NASCAR Sprint Cup Tickets- Mark Martin Wins at 50

At the young age of 50, three months and nine days; Mark Martin became the third-oldest winner in NASCAR history, snapping a 97-race winless streak by capturing a victory at Phoenix International Raceway. The NASCAR driver poked fun of himself after the race by telling the media he had no problems keeping up with the 25-year-olds. The Phoenix International Raceway champion started from the pole and led 157 of 312 laps. However, the 50-year-old did run into some trouble when officials erased his four-second lead over Tony Stewart with only 11 laps to go in the race. Mark headed for a pit stop and was worried about his lead. Get NASCAR Sprint Cup tickets and see Martin burning some rubber as he cruises to victory lane.

He emerged out of pit road in second place. Ryan Newman had been in the lead while his teammate, Stewart was just behind Martin, with only six laps left in the race. The 50-year-old driver felt the need for speed as he shot past Newman on the restart, heading towards victory lane. It was his first win since Kansas in 2005. The last 50-year-old to win a Cup race was Morgan Shepherd in 1993 at Atlanta, but who was the oldest driver to ever win a Cup race? Harry Gant holds the record as the oldest driver to win a Cup race. He was 52 when he won at Michigan in 1992.

Before Martin headed towards victory lane in Phoenix and secured a win, only three drivers at the ripe age of 50 or older won Cup races: Gant, Shepherd and Bobby Allison. Mark was greeted by NASCAR president Mike Hilton and several of his competitors after the race. His former boss, Jack Roush, came to congratulate him. So did former teammates Kurt Busch, Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, and Jeff Burton. It was Mark's 36th career victory, but his first victory without Roush by his side. He spent 18 years driving for Roush and decided to retire in 2006. The driver had a change of heart and wanted to come back and work for Roush, but his former boss had already secured his seat with another driver.

Stewart, who came in second place, told the media there's no shame in losing to a guy like Mark. The second place driver also added that the 50-year-old man works harder than any driver he knew. The praise continued in the garage for Martin, who is considered by many to be the greatest NASCAR driver to never win a championship. But that all changed at the Phoenix International Raceway. The Cup winner came back to the sport he dearly loved to see if he could claim glory on the tracks he driven around so many times. This is his first full season in three years; he spent the last two years in a part-time ride for Dale Earnhardt Inc., which prepared him for a long and demanding 10-month season. Rick Hendrick offered Martin a spot on his team and the key to the No. 5 Chevrolet after the man finished second four times in Phoenix. It looks like the fifth time was the charm.

This article was sponsored by StubHub. StubHub sells NASCAR Sprint Cup tickets, as well as many other kinds of sports tickets, concert tickets, special events tickets and theater tickets.

Article Source: NASCAR Sprint Cup Tickets- Mark Martin Wins at 50

Source: http://www.articlespan.com/article/263165/nascar-sprint-cup-tickets-mark-martin-wins-at-50

Gus Hutchison Jacky Ickx Yuji Ide Jesús Iglesias

All-action Button thrills in Canada

One of the most spectacular races in a very long time produced an appropriately stunning win from Jenson Button in the Canadian Grand Prix.

The McLaren driver came from last place to first in the space of 30 amazing laps on a track that, while it regularly produces the best race of the Formula 1 season, has never produced a race quite like this one.

It will surely go down as one of the most amazing grands prix in history and Button's performance matched it.

For a long, long time, Sebastian Vettel appeared to be on the way to another imperious victory, but the German made his first mistake in what has been a virtually flawless season to hand his English rival a fully deserved victory half way around the last lap.


"An amazing day," said a scarcely believing Button as he sat down in front of the media a few minutes after climbing out of the car.


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And as if to underline just how incredible it was, how much the end result turned on the right decisions and the right breaks at the right time, the heavens opened again no more than an hour after the end of the race, in even more dramatic fashion than they had in the course of an afternoon that left almost everyone involved dizzy.

For more than half the race, Button appeared completely out of contention.

He collided with team-mate Lewis Hamilton - an incident for which he apologised even though it appeared to be at least as much Hamilton's fault; made five pit stops to change tyres; survived a collision with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso; and visited the pits a further time to serve a drive-through penalty for going too fast when the safety car was deployed.

Button was last at the penultimate of four restarts under the safety car, with 30 laps to go.

And yet he sliced through the backmarkers with the clinical precision he displays when he is on top form and timed a final pit stop to change to slick tyres perfectly - only one lap after Mark Webber made the call himself, one that was instrumental in moving Vettel's team-mate from the midfield into podium contention.

Those final 20 laps were some of the most exhilarating I have witnessed since I started watching F1 30 or so years ago, as Button closed in on the lead at a pace Webber described as "on a different planet from the rest of us".

With 15 laps to go, Vettel looked unassailable as he pulled away in the lead and Button homed in on a battling Michael Schumacher, who produced by far the most convincing drive of his comeback so far, and Webber.

A final safety car on lap 57 was what put Button into victory contention. He would have easily passed Schumacher and Webber, but the safety car reduced Vettel's lead from a probably uncatchable 10 seconds to zero.

At the restart, the German pulled it out to 3.1 seconds again while Button battled to get past Webber and Schumacher but the Englishman was in range.

He closed remorselessly in - 1.6secs, 1.3secs, 1.1secs, 0.9secs - and Vettel buckled under the pressure.

Hamilton paid generous tribute afterwards. "Jenson drove absolutely amazing," he told BBC F1 pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz as he filmed his behind the scenes report for this website.

"With all the commotion going on, the pressure he put on Vettel at the end, I knew he was going to get him."

Despite his error, Vettel is still in a very strong position in the championship. He actually extended his lead by two points and is now two wins and a fifth place clear of his closest rival, which is now Button following Hamilton's retirement.

His mistake proves that he is beatable if he is pushed hard enough, as was the case last year.

But Hamilton - who still seems the man with the biggest chance of overhauling him for all Button's genius on Sunday - will need to get his act together again if he is to do so.

His controversial collision with Button led to his visiting the race stewards to explain his actions for the sixth time in seven races - an extension of a record that led to the McLaren driver coming out with his now-infamous Ali G remarks after the last race in Monaco.

In the midst of Hamilton's reaction, one phrase was particularly telling. Where does your season go from here, he was asked. "Onwards and upwards," he replied. "Go to the next one and try to stay out of trouble."

Hamilton at least finished an incident-packed race in Monaco. In Canada, where in hindsight he could have won, there were more errors.

He was in the wars as soon as the drivers were released following a safety car start, colliding with Webber in an incident Hamilton admitted was his fault.

Two laps later, as he fought to make up lost ground, came the collision with Button.

It was a racing incident - Button should probably have seen Hamilton, who should probably have realised the gap was going to close.

But who was to blame is not really the point. Hamilton does seem to have turned into a magnet for trouble this year, and there seems little doubt that the situation is arising out of frustration at helplessly watching another title slip away.

Be that as it may, a slight change of approach is required if Hamilton is to deliver fully his fantastic potential.

"It's the nature of Lewis's attacking style," said David Coulthard as he analysed the Button-Hamilton collision on BBC One. "It's easy to knock someone when they're involved in a series of incidents, but it's why Lewis has so many fans around the world.

"This is just a phase he's going through. He believes he's the best driver in the world. Right now McLaren are not able to give him a winning car, and he's getting frustrated.

Lewis Hamilton was penalised twice by the stewards at the Monaco Grand Prix a fortnight ago

Lewis Hamilton was penalised twice by the stewards at the Monaco Grand Prix a fortnight ago. Photo: Getty

"He wants to win, and that passion, that drive, is what's causing him to get up close and personal with other cars. If I was his management, I'd be saying: 'Chill. Everyone knows you're a great driver, just enjoy it.'"

Heading into the weekend, Hamilton named Ayrton Senna and Gilles Villeneuve as two legendary drivers to whom he would like to be compared.

Undoubtedly Hamilton shares their speed, their verve, their charisma, and their good looks. But he also shares their occasional tendency to go over the limit.

That is, of course, what has given all three their enormous global appeal but in all three cases it also led to races lost through going too far.

Hamilton might well think he fancies his chances against Vettel in a Red Bull.

And, brilliantly as the world champion is driving at the moment, Hamilton is not alone in thinking that is with good reason. What a battle it would be.

But, apparently under contract to McLaren until the end of next season, that prospect is probably not a possibility for the foreseeable future.

Hamilton has to do battle with what he has and make the most of it. If he is to do that, he must stop fretting about Vettel and relax into his racing. In that, he could learn a thing or two from his team-mate.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2011/06/all-action_button_thrills_in_c.html

Jo Gartner Tony Gaze Geki Olivier Gendebien

Could Hamilton join Red Bull?

As Lewis Hamilton ponders the fall-out from his controversial performance in Canada, he has more on his mind than a few lost points in the world championship.

Formula 1's most exciting driver is pondering his future as he watches Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel canter to a second consecutive world title.

As Mark Hughes explained in his column, Hamilton's frustration is down to the fact that he believes he is the fastest driver in the world, that he would beat any of his rivals if they were all driving the same car. It is a belief largely shared within Formula 1.

Most would probably say Fernando Alonso was the best driver - by which they mean the most complete - but they would agree that Hamilton is certainly the quickest. Although Vettel is gaining increasing support in both categories.

For Hamilton, it is proving increasingly hard to cope with the fact that he has won the world title just once, in 2008, and that he is facing a third consecutive year in a car that is arguably not really fast enough to allow him to compete for another.

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Hamilton collides with Button during Canadian Grand Prix

McLaren's race pace - far superior to its qualifying speed - is clouding the issue slightly, but it's hard to argue with Vettel's five wins and two second places in seven races.

Given these circumstances, it is easy to see why the 26-year-old Englishman might be beginning to wonder whether McLaren is the team to satisfy his burning ambitions.

Not for the first time, the concept of Hamilton joining Red Bull raised its head again in Montreal - and that was even before Autosport revealed on Monday that he had spent 15 minutes in a private meeting with Red Bull team boss Christian Horner on Saturday evening at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

According to Autosport, the meeting was described by a Red Bull "source" as a "social visit". That "source" may or may not be Horner himself.

Hamilton has played down the idea of leaving McLaren, saying the team have a car capable of winning races and that there is no reason to leave while they remain competitive. He also says it is not unusual for him to talk to rival team bosses.

But that is not an outright denial, so the issue of his future will continue to remain a source of speculation.

Could the meeting with Horner be the start of serious negotiations about a move to Red Bull? Certain sections of the media suggest it is wrong to attach too much significance to Saturday's chat, claiming it would be foolish for a driver to walk over to a rival team's HQ in full view of the F1 paddock with the express intention of discussing his future.

But people have either got short memories or do not pay close enough attention.
When Alonso joined McLaren for 2007, it was the culmination of a process that began in 2005. Ron Dennis, who was the team boss of McLaren at the time, mooted the idea to the Spaniard in a chance conversation as both men waited to go out on to the podium at the Brazilian Grand Prix, Alonso having just won his first world title for Renault.

Likewise, in Belgium in 2007, with his relationship with McLaren in pieces, Alonso strolled over to the Red Bull motorhome, where he discussed the chances of joining the team with Horner as they sat on the open top deck. I know, because I watched them from the upper level of the paddock.

And so the 2011 F1 driver market 'silly season' starts in earnest.

Alonso has just signed up with Ferrari until 2016, the double world champion is not going anywhere. The same goes for Vettel, who is under contract to Red Bull until 2014. So, of F1's big three, that leaves Hamilton.

Theoretically, he is contracted to McLaren until next year, the result of a five-year deal that was signed in the wake of his stunning debut season alongside Alonso in 2007.

That has always been assumed to be a firm five-year contract, which means any move Hamilton makes - to Red Bull, for example - would have to wait until 2013.

However, it would be very unusual for a driver to sign away his future to a team for that length of time without any opt-out clauses, even if - as in the case of Hamilton and McLaren - that team had groomed him for success since he was 11 years old.

And even if the contract is solid, it does not mean Hamilton cannot move. As one veteran driver manager said: "I don't know the details of Hamilton's contract but if the team-driver relationship gets to an irreconcilable point then it won't matter what the contract says."

So a Hamilton move to Red Bull for next year cannot be ruled out, especially in light of the mixed messages coming out of Red Bull about the future of Mark Webber.

On Thursday, Horner said Webber had made it clear he would like to drive for the team next year, adding that he felt the Australian still had the "motivation and desire" and that Red Bull were "very happy with him in the team".

But 24 hours later, Webber did not sound so sure. "We'll see how we go," he said. "There's a bit to go yet in the summer. Keep thinking."

So what is going on?

Horner shrugged his shoulders when I asked why Webber would say that if he had told him he wanted to continue. But when I explained the situation to a man with long experience of the driver market, he said: "I think you can read that as Horner trying to tease another driver out, getting him to make up his mind."

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Vettel misses out on victory in Canada as Button makes last-lap move

Could that driver be Hamilton? Is it a coincidence that the Englishman went to speak to Horner two days after the Red Bull boss made those comments to the media?

On the face of it, you might wonder why Red Bull would want Hamilton. They already have Vettel. Putting Hamilton alongside the German would be a wonderful proposition for F1's audience but it would be a massive headache for those inside the team. And such a move would be guaranteed to infuriate Vettel, the company's blue-eyed boy wonder.

But from a global marketing perspective, what could be better? Red Bull have long made a point of letting their drivers race. What better scenario for a company wishing to project an exciting, dynamic, youthful image, than two of F1's three most exciting drivers going at it head-to-head in the same team?

It would be a tricky situation for Horner to handle, as he has already admitted himself, but why would that be a concern for Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz?

Equally, while Vettel would probably be furious at having Hamilton alongside him to start with, he might well come round to the idea. He already has an advantage as the incumbent and, while he may not be as fast as Hamilton, he is, by reputation, better at working with his engineers to get the best out of his car.

If Hamilton did go to Red Bull, it would be in place of Webber. The Australian will not be drawn on the apparent disconnect between his words in Montreal and Horner's but many believe he will leave the team at the end of the year - either into retirement or to another team for one last hurrah.

That team could be Ferrari, where Felipe Massa's future is in question. The Brazilian has a contract for 2012 but he is an inconsistent performer. He is pretty close to Alonso at some races but nowhere near at others.

Massa, I'm told, will keep his seat if he puts in a strong showing at the next race, the European Grand Prix at Valencia on 26 June. If not, Webber is one of the drivers on Ferrari's list of candidates.

Ferrari are, I understand, also interested in Jenson Button and have had some contact with him. When Button joined McLaren in 2010, it was said that he had a three-year contract. But I am told he is a free agent at the end of this year if he wants to be. The prospect - however slim - of losing both his drivers must be giving McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh sleepless nights.

Ferrari are also interested in Nico Rosberg, who has impressed since joining Michael Schumacher at Mercedes last year. However, the rumours are Rosberg has been offered a big pay packet to stick with the German team.

That is not surprising given the uncertain form of Schumacher, whose excellent performance in Montreal will not bury memories of less convincing races elsewhere.

Schumacher is on a three-year deal but will he continue beyond 2011 if he cannot retain the speed he showed in Canada? If he doesn't, Paul di Resta, who has impressed enormously in his debut season with Force India, must be a strong candidate to replace him, as a Mercedes protégé.

How many of these prospective moves actually happen remains to be seen but it certainly promises to be an interesting summer.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2011/06/could_hamilton_join_red_bull.html

Zaxby Ford Morgan Shepherd Victory in Jesus Chevrolet Eric McClure

What Does Dale Earnhardt Jr. Bring To Nascar Besides Racing?

There is no question that Dale Earnhardt Jr. is one of the top racers in Nascar. He has built up a reputable image through fine racing and countless wins. However, racing is not the only thing this incredible person brings to the sport.

As many are well aware of, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a third generation driver in a family that has been connected to the sport of stock car racing for years. He has a flare of charisma, originality, and character that have propelled him to become one of the most popular figures in sports today. Five times Nascar fans have selected him as the winner of the most popular driver award. Thousands of fans line up at every track at his merchandise trailer just to get something with his name on it. It is hard to see where he has time to meet with so many of his fans but he does. That is what makes him so popular.

His appeal certainly branches outside of just Nascar fans though. He has appeared many times on Harris Interactive’s annual polling for America’s Top 10 favorite athletes. This has put him in the company of such athletes as Michael Jordan, Derek Jeter, and Tiger Woods. In 2002, Dale was named one of People magazine's 50 Most Eligible Bachelors.

Outside of racing, he has become a role model for young ones with his business savvy as well. He has pursued the role of team owner and businessman while ascending in this too. In 2002 JR Motor sports consisted of just six employees and a street-stocked camaro was the only race car. Today, the company encompasses over 100 employees and a plethora of different vehicles that compete in the Nascar Racing Nationwide series.

If that were not enough, he has appeared on over 150 magazine covers and has been featured in high profiled publications such as Rolling Stones, GQ, Men’s Journal, Sports Illustrated and People Magazine. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has also made guest appearances on 60 minutes, the Late Show with David Letterman, the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, the Today Show, Good Morning America, Larry King Live and many more talk shows. He has also appeared in numerous commercials for his sponsors.

But that was just not enough for this Nascar racing star either. He has played cameo roles in Talladega Nights and Cars, and was the subject of an episode of MTV’s Diary. To further add to his resume, in 2001 he became a best-selling author with Driver 8. This is a documentation of his rookie season in the Nascar Sprint Cup Series.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has done tremendous things for the sport of Nascar. Through his countless victories and ambitious personality, he has become a true role model for people all over the world. He has shown that there is life outside of sports with cameos and his documentary book and has given kids a reason to strive for their goals. There really is no question why he is one of America’s Top 10 favorite athletes.

Come read more Nascar related articles at http://nascarracing4you.com. You can check out the Nascar schedule, standings, and results. Also, there is a wide selection of Nascar merchandise and memorabilia at the Nascar Store.

Article Source: What Does Dale Earnhardt Jr. Bring To Nascar Besides Racing?

Source: http://www.articlespan.com/article/235193/what-does-dale-earnhardt-jr-bring-to-nascar-besides-racing

Hernandez Yeley Nascar Dario Franchitti Jimmie Johnson

Send me your questions about F1 2011

Hello all,

I am filming the next entries for this video blog on Monday and that means I need your help.

As you know, we answer a selection of your questions as well as reviewing the last few races and looking forward to the next stage of the year.

So if you have any questions about F1 2011, please do post them below. We will pick a selection of the best and I will answer them here next week.

Thanks

Murray

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/murraywalker/2011/06/send_me_your_questions_about_f.html

Johnny Andrew Sauter Kenneth William Schrader Bradley Reed Sorenson Anthony Wayne Stewart