This Just In: New On The Net

When I got my diesel Escort back from the shop, I was surprised to find the windshield had been smashed. And naturally, everyone who’s touched it absolutely denies any knowledge or responsibility. That’s why you always take a ton pics for your ride page everywhere you go with your car—in this case, there’s a chance it could make the difference between getting a new windshield and getting burned. Now for the news…

• Both presidential candidates are stumping for vehicle maintenance, and more Americans than ever are reporting that they’ve been tinkering on their cars to improve fuel mileage. Will the gas crisis make wrenching the next patriotic trend? The Auto Channel.
• NASCAR’s Countdown to the Chase is brutally winnowing down to the the surviving twelve drivers with only a few races left to go, and this weekend’s road-course race at Watkins Glen is going to be crucial. Tune in on Sunday to see the stock cars turn left and right. NASCAR.com.
• All this nonsense about ethanol creating famine by starving the world of corn ignores a crucial inconvenient truth: in the US, we feed more corn to cows than we feed to cars and people combined, and animal agriculture pollutes more than our country’s entire vehicle fleet. So next time someone hassles you about your gas-guzzling habit, you can ask them if they’ve gone veg yet. The Nation.
• Knock, knock. Who’s there? Drunk lady. Drunk lady who? Drunk lady who got lost driving near Sturgis and stopped by the house of a sheriff’s deputy to ask directions at 4 in the morning. Good one. CBS News.