Auto News 5

Joey Logano's victory in the Nationwide race at Bristol may presage a wild Sprint Cup race on Saturday night.

Logano took the lead for good on lap 216 passing a then dominant Kevin Harvick who had fuel issues. Late cautions allowed series points leader Elliott Sadler and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to close up on winner.

On the final restart Stenhouse Jr. bumped Sadler taking him out of contention but not the race.

Logano was ecstatic after his sixth series win of the year and first at the half-mile high-banked oval. "I think we've led the most laps in this race several times.  I always fell a little short or something went wrong and it's cool to finally be in victory lane here. This is one of the coolest race tracks to win at -- I think there's three or four that are extra special to win at and this is one of them."

Stenhouse went over to Sadler to apologize after the race, but, Sadler didn't buy into it. He thought he had a sure second place finish. After noting that they always raced respectfully it was a new game "He just opened it up, we can race each other a lot differently these last 10 races," Sadler said.

After the race Stenhouse said "I definitely don't want to crash anybody and ended up second, but I was really hoping the last 20 laps or so were gonna go green. I felt like we were running down the 18 and might have had a shot at a win, but that caution came out and we ended up second."

Austin Dillon, who finished fourth behind Kyle Busch, bumped Trevor Bayne precipitating a spirited but short discussion on pit road. Bayne, who started from the pole in his first series start since March, finished 16.

"The 3 car (Dillon) just drove over his head and took us out. That's all there is to it," Bayne said

The race was postponed about 45 minutes to an unexpected rain storm which washed out Sprint Cup qualifying.

Once it started there was flurry of cautions, eventually adding up to nine which was the most in the NASCAR's junior circuit this year.

In view of the bump and run incidents it's likely that the reconfiguration of the track, grinding down the top lane, will result in similar incidents later today.

Sadler lead Stenhouse by 19 points. Sam Hornish Jr., who finished 10th, is third 28 points back.

Will Power finished just in front of his Penske's teammate Ryan Briscoe and ended up the fastest driver after Friday's practice session for the upcoming IZOD IndyCar race at Sears Point.

Simon Pagenaud, Dario Franchitti and Rubens Barrichello rounded out the top five, with Sebastien Bourdais being bumped down to sixth after having led the times with four minutes remaining.

Both Canadians Alex Tagliani (BHA) and James Hinchcliffe (Andretti Autosport) weren't among the pacesetters; finishing respectively 17th and 20th.



Practice results - IndyCar (Sears Point)

Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap
1. Will Power Penske Dallara-Chevy 1m18.6887s
2. Ryan Briscoe Penske Dallara-Chevy 1m18.8782s + 0.1895s
3. Simon Pagenaud Schmidt Dallara-Honda 1m18.9228s + 0.2341s
4. Dario Franchitti Ganassi Dallara-Honda 1m19.0394s + 0.3507s
5. Rubens Barrichello KV Dallara-Chevy 1m19.4015s + 0.7128s
6. Sebastien Bourdais Dragon Dallara-Chevy 1m19.4172s + 0.7285s
7. Scott Dixon Ganassi Dallara-Honda 1m19.4518s + 0.7631s
8. Graham Rahal Ganassi Dallara-Honda 1m19.5923s + 0.9036s
9. Marco Andretti Andretti Dallara-Chevy 1m19.6270s + 0.9383s
10. Sebastian Saavedra Andretti Dallara-Chevy 1m19.6402s + 0.9515s
11. Oriol Servia Panther/DRR Dallara-Chevy 1m19.6631s + 0.9744s
12. Justin Wilson Coyne Dallara-Honda 1m19.6840s + 0.9953s
13. Tony Kanaan KV Dallara-Chevy 1m19.6903s + 1.0016s
14. JR Hildebrand Panther Dallara-Chevy 1m19.8968s + 1.2081s
15. James Jakes Coyne Dallara-Honda 1m19.9588s + 1.2701s
16. Helio Castroneves Penske Dallara-Chevy 1m19.9620s + 1.2733s
17. Alex Tagliani Herta Dallara-Honda 1m19.9917s + 1.3030s
18. Josef Newgarden Panther Dallara-Honda 1m20.1930s + 1.5043s
19. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Dallara-Chevy 1m20.2063s + 1.5176s
20. James Hinchcliffe Andretti Dallara-Chevy 1m20.3667s + 1.6780s
21. Mike Conway Foyt Dallara-Honda 1m20.4466s + 1.7579s
22. EJ Viso KV Dallara-Chevy 1m20.6589s + 1.9702s
23. Takuma Sato Rahal Dallara-Honda 1m20.8900s + 2.2013s
24. Simona de Silvestro HVM Dallara-Lotus 1m20.9382s + 2.2495s
25. Charlie Kimball Ganassi Dallara-Honda 1m21.0304s + 2.3417s
26. Katherine Legge Dragon Dallara-Chevy 1m21.1876s + 2.4989s
27. Ed Carpenter Carpenter Dallara-Chevy 1m21.4132s + 2.7245s

Two rounds are left on the American Le Mans Series calendar: Baltimore and Petit Le Mans. Who will make the most out of the Baltimore Sports Car Challenge?

OAK Racing has announced a new engine partnership with Honda Performance Development, as it returns to LMP1 racing for the two Asian rounds of the World Endurance Championship (WEC).

HPD's AR6 LMV8 will power OAK's Pescarolo chassis as soon as Fuji, round 7 of the WEC. OAK Racing president Jacques Nicolet also announced its team was working on putting a new P1 chassis together ahead of 2014, when the new rules kick in.

"Our design office is now working on the conception of our 2014 LMP1," Nicolet admitted. "We have looked for the best way to be competitive during this period of transition until 2014. So I am delighted to announce this agreement with HPD that commences at this year's final two WEC rounds."

"We are very pleased to welcome OAK Racing to the family of teams powered by Honda Performance Development," added Stephen Eriksen, HPD's vice-president. "We look forward to a successful introduction at the Fuji race to begin this chapter in OAK Racing's LMP1 programme," he concluded.

Sébastien Loeb has put competitors' misfortunes to good use, massively extending his lead in the ADAC Rallye Deutschland as he heads into the third and final day of competition.

Sébastien Loeb (Photo: WRC)

First to crack behind Loeb was Petter Solberg, who broke a wheel on his Ford Fiesta RS WRC on SS9. His Ford teammate Jari-Matti Latvala picked up the chase, but without any success so far, hovering in a powerless runner up spot.

Loeb's Citroën teammates, Mikko Hirvonen and Thierry Neuville haven't been able to replicate the Frenchman's pace. Hirvonen, despite hanging on to third, admitted himself he is no match to Loeb in terms of confidence, and Neuville ran off the road while running fourth.

Ott Tanak, aboard his M-Sport Fiesta took over as the dark horse, putting stage wins to his name. But his glory proved short-lived. He had to give it all up when he exited the road, and the rally, during the afternoon stages, leaving fellow Ford protege Mads Ostberg to take over fourth.

Mads Ostberg (Photo: WRC)

MINI's Dani Sordo had his chance to shine, just like everyone else it seems. The Spaniard, in his Prodrive entry, was holding on to a place on the podium before a puncture and then a fluid leak set him back down the order.

This allowed Chris Atkinson, in the second MINI ran by WRC Team MINI Portugal, to make his way up the fifth.

Three stages are left in store for Sunday. The action resumes around 9 am, local time.

Audi, led by former champion Timo Scheider, swept the first five positions of qualifying in Zandvoort, round 7 of the DTM series. Points runner-up Bruno Spengler is only 18th.

Mike Rockenfeller, Filipe Albuquerque, Edoardo Mortara and Mattias Ekström were the four Audi drivers following behind Scheider in the team's sweep.

Timo Scheider (Photo: DTM.com)

Title protagonists Gary Paffett and Jamie Green are respectively eighth and sixth. For BMW's Spengler, who splits Paffet and Green atop the leaders' board, things were much worst, as the Canadian failed to even crack the top 15.

Spengler retreated to the pits after posting a quick lap early in the first qualifying heat. He figured the time would stand to allow him onto Q2, but with the clock ticking, the 29-year-old tumbled down the order, ending the day in 18th place.

Bruno Spengler (Photo: DTM.com)

His teammate Dirk Werner was the best of the BMW contingent, placing his M3 DTM seventh.

Robert Wickens, the series' other Canadian, had once more a good showing, earning 12th on the grid for Mercedes-Benz. He qualified right behind reigning champion Martin Tomczyk (11th) and ahead of former F1 man Ralf Schumacher (15th).



Qualifying results* - DTM (Zandvoort)
1.Timo Scheider (Audi A5) - Abt - 1'32"365 - Q4
2.Mike Rockenfeller (Audi A5) - Phoenix - 1'32"615 - Q4

3.Filipe Albuquerque (Audi A5) - Rosberg - 1'32"936 - Q4
4.Edoardo Mortara (Audi A5) - Rosberg - 1'33"094 - Q4

5.
Mattias Ekstrom (Audi A5) - Abt - 1'31"605 - Q3

6.Jamie Green (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 1'31"643 - Q3

7.Dirk Werner (BMW M3) - Schnitzer - 1'31"767 - Q3

8.Gary Paffett (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 1'31"820 - Q3

9.Christian Vietoris (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 1'31"973 - Q3

10.Adrien Tambay (Audi A5) - Abt - 1'32"127 - Q3
11.Martin Tomczyk (BMW M3) - RMG - 1'31"992 - Q2
12.Robert Wickens (Mercedes C-Coupe) - Mucke - 1'31"997 - Q2
13.Miguel Molina (Audi A5) - Phoenix - 1'32"092 - Q2

14.Roberto Mehri (Mercedes C-Coupe) - Persson - 1'32"241 - Q2
15.Ralf Schumacher (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 1'32"295 - Q2

16.Andy Priaulx (BMW M3) - RBM - 1'32"445 - Q2

17.Joey Hand (BMW M3) - RMG - 1'33"052 - Q1
18.Bruno Spengler (BMW M3) - Schnitzer - 1'33"156 - Q1

19.Susie Wolff (Mercedes C-Coupe) - Persson - 1'33"161 - Q1
20.Augusto Farfus (BMW M3) - RBM - 1'33"285 - Q1

21.Rahel Frey (Audi A5) - Abt - 1'33"327 - Q1

22.David Coulthard (Mercedes C-Coupe) - Mucke - 1'33"409 - Q1

*Unofficial

Ferrari protege Jules Bianchi surfed more than he drove to victory in the opening race of the Formula 3.5 weekend at Silverstone.

The Frenchman took advantage of a soaked track to beat all of his rivals.

Pole-sitter Kevin Magnussen was the first to fall pray to the weather when the skies opened up in the early stages of a race that everybody started on slick tires. He was soon followed by almost the entire field.

The safety car, soon deployed to stop the carnage, allowed drivers to switch to wet tires before the interruption of the race by a red flag.

Soon after the restart, leader Will Stevens went off just like many others, which left Bianchi to pick up the lead, en route to a second win this season. His performance puts him within 19 points of championship leader Robin Frijns, second in the race ahead of Nigel Melker.

Casey Mears will start Saturday night's Sprint Cup Race at Bristol Motor Speedway from the pole due to a rules change for rainouts in qualifying.

The 34-year old nephew of four time Indy 500 winner, Rick Mears, was fastest in the first practice session which now determines grid positions when qualifying is washed out. Under the previous rule, in the case of rainouts, the starting grid was determined by points standings.

It's his fourth career pole, but, does not earn him a spot in February's Shoot Out because he didn't “win” the pole.

“This is exciting for our Geico team and a shot in the arm, for sure,” said Mears, who drives a Ford for the small Germain Racing team.

“Starting up front here at Bristol is always a good thing. It gives us a big head start from where we've been in the past. You never want to win a pole like this, but we'll take it. Everybody in that first session wanted to run the fastest to get a late draw for qualifying.

“Everybody goes out there with the same mindset--to be fast so we get a late qualifying draw--so we feel good about what we've done.”

Since joining Germain in August of 2010 his best finish was 15th this year at Sonoma.

Brad Keselowski, coming off wins in the previous two Cup races at the half-mile oval known as the Concrete Coliseum will start second in a Dodge.

Series points leader, Greg Biffle, goes off third in a Ford alongside the Toyota of Joey Logano.

Danica Patrick will start 43rd.

Scott Speed, Kelly Bires, J.J. Yeley and Reed Sorenson were actually faster than some otherwise qualified cars but didn't make the field because they're not top-35 in owner points which cars are locked into a starting spot.

General Motors is in early stages of talks with banks about expanding its credit line by as much as $5 billion, a person familiar with the discussions said. GM declined to comment.

Less than 24 hours after the long-lost No. 1 Briggs Cunningham Chevrolet Corvette received a public viewing, the car has gone back into hiding.

Daimler Vans USA plans to expand the number of dealers handling the Sprinter commercial van in the United States by as much as 27 percent, to as many as 250, the unit's boss says.

First Drive: 2013 Ram 1500

Maybe the notion of a pickup truck that’s as much luxury car as it is utility vehicle has more credence than the Lincoln Blackwood’s one-year run suggests.

Maybe the Lincoln Blackwood wasn’t such a stretch after all. Maybe the notion of a pickup truck that’s as much luxury car as it is utility vehicle has more credence than the Lincoln’s one-year run suggests. Maybe the Blackwood -- with its $53,000 price tag, air springs, and trunk in place of the bed -- was simply ahead of its time. Because starting this fall, you can buy a 2013 Ram 1500 that feels strangely reminiscent of the 2002 Lincoln.

Photo Gallery: 2013 Ram 1500 First Drive - Automobile Magazine

Photo Gallery: 2013 Ram 1500 First Drive - Automobile Magazine

First Drive: 2013 Ram 1500 | Digg It | Add to del.icio.us

Mazda is ending production at its suburban Detroit assembly plant today after 2½ decades. The plant, AutoAlliance International, has been a joint operation between Ford and Mazda since 1992 and will continue as such for now, Ford said.

Drift-car star Vaughn Gittin Jr. launched the

For 2012, Autoweek dove headfirst into covering one of the best rolling car shows in the world, the Woodward Dream Cruise.

News 27 Aug, 2012

First official pictures of the new four-wheel-drive Porsche 911 Carrera 4 and 4S have been released

Pictures 27 Aug, 2012

Also in this episode: Mercedes-Benz turns future 12-cylinder engine production over to AMG, and

What Is It? It's a small (smaller than a Mazda 5) European people-mover with a gasoline-electric hybrid drivetrain.

First Drive: 2013 BMW M6 Coupe

Sporting a new powertrain, a revised look, and a simplified driver interface, this fast machine is every bit as impressive but much more livable than before.

The highest-performance version of BMW's big two-door is back after a two-year absence during the changeover to the latest generation of the 6-series. Sporting a new powertrain, a revised look, and a simplified driver interface, this fast machine is every bit as impressive but much more livable than before.

Photo Gallery: First Drive: 2013 BMW M6 Coupe - Automobile Magazine

Photo Gallery: First Drive: 2013 BMW M6 Coupe - Automobile Magazine

First Drive: 2013 BMW M6 Coupe | Digg It | Add to del.icio.us