By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

The BangShift.com members come up with some cool stuff, and this time we got tipped by a forum post from user jword2001. He posted the video seen below that shows Top Fuel Motorcycle rider Korry Hogan laying over his drag bike at 220 mph on a 5.88-second pass, and then saving it! This was at the AMA Dragbike Finals in Valdosta, Georgia, in 2009.

However, a little web surfing reveals that Korry Hogan is no stranger to death-defying antics on two wheels with nitro. The guy has stones like bowling balls. These are all must-see videos.

Here’s the one with Hogan putting the bike horizontal in the lights at 220 mph. Head over to BangShift for more insane crash videos.

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

Fuji Speedway is the place to be this time of the year as two of the biggest events of the calendar are hosted at the international circuit. I am of course talking about the Toyota Motorsports Festival and the Nismo Festival, which this year are held within two weeks of each other. This past weekend was Toyota’s turn, which managed to attract a pretty impressive 28,000 people to the freezing race track in order to celebrate the past year’s achievements in motorsport. Continue reading over at Speedhunters.

—By Dino Dalle Carbonare

By Dan Strohl

Hemmings

Back in the 1960s, magazine writers thought the turbine was on the verge of replacing the piston engine entirely, and nowadays, it’s hardly brought up at all in the auto industry’s alt-fuel fantasies. For SIA #57, Leon Dixon took a look at Chrysler’s turbine program, which came the closest to an actual, offered-to-the-masses production turbine car, and which dates back to the early 1950s. Continue reading over at Hemmings.

By Michael Berenis

Tampa Sports Car Examiner

Pumping out twin forced induction symphony with a 440 stroked Dodge Challenger is a mechanical masterpiece created by RDP Motorsports. A nice blend of cooling performance and curb appeal, the twin pulleys can be seen through the hood as they blast pressurized air through the massive stroked engine. Read more about the twin supercharged Dodge Challenger at Tampa Sports Car Examiner.

By Jay Wyman

Tuner Maneuver Magazine

For most of the industry leaders I’ve talked to recently, getting though this year has taken a lot of effort. Satisfying wary customers and clients with tight budgets meant paying attention to the smallest of details like going that extra mile to make a tough decision which in the end makes things harder than ever. Many companies basically just seemed to try to survive while doing some long term planning. Working just to make ends meet doesn’t leave a lot of room or time to look at the big picture.

If you’re reading this and your company or your employer has survived this year, congratulations. You should be proud and have a story to tell for years. You know your company or employer must be doing something right if you managed to ride out the storm while spending slowed to a small trickle. Heading into the new year of 2010 we have a lot to look forward to but also a lot to plan for. Look at where your company is heading not only for the show/race season but for the next 2 years, 5 years, and more. Continue reading over at Tuner Maneuver Magazine.

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

All thanks to the interwebs! Full story at The Sun News

By Antonio Alvendia

Antonio Alvendia

As this weekend’s much awaited Formula D Pro Am event at Irwindale Speedway draws near, the members of the Motor Mavens Crew from Los Angeles are getting more and more excited to see all our friends from all the different grassroots drifting scenes from all over the country.

Our whole crew has a ton of respect for all the grassroots drivers out there; they are certainly working hard to step their game up and make it into the pro ranks… and for me personally, I think sometimes watching the grassroots guys compete is even more exciting than watching the pro drivers go at it. Some people may be thinking, “What?! Are you crazy?” I know, I know… it may be a bit different to outsiders or to those who are just sitting in the stands… but for those of us who circulate through the pit areas and go to the different shops and hang out with the drivers even outside of track events, it’s really inspiring to see the hard work and perseverance of normal, everyday individuals, the grassroots enthusiasts, pay off.

This is what passion is all about. And this is why I think people are crazy when people think drifting is just a fad. Maybe it is for outsiders… but for the people who live and breathe this stuff day in and day out, it couldn’t be further from the truth.

One guy who lives and breathes drifting is Roland Gallagher. The first time I saw Roland drive was at Formula D Las Vegas, where he was competing to earn his invite to the Pro Am. I was standing trackside with my younger brother David, and I saw this flash of teal pass me, followed by clouds of billowing white tiresmoke. My eyes followed the tiresmoke and somehow became fixated on his WHEELS which had ridiculously fat lips… I remember muttering “helllll yeah” under my breath, because these days, it’s becoming more and more rare to see drift cars with good looking wheels and stance on the FD circuit. Continue reading and view more photos on MotorMavens!

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Last night, Jimmie Johnson became the first driver in NASCAR’s 61-year history to win four consecutive Sprint Cup championships. Any way you cut it, that’s pretty impressive–Jimmie and Chad the entire Hendrick organization absolutely deserve to revel in the victory they’ve earned. At the same time, Jimmie (perhaps unfairly) has come to represent to a lot of folks everything that is bloodless and corporate about modern stock car racing. There’s a good chance that his run of wins will turn a lot of people away from the sport, as the abysmal ratings of this year’s Chase for the Cup have already suggested–especially old-school fans who crave the firey personalities and distinguishable cars and cut-throat driving of yesteryear’s NASCAR. People forget that Jimmie grew up in a trailer park, and that just like everyone else he earned his salt in motorsports, rising through the ranks of motocross and off-road and the minor leagues of ASA and NASCAR to get to where he is today. But regrettably, despite his obviously prodigious driving skill and team dedication, he often comes across as simply a corporate racebot who’s just had everything handed to him. How about you–what are your feelings on Jimmie’s fourth championship victory? And how will it affect how you watch NASCAR in the 2010 season?

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

Personally, I find most of the traditional luxury cars at SEMA to be a little boring. I just really don’t care if somebody slapped a sweet set of wheels on a 7 Series BMW and rolled it on to the red carpet. Yawn. That said, I’d like to nominate the following cars for best luxury ride: the black Porsche Panamera (not everyone finds it as ill-proportioned as I do) ,  the killer widebody Bentley in the Nutek Wheels booth, the unreal House of Kolor Monte Carlo, this uber-tough diesel powered Caddy, and David Huang’s aggressively attired Lexus IS 300. Even if you think I’m totally high with these choices, vote for your favorite!

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By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

We’ve featured this awesome ’71 Riviera in the blog before. Now how about this cool Abarth clone Buickman is building?