Despite being handed his walking papers from Hendrick Motorsports when the team announced at the end of June that Casey Mears would no longer be the driver of the no. 5 car in 2009, it’s not exactly the end of world for Mears. Really, if it had to happen, it couldn’t have happened in a better year with seats still remaining open at Richard Childress Racing, Penske Racing, and technically, even Stewart-Haas Racing for next season.
With Roger Penske and Ryan Newman recently announcing their split at the end of the year, the no. 12 ride at Penske has now become …read more

I would like to thank John Beamer, one of the writers for F1 Pitlane, for contacting me recently to do an interview over at the site … to which, of course, I happily obliged. John is a great guy and they do a fantastic job over there, so I encourage you all to go give it a look and while you’re there, take a look at the interview.
A Stateside Perspective – NASCAR and F1

served by picapp.com
Indianapolis Motor Speedway (aka: the Brickyard) is home of the Indianapolis 500 and is highly regarded as one of the most prestigious tracks in all of motorsports. After taking a week off, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will now return to the Brickyard for the fifteenth time in a race whose prestige to NASCAR regulars is rivaled only by the season opening Daytona 500. In the previous 14 trips to the track, Indianapolis has produced only three multiple winners in NASCAR, and only two of them will be in the field on Sunday – Jeff Gordon (4 wins) and …read more

Ryan Briscoe earned his second IndyCar Series victory of the season for Penske Racing on Sunday, but the real story of the weekend was the controversy between Danica Patrick and Milka Duno. The previous day during practice, Danica tried on several occassions to get past Milka, whom had fallen off the pace, but Milka was apparently putting a block on her. Though Danica was finally able to get around her, the altercation on the track spurred another altercation off-the track as Danica visited Milka’s pit area following the practice session. Here’s some video footage of what took place:

farkItButton(”Video: Danica Patrick’s …read more

Image details: 2007 ESPY Awards – Arrivals served by picapp.com
The annual 2008 ESPY Awards will air live on ESPN on Sunday, July 20th at 9 pm est / 8 pm cst, and keeping with their tradition of including outdoor sports and motorsports within their equation, NASCAR will be represented with nominees in three separate categories this year.
Every year, the ESPY’s select from a pool of nominees for their racing-specific athlete category for “Best Driver“. A NASCAR driver has won this award in 9 of the 15 years, and 4 of the last 5. The most recent winners of this award …read more

Image details: Daytona 500 served by picapp.com
This week, NASCAR returns to Daytona International Speedway for the Coke Zero 400, one of the biggest races of the year on the Sprint Cup schedule. With Daytona being one of NASCAR’s two restrictor plate courses, the track has fallen under quite a bit of scrutiny over the years. While it’s still loved by many, there are still those that feel as though things tend to get a bit overhyped whenever the series heads down to Florida. But, whether you love it or you hate it, one thing cannot be denied, and that is …read more

If you ask any driver or any team owner, they’ll be the first to tell you that every race is a big deal, and nobody can deny that. But, as I take a look at the starting grid for the Toyota Save/Mart 350 and then look at the points standings, when I combine that with everything that I know has already taken place in this crazy season, I can’t help but think that it especially holds true this weekend at Infineon Raceway, and it all starts right there at the top of the field.
Kasey Kahne has been on a helluva …read more

As you tune into TNT this Sunday afternoon to watch NASCAR’s Cup race, your first inclination may very well be that you mistakenly tuned into the IndyCar Series race … but, wait … why are they driving stock cars, right? Well, don’t try to adjust the set or flip the channel, because that, my friend, is indeed the Sprint Cup Series, and that’s what we call road racin’.
See, for as long as I can remember, twice a year team owners go out and fetch themselves an experienced road course racer in an effort to tame the mountains in Sonoma, CA …read more

Image details: 92nd Indianapolis 500 served by picapp.com
Making her fourth Indianapolis 500 appearance this past Sunday, Danica Patrick started the race from the fifth position, but was taken out of contention on lap 171 of the 200 lap event when the no. 6 Team Penske car of Ryan Briscoe got into her as they attempted to exit pit road. The damage that the incident left on Danica’s car was too extensive for her to continue on, and she was left with a 22nd place finish after running up around the top-ten for most of the day.
Following the accident, Danica stormed …read more

Image details: Bridgestone Indy 300 served by picapp.com
Several rumors have been floating around the internet this week ever since the Los Angeles Times printed an article that two-time winner of the Indy 500 and the recent subject of Dancing With the Stars, Helio Castroneves, stated this past Monday that he had indeed thought about one day trying his hand at the realm of the stock car world, and that he and car owner, Roger Penske, would talk after this weekend’s Indianapolis 500.
On Wednesday, Castroneves refuted the allegations, claiming that the LA Times took his comments out of context, and that …read more