Brad Keselowski Gets Nationwide Crew Chief Paul Wolfe for Cup Team

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No driver competing in NASCAR's two top series showed greater disparity in results in 2010 than Brad Keselowski, who won the Nationwide series championship with six victories while eking out a couple of top-10 finishes in a forgettable Sprint Cup campaign.

Both cars came from Penske Racing, and when Roger Penske is involved, nonperformance won't stand.

Thus, the organization announced Tuesday that Paul Wolfe, Keselowski's championship-winning crew chief in Nationwide, has been promoted to become his Sprint Cup crew chief, replacing Jay Guy.

In addition to the six victories and the championship, Keselowski and Wolfe scored 29 top-10 finishes in 35 races. Twenty six of those were top fives -- a series single-season record. He also won five poles, led 1,147 laps and had an average finish of 5.2.

By contrast, in his Sprint Cup car, Keselowski had no victories, one pole position, no top fives and just two top 10s -- 10th-place finishes at Martinsville and Talladega late in the season. He led 41 laps and had an average finish of 22.4.

 

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Source: http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2010/11/30/brad-keselowski-gets-nationwide-crew-chief-paul-wolfe-for-cup-te/

Tony Stewart Old Spice Office Depot Chevrolet Jeff Green Air Guard Ford

F1: Hulkenberg ?sure? to be in F1 next year

Hulkenberg 'sure' to be in F1 next year By Jonathan Noble Monday, December 6th 2010, 15:10 GMT Nico Hulkenberg is 'sure' he will remain in Formula 1 next year, despite having not yet finalised any plans for 2011. Related posts:
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Source: http://doxcar.com/f1-hulkenberg-sure-to-be-in-f1-next-year/

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Turkish GP: Vettel fastest in final practice ahead of qualifying

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May 30 '10

Sebastian Vettel was the fastest man on track yesterday for the final practice session ahead of qualifying for the 2010 Turkish Grand Prix. Some of his key rivals faced problems while others had off-track excursions, notably at turn 8.

Nico Rosberg was one among the late improvers. He claimed a strong second while spending much of the time at the bottom end of top ten.

Lewis Hamilton who finished third, had a lurid spin at turn eight. Via iTV, "Mid-way through the session the former champion ran wide over the kerb at the second of the sweeping corner?s three apexs and spun backwards into the gravel, having to be pushed out by marshals so he could recover to the pits.

On his return to the McLaren garage it emerged the spin had shredded his hard compound tyres while also doing minor damage to the MP4-25?s floor and area around the diffuser.

His team got him out for the final six minutes for a final run on the soft-tyres, however, and his best lap eventually wound up 0.310s slower than Vettel?s last-gasp flyer."

Mark Webber faced a throttle response problem, but nonetheless finished fourth. According to iTV, " A throttle linkage problem struck on his RB6 almost immediately after he left the pit lane for the first time, meaning he had to crawl around the 3.3-mile lap back to the garage."

Adrian Sutil managed just one lap before returning back to pits due to a hydraulic problem on his Force India.

Turkish Grand Prix free practice 3 times

1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m 27.086s
2. Nico Rosberg Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 27.359s
3. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m 27.396s
4. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m 27.553s
5. Robert Kubica Renault-Renault 1m 27.784s
6. Fernando Alonso Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 27.861s
7. Michael Schumacher Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 27.879s
8. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m 27.963s
9. Felipe Massa Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 27.969s
10. Vitaly Petrov Renault-Renault 1m 28.344s
11. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 28.610s
12. Pedro de la Rosa BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1m 28.652s
13. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 28.734s
14. Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1m 29.036s
15. Nico Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1m 29.044s
16. Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1m 29.211s
17 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m 29.305s
18. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1m 30.618s
19. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1m 30.884s
20. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m 31.341s
21. Lucas di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1m 32.180s
22. Bruno Senna HRT-Cosworth 1m 32.230s
23. Karun Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1m 32.762s
24. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes no time


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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/F1InsightAFormula1Blog/~3/siRkUQ3H4Fo/turkish-gp-vettel-fastest-in-final.html

Chevrolet Chase for the Sprint Cup Richard Childress Racing Tony Stewart

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Not the Only Reason for Shakeup, Rick Hendrick Says

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Although Dale Earnhardt Jr., winner of 18 career Sprint Cup races, has now stretched his winless streak at Hendrick Motorsports to 101 races, that's only part of the reason for the massive shakeup announced Tuesday, team owner Rick Hendrick said Wednesday.

"This was not a Dale Earnhardt ... this was not a move that we made -- this major a move -- because of Dale or his situation," Hendrick said Wednesday in a teleconference. "I'm excited about making all four teams better. We need to be better across the board. It was a move to make all four better."

It's hard to think that a racing juggernaut like Hendrick Motorsports, with five straight Sprint Cup championships in the history books and gunning for six in a row next year, might be going downhill.

But Hendrick said as much Wednesday in describing why he shuffled the drivers and crew chiefs among three of his teams and switched driver partners in the twin pairing arrangement he has for the four teams at the organization's sprawling Concord, N.C. complex.

"I think we just kind of got complacent and other teams were getting stronger and stronger, and we were just not where we needed to be," Hendrick said. "We just were off this year. The 48 was off. And we needed to make a lot of things better.

 

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Source: http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2010/11/24/dale-earnhardt-jr-not-the-only-reason-for-shakeup-rick-hendric/

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Richard Petty and Investors Take Control of RPM From George Gillett Jr.

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CONCORD, N.C. (AP) -- Richard Petty will once again run his race team and participate in day-to-day operations as chairman of the new ownership group that was announced Monday.

The assets of Richard Petty Motorsports have been sold from George Gillett Jr. to an investment group that consists of Petty, Medallion Financial Corp. and DGP Investments.

"Today is a great day for me, my family, our fans and our wonderful sponsors," Petty said in a statement that listed 10 partners that "have supported me through thick and thin and I thank them from the bottom of my heart."

RPM will field cars for AJ Allmendinger and Marcos Ambrose in 2011.

The transfer of assets has been in the works for several weeks because of Gillett's ongoing financial problems. Debt-laden English soccer club Liverpool recently was sold despite the objection of Gillett and business partner Tom Hicks. And a U.S. hedge fund is suing Gillett over what the firm says is more than $117 million in debt he racked up investing in Liverpool.

 

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Source: http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2010/11/29/richard-petty-and-investors-take-control-of-rpm-from-george-gill/

Boy Hayje Willi Heeks Nick Heidfeld Theo Helfrich

Denny Hamlin Already Looking Toward 2011

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HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Only 25 laps into Sunday's Ford 400 NASCAR season finale, Denny Hamlin realized his day was going to be long, and his hopes of holding off his two championship challengers diminished as the hot South Florida afternoon wore on.

When the green flag dropped, his 15-point championship lead over four-time defending Sprint Cup series champ Jimmie Johnson technically vanished, based on Hamlin's 38th-place starting position compared to Johnson's sixth.

Then on lap 25, Hamlin collided with Greg Biffle, sending Hamlin's No. 11 FedEx Toyota spinning on the infield grass -- an omen for what would come. Tire problems, pit road miscommunication and then an ill-timed caution period late in the race spelled his ultimate doom. The 30-year-old driver finished 14th in the race and became the first driver in NASCAR's seven-year Chase playoff format not to win the title when leading the championship with one race remaining.

"It's tough, trust me, these years don't come by too often in anyone's career,'' said Hamlin, who finished championship runner-up, 39 points behind the newly crowned five-time champion Johnson.

"I was privileged enough to be part of the closest championship in (Chase) history and give it my best effort, but it wasn't enough today. Our car got banged up and we just couldn't overcome it.''

 

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Source: http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2010/11/21/denny-hamlin-already-looking-toward-2011/

Clint Bowyer Joey Logano Home Depot Toyota Paul Menard

NASCAR Tickets - Hylton Yearns for One More Start

74-year-old racing legend James Hylton is NASCAR's Energizer Bunny, and as the 2009 racing season gets well underway, Hylton still just keeps going and going. James Hylton is the owner of the Hylton Motorsports race shop in South Carolina and has been for 45 years, but he just can't get racing out of his blood, as this famed driver has recently expressed interest in competing in one last NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race before relinquishing his driving powers to the next generation of NASCR contenders.

Last summer, Hylton became the oldest driver ever to start a Nationwide Series, qualifying Johnny Davis' No. 01 Chevrolet and completing 82 of 105 laps while coming in at 36th place. This racing icon also holds the record as the oldest driver to ever qualify for an ARCA race, and now he's going for records across the boards as he has recently expressed interest in snagging the Cup Series record for oldest driver, which currently belongs to Jim Fitzgerald and Hershel McGriff (who were each 65 when they made their respective final races). While hardships with sponsorship and finances keep Hylton off the track for now, the racing legend still thinks it's feasible to make a Sprint Cup start in the near future, saying, "One more Cup race. I want that record. I've put my whole life into this thing, and I feel like I'm still capable of doing it. If I thought I was endangering any of the competitors or I was in the way or I was somebody out there to cause a wreck... I ain't going to cause anybody no wreck. That's not saying I won't wreck, I've wrecked several times, had bad crashes. But the worst crash I've been in wasn't my fault."

James Hylton grew up in the backwoods of Virginia as one of 13 kids in his family, immersed into stock car racing culture at a young age. Hylton started out in the racing realm working as a mechanic for Rex White, but he eventually got into the driver's seat himself, capturing loads of fans when he made his strong NASCAR debut in 1966, popularizing the No. 48 car before Jimmie Johnson could get to it and winning the league's Rookie of the Year Award the same racing season. The next decade was an absolute racing frenzy for the great James Hylton, who finished the NASCAR championship in second place three times and finished a season in 11th place or better for 10 consecutive seasons.

Hylton retired from the full racing circuit in 1982 but has since gone on to set a number of records, now feasting his eyes upon one last Sprint Cup Series race. Hylton attempted a Daytona 500 race two years ago when Richard Childress supplied him with a bright orange car for the event, yet engine trouble kept him from starting the race, ultimately failing to capture the Sprint Cup record. The big question mark in NASCAR today still stands as whether or not James Hylton will ever accomplish his dream of starting one more Sprint Cup race, and if he does, which one it will be. In case Hylton does get to start one final Cup race soon, get NASCAR tickets online and cheer on this racing sensation, as you won't want to miss this record-setting event!

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 - Hylton Yearns for One More Start

Source: http://www.articlespan.com/article/254220/nascar-tickets-hylton-yearns-for-one-more-start

Carl Edwards Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevrolet Clint Bowyer

IRC: Andersson gets Proton seat for Monte

Andersson gets Proton seat for Monte By David Evans Sunday, December 5th 2010, 11:47 GMT Double Junior World Rally champion and former factory Suzuki WRC driver P-G Andersson will drive a Proton Satria Neo S2000 on next month's Monte Carlo Rally. Related posts:
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Source: http://doxcar.com/irc-andersson-gets-proton-seat-for-monte/

Geki Olivier Gendebien Marc Gené Elmer George

Spotter's Stand: Carl Edwards Has Offseason Momentum in His Back Pocket

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He may have won the two races that dole out the least amount of recognition of the entire season, but Carl Edwards doesn't much care.

"For our team, to finish like this and to be on the upswing that we are, this is as good as it gets," Edwards said after winning Sunday at Homestead, his second in a row.

Of course, Edwards was overshadowed by an incredibly dramatic championship fight that he watched from the outside looking in Sunday, largely in his rear-view mirror.

Jimmie Johnson overcame Denny Hamlin and held off Kevin Harvick to win the 2010 title, and proceeded to spin through a burnout as Edwards celebrated with his traditional backflip.

"I tell you, it's a lot more frustrating to not be in victory lane and watching somebody out there doing their donuts and all that stuff," Edwards said.

 

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Source: http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2010/11/23/spotters-stand-carl-edwards-has-offseason-momentum-in-his-back/

Giovanni Lavaggi Chris Lawrence Michel Leclere Richard Lee Rudd

Turkish GP: Webber claims third consecutive pole

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May 30 '10

Mark Webber claimed his third consecutive pole position and made it seven pole positions from seven attempts for Red Bull at Istanbul Park circuit at yesterday's qualifying session for the 2010 Turkish Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton secured second position making it a McLaren front row start for the first time this season. Sebastian Vettel who topped the first two sessions of qualifying will start the race from second row of the grid in third position after suffering a suspected brake failure.

In Q1

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@Jamesallenonf1

As usual, the three new teams failed to make it out of Q1. Jarno Trulli in the Lotus was the quickest of the six cars, beating team mate Heikki Kovalainen by three tenths of a second.

When the three new teams fail to make the progress beyond Q1, there is always a room for one of the drivers from the established teams to join them and this time it was Force India's Vitantonio Liuzzi who struggled for pace even though he was running Force India?s F-duct on his car. He failed to make it past Q1 for the second time this season.

At the end of Q1, Vettel was almost a half second faster than Webber who was followed by Button, Petrov, Rosberg, Hamilton, Schumacher, Kubica, Alonso Sutil and Massa 11th.

Drivers eliminated in Q1

18. Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1m 28.958s
19. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1m 30.237s
20. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1m 30.519s
21. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m 30.744s
22. Bruno Senna HRT-Cosworth 1m 31.266s
23. Lucas di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1m 31.989s
24. Karun Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1m 32.060s


In Q2

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@Jamesallenonf1

Fernando Alonso had a disappointing elimination from Q2 on the eve of Ferrari's 800th grand prix start. According to iTV, "The Spaniard was already struggling for speed when he dropped his right-rear wheel onto a white line in the braking area for turn 12. The lap ruined, he had time for one more, but could not improve. He will start the race from 12th."

He said afterwards, ??I pushed very hard in that lap. Anyway I was slower than my fastest lap. I knew it was not enough. I don?t think that moment cost me a place in Q3. I did three laps in mainly in the same time and I think the pace was not there.?

Kamui Kobayashi forced his Sauber C29 out of Q2 for the third time this season. Adrian Sutil who missed out whole of the final practice session could only manage 11th fastest time.

Drivers eliminated in Q2

11. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes 1m 27.525s
12. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 27.612s
13. Pedro de la Rosa Spain BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1m 27.879s
14. Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 28.273s
15. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Williams-Cosworth 1m 28.392s
16. Jaime Alguersuari Spain Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 28.540s
17. Nico Hulkenberg Germany Williams-Cosworth 1m 28.841s


In Q3

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@Jamesallenonf1

Webber was the man to beat in Q3 as he set the fastest time on the drivers? first runs. He improved on his time on his final run and was unbeatable to pole. According to iTV, "Red Bull tested its F-duct during Friday practice but opted not to use it in qualifying, low-drag rear wing endplates instead being flown out to Istanbul and fitted to Webber?s car just prior to qualifying."

Michael Schumacher spun off at turn 8 on his final lap and ended the session in the gravel. Despite this, he ended up ahead of his Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg. They line up fifth and sixth.

Ferrari had a disappointing day as Massa, three times a winner at this track, could only manage eighth fastest time while Alonso was eliminated in Q2.

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali spoke to BBC, ?For sure the performance in qualifying was not up to our standard. We don?t know why and we need to understand. For sure we were expecting much more performance.?

Top ten drivers in Q3

1. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m 26.295s
2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m 26.433s
3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m 26.760s
4 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m 26.781s
5. Michael Schumacher Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 26.857s
6. Nico Rosberg Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 26.952s
7. Robert Kubica Renault-Renault 1m 27.039s
8. Felipe Massa Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 27.082s
9. Vitaly Petrov Renault-Renault 1m 27.430s
10. Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1m 28.122s


Images(C) Daylife, YallaF1

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/F1InsightAFormula1Blog/~3/ufRfvjg7JzU/turkish-gp-webber-claims-third.html

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