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Ricky Stenhouse fought back from a two-lap deficit to win the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Kansas Speedway.

And, he had a little luck when the late race dominant driver, Kyle Busch ran out of fuel on the final lap of a race extended by six laps in a green-white-checkered finish. Austin Dillon finished second followed by Joey Logano.

"That's our year, man. Nothing else to it than that," said Busch, who finished sixth. "What a frustrating defeat."

Stenhouse's problems began early in the scheduled 300-miler. First there was overheating then a collision with polesitter, Logano.

"We had a lot of debris on the grill, and we were 300 (degrees) on water and oil, and I thought we would have to pit to come get that off before we blew up," Stenhouse said. "I was trying to get behind him to get the debris off and he checked up at the last second and I turned and just drove right into the side of him.

"There wasn't much he could do about it, and I thought it ruined our day, but we were able to bounce back from it."

"I just got put in the fence," said Logano.

"What are you going to do? That's a racing thing. It's just a little early in the race for fencing each other and I know he's behind me trying to clean his grill off, so I didn't know what he's trying to do and then he got underneath me and started running me up the race track and then we ran out of real estate and he just 'smushed' us in the fence.

"To come back and finish third after that -- I'm proud of my guys."

"I thought the race was over for us. I thought I had killed it for us," Stenhouse added. "I knew we would try to salvage as many points as we could. To be honest I was thinking top-15 and to try to get back one lap down and it was one thing at a time and we were able to do that."

It took Stenhouse 60 laps to return to the lead lap. Ironically, being out of sequence put him in a favourite fuel condition to take advantage of the extended race.

With points leader, Elliott Sadler, finishing fourth Stenhouse closed to within six points of the lead. Dillon remains third 26 points back.

Auto123.com Racing is providing motorsport fans with a live description of the last and decisive race of the 2012 DTM championship from the Hockenheimring in Germany.

Canadian Bruno Spengler of the BMW team will start from 3rd place behind pole sitter, BMW teammate Augusto Farfus and his main rival in the title chase, Gary Paffett of Mercedes.

TIMETABLE:
In Europe, the race will be held from 2 to 3 pm
In Montreal and the East Coast, the race will run from 8 to 9 am

For technical reasons, the commentaries are provided in both English and French.

Simply click on the box below to access the Live Coverage.

Volkswagen is due to report its biggest quarterly earnings drop since 2009, while Daimler is cutting costs to lift sagging profit at Mercedes-Benz, hinting that German carmakers have lost their immunity to Europe's economic woes.

Volkswagen is due to report its biggest quarterly earnings drop since 2009, while Daimler is cutting costs to lift sagging profit at Mercedes-Benz, hinting that German carmakers have lost their immunity to Europe's economic woes.

Volkswagen is due to report its biggest quarterly earnings drop since 2009, while Daimler is cutting costs to lift sagging profit at Mercedes-Benz, hinting that German carmakers have lost their immunity to Europe's economic woes.

Bo Andersson is arguably the toughest car executive on the planet. When he accepted the job as head of Russian automotive group GAZ in 2009, the former Soviet auto giant was on its knees.

New wheels, same deals - that's how Hakan Samuelsson thinks a life selling trucks makes him the right man to get Volvo Cars back to growth in the key home market of its Chinese owners.

U.S. Representative Jim Renacci says he wouldn't have run for Congress had his Chevrolet dealership in Wadsworth, Ohio, not closed when the federal government bailed out GM in 2009. The viability of the U.S.

Mikko Hirvonen (Citroën) leads rally de Italia Sardinia following the retirements of Loeb, Neuville, Latvala and Solberg on Friday.

The Finn inherited the lead when his teammate Sébastien Loeb went off in SS3. Later, it was Jari-Matti Latvala's turn to damage his radiator. Latvala managed to get his Ford back on the road, but went off again few kilometers later. Finally, Petter Solberg was also forced to retirement when he crashed out and damaged his steering.

Thanks to those incidents, Ford drivers Evgeny Novikov and Ott Tanak moved up to 2nd and 3rd positions. Mads Ostberg lost several minutes, having to complete the afternoon's loop with a steering issue aboard his Ford Fiesta.

Mikko Hirvonen is back in the same situation than in Portugal, where he emerged in the lead following his rivals' retirement, but lost his win after failing a post-race check, which revealed a non-homologated element in the engine.

Friday classification:
1. Hirvonen-Lehtinen (Citroen DS3 Wrc) in 1.56'525”5

2. Novikov-Minor (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) + 1'09"6

3. Tanak-Sikk (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) + 2'18”83

4. Ogier-Ingrassia (Skoda Fabia S2000) + 3'35”7

5. Atkinson-Prevot (Mini Cooper Wrc) + 3'54”9
6. Mikkelsen-Floene (Skoda Fabia S2000) + 4'40"3
7. Ostberg-Andersson (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) + 4'46”0

8. Prokop-Hruza (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) + 7'13”0
9. Kruuda-Jarveoja (Ford Fiesta S2000) + 8'26"2
10. P. Solberg-Patterson (Ford Fiesta Wrc) + 10'15"7
Etc.

LOS ANGELES, California - When the current Ford Explorer was launched, it was a wow moment for the company. In fact, I'm sure I'm not the only person who did a double-take when I first clapped eyes on the vehicle. Many still confuse it with products emanating from high-end European manufacturers, and this will perhaps happen more often now as we welcome the new 2013 Ford Explorer Sport!


Although performance has always played a role in Ford's product line, the performance SUV category has, until now, been predominately the playground of other, often European, brands.

Now, following the success of its EcoBoost line of engines (1.6 million units annually by 2013), and in particular its fabulous 3.5L EcoBoost V6 (available in the F-150), the company has decided to install this powerhouse into the Explorer and produce a true seven-passenger performance SUV.

Wolf in sheep's clothing
The word subtle comes to mind while eyeing the exterior of the new 2013 Ford Explorer Sport. Starting at the front with its low-gloss Sterling Grey grille, this sporty blacked-out look flows across the vehicle in a series of eye-catching features. It's there, yet it's not in-your-face. This is then topped off with some truly stylish 20” wheels which, if you look closely, have the word “Sport” imbedded in the outer edge of the rim. Again, it's noticeable but not outrageously obvious.

The Sport comes in a choice of four colours - Ruby Red, White Platinum, Tuxedo Black, and Ingot Silver (all metallic finishes), and I will happily vouch for the company's wise choice of paint schemes.

Overall, the new 2013 Ford Explorer Sport boasts a sharp and distinctive look which sets it apart without appearing gimmicky. I like it.

Climb aboard
The interior aptly suits its exterior wardrobe and has been carefully crafted to produce a feeling of true luxury combined with modern high-tech wizardry. Soft-touch materials are in abundance and together with the appearance of hand-stitched leather seating surfaces, the look & feel of this interior will do little to help alleviate the confusion between the Explorer and those high-end European offerings.

As I've already indicated, the new Sport carries Ford's complete complement of electronic gizmos which we've come to love. However, with added niceties such as first-row heated & cooled seats, blind spot information system with cross-traffic alert, power tilt & telescopic steering, adjustable pedals and a premium Sony audio system, this vehicle is certainly moving the bar considerably upward.

Of course, one can always pick on minor items you'd wish to improve upon. For me, this would be the left-foot (dead pedal) resting area because, try as I may, my size 10 simply couldn't find a comfortable position. Apart from that one small irritant, I was more than happy to spend several hours aboard the 2013 Ford Explorer Sport. All in all, the vehicle offers above and beyond what one might expect, especially taking its pricing into consideration, as a well-appointed Sport starts at just $48,299 and there are very few additional options to add to this.

Soft-touch materials are in abundance and together with the appearance of hand-stitched leather seating surfaces (Photo: Kevin Corrigan)

Hold on tight, here we go!
Obviously, with a twin-turbocharged, 365-hp powerplant on tap (along with 350 lb-ft of torque), this vehicle's no slouch, as the estimated 0-100 km/h time is in the low 7-second range which, although not ground-breaking, is pretty fair given the size & weight of the vehicle.

However, this is not simply an Explorer with a large-capacity motor under the hood. In fact, far from it! Major modifications have been made to the chassis and suspension components and the sophisticated Terrain Management System has been modified to provide optimum power & torque under all settings (on-road, sandy, snowy, rutted mud and hill descent). This vehicle handles every situation well!

Perhaps the most surprising addition to all this performance-related tweaking lay in the fuel economy figures which the company has managed to achieve. While certain other high-performance SUV manufacturers still labour under the opinion that “if you can afford to purchase the vehicle, you can afford to put gas in it,” Ford has been quick to realize that perhaps being moneywise led to that initial purchase.

After all, who doesn't like to save money on gas? Ratings for the new 2013 Ford Explorer Sport are 13.2 L/100km in the city and 8.8 L/100km on the highway. That's quite impressive for a rather sizable seven-passenger SUV capable of towing 5,000 lbs.

2013 Ford Explorer Sport are 13.2 L/100km in the city and 8.8 L/100km on the highway. (Photo: Kevin Corrigan)

Conclusion
I believe the company has a winner on its hands with this one. It has the looks, the performance and, without a doubt, the fuel-economy figures to worry the competition. It's a nice package and it certainly throws a curveball into the current performance SUV category.

Auto123.com has discovered in Hockenheim that DTM officials are looking into strategies to further enhance the quality of the show ahead of the 2013 season.

Many ideas were brought to the table by experienced drivers. As we understand, three of them are being looked into at the moment, but only one will be put in place.

The first of these ideas is the "push-to-pass" button used in many different series, which increases the amount of RPMs available to a driver for a short period of time.

The second is an F1-style drag reduction system, commonly known as DRS.

And finally, also inspired from F1, the third idea is an 'option' tire. If Hankook was to offer each team two choices of rubber per weekend, as does Pirelli in Formula One, drivers would face the challenge of making both compounds - a soft and a hard one - work through the race.

ITR, the company in charge of the series is also looking into shuffling next season's calendar.

It seems Valencia is to be replaced by Barcelona, and Zandvoort dropped altogether from the schedule. No news yet on Brands Hatch, one of the least popular venue. Moscow apparently is now "almost" certainly on the 2013 calendar.

Furthermore, DTM insiders are getting excited about the series potentially going to Canada, at Montreal's circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. Octane's François Dumontier was adamant however, that the DTM's arrival was not yet for now: "It will not be in 2013," he said.

"Not before 2014."

Model: 2007 to 2012 Hyundai Santa Fe

Vehicle Type: Crossover

History/Description: Thousands of Canadian shoppers found homes for the last-generation Hyundai Santa Fe in their driveways, citing affordability, safety and overall value as key purchase decisions. With available 7-passenger seating, available AWD and standard V6 power combined with a healthy list of standard features, the Santa Fe simply came packed with all the right stuff at a great price.

Hyundai Santa Fe (Photo: Matthieu Lambert)

Feature content included automatic climate control, heated leather, a sunroof, electric windshield wiper deicer, keyless entry and steering-wheel mounted audio controls. Under the hood, a 2.7L, 185-horsepower V6 was standard, and a 3.3L unit was available with 242 horsepower. A 5-speed stick could be had with the smaller V6, and 4- or 5-speed automatics were included elsewhere.

For 2010 and beyond, powertrains were updated to include a standard 2.4L, 175-horsepower 4-cylinder and a 3.5L V6 with the better part of 280 ponies.

What Owners Like: Santa Fe owners typically appreciate the integration of controls for their iPod, Bluetooth phone and radio, as well as the steering-wheel mounted audio controls. Engine performance and interior styling is also highly rated.

What Owners Dislike: Complaints tend to centre around a rough ride on some models, cheap interior trim pieces, easily discolored leather seats, and sluggish shifting on models with the 4-speed automatic.

Hyundai Santa Fe (Photo: Matthieu Lambert)

Continue reading 2007-2012 Hyundai Santa Fe Pre-Owned

Auto123.com Racing is providing motorsport fans with a live description of the qualifying session of the final and decisive round of the 2012 DTM season held in Hockenheim, Germany.

Briton Gary Paffett (Mercedes) leads the standings with a 3-point advantage over Canadian Bruno Spengler (BMW) and 18 over his Mercedes teammate, Jamie Green.

QUALIFYING SESSION TIMETABLE:
In Europe: from 1:40 pm to 2:50 pm
In Montreal and the East Coast: from 7:40 am to 8:50 am

QUALIFYING FORMAT:

Round 1
All 22 drivers have 16 minutes to complete as many qualifying laps they wish. The quickest 14 contenders qualify Round 2 while the the slowest eight take grid positions 15 to 22.

Round 2
Drivers have 11 minutes to set their fastest time. The top 8 move up into Round 3 while the others take grid positions 9 to 14.

Round 3
Drivers are again given 11 minutes to do their fast laps. The slowest 4 take grid positions 5 to 8. The fastest four qualify for Round 4, the Super Pole.

Round 4 - Super Pole
The four fastest drivers go out for one single timed lap, one after the other. The times establish grid positions one to four. The quickest driver in this round claims pole position.

For technical reasons, the commentaries are provided in both English and French.

Simply click on the box below to access the Live Coverage.

Toyota Canada is recalling ten FJ Cruiser vehicles from 2011 and 2012 that are equipped with a Toyota Racing Development (TRD) High-Performance Brake Kit sold and installed by Toyota dealerships.

The clearance between the front outer brake tubes and the 16'' TRD alloy wheels is small, which could damage the tubes and cause a brake fluid leak.

Toyota Canada dealers will therefore replace both front outer brake tubes with updated versions.

Source: Transports Canada

Kasey Kahne led all qualifiers and three non-qualifiers under the record in qualifying for the pole at the repaved, lightning-fast, Kansas Speedway on a cold Friday afternoon.

Oddly he didn't think his qualifying lap of 191.360 mph was good enough for the pole. “I went into (turn) three, and felt like I could go wide open. So I went back to wide open, and then I started just chattering a little bit. So, I eased off the throttle and back down. I definitely gave up a little time doing that,” said Kahne.

It was his fourth pole of the year and third at the mile-and-a-half track; 26th in his career.

“It doesn't feel anything like the old track,” Kahne said of repaved surface.

All 46 drivers attempting to qualify eclipsed the track record of qualifying record of 180.856 mph set by Matt Kenseth in 2005.

Mark Martin was second fast in the Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 191.237mph.

“We fought way too tight in practice, Rodney took a big leap in qualifying, he wasn't that bad but it definitely stepped out in between (turns) one and two,” said Martin.

Last week's winner in Charlotte, and Martin's teammate at MWR was third.

Mark Martin came up short by a little bit in the Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota.

Series points leader, Brad Keselowski will start 25th, Jimmie Johnson, second in the points, who is vying for his sixth NASCAR Sprint Cup title goes off seventh.

Denny Hamlin, third in the points, who hit the wall in practice earlier this week, will start ninth.

The high speeds, thanks to the repave, and much warmer weather expected for Sunday's 400 mile race make it anyone's guess as to who has the advantage.

“I think it's a bit of a wild card,” said Kahne.

“It's not a Talladega wild card, but it's a bit of a wild card because you have to pick up on the surface. The only thing to me is it is pretty similar to Michigan. The size of the track isn't but the surface, the corners for whatever reason I think it feels really similar to Michigan.

“The guys that are running well right now ran pretty well at Michigan  I would say they will figure it out. We had a great run today but everybody will figure it out for Sunday. We just need to try to stay ahead of them if we can.”

From Lotus F1 Team

Lotus F1 Team is honoured to be the first team to take to the new Circuit of the Americas track ahead of the United States Grand Prix at Austin, Texas next month. American racing legend Mario Andretti, actor Patrick Dempsey and Lotus F1 Team third driver Jérôme D'Ambrosio will all complete demonstration runs behind the wheel of the team's 2010 F1 challenger - the R30 - during the circuit's Official Opening Ceremony on Sunday October 21.

Lotus' R30 (Photo: Lotus F1 Team)

1978 Formula 1 World Champion Mario Andretti will formally cut the ribbon to open the track by driving the opening laps of the circuit, in what will be his first time behind the wheel of a contemporary Formula 1 car since he last competed in the sport in 1982.

Mario Andretti (Photo: Circuit of the Americas)

Actor Patrick Dempsey - known internationally for playing the character Dr. Derek Shepherd in TV drama Grey's Anatomy - will take to the wheel of a Formula 1 car for the first time. Dempsey - who is an ambassador for Lotus F1 Team Official Partner Trina Solar - is a keen motor sport enthusiast who has contested a number of races in different categories, including racing at the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Finally, Jérôme D'Ambrosio - who contested this year's Italian Grand Prix for the team - will also conduct demonstration laps at the event, which takes place four weeks ahead of the United States Grand Prix; marking the return of Formula 1 to the USA after a five year absence.

As the American Le Mans Series heads into its final race of the season, the famed Petit Le Mans, visiting team Rebellion Racing stole the show from Muscle Milk Racing.

Neel Jani was the one who got the pole, edging in front of regular winners and championship leaders Lucas Luhr and Klaus Graf of Muscle Milk Pickett Racing, who are joined for the occasion by international star Romain Dumas.

Jani set the pole at 1min09.089s in the No. 12 Lola-Toyota Coupe he co-drives with Nicolas Prost and Andrea Belicchi. Muscle Milk's championship rival Dyson Racing stand third on the grid thanks to Guy Smith.

Oak Racing wrote a similar story as Rebellion's in P2, taking pole from regular ALMS entries. Olivier Pla in the No. 35 Morgan-Nissan posted the fastest lap in class.

Extreme Speed Motorsports came out on top with the pole in GT however, thanks to Toni Vilander, who drives the team's No. 01 Ferrari F458 Italia with Scott Sharp and Johannes van Overbeek.

Canadian Kyle Marcelli earned yet another pole this season for Merchant Services in PC, while Leh Keen accomplished the same feat in GTC.

Furthermore, after a heavy crash in practice, the DeltaWing was back on track for qualifying with Gunnar Jeannette at the wheel. Jeannette earned 10th overall for the revolutionary prototype.

However, he and Lucas Ordonez will have to start last since they entered the race with an unclassified car.



Qualifying results - Petit Le Mans (ALMS)
1.Belicchi/Jani/Prost (Lola B12/60-Lotus) - Rebellion - 1'09"089
2.Luhr/Graf/Dumas (HPD ARX-03a) - Pickett - 1'09"428
3.Dyson/Smith/Kane (Lola B12/60-Mazda) - Dyson - 1'10"176
4.Burgess/Patterson/McMurry (Lola B11/66-Mazda) - Dyson - 1'11"811
5.Nicolet/Baguette/Pla (Morgan-Judd) - OAK - 1'12"046
6.Plowman/Hansson/Lux (Morgan-Judd) - Conquest - 1'12"048
7.Tucker/Franchitti/Franchitti (HPD ARX-03b) - Level 5 - 1'12"236
8.Hartley/Hughes/Firth (Oreca-Nissan) - Murphy - 1'12"382
9.Brundle/Buncombe/Kimber-Smith (Zytek-Nissan) - 1'12"524
10.Tucker/Diaz/Bouchut (HPD ARX-03b) - Level 5 - 1'12"890
(...)
14.Marcelli/Downs/Ducote (Oreca FLM09) - Merchant - 1'14"099
20.Sharp/Van Overbeek/Vilander (Ferrari 458) - Extreme Speed - 1'18"729
35.MacNeil/Keen/Von Moltke (Porsche 997 Cup) - Alex Job - 1'24"060
Etc.

Honda is using more social media to further its brand message through storytelling even though it may not represent the bulk of its marketing spending.

Penske Automotive Group increased its quarterly cash dividend by 8.3 percent to 13 cents per share for the third quarter, the company said in a statement.

Chevrolet will display a total of 39 cars at the SEMA show in Las Vegas from Oct. 30-Nov. 2.