Finding Angel in Black

I PERIODICALLY scour the Internet for pages about my last book, "Angel In Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr."

Here are a few:

Rebecca Gladden
Very Clever
Borders
Shelfari
NexTag
Readers Views

Source: http://the-auto-racing-journal.blogspot.com/2010/10/finding-angel-in-black.html

Jacques Laffite Franck Lagorce Jan Lammers Pedro Lamy

The Johnson Inevitability Watch: Close, but is it close enough?

You know the story by now: Jimmie Johnson is on the march for his fifth straight Sprint Cup title. While many fans (and, apparently, quite a few drivers) have thrown their hands in the air and given up, we're taking a slightly more scientific approach. As we near the inevitable (or not), we're watching to see where Johnson was at this point in the season during each of his previous four championship runs. Is there reason to hope, or reason to despair? Guess what: there's both!

2010: Only two drivers, Denny Hamlin (41 points back) and Kevin Harvick (77 points back) are within 100 points of Johnson's lead. But Hamlin and Harvick have to consider Charlotte at least a minor victory by not letting Johnson get more than a few points up on them.

2009: Johnson was rolling here; the only guy within 100 points was Mark Martin, and Ol' No. 5 was 90 points back. This year was fast becoming a victory lap, not a race, by this point.

2008: Another strong five-race performance by Johnson had him 69 points up on Jeff Burton and 86 points up on Greg Biffle. Of note: Johnson's strongest challenger that year, Carl Edwards, had yet to make his run.

2007: Jeff Gordon was leading the show here, with Johnson 68 points back and Clint Bowyer 78 points off the lead. But the writing was on the wall.

2006: Jeff Burton was running the show here, with Matt Kenseth 45 points back and Kevin Harvick 89 points back. Johnson was in 7th place, 146 points back. And we all know what was coming soon.

So there you have it. In the years when Johnson has held the lead, this Chase is closer than any other. And in years when Johnson didn't hold the lead, it's obvious that someone can make a charge from deep in the field. Will they? Can they? Have your say on the odds of No. 48 capturing No. 5. 

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/blog/from_the_marbles/post/The-Johnson-Inevitability-Watch-Close-but-is-i?urn=nascar-278528

David Lee Blaney Michael Duane Bliss Kurt Thomas Busch Kyle Thomas Busch

Shane Hmiel Critically Injured in Sprint Car Crash

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nofenders/zbjv/~3/81nUQoAAPyQ/hane-hmiel-critically-injured-in-sprint.html

Great Clips Toyota Parker Kligerman Steve Wallace 5 hour Energy Toyota

Kasey Kahne bounced from Richard Petty Motorsports

Big news in the NASCAR world Wednesday night, as Kasey Kahne has been released from Richard Petty Motorsports with five races left in the season, clearing the way for him to join Red Bull Racing sooner than expected.

News is still breaking at this writing, but the Charlotte Observer's Jim Utter initially reported that Kahne was in negotiations to leave RPM and jump to Red Bull, perhaps as soon as this weekend. It was mildly surprising, but given the disputes this past weekend between Kahne and his crew, which were the culmination of many weeks of frustration, perhaps an inevitability.

What was more of a shock was what came only a few minutes later, as Sirius/XM and AP/Yahoo! Sports' Jenna Fryer reported almost simultaneously that Kahne was out at RPM. Richard Petty Motorsports released the following statement: "Kasey Kahne has been released from his driving duties with Richard Petty Motorsports effective immediately. Aric Almirola will pilot the No. 9 Budweiser Ford Fusion in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event this weekend at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Driver line-up beyond Martinsville is to be determined." 

Almirola had been scheduled to drive the Red Bull No. 83, so it's fairly obvious what will happen next. However, Kahne was reportedly taken by surprise by RPM's release. The No. 9 car was the only one he'd driven at the Sprint Cup level, and while he was preparing for a move to Red Bull next season, he obviously wasn't expecting it to occur so quickly.

Speculating for now, this appears to be a case of "you can't quit; you're fired." More, obviously, as the situation develops.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/blog/from_the_marbles/post/Kasey-Kahne-bounced-from-Richard-Petty-Motorspor?urn=nascar-278695

Kyle Busch Toyota Kimmy Z Line Designs Toyota Parker Kligerman Dodge Dodge

D1 GP 2010 Ebisu Rd. 5 - Wildest D1 Yet!

After following the Japanese D1GP for the last 5 years, I have to say that the level right now, in the latter part of 2010 is the highest it's ever been.

Wild cars, insane drivers, crazy speeds. That pretty much sums up D1 in a nutshell.

Every season the bar get raised that little extra so drivers build badder cars and push their skills to the limit. It's a fierce sport to be in but one hell of a thrill to watch!

This weekend, Ebisu circuit is hosting the 5th and 6th rounds of D1 for 2010 at the famous south course (where else).

But this year it's different to every other year.

The D1 organizers have made some drastic changes to the course driving line to make D1 more enthralling for the spectators (and I'm sure the drivers get a kick out of it aswell).

The major change they made at Ebisu was to cut out the little kink 's' bend at the top of the hill (final corner) which makes the entry more straight which results in 130km/h PLUS entry speeds as opposed to 110km/h or so as seen in previous rounds.

You really have to see it in person to know just how fast they come over the jump and drift just inches from the concrete wall.

It's almost terrifying, and unfortunately a couple of finalists in the Best 16 bitterly tasted what happens when things go wrong over the jump at that speed.

Utsumi (Red S15) was first to collide with the wall in the very first Best 16 battle as he was trying to follow mad man Daigo Saito.

Matsui Crash!

Matsui wasn't long to follow after he launched his 'ichigo' faced 180SX off the jump way to fast to pull back in line.

It really is a shame to see several million yen cars go to waste like this though. Definitely not fun for the driver and team who make all the effort to prepare the car and come to drift to put on a show for us.

Hibino Jump!

Hibino in his Up Garage AE86 was also one of the crazy aerial acrobats but managed to stay clear of the wall and win the competition against Nomuken.

The D1 boys put on a great show and really showed us why they are the best drifter in the world.

Tomorrow is Round 6 but I won't be able to make it in person but I'm sure I will hear the news and be able to cover it here.

Thanks for reading!
Disco Stu

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/driftinjapan/~3/zpUOOBOYW94/d1-gp-2010-ebisu-rd-5-wildest-d1-yet.html

Derrike Cope Charter Communications Dodg Carl Edwards Kellogg s Cheez It Ford

Timeline: Kasey Kahne's First Seven Years in NASCAR

Filed under: Kasey Kahne, Chase for the Sprint Cup, Sprint Cup, Gillett-Evernham Motorsports, Hendrick Motorsports, Red Bull Racing, NASCAR

Kasey Kahne, who was released Wednesday night as the driver of the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 9 Budweiser Ford, came on the scene in 2003, when RPM was still Evernham Motorsports.

In the seven years since, he's racked up 11 victories, including an impressive six victories in 2006.

But Kahne was a lame duck at RPM, and he and longtime crew chief Kenny Francis had previously announced their intentions to race for Red Bull Racing in 2011 as a stopover point before Kahne's move to Hendrick Motorsports' No. 5 car in 2012.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Source: http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2010/10/21/timeline-kasey-kahnes-first-seven-bumpy-nascar-years/

Mark Green Sons of Anarchy FX Network Chevrolet Ryan Newman Phoenix Construction Chevrolet

Good news! The ratings didn't fall as much this week!

Tracking NASCAR TV ratings seems an exercise in both masochism and pointlessness, since they're on a painful downward trend, and they also tend to get way overvalued beyond their true importance.

Still, it's indisputable that the NASCAR ratings are down for the Chase, to a significant degree over last year. Through the first four races, the Chase races on ESPN were down a staggering 27 percent over last season.

But hey, good news: Saturday night's race in Charlotte was down less than 10 percent! The race drew a 3.2 rating, down from a 3.5 last year. So what was different?

First, the race was on ABC, not ESPN. The broadcast-versus-cable is a handy scapegoat, but the truth is that ABC is on 116 million homes and ESPN is on 100 million. Even assuming that all 16 million of those ESPN-less homes would be watching the race in proportionate numbers, that still doesn't account for the drop. (ESPN has said the broadcast destination is not a factor, but that's what you would expect them to say, to quote the conspiracy theorists.)

Next, this race wasn't at the usual start time of 1 p.m. Eastern on a Sunday. While uniform start times were supposed to strengthen ratings because people weren't trying to figure out which of the 14 different start times the race would go green this week, in fact the opposite may have been the case. The start time puts NASCAR right in the teeth of the early Sunday NFL games, and since there's only a finite number of sports fans, NASCAR is losing out hard. 

It's worth noting that the NFL is a behemoth that's pulverizing everything in its path, not just NASCAR. Monday night, one of the worst "Monday Night Football" games in recent memory absolutely crushed an outstanding baseball playoff game in the ratings. (Link may be NSFW because of some outraged language.)

Is it worth continuing to knock heads against that kind of juggernaut, or should NASCAR consider punting to a different start time or a different schedule? Ratings are flawed at their core because of their sampling, and reacting too sharply to them would be a mistake, but clearly there's something not quite right here. The question is, would NASCAR turn off its loyal core by chasing the fickle few?

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/blog/from_the_marbles/post/Good-news-The-ratings-didn-t-fall-as-much-this-?urn=nascar-278209

Helm Glöckler Paco Godia Carel Godin de Beaufort Christian Goethals