BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica thinking about his year, so far

Let’s quickly go over BMW Sauber’s year so far and a few of the less than stellar moments of their 2009 campaign.

2009 was going to be BMW Sauber’s year for major improvements in their car and final standing in the race for the world championship. Considering their steady progress since 2006, expectations were of BMW Sauber challenging for the championship and maybe even winning. This was not to be however, as instead of rising to glory, BMW Sauber has lost ground with both their car and their final standings in the races.

Pre-season testing seemed to indicate too many that BMW Sauber’s F1.09 was fast, quick, and reliable, and drivers Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica were talking excitedly about their cars and chances for the 2009 Formula One season. Unfortunately, as the season has progressed, it has become clear they can’t currently compete with the front running Brawns and Toyotas. They have only managed four top ten finishes this season, far behind what they were expecting considering last year they had 74 points after eight races.

BMW Sauber really got left behind when they concentrated on KERS over aerodynamics at the beginning of the year. They are now coming up with their own editions of Brawn/Toyota/Williams double-diffuser, but they’re still way behind this season, and refuse to admit defeat.

In the Turkish Grand Prix they tried out their first editions of the two-tier diffuser, and there were a few signs of improvement, with Kubica grabbing his first points of the 2009 Formula One season. The Silverstone race saw both BMW Sauber drivers finish a lap down, so if the team is going to compete, they need to get their car running faster.

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BMW Sauber’s 2009 Formula One Season

Valentino Rossi wins the 2007 Red Bull US Grand Prix

Part of the history of the MotoGP and Laguna Seca are actually written in the events and outcomes of six previous MotoGP World Championship races at Laguna Seca, which all occurred before the return of the MotoGP to Laguna Seca in 2005. Before these six races at Laguna Seca there had been another gap between races of 22 years, before MotoGP returned to Laguna Seca for the six races in 1988. This year’s competition is going to be the eleventh MotoGP race held at this historic circuit, so, to mark the occasion, were going to talk a bit about the history of MotoGP at Laguna Seca.

1988 was a memorable year for Americans at Laguna Seca, as American Eddie Lawson won the 500cc Grand Prix race at this track, while American Jim Filice won the 250cc race as a replacement for Masahiro Shimizu on a factory Honda. The following year American Wayne Rainey once again won the 500cc race for his home town fans, while John Kocinski won the 250cc competition as a wild card entry. In 1990 the trend of American victory continued as both Wayne Rainey and John Kociniski again took the honors, and then both riders continued on to take the World Championship in their classes. The next three years would see American dominance dissipate a bit and ended with total world dominance at the circuit in 1994.

The MotoGP returned again to Laguna Seca in 2005 and American Nicky Hayden would win the first return-race at this unique venue after an extended absence. He would repeat his performance again in 2006 and in the process become the first American rider to win the Grand Prix World Championship on a four stroke motorcycle. In 2007 Australian Casey Stoner would start on the pole and lead from start to finish, the first victory for Ducati and Bridgestone tires on this historic track. Last year, Valentino Rossi took the flag at Laguna Seca on his way to becoming the Grand Prix World Champion.

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MotoGP Returns to Laguna Seca

NASCAR language and jargon for the new NASCAR fan

You might have seen a large convoy of extra large trucks pull into a NASCAR track before the race, often it will have NASCAR’s that are viewable as it enters the track. These vehicles are transporters for each of the race teams’ two cars, a main and a backup, incase of problems. In addition, these vehicles are the storage garage for parts and tools to repair an entire NASCAR, and a place for the team to unwind.

Racers must change their driving techniques to work in combination with their race cars, which usually changes as a race progress, making their cars either tight or loose. Tight cars are hard to turn and the driver will have to ease-off the accelerator while turning, to slow the car and allow him to steer easier. Teams and drivers usually adjust things like the tire pressure, spring stiffness and chassis weight distribution in order to correct this problem. A race car that is loose, turns too easily, which can tend to make a race car fishtail. Once again, teams will make adjustments to the chassis, tires and springs to correct this problem and give the driver more control and thus greater speed. Confidence breeds speed in NASCAR and a driver who is comfortable with their car is going to run faster and be more successful.

Variables like track temperature and tire wear play important roles in how a NASCAR reacts to the driver during a race and the control a driver has over their ride. Small factors, like the amount of tape over a NASCAR’s grill can change the way a race car handles during a race. Juggling all the factors involved in a fast race car is what the best drivers and racers in NASCAR do better than others, and is often the difference between a champion and runner-up.

The next time you hear any of these words you will have a better idea of their significance in the race you’re watching and this knowledge should increase the entertainment you receive from watching NASCAR. See you at the track!

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NASCAR Language Revealed

NASCAR is working on a new rulebook and car for the Nationwide Series

It’s expected that NASCAR won’t release the new rulebook until they have had time to meet with the owners and teams. There are probably several options they need to run past the owners and teams and want to make sure they have their input. The worsening economy could be having an effect on the final look of the rulebook, and the delays with the rulebook and the introduction of the new car, which had originally been scheduled for August 2010, but was recently delayed by NASCAR, until 2011.

Industry and media sources indicate that it’s most likely that a partial roll out of the new car will be introduced sometime next year at Talladega and Daytona and road courses Watkins Glen and Montreal, but things could always change again.

Like the rulebook, however, the introduction of the Nationwide car hasn’t been finalized, so change could be in the rule of the day as far as the dates and final look of the car is concerned. We do know that Ford and Dodge have both decided to run versions of their Mustang and Challenger muscle cars as their Nationwide entries. Chevrolet still resists running their muscle car, the Camaro, and will instead run the Impala SS, the same car it runs in the Cup series. They have been resisting pressure by NASCAR of late to use their Camaro muscle car in the Nationwide Series, but have continued to state that they will not be using the Camaro anytime soon in the Nationwide Series.

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Nationwide Series Awaits New Rulebook

Joey Logano has NASCAR's greats in his sights

Nervous minutes before Joey Logano had been sitting against his No. 20 race car, trying to look cool and collected as he waited to hear if he was going to capture his first win due to the intervention of Mother Nature. The gathering crowd around Joey Logano and the No. 20 pit box was restless as the cars sat on pit road under a red flag waiting for the storm to begin, and they didn’t wait long.

Sunday was about Joey Logano though, a racer who has battled through a rookie season that has been far from easy on a racer who is probably getting use to getting there by the tough route. A young racer who earned the somewhat auspicious nickname of “Sliced Bread” for his exploits in NASCAR’s support series. Sunday’s victory marks only the fourth time in seventeen starts this season that Joey has been able to crack the top ten and what a way and place to accomplish the feat.

New Hampshire, the track where he witnessed his first Cup race as a fan, where he drove to victory in developmental series races, and the place he made his debut in the major league of racing. A humbling and frustrating 32^nd place-debut that made him realize he had a lot of work to do if he wanted to win. Sunday though was his day, his first of many to come if he has his way, but a triumphant homecoming that no one really expected, especially with his early problems in the race.

One thing for sure about this 19 year old racing fanatic, he’s going to surprise at times, and has always been a bit of a wild card. We can look forward to him providing us with amazing thrills and a few spills over his career and maybe a few years from now, we’ll be talking about him as one of the best. This is one of the best things about NASCAR; you just never know whose going to rise to the top of the ladder.

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NASCAR’s New Blood

The 2009 MotoGP season has had few highlights for anybody other than Stoner, Rossi, and Lorenzo

A simple wall separates Valentino and Lorenzo in the Fiat Yamaha garage they work in day after day, but these two friends and rivals have been even closer on the track. Lorenzo has had a really strong showing and if he’s the heir apparent to the World Champion and legendary Valentino Rossi, then he appears to have the ingredients of a champion. Another podium finish in Assen gave him his fifteenth and continued his consistent run of podium finishes in 2009 that has seen him miss only one. Lorenzo crashed racing for third place at Jerez, a mistake a young racer will make, and one that hopefully has taught him a lesson. He’s left wondering what could have been though; if he had been a little faster off the line on Saturday in Assen he might have been the one standing on the top of the podium.

Lorenzo seemed to mature as a motorcycle racer a bit on Saturday, at several points he seemed to be fighting the urge to race beyond the limits of his bike, but decided to ride within the limits the bike had set for him, and in the end settled for second place and the points. He crashed out at Laguna last year, just seconds after the start of the race, so he’ll be looking to win for the first time on this legendary track.

Ducati Marlboro racer Casey Stoner has apparently been racing at less then one hundred percent capacity lately, nursing some kind of ailment that has decreased his energy output and probably had him deciding to be the mature racer and stay within his bodies current limits, and grab the points he could. An Australian and former World Champion Stoner still managed a podium finish at Assen that left him exhausted after the race according to the doctors and is currently trying to rest up for the race at Laguna Seca this week.

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2009 MotoGP Three Man Race

Ron Hornaday wins second straight truck race

Hornaday grabbed the lead at the start and never looked like he was going to give it up, until a smart pit stop put Brian Scott briefly in the lead. Scott was able to stay in front of Hornaday for 18 of the next laps, until Hornaday dropped inside of Scott in Turn 1 of Lap 135. The pair raced side by side up the track until they reached Turn 3, when Hornaday was able drive to the inside of a lapped truck and grab the advantage over Scott, who had to try to take the outside lane. In the final analysis Hornaday lead for 180 of the 200 laps, including 108 of the first 114, a truly dominant driving performance that must have his competition worried he’s going to run away with the 2009 season. This third win of the season expands Hornaday’s lead to 76 points over Matt Crafton, gives him 42 career wins in the series, which is tops all-time in the history of the series.

Brian Scott should hold his head high; he had a good race, but lost to the best in the business at the moment, and has a lot to look forward to in the future. He certainly had his problems with lapped traffic that slowed him down, but then this is where the experience and skill come in. Hornaday looked faster all day, and Scott probably wouldn’t have been able to stay in front of Hornaday, even if he hadn’t been slowed by traffic.

David Starr finished third, Aric Almirola fourth, while Matt Crafton finished in fifth position. Mike Skinner took sixth place, Timothy Peters seventh, Johnny Sauter eighth, Colin Brawn ninth, and the top ten was completed by Todd Bodine.

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Ron Hornaday Wins MemphisTravel.com 200

Brawn GP has dominated the 2009 Formula One season so far

To date Brawn has won six of the eight races completed and currently have a healthy points lead in the constructors championship. Let’s do a quick run through of the Formula One season so far…

What a turn around for the former Honda team! After a terrible 2008 in which Honda withdrew its support, they spent the off season battling to keep the team afloat, before ending in a 2009 Formula One season in which they have been on top of the podium race after race.

Ross Brawn has done an excellent job driving his team through a rough period and putting two experienced drivers in Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello in a position to race and win. Honda showed great maturity in realizing their RA 109 just wasn’t going to be the car to win for them and re-focused their development on the BGP001. Their courage paid off as their new entry was surprisingly fast in pre-season tests and hasn’t disappointed them so far in 2009. To date the BGP001 has only retired from one race in eight tries and has put at least one Brawn driver on the podium in every race so far.

There has also been plenty of controversy surrounding Brawn’s dominance, which was due to the BGP’s innovative double diffuser, something that the other teams protested. In the end however the FIA’s Court of Appeal found in favor of Brawn and they were clear to put the pedal to the metal.

The last race at Silverstone did see Red Bull make a dent in Brawn’s advantage, but we have yet to see if this was a fluke of a true improvement on the part of Red Bull.

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Brawn GP’s 2009 Formula One Dominance

Valentino Rossi wins 100th career Grand Prix race

He did make a point of mentioning that he expected to win a few more races as he stepped upon the stage with his banner and smile to take the trophy. He took time to thank everybody involved in his reaching the century mark, all the teams, and especially Jeremy Burgess, his family, and friends, for giving him energy and motivation. Rossi then talked about his good feeling before the race and during the race to the assembled crowd and his perfect run to the flag.

Valentino was joined on the podium by Fiat Yamaha team mate Jorge Lorenzo in second place and Ducati Marlboro’s Casey Stoner in third. The win puts Valentino into the overall points lead for the World Championship after the three competitors had been level heading into the Assen race.

The Assen race was a good one for Colin Edwards who equaled his best result of the 2009 Grand Prix season with a fourth place finish earned in a heated battle with Rizla Suzuki’s Chris Vermeulen and Edwards’ Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team mate James Toseland. Chris Vermeulen grabbed fifth ahead of James Toseland, but both riders also had their best finish of the 2009 season with this result.

Rossi will have little time to enjoy his win as the MotoGP World Championship makes an appearance in Laguna Seca, California this weekend for the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix. Valentino did manage to win here in 2008, but knows it’s never easy to come to the states and win.

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Valentino Rossi Grabs 100th Career Victory

Kyle Busch wins the Camping World RV Sales 200

Staying back in the pack and letting others set the pace turned out to be the recipe for success, as he waited for the last green flag to make his attack. Slipping in behind his Joe Gibbs team mate Joey Logano, he waited for his chance and then made his pass for the lead on Lap 165 of the scheduled 200. Staying in front of Logano in the corners and out of the straight stretches, Busch was able to put a little road between him and Logano, until the final ten laps. Pulling up behind Busch’s No. 18 Toyota as he was trying to fight his way through lapped traffic, Logano was able to stay on Busch’s bumper until the final lap, when Busch was able to pull away, and eventually beat his team mate to the line by 0.617 seconds. The win was Kyle Busch’s 26^th career win in the series, which puts him fifth best all-time, just behind Jeff Burton.

Brad Keselowski finished strong and took third place; Mike Bliss was right on Keselowski’s bumper, while Kevin Harvick drove home in fifth in his own No. 33 Chevrolet. Carl Edwards had a tough day but managed sixth, Greg Biffle was steady and finished seventh, Scott Speed finished eighth, Erik Darnell took ninth, and the top ten was rounded out by Jason Leffler.

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Kyle Busch Wins the RV Sales 200