Stewart still mulling over options

Boy, Tony Stewart must love the attention he is getting these days with no wins this season (more on that to come later) and lot options when it comes to picking up a ride next year. And now with Casey Mears being released from Hendrick Motorsports at the end of the year, Tony may have another option.

"There's no one in the garage area that's not going to look in that direction," Stewart said. "You've got to look at it. Absolutely."

Of course it is most likely that Mark Martin will take over the 5 ride at Hendrick Motorsports in 2009, but Stewart feels like the opportunities to maybe get a ride at Hendrick are still open and may affect his search for what ride he wants in 2009.

"It may be pushed back even more." Stewart said. "We'll wait and see. It's however long it takes to make the right decision. There's a lot of variables to look at. We've got all the information except what happened today. The good news is we still have time to look at it."

Stewart interested in filling Mears' spot at Hendrick Motorsports [ESPN.com]

Coulthard not thinking about retirement

David Coulthard is not thinking about retirement from Formula 1. The oldest driver in Formula 1, at the age of 37, will be racing in his 14th British Grand Prix this weekend, but it is unsure if this will be the last time he races at Silverstone.

"We're all different, and I'm quite a realist," said Coulthard. "When something has happened, or a decision has been taken or whatever it happens to be, it's not something I dwell on, I just get on with the next thing. It's just one of those things. When that moment comes, it's the journey of life. You just move on to the next thing.'

"I'm currently a grand prix driver, I have been for many seasons, and I'm sitting here still as a grand prix driver because I still enjoy it, and I get a buzz from it, and clearly I deliver a value enough for the team to commit to me for the last few years."

"There will come a point, naturally, where that's not going to continue and... boo hoo, you know? There are a lot of worse things that can happen to you. You just move on to the next challenge."

Coulthard who drives for the Red Bull team has drawn the anger of fans and competitors for being old and in the way, but had a great run in Canada finishing on the podium. And there is now speculation that Coulthard will be replaced by the young German Sebastian Vettel in 2009.

Coulthard realistic about F1 future [Autosport.com]

Temper, Temper

Kyle Busch and Juan Montoya had meeting of the fenders towards the end of Sunday's race in New Hampshire. Before the final caution came out the two were racing each other hard and after they both took the caution Busch rubbed into Montoya's car, Montoya didn't appreciate that and turned Busch unfortunately it didn't work out well for Montoya, as he was tagged by Busch's spinning car and spun out also. NASCAR didn't really care for Montoya's actions and penalized him two laps dropping him from 25th to 32nd in the final results.

"He hit me under caution, he hit me under green and I retaliated," Montoya said. "Did I go too far in retaliating? Yeah. I think they are giving me a penalty and it's OK for what I did. The only thing I told them was that they are always saying be very careful not to do anything under caution. The only reason I did that was that I was just defending myself."

Busch claims that he did nothing to upset Montoya.

"I got a run on him earlier and I got on the outside and he kind of kept coming up a little bit," said Busch. "I didn't turn down into him and just barely touched his quarter-panel. Then I got by him in three and four and he run me up the racetrack in the left rear. Then we came to that caution flag and he thought he beat me to the caution flag and I was just trying to get around the 40 (Dario Franchitti) car, who was in front of us there and touched him on the door and he just turned left and spun me down the front straightaway. I don't know what his beef is, but obviously NASCAR should probably fix it."

Well here is the video of the incident. You be the judge:

Sunday also featured another incident between Kasey Kahne and Aric Amirola as the two took turns punting each other.

Montoya penalised for Busch incident [Autosport.com]

Let it Rain

Kurt Busch's 2008 season has been full of highs and lows. After finishing second at the Daytona 500, Busch would fail to score another top 10 finish until Pocono in June. Busch would come into Sunday's race outside the top 20 in points, but on Sunday with a little help from Mother Nature, Busch would find himself in victory lane at the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 in New Hampshire. Pit strategy had him out in front and all it took was a little rain shower to seal the deal.

"Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good," Busch said. "Sometimes you just don't win them the right way, I think we can honestly say that, but we had a lot of work and a lot of effort put in today and we'll take it."

Busch's win wasn't the only surprise of the day as it was Michael Waltrip finished second, his first top five finish since 2005. J.J. Yeley who missed the race last week finished third. Martin Truex, Jr. finished fourth and Elliot Sadler rounded out the top five, his first top five since leaving the Yates team in 2006. Of course the race had a much different picture before Kurt Busch took the lead on the second to last caution came out when Jamie McMurray jacked up Dale Earnhardt Jr. who forgot to use the apron when entering pit road. Tony Stewart dominated the day leading over 130 laps, but the pit strategy of others and the rain relegated him to a 13th place finish.

The race saw seven cautions for 33 laps including the final one in which Clint Bowyer was punted by Sam Hornish, Jr.

While his brother was celebrating in victory lane, Kyle Busch saw his points lead over Jeff Burton dwindle down to 64 over Jeff Burton. The younger Busch suffered a late race incident with Juan Montoya (more on that later) and finished 25th.

The series now moves heads back to Daytona to the newly named Coke Zero (yuck) 400 on Saturday.

Rain hands Kurt Busch Loudon Victory [Autosport.com]

We'll do it live!

What to watch today as Chicago Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood shows his appreciation for the game to a national television audience...

Noon- NHRA Sportsman Series from Englishtown, NJ. Tape delayed action! [ESPN2]
1:30 pm- NASCAR Sprint Cup from Loudon, NH. A Canadian on pole, eh? [TNT]
2 pm- AMA Motorcross Lites from Mt. Morris, where ever the hell that is. [Speed Channel]
3 pm- Superbike World Championship from San Marino. [Speed Channel]
5 pm- MotoGP 250 from Assen, Netherlands. This race will leave you feeling pretty high. [Speed Channel]
6 pm- MotoGP World Championship. The Dutch Grand Prix from Assen, Netherlands. Winner will be payed in uncomfortable wooden shoes. [Speed Channel]
7 pm- NHRA from Norwalk, Oh. More tape delayed action! [ESPN2]
9 pm- Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain. Your guests tonight are Robin and Kevin Miller. No realtion. [Speed Channel]

Big changes at Andretti-Green's ALMS team

Andretti-Green Racing on Friday announced that both their American Le Mans Series drivers Bryan Herta and Christian Fittipaldi have been let go and will be replaced by former F1 driver Franck Montagny. Montagny will be partnered with Marco Andretti at the next round of the ALMS championship at Lime Rock in a few weeks, who Montagny will be partnered with after that is unknown. It is also unknown why Herta and Fittipaldi was let go by the team. One may suspect that the duo was let go because they couldn't put together a win something the team hasn't seen since the 2007 12 hours of Sebring.

But owner Michael Andretti wants to show there is no hard feelings towards his former drivers: "Making a change in the middle of the season isn't something you enjoy, and I think it's even tougher in this case because we're talking about Bryan and Christian," said Andretti. "Bryan has done everything we've ever asked him to do since he joined Andretti Green in 2003, including helping us win the 12 Hours of Sebring in our first American Le Mans Series start last year. Christian joined us this year and wanted to win as badly as we did. We will always appreciate the effort that both Bryan and Christian gave to the team." Yeah, okay Michael.

"We're looking forward to seeing what Franck can do in the XM Acura," Andretti continued. "He's got a lot of experience in different types of cars, including prototypes, and that should help him adjust pretty quickly to what we're doing here."

Montagny joins Andretti Green [Autosport.com]

Oh Thank Heaven

Tony Kannan took his first win of the Indycar Season last night in the Suntrust Indy Challenge in Richmond. Kannan dominated the race from pole and held off his fellow Brazilian Helio Castroneves and points leader Scott Dixon for the victory. Dan Wheldon and Oriol Servia rounded out the top five.

"I'm going to enjoy my win tonight for sure," Kannan said. "I knew that I had to keep fighting. There's nothing else I can do. If you're going to have the season you expect every year, then it's going to be pretty boring I would say. I knew it was going to turn around," Kanaan said. "I didn't know when. I thought it was last weekend [at Iowa] and I made a mistake."

"When those kind of things happen, I have a tendency to actually have more strength to turn the situation around. I think I work better when I put a lot of pressure on myself, and you know, I came in determined to win this race, and it worked out."

The night featured heavy carnage in which the yellow flag was waved nine times, tying the race record set in 2001. Only 12 cars of the 26 that started managed to finished the race, leaving many drivers frustrated at the end of the night. The crash during the restart on lap 79 was probably the worst as 5 cars were caught up in a crash. Ryan Hunter-Reay crashed out of a race for the second time in three weeks and was none to happy with the man he tangled up with Mario Moraes.

"I was going to give him the benefit of the doubt until I saw the tape of the crash but now I don't know that I can do that," Hunter-Reay said.

"It's just short-track racing. We had a busy race out there tonight. I was holding my breath on every lap. We were just out there surviving and trying to get some points and we can't even get that done without something like this happening to us."

Meanwhile Scott Dixon's points lead over Helio Castroneves was narrowed a little to just 43. The Indycar Series now moves on to twisty road course in Watkins Glen. The race will be next Sunday on ABC.

Kannan thrilled to end win drought [Autosport.com]

Drivers play down Richmond carnage [Autosport.com]

Tune in and tune out...

What to watch today, while you try to constantly remove that smell.

2 pm- Koni Challenge Series from Mid-Ohio [Speed Channel]
2:30 pm- NASCAR Nationwide Series from Loudon, NH. The Cup drivers are back! Oh boy! [ABC]
4 pm- World of Outlaws from Dodge City. [Speed Channel]
6 pm- NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Qualifying from Memphis. [Speed Channel]
8 pm- Indycar Series from Richmond. DANICA DANICA DANICA! [ESPN]
8:30 pm- Craftsman Truck Series Race from Memphis. Somebody will be singing the blues tonight. [Speed Channel]
10 pm- NHRA Qualifying from Norwalk, Oh. [ESPN2]
11:30 pm- AMA Motocross from Lakewood, Co. High flying action to put you to sleep. [Speed Channel]

NASCAR Preview: New Hampshire

NASCAR makes one if its two visits to the newly named New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend for the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 (because 300 laps weren't enough for you) and qualifying turned out a big surprise as Patrick Carpentier stole the pole away from Bobby Labonte towards the end of a rain-delayed qualifying session. The last time Carpentier found himself leading a field to the green flag was in a Champ Car at Laguna Seca in 2004.

"It's amazing," said Carpentier."The car was great. We made a couple of changes from this morning and the car just rotated beautifully through the middle of the corner. It was just stuck on the track. I'm real happy.

"Honestly, if I had won the first pole on a road course I wouldn't be as happy," he added. "I want to do well on the ovals because that is where they do most the racing in this series." Carpentier who makes his 17th career start on Sunday, hopes to get his first top 20 finish.

Being in New Hampshire means that were close to Boston. Which means we have to hear about all those god damn Boston sports championships. Of course with Roush-Fenway Racing having ties to the Boston Red Sox means we get to see all of their cars decked out with reminders of how much I hate the city of Boston. David Ragan's car is decorated in Red Sox colors for Sunday's race, while Matt Kenseth's car has decal commemorating the Boston Celtics’ recent NBA championship. Hey, how about one for the Patriot's accomplishment of 19-0 and the win in Super Bowl XLII? Oh wait, they didn't get it! And what have the Bruins or the Revolution done lately? Yeah, that’s what I thought. Suck on that, Boston.

Anyway the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, despite its smug neighbors to the south, will provide some great action and maybe a surprise or two. (Can we say David Ragan, winner of a Sprint Cup Race?) The race will start a little after 2 pm eastern, Sunday on TNT.

Carpentier wins 1st Cup Pole [Seattlepi.com]

Indycar Preview: Richmond

The Indycar Series is in Richmond for a little Saturday night, short track action. While Dan Wheldon may have won the race on his birthday and donated his winnings to charity the main focus was on Danica Patrick as her racing moves were called out by her fellow competitors. Points leader Scott Dixon called her "a menace", but Danica says she’s probably not being aggressive enough on the track.

"I'm always trying to be aggressive," Patrick said. "If anything, last weekend I maybe wasn't aggressive enough on the restarts and whatnot. That's where I lost my spots."

"I've always been the same person. So I just try and be consistent and follow the weekend as it goes. I really try not to pay too much attention to what goes on around me and focus on myself, because ultimately at the end of the day there's nothing I can do about those emotions and there's nothing I can do about negative comments.

"I don't really know where the comments came from last weekend. I don't even know where they're coming from. So, unfortunately, I don't have a lot to say about it."

Well Danica you better watch out this weekend or you might get the old chrome horn for someone who has lost their patience.

Other than that it will be an interesting race to see who can conqueror lap traffic the best and who can answer the physical demands of the Indycar Series' shortest track.

Always Aggressive [Indycar.com]

Done Deals

Greg Biffle's choice has been made, he will still drive for Roush Racing in 2009 and beyond. Biffle today signed a three-year extension of his contract with Roush Racing, the team in which has spent 10 years of his racing carrer with.

“I’m extremely happy and relieved to have this contract complete,” said Biffle. “I have a team that can contend for the championship this season and for future seasons as well. 3M has been an incredible partner for several years now and having them on board made the decision even easier. All the elements are in place: the resources of Ford and Roush Fenway, the excellent team, the outstanding cars and having a great primary sponsor like 3M for the next few years.”

Another deal that has been done is that Clint Bowyer has resigned with Richard Childress Racing also for three years. Bowyer revaled the resigning on PRN's Garage Pass show.

It looks like all the deals are coming together for 2009, there are only a few more holes to fill.

[Source: Roush Racing PR and PRN's Garage Pass]

Hendrick to Mears: Get Lost

Well maybe not that harsh, but Casey Mears will not return to Hendrick Motorsports in 2009. "We've put a ton of emphasis on the #5 program," said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports. "It's been a total team effort, and Casey has worked as hard as anyone to help us improve. We've tested more than we ever have, but the results just haven't come. None of us, Casey included, have been satisfied with the situation this season. But he's confident there are other options out there for him in 2009, and we feel like Hendrick Motorsports will have some opportunities, too."

"I know the effort has been there, but we haven't had the finishes to show for it," Mears said. "I've never tested this much or put more energy into racing. But for whatever reason, we just haven't been able to make it click. It's certainly not for lack of dedication on anyone's part. I'll talk to people about opportunities and get my 2009 plans wrapped up soon, but I'm also focused on the next 20 races and finishing 2008 on a positive note. We ran well the second half last year, and I know we can do it again. I want to close this season the right way."

This move has left the door open to see Mark Martin behind the wheel of this car for the 2009 season.

[Source: Hendrick Motorsports PR]

NASCAR not in Wheldon's future

Dan Wheldon has ruled out a possible move to NASCAR in the future. The young (if you consider 30 being young) English driver who found victory lane last week in Iowa has changed his mind about making a move to stock car racing.

"Up until this year, I really did consider NASCAR and the reason I did is I'm a driver," Wheldon said. "I like to be on track and I like the fact they race so much. But with the merging together of both open-wheel series, the series is really fun to drive in right now."

Wheldon is in the final year of his contract with Target Chip Ganassi Racing, and said he has talked with Ganassi about an extension of his original three-year deal. Wheldon said the deal isn't done yet, but he hopes it will be done soon.

"When you have more cars like that, it's definitely fun to drive," Wheldon said. "So I would say with the fact I think they're going to continue to build the schedule and from what I understand they're going to allow more testing during the season . . . that's what I'm looking for. . . . I definitely think I will be in IndyCars for certainly the next three years after this one."

NASCAR? Wheldon says no [Richmond Times Dispatch]

Ecclestone warned Mosley about plot against him

A report in The London Times today said that FIA head Max Mosley was warned by F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone about the plot against him two months before the whole sex scandal started. Drew Attew, an consultant who had worked for both Ecclestone and Mosley in the past, was tipped off about the plot earlier in the year.

"I received a call from a friend in January this year," Attew told The London Times. "We had a meeting and I was told there was an open budget to effectively go out and source material that would bring Max to his knees, remove him from office, and discredit him publicly."

"The person contacted me because they knew of my relationship with Bernie, but they didn't know of my relationship with Max. The reason they contacted me was to find out whether I had any loyalty to Max, and whether I knew anything of value. I asked 'are you after Max, the FIA, or Bernie?' They came back a little while later and said they weren't going to pursue it for the time being."

Attew then warned Ecclestone about the plot, who then told Mosley about it.

"I sat down with Bernie and told him what I'd heard," said Attew. "Bernie then told Max, I know this because Max later confirmed it to me. I assumed the warning would be taken seriously. It was clear that Max disregarded the advice and failed to realise his vulnerability. The issue for me was his total disregard for genuine advice from individuals that he knew had his best interests at heart. I asked Bernie if there was anything anyone was going to find out about Max and he said 'you're not going to find anything because there's nothing there, he's Mr Boring in that sense'. Mosley had kept this a good secret."

Attew also believes that Mosley should had come forward about this incdient and shake off any indication that Ecclestone was involved in the plot.

"I hear people suggesting Bernie was behind this, but that's ridiculous," he added. "From the very first indication, Bernie and I, with Max's knowledge, have tried to find out who was the source. When we saw what was in the News of the World, Bernie was as flabbergasted as I was."

Ecclestone had warned Mosley about plot [Autosport.com]

Tire warmers to stay in F1 for one more year

The FIA have decided to keep tire warmers in Formula 1 for one more year. The original plan was for tire warmers to be banned after the 2008 season, but with slick tires being introduced next year the FIA decided to change their mind and give help the teams cut costs and be able to race competitively and calm fears about the amount of crashes happening on cold tires. Though Bridgestone, which supplies the F1 teams with tires, has opposed a keeping tire warmers saying that the rubber should be strong enough to not have so many crashes.

One option that has been suggested to substitute tire warmers is that of introducing a minimum tire pressure rule, but Honda boss Ross Brawn and quite a few others think that enforcing the rule will be impossible. Brawn had this to say to autosport.com during a recent interview: "You can run tyres for sure without blankets, lot of formulae do, but we are a particularly competitive formula and if you don't run blankets with tyres you need to have a minimum pressure control."

"We haven't worked out how to do that and that was the big concern – how to introduce it fairly and effectively for all the teams? And how do you avoid the massive overhead of policing it?"

"The TWG (Technical Working Group) said it wanted to keep tyre blankets because it could not see a solution to controlling minimum tyre pressure, and that was a big worry. So the option of having blankets was the easiest. And interestingly tyre blankets are not prohibited in testing, so for efficiency of testing we will almost certainly be using tyre blankets in testing. So we will have had them in testing and not racing."

FIA scraps plans to ban tyre warmers [Autosport.com]

Flashback: 1994 Slick 50 300

Great battle between Dale Earnhardt and Ricky Rudd in the final 8 laps of the 1994 race at New Hampshire. TNN's Mike Joy, Buddy Baker and Kenny Wallace are there for the call:

This guy really loves his Dexys Midnight Runners

But seriously would to try to film someone while driving a car on the Interstate?

Stewart maybe looking at sponsorship for Haas CNC team

Of course you've all heard by now that Tony Stewart may be looking into buying into the troubled Haas CNC team. Well sponsorship for those teams may be lining up already. ESPN.com has been reporting that if Stewart joins Haas CNC he may be sponsored by Office Depot or Old Spice, there have also been speculation that Stewart may leave Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of the year and Joey Lagano may come to Sprint Cup racing sooner than expected because of Stewart's absence. Of course Stewart is mum on the situation and Joe Gibbs Racing says that Tony isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

The second question is who will join Tony at Haas CNC if such moves do happen. Rumoured drivers include Ryan Newman and Martin Truex Jr., both drivers have contracts that expire at the end of the year. It also rumored that Truex may bring his Bass Pro sponsorship with him from DEI. UPS also may sponsor the second the car.

But for right now everyone is waiting for Tony Stewart's move and he isn't budging.

With Haas partnership possible, Stewart has eye on sponsorship [ESPN.com]

Truck owner may have used charity funds inappropriately

Co-owner in the Green Light Racing team in the Craftsman Truck Series, Gene Christensen may have inappropriately used his charity funds to fund his race team and his political career.

The Texas state attorney general’s office filed a civil suit yesterday against Christensen for using an apartment complex which he co-owns that was originally intended to be used as drug-free low rent housing charity instead was used as regular complex with full rent which meant a profit for Christensen and his partners. The details of the lawsuit says that Christensen used the money from the complex to fund his racing team and his unsuccessful bid earlier this year to gain a seat in congress and even give himself a salary of over $180,000 with benefits and a company vehicle.

Christensen will face a probate judge in Austin, Texas on July 21.

Lawsuit says Garland charity spent funds on campaign, NASCAR team [Dallas Morning News]

JTG Racing to Cup in 2009?

JTG Racing has big dreams about the future as they may start a Cup team in 2009 and use Chevys instead of Fords. There is no indication that if Brad Daugherty's new partnership within the team has any part in this move. There is also no indication on what Marcos Ambrose future with the team is as he may reamain as a driver with Ford driving for the Wood Brothers in 2009 in the Sprint Cup series.

[Source: Jayski.com]

The return of Formula Two

The FIA announced today that decided to resurrect the old Formula Two series which has not been in existence since 1984. The FIA hopes to create an inexpensive feeder series in which teams won't to spend more than $311,000 a year on a team.

People are finding that hard to believe. One GP2 team boss told autosport.com: "Our cars actually cost €190,000 [$300,000], and that's without the engines. If it's a junior formula, like Formula Ford or something, then fine, but you cannot run anything substantial for that kind of money. For example, a Formula BMW costs just under €300,000 [$470,000] to run per car in Europe, and that's with zero margin.
"I can't think what cars they expect to run for €200,000, because there are people spending that kind of money in karting in Europe."

No word though on whether or not this series will replace the GP2 series or how the series will be run within the F1 feeder series ladder.

FIA plans to resurrect Formula Two [Autosport.com]

2009 F1 Calendar is out

The provisional 2009 F1 calendar has come out today and the schedule will have a few changes to it. The first is that a new race in Dubai has been added to the schedule gving 2009 one more race than last year. The race in Dubai will occur in mid-November and will be the season finale.

Meanwhile the rest of the calendar remains the same with the exception of the Turkish Grand Prix which has been moved back to a date in August. The British and French Grand Prix, which will remain in Magny-Cours despite speculation, have swapped positions on the calendar.

The calendar once again will not have a round in the United States as Tony George and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway have failed to find a financial supporter.

Provisional 2009 F1 calendar:
29 March Australia
5 April Malaysia
19 April Bahrain
10 May Spain
24 May Monaco
7 June Canada
21 June Great Britain
28 June France
12 July Germany
26 July Hungary
9 August Turkey
23 August Europe (Valencia)
6 September Italy
13 September Belgium
27 September Singapore
11 October Japan
18 October China
1 November Brazil
15 November Abu Dhabi

No Indy on provisional 2009 calendar [Autosport.com]

Brad Daugherty buys into JTG Racing

ESPN analyst Brad Daugherty has bought into JTG Racing who compeats in the Nationwide Series with drivers Marcos Ambrose and Kelly Bires and up until recently fielded a team in the Craftsman Truck Series.

Daughtery has former experience in part-owning a NASCAR team including Liberty Racing back in the late 1990's in which drivers such as Kevin Harvick and the late Kenny Irwin made thier names in the Craftsman Truck Seires.

No word on what the team's plans are now with Brad Daugherty being invovled with the team.

Bires catching on at JTG Racing [ESPN.com]

Crew member suspended by NASCAR

Amanda Mathis, who up until recently was a crew member for Bill Davis Racing, was suspended by NASCAR until July 30 and placed on probation for the rest of the year. Mathis apparently got into altercation with security officials during the race weekend at Michigan International Speedway, but exact details about the incident are unknown.

NASCAR suspends former BDR truck series crew member [Scenedaily.com]

Busch to drive in modfied race in New Hampshire

Kyle "Rowdy" Busch will have another chance to give competitors a headache this weekend as he will drive in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Series race in New Hampshire on Saturday. Busch will team up with Martin Truex Jr's crew chief Kevin "Bono" Manion and pilot his #7 car in the race.

[Source: Jayski.com]

Babe of the Week: French Grand Prix Girls

Since today has been kind of a slow news day, I decided that I should introduce a new feature called Babe of the Week. Which is pretty much where I put pictures of hot girls from around the motorsports world. So our first babe of the week goes to some hot girls seen around during the French Grand Prix Weekend. Credits go to my good friend Barre for uploading these fine pics.

Carpentier to miss Pocono race

Canoe Sports is Canada is reporting that Patrick Carpentier will miss the Sprint Cup race at Pocono in early August so that he can fully concentrate on running the Nationwide race in Montreal that same weekend. Carpentier made his debut in Montreal race in which he finished 2nd. No word from Gillet-Evernham Motorsports on if this will happen and if it does who will replace Carpentier for that race. Canoe is reporting that former Evernham driver Bill Elliott will be the most likely choice.

Carpentier to miss Pocono race, the article is in French. QUE PASA! [Canoe.ca]

And the silly season is just getting started

ESPN.com reported yesterday, that Mark Martin is going to replace Casey Mears in the 5 car for Hendrick Motorsports in 2009. Of course this rumor has spawned out of a couple moves by DEI. The first is that Aric Amirola who splits time with Mark Martin in the 8 car at Dale Earnhardt, Inc. will most likely drive that car full time in 2009 and with DEI possibly downsizing in 2009, that would leve Mark Martin without a ride, hence the rumor about Mears getting booted out fo the 5 car.

The rumor comes at no surpise to me as Mears has not been performing up to expecations, he just scored his first top 5 of the year yesterday in Somona. But Mears' car owner Rick Hendrick doesn't to seem be ready to let go of Mears just yet.

"I'm committed to him [Mears] right now," Hendrick said on Sunday at Infineon Raceway. "I'm committed to him making that car run better right now."

Another thing to figure in is that Mark Martin is not running full time and will need a driver to split time with Martin and that driver will most likely be Brad Keselowski. It will be interesting to see what comes out of this little drama.

Martin to leave DEI, replace Mears in No. 5 [ESPN.com]

Corn, France and Kyle Busch

F1: Man, I wish really had something to talk about this race, but the French Grand Prix was terribly boring. Felipe Massa got the win after his Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen had a piece of his exhaust come lose that cost him dearly in the horsepower that he needed to get the victory, Raikkonen did hold on to second though. Jarno Trulli finished third in his Toyota, his first podium since 2005. Hekki Kovalainen, Robert Kubica, Mark Webber, Nelson Piquet and Fernando Alonso rounded out the top 8. Massa with the win, now takes the points lead away from Kubica. The F1 circus will head off to jolly old England for the British Grand Prix in two weeks.

Indycar: Despite the gloomy weather the state has seen over the past few weeks, Sunday produced beautfiul weather for the Indycar race in which Dan Wheldon, on his 30th birth used pit stratgey to hold off the young Japaneese rookie Hideki Mutoh for the win. But the day was for the flood victims as Wheldon and his teammate Scott Dixon donated thier winnings to the victims. Marco Andretti, Dixon and A.J. Foyt IV rounded out the top 5. Scott Dixon extends his points lead over Helio Castroneves to 48.

NASCAR: Kyle Busch got another victory on Sunday in Somona in a very strong car. Busch held off a final challenge by David Gilliand and took his fifth victory of the season. Jeff Gordon, Clint Bowyer and Casey Mears rounded out the top five. Busch extends his points lead over Jeff Burton to 103 points.

Tune in and tune out

What to watch today while you play with your food:

1 pm- Indycar Race from Iowa. The winner gets paid in chicken feed. [ABC]
Also at 1- Formula 1 French Grand Prix. Exciting tape delayed action. [FOX]
4 pm- MotoGp from Donnington Park, England. [Speed Channel]
4:30 pm- NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing from Somona, Ca. Watch a stock car make a left and right turn. [TNT]
5 pm- CORR from Pomona, Ca. [Speed Channel]
8 pm- NHRA from Englishtown, NJ. They're doing it for Scott. [ESPN2]
9 pm- Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain. Your guests tonight are Scott Speed and Tommy Kendall. [Speed Channel]

Scott Kalitta (1962-2008)

I don't know what it is about death, but it has a sneaky way of coming up and surprising me. As I sat there and watched the entertaining Grand-Am race last night I heard the terrible news that Scott Kalitta had died during NHRA qualifications up in Englishtown, NJ. I'm not really a big drag racing fan, so I can't really say I knew Scott that well. But there is one thing I do know, he died doing what he loved and that was racing. Racing was was in Scott's blood, it was in his family, his father was a drag racer, his cousin still is a drag racer and he certainly had a loving wife and two children that supported him all the way.

Drag racing is a risky sport, as is all forms of motor sport, Scott knew the risks and yet he came back every week to race. Scott even retired twice, but came back because he couldn't get rid of that itch, the itch of competition and no one can fault him for that.

Godspeed Scott, you will surely be missed.

Weekend Preview: June 21-22

F1: The Formula 1 circus is back in France this weekend and Robert Kubica is looking to continue his streak of momentum after winning for the first time in Montreal two weeks ago. Meanwhile Ferrari and McLaren are looking to get back on track after a disappointing showing in Canada that included an embarrassing pit road collision between Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen. Hamilton got a 10 place grid penalty and will start 13th on Sunday. Raikkonen meanwhile scored pole and will start next to teammate Felipe Massa on Sunday. The will be televised at 1 pm eastern, Sunday on FOX.

NASCAR: The Sprint Cup Series makes its first right turns of the year at the road course in Somona, California. Kasey Kahne scored his first pole on road course last night and streak of momentum spanning back a month to a win in the All-Star race in Charlotte. But the big story of the weekend will be the road ringers who have invaded the Sprint Cup series, some have come for glory and others have come in to bail teams out of a dangerous situation. But whatever their cause there are people out there who do not care much for the road ringers. All I can say to those people is since they're racing in northern California is would you like some cheese with that whine? The race will be on TNT starting at 3:30 pm eastern on Sunday

Indycar: The Indycar Series comes to a Iowa Speedway in a area that has been soaked by lots of rain and many people are still trying to recover from the floods. Meanwhile, the Indycar circus hopes that this race won't be the total wreckfest like it was last year. Scott Dixon also hopes that he can continues his momentum and score his fourth win of the year. The race will be on ABC starting at 1 pm eastern.

Grand-Am: Hey, there’s sportscar racing too, this weekend. The Rolex Sportscar Series is in Mid-Ohio for the EMCO Gears Classic and Brumos Porsche pairing of David Donahue and Darren Law is on pole, but everyone will have the eyes on the 01 Chip Ganassi Lexus with Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas behind the wheel. The pairing have won three races this year. The #72 Autohaus Ponitac is on the GT pole. The race is today at 5 pm eastern on Speed Channel.

Marlin in trouble with the law

Two-time Daytona 500 champ (Could have been three if it wasn't for that lousy fender) Sterling Marlin is trouble with the state of Tennessee for dumping fill dirt into a stream. Marlin now faces over $8,600 in fines. This also isn't the first time that Marlin has had this problem, Marlin was fined $2,500 for the same offense back in May of 2006.

But not to worry folks, I'm sure Sterling can pay off these fines with his current ride in NASCAR. Oh wait.

NASCAR Driver Sterling Marlin fined on TDEC [Columbia Daily Herald]

Pacific Coast Motorsports to skip Iowa Indycar race

Yeah, I'm pretty bummed out about it, too. [Speedtv.com]

Ricardo Zonta marks his territory well

Yesterday, I showed you a picture of Mika Salo signing a woman's boob during the 24 hours of Le Mans weekend. Well a few more pictures of this mysterious woman has turned up including one here of Ricardo Zonta, who drives for the Peugeot team, who took the autograph signing to a whole new level. I don't think she'll wash that right buttcheek ever again. Of course if that was me I would have at least left my phone number, though she would have to have a friend read it off to her.






But wait! There's more:

Clint Bowyer and RCR to team up with Ice Road Truckers

Here is one to file under "okay...". Directv has teamed up with Richard Childress Racing and History Channel's non-Adolf Hitler related program, Ice Road Truckers for new segments on the tv show featuring the #07 team of Clint Bowyer.

These little segments will compare the equipment that the race team uses to the equipment that the truckers use.

So does that mean RCR has something for these kind of situations?

[Source: RCR PR]

Doug Richert joins Speed Channel

Doug Richert is now officially an Speed Channel employee. The former championship winning crew chief (he won it with Dale Earnhardt back in 1980) will join Speed Channel and provide analysis for their various NASCAR programs and will also be in the booth for select Craftsman Series Truck races, when Michael Waltrip can not be there.

[Source: Speed Channel PR]

More Mo Grant

Mauricia Grant was interviewed by Sports Illustrated yesterday. It's a fun read, I promise. [SI.com]

Tracy to drive truck at Las Vegas and maybe an Indycar at Edmonton

After a succesful test at Chicagoland, Paul Tracy will get a chance to race in a Craftsman Truck Series race later on this year in Las Vegas.
"Paul did a nice job so we got a little bit if support and decided it would be fun to run him in his hometown," said Tracy's truck owner Bob Germain. "He's our style, very aggressive, and he and Todd are a lot alike." Yeah except for the fact that Paul has hair, Bob.

Tracy hopes with the possible expansion of Germain Racing that he will able to get a full time ride with the team. Tracy may also get ride for the Indycar race up at Edmonton with Derrick Walker in July.

Tracy set for trucks, possibly Edmonton (Speedtv.com)

I'm baaaaaaaack, back in the saddle again

Chip Ganassi Racing continuing with the theme of video game sponsorship in the 2008 season will have Guitar Hero sponsor the #40 car driven by Dario Franchitti at New Hampshire in a couple of weeks. Rock band Aerosmith will also be on the car for the race which will certinally spring back memories of when the band did the theme song for ESPN's NASCAR coverage:



My God, Steven Tyler's face will give me nightmares tonight.

CGRFS Partners with Activision and Target to Sponsor No. 40 Dodge (CGRFS PR)

Same CAT, different Burton

Richard Childress Racing today announced that Jeff Burton will be sponsored by the same company that brought his brother, Ward, so much success as Caterpillar will leave Bill Davis Racing at the end of the year to replace AT&T as the sponsor for the #31 Chevy that Burton drives.

Unfortunately this leaves the 22 car of Dave Blaney without sponsorship for next season, but Bill Davis Racing doesn't seem to worry about it. “This is an exciting time for our team, and we are looking forward to the future,” Bill Davis said about the announcement. Okay, you are barely in the top 35 in points and are looking for sponsorship for next year and you feel "excited" about it?! I would be in panic mode right about now, and the only thing you should be looking forward to, Mr. Davis, is finding the nearest hole in the wall when you can't secure sponsorship for the next season and top all off you want two teams for 2009.

But truly my real worry is not that Bill Davis Racing may be in dire straits, but if Jeff Burton can say Cat Skid Steer Loader without getting tongue-tied.

Catterpillar to sponsor Jeff Burton and RCR's No. 31 team in 2009 (RCR PR)

No. 22 Bill Davis Racing Sprint Cup team will have new look for 2009 (BDR PR)

Meet Formula Le Mans

The ACO has announced that they have teamed with the Oreca team and have created a new feeder series for the Le Mans Series in 2009 (Autosport.com)

Mika Salo is really good at signing things

Here is a little pic from the 24 hours of Le Mans in which a woman had the drivers sign her dress, including Mika Salo here. Looks like Mika will be disappointed here in a sec once he finds out that someone has already beat him to the spot he wants to sign.