Why the NASCAR Foundation Organization Supports Charity

A good organization supports charity and NASCAR does just that through its NASCAR foundation. The foundation has a program where for a 30 dollar donation you can join in on the NASCAR track walk. The Home Depot, one of the nations largest retail home improvement centers, is a major sponsor of the promotions and holds charitable events with proceeds going to the Foundation. But who does the Foundation support and what kinds of events do they hold to raise funds?

One thing they do is sponsor auctions where the proceeds go to one of the foundations supported by the foundation. For example, on September 17, 2007, they announced bidding on Jeff Gordon full-sized and autographed fiberglass auto body. The proceeds from this auction go to the Jeff Gordon Foundation which supports pediatric medical care of children with serious and life-threatening disease.

The NASCAR foundation holds the Blood and Marrow Drives at different tracks each year. The donations help out the Jimmie Johnson Foundation and the Hendrick Marrow Program. Other charities of the Foundation are:

The Dale Earnhardt Foundation,This is a foundation run by the wife of the racing great who died in a race car crash in 2001. Dale Earnhardt was concerned about education, children, and wildlife and his commitment lives on through this foundation.

The Kyle Petty Charity Ride,Kyle Petty is the son of the King of NASCAR Richard Petty and he sponsors a motorcycle ride across the USA for the Victory Junction Gang Camp as well as other childrens charities.

Victory Junction Gang Camp,This is an organization with the mission of helping to enrich the lives of children with serious illnesses by providing them a camping experience in a medically-safe environment. It was founded by Kyle Petty and his wife Pattie in June 2004. The couple also donated the land that the camp stands on today. The camp is interesting because it was built with a racing theme and all the look of a race track. The camp takes cash donations and there are volunteer opportunities. It is also gives a quilt and a teddy bear to each child who stays there so they are always looking for donations of these two items to replenish their supply.

There are many ways to donate to the foundation. One way is through the NASCARs Auto Donation program. Here, you can donate a vehicle and then any of the proceeds that the Auto Donation program gets from the proceeds in an auction are given to charity. All donations are fully tax deductible.

The Day Telethon,This was a telethon held on May 18, 2007 across from Lowes Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Speed Channel, NASCAR, and Sirius radio broadcasted this telethon event through the end of the Craftsman Truck Series Race.

There are many other charitable organizations supported by the Foundation but it is obvious that they care about contributing to the community which is probably one of the reasons why this sport is becoming increasingly popular.

For the largest selection of Nascar Merchandise along with up to the minute News, NASCARsupershop offers this and more. We carry everything NASCAR including NASCAR Shorts and NASCAR Sunglasses all at the best prices everyday! I'm not only the owner of NASCARsupershop.com I'm also the senior editor, website developer and a HUGE fan of NASCAR!

Article Source: Why the NASCAR Foundation Organization Supports Charity

Source: http://www.articlespan.com/article/103677/why-the-nascar-foundation-organization-supports-charity

Mack Hellings Brian Henton Johnny Herbert Al Herman

F1 2011 : Technical Regulations

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The FIA's publication of the details of the 2011 technical regulations points out to the effective ban of double diffusers, F-ducts and slotted rear wings. Newly introduced are the adjustable rear wings, tyres and mandated weight distribution.

Link


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


Craig Scarborough of scarbsf1 gives us the detailed explanation of the F1 2011 Technical regulations with amazing illustrations.


Ban on connected shark fins

Another route to banning F-ducts, as well as a move to limit the ever expanding rear fin, the rule prevents any bodywork reaching the rear wing.


?3.9.1 No bodywork situated between 50mm and 330mm forward of the rear wheel centre line may be more than 730mm above the reference plane.?

Ban on slots in the rear wing

As with the beam wing, the upper rear wing is prevented from having slots extending beyond the central 15cm. This prevent F-ducts or other blown slots, the latter which have been exploited for several years.

?3.10.2 Other than the bodywork defined in Article 3.10.9, any bodywork behind a point lying 50mm forward of the rear wheel centre line which is more than 730mm above the reference plane, and less than 355mm from the car centre line, must lie in an area when viewed from the side of the car that is situated between the rear wheel centre line and a point 350mm behind it.
With the exception of minimal parts solely associated with adjustment of the section in accordance with Article 3.18 :
  • when viewed from the side of the car, no longitudinal cross section may have more than two sections in this area, each of which must be closed.
  • no part of these longitudinal cross sections in contact with the external air stream may have a local concave radius of curvature smaller than 100mm.
Once the rearmost and uppermost section is defined, ?gurney? type trim tabs may be fitted to the trailing edge. When measured in any longitudinal cross section no dimension of any such trim tab may exceed 20mm.
The chord of the rearmost and uppermost closed section must always be smaller than the chord of the lowermost section at the same lateral station.?

Clarification of the starter motor hole


After some teams were exploiting oversized starter motor holes in the diffuser to create a slotted effect, the FIA clamped down with a clarification. This has now been written into the rule book.


?3.12.7 No bodywork which is visible from beneath the car and which lies between the rear wheel centre line and a point 350mm rearward of it may be more than 125mm above the reference plane. With the exception of the aperture described below, any intersection of the surfaces in this area with a lateral or longitudinal vertical plane should form one continuous line which is visible from beneath the car.
An aperture for the purpose of allowing access for the device referred to in Article 5.16 is permitted in this surface. However, no such aperture may have an area greater than 3500mm2 when projected onto the surface itself and no point on the aperture may be more than 100mm from any other point on the aperture.?

Ban on Double Diffusers (DDD) and Open Exhaust Blown Diffusers (EBD)


Due to a previous weakness in the rules defining the underfloor, teams were able to exploit this to create the double diffuser. Double diffusers were only possible as an opening could be created in the gap been the reference plane, step plane and the diffuser. Now the rules close this avenue off.

Additionally this opening allowed teams to open up the front of the diffuser to blow the exhaust through for an even greater blown diffuser effect. This rule also prevents this opening in all but the outer 50mm of the split between the diffuser and the floor.
One additional clarification is that the suspension must not form any of the measured point for the under floor. Previously the minimum height was exploited by some teams placing wishbones or Toe-Control arms across the top an opening in the diffuser.

?3.12.9 In an area lying 450mm or less from the car centre line, and from 450mm forward of the rear face of the cockpit entry template to 350mm rearward of the rear wheel centre line, any intersection of any bodywork visible from beneath the car with a lateral or longitudinal vertical plane should form one continuous line which is visible from beneath the car. When assessing the compliance of bodywork surfaces in this area the aperture referred to in Article 3.12.7 need not be considered.

3.12.10 In an area lying 650mm or less from the car centre line, and from 450mm forward of the rear face of the cockpit entry template to 350mm forward of the rear wheel centre line, any intersection of any bodywork visible from beneath the car with a lateral or longitudinal vertical plane should form one continuous line which is visible from beneath the car.

3.12.11 Compliance with Article 3.12 must be demonstrated with the panels referred to in Articles 15.4.7 and 15.4.8 and all unsprung parts of the car removed.?

Driver operated F-duct


Even though the loop holes in the rear wing regulations have been closed, this additional new regulation prevents the driver influencing aerodynamics. So that other driver controlled F-duct type devices cannot be exploited other areas, such as: front wings, sidepods or diffuser.


?3.15 With the exception of the parts necessary for the adjustment described in Article 3.18, any car system, device or procedure which uses, or is suspected of using, driver movement as a means of altering the aerodynamic characteristics of the car is prohibited.?

Driver adjustable rear wing


The driver adjustable front wing is now deleted from the rules and instead the rear wing is now driver adjustable. This is because the expected benefit of greater front wing angle never provided the driver with more grip when following another car. The front flap adjustment was much more a solution to tune the cars handling in between pitstops. The TWG found that the loss of drag from the rear wing was a more effective solution to allow the following to overtake. Now the rear wing flap can pivot near its rear most point and open the slot gap from 10-15mm to up to 50mm. Opening this gap unloads the flap and reduced both downforce and drag.

This being controlled by the timing gap to the car ahead and managed by the FIA. So there?s two ways the driver can use the system. Firstly in free practice and qualifying the rear wing is solely at the control of the driver. They can adjust the wing at any point on the track and any number of times per lap. So for the ideal lap time, as soon as the car is no longer downforce dependant (straights and fast curves) the driver can operate the wing, just as they did with the F-duct. Although a small complication to the driving process, at least their hands remain on the wheel and not on a duct to the side of the cockpit.

Then in the race the wing cannot be adjusted for two laps, then race control will send signals to the driver via the steering wheel, such that when they?re 1s or less behind another car at a designated point on the circuit, the rear wing can be trimmed out. The wing returns to the original setting as soon as the brakes are touched.

?Furthermore, the distance between adjacent sections at any longitudinal plane must lie between 10mm and 15mm at their closest position, except, in accordance with Article 3.18, when this distance must lie between 10mm and 50mm.?

3.18.1 The incidence of the rearmost and uppermost closed section described in Article 3.10.2 may be varied whilst the car is in motion provided :
- It comprises only one component that must be symmetrically arranged about the car centre line with a minimum width of 708mm.
- With the exception of minimal parts solely associated with adjustment of the section, no parts of the section in contact with the external airstream may be located any more than 355mm from of the car centre line.
- With the exception of any minimal parts solely associated with adjustment of the rearmost and uppermost section, two closed sections are used in the area described in Article 3.10.2.
- Any such variation of incidence maintains compliance with all of the bodywork regulations.
- When viewed from the side of the car at any longitudinal vertical cross section, the physical point of rotation of the rearmost and uppermost closed section must be fixed and located no more than 20mm below the upper extremity and no more than 20mm forward of the rear extremity of the area described in Article 3.10.2 at all times.
- The design is such that failure of the system will result in the uppermost closed section returning to the normal high incidence position.
- Any alteration of the incidence of the uppermost closed section may only be commanded by direct driver input and controlled using the control electronics specified in Article 8.2.
3.18.2 The 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 a minimum of two laps after the race start or following a safety car period.
The driver may only activate the adjustable bodywork in the race when he has been notified via the control electronics (see Article 8.2) 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 by the control electronics the first time the driver uses the brakes after he has activated the system.
The FIA may, after consulting all competitors, adjust the above time proximity in order to ensure the stated purpose of the adjustable bodywork is met.?

Mandated weight distribution


Along with the supply of Pirelli control tyres they will be matched to a mandatory weight distribution. Now the cars minimum weight is 640Kg, the specified minimum axle weights, equate to a weight distribution ranging between 45.5-46.7% on the front axle. This is a few percent behind the typical 2010 loadings.

?4.2 Weight distribution :
For 2011 only, the weight applied on the front and rear wheels must not be less than 291kg and 342kg respectively at all times during the qualifying practice session.
If, when required for checking, a car is not already fitted with dry-weather tyres, it will be weighed on a set of dry-weather tyres selected by the FIA technical delegate.?

Double wheel tethers


For safety a doubling of the wheel tethers has been regulated. Each tether needs to pass through a different suspension member and have its own mounting points on the upright and the chassis. There?s not expected to be any performance impact with this. But the tethers are somewhat heavier, so they and the side intrusion panel are part of the reason for the greater minimum weight limit.

?10.3.6 In order to help prevent a wheel becoming separated in the event of all suspension members connecting it to the car failing provision must be made to accommodate flexible tethers, each with a cross sectional area greater than 110mm². The sole purpose of the tethers is to prevent a wheel becoming separated from the car, they should perform no other function.
The tethers and their attachments must also be designed in order to help prevent a wheel making contact with the driver?s head during an accident.
Each wheel must be fitted with two tethers each of which exceed the requirements of 3.1.1 of Test Procedure 03/07.
Each tether must have its own separate attachments at both ends which :
- are able to withstand a tensile force of 70kN in any direction within a cone of 45° (included angle) measured from the load line of the relevant suspension member ;
- on the survival cell or gearbox are separated by at least 100mm measured between the centres of the two attachment points ;
- on each wheel/upright assembly are located on opposite sides of the vertical and horizontal wheel centre lines and are separated by at least 100mm measured between the centres of the two attachment points ;
- are able to accommodate tether end fittings with a minimum inside diameter of 15mm.
Furthermore, no suspension member may contain more than one tether.
Each tether must exceed 450mm in length and must utilise end fittings which result in a tether bend radius greater than 7.5mm.?

No more shaped wheel spokes


After the static front wheel fairings that abounded in 2009, were banned and the wheel design homologated, there must have been some surprise that Ferrari managed to create an aerodynamic wheel shape in 2010. This is partly limited now by the restriction on surface area for spokes and shaping. The limited only allows 13% of the wheel centre to be spoked, meaning that a ten spoke wheel has to have spokes just 16mm wide.

?12.4.6 When viewed perpendicular to the plane formed by the outer face of the wheel and between the diameters of 120mm and 270mm the wheel may have an area of no greater than 24,000mm2.?

Clarification of mirror positions


Again when the FIA clarify a rule or make a change for safety reasons, we don?t get to see the detail of this change until its put into the regulations. The removal of outboard mirrors was brought in early last year and now the mirrors can effectively be no more than 27.5cm from the cockpit opening


?14.3.3 All parts of the rear view mirrors, including their housings and mountings, must be situated between 250mm and 500mm from the car centre line and between 550mm and 750mm from the rear edge of the cockpit entry template.?

Ban on blade roll structures


Mercedes surprised many with their blade-like roll structure, reducing the obstruction to the rear wing and allowing for a much shorter inlet tract for the engine, the solution was likely to be copied. A minimum cross section forced teams to have a wider section above the drivers head, negating the fundamental benefit of the solution


?15.2.4 The principal roll structure must have a minimum enclosed structural cross section of 10000mm², in vertical projection, across a horizontal plane 50mm below its highest point. The area thus established must not exceed 200mm in length or width and may not be less than 10000mm2 below this point.?

Dash roll structure point maximum height


With the cockpit opening fixed at 550mm, teams have often raised the front of the chassis around the dash bulkhead to create a raised nose. In the first of several limits for both 2011 and 2013, with even more stringent plans for 2013, the height of the front of the chassis is now being controlled. The limit for this point is now 670mm, still some 120mm above the cockpit opening.


?15.2.3 The highest point of the second structure may not be more than 670mm above the reference plane and must pass a static load test details of which may be found in Article 17.3.?

Limit on front chassis height


As already explained teams raise the position of the front (AA) and dash (BB) bulkheads to create space under the nose for airflow to pass in between the front wheels and reach the rear of the car. The trend for ?V? sections noses, introduced on the Red Bull RB5 in 2009, makes the front of the chassis even higher, often being visible above the height of the front tyres (~660mm). Now both these bulkheads need to be at 625mm, some 75mm above the cockpit opening.

?15.4.4 The maximum height of the survival cell between the lines A-A and B-B is 625mm above the reference plane.?

Limit on shaped Rear Impact Structures


Since the 2009 aero rules, teams have been shaping the rear impact structures into ever more curved shapes to lift it clear of the diffuser and pass it underneath the beam wing. The tail of this structure must be centred at 300mm high, to prevent extreme banana shaped structures, this rule forces the structure to vary by no more 275mm.

?Furthermore, when viewed from the side, the lowest and highest points of the impact absorbing structure between its rear face and 50mm aft of the rear wheel centre line may not be separated vertically by more than 275 mm.?


Craig Scarborough is a journalist/illustrator who focuses solely on the technology of F1. His technical illustrations have appeared in AtlasF1, Autosport and print magazines.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/F1InsightAFormula1Blog/~3/ubXLjf9rpo4/f1-2011-technical-regulations.html

Mattias Ekstrom Red Bull Toyota Bobby Labonte Phoenix Construction Chevrolet Chevrolet

Webber wins but Vettel is still the man to beat

If Mark Webber did not sound as if he was jumping for joy after winning the Brazilian Grand Prix - his first win of 2012 in the final race of what has been a tough season for the Australian - it should be no surprise.

There is no artifice about Webber and he knows as well as anyone that, statistically, this has been a disappointing year for him. One win in a race in which his team-mate had one arm tied behind his back does not on its own signify that his fortunes will change next season.

Nor, though, does the manner of victory necessarily mean that they won't.

Eleven wins and a new all-time record 15 pole positions for Sebastian Vettel as against one win and three poles for Webber are numbers that do not make comfortable reading for the older man.

But it should be remembered that the two men were evenly matched in 2010 as they both battled for the title with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.

Webber is determined to recapture that form and there have been signs in the second half of the season that he is heading in the right direction.

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Undoubtedly he struggled in the first half of this year. He was hit hard by reliability problems - if there was a problem with Red Bull's troublesome Kers power-boost system at the start of the year, it seemed Webber's car would have it - but also he took much longer than Vettel to adapt to the different demands of the new Pirelli tyres.

By the time he had, Vettel was long gone in the championship. It has, though, been much closer between the two in the second half of the season.

Vettel has still had the upper hand - and his electrifying qualifying pace and consistency has put him in a position to control many of the races.

But Webber has been getting on top of one of his biggest problems this year - higher tyre wear than Vettel, sometimes influenced by problems outside his control - and on race pace the two have been pretty evenly matched, even if it has not always been obvious because of their different positions in the race.

Webber could have won in Korea had not a mystifying pit-wall decision prevented him from passing Hamilton and exploiting a strategy that should have beaten Vettel, too.

In the end, the much-needed win came in Brazil in a race in which Vettel's gearbox problem prevented him having a straight fight with his team-mate.

But as Webber pointed out, these things happen and you take wins however they come. Not only has he himself been on the receiving end of that sort of fortune many a time, it was probably also about time Vettel had some bad luck.

"Even if the win didn't come today there were some positive signs for me in recent races," he said.

"There has been some good pace from me considering some of the things that have been going on. Today was a good grand prix.

"It's not a bad thing to finish the year like this, one of the most important things is I started to feel the car a bit better, to get a bit more of an understanding."

"It's great Mark has won a race," team principal Christian Horner said.

"It would have been very, very tough for him to have not won a race if Seb had won 11.

"Hopefully this win will give him a big confidence boost. He's third in the championship. Hopefully he'll go into the winter, have a bit of time off, recharge his batteries and I'm sure he'll come back stronger in 2012.

"Let's not take anything away from Sebastian, though. He has been operating at such a high level this year. That's what's compounded the issue for Mark. He's been up against a team-mate in the most phenomenal form and operating at the most phenomenally high level."

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Webber is under no illusions that Vettel will be formidably tough to beat again next season.

The German's drive on Sunday was yet another from the top drawer in a season that has been full of them.

He drove the first few laps as he has in so many races this year - building a 2.2-second lead in two laps. But after that Webber managed to keep him within three seconds or so - striking distance, in other words - until Red Bull came on the radio at the end of the first stint to warn Vettel of a gearbox problem.

This is not the first time this has happened to him and at first you wondered how he and the team he might react.

Back in Canada in 2010, Vettel also had a gearbox problem while running in fourth place ahead of Webber, who was ordered not to attack him as the team feared what might happen if he did.

But there was to be no repeat of that, as Vettel's engineer Guillaume Rocquelin came repeatedly on to the radio to warn him of the worsening problem. Eventually he had to accept that this was a race he was not going to win, and he let Webber past.

From then on, it was a case of managing the problem, which he did magnificently.

"Despite running a gear taller in each corner and trying to reduce the amount of shifts as much as possible, his pace was still very strong," Horner said. "There must be zero oil left in that gearbox because it went off the scale - a very mature and measured drive."

Inevitably, there were conspiracy theorists who suggested Red Bull were making the whole thing up to provide a convenient excuse to provide Webber with a win he needed and which also lifted him into third in the championship ahead of Alonso by one point. These can be dismissed, however.

For Vettel to still finish second in those conditions was impressive. One doubts, though, whether his performance merits the comparison Vettel himself made with Ayrton Senna's victory here in 1991, when the great Brazilian battled a failing gearbox in the rain to hold off the faster Williams of Riccardo Patrese despite driving the last two laps with only sixth gear.

Red Bull's advantage in Brazil was bigger than it has been in recent races, which is a worrying sign for their rivals.

Jenson Button drove a brilliant season this year to take second in the championship, the first time Hamilton has been beaten by a team-mate, and put in another strong performance on Sunday.

Alonso, too, has been mighty, battling the odds in an uncompetitive car. And Hamilton himself will surely find some equilibrium over the winter and come back stronger in 2012.

All of them, though, can do nothing if Red Bull produce a car next year with the sort of advantage seen from this year's RB7.

"What makes retaining the title so special," Horner said on Sunday, "is the calibre of opponents we are up against is so high.

"We are a stronger team in all areas than in 2010. I'm convinced with continuity we can still improve. We don't know what the other teams are doing. We will keep our heads down and hopefully turn up with a competitive car in Melbourne next year."

The gauntlet has been thrown down and it is up to McLaren and Ferrari to pick it up.

This blog is about the Brazilian Grand Prix and 2011 F1 season. If you wish to read about - and comment on - the BBC's plans for 2012, please do so here

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2011/11/webber_wins_but_vettel_is_stil.html

Richard Lee Rudd Elliott William Barnes Sadler Johnny Andrew Sauter

Sauber C30 launch pictures (31st of January)

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Sauber F1 Team launched their 2011 challenger, the C30 at Valencia on 31st Jan'11.

As compared to its C29 predecessor, the new racer comes with more aggressive sidepods and a single mounting for its rear-wing (rather than double mounting), while also incorporating a blown diffuser. In addition, it has been confirmed that the car will be fitted with a Ferrari-developed Kinetic Energy Recovery System starting with the season opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

?We want to finish in the points regularly and clearly improve our position in the FIA Formula 1 constructors' world championship,? stated his intentions the very owner of the team Peter Sauber. ?2010 marked the 41st year of our company history and one of the most difficult.?

He insisted that after a difficult campaign in 2010, the team is now committed to progress.

?Never before had we faced such reliability problems, but we managed to overcome them in the second half of the season. We implemented some well-considered structural changes. The appointment of James Key as Technical Director already bore fruit last season, and he is now in charge of development of the Sauber C30-Ferrari.?

Technical specifications

Chassis carbon-fibre and honeycomb composite monocoque
Suspension (front) Upper and lower wishbones, inboard springs and dampers, actuated by Sachs pushrods
Suspension (rear) as front
Engine Ferrari Type 056 2,398 cc (146.3 cu in) 90° V8, limited to 18,000 RPM with optional 60 kW (80 hp) KERS naturally aspirated mid-mounted
Transmission Seven-speed semi-automatic carbon-fibre sequential gearbox with reverse gear electronically-controlled, quick-shift Limited-slip differential
Weight 640 kg (1,411 lb) (including driver)
Fuel Shell
Tyres Pirelli P Zero

OZ Wheels (front and rear): 13"

Link
Sauber C30 ? Launch Detail and Analysis (Scarbsf1's Blog)
"Development was held back last year as the team focussed its resources on the new car, which first hit the wing tunnel in May. This switch in resource was partly the reason the exhaust blown diffuser was not developed in 2010. Their new car sports just such a device, with an interesting twist. Otherwise the car is largely a logical evolution of the already quite advance concept of the C29. With Key having sorted the Ferrari engine installation problems and the cars ride height sensitivity which blighted the teams early season last year, Now the team can expect a strong run in the midfield for 2011."

Sauber C30 launch pictures







Photos © Sauber ag

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Willi Krakau Rudolf Krause Robert Kubica Kurt Kuhnke

Pirelli to change colours to differentiate tyres in 2011

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Pirelli will not only bring more aggressive tyres into Formula One this year, but also ensure a more colorful method to differentiate the multitude of compounds for the 2011 season. According to Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat, backed by several other Italian media, Pirelli has come up with a different color scheme for their F1 tyres.

Back when the International Automobile Federation (FIA) asked former F1 sole supplier Bridgestone to differentiate the appearance of the soft and hard compounds, the Japanese company chose to paint a line in a middle groove of the soft options. The next season, when slicks came into play once again, Bridgestone marked the soft compound with a green circle on the sidewall.

For 2011, all F1 tyres will have the words ?Pirelli P Zero? written on the sidewall, but the color of the writing will change based on the compound, as follows:

  • The super-soft wording will reportedly be in red
  • The soft will be in white
  • The medium in blue
  • The hard in yellow

In addition to that, the full wet and intermediate tyres will also feature different colors, with the former having the ?Pirelli P Zero? mark painted in yellow and the latter in red.

According to a report from the GMM news agency, the FIA will distribute Pirelli's tyres to the teams after randomly shuffling the code numbers at grands prix, just so that favoritism claims will not be issued.

Pirelli has recently ended its last testing session prior to the first official group test of the winter in Valencia, as Pedro de la Rosa drove the TF109 test car in Abu Dhabi in wet conditions, at night. After evaluating the behavior of Pirelli's wet and intermediate compounds, the marque's research and development boss Maurizio Boiocci admitted he is yet to find out how the additional speed ensured by the introduction of KERS and adjustable rear wings will affect the tyres.

?If the speed came on gradually, for sure there would be no problems. But it remains to be seen what happens when all the power comes on suddenly,? said Boiocci.


Article (C) Ovidiu Panzariu, Image(C) Pirelli

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/F1InsightAFormula1Blog/~3/iW2fhYHXXjo/pirelli-to-change-colours-to.html

Hans Herrmann François Hesnault Hans Heyer Damon Hill

NASCAR Tickets - Jimmy Watts' Big Mistake

Jimmy Watts might just be the most famous NASCAR crew member of the year, but that doesn't necessarily mean good things for the crew team of Marcos Ambrose and his No. 47 stock car. Watts made national headlines last week after he chased a runaway tire onto the racetrack at the Atlanta Motor Speedway during the Kobalt Tools 500, shocking everyone with NASCAR tickets and violating one of the league's biggest rules while also causing NASCAR to throw out the third caution flag on lap 67 of the race. This huge error in judgment was undoubtedly an instant reaction (and a regrettable one, at that) by Watts, and this gasman will be forced to live with the consequences of his knee-jerk reaction for the rest of this racing season.

When Jimmy Watts went onto the racetrack at Atlanta, he violated Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing) and 9-15-U (crew members cannot for any reason go onto the racetrack while cars or racing or running under the yellow or red flag, unless a NASCAR official directs the action) of NASCAR code, triggering a four-race suspension and a nine-month probationary period while also penalizing his crew chief, Frank Kerr. Kerr, the chief of Ambrose's No. 47 Toyota, also got slapped with a hefty fine and was placed on NASCAR probation until December 31 for violating Sections 12-1 and 9-4-A (crew chief assumes responsibility for his team members' actions).

Watts works as a fireman while he's not in the pit for Marcos Ambrose's team, and his automatic reaction to chase after the tire could be a result of his instinctive job and intense firefighting training. The gasman did offer an apology to NASCAR after the race, saying, "Everything happened so fast on pit road that I just didn't realize how far I had to go out until I grabbed the tire. I put myself in jeopardy and I know how hard NASCAR works to make the pit crew members safe on pit road. I stand by their decision and will serve my four-race suspension."

The caution flag that resulted from Watts stepping foot onto the racetrack at the Atlanta Motor Speedway may have had an effect on the race's outcome, as NASCAR officials would have waited for the green flag stops to cycle out before calling a caution had Watts not chased after the tire, keeping all the cars on pit sequence. Instead, however, the caution flag went up, and some of the Sprint Cup drivers are not pleased with the results. Matt Kenseth recently made a seething comment about the incident, saying, "Maybe he's new. Maybe he hasn't seen us drive, but we tend to wreck a lot. I wouldn't want to be out in the middle of the grass."

What's done is done, however, and Watts will have to come back from his four-race suspension at the end of April and prove that his talents outweigh his one big mistake. In the meantime, the racing will continue, and tickets to NASCAR races are always available online.

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 - Jimmy Watts' Big Mistake

Source: http://www.articlespan.com/article/250667/nascar-tickets-jimmy-watts-big-mistake

NAPA Brakes Toyota Joe Nemechek Washington Music Center Toyota Scott Speed

NASCAR Tickets - Gordon's Time to Shine (Again)

Kyle Busch knocked No. 17 Matt Kenseth out of the running for the historical measures of winning NASCAR's first three races in a row at the Shelby 427 last weekend at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but it is the ever-popular No. 24 DuPont car and its similarly-famed driver Jeff Gordon who are celebrating now. Gordon fumbled a bit in Sunday's Las Vegas race as he lost the lead after lap 150, sliding past and missing pit road before consequently getting a flat tire and some fender damage. The mishap led him to fall back to 10th place with around 20 laps left to go in the race, but by the end of the day Gordon had secured a sixth place finish at the Shelby 427, racing to the finish line after first place Kyle Busch and successive finishers Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton, David Reutimann and Bobby Labonte.

While Jeff Gordon's sixth place finish wasn't the race-winning finale he had hoped for while leading the race, the points from Las Vegas allowed Gordon to go around Matt Kenseth for the first place ranking in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, where he is up from number two last week. Gordon's current number one standing is significant in several ways, but it is important to the racing league mostly because it is the first time No. 24 has been ranked first after the third race of NASCAR season since 1997, when he won the Sprint Cup Series Championship. Gordon's consistency has brought him into his current first place ranking, as his sixth place finish from last weekend adds up with his 13th place finish at Daytona and second place finish at Fontana last month.

Jeff Gordon may be leading the NASCAR pack currently, but two more names are hot on the heels of this racing legend. One such name that inevitably comes up when mentioning top NASCAR drivers is Kyle Busch, the winner of last weekend's Las Vegas race. Busch has been a top contender for the Sprint Series title all year, and he is also the reigning champion of the Sprint Cup Series from 2008. Busch's win at Las Vegas bolsters his ranking to number six, but No. 18 still has a long way to go after the infamous Daytona crash that Dale Earnhardt, Jr. caused and Busch was involved in earlier in February, leaving Busch at a number 41 finish at the end of race. Kyle Busch has since been playing catch-up, snagging the number three finish in the Auto Club 500 at Fontana on February 22. His Las Vegas win will undoubtedly put him back in the running for the Sprint Cup Championship in 2009.

Another name thought to dominate the NASCAR series this year is Matt Kenseth, who made history by winning the first two races of the season (both Daytona and Fontana) this year, tying Jeff Gordon's record from 1997. Kenseth started up his engine in last weekend's Las Vegas race attempting to become the first driver to win the first three races of the season, but was disappointedly struck down just laps into the race, when his No. 17 Ford Fusion blew a motor and put him as the last place finisher from the Shelby 427.

While Jeff Gordon has some fierce competition in defending his position in the upcoming weeks and months, No. 24 is still sitting pretty atop the Sprint Cup dog pile, keeping NASCAR fans jazzed about his comeback to victory lane. To watch Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth battle it out for top honors at the end of the year, get NASCAR tickets online and pick your favorite races to attend!

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 - Gordon's Time to Shine (Again)

Source: http://www.articlespan.com/article/248655/nascar-tickets-gordons-time-to-shine-again

Greg Biffle 3M Ford Jeff Burton Caterpillar Chevrolet

Grab A Career As A NASCAR Mechanic

A career with NASCAR requires complete commitment. It comes with working hours that are not compatible with raising a family. However, once you've settled the commitment issue, a wide range of careers is available on the NASCAR racing circuit. Among the different types of jobs available with NASCAR, jobs for mechanics, car chief, fabricators, shock specialists, painters and engine assemblers are the most pursued.

NASCAR Courses

For a career as a NASCAR mechanic, you will need to enroll at the NASCAR technical institute (NTI), a branch of Universal Technical Institute of Arizona and the exclusive educational strategic partner of NASCAR. At the NASCAR Technical Institute (NTI), you are provided with an education that enhances your career to the next level. The institute is the first technical education school to officially combine a complete automotive technology education program with NASCAR specific courses. The institute offers a range of automotive technology courses that will jumpstart your career as an entry-level automotive technician.

The following are the specific-NASCAR Programs:
-Automotive & NASCAR Technology
-Automotive & NASCAR Technology w/ Pit Crew
-Automotive / NASCAR / Ford FACT Technology
-Automotive / NASCAR / Ford FACT Technology w/ Pit Crew
-Automotive Technology w/ NASCAR Engines I & II
-Automotive Technology w/ NASCAR Engines I & II + Pit Crew

The NASCAR Diversity Internship Program:
-Provides the opportunity for qualified candidates to work with NASCAR teams, sponsors, NASCAR'S sanctioning body and other motorsports-related companies.

-College and university students are given an employment stint in a ten-week summer program specially designed to give them a broader view of the world of NASCAR and the opportunities available in the industry.

The Job Of A NASCAR Automotive Technician

Automotive service technicians and mechanics have more complex jobs than a simple mechanic. Today, mechanics are required to analyze integrated auto electronic systems through complex computers and measure their performance on the road. An automotive service technician will need to study diagnostics and be high-tech problem solver.

You must have knowledge about how components work. You should have a knack for handling electronic diagnostic equipment and technical reference material. You should be able to use your technical skills to inspect, maintain and repair vehicles like automobiles and light trucks with gasoline engines.

Automotive technology has necessitated the need for technicians to keep abreast with the every changing world of technology, but at the same time maintain their skills with traditional hand tools. This change in the occupation has resulted in these mechanics being increasingly called "automotive service technicians".

Imagine the thrill of standing on the racetrack and watching the car you have nurtured hit the finish line ahead of the others. You will be proud to be part of a team who toiled so hard to realize a dream.

Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solution's Six Sigma Online offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.

Article Source: Grab A Career As A NASCAR Mechanic

Source: http://www.articlespan.com/article/41339/grab-a-career-as-a-nascar-mechanic

Hans Klenk Peter de Klerk Christian Klien Karl Kling

Vodafone rewards its customers as Jenson performs in Manchester ( Photos)

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KF008HlnuhE/Tl98pLXvISI/AAAAAAAAHYQ/QkBLrMUwN7w/s1600/Vodafone_VIP_Live_In_Mancherster-2825.jpg

Vodafone rewards its customers as Jenson Button drives through the streets of Manchester in
his Vodafone McLaren Mercedes F1? car

Vodafone VIP brought a taste of Formula 1? to the heart of Manchester city centre this weekend, with F1? driver Jenson Button and the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team staging a celebration of the sport.

Crowds lined Deansgate on Monday (29th Aug) afternoon for the highlight of the Bank Holiday, as Jenson Button revved up his Vodafone McLaren Mercedes F1? car and drove it through one of Manchester?s busiest streets. Button also treated two lucky Vodafone customers to a thrilling drive through Manchester city centre in a McLaren MP4-12C sports car, before ending the day with an on-stage, public Q&A appearance.

Jenson enjoyed the day enormously, commenting:

?I think Vodafone VIP has done a brilliant job to make this happen ? it can?t have been easy ? but to see the looks on people?s faces when I opened up the throttle, was a fantastic moment. It is all about giving something back to the fans and just unleashing the awesome power of a Formula 1 car. It was a lot of fun.?

Jenson?s appearance was just one part of a three day event. From Saturday 27 to Monday 29 of August, Vodafone customers and friends enjoyed the Vodafone VIP Fanzone in Albert Square. The Fanzone contained a bespoke Go Kart Track, and a number of interactive F1? experiences, including a pit stop challenge, a sit in Vodafone McLaren Mercedes car, an F1? simulator and an exhibition of race suits and helmets. Throughout the weekend there was also a pit garage on the forecourt of the Hilton Deansgate in which Vodafone customers had the opportunity to go behind the scenes in the team?s garage.

The celebration was part of Vodafone?s drive to reward as many of its customers as possible. Previous Vodafone VIP events have been based in London and the South East so by bringing F1 to the North West, Vodafone VIP are aiming to reach a wider audience and thank even more of their customers.

Councillor Pat Karney, of Manchester City Council, said:

?Vodafone VIP Live is a great example of the sort of unmissable events which Manchester stages and a great way show what our city has to offer. We are extremely grateful to Vodafone who provided the opportunity to have the I Love MCR logo printed on the side of the car. Word of the campaign has spread fast, so it's entirely fitting that an F1 car bearing the campaign logo should be seen racing down Deansgate?

The F1? event in Manchester is just one element of Vodafone VIP, which gives customers access to the best of British festival, fashion and Formula 1? events. Vodafone VIP provides customers with the hottest tickets and money can?t buy experiences. All Vodafone customers can register for Vodafone VIP by going online.

Visit www.vodafone.co.uk/VIPManchester to find out more.

I Love MCR Campaign
In partnership with Marketing Manchester and Manchester Arndale, Manchester City Council have launched the 'I Love MCR' campaign to show the world that the people of Manchester are proud of their city. Become a fan on the ?I Love MCR? Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/WeLoveMCR.
Follow the conversation on Twitter using #IloveMCR








Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/F1InsightAFormula1Blog/~3/fZCTZ2PLJXY/vodafone-rewards-its-customers-as.html

Brian Lee Vickers Kenneth Lee Wallace Michael Stephen Wallace Russell William Wallace Jr

Webber wins but Vettel is still the man to beat

If Mark Webber did not sound as if he was jumping for joy after winning the Brazilian Grand Prix - his first win of 2012 in the final race of what has been a tough season for the Australian - it should be no surprise.

There is no artifice about Webber and he knows as well as anyone that, statistically, this has been a disappointing year for him. One win in a race in which his team-mate had one arm tied behind his back does not on its own signify that his fortunes will change next season.

Nor, though, does the manner of victory necessarily mean that they won't.

Eleven wins and a new all-time record 15 pole positions for Sebastian Vettel as against one win and three poles for Webber are numbers that do not make comfortable reading for the older man.

But it should be remembered that the two men were evenly matched in 2010 as they both battled for the title with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.

Webber is determined to recapture that form and there have been signs in the second half of the season that he is heading in the right direction.

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Undoubtedly he struggled in the first half of this year. He was hit hard by reliability problems - if there was a problem with Red Bull's troublesome Kers power-boost system at the start of the year, it seemed Webber's car would have it - but also he took much longer than Vettel to adapt to the different demands of the new Pirelli tyres.

By the time he had, Vettel was long gone in the championship. It has, though, been much closer between the two in the second half of the season.

Vettel has still had the upper hand - and his electrifying qualifying pace and consistency has put him in a position to control many of the races.

But Webber has been getting on top of one of his biggest problems this year - higher tyre wear than Vettel, sometimes influenced by problems outside his control - and on race pace the two have been pretty evenly matched, even if it has not always been obvious because of their different positions in the race.

Webber could have won in Korea had not a mystifying pit-wall decision prevented him from passing Hamilton and exploiting a strategy that should have beaten Vettel, too.

In the end, the much-needed win came in Brazil in a race in which Vettel's gearbox problem prevented him having a straight fight with his team-mate.

But as Webber pointed out, these things happen and you take wins however they come. Not only has he himself been on the receiving end of that sort of fortune many a time, it was probably also about time Vettel had some bad luck.

"Even if the win didn't come today there were some positive signs for me in recent races," he said.

"There has been some good pace from me considering some of the things that have been going on. Today was a good grand prix.

"It's not a bad thing to finish the year like this, one of the most important things is I started to feel the car a bit better, to get a bit more of an understanding."

"It's great Mark has won a race," team principal Christian Horner said.

"It would have been very, very tough for him to have not won a race if Seb had won 11.

"Hopefully this win will give him a big confidence boost. He's third in the championship. Hopefully he'll go into the winter, have a bit of time off, recharge his batteries and I'm sure he'll come back stronger in 2012.

"Let's not take anything away from Sebastian, though. He has been operating at such a high level this year. That's what's compounded the issue for Mark. He's been up against a team-mate in the most phenomenal form and operating at the most phenomenally high level."

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Webber is under no illusions that Vettel will be formidably tough to beat again next season.

The German's drive on Sunday was yet another from the top drawer in a season that has been full of them.

He drove the first few laps as he has in so many races this year - building a 2.2-second lead in two laps. But after that Webber managed to keep him within three seconds or so - striking distance, in other words - until Red Bull came on the radio at the end of the first stint to warn Vettel of a gearbox problem.

This is not the first time this has happened to him and at first you wondered how he and the team he might react.

Back in Canada in 2010, Vettel also had a gearbox problem while running in fourth place ahead of Webber, who was ordered not to attack him as the team feared what might happen if he did.

But there was to be no repeat of that, as Vettel's engineer Guillaume Rocquelin came repeatedly on to the radio to warn him of the worsening problem. Eventually he had to accept that this was a race he was not going to win, and he let Webber past.

From then on, it was a case of managing the problem, which he did magnificently.

"Despite running a gear taller in each corner and trying to reduce the amount of shifts as much as possible, his pace was still very strong," Horner said. "There must be zero oil left in that gearbox because it went off the scale - a very mature and measured drive."

Inevitably, there were conspiracy theorists who suggested Red Bull were making the whole thing up to provide a convenient excuse to provide Webber with a win he needed and which also lifted him into third in the championship ahead of Alonso by one point. These can be dismissed, however.

For Vettel to still finish second in those conditions was impressive. One doubts, though, whether his performance merits the comparison Vettel himself made with Ayrton Senna's victory here in 1991, when the great Brazilian battled a failing gearbox in the rain to hold off the faster Williams of Riccardo Patrese despite driving the last two laps with only sixth gear.

Red Bull's advantage in Brazil was bigger than it has been in recent races, which is a worrying sign for their rivals.

Jenson Button drove a brilliant season this year to take second in the championship, the first time Hamilton has been beaten by a team-mate, and put in another strong performance on Sunday.

Alonso, too, has been mighty, battling the odds in an uncompetitive car. And Hamilton himself will surely find some equilibrium over the winter and come back stronger in 2012.

All of them, though, can do nothing if Red Bull produce a car next year with the sort of advantage seen from this year's RB7.

"What makes retaining the title so special," Horner said on Sunday, "is the calibre of opponents we are up against is so high.

"We are a stronger team in all areas than in 2010. I'm convinced with continuity we can still improve. We don't know what the other teams are doing. We will keep our heads down and hopefully turn up with a competitive car in Melbourne next year."

The gauntlet has been thrown down and it is up to McLaren and Ferrari to pick it up.

This blog is about the Brazilian Grand Prix and 2011 F1 season. If you wish to read about - and comment on - the BBC's plans for 2012, please do so here

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2011/11/webber_wins_but_vettel_is_stil.html

Jerry Hoyt Nico Hülkenberg Denny Hulme James Hunt