rises" paint scheme and I think Dale Jr. should be running a black paint scheme every week, it looks cool.

 

Source and photo credit: Hendrick Motorsports via Facebook

Related Articles:
- Finally! Dale Earnhardt Jr. ends 143 race winless streak to win the Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan. Oh hell yeah.

Hot Topics: Joey Logano in 2013, Pocono Pitroad Penalties and Michigan Int'l Speedway repave and race preview. #NASCAR

Today, I've got three NASCAR hot topics that I would like to discuss and share my insight on.

1. Is Joey Logano's #20 Home Depot ride at Joe Gibbs Racing safe for 2013?

I believe that while Joey Logano's results in 2009-2011 haven't been the best and more of a learning curve, the end of 2011 and the first 14 races of 2012 have been a different story. Logano and the #20 team have been doing better including winning last weekends Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway and climbing into the top 15 in points. 

However one win isn't going to seal the deal. It really all depends upon if Logano makes the chase, if Home Depot is happy and if JGR is happy. Right now its a wait and see. Personally while I think Joey Logano could benefit from a change in teams, I'm sure if there are any big team rides in the Cup Series available for 2013, let along sponsorship. But I will say, Joey Logano is only 22 years old and he has a long career ahead of him.

2. Pit road penalties at Pocono.

I think there was a little bit of a problem at pit exit, but its the teams job to work with it and get the pit road map detailing where each timing line is, not NASCAR's. However in the future, maybe NASCAR could update this system to something better. Fans are tired of these timing lines and hearing about it. 

FYI: Michigan did keep the timing lines the same as before the repave.

3. The Michigan repave.

The speeds are up, 217mph early today by Jimmie Johnson heading into turn 1 and several drivers including Tony Stewart ran 200mph lap times, but I believe that those speeds will come down by Sunday. As for the race itself, the race pace might be faster, but nothing major will change. And don't be surprised to see it as a fuel economy race in the end.

4. Predictions for the Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan:

Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin are odds on favorites to win the race. But look for Brad Keselowski and Matt Kenseth to be contenders. Personally I hope Dale Earnhardt Jr. can continue his good finishes at Michigan and maybe you never know...

Wondering about the 2013 Grand Prix of America in New Jersey? Sebastian Vettel drives the proposed layout of the track in an Infiniti G37 IPL Coupe.

Click image for 800x600 image
Photo Credit: GPAmerica.com

Last Monday (June 11, 2012), Formula 1 driver Sebastian Vettel became the first driver to take a preview lap at Grand Prix of America at Port Imperial Course in a Infiniti G37 IPL Coupe which included doing a few donuts along side team ambassador David Coulthard who was in another Infiniti G37 IPL Coupe.

Below is a picture of Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull Racing Formula 1 racecar at Port Imperial and a b-roll of footage (four and a half minutes) featuring some of the event.

Personally as a Formula 1 fan, I'm not only looking forward to later this years Grand Prix of the United States in Austin, Texas, but to the upcoming Grand Prix of America next June 2013 on the 3.2-mile course that will be run on existing streets in Port Imperial, Weehawken and West New York, along the Hudson River and at the top of the Palisades, with the New York City skyline as the backdrop. Hopefully this will be a cool race to watch on television.


Note: The footage is good, the sound is terrible and at times, doesn't work at all.

Source: GPAmerica.com via email & Autoblog.com for video.

The 2013 Ford F-150 to serve as pace truck at Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan via Instagram. #NASCAR

An Instagram photo of the 2013 Ford F-150 pace truck that will be used at
the NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway.
Photo Credit: Ford Racing NASCAR via email.

Preview: Ford Racing unveils new updates to 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Ford Fusion racecar on top of #21 Wood Brothers Paint Scheme in clay model.

Originally Posted: Monday, May 21, 2012
Updated and rewritten: Monday, June 11, 2012

Interesting, Ford is taking this new 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Ford Fusion racecar very seriously and while they have already unveiled the new racecar back in January which has a cool design and actually looks similar to the showroom version.

Last month Ford added a clay model to the mix below and coming this weekend at Michigan Speedway (sight of this Sunday's Quicken Loans 400), Ford will be unveil updates to the design of the Cup car which shows even more brand identity through enhanced design cues, including new grille work and hood lines.

The photos attached show renderings of the 2013 Sprint Cup car, alongside the reveal car from January and the 2013 production Fusion, courtesy of the Ford Design Studio, which  has continue to play a major role in the exterior look of the car.

Do you see the difference in the grille from January to now? Gone is the stickered front grille from the January reveal and in its place are actual grille bars which will adorn the 2013 Cup Fusion, in addition to several other key tweaks to the front end of the car.

Ford Racing unveils new updates to 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Car to increase brand identity.
(Photo Credit: Ford Racing PR via email)

I've seen clay models be showcased on television show before and I think these two clay models (two images below) looks cool.

Front view of Clay Model car
released on May 21, 2012.
Photo Credit: Ford Racing PR via email.

Rear view of Clay Model car
released on May 21, 2012.
Photo Credit: Ford Racing PR via email.

Now I wonder with this third release, what will Ford come out with next? I'm really hoping that they have a real racecar (the finished product) from Roush-Fenway Racing or the Wood Brothers Racing that will be what we will see come the 2013 Daytona 500 next February. 

Congrats to Lewis Hamilton and McLaren on becoming the 7th different winner in 7 Formula 1 races by taking the Canadian Grand Prix.

Welcome readers, in recent years,  the Canadian Grand Prix has been one of the better and more entertaining races of the Formula 1 season and this year didn't disappoint that this one would live up with a good race.

Of course for me, I ended up waiting until after the Pocono 400 NASCAR Cup Series race to watch the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix race via DVR, but it was worth the wait to see Lewis Hamilton make his presence known and driving like crazy and overcoming a bad pit stop to win the Canadian GP. Congrats to Lewis Hamilton, that was one hell of a run for the win.

And its also cool to see that Formula 1 has had 7 different winners in the first 7 races of the 2012 F1 World Championship and hopefully fans will see a close battle for the championship on through the rest of the season. This should be interesting.

5 things to take away from the Pocono 400 #nascar including Joey Logano moving Mark Martin to win and TNT TV broadcast was frustrating to watch.

Go a head and burn them up Joey Logano, you earned it, you have won the Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway, his second career victory in the Cup Series. Yes, that was one of the headlines that fans will be talking about over the next week before Michigan. But boy was there so much more.

1. Joey Logano is finally starting to show good results in the Cup Series and that he is here to stay. On Sunday, Logano started on pole and raced most of the day pretty well before two late race cautions and fuel strategy would put him up front racing for the lead with Mark Martin.

But with a few laps to go, Logano would make his move heading down the long front straightaway into turn 1 were Logano would get into Martin (bump and run if you will), moving him a bit up the hill and enable him to go by for the race winning move. All I'm going to say it, while there's nothing wrong with the bump and run move, I bet Martin will not soon forget it.

2. NASCAR can still send teams for a loop or in this case a speeding penalty loop. Early on in this race, the headline story was all about several drivers including Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch, just to name all receiving speeding penalties. But fans must remember that NASCAR doesn't make judgment call on this, its all done by computer and it was the scoring loops that recently changed that for a while sent teams back to the pits once or twice in some case to sever speeding penalties.

But I think since TNT wasn't up to speed on anything especially this, NASCAR needed to go to the TNT booth and send a simple message to fans saying what exactly was going on and that NASCAR was talking with every team on how to fix it. Just a thought.

3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. started up front and battled for the lead for most of the day. But it was fuel strategy that would cost Junior a big shot at winning this race. Dale Jr. is having a good year so far, but this 8th place finish didn't even begin to tell the real story on how well he ran all day long. Its the end of the race this #88 team needs to work on.

Note: Pitting for fuel in the late stages of the race was a good call to make despite how it turned out even if it was a little bit of points racing or in his case, keeping the points gap he has. The #88 team didn't know that there was going to be several caution laps.

4. Saying I was frustrated with the TNT broadcast was an understatement to say the least. I realize that this is there first race back and the camera shot were good, but the fact is the three announcers in the booth and Larry Mac in his own Hollywood Hotel type studio killed this broadcast considering they could never shut up. If TNT wants viewers, they need to pick it up, stop talking especially Wally and Kyle in the booth and let Adam call these races, there was action on-track, call it, otherwise I'm going to shut off these races and go do something else on raceday.

5. We have a new points leader and its Matt Kenseth leading Dale Earnhardt Jr. by just -10 points. Biffle slips to third (-16), followed by Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson rounding out the top 5. And we have a fight for the wild card spot going on between Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman, Joey Logano and Kasey Kahne, by the way, they all have one win apiece. These two wild card spots are going to take 2 wins to make the chase.

Damn...oh yeah, one more thing, Joey Logano is now in the 2013 The Shootout and the 2013 All-Star Race and he did it all by winning from pole at Pocono. And in a better position to possibly make the chase.

IndyCar: Justin Wilson wins, heartbreak for Graham Rahal, Will Power gets penalty in interesting Firestone 550 at Texas.

This was one for the record books. I mean this wasn't no Indy 500 entertaining race, but it was better than a normal IndyCar race and I'll take it. Of course the Firestone 550 wasn't without its moments as Justin Wilson goes to victory lane, while other ponder what happened.

Notebook:
1. Scott Dixon dominated most of the race only to have issues and hit the outside wall. Dixon had the car tonight to win for sure.

2. Will Power put a blocking move on Tony Kanaan and receive a pass through penalty. I understand the penalty, it was a bad move on Powers' part, but I think Kanaan deserves a penalty too for that crappy move, it could have put all 3 drivers including Briscoe on the outside of Power into the outside wall.

3. Oh brother, Graham Rahal leading the race after Power got penalized made his own moment by hitting the outside wall with 2 laps to go, what a heartbreak.

However Rahals' heartbreak opened the door for a hard charging and coming fast Justin Wilson to win the Firestone 550. Congrats to Wilson and his team, that was a good win for sure. Celebrate it, you earned it.

What an interesting race and I'll leave it at that. 

Mixed feelings on first two rounds of the 2012 Global Rallycross Championship, but interesting to watch; Marcus Grönholm wins first two rounds over Tanner Foust.

As a racing fan who watches Rally Car Racing whenever its on television including at the X-Games, I was excited about this new 2012 Global RallyCross Championship Series having five events throughout the year (Charlotte, Texas, X-Games, New Hampshire and Las Vegas) especially with one of my favorite drivers Tanner Foust being in the field in his Ford Fiesta.

But what concerned me was each track layout. I mean how does the front straightaway, turn 1, a dogleg or tri-oval of a 1 mile to 1.5 mile NASCAR racetrack make for a good rally cross course anyway? Well in the case of Charlotte Motor Speedway, the course and race was a disaster especially with the damage the cars did to the NASCAR track before NASCAR's longest race, the Coca-Cola 600. By the way, Marcus Gronholm held off Tanner Foust to win round 1.

Marcus Grönholm Wins at Texas Motor Speedway
in 2012 Global RallyCross Championship event.
(Photo Credit: Vivacity via PR Email I received)

However the Texas Motor Speedway event track layout was a little bit better to say the least especially with the introduction of the larger jump and tight corner under the jump. Of course dirt would be better. In the Texas event, it would once again be Marcus Gronholm taking round 2 over Tanner Foust after a 3-times a charm final segment run.

You see unlike in NASCAR where yellow flags are part of the racing, there is only a red flag when an incident happens and that also means the drivers have to lineup and start all over again for that segment. I know this is meant be to fair for the short cut and lead deal, but that was just ridiculous, something needs to be updated for these types of events.

My thoughts on Rally Car Racing or RallyCross is, I think it would be a hit in the United States once the racing got on television on a regular basis and the format was easy to understand. Personally I like the racing, its different, fun to watch, plenty of beating and banging on each other and you don't know what to expect from one lap to another depending upon the track layout. Hopefully more fans and more networks tune in and start getting these types of series the exposure it deserves.

Car Repair: What repairs should hybrid vehicle owners go to the dealership for?

With gasoline prices climbing not only here in the United States, but internationally as well going up. It is likely that with gasoline prices here in the U.S. around $3.50 to $4.00, U.S. consumers will not only opt to change their driving habits with driving slower and going less distances, but some will go the extra mile and trade in or buy a new more fuel friendly vehicle such as a gasoline/electric hybrid.

But with well over a million hybrids already on the road and more consumers expecting to buy hybrids in the near future, AutoMD.com has some advice for hybrid owners on what are the top 5 repairs they can do themselves vs. the top 5 repairs hybrid owners should leave repairs to the experts and take the hybrid to a dealership.

Top 6 Hybrid Car Repairs for DIYers/Independent Repair Shop:
1. Replace Wiper Blades: This is one of the simplest jobs and most important jobs that a car owner can do themselves.
2. Replace a Fuse:
3. Replace a Light Bulb: Changing a light bulb can be a difficult job depending upon which one you’re changing. If the bulb is in the headliner, that should be a snap. But changing your headlight or taillight on a foreign car especially can be a little tricky. I know that my old 1995 Nissan Altima headlights had to be changed by the dealership. If you got to the dealership, have it included in with another job like an oil change.
4. Change your Engine Oil and Filter: Some people do change their own oil and filter, but personally I don't change from own oil or filter. But if you are willing to do the job, you can save a lot of money over time. You can go to a local auto parts store and buy the correct oil and filter. While you're there, check to see were you go to recycle/dispose the used oil and filter.
5. Brake Repairs
6. Tire Maintenance
But with many of today’s modern cars, there are some repairs that consumers just have to take their vehicle to an expert at a dealership.

Top 6 Hybrid Car repairs for dealership experts:
1. Battery Replacement
2. Electric Motor Repairs
3. Motor Controller Repairs
4. Electrical Connections and Computer Controls
5. Diagnosing a Major Problem
6. Replace A/C components

In many cases on most repairs on today’s modern vehicles whether it’s a hybrid vehicle or not, the independent repair shop that is certified will work just fine. However especially in hybrid cars, the dealership is the best place to go for repairs on current components that need that trained expert for those components.

Source: AutoMD.com

NASCAR makes the right call by suspending driver Kurt Busch until June 13th and extending his probation after his actions following the NASCAR Nationwide race at Dover.

Earlier today, in a press release, NASCAR announced that they have suspended NASCAR driver Kurt Busch until June 13th (which includes the NASCAR Cup Series Pocono race weekend) and extended his NASCAR probation until Dec. 31st for his actions following the NASCAR Nationwide Series race on June 2nd at Dover International Speedway.

Kurt Busch violated Section 12-1 (Actions detrimental to stock car racing; violation of probation; verbal abuse to a media member) of the 2012 NASCAR Rule Book. Kurt Busch had previously been placed on NASCAR probation May 15 for his actions during the May 12 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Darlington Raceway. That probation was originally scheduled to end July 25 but has now been extended through the end of this year.

“My Take”: I am surprised to say the least here. However I believe that NASCAR suspending Kurt Busch was not only the right call, but the only call to make. Busch was already on probation after the incident at Darlington Raceway, and taking into account his past actions including the incident at Dover with a reporter (that let’s be honest, deserved to be chewed out for the question, but in a better way and without making threats), I think NASCAR had to step up, enforce the probation and take real action. Good call NASCAR.

 But one thing, I don't support what either Kurt Busch did or the NASCAR reporter did. I believe that Kurt Busch actions were terrible and that NASCAR's next position should be figuring out how to deal with the NASCAR reporters as well. I will say it once and I will say it again, the reporter deserved to be chewed out for that question, but not the way Busch handed it. Some reporters are out of control.

 Now it’s time for 400 miles of racing at Pocono Raceway.

The 2013 NASCAR Cup Series season taking shape with Ford, Dodge, Toyota and Chevrolet already unveiling new racecars...Chevrolet sort of

As the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season continues to roll on and is half way to the chase cut off, the 2013 NASCAR Cup Series season is beginning to take shape with each manufacturer (Ford, Dodge, Toyota and Chevrolet) unveiling their new racecars that are designed more to look like the showroom/street versions.

2013 Ford Fusion Racecar:

(Photo Credit: Ford Racing via Jayski.com

Back in January, Ford unveiled the new 2013 Ford Fusion racecar. Personally out of the four manufacturers, Ford hit the mark the best and as well as they could. I think the new Ford Fusion racecar looks pretty close to the showroom version.

2013 Dodge Charger Racecar:

(Photo Credit: Autoblog.com via Dodge and NASCAR)

Back in March at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Dodge unveiled their 2013 race car that is designed to look more like the street version Dodge Charger and just like Ford did, Dodge too have both hit the mark. But unlike Ford, NASCAR fans don't know which teams (if any) will run Dodge's next season since Penske Racing has already announced that they are switching to Fords in 2013. Hopefully Didge will be in NASCAR in 2013 or 2014.

2013 Toyota Camry Racecar:

Photo Credit: Joe Gibbs Racing viaJayski.com

 Last month (April), Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota unveiled their the 2013 racecar and well its a Toyota Camry alright.

2013 Chevrolet SS (Performance) Racecar:

Photo credit: NASCAR Photo via Sporting News.

Finally last month, Chevrolet sort of unveiled the new 2013 racecar that will be named the Chevrolet SS (Performance) which comes from a Holden vehicle. Personally before Chevrolet unveiled or announced this new car, I was really hoping that finally Chevrolet would be coming out with something cool or different. For example, I like the Pontiac G8 GXP from back in 2009 or the Chevrolet SS Concept from a few years ago, but instead Chevrolet is just going to import a Holden model.

Its a disappointment for sure in the car, the racecar and the name. SS is a performance badge, not a model. I would have rather seen the new 2013 Impala SS return to the track. To add insult, Chevrolet only released a cameo photo from a recent test at Homestead-Miami Speedway and that the true racecar wouldn't be unveiled until later this year.

One suggestion, all of the manufacturers should have made it look like it has four-doors inside of a coupe considering the Dodge Charger and the Ford Fusion are both four-door sedans. But again I like what I see.

Jimmie Johnson wins, Dale Earnhardt Jr. ever so close, while multi-car wreck claims several including Tony Stewart in NASCAR FedEx 400 at Dover.

Photo Credit: Geoff Burke/Getty Images & Twitter

400 miles at Dover International Speedway started with a several car wreck early on that included Tony Stewart and Landon Cassill getting together in a racing incident. Lots of hard, side-by-side racing and ended with the 5-time champion Jimmie Johnson and the #48 team capturing their second win of the season over Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Clint Bowyer.

But the funniest moment had to be seeing Jimmie Johnson wearing a multi-colored wig in victory lane. And thank you Dick Berggren for all your years of covering NASCAR and good luck in building a museum in New Hampshire.

Spotlight: 800hp biodiesel 65 Chevy Impala on Pimp My Ride from 2007 still gets my attention today.

Back in 2007 on a special episode of Pimp My Ride, viewers and fans saw a 1965 Chevrolet Impala SS go from a normal classic into a custom 800hp Biodiesel street car as part of MTV's Break the Addiction program.

Personally I liked this ride back then and I still like it today. And this would be something I would want for my daily driver or classic car in my garage. I like the concept, the technology, the look, the entire package and the fact that this impala can go 0 to 60 in around 3.5 seconds, plus get 25 mpg to boot (according to the show). All I can say is, you will see more cars like this either with Biodiesel, Natural gas, ethanol, a hybrid and etc. and that's cool.

Gallery from GAS - Galpin Auto Sports:

Just thought I would share that with everyone.

Guest Post: Alfa Romeo Mito Twinair: would you want one?

Alfa Romeo Mito

This guest post is from Antony Jackson. Antony has had a fascination with cars from an early age and has followed race and road car developments on 3 continents. 

Photographing and writing about cars here and abroad, including visits to the Porsche works in Germany, 1000+ mile classic road trips and conversations with retired racing drivers in Las Vegas, his love of cars comes through in his work.

My first car was a 950cc Mark 2 Ford Fiesta and, frankly, I would have given short shrift to the idea of a sub-1 litre engine in a modern supermini providing sufficient power. But the development of engine technology in the last few years has been incredible, with ever smaller engines offering more power and much better economy alongside lower emissions. In fact, there is now precious little difference between the mpg figures for the best of the petrol, diesel and hybrid cars, with all of them promising upwards of 60-70 mpg and under 100g/km of CO² (at least on paper).

One novel approach is Fiat’s Twinair engine currently featuring in the Fiat 500 but soon to be added to other cars in its extended family. It is an 875cc inline 2 cylinder, turbocharged engine that produces 85bhp and 107 ft/lb of torque in a manner that has pleasantly surprised all the reviews I could find of it. Autocar described the engine as “deeply impressive” in the Fiat 500 and it is testament to the Fiat Group’s confidence in their little bit of technological wizardry that they are moving it to some of their other cars.

The Alfa Mito has been one of the standout cars in the supermini sector in recent years having the design and quality to challenge the perennial favourites from Ford, VW et al. Richard Hammond chose it as his contender in one of Top Gear’s small car challenges and in its first year on sale helped improve Alfa’s figures by 52%.

So it is a natural fit to put this excellent engine to use in the new Alfa Romeo Mito Twinair. What you get as a result is one of the best looking cars on the market that is petrol powered and yet has such low emissions that it is road tax and London Congestion Charge exempt. How they managed to squeeze more low down torque from this little engine than either of the 8-valve 1.4l engines is beyond me. How they managed to only put out 98 g/km of CO² and get 67.3 mpg does boggle my mind a little.

The only car that I can think of in this mould is the recently released Ford Focus 1.0 Ecoboost which gives a slightly bigger and more powerful engine to the slightly bigger and heavier Focus. The solutions are designed to replace older, larger capacity engines but, critically, the Ford’s emissions are too high to qualify for the exemptions and its economy on the combined cycle is more than 10 mpg worse.

In the supermini sector there are really very few rivals for the Mito Twinair. There is a Toyota Yaris Hybrid that was unveiled at the 2012 Geneva motor show that is said to be able to get 80 mpg and under 80 g/km of CO² but with a price around the £15,000 mark, it is more than £1,000 more expensive than the Mito Twinair and would require the replacement of an expensive battery pack before it could be sold, second hand, in a few years.

While hybrids are going to have a place in the future, modern developments in petrol engines mean that cars like the Mito Twinair retain their edge, both in performance and overall economy when depreciation is taken into account.