Hendrick had a huge night with Junior winning the first race of the night to qualify for the million dollar All-Star main event. But Jimmy Johnson was in a class by himself last night.
http://www.thatsracin.com/2012/05/19/87517/johnson-takes-control-scores-all.html
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The qualifying story came down to Andretti Autosport vs. Team Penske. In the end Ryan Briscoe was the guy holding te giant check for a hundred-grand.
http://www.indystar.com/article/20120520/SPORTS0101/305200010/1217/SPORTS0107
The move to turbocharged engines should have meant *more* horsepower for Indycar this year. However, the engines have been a little soft, which is why Indycar cranked up the turbo-boost for Fast Friday and Qualifying. The speeds yesterday were on par with previous years, and the pole should be around 228 mph.
The drivers are said to be lobbying to have Indycar keep the boost turned up for the race now, with some drivers saying that the car feels better with the extra horses. But can these engines last 500 miles while being pushed that hard?
“We had the pace to take pole – but I don’t think I got one clean lap.” – Casey Stoner
BBC Sport – MotoGP: Dani Pedrosa on pole for French race in Le Mans.
This is pathetic. If Lotus can’t build a motor even in the same bracket of performance with Honda and Chevy, they shouldn’t qualify for the 500. Indycar is mulling over the idea of giving Lotus more boost so they don’t get run over, and to make sure they have 33 cars within 105% of the pole time.
So is the equivalency formula making a comeback? Roger has a tractor engine he wants to run in his Dallara next year.
http://www.indystar.com/article/20120519/SPORTS0101/205190323/1217/SPORTS0107
Casey Stoner, the “grisly old veteran” that is retiring MotoGP this year at age 26, is now linked to a moved to V8 Supercars in Australia. Stoner says to be retiring due to “family reasons”, which probably means that guy wants to keep his body intact and take on other challenges.
The “old man”, by the way, was fastest this morning and is likely to retire at the top of his game. He has hardly looked better at any time in his career.
TheSpec – Johnson helps Hendrick reach 200-victory milestone.
Pastor Maldonado wins Spanish Grand Prix; garage fire injures 16 – USATODAY.com.
What the “H” is going on in Formula 1 this year with teams like Lotus andd Sauber out-qualifying Red Bull? It seems some of the upside-down results are due to tire (tyre?) saving strategies that some teams are using, but the start and early part of the race should be very dicey.
Spanish Grand Prix 2012 – Qualifying
Driver Teams Time
1 LC Hamilton (GBR) McLaren 1’21.707
2 P Maldonado (VEN) Williams 1’22.285
3 F Alonso (ESP) Ferrari 1’22.302
4 R Grosjean (FRA) Lotus 1’22.424
5 KM Räikkönen (FIN) Lotus 1’22.487
6 S Perez (MEX) Sauber 1’22.533
ESPN F1 has more.
Lewis Hamilton rockets to Spanish pole | Spanish Grand Prix | Formula 1 news, live F1 | ESPN F1.
Say what you want about Danica’s media circus, but you have to have some driving chops to finish in the top 15 at Darlington. That place is just a weird old racetrack that looks absolutely frightening to race on.
DEARBORN, Mich., May 11, 2012– Carroll Shelby was a member of the Ford family for the better part of 60 years, producing stunning performance vehicles from concepts to production models.
He once said his energy and passion for performance products were always strongest when he was working with Ford. View Full Post/Video →
This would be a storybook way for Hendrick to get their big win and Earnhardt to get his first one in a bazillion races. Steve Letarte might still find a way to mess it up, though.
http://www.heraldonline.com/2012/05/06/3951174/stage-at-talladega-couldnt-be.html
So far the MotoGP season has been lacking entertainment value, but Stoner’ dominance has been something to behold.
Let’s all pray for a safer race today as the Cup series takes to the Dega high banks.
Now, I will be able to watch full race replays on IndyCar’s YouTube channel, after the races have been broadcast. I learned about the news via IndyCar’s Facebook page and in researching this article, I could not find any other official announcements made, other than the update on Facebook. The post reads “Exciting news! Our races will be on our YouTube page after they broadcast! Look for the Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 presented by Nestle coming soon!”
IndyCar Races Are Coming to YouTube: Fan’s View – Yahoo! Sports.
Topanga Canyon, CA (May 2, 2012) — After three very solid qualifying rounds and an exciting showdown in the first round of eliminations, the Kalitta Motorsports Tequila Patrόn Toyota Camry Funny Car team left the Lone Star state happy with their performance and ready to hit the ground running in Atlanta, GA.
Going into the weekend, Team Patrόn knew they would be up against high temperatures, making for tricky track conditions. The crew was able to apply their knowledge from a previous warm weather test day, giving them a slight tuning advantage going into the weekend.
“Our team was very happy with our results, given the hot track. The car has consistency and has been running fast. It’s all about progression,” said Jim Oberhofer, VP of Kalitta Motorsports. View Full Post/Video →
I know that the NASCAR machine wants to tout Richmond as some sort of no-holds-barred bullring, but I’ve never found this racetrack to be very interesting. Neither did much of America on Saturday night as the race was one of least watched races ever on FOX.
Sprint Cup: NASCAR From Richmond Ties Second-Lowest FOX Overnight | Sports Media Watch.