It’s often said that racing is a gentleman’s sport, however this past weekend Kyle Busch proved this was indeed, incorrect. You see Busch has a temper, so much so that it seemingly gets him into hot water just about everywhere he goes. For instance, this past weekend at Texas Motor Speedway Busch intentionally plowed fellow driver Ron Hornaday’s truck into the wall after he was rubbed by Hornaday just moments earlier. The contact was simply malicious and because of this NASCAR suspended him from Friday’s race as well as the weekends races in the Nationwide Series and Sprint Cup series.

So, the question is this; should Kyle Busch, a man with known malicious behavior towards other drivers, be booted from racing all together, OR should he be allowed to continue because he adds an element of unpredictability to the sport. Whatcha’ think?

Source: Youtube.com

Patrick wins at Motegi, Japan, in 2008. Image: Morio

In a move that will surprise absolutely no one, underachieving IndyCar driver Danica Patrick will switch to a full time ride in the NASCAR Nationwide Series for 2012. Patrick will race a full schedule for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his JR Motorsports team next year, although she’s expressed interest in competing in the Indy 500 on Memorial Day weekend. Preparation for the 500 race generally takes the entire month of May, which would conflict with three scheduled NASCAR Nationwide events. JR Motorsports is eager enough to sign Patrick that they’re willing to work out a solution agreeable to all.

Racing at Indy next year may prove more difficult than it seems, as IndyCar will adopt a new chassis, new aero packages, new engines (from multiple suppliers) and even new fuel. In short, a 2012 IndyCar wont be anything like the current version. If Patrick struggled the entire month of May to find speed in a car she’s driven for seven years, it’s unlikely she’ll be able to step into the new IndyCar and find enough speed to make the field.

Patrick should do better in the Nationwide Series than she’s done in IndyCar, simply because there are fewer variables to stock car setup than to winged, open-wheel racecar setup. Patrick has been a big draw for the IndyCar series, but she’s won just one race (on pit strategy), despite running with some of the strongest teams in the league. She’ll draw fans to the Nationwide Series as well, and I suspect that’s more important than how Patrick qualifies or finishes.

Source: Autoblog

This just in: freestyle motocross is a dangerous sport, and it’s best not to participate when you’ve got your NASCAR Nationwide debut coming up in a few days. That’s advice that adrenaline junkie Travis Pastrana didn’t heed, and the result is a broken right ankle and foot, and torn ligaments in his hand. The damage occurred in an opening-night crash at this year’s X-Games 17. Pastrana was attempting to stick the landing on a corked 720 when the bike came down on his foot; the ligament damage in his hand occurred in practice for the stunt.

Pastrana was set to make his NASCAR Nationwide debut on Saturday, driving for car co-owner Michael Waltrip. That’s now on indefinite hold, as are any plans for Pastrana to test an IndyCar and participate in the series’ season-ending $5,000,000 challenge. Pastrana was a heavy favorite to be approved by IndyCar, thanks to his varied racing background and legions of fans that IndyCar would love to add to their base.

We wish Pastrana a speedy recovery, but at the same time want to ask him, “Dude, what the hell were you thinking?”

Source: Autoblog

One would think that when your day job consists of driving around banked ovals doing 200 mph that maybe, just maybe, you’d see fit to back it down a little on the street. Apparently NASCAR superstar Kyle Busch doesn’t think so however as he was recently clocked doing 128 mph in a 45 mph zone in a loaner Lexus LF-A just south of Troutman, NC. Clocked by Chris Stone, an Iredell County Sheriff’s Office Sgt., Stone stated that,

“I didn’t even know what kind of car it was,” Stone said. “I hit my radar button and it read 128.”

Believe me when I tell you that in a car like the LF-A 128 mph can come up within the blink of an eye, however 128 mph in a 45 – that’s a bit much. Even though Busch stated, “I take responsibility for my actions and I can assure you that something like this will never happen again,” it doesn’t change the fact that he may still be in some very deep doo-doo. I mean hell, he was after all doing almost 3 times the posted speed limit. Busch was cited for excessive speed, careless and reckless driving.

Source: Statesville.com

As painful as it may be to admit, the biggest spectator sport in the United States is in fact, NASCAR. With crowds averaging around 99,000 per event, the NASCAR faithful have cemented themselves in automotive history as the uber fans of American motor sports. As most of you know NASCAR got its roots from the good old days when moonshiners would soup up their transport cars in order to make them fast enough to outrun the revenuers. Those moonshiners then began to brag amongst themselves as to whose car was faster, then a few races ensued and PRESTO – NASCAR was born. Our friends over at RalfBecker.com just happen to take a little side trip to the NASCAR Hall of Fame down in Charlotte, NC whence on their way to the Continental Tire Challenge and Rolex 24 at Daytona Speedway. Up on their arrival they looked around and then interviewed NASCAR historian Buz McKim, who gave them a great history lesson on how the boys of the big ovals came to be.

Being a race car driver definitely comes with some stellar perks. For one, it’s a dream job as you make your living ripping around the best race tracks in the country. Then there’s the fame, the money and the girls, which also help lend to the jobs appeal. It’s a pretty good gig if you ask me and one that I would gladly take on if given the opportunity. NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Brad Keselowski had the honor of piloting the No. 22 Discount Tire/Ruby Tuesday Dodge Charger from Penske Racing, and by the looks of it, he made the most of it. Keselowski was recently crowned the 2010 Champion, and to celebrate his win in the series Dodge Motorsports’ Bryan Viger awarded Keselowski with what Dodge calls, “The Biggest Trophy In NASCAR”, in the form of a 2011 Dodge Challenger SRT8 392 that was build by the “Mopar Underground” team at Chrysler.

Keselowski’s new Challenger features the following custom touches:
• Deep Water Blue paint from the 2011 Dodge Challenger SRT8 392 Inaugural Edition along with hood, roof and rear decklid finished in matte black and accented with grabber blue pin stripe.
• Custom 22-inch Forgiato wheels that carry matte black powder coated paint and grabber blue pin stripes added to the outside wheel lips.
• Standard 392 HEMI fender badges have been moved to each side of the hood and replaced with 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series Champion decals on both fenders
• Modified interior features Smooth Pearl White leather-trimmed seats and dual blue stripes accented by unique blue stitching from the 2011 Dodge Challenger SRT8 392 Inaugural Edition model.
• Under the hood is the 392-cubic inch HEMI® V-8 powertrain pumping out 470 horsepower and 470 lb.-ft. of torque
• Stock exhaust system is replaced with new Corsa-tuned system from Mopar

Source: Moparts.com
*Photo Credit: http://twitter.com/KathyatChrysler

Hamilton in the MP4-25. Image: Morio

In a bizarre twist of fate, Lewis Hamilton, the F1 wunderkind and star driver for McLaren Mercedes, will jump ship and head to NASCAR. Conveniently, Tony Stewart will give up his NASCAR ride and take Hamilton’s seat in last year’s McLaren MP4-25. The catch? Both are exhibition drives, courtesy of NASCAR and F1 sponsor Mobil 1. Both drivers will get the full “arrive and drive” treatment, complete with engineers and pit crew support, but don’t expect either driver to set record lap times.

The event is scheduled to tie into the NASCAR race at Watkins Glen, which will be held on August 14. The date is convenient for both drivers, as Stewart will be on hand for the Sprint Cup race and Hamilton will be enjoying a month long mid-season break from the F1 schedule. There’s no word on whether or not the drives will be televised, but I’m sure we can count on YouTube to come through for us. If you ask me, Stewart’s got the harder transition of the two drivers, since F1 cars are even harder to drive slow (thanks to lack of downforce) than they are to drive fast. On the other hand, I’d expect nothing less than the full-hoon treatment from Hamilton, who can light the tires and spin donuts to his heart’s content without fear of legal repercussion.

Source: Autoblog

OK, sports fans, here’s a challenge for you. Without going to the internet, how many of the helmets below can you associate with the racers who wore them? I’m going to make it particularly hard by mixing up the racing series; some are from F1, some are from IndyCar (and its predecessor, Champ Car), and there are even a few NASCAR helmets thrown in for good measure. Some ore (relatively) recent, while others go back a few years. I’ll throw you a few clues along the way, but I’m not going to give away any answers. Up for the challenge? Reply with your best guesses and I’ll publish the answers towards the end of the week.

1. I'll give you a hint: he didn't race WRC. Image: JMJ Auto

2. Think of a character from Gilligan's Island. Image: JMJ Auto

3. He raced for Butch Cassidy. Image JMJ Auto

4. He's still turning left, and occasionally right. Image: JMJ Auto

5. The following year, he was world champion. Image: JMJ Auto

6. Here, his teammate was Paul Tracy. Image: JMJ Auto

7. This helmet is from his last year as world champion. Image: JMJ Auto

8. Eight years later, a crash in Germany nearly killed him. Image: JMJ Auto

9. The helmet is in this driver's national colors. Image: JMJ Auto

10. He's still racing, but finished last season in 21st position. Image: JMJ Auto

Let me know if you like this kind of stuff, because I was thinking about something similar with cars (or specifically, parts of cars). It’s almost time to kickoff the 2011 motorsports season, so I’ve got to get you primed somehow.

By now you’ve heard that Travis Pastrana has given up on rallying for a career driving stock cars. He’s partnered with Michael Waltrip racing to campaign a Toyota in NASCAR’s Nationwide series, the same series that IndyCar’s Danica Patrick failed to make progress in last year. Pastrana bought his way into the team, so he gets my respect for putting his money down upfront, instead of just hiring on as a big name driver. The video has its amusing moments, like when Pastrana says, “visually, it’s not that quick, but you see the car dancing everywhere.” Trust me, every dancing racecar I’ve ever been in felt plenty quick behind the wheel, regardless of what it looked like to spectators.

Pastrana has his work cut out for him in 2011. As a racer used to being the top dog in motocross, supercross and rally competition, it’s hard to imagine him being happy as a back marker in the NASCAR Nationwide series. The Nationwide Series has a very steep learning curve, and I sincerely hope he puts more effort into it (and gets better results) than stars from other racing series, like Danica Patrick or former F1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve. I can’t think of another feeder series in racing that’s dominated by the very drivers of the league’s premier series, so if you can make it in the Nationwide series, you probably can make it anywhere.

The 1969 Dodge Charger 500 is probably one of the most recognizable NASCAR racers ever to run on the banked ovals. At almost 18-feet long, 6-feet wide and two tons, the Dodge Chargers that were built between 1968 and 1970 were not only some of the biggest Nascar’s ever, but some of the most beautiful. Racing legends like Buddy Baker, Bobby Allison, Paul Goldsmith and Bobby Issac all drove these iconic machines. These cars raced at speeds upwards of 190 mph on suspension systems that are, by today’s standards, completely archaic. I own a 1968 Dodge Charger and have been known to track it from time to time, but running 200 mph in it… no thank you. One of the most amazing things about watching racing from the 1960′s and 1970′s was the almost complete and total lack of safety equipment utilized by teams. Fire suits were not worn, nor were gloves and pit crew precautions were all but non-existent. Now some out there would say that these are the days when men were men, and cars were cars. Me, I just think they didn’t know any better…

Source: Youtube.com