NASCAR Tickets - Brotherly Duo Is Double Trouble for Sprint Cup Series

23-year-old racecar driving prodigy Kyle Busch has been all the talk of the NASCAR world so far this season, but after the Kobalt Tools 500 race at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in March, the spotlight shifted to the other Busch - 30-year-old Kurt. The Busch brothers have attracted flocks of fans and undying attention over the past several years as they have proven their place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and the elder Busch's recent Atlanta victory has sparked speculation that Kurt and Kyle Busch are the next brotherly duo to dominate the NASCAR realm, perhaps even being one the best sibling pairs of all time to conquer the racing circuit together.

When it comes to Cup Series victories, the Busch brothers stack up as the sixth overall sibling combo with the most wins in NASCAR history, coming in behind some of the best family names in the history of racing. Kurt and Kyle Busch have collectively accumulated 32 wins in their racing careers, but there are still a handful of siblings who beat this remarkable record. The winningest family name in all of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is still the Allisons, as brothers Bobby and Donnie racked up an outrageous 94 combined wins during their reign over stock car racing.

Coming in as the second most winning sibling combination is the Waltrips, as Darrell and Michael have accumulated 88 wins in their joint careers. The Flock brothers (Tim, Fonty and Bob) are third on this list with 62, and Herb and Donald Thomas rank fourth with 49. Rounding out the top five are the Labontes, as Terry and Bobby have 43 victories under their belts. The Buschs are currently at sixth place, but because this brotherly duo is so young, Kurt and Kyle Busch have plenty of time to rack up several more wins on the NASCAR circuit before they retire from the sport, perhaps already making them the best brotherly duo to ever grace the racing scene.

As of the Atlanta race on March 8, the name Busch has taken the title of a Cup race for two out of the season's four races, with Matt Kenseth sweeping the first two races of the year. Kyle Busch was the victor of the Las Vegas race on March 1 (competing at his hometown track) and brother Kurt followed up the win with a March 8 victory at Atlanta. The Busch brothers are both currently in the Top 12 of the 2009 Sprint Cup standings, with Kurt Busch in third place while Kyle Busch is in seventh, the latter working his way up the totem pole after suffering an early race-ending crash triggered by Brian Vickers and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. at Daytona.

While Kyle Busch is largely considered the favorite of the two Busch brothers, Kurt has proven in the last couple weeks that while he is proud of his brother he certainly won't give up without a fight. With NASCAR tickets you can see both Busch brothers battle for the 2009 Sprint Cup title in person, so browse your favorite online ticket reseller and make your way to the grandstands today to catch these young stock car drivers spin circles around their competitors.

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 - Brotherly Duo Is Double Trouble for Sprint Cup Series

Source: http://www.articlespan.com/article/247683/nascar-tickets-brotherly-duo-is-double-trouble-for-sprint-cup-series

Eddie Irvine Chris Irwin Jean Pierre Jabouille Jimmy Jackson

NASCAR Tickets - Busch Contemplates Open-Wheel Switch

Kyle Busch is back on top of the NASCAR Sprint Cup throne, a familiar position for the No. 18 M&M's racecar driver. After suffering a disappointing start to the NASCAR season when he was taken out by Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s aggravating crash in the Daytona 500 in February, Busch fought back to earn third place honors at the Auto Club 500 in Fontana in late February before jumping headfirst into the Shelby 427 in his hometown of Las Vegas on March 1. Busch won the race at Las Vegas after starting at the back of the 43-car pack, proving his mainstay status in the NASCAR realm. While Busch is sitting pretty in the Top 10 in current rankings, however, the famed No. 18 could be seeing a different kind of racing in the near future.

NASCAR online recently reported on a probable Formula One startup in the U.S., and Kyle Busch is one of the names being tossed around as a possibility to fill the driver's seat. Racing heavyweights Ken Anderson (former Ligier and Onyx engineer) and Peter Windsor (former Ferrari and Williams team manager and pit-lane reporter) have recently announced plans to start an F1 organization in Charlotte, North Carolina, saying they will have seats for two American drivers to partake in the F1 excitement starting in 2010. Busch is one figure being considered out of NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series, and IndyCar racers Danica Patrick, Marco Andretti and Scott Speed are also being considered, though Speed has already tried his hand at Formula One and has expressed no interest in returning to the league.

Busch, on the other hand, has already entertained the idea of switching from stock cars to open-wheel racing, recently stating, "I wouldn't mind trying IndyCars and running the Indianapolis 500 once, or running Formula One. But it's not quite time for me to do that yet. If I can win a championship here in the next two or three years, then I wouldn't mind going over there."

While Kyle Busch is now contemplating a possible future switch to IndyCar or F1, his resume is currently lacking in the open-wheel sector of racing. Busch followed his older brother Kurt Busch onto the stock car racing scene from his youth, starting to race at age 13 in the Legends Series before moving on up to NASCAR's late model series, which he excelled in before joining Roush Racing while still in high school. Busch became the youngest race winner in NASCAR's history at age 20, and, now still in his twenties, Busch has become one of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' best drivers, maneuvering his No. 18 stock car around the nation's toughest courses. Busch's game plan for his racing future seems yet uncertain, as he recently made a statement saying, "I think I'd still be young enough where if I could win a championship by 25, go run Formula One for a couple years, be back by 28, I've still got plenty of time left to run in NASCAR. That's just what I see, but a lot of things would have to work out for that to happen."

Clearly, nothing is set in stone now, nor will be for a while, but if you want to see Kyle Busch in his famed No. 18 stock car before he makes a possible switch to F1, get NASCAR tickets, available online, and watch the talented driver zoom around the track before he exits the Sprint Cup Series!

This article is sponsored by StubHub. 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 - Busch Contemplates Open-Wheel Switch

Source: http://www.articlespan.com/article/248654/nascar-tickets-busch-contemplates-open-wheel-switch

Jeff Burton Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Chase for the Sprint Cup

Nick Heidfeld - classic F1 2011

Renault's Nick Heidfeld is the latest driver to choose his five favourite all-time grands prix for our new-look classic Formula 1 series.

For those unfamiliar with the format, BBC Sport has asked all the F1 drivers to select their five favourite races and we are serialising their choices before every race this season to whet your appetites for the action to come. Highlights will be shown on this website and the red button on BBC television in the UK.

So far, we have had world champion Sebastian Vettel, F1 legend Michael Schumacher, Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi, Williams veteran Rubens Barrichello and, for his home grand prix in Spain last weekend, double champion Fernando Alonso.

Ahead of this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix, we have the man who is standing in this season for Robert Kubica, who was injured in a rally crash in February and who will be watching the race from his apartment in the principality.

Heidfeld, a 34-year-old German, is one of the most experienced drivers on the grid and his selection is an interesting mix of races from his career and before his time in F1.

In chronological order, they are as follows:

The 1988 Monaco Grand Prix, which Heidfeld says he has chosen as it was the first F1 race he attended. Most people, though, remember it as one of the defining moments in the career of Ayrton Senna, who dominated the weekend in his McLaren until crashing out of the lead with a handful of laps remaining, handing victory to his team-mate Alain Prost.

Heidfeld's second pick is the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix, which Heidfeld calls a "classic F1 moment", and which is proving popular among the current drivers - both Alonso and Buemi also chose this race.

It was also a key event in the careers of Senna and Prost. As many will recall, Senna drove into the back of his arch-rival, who was now at Ferrari, at the first corner at 160mph.

Senna's actions were in revenge for pole position, which he had won, being moved to the 'wrong' side of the track - which he felt was part of a conspiracy against him by then-FIA president Jean-Marie Balestre against him.

Next is the 2001 Brazilian Grand Prix. This was Heidfeld's first appearance on an F1 podium, and came at the end of a thrilling grand prix famous for two stunning overtaking manoeuvres on Ferrari's Michael Schumacher by Juan Pablo Montoya, who should have won the race in his Williams, and McLaren's David Coulthard, who did.

It was an incident-packed race throughout and one in which Heidfeld's sure touch in changing conditions - a feature of his career - was in evidence.

The 2001 US Grand Prix was won brilliantly by Mika Hakkinen, who was to retire following the next race, the season finale in Japan, after winning a tactical battle with team-mate Coulthard and the Ferraris of Schumacher and Barrichello.

It was a fascinating race, typical of F1's refuelling era, but that is not why Heidfeld has chosen it. The event has special memories for him because he finished sixth, scoring points for Sauber, despite the lack of first, second and seventh gears. This race was broadcast during the era when ITV had the rights to F1 in the UK, and unfortunately technical problems mean we cannot broadcast highlights for you.

Finally, Heidfeld has chosen Brazil 2008, not because of anything special he did (he finished 10th for BMW Sauber), but because of its famous finish that saw McLaren's Lewis Hamilton regaining the fifth place he needed to win the title from Ferrari's Felipe Massa, who won the race, on the last corner of the last lap.

As always, we pick one race to highlight to help whet your appetites for the action at the forthcoming grand prix.

Heidfeld has made five excellent choices, but as Monaco is the next race, we have plumped for that event in 1988.

It is worth a bit of back story. Senna was on pole by an astonishing 1.4 seconds from Prost - and was later famously to talk about having what felt like an out-of-body experience while he went faster and faster around the principality.

The Brazilian's utter domination continued in the race, helped by Prost being beaten away from the start by the slower Ferrari of Gerhard Berger.

The Frenchman finally got past on lap 54, by which time Senna had a 46-second lead and was totally in control. But this was only the third race of the 1988 season, for which the Brazilian had joined McLaren, where his main aim was to establish himself as better than Prost, then regarded as the finest driver in the world.

The result was a battle of wills, for pride, between the two finest drivers of their generation - and two of the greatest ever. And in Monaco, this was to lead to Senna's downfall.

Free of Berger, Prost started trading fastest laps with Senna. McLaren boss Ron Dennis, concerned that the team might lose a one-two, assured Senna his lead was safe and he backed off.

But when Prost then gained six seconds in one lap on his team-mate, Senna responded by setting two fastest laps - and then crashed at Portier after losing concentration.

Shell-shocked, and in tears, he returned to his nearby apartment, refusing to speak to his team or answer calls. It was the first of many twists in a drama that was to grip sporting fans the world over for the next five years.

The full 'Grand Prix' programme broadcast that evening on the BBC is embedded below, with links below it to shorter highlights and long and short highlights of Mark Webber's dominant win for Red Bull in Monaco in 2010.

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CLICK HERE FOR SHORT HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2010 MONACO GRAND PRIX
CLICK HERE FOR EXTENDED HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2010 MONACO GRAND PRIX

A selection of classic races will be shown on the BBC red button on satellite and cable digital television in the UK from 1500 BST on Wednesday 25 May until 1030 BST on Friday 27 May. The races selected are extended highlights of Monaco 1988, short highlights of Brazill 2001 and Brazil 2008 and extended highlights of Monaco 2010.

Unfortunately, because of a lack of bandwidth caused by our coverage of the French Open tennis, we are unable to broadcast these highlights on Freeview.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2011/05/nick_heidfeld_-_classic_f1_201.html

David Gilliland Tony Raines Bobby Labonte Terry Labonte

My review of the first three races of 2011

Two wins for Sebastian Vettel in the flying Red Bull, a superb recovery from pre-season problems for McLaren culminating in a stunning victory for Lewis Hamilton in China, Ferrari struggling, impressive pace from Renault and debutant Paul di Resta, and signs of a resurgence for Mercedes.

Watch my review of the start of the 2011 Formula 1 season.

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IF YOU ARE OUTSIDE THE UK, YOU CAN WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/murraywalker/2011/04/my_review_of_the_first_three_r.html

James Hunt Jim Hurtubise Gus Hutchison Jacky Ickx

NASCAR Tracks - The Martinsville Speedway

The Martinsville Speedway is celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2007.

The Martinsville Speedway track was sold to International Speedway Corporation in 2004 and has been defined as the "biggest deal in NASCAR" to date. Recently, International Speedway Corporation has been purchasing race tracks in an effort to gain a majority in the number of races on the circuit. The Martinsville Speedway ticket office is open daily 9 a.m. The ticket office will be open this Saturday, March 24, from 9 a.m. The Martinsville speedway in Virginia has been home to NASCAR races for the entire time it was constructed except the very first year. Martinsville Speedway was formed in 1947 and hosted various races for the entire year and in 1948 NASCAR was formed and begun racing at the Martinsville Speedway.

Martinsville Speedway is located just miles out of the city of Martinsville, Virginia. This facility is proud to be recognized as the only original NASCAR-sanctioned track still hosting Nextel Cup competitions. Martinsville Speedway is one of the oldest venues on the NASCAR schedule; the paper clip shaped track is famous for close, intense action as Nextel Cup stock cars beat and bang on each other for 500 laps.

Martinsville Speedway tickets are worth the expense for any event because of the electrifying atmosphere. Martinsville Speedway opened in 1947 with 750 seats and has grown continuously over the years. But other than being paved in 1955, the track configuration has not changed since Red Byron won the inaugural event. Martinsville Speedway is one of the oldest venues on the NASCAR schedule; the paper clip shaped track is famous for close, intense action as Nextel Cup stock cars beat and bang on each other for 500 laps.

The Martinsville speedway in Virginia has been home to NASCAR races for the entire time it was constructed except the very first year. Martinsville Speedway was formed in 1947 and hosted various races for the entire year and in 1948 NASCAR was formed and begun racing at the Martinsville Speedway. The Martinsville Speedway ticket office is open daily 9 a.m. The ticket office will be open this Saturday, March 24, from 9 a.m.

Martinsville Speedway ran the first NASCAR race there on July 4, 1948. When Martinsville Speedway opened in 1947 it only had 750 seats. Today the track holds over 70,000 race fans and is continually improving the facilities.

The paper clip shaped track is famous for close, intense action as Nextel Cup stock cars beat and bang on each other for 500 laps. Martinsville Speedway is located just miles out of the city of Martinsville, Virginia. This facility is proud to be recognized as the only original NASCAR-sanctioned track still hosting Nextel Cup competitions.

For NASCAR Merchandise, Up to the minute News, and everything NASCAR including Race Car jackets or Nascar Racing Jackets we have them at the best prices everyday!

Article Source: NASCAR Tracks - The Martinsville Speedway

Source: http://www.articlespan.com/article/189624/nascar-tracks-the-martinsville-speedway

Pedro Lamy Chico Landi Hermann Lang Claudio Langes

Alonso gives Red Bull pause for thought

The 2011 Formula 1 season is not yet a quarter done but it is already difficult to see past Sebastian Vettel ending a second consecutive season as the world champion.

A third victory in four races has given the Red Bull driver a 34-point lead in the standings and the man in second place, Lewis Hamilton, could finish only fourth in Sunday's Turkish Grand Prix.

There is no doubt that the German is now in total control of this season. The word "domination" is being bandied around and it is easy to see why but, in each of the four races so far, the performance gap between Vettel and his pursuers has not been as great as the stark results suggest.

Just as in his wins in Australia and Malaysia, Vettel's afternoon at Istanbul Park was made easier by delays suffered by his rivals.

This time, Nico Rosberg, who started third on the grid behind Vettel and team-mate Mark Webber, was the man responsible for allowing his fellow German to make a break. That ensured he could ease into cruise control as early as lap five, when Webber was finally able to pass the fast-starting Mercedes.

The key to all of Vettel's victories has been his searing pace in qualifying. Turkey was his fourth pole position in a row this season - his seventh in the last eight races if you count the end of last year - and it was one of his most impressive so far.

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Vettel had no dry running on Friday following a hefty crash caused by pushing too hard on intermediate tyres at Turn Eight in the wet conditions on Friday morning. Yet the following day he put his car on pole by nearly half a second from Webber.

Even in the wild and whacky races of 2011, pole position is proving a vital weapon for Vettel. It is allowing him to steer clear of the craziness behind him, and allowing him to run at his own pace, putting him in control of races from very early on.

Would Webber or Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, who finished second and third, have been able to challenge him on Sunday had it not been for Rosberg? Neither man sounded very confident of that after the race.

Webber said it would have been "difficult to beat Sebastian today", while Alonso - the race's big surprise - described Vettel as a "99% favourite".

However, Alonso added that "this 1% (is what) we had lost in the first five laps with Nico because more or less the seven seconds distance to Sebastian was consistent all through the race. Without those five seconds, maybe we could have raced in the pit stop and forced something".

And that's the point. Vettel, as he said himself, is not unbeatable. But his life is being made easier by the frenetic battle behind him, which he is surveying from above for now.

Heading into the Turkey race, few would have predicted that it would be Alonso taking the fight to the Red Bulls - and certainly not the man himself.

The Spaniard arrived in Istanbul talking about Ferrari having taken a "small step". But new front and rear wings and brake ducts added up to a lot more than that.

Alonso has qualified fifth for all four races so far this season, but he and Ferrari reduced their deficit to Vettel from 1.4secs in China three weeks ago to 0.8secs in Turkey. And in the race he went toe-to-toe with Webber and very nearly came out on top.

Alonso drove a superb race, taking advantage of Hamilton's lap one error to slip into fourth place, following Webber past Rosberg and then slugging it out with the Red Bulls for the rest of the afternoon.

He was, then, the deserved winner of our new BBC F1 driver of the day vote, in which he took 18.5% of the support, just ahead of Vettel (17.9%) and Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi, who fought from the back of the grid to 10th place (17.2%).

It was a remarkable turnaround by Ferrari and there is more to come from them after some soul-searching and intense analysis at Maranello following their disappointing start to the season.

It immediately revived memories of last year. Leaving the British Grand Prix last July, nearly two clear wins off the championship lead on points, Alonso famously declared that he was more confident than ever that he could win the championship. And had it not been for some bungled Ferrari strategy in the final race of the season, he would have done.

Alonso might be 52 points - more than two wins - behind Vettel right now, but he has 15 races, or possibly 16 depending on what happens to Bahrain, to recover it and it would be a fool who wrote off now such a formidable fighter. After last year's experience, Red Bull certainly won't be making that mistake.

"Ferrari," said team principal Christian Horner, "they're back. They pushed us very hard today with Fernando."

Alonso felt confident enough after his third place in Turkey to talk about winning races. For now, though, the only person to do so this year apart from Vettel is Hamilton, for whose McLaren team Sunday was a chastening experience after their driver's breathtaking win in China.

That error on the first lap, running wide at Turn Four challenging Webber, put him on the back foot and a fumbled pit stop, caused by a sticking wheel nut, dropped him down still further. In typical style, Hamilton stuck with the task and he fought back to finish fourth.

Jenson Button was sixth after he and the team erroneously chose a three-stop strategy when four was the way to go.

Team boss Martin Whitmarsh rightly described it as a "fairly average day at the office" but Hamilton talked about battling for second without his problems, and there is no reason to suppose McLaren have lost the ability they have showed in the first three races to keep pace with Red Bull.

The next phase of the season, then, promises to be fascinating, with Mercedes, too, in the mix - even if Rosberg's race pace did not match his superb qualifying performance.

For his team-mate, though, the future looks less bright. Sunday was another difficult day in Michael Schumacher's ill-starred comeback.

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Trounced by Rosberg in qualifying, when he was - just like for much of last year - guilty of over-driving, Schumacher had another poor race, wrecking any hopes of a recovery by completely misjudging his defence against Renault's Vitaly Petrov in the early laps and ripping off his own front wing.

"I don't know why he doesn't know when to give up," David Coulthard said in the commentary. "On the track or in his career?" replied Martin Brundle, sharp as ever.

BBC pundit Eddie Jordan's post-race analogy with an aging and punch-drunk Muhammad Ali when he fought Larry Holmes in 1980 was perhaps a touch harsh, but you could see where he was coming from.

Fascinatingly, Schumacher's mask slipped a little for the first time since making his comeback. He had always insisted that he was enjoying himself, and that the pace and touch would come back. On Sunday, though, he admitted "the big joy is not there right now".

I've known Schumacher for a long time, and he looked and sounded like a man beginning, as Coulthard put it, "to ask himself some questions".

Perhaps it was the immediate post-race emotion talking, perhaps not. But, not for the first time, many in F1 will be asking whether his second career will last the three years for which he signed up.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2011/05/the_2011_formula_1_season.html

Iron Horse Jeans Toyota Mike Bliss Shelby Howard Kelly Bires