McLaren At WMSC Hearing: “Off With Their Heads!”
April 28, 2009
As the oft quoted Madame Dufarge would have said, it’s time to separate McLaren’s head from its body. The World Motor Sport Council will deliberate the validity of McLaren’s Liargate charges and issue their punishment tomorrow. Read more
VIR Bosch Engineering 250 Draws Record Crowd
April 28, 2009
For Immediate Release
Rolex Series Attracts VIR Record Crowd for Saturday’s Bosch Engineering 250
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (April 28, 2009) - Saturday’s Bosch Engineering 250, Round 2 of the 2009 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16, drew a record race weekend crowd at Virginia International Raceway.
“The Bosch Engineering 250 Weekend set a new record for attendance for automobile racing at VIR since it reopened in 2000,” said Josh Lief, General Manager at Virginia International Raceway. “Advance tickets sales were up 40 percent over 2008. Preliminary reporting shows that overall ticket sales for the event weekend were up at least fifteen percent. We are very proud of our effort at VIR, and for the great work of our partners and friends at Bosch, Grand-Am, Volkswagen and many others who all helped make this event the great success that it was.”
In addition, ratings for SPEED’s live television broadcast were up 10 percent for the event, which is on top of an 11 percent increase in 2008, giving the event significant increases over two consecutive years.
“SPEED’s production of Grand-Am Road Racing improves year after year,” said Grand-Am President Roger Edmondson. “Our on-track excitement and fan-friendly activities continue to draw fans to our races, along with viewers to our race broadcasts.”
The race was preceded by an autograph session, featuring all of the Rolex Series drivers, and a 30-minute Fan Walk where the pre-race grid was open, free of charge, to all spectators.
“When I rolled in the gate Saturday morning, I was astonished at the crowd - the entire facility was packed with car, tents, RVs and fans,” said Andy Lally, driver of the TRG Porsche who also drove fan laps to benefit Camp Boggy Creek. “It was an exciting weekend.”
Alex Gurney held off Michael Valiante and David Donohue in an exciting finish to win in the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley started by Jon Fogarty. Robin Liddell survived a late-race charge by Paul Edwards to give the No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Bryan Mark Pontiac GXP.R the GT class victory in a one-two finish for Pontiacs.
“It was definitely a great crowd,” Gurney said. “It was a beautiful day and a fantastic turnout. We can tell that people are identifying more with our series and the great on-track action. It was very exciting from the driver’s seat, and we showed the people we can put on a great show.”
The Rolex Series returns to action this weekend at Thunderbolt Raceway in Millville, N.J.’s New Jersey Motorsports Park. Practice begins Friday at 8:40 a.m., with qualifying Saturday at 1:45 p.m. and the two-hour, 45-minute race taking the green flag at 1 p.m. Sunday. The race will be televised live on SPEED. The weekend also includes a two-hour, 30-minute KONI Sports Car Challenge race on Saturday at 3 p.m.
For additional information, contact Grand-Am:
Tammy Davis, Director of Communications, tdavis@grand-am.com, 386-681-6131
Grand-Am | 1801 W. Int’l Speedway Blvd. | Daytona Beach | FL | 32114
Haga and Spies continue to trade punches, split again in Assen WSBK round
April 28, 2009
The battle between Noriyuki Haga and Ben Spies continued in Assen as the two riders each won one of two races over the weekend. Haga extended his points lead significantly after Spies high sided in race two. Spies trails Haga by 60 points going into Monza.
Fiat Yamaha seal incredible one-two in MotoGP Japanese GP
April 28, 2009
From Yamaha Racing:
After it looked at one point on race-day as if the Grand Prix of Japan would be a complete washout, the sun broke through the dark clouds and streamed onto the Motegi circuit as the Fiat Yamaha team enjoyed a clean sweep of the top two spots. With qualifying having been cancelled yesterday due to the heavy rain, both riders started the race from the front row of the grid according to their times from Friday’s free practice. Following a stunning race, Jorge Lorenzo took the glory of standing on the top step of the podium, after coming through a brilliant scrap with his team-mate Valentino Rossi, who finished a close second.
Keselowski scores first Cup win at ‘Dega, seven fans injured in Edwards crash
April 28, 2009
Brad Keselowski ran like a freight train (almost literally) to the front of the field to win his first race in NASCAR Sprint Cup on Sunday, surviving a race that was full of crashes and burning race cars. In the end, Keselowski got the checkers, while Carl Edwards got his Ford wadded up in the catch fence on the last lap.
The story behind the last lap crash involves the ever more infamous rule that forbids NASCAR drivers from crossing below the yellow line at the bottom of the track without being penalized. Keselowski trailed Edwards going into the final lap on Sunday, and when Edwards tried a last second block on a charging Keselowski, all hell broke loose as the young gun held his car in bounds.
Here’s the video in case you haven’t seen it 200 times on TV yet.
Dixon rides the wind to victory in Kansas
April 27, 2009
Scott Dixon mastered the windy conditions at Kansas Speedway on Sunday to win the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 in dominating fashion. Dixon rebounded strongly from two poor finishes at the street courses of St. Petersburg and Long Beach to give Target/Chip Ganassi racing a third straight win at the Kansas oval.
BrawnGP, Button, Win In Bahrain.
April 27, 2009
Jenson Button drove a measured, mistake free race to claim BrawnGP’s third victory out of four races this year. The Red Bull car of Sebastian Vettel came home second and the disappointing Toyota of Jarno Trulli claimed third. Read more
Rahal saves the best for last, takes Kansas pole
April 25, 2009
Graham Rahal was last in line for qualifying, but will be on pole for the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 at Kansas Speedway on Sunday. Rahal drove the #02 McDonalds car to a four lap average of 211.311 mph.
Rahal’s late qualifying draw was fortunate, because as the track got faster and faster as the session went on. The session began late due to a large amount of oil and fluid on the track left by a NASCAR race truck the blew a motor during their session that preceded the Indy Car qualifying session. The cleanup lasted almost 45 minutes.
Early in the qualifying session, Scott Dixon set the time to beat at 210.220 mph. Dixon’s time was beaten by Target teammate, Dario Franchitti, who ran a four lap average of 210.967. Franchitti’s held the provisional pole until Rahal’s run the finished the session, landing him in the second spot. However, Franchitti’s time was thrown out by Indy Racing League officials because he broke series rules crossed below the white line during his run.
Talladega Starting Grid - Montoya leads the field to green
April 25, 2009
Juan Pablo Montoya captured his first NASCAR pole of 2009 on Saturday when he qualified for the Aaron’s 499 at Talledega Speedway. His speed of 188.171 mph was posted in the #42 Earnhardt-Ganassi Chevrolet.
Sam Hornish Jr. turned in an impressive performance in qualifying. He will start third in the Penske car. The top Toyota powered qualifier was rookie, Scott Speed, who qualified eight with a lap of 187.841 mph.
POS CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR SPEED TIME BEHIND 1 42 Juan Montoya Chevy Tums Dual Action 188.171 50.890 Leader 2 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3M 188.141 50.898 -0.008 3 1 M. Truex Jr. Chevy Bass Pro Shops/Tracker 187.971 50.944 -0.054 4 77 S. Hornish Jr. Dodge Penske Truck Rental/AAA 187.953 50.949 -0.059 5 33 Clint Bowyer Chevy BB&T 187.919 50.958 -0.068 6 78 Regan Smith Chevy Furniture Row 187.897 50.964 -0.074 7 5 Mark Martin Chevy Carquest / Kellogg's 187.861 50.974 -0.084 8 82 Scott Speed* Toyota Red Bull 187.824 50.984 -0.094 9 09 Brad Keselowski Chevy Miccosukee Resrt/Gaming 187.687 51.021 -0.131 10 6 David Ragan Ford UPS 187.640 51.034 -0.144
Dixon leads Indy Car Kansas practice
April 25, 2009
Scott Dixon set fast time in Indy Car practice at Kansas Speedway in preparation for the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 coming up on Sunday. Dixon drove the Target car to a speed of 211.980 mph, turning in a lap on the 1.5 mile oval in 25.8137 seconds. The Target/Chip Ganassi team has a strong history at the Kansas track, having won the race with Dan Wheldon at the wheel for the last two years in a row.
The top 10 cars in practice were all within .15 seconds of each other, showing the incredible parity in the series this year. With stricter technical rules on ovals this year, the teams will have to work hard to gain hundredths of seconds at tracks like Kansas.
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