Jeff Gordon wins the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Phoenix International Raceway

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Source: http://doxcar.com/jeff-gordon-wins-the-nascar-sprint-cup-race-at-phoenix-international-raceway/

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F1 teams battle over cost-cutting

The first race of the 2011 season is still two months away, but the fight for a competitive advantage in Formula 1 is still raging away behind the scenes.

As their engineers put the finishing touches to their new cars in time for the start of pre-season testing next month, team bosses are trying to thrash out a new cost-saving agreement. And it's getting a bit nasty.

Rivals - almost without exception, I'm told - believe Red Bull exceeded en route to winning the world title last year the limitations laid out in the document that defines how teams commit their budgets. They also claim that Red Bull are blocking a new version of the so-called Resource Restriction Agreement to take the sport through to 2017, where the current one runs only to 2012.

One insider at a rival team said Red Bull had been "flouting" the RRA. This is quite a serious accusation, as it effectively claims Red Bull either spent longer developing the aerodynamics of their car, employed more staff, or spent more money - or all three - than they were allowed to. In other words, they had an unfair advantage.

Red Bull deny outright that they overspent in 2010, and insist they are objecting to the revised agreement only because it is flawed in its current form and they want to ensure it is "fair and equitable". More of which in a moment.

"We've worked in accordance with the RRA limits since they were introduced," Red Bull team principal Christian Horner told BBC Sport. "With tremendous hard work and internal efficiencies, we believe we've absolutely adhered to it.

"Red Bull has committed its budgets wisely and it's obviously surprising that people will feel that way, but it's inevitable, I guess, when you're at the front and winning races."

No one will go on the record to confirm their suspicions about Red Bull, but Virgin Racing chief executive officer Graeme Lowdon, while making it clear he does not know about Red Bull's budget, says: "On something as fundamental as this, on something that's there to make the whole business you're in sustainable, if someone was to even breach the spirit of that, then that's extremely disappointing.

"I cannot see how anyone can level a criticism at an RRA. If it made a worse show, or watered it down, then there would be a case to answer. But it doesn't so it's very disappointing if teams ignore something as fundamental as this."

In many ways, this financial dispute echoes the technical rows that enveloped Red Bull in 2010.

Unable to explain or understand how the RB6 car was so fast, rivals first accused Red Bull of having an illegal ride-height control system, and then of an overly flexible front wing. Red Bull insisted the car was completely legal, and the FIA, F1's governing body, never found otherwise.

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner

Horner finds Red Bull in the middle of another controversy about 2010. Photo: Getty

"We expect other teams to potentially challenge [whether we have over-spent]," Horner says, "as they have done on front wings and ride heights and everything else in the course of last year. But we don't have any issue.

"Red Bull probably has the third or fourth biggest budget in F1. We spent prudently and have achieved great efficiency within the factory, and we have to top that in 2011."

This row has come up in the context of negotiations over revising ways of controlling F1's costs. Keeping a lid on budgets is, along with ensuring the racing remains as good as possible, one of the central themes for F1 stake-holders at the moment, as the sport's bosses seek to ensure it remains both compelling for its audience and affordable for its competitors in a difficult economic climate.

The RRA is the document the teams drew up in 2009 to control costs in F1. It defines a series of limitations on resources, getting stricter through 2010, 2011 and 2012, and the penalties for exceeding them. But it was always meant as a stepping-stone to a longer agreement.

In the current agreement, there is a sliding scale of penalties covering the following main areas of resource commitment:

  • Aerodynamic development, measured in wind-tunnel hours or computational fluid dynamics data, with the more you do of one, up to a given limit, meaning the less you can do of the other;
  • Total staff numbers, from 350 in 2010 down to 280 in 2011, and total external spend, from 40m Euros in 2010, down to 20m Euros in 2011, with the more you commit to one, the less you can spend on the other.

The penalties were based on a sliding scale. For example, a breach of up to 5% is punished by having that same amount taken off your resource allocation for the next year; a breach of 5-10% means having 1.1 times that amount taken off; and so on.

The new document - the fundamentals of which were largely agreed at a meeting at the Singapore Grand Prix last September - changes that.

One team principal, who did not wish to be identified, said that the new RRA relaxes the restrictions on resources - teams can spend a bit more money and employ a few more staff - and in return the policing is stricter, both in terms of how teams' spending is analysed and the penalties for exceeding the limits.

But the detail is proving problematic, with Red Bull in particular unhappy about the new document as it stands.

Horner says his objections are rooted in ensuring the new RRA, which would run until 2017, does what it is intended to do.

"The RRA is a positive thing for F1," he says. "I think a solution can be found for the outstanding issues, it just needs some sensible discussion between the teams, because the thought of an unrestricted spend in F1 is unpalatable for all the teams.

"So it is a matter of achieving transparency and a fair and equitable system between all independent and manufacturer-owned teams so that no party is at an advantage or disadvantage."

"The resource restriction needs to be sorted quite quickly because at the moment it is unclear what rules we are working to in 2011 in many respects, so it's important a solution is found and I think one will be found."

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2011/01/f1_teams_battle_over_cost-cutt.html

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Gearing up for new F1 season

Since that sweltering Sunday sunset in Abu Dhabi almost three months ago where we saw a man who looked about 12 years old being crowned the composed, confident, champion of the world, it's been a case of counting down the days until I can dust off the passport and embark on season three as the BBC's F1 presenter.

And this time, as we take the first steps of the few thousand miles we will be travelling to bring the 2011 F1 season to you, I need your help.

Read on to find out how.

The last three months have been a mix of highs and lows for me. Hosting Sports Personality, but being struck down by a vicious flu bug the following day. Going for a New Year's Day walk with my wife Harriet but inadvertently pulling her into the River Thames up to our waists (don't ask!), and just spending time at home, despite locking myself out of the house on three separate occasions!

And now, the wait for us all is almost over. I'm currently penning this blog in bed, Sunday Love Songs is on the radio, (what an old romantic eh ;-) and it's 13 February...one month to the day and I will be swapping Radio 2 for team radios, my home for hotel rooms, the middle of Richmond for the Middle East.

Sebastian Vettel

Vettel won the 2010 title in the final race of the season at Abu Dhabi. Picture: Getty images

I remember when I first met Martin Brundle, it was winter 2008 and we were at our first meeting ahead of the 2009 season and I asked him what he was doing with the winter. His reply was 'seeing the dentist, going to the doctor, cutting that grass...all the things I can't do during the season' and now I know how he feels.

Mind you, and I mustn't say this too loudly for fear of offending my lovely wife and all the friends I've enjoyed catching up with, I can hardly wait for that first flight to Bahrain.

Flights to grand prix races are usually 80% full of F1 faces from Bernie and team principals at the front with the drivers, to press officers, engineers, and a few fans too who can hardly believe their luck that they've also booked on to the same flight we've all chosen.

The two flights that seem to create the best atmosphere are the last flight home as we all breathe a collective sigh of relief that we've survived another season, and the first, as everyone quietly hopes that this is their season.

And this year, there is a palpable air of excitement. And I place a huge amount of credit for that at the door of 'social media'.

In seasons gone by there would be very little news from testing unless you looked at specialist websites. There was no way for drivers to converse directly with their fans. 'Trending topics' were the kinds of thing you read about in Smash Hits magazine.

These days we have drivers tweeting how their car feels the moment they hop out of the cockpit, teams uploading snaps of their speed directly to the internet, thousands of fans using hashtags to discuss the latest news from Valencia or Jerez, and far from giving us F1 overkill, it merely seems to heighten expectations as Formula 1 unsurprisingly grasps a technological development and makes the most of it.

In the past week alone #robertkubica, #bbcf1, #jerez and #formulaone have been among the most talked about topics on Twitter, most team launches were simulcast online this year, and you may have already topped up Bernie's wallet with the 2011 F1 timing app.

When the BBC got the F1 contract one thing I was really keen to do was bring the F1 fans closer to the sport that ever before. Yes, walking into a garage, touching the cars, unscripted chats with the team members and having a certain effervescent Irishman grabbing anyone he likes in a headlock is the kind of revolutionary approach you all seem to enjoy, but I think blogs, websites, apps and tweets have done just as much.

So, one month to go before we see the 24 new cars roll out into the blazing Bahrain sun. A month until Schumi looks to prove 2010 was just an anomaly, one month until we have three British drivers on the grid with Paul di Resta joining the elite.

So Paul will line up in the Middle East, sadly though, Kubica won't. I heard about Robert's accident while in Wales waiting to host live football and at first it didn't seem too serious. However, as news started to emerge it became clear it had been a very unfortunate, freak accident and his racing future would be in some doubt.

However, almost immediately social media was on the scene as people updated us from the hospital and from within the team. I was really moved by how quickly messages of support started to appear online and I know that Renault will have passed on all your good wishes.

Well this year, for the Bahrain GP in particular I want to use social media to help get the whole of the country watching the first race of the season...and that is where you come in.

The BBC's F1 following is incredible and the viewing figures since the sport returned to what I consider its natural home have been record breaking.

However, F1 is the kind of sport where the more you know the more you want to know. I still get tweets, emails or people stopping me in the frozen food aisle saying 'isn't it just cars going round in circles?'

Well of course it is, but there is the unseen drama of the tactics, the split-second decision making, the mind-boggling physics that keeps the car on the track...and then there is the actual racing.

I honestly can't believe that with the stunning locations, incredible driving talent, danger, bravery and political manouverings on and off the track that the whole country isn't sitting down at 1210 to watch the racing.

So, here's what I'd love you to do. I want you to bring a friend to BBC F1.

Essentially all this means is that you pick a mate or even better a bunch of mates who you know don't normally watch F1. Maybe offer to make Sunday lunch, or host an F1 party. Get them in front of the TV and let us do the rest.

With a Kers boost button and new rear wings to aid overtaking, a brand new tyre manufacturer coming onboard that could result in multiple-pitstops in the first few races, 12 teams and five world champions on the grid, is there a better time to bring a friend to BBC F1?

I'll be tweeting about my campaign too, so feel free to add the #bringafriendtobbcf1 hashtag to your tweets, tweet me and let me know what you are organising for 13 March and let's see what we can achieve together.

Time to induct a whole new legion of potential F1 fans. We know the sport we love is amazing. Are you ready to spread the word?

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/jakehumphrey/2011/02/gearing_up_for_the_new_f1_seas.html

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NASCAR Drivers Training- The Physical and Mental Stresses

So maybe you are fascinated with NASCAR and would like to choose this as a career. How does one go about participating in race driver training so as to become a driver? There are drivers training schools but all are very expensive and there is no guarantee that you will become a real NASCAR driver. So what kind of training makes a professional driver?

Well, just as in other professional sports, the competition to be a driver is very tough. But more than that, the majority of people dont get there because of a lack of driver training. It usually is because of who they know, who their family is, and where they started. These drivers start when they are very young and run the go cart circuits. Their fathers were probably race car drivers. They probably ran into a promoter or sponsor somewhere along the way that gives them their big break.

NASCAR driver training includes the physical portion and also stresses mental conditioning. Although to the fans it looks easy, a drivers brain has to work very fast to be alert to other cars around him while trying to take the lead and maintain it.

The best training has been learned in the early years by most of these drivers when they were just children. Growing up around tracks and being able to drive the cars at young ages allowed the driver training to become somewhat instinctive. This is very important because later on during professional competition, the carbon monoxide levels can get very high inside of the drivers compartment. Carbon monoxide can cause confusion. The way to overcome confusion is to depend on instinct. Training accentuates the instinct.

The physical conditioning of the driver is the subject for an article all its own but you can think about it as somewhat like an astronaut preparing for his or her first launch. The G forces are very significant for a race car driver and driver training includes getting conditioned to them. Astronauts experience significantly more G forces but the NASCAR driver should include conditioning for them nonetheless.

The training also includes the drivers education from a young age. You might ask what non-driving education has to do with NASCAR driver training. Well, a driver is going to be promoting the products of some very large and prominent companies. That means that along the way he or she will have to give an endorsement of the products. If these guys get in front of the camera and cannot use proper grammar it would not look too good.

Another reason why education is important in NASCAR is because the driver wont be able to drive forever. Once a driver gets into middle age, it becomes tougher. So he will need to be able to branch out into other aspects of the racing business. He will probably still be running the team but will have to think more of the business aspect of things. This is where business and marketing education would be most beneficial.

Many of the retired drivers such as Richard Petty operate driving schools as well as serious driver improvement programs when they are offering NASCAR driving experiences for those wondering what its like to be as a NASCAR driver.

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Article Source: NASCAR Drivers Training- The Physical and Mental Stresses

Source: http://www.articlespan.com/article/101622/nascar-drivers-training-the-physical-and-mental-stresses

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Training To Work Among NASCAR Motorsports Finest

A garage technician might have big dreams of working around NASCAR racecars but will keep those dreams in check because they know they are not trained to work on that equipment or any other high performance engines for that matter. The typical garage mechanic might be able to repair a street model automobile, but it takes a lot of training to work among motorsports finest.

The automobiles that are part of the NASCAR motorsports realm are not the everyday automobile. They might fall under automobile manufacturing names that are well known throughout the automobile industry but they are not the kind that are easy to care for in a local garage. The engines used are tooled to be precision instruments that are capable of achieving over 200 miles per hour in the stretch. To enable the engines to maintain those speeds requires the care and expertise of a graduate of the NASCAR automotive schools.

Automotive engineers and the whim's of the car's owner, might have the NASCAR racing machines in the garage for inspections at any time. They might craftily mold the body parts to exact specifications and match sure that all emblematic decals are perfectly matched. It will be the responsibility of these motorsports technicians to ensure that they car can race every weekend and if parts need to be order and installed by race day, it is there job to do it.

Since there are many automobile manufacturers included in the mix that lines up at the starting line of NASCAR races week to week, there is a dire need for qualified technicians that have been thoroughly trained to meet the racing engine needs. A simple class in automotive mechanics will just not be sufficient enough to make repairs on vehicles that run at such high speeds more than 40 weekends out of the year. This type of need requires someone that is fast and a fan of racing.

Many automotive mechanics would jump at the chance to earn a career opportunity that allows them to work on NASCAR engines. There is a wide range of courses available that can be taken online with significant discounts on tuition to those that qualify. The training will be very thorough and all applicants can look forward to learning all about engines and how to be a member of a professional pit crew. The training courses move at a brisk speed which fits in well with the world of racing.

To achieve training to work among NASCAR motorsports finest requires training time in the classroom and on the racetrack too. The typical automotive mechanic might learn a thing or two about performance engines when they delve into those engines in a class filled with their peers. The people that graduate from the NASCAR automotive schools are well-rounded people who have dug in and learned things that they never knew were possible. NASCAR will expect high performance out of the graduates of the schools because they have a lot of money riding on the equipment and the driver that sits in the front seat.

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Article Source: Training To Work Among NASCAR Motorsports Finest

Source: http://www.articlespan.com/article/66565/training-to-work-among-nascar-motorsports-finest

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Di Resta out to prove winning potential

Paul di Resta has bumped up the British numbers racing in Formula 1 this year by finally signing for Force India.

But unlike his compatriots, McLaren drivers and world champions Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, Di Resta is out to prove he deserves his place on the grid.

The likeable 24-year-old Scot, whose promotion has been expected for some time, has plenty of reasons to feel confident about his first season in F1.

Over the course of 12 months as Force India reserve in 2010, Di Resta has already managed to galvanise the team's support.

His manager Anthony Hamilton, father of Lewis, revealed: "There hasn't been anything negative from the team. Paul has done a great job and they love him."

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The team were so smitten by Di Resta that his seat does not depend on sponsorship - in stark contrast to 2011's other rookies, Pastor Maldonado of Williams, Virgin's Jerome D'Ambrosio and Sauber's Sergio Perez.

In fact, to partner Di Resta with German Adrian Sutil, Force India will have to pay a financial settlement to Sutil's 2010 team-mate Vitantonio Liuzzi for breaking the firm contract the Italian had for this season.

Force India must be certain Di Resta has something worth paying for.

The son of racer-turned-businessman Louis di Resta and cousin of three-time IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti, Di Resta has described having racing "in his blood".

After winning the 2010 German touring car championship (DTM) for Mercedes on his weekends off from F1 duties, Di Resta arrives as a proven champion.

In his junior career, the Scot raced against future F1 world champions Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, notably beating the German to the Formula Three Euroseries crown.

Di Resta recalled in a 2008 interview: "Sebastian was my team-mate in 2006. I definitely beat him on far more occasions than he ever beat me.

"I'm not saying that I'm a faster or better driver than him but you'd have to say there's at least parity between us.

"As for Lewis, when we had the same machinery we were equally good."

In terms of raw talent Di Resta may well be a match for two of F1's fastest men but it will be difficult for him to prove it when he rejoins them on track.

The laidback Scot's first task will be to adapt his racing mindset from DTM's slower 'tin-top' cars to F1's open, single-seater speed machines.

The difference between driving a touring car with 500bhp and an F1 car charged with 750bhp and tonnes of downforce can be compared to handling a family estate car and a supercar.

"It requires a different style to drive both [cars] on the limit; it's not easy," explains McLaren reserve and driver Gary Paffett, who was one of Di Resta's Mercedes team-mates in the DTM last year.

"But if you can win in DTM it puts you in a good position to do a good job in F1. Paul will do a good job - but how good?

"If you're used to winning you might have to get over the fact that you're not going to be beating the McLarens and Ferraris week in, week out or beating your team-mate 100% of the time. That's something you have to learn."

In eight first practice sessions over grand prix weekends for Force India last season, Di Resta was only able to out-pace either Sutil or Liuzzi, who alternated in the other car, once.

Improving that niggling statistic will be a target for the Scot when the season begins with free practice in Bahrain on 11 March.

Beyond that, barring a major surprise Di Resta will not have the machinery capable of reigniting his teenage rivalry with Hamilton and Vettel, Red Bull's reigning champion.

Force India finished seventh in the constructors' championship last season with Sutil collecting best-place finishes of fifth in Malaysia and Spa. In terms of pace, both drivers failed to qualify inside the top 10 in the final six races of 2010.

The development of Force India's 2011 car has had to absorb some unsettling changes at the team's Silverstone factory, with two technical directors, James Key and Mark Smith, as well as chief designer Lewis Butler leaving for rival teams in the space of a year.

Force India intend to fine-tune the new VJM04 car in the wind tunnel before introducing it at the second pre-season test in Jerez - a policy also adopted by McLaren, but not by Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault and Williams, who will all have new cars ready for the first test in Valencia next week.

After the flashbulbs and fanfare of being unveiled as an F1 driver have died down, Di Resta will start the process of making his opportunity count in Valencia driving a modified 2010 car.

Di Resta may still have everything to prove in F1 but like the rest of 2011's rookies he also has nothing to lose.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/sarahholt/2011/01/paul_di_resta_has_bumped.html

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Champions Red Bull the centre of attention

Valencia

On a cold January morning in Valencia it was hard for Red Bull to bask in their glories of last season's double championship success as they unveiled their 2011 challenger.

World champion Sebastian Vettel wisely wore a woolly hat and a blond beard as he and team-mate Mark Webber shiveringly unsheathed the RB7.

There was even an early attempt to burst Red Bull's bubble when a plucky journalist asked in the team's first media conference of the new season, "Have you thought that this car could be complete junk?"

Webber stared into the middle distance, designer Adrian Newey fashioned a face of indifference and it was left to Vettel to answer in shock, "No!"

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By the end of the first day, Vettel had emphatically answered the question on the track by holding sway at the top of the timesheets.

The world champion was more than 0.7 seconds ahead of the next 2011 car, which happened to belong to the man he beat to the 2010 crown, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.

Times don't count for much on the first day of winter testing as the teams are furiously tinkering with the cars, running with unknown amounts of fuel on board and learning how to adapt to the Pirelli tyres, which will be used instead of Bridgestone this season.

But Vettel's marker was undeniably a statement of intent - Red Bull are out to defend both titles.

"It's a good sign," Vettel commented after his first day back in the cockpit. "Generally it's better to be on top of the ranking than being at the other end.

"What we achieved [in 2010] made us all very proud and no-one can take it away from us.

"But we have to develop on how good we were last year or the others will pass us. We have to stay focused, keep learning and keep trying to get better. If we just have the same approach as last year then we won't move forward."

Red Bull were cagey about the specific design changes and upgrades to the 2011 car.

Perhaps you cannot blame them when some of the other teams were hovering amid the media throng at the Red Bull launch trying to get a glimpse of Newey's latest creation. One rival team representative was even spotted unsubtly snapping away with a long-range zoom lens.

Red Bull simply say that the car is an evolution of its 2010 championship-winning vehicle and that a lot of the changes are "beneath the skin".

The principal tasks for all teams is in incorporating 2011's regulation changes which include the addition of a movable rear wing to aid overtaking, the return of 2009's Kers energy recovery and power boost system and the removal of the double diffuser, as well as gaining an understanding of the new Pirelli tyres.

Unlike last season, when they skipped the first test to spend more time honing the car at their Milton Keynes factory, Red Bull arrived at the opening test determined to take full advantage of the 15 days of testing before the first race of the season next month.

"We felt that the car was ready to be released," explained Newey. "It's always a balance of research time versus development time in terms of performance and reliability. I was keen to get the car out for the first test.

"It's difficult to design the car for the Pirelli tyres. Packaging for Kers is a challenge and no doubt McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes will have Kers and will be competitive and so for no other reason we need to get it to work for performance off the line.

"In terms of performance we are all struggling to recover the downforce we lost through the double diffuser.

"It is a period of nervousness for us but also a period of excitement."

While Newey grapples with the nuances of designing another peerless car, team boss Christian Horner is tasked with avoiding a repeat of the tensions within his team that threatened to derail last season's championships.

Friction between Vettel and Webber memorably spilled over onto the track at the Turkish Grand Prix when Vettel crashed out in an attempt to pass his team-mate for the lead.

"They'll push each other hard but I don't think they'll push each other too hard as they did in Istanbul," Horner commented.

"They have number one and number two on their cars but that is in many ways irrelevant. We give both drivers equal priority and that's the way we will treat them in 2011."

In their first appearance ahead of the new season, Red Bull presented a united front as a team hungry for more success. With the world champion leading the field, the fastest car on the track and the largest motorhome in the paddock, they already look every inch like being the team to beat when racing resumes next month in Bahrain.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/sarahholt/2011/02/champions_red_bull_the_centre.html

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