NASCAR Tickets - Smoke Lights Fire Despite Pouring Rain in Charlotte

The Coca-Cola 600 was supposed to be the longest race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season, but instead it was one of the shortest and least-eventful races of the year minus a hothead moment by Tony Stewart, of course. Smoke had a classic eruption in last week's Charlotte race, creating a media frenzy when he publicly denounced David Reutimann and his crew's decision to race hard throughout the whole Sprint Cup race even with a rainout in the cards at Charlotte. Stewart went so far as to call Reutimann's crew chief "Billy Bad Butt," sparking a humorous if not heated argument between the two racing teams.

It all started when Tony Stewart spoke his mind to David Reutimann about Reutimann's hard driving during the rainout, and during this confrontation a bald crew member of Reutimann's got into the quarrel and heated things up a bit more. Not long after, Stewart was prompted by a member of the media about his talk with Reutimann, to which Smoke retorted that Reutimann wasn't working together with the other drivers and was not driving smart during the Charlotte race, saying, "There are 43 of us out here and we all have to work together. He's having a hard time understanding that, I think. He says he gets that, but I'm not sure he does. Then he's got a bald crew guy down there who wants to jump up there and be Billy Bad Butt. Maybe he needs to ride in the car with him since they both seem to think they've got it all figured out."

This humorous interview was quickly plastered all over websites and YouTube following its broadcast, and the name Billy Bad Butt immediately stuck. Reutimann's crew member (whose real name is Dwayne) was instantly tagged as "Billy Bad Butt" the next time the television screen panned his image, and while this hilarious but obscure nickname came out of the argument, it now seems all in good fun, as Reutimann even said, "I think [Dwayne] likes that. I think there are definitely T-shirt possibilities for that at some point."

The Stewart-Reutimann altercation was over almost as quickly as it started, with Reutimann excusing Stewart's in-your-face manner as Stewart's fiery nature and saying that "In the end, it was no big deal. It made for great television, I guess, but it's not a problem, I don't think." Reutimann was ultimately declared the winner of the rained-out Coca-Cola 600 while Stewart placed 19th overall, and Smoke even smoothed out the ruffles of the day's big heated "Danica Patrick" moment of confrontation, calling Reutimann to congratulate him on the day's win.

After the race was called due to rain, Stewart said, "A good guy won the race. They won it because they made the right call at the end. They put themselves in that position and you can' take anything away from that. It won't win you races consistently, but you're going to get some that way. It's good for David to get his first win and congratulations to him and his guys." Including Billy Bad Butt.

While last weekend's "Billy Bad Butt" comment was more amusing than insulting, it most certainly wasn't the first explosion the racing realm has seen out of NASCAR's biggest hothead (hey, he didn't just earn the nickname 'Smoke' for nothing, after all). Stewart has a long record of altercations and choice words on the racetrack, from fighting race officials and arguing with other drivers to his most famous blowups, many of which have recently concerned Goodyear tires. For now, however, the damage is done and has created little more than a media heyday, though spectators with NASCAR tickets are sure to see more fire from Smoke as the Sprint Cup series trots onward. Racing tickets are available online, so don't miss a moment of the NASCAR excitement!

This article is sponsored by StubHub.com. StubHub is a leader in the business of selling NASCAR tickets, sports tickets, concert tickets, theater tickets and special events tickets.

Article Source: NASCAR Tickets - Smoke Lights Fire Despite Pouring Rain in Charlotte

Source: http://www.articlespan.com/article/276934/nascar-tickets-smoke-lights-fire-despite-pouring-rain-in-charlotte

Leo Kinnunen Danny Kladis Hans Klenk Peter de Klerk

Lotus v Lotus

I'll make this as simple as possible.

There will be two teams bearing the Lotus name in Formula 1 next year.

One, following Wednesday's announcement of Lotus Cars' decision to sponsor and eventually buy into what was the Renault team, will be called Lotus Renault. That team will be part-owned by Lotus Cars but their F1 cars will be called Renaults and will use Renault engines.

The other will be called Team Lotus. This one has nothing to do with Lotus Cars (any more - but we'll come back to that in a moment) but their F1 car will be called a Lotus. They will also use, er, Renault engines.

Both teams, it transpires, plan to run their cars in variations of a black and gold livery. This is an attempt to hark back to the historic John Player Special livery made famous by the original Team Lotus in the 1970s and 1980s through great drivers such as Emerson Fittipaldi, Mario Andretti, Ronnie Peterson, Nigel Mansell and Ayrton Senna, and era-defining cars like the Lotus 72 and 79.

It's a commentator's - and journalist's - nightmare and one can only begin to imagine the confusion it will create for those watching.

So what on earth is going on?

The story starts in 2009, when Malaysian businessman Tony Fernandes obtained a multi-year licence from Lotus Cars to use the Lotus name in F1, having persuaded the Malaysian-owned company that an involvement in grand prix racing would be a valuable promotional tool.

Lotus Racing were one of three new teams in F1 in 2010, the others being Virgin and Hispania. All three spent the year close to the back of the grid, but Lotus did establish themselves as convincingly the most competitive.

In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content.

In the course of the year, though, Group Lotus's approach to F1 changed, as part of a hugely ambitious refocusing of the company's future plans by chief executive officer Dany Bahar, who formerly worked in the commercial arms of Red Bull F1 and Ferrari.

Bahar, it transpires, was never keen on Lotus granting the licence to Fernandes, and it has become clear through 2010 why - he wanted to take the brand into F1 himself, but in a different way, through an involvement with an established team.

At the Paris Motor Show in October, Bahar announced plans for five new road-car models, expanding Lotus's range by nearly 200%, and has since said Lotus will enter IndyCar racing in the US and race at Le Mans. And now comes a major sponsorship deal with what used to be the Renault F1 team which will, at an undefined point in the future, morph into Lotus part-owning that team.

Fernandes, meanwhile, struck a deal in September to buy the rights to the Team Lotus name from David Hunt, brother of 1976 world champion James. Hunt had bought them when the original Team Lotus collapsed in 1994 after racing in F1 since 1958, during which time it had established itself as one of the sport's most iconic names.

Fernandes' success in buying the name - exclusively revealed by BBC Sport - marked the point at which what had until then been a private dispute between him and Lotus Cars - which is owned by the Malaysian company Proton - broke out into the open.

Following Fernandes's acquisition of the Team Lotus name, Group Lotus claimed that it owned all the rights to the Lotus name - a point of view robustly disputed by Hunt, who points out that Proton have several times tried to buy the Team Lotus name from him without ever being able to conclude a deal.

The dispute got so heated that former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahatir bin Mohamad stepped in to mediate, but he succeeded only in stopping the ping-pong of press releases. The dispute is now going to the High Court - and it is unlikely to be resolved until next year.

Bahar (left) launches a new Lotus car with the help of actress Sharon Stone. Photo: Getty

But the disagreement over the ownership of Team Lotus is only one of two ongoing legal cases between Lotus Cars and Fernandes. In the other, Fernandes is suing Lotus Cars for breach of contract over its withdrawal of the licence to use the Lotus name in F1.

That, too, is not expected to be resolved until some time next year.

Both sides, then, have got themselves into a bit of a pickle.

Lotus Cars has struck a deal to promote its brand in F1 through a team that is knocking on the door of breaking into the top three - and which, in Robert Kubica, has one of the finest drivers on the grid.

But it is doing so with a car that is called a Renault - and there is no way out of that one.

Lotus and the team's majority shareholder, the private investment group Genii Capital, cannot change the constructor name assigned to their team because if they do so without the permission of all the other teams they will lose the millions the team earns through Renault's historic achievements in F1, which date back to their entry in 1977.

And guess which team would not agree?

Fernandes, meanwhile, faces the prospect of his team giving free publicity to a company with which he is in two separate legal disputes. And even if he changed the name of the team to something else, his cars would still be called Lotuses.

It is an unsatisfactory situation for all involved - the efforts of both parties will be diluted by a dispute that, for those watching, will create only confusion.

Fernandes is understood to be increasingly confident that he will win the court case over the Team Lotus name. Lotus Cars, for its part, appears not to be overly concerned about the existence of a second team diluting its brand. Their view is that only one of the teams is affiliated with Lotus, and the other one is providing free advertising for it.

In the meantime, questions hang in the air.

Is the end game for Fernandes to sell the Team Lotus brand to Lotus Cars if he succeeds in establishing that he owns it? Can Lotus - and its parent company Proton - sustain such an ambitious programme? And so on.

In the murk, only one thing seems clear - this is only the latest stage in a story that will rumble on for some time to come.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2010/12/lotus_v_lotus.html

Olivier Grouillard Brian Gubby André Guelfi Miguel Ángel Guerra

Are Red Bull prepared to hand the title to Alonso?

Red Bull appear to be having a bit of fun with the watching world ahead of the deciding race of the 2010 Formula 1 world championship.

With their drivers Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel both trying to chase down the championship leader, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, the big question heading into the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this weekend is whether Vettel will help Webber win the championship if the German cannot do it himself.

This is quite a likely scenario, given the positions of the three drivers in the championship standings.

Alonso leads Webber by eight points and Vettel by 15. McLaren's Lewis Hamilton is still mathematically in contention 24 points behind the Spaniard but is realistically out of the running, with only 25 points available on Sunday.

There are any number of potential permutations and if you want to explore them all fully, Spain's Marca newspaper has produced a fun tool that does the job nicely.

On pure performance, Vettel, Webber and Alonso are likely to occupy the top three positions in Abu Dhabi, just as they did in Brazil last Sunday. If that happens, the permutations are relatively simple.

In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content.

If Webber wins the race, Alonso must be second to win the championship; if Vettel does, the Ferrari man need only finish fourth.

But what if Vettel is leading going into the last lap and Webber is behind him and Alonso third or fourth? Would Vettel hand the lead to the Australian?

Given the fractious relationship between the two men at times this season, it would not be an easy thing for Vettel to do. But both he and team principal Christian Horner hinted after the Brazilian Grand Prix that he would.

"In that scenario, it is something you will think of," said Vettel. "I think it's clear."

Horner added: "Of course, if we find ourselves in a position where one of the drivers can win the world championship, then the drivers will do whatever's necessary to ensure as a team we achieve the best result."

Since then, though, Red Bull team owner Dietrich Mateschitz, the man who founded the drinks company and has since made billions from it, has thrown in a curve ball.

The Austrian told Gerhard Kuntschick, a reporter from the Salzburger Nachtrichten to whom he is close, that if they cannot win he would prefer his drivers to lose out to Alonso "in the correct circumstances".

That is a reference to Ferrari's actions at the German Grand Prix, when the team gave Felipe Massa a coded message to let Alonso by into the lead so he could maximise his points in the championship.

Team orders are banned in F1. Ferrari's punishment, at the race and later confirmed at a hearing of the sport's governing body the FIA in September, was a $100,000 fine.

Without the extra seven points he gained at Hockenheim, Alonso would be leading Webber by only one point and Vettel by eight. That would have made the Abu Dhabi race a winner-takes-all scenario for Webber and Alonso, and for Vettel if he headed a Red Bull one-two with Alonso third.

Mateschitz continued: "To interfere with the drivers was never a possibility for us. The whole world condemned Ferrari after what they did in Hockenheim, but we have turned out as idiots because we did not act in this way."

Mateschitz said Red Bull had never considered getting one driver to back the other "as long as both our drivers remain in the hunt for the championship".

He added: "A second place under correct circumstances might be better than a win on grounds of orders and confirmations."

What does this mean?

Will Red Bull really refuse to intercede and risk losing the championship to Alonso? Will they leave it up to Vettel's conscience?

Does the phrase "as long as both our drivers remain in the running for the championship" mean that Vettel will let Webber by to prevent Alonso winning the title (on the basis that Vettel, at that point, would no longer be in the running for the championship)? Apparently not.

Could Horner's "best result for the team" conceivably mean what Mateschitz says - that it is better to lose the title because they have not resorted to team tactics, rather than win it because they have?

If Red Bull will not use team tactics, why not?

Is that a decision based purely on wanting to be seen to be competing in the right way - following the old adage that it's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game?

If so, this is not, shall we say, a philosophy that is universally shared in the "piranha club" of the F1 paddock.

Or is there more going on here than meets the eye?

The cynics in the F1 paddock - and there are a lot - will have a field day with these conflicting messages from the leading figures at Red Bull.

Just how alone is Webber at Red Bull this weekend? Photo: Darren Heath

If Vettel is in a position to help Webber and does not, some will wonder if that is because Red Bull simply do not want Webber to win the title, and would rather wait another year for Vettel to become their first champion. If that is the case, why would they not want Webber to win? Is Webber, as was speculated in Brazil last weekend, leaving the team at the end of the year following his complaints of favouritism?

All of this adds an intriguing extra dimension to an already absorbing climax to one of the best F1 seasons there has ever been. And it seems fitting to be discussing it at the end of a season in which Red Bull's perceived preference for Vettel over Webber has caused so much heartache within the team, and drawn so much attention from outside.

There was the fall-out from losing a one-two in the Turkish Grand Prix following a collision between the two drivers, when the team initially appeared to pin the blame on Webber, when most of the watching world felt Vettel was at fault. And three races later, there was the decision to take the only remaining example of a new front wing off Webber's car at Silverstone and give it to Vettel.

What else has been going on behind the scenes that the outside world does not know about?

Horner has continued to insist throughout that the team have supported both drivers equally - he reiterated that view to me in Brazil last weekend - but it has not always looked that way. I have spoken to a number of people in F1 this season who believe there is evidence that some kind of team tactics have been employed behind the scenes at Red Bull.

After inflicting so much damage on themselves in Turkey, did Red Bull dictate that once a driver was ahead, the other was not allowed to race him? If not, what - to bring up just one example - did Webber mean after following Vettel home in the Japanese Grand Prix last month? "It was fun to bring the gap back down to Seb and after that track position is king," said the Australian. "I know the rules and that's how it is."

If there have been tactics to control Webber, though, there is no hope of them happening in Abu Dhabi. With the title on the line, there will be no dutiful holding of position from whichever Red Bull driver is behind.

Of course, F1 would not be what it is without this added dimension of intrigue and politics - it's part of what makes it so fascinating. Yet it is easy to forget that before any team tactics can come into play, there is a race to be run.

Red Bull enter it as favourites, for the race if not the championship. But Alonso - who has beaten them three times in the last five races - can never be discounted. Of the three main title contenders, he is the only one with the experience of being in this situation before - when he won his back-to-back titles in 2005-6 with Renault.

With the pressure on all the title contenders so intense, will that be a deciding factor? Or, with all the contenders worried about engine mileage under F1's eight-engines-a-year rule, will it be reliability that wins the day?

One thing seems certain - it is hard to believe, after such an extraordinary year of shifting fortunes, that there will not be one final twist in the tale.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2010/11/are_red_bull_prepared_to_hand.html

Parker Kligerman Steve Wallace 5 hour Energy Toyota Brendan Gaughan

Canadian GP: Hamilton denies Webber of pole, pushes car home!

June 12 '10

Lewis Hamilton will begin tomorrow's race on pole position, beating the Red Bulls, who for the first time this season didn't qualify on pole.

Hamilton's final attempt to set the fastest time was when he crossed the line to start the lap with eight seconds remaining. This is his third pole in as many visits to Montreal.

Mark Webber yet again out qualified his Red Bull mate Sebastian Vettel. They both start second and third on the grid respectively.

In Q1

@Jamesallenonf1



Dropping out of Q1 were the usual suspects, the six drivers of the three new teams. A gearbox change on the HRT of Karun Chandhok limited him to just one run in Q1 and costing him a five-place grid penalty.

Heikki Kovalainen was the fastest of the new team drivers. He out-qualified his Lotus team mate Jarno Trulli by more than four-tenths of a second. Kovalainen's impressive performance put him in 19th position.

Also failing to make it into Q2 was Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi who had impressed us by reaching Q3 in Turkey couple of weeks back. He narrowly beat Kovalainen by just two-tenths of a second. At the end of Q1, Hamilton was quickest from Vettel, Alonso, Rosberg, Kubica, Button, Webber, Sutil, Petrov and Schumacher.

Drivers eliminated in Q1
18. Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1m 18.019s
19. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1m 18.237s
20. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1m 18.698s
21. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m 18.941s
22. Bruno Senna HRT-Cosworth 1m 19.484s
23. Lucas di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1m 19.675s
24. Karun Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1m 27.757s


In Q2

@Jamesallenonf1



Michael Schumacher failed to make the cut. He struggled for grip throughout the session and then when he came under pressure to clock a fast lap, he made a mistake at the final chicane and had to skip the corner altogether.

During the dying moments of the Q2 session, Schumacher and Vitantonio Liuzzi improved on their lap times and pushed Jenson Button onto the relegation zone. Liuzzi had improved ahead of Schumi and when Button improved on his lap time, Schumacher got dropped into the relegation zone.

"I am obviously disappointed after today's qualifying," he said. "We simply did not have the balance or grip and overall we had a lot of problems with braking and handling. The car was just not performing as we expected. We had similar issues yesterday afternoon and we made some changes after second practice. This morning, the changes seemed to have made sense as our position was reasonable but this afternoon, I was facing similar issues again. It's difficult to understand the reasons at the moment but we will look deeply into it now and find a good strategy for the race tomorrow."

Up at the front it was as close as can be, one second separating the top 13 drivers. At the end of Q2 it was Hamilton again on top of the timing screens followed by Vettel, Alonso, Kubica, Webber, Button, Rosberg, Liuzzi and Sutil.

Drivers eliminated in Q2

11. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Williams-Cosworth 1m 16.434s
12. Nico Hulkenberg Germany Williams-Cosworth 1m 16.438s
13. Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 16.492s
14. Vitaly Petrov Russia Renault-Renault 1m 16.844s
15. Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 16.928s
16. Jaime Alguersuari Spain Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 17.029s
17. Pedro de la Rosa Spain BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1m 17.384s


In Q3

@Jamesallenonf1



Hamilton was at the top of the timing screens for majority of the session, until Fernando Alonso claimed it using super-soft tyres. Not far behind was Mark Webber who beat Alonso using the harder of the tyre and his team mate Sebastian Vettel claimed second, leaving Alonso in third. With eight seconds remaining, Hamilton began his final lap which eventually resulted in a spectacular pole, some two-tenths of a second faster than Webber.

But on his way back to the pits on a slowing-down lap, Hamilton's team radioed him to turn off his engine and save fuel as he had no sufficient fuel left in the tank for a mandatory fuel sample.

He unbuckled his belts and sat on the side of his cockpit as the car slowly rolled forward. He then jumped out of the rolling car and proceeded to push the car home along the back straight! His efforts were interrupted by the track marshalls and a medical car dropped him back to the pit lane.

BBC commentator Martin Brundle said, ?The FIA don?t take kindly to you not having enough fuel to get into the pits at the end of the lap ? they?ll be taking a look at that.?

Hamilton pushes his car home along the back straight

Whether or not Hamilton will be penalized will have to be seen. Assuming that he wont receive a penalty, Hamilton would still be vulnerable as he starts the race with the softest of the 2 compounds that Bridgestone have provided for the weekend. Super-soft tyres seem to grain a lot quicker at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve as we saw during the second practice session. Red Bulls seem to be in a stronger position having qualified using the harder of the two compound tyres and starting the race from first and second row of the grid.

Said Vettel: ?Looking at the strategy, obviously, McLaren hopes for a safety car. We don?t know. There?s no guarantee, but we?ll see (Sunday). It?s a long race.?

Hamilton, for his part, said he didn?t think his team?s approach amounted to a particularly big gamble.

?Every race you?re taking gambles,? said Hamilton. ?It?s definitely interesting to see the two different strategies. It?ll be interesting to see how they pan out (Sunday) . . . I feel we?re in the best situation we can possibly be.?

Update:
Hamilton will keep his pole position. The FIA have issued a $10,000 fine for exceeding the maximum time allowed to return to the pits and given Hamilton an official reprimand.


Top ten drivers in Q3

1. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1m 15.105s
2. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 1m 15.373s
3. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault 1m 15.420s
4. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 15.435s
5. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1m 15.520s
6. Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Force India-Mercedes 1m 15.648s
7. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 15.688s
8. Robert Kubica Poland Renault-Renault 1m 15.715s
9. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes 1m 15.881s
10. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 16.071s


Images(C) Daylife, F1aldia

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/F1InsightAFormula1Blog/~3/yB7o_8t53Xw/canadian-gp-hamilton-denies-webber-of.html

Jimmie Johnson Nationwide Series Joey Logano NASCAR

F1 2011: Tyres, adjustable rear wings, 640 kg and...

June 24 '10

The FIA's World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) announced a raft of decisions after a meeting in Geneva on Wednesday (June 23). Decisions include the rule clarification which involved Michael Schumacher at the 2010 Monaco Grand Prix, where he passed Fernando Alonso on the final lap when the safety car returned to the pits and was handed a twenty-second penalty. Also, repeat of Hamilton's Montreal qualifying stunt wont be allowed.

Others decisions are taken to "improve the show" which involves the use of proximity rear wing.

Tyres

We finally have an F1 tyre supplier for 2011. The FIA preferred the idea of Michelin, as did McLaren and Ferrari in particular. But it is Pirelli who have beaten off competition from Michelin. Pirelli becomes the official F1 tyre supplier from 2011. The Italian tyre manufacturer gets a three-year contract from 2011 to 2013. They last supplied F1 teams in 1991.

According to WMSC:

Pirelli has been selected as the single tyre supplier for the FIA Formula One World Championship for a period of three years, commencing in 2011. The sole supplier will undertake to strictly respect the sporting and technical regulations implemented by the FIA.

Safety Car

In the wake of the controversy involving Michael Schumacher in Monaco, the FIA has ruled that there will be no overtaking even when the safety car pulls in on the last lap of a race.

With immediate effect, no car may overtake until it has passed the first safety car line for the first time when the safety car is returning to the pits. However, if the safety car is still deployed at the beginning of the last lap, or is deployed during the last lap, it will enter the pit lane at the end of the lap and the cars will take the chequered flag as normal without overtaking.

General safety

Lewis Hamilton?s fine and reprimand after qualifying in Canada has resulted in a new rule requiring drivers to stay below a ?maximum time? set by the FIA on in-laps.

With immediate effect, any car being driven unnecessarily slowly, erratically, or which is deemed potentially dangerous to other drivers, will be reported to the stewards. This will apply whether any such car is being driven on the track, the pit entry or the pit lane.

In order to ensure cars are not driven unnecessarily slowly on in-laps during qualifying or reconnaissance laps when the pit exit is opened for the race, drivers must stay below the maximum time set by the FIA between the safety car line after the pit exit and safety car line before the pit entry. The maximum time will be determined by the race director at each event prior to the first day of practice, but may be amended during the event if necessary.

The grid

Next year, the 107 per cent qualifying rule will reappear. Any car not setting a time within 107% of the fastest time in the final part of qualifying, will not be allowed to start the race. This was dropped when single lap qualifying was introduced in 2002. There are exceptions however, whereby if a team sets competitive lap times during practice session, they maybe allowed to race.

From 2011, any driver whose best qualifying lap exceeds 107% of the fastest Q1 qualifying time will not be allowed to take part in the race. Under exceptional circumstances, however, which may include setting a suitable lap time in a free practice session, the stewards may permit the car to start the race. Should there be more than one driver accepted in this manner, the grid order will be determined by the stewards.

An analysis by F1Fanatic: "Had the rule as proposed been in place this year it would have prevented both HRT drivers from starting in Bahrain and Malaysia. Lucas di Grassi would have been out of the Malaysian race as well, leaving just 21 cars on the grid.

"Bruno Senna would have missed out on racing at Barcelona ? by just one-hundredth of a second ? and Karun Chandhok wouldn?t have been on the grid at Canada last week."


Adjustable rear wings

The FIA has banned F-ducts for 2011 and approved the debut of the proximity rear wing. The adjustable rear wing can only be operated by the drivers to overtake the car in front.

McLaren?s engineering director Paddy Lowe said on Wednesday, "In the race, you can?t use it (the wing) for the first two laps at all, but after that if you?re within a second of the car in front then you will be able to deploy it,?

?So that will be very interesting. That?s a FOTA initiative to improve the show and I think it?s very exciting.?

From 2011, adjustable bodywork may be activated by the driver at any time prior to the start of the race and, for the sole purpose of improving overtaking opportunities during the race, after the driver has completed two laps. The driver may only activate the adjustable bodywork in the race when he has been notified via the control electronics that it is enabled. It will only be enabled if the driver is less than one second behind another at any of the pre-determined positions around each circuit. The system will be disabled the first time the driver uses the brakes after the system has been activated. The FIA may, after consulting all the competitors, adjust the time proximity in order to ensure the purpose of the adjustable bodywork is met.

Weight

For the return of KERS, the minimum car-plus-driver weight will increase from 620kg to 640kg.

From 2011, the minimum weight of the car must not be less than 640 kg at all times during the event.

Licences

A ?four-race probationary super license? has been approved for Renault?s official third driver Ho-Pin Tung.

Based on his career r�sum� and comparative F1 testing times, the World Council has approved the granting of a four-race probationary super license to Chinese driver Ho-Pin Tung.

Credit : GMM, fia.com, F1Fanatic Images(C) Daylife, F1Fanatic, F1.com, F1 Aldia

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/F1InsightAFormula1Blog/~3/LmOuHTM0ZSw/f1-2011-tyres-adjustable-rear-wings-640.html

Tom Jones Juan Jover Oswald Karch Narain Karthikeyan

2010 Team Reviews: RCR Showcases Great Improvement

Filed under: Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick, Sprint Cup, Richard Childress Racing, NASCAR

If there was an award for the biggest season-to-season turnaround by an entire team, the folks at Welcome, N.C.'s Richard Childress Racing would have walked away with an uncontested victory.

In a word, their change in competitiveness from 2009 to 2010 was astonishing.

In fact, RCR placed all three of its drivers in the 2010 Chase for the Sprint Cup -- quite a change after those same three wheelmen missed the championship fight completely in 2009.

Yes, 2009 was a drag for the proud organization, with Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick all missing victory lane. That all changed -- and changed quickly in 2010 -- when Harvick assumed the points lead after just ten races.

He didn't relinquish it until the Chase standings were shuffled and the drivers seeded in September.

Had the RCR bunch managed to string together a more-dominating late performance by Harvick or even avoided the Chase-ravaging penalty levied against Clint Bowyer after winning at New Hampshire, the team as a whole may have moved higher up the NASCAR team ladder.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Source: http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2010/12/29/2010-team-reviews-rcr-showcases-great-improvement/

Kasey Kenneth Kahne Matthew Roy Kenseth Alan Dennis Kulwicki Travis Wade Kvapil

The NASCAR Coca Cola 600 Race: Everything You Need to Know to Have the Time of Your Life

NASCAR is one of the most well enjoyed of the American pastimes, and for good reason. While many people have heard of the NASCAR Daytona 500 race, there are other races to attend as well—many of them just as popular as the Daytona 500 itself. One of these races is the Coca Cola 600, a 600 mile race held at the Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, NC the weekend of Memorial Day. This is a stock car race, one of the things that attracts die hard fans of NASCAR stock car racing from all around the world. As a matter of fact, this race falls into the top five of all of the NASCAR races put together, something that is rather high honors in the racing world. The hotels in the area fill up in one to two nights; the camp grounds are reserved well in advance and packed to the brim with enthusiastic campers and racing fans.

A Bit of History on the NASCAR Coca Cola 600 Race

Like every other true NASCAR race, the Coca Cola 600 does have some history behind it. It has gone through several name changes, from the World 600 to the Coca Cola or Coke 600. From there it was changed to the Coca Cola Racing Family 600, and then was put back to the near original Coca Cola 600.

This race was designed to offset some of the popularity that the Indian 500 race was experiencing, and it succeeded in doing so. To date, the NASCAR Coca Cola 600 race has better television ratings and a higher viewership on television than the Indianapolis 500. These races occur on the same weekend of Memorial Day, making it prime time for true racing fans across the world. The races have even been scheduled in a way that allows fans to make it from the NASCAR Coca Cola 600 to the Indianapolis 500 and be able to participate in both races, something that wasn't made clear if it would be possible in the beginning. Nowadays, the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca Cola 600 are held on the same day. Of course, this makes a problem for some drivers who are not able to do over 1000 miles in one day, but those who have the grit and are determined to be successful have been known to do both races with ease, leaving the first race to make it to the second just in time.

Camping at the NASCAR Coca Cola 600

One of the best things about the time when the Coca Cola 600 rolls around is that it gives die hard NASCAR fans a chance to get in one place together and cut up. This can include anything, from drinking to games and other activities. Music, friends, fun—this is the type of thing that a successful NASCAR campout consists of. If you have never partaken in NASCAR camping before, the NASCAR Coca Cola 600 is a great place to start. Although the weather tends to be a little warm and sticky, those who have RVs should not have much of a problem dealing with the heat.

There are many different ways to camp out at this race. RVs with a hookup is obviously the most effective and pleasurable way to go about camping at a race like that. There are other ways to go about it as well, like RV camping without the hook up and even tent camping. Depending on what your camping style is there are many ways to enjoy the race, some of them even from the infield.

Of course, the NASCAR Coca Cola 600 is one of the most popular races on the NASCAR schedule, so reservations for camping spots anywhere even close to the infield are going to be in high demand. Make your reservations as early as possible to avoid disappointment as these things tend to fill up very fast. If you are excited about the event, think about the thousands and thousands of others who are excited about it as well.

The Coca Cola 600 is a huge event for racing fans all over. It is one of the hottest commodities on the NASCAR 600 schedule. It draws fans from all over the globe to the hot Carolinas and even more to their television sets, glued to the screen for lap after lap of NASCAR fun.

Join the Roadwarriors to view the trip right from your computer. http://www.Roadwarriorslive.com

Steve Godlewski travels all over the country with his wife Jen, 2 Kids, 2 Dogs, and the cat. Feel free to join us and ride shotgun.

Article Source: The NASCAR Coca Cola 600 Race: Everything You Need to Know to Have the Time of Your Life

Source: http://www.articlespan.com/article/187248/the-nascar-coca-cola-600-race-everything-you-need-to-know-to-have-the-time-of-your-life

Ukyo Katayama Ken Kavanagh Rupert Keegan Eddie Keizan