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August 31, 2008
Sweet Mopar-Powered Ford
By John Coyle
Editor
While I was leaving the race yesterday, I was struck by two things. The first was that Sugar Ray was playing. Until I saw their name on the schedule, I had no idea that band was still around. I guess I just figured that if your lead singer takes a job as host of a tabloid TV show, you call it quits. But what do I know? The other thing I was struck by was this wicked Mopar-powered Ford. Now, most of the time, I don’t drool over old-school hot rods, but I spent a few minutes gawking over this one before heading back to the hotel. Do you think it bothers Ford that so many of these old ’32s are running different powerplants? Check out a few more pics of this baby after the jump.
1st Annual Team Chevelle NorthWest Dyno and Burnout Competition Winner
By Rob Einaudi
Editor-in-Chief
Greg’s ’66 Buick Special Deluxe had the burliest burnout at the 1st Annual Team Chevelle NorthWest Dyno and Burnout Competition back in June. Only problem was, some previously burnt rubber caught fire under his car. "It got hot enough that it burnt both of my airbag lines under the car, and left soot all over my bumper and fenders. Let me tell you, it WAS exciting!" Yeah, no kidding. Greg has a ton of great pics and video on his ride page, so be sure to check it out.
B-K Motorsports Takes 7th Overall, 7th in Class
By John Coyle
Editor
After a hard-fought day—at one point the B-K Motorsports car was running fourth in the LP2 class—closing driver Gerardo Bonilla was all smiles. Ultimately, the team finished seventh overall and and seventh in class, for its second-best finish of the season. Not bad! From the look of the overall results, the technical nature of the Belle Isle course lent itself to the smaller LP2 cars, which filled the top eight spots. Andretti Green Racings’s number 26 Acura ARX-01B took first overall, while the number 4 C6R Corvette was victorious in GT1, and the number 45 Porsche 911 RSR took the checkered in GT2. While it finished 22nd overall, Intersport Racing’s Lola B06/10-AER took the win for the LP1 class after the number 1 Audi TDI—which had initially finished second overall—failed a post-race technical inspection. Head over to the official American Le Mans site for the complete race results, and check out a couple more pics of the B-K Motorsports car after the jump.
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Porsche 911 RSR Has Close Encounter of the Wall Kind
By John Coyle
Editor
Ok, so this picture is cool and everything, but looking at it still makes me pissed. Because seconds—literally, seconds!—before the number 46 Porsche spun, I had been in the exact same spot shooting video. And while I still think the clips I got of cars ripping through this turn are pretty cool—this one shows the GT2 Porsches and Ferraris really going at it—it’s obvious that getting footage of the near-miss would have been way cooler. But hey, what can you do? From what I could tell, the Porsche stopped just shy of the wall, then peeled out and headed back onto the track, where it was nearly rear-ended by the number 62 Ferrari. Check out a few more pics of this incident after the jump. Oh, and am I the only one who thinks it’s funny this whole situation went down directly in front of a bunch of Porsche banners?
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Q is Pissed: 007 Aston Martin Wrecks on Lap 2
By John Coyle
Editor
When I saw that the Daryson-Barwell Aston Martin had crashed into a tire barrier, I headed straight over to their paddock to get a first-hand look at the damage. When I asked the obviously disappointed crew member stationed there whether the car was on its way back, his response was, "Oh, don’t worry, you’ll be able to get plenty of pictures." He was so cool about the whole situation that I almost—almost—felt bad about wanting to get shots of the carnage. Fortunately, driver Paul Drayson was unharmed in the wreck, and the team has a solid month to get the car ready for the next race. I’ve posted a bunch of shots of the damage after the jump, and I even managed to get some video of the car being towed in. Better luck next time gentlemen, I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you!
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All Race Cars on Deck!
By John Coyle
Editor
American Le Mans is the only professional race series in the world that lets fans walk the grid just minutes before the start, and people obviously dig it. Seriously, where else can you get this up-close-and-personal with thoroughbred racing machines? Even most local dirt tracks don’t give ticket-holders that kind of access! Unfortunately, at the last race I attended, I pushed my luck—in my defense, I was trying to get photos for the blog—and wound up being physically removed from the track. But there was none of that unpleasantness this time! Check out the ton of awesome shots I’ve posted after the jump!
Morning Practice Makes Some Cars Less Than Perfect
By John Coyle
Editor
Just like yesterday, morning practice went well for B-K Motorsports. Unfortunately, not all of the other teams faired as well. Audi’s number 2 TDI hit one of the circuit’s concrete barriers on its first lap, and while the damage appeared minor—the team had already pulled the blemished bits by the time I arrived at their paddock—patching up the car isn’t the way any crew wants to spend the precious hours before the green flag. The most serious damage I saw was on a couple of the Indy cars that were practicing for tomorrow’s IRL race. Both Tomas Scheckter’s number 12—pictured below—and Bruno Junqueira’s number 18 car took pretty hard licks, which resulted in some throughly jacked rear suspension components. Check out pics of the number 17 car’s injuries—and some apparently relieved Audi techs—after the jump.
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August 30, 2008
Random Russian Wreck: Bentley In The Middle Of A Field
By Jen Dunnaway
Editor
This one turned up over on English Russia, unaccompanied by any comprehensible explanation. What do you suppose happened? Mafia hit? Trust fund baby goes four-wheeling? More pics after the jump.
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Slot Cars
By Rob Einaudi
Editor-in-Chief
This photo, which I saw over at VWVortex, pretty much made my day (although the harness setup in the pink car is pretty sketch). I have a closeup pic after the jump.
Speed World Challenge Cars Hit the Track
By John Coyle
Editor
In addition to the American Le Mans race and the Indy Racing League events happening this weekend, there’s also a Speed World Challenge series race taking place. After the Le Mans cars had finished qualifying and retired to their paddocks, I shot this clip of the SWC cars heading out for practice, and I think it’s pretty sweet. For the record, I didn’t have the camera zoomed in—this is actually how close I was as the drivers accelerated out of the pits. It was awesome! Oh, and how hot does the CTS-V look in racing trim?
