2012-13 Motörsports Thread - Pray for NNS Fans

[BR329]

Mar 29, 2013 12:51:10 GMT -5 Richard said:

Mar 29, 2013 12:26:50 GMT -5 BearDogg-X said:

USA Today reports that Mark Martin will drive the #11 for Denny Hamlin for the races Hamlin will miss expect for Talladega.

No word on who will drive the #55 with Martin driving the #11, though it is expected that Brian Vickers will end up in the car.

I'm excited for Mark and think he'll get win. I really thought Vickers would have ended up in the car since I think he drives for Gibbs in the NNS.

I thought Sadler was going to end up there but Mark is a good choice. And Vickers in the 55 makes sense because MWR wants him full time in that car next year.

[BearDogg-X]

Wait, change of plans. USA Today now reporting that Mark Martin is only driving the #11 at Martinsville, then he'll go back to the #55. Brian Vickers will drive the #55 at Martinsville then drive the #11 starting at Texas and through at least Talladega.

[BearDogg-X]

Jimmie Johnson wins at Martinsville, Clint Bowyer 2nd, Jeff Gordon 3rd, Kyle Busch 4th, Brad Keselowski 5th, Mark Martin finishes 10th, Brian Vickers 11th, and Danica Patrick 12th.

[BearDogg-X]

Ryan Hunter-Reay wins the Indycar race at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, Scott Dixon 2nd for the 4th year in a row.

Andretti Autosport 2 for 2 for the season with Long Beach in 2 weeks.

[Deleted]

The IndyCar race was great fun toward the end. Loved the battle for the win between Castroneves, Hunter-Reay, and Dixon. Nice run by Charlie Kimball as well, he was making some nice moves all day.

[VRM: LET'S GO BLUESHIRTS!!]

Missed everything last week due to going to Mania. Time for some night racing in Texas

[VRM: LET'S GO BLUESHIRTS!!]

BOOGITY BOOGITY BOOGITY!!!! LET'S GO RACING BOYS!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ishmeal Loves BBL Bayley]

Kyle Busch and Martin Truex have dominated the early portion of the race at Texas. Right now, Biffle and Earnhardt, Jr. are on the move as it gets dark.

[VRM: LET'S GO BLUESHIRTS!!]

KYLE BUSCH WINS THE 2013 NRA 500!

[deafangelboy23]

I am bored with Kyle Busch after winning Texas 500.

[Lupin the Third]

Brad Keslowski lashed out at NASCAR Officials after the race, quite pissed about how his team and Joey Logano's team were treated this week.

[Deleted]

At the NRA 500, a man shot himself.

[Richard]

Penske Racing just got slammed by NASCAR for violations prior to the NSCS @ Texas.

• Brad Keselowski and Roger Penske were docked 25 points each.
• Paul Wolfe was fined $100k, suspended 6 points races as well as the All Star Race and placed on probation until Dec. 31
• Car chief Jerry Kelley, team engineer Brian Wilson and team manager Travis Geisler (serves as team manager for both the No. 2 and No. 22 cars) have been suspended from NASCAR until the completion of the next six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship points events (including the non-points Sprint All-Star Race) and placed on probation until Dec. 31

• Logano and Walt Czarnecki (owner of record for the 22 team) were each docked 25 points
• Crew chief Todd Gordon has been fined $100,000 and suspended from NASCAR until the completion of the next six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship points events (including the non-points Sprint All-Star Race) and placed on probation until Dec. 31.
• Car chief Raymond Fox and team engineer Samuel Stanley have been suspended from NASCAR until the completion of the next six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship points events (including the non-points Sprint All-Star Race) and placed on probation until Dec. 31/li]
  

[Lupin the Third]

So Penske was penalized for parts that weren't technically illegal, but not "in the spirit of the rules."

Jeez I'd hate to see what kinda penalties they would've got if the parts were illegal. Someone might've got a hand chopped off.

[Deleted]

Takuma Sato wins the 39th Grand Prix of Long Beach. It's his first career IndyCar, the first in a long time for A.J. Foyt Enterprises, and the first for a Japanese driver in IndyCar. Really glad to see him win, especially after how close he came several times last season.

[triplethreatmark]

Apr 21, 2013 19:52:32 GMT -5 @thickmcrunfast said:

Takuma Sato wins the 39th Grand Prix of Long Beach. It's his first career IndyCar, the first in a long time for A.J. Foyt Enterprises, and the first for a Japanese driver in IndyCar. Really glad to see him win, especially after how close he came several times last season.

I was at the race and let me just say that nothing compares to standing on Shoreline Dr. when 27 Indycars come storming through. I almost went deaf but it was worth it. I ended the race watching the cars go through turn 7.

As far as the race goes, it was a great race, with a few surprises. Really surprised to see Hinchcliffe and Hunter-Reay leave the race via caution. It also sucks that Will Power got held up in the pits and it essentially ruined his race. Anyways, those last 25 laps of the race were a dominant performance by Takuma and everybody was glad to see him win after being so close time and time again.

[Deleted]

I always kind of liked Sato, especially when he came in with the green and yellow Lotus-sponsored car a few years back, but I became a fan when a lot of other people likely did, as he stuffed it into the wall trying to win the 500 last year. Was hoping he would end up winning a race last year, but it's pretty cool that his first is at Long Beach.


I was surprised to see so many dumb mistakes made today, but then avoiding those mistakes is a big part of the challenge of street courses. I'd love to see one in person but the nearest one is Detroit and that is usually a low point as far as quality racing goes. I'm sure it'd be pretty cool in person but it doesn't seem worth the drive, I guess. I'll be attending my 18th 500 this year so I really can't complain though.

What I'm liking this year is that there is no one who is leaping out as a championship contender just yet. Last year 70 points separated 1st from 10th after Long Beach, this year that gap is 38. The first three races last year each had a Penske pole sitter and winner, while this year's races have had three different teams on pole, and two first-time winners in Hinch and Sato. The fastest laps at the last two races were set by James Jakes and E.J. Viso, of all people. I thought last year was really fun but 2013 looks to be even better so far.

[BearDogg-X]

It also seems like the other teams have finally caught up to Team Penske and Target Chip Ganassi as they dominated at least since reunification, though Helio's the current points leader and Dixon's in 3rd.

Maybe we'll see start seeing some of the other teams(like AJ Foyt's team today) finally breaking through and consistently winning races(like Simona de Silvestro or Tony Kaanan(winning his 1st race since leaving Andretti) at KV Racing, Graham Rahal at his dad's team, or JR Hildebrand at Panther(which hasn't won a race for a long time either) for example).

Today was AJ Foyt Enterprises' 1st Indycar win since Airton Dare at Kansas in 2002.

In other racing:

Matt Kenseth won the STP 400 at Kansas, holding off Kasey Kahne.

Sebastian Vettel won the F1 Bahrain Grand Prix.

[Deleted]

Kenseths engine has failed post-race inspection. No penalties have been announced yet:http://www.jayski.com/cupnews.htm#20130424g

Penalties of the 20 team are as followed:
Driver Matt Kenseth has lost 50 championship points, as well as the additional bonus points he attained for winning last weekend’s STP 400. His pole run at Kansas will also not be allowed for eligibility into the 2014 Sprint Unlimited at Daytona International Speedway.

Kenseth’s crew chief, Jason Ratcliff, has been fined $200,000 and will be suspended for the next six Sprint Cup points events (the period also includes the non-points Sprint All-Star Race). He will also be placed on probation until Dec. 31.

Joe Gibbs has lost 50 championship car owner points and the owner’s license for the No. 20 car has been suspended for the next six points events, which means he cannot accumulate owner’s points during that period.

Toyota has lost five points in the manufacturer’s championship.

The team will be appealing.

[BearDogg-X]

Also, if Kenseth makes the Chase, he won't get the bonus points for winning at Kansas. Basically, Kenseth keeps the victory, he just won't get the benefits from the win.

In other Sprint Cup news, for the road course races at Sonoma and Watkins Glen, they will be doing group qualifying like F1, Indycar, and in Nationwide Series.