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Dylan Kwasniewski won the Road Atlanta 115 and claimed the 2013 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East championship, but Andrew Ranger finished fourth after having had to start from the 24th spot.

Kwasniewski, who became the youngest champion in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West last year, became the first driver to win both titles.

Ranger had quite a battle on his hands because the rain cancelled qualifying. The starting order was set per the series rule book, therefore placing the Canadian back in 24th.

The 18-year-old started from the pole position and dominated the series' inaugural visit to the 2.54-mile road course by leading wire-to-wire for his sixth win of the season. 

Daniel Suárez crossed the line in second, in front of Bryan Ortiz, Andrew Ranger and rookie Cole Custer.

Kwasniewski also became the second driver ever to notch championships in two different series in consecutive years.

From GMM

Fernando Alonso is pushing ahead with his plans to set up a world-class professional cycling team.

Recently, the Spaniard announced he was buying the embattled Spanish team Euskaltel-Euskadi, but the advanced negotiations broke down late last month.

The Ferrari driver, however, said he would set up his own team for 2015 instead.

Tour de France 2013 (Photo: A.S.O/letour.fr)

Alonso's manager, Luis Garcia Abad, has now told Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport that the 32-year-old's plans are already well advanced.

He said "some agreements with sponsors are already signed", while the launch date for the 2015 project is already set: "The first rest day of the next Tour (de France)," Abad announced.

"Fernando has said he wants to bring the best of formula one to cycling, and vice versa," he added.

"This means technology, research, marketing, promotion, new tools such as telemetry, a medical centre.

"The intention is to do something new and avoid the problem of doping," Abad explained.

He also said the sponsors of Alonso's team will be new to cycling, but denied speculation the Ferrari sponsor Banco Santander is one of them.

"It's better to keep the business of F1 and cycling separate," said Abad.

Team Penske's Will Power took pole position for Saturday's IndyCar season finale at Fontana, while both title contenders Helio Castroneves and Scott Dixon (Ganasi) finished respectively 2nd and 7th.

But Castroneves and Dixon will start only 12th and 17th, as both were hit by 10-place grid penalty for unapproved engine changes.

AJ Allmendinger, called in by Penske to drive a third car, finished third fastest despite not having driven an IndyCar since Detroit in June.

Sebastien Bourdais (Dragon Racing) set the fourth fatest time in front of Ganassi's Charlie Kimball and Rahal Letterman Lanigan's James Jakes.

Alex Tagliani, who is standing in for the injured Dario Franchitti at Ganassi, posted the 13th fastest time.

IndyCar Fontana round - Qualifying results
Pos Driver Team/Engine Speed
1. Will Power Penske/Chevy 220.775
2. Helio Castroneves Penske/Chevy 219.677*
3. AJ Allmendinger Penske/Chevy 218.894
4. Sebastien Bourdais Dragon/Chevy 218.513
5. Charlie Kimball Ganassi/Honda 217.986
6. James Jakes Rahal/Honda 217.979
7. Scott Dixon Ganassi/Honda 217.979*
8. Marco Andretti Andretti/Chevy 217.958
9. Ed Carpenter Carpenter/Chevy 217.932
10. Josef Newgarden Fisher/Honda 217.871*
11. James Hinchcliffe Andretti/Chevy 217.798
12. Tony Kanaan KV/Chevy 217.566
13. Alex Tagliani Ganassi/Honda 217.419
14. Carlos Munoz Andretti/Chevy 217.050
15. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti/Chevy 216.898
16. Simon Pagenaud Schmidt/Honda 216.447
17. Oriol Servia Panther/Chevy 216.213
18. Graham Rahal Rahal/Honda 216.106*
19. JR Hildebrand Herta/Honda 215.967
20. Tristan Vautier Schmidt/Honda 215.207
21. Simona de Silvestro KV/Chevy 214.679
22. Sebastian Saavedra Dragon/Chevy 213.262*
23. Justin Wilson Coyne/Honda
24. Pippa Mann Coyne/Honda
25. Takuma Sato Foyt/Honda*

*Will get a 10-place grid penalty

From GMM

F1 rookie Esteban Gutierrez has revealed the extent of his struggle for form this year.

The 22-year-old Mexican has struggled for much of 2013, but an improved Sauber and boosted confidence led to his maiden points - 6 of them - at Suzuka last weekend.

His chances of staying at the Swiss team for a second season have therefore been radically boosted.

"Coming up in formula one is not easy, you have to go step by step," Gutierrez told the French magazine Auto Hebdo.

Esteban Gutierrez (Photo: Sauber F1 Team)

"I made some mistakes early in the season, like all rookies, but then it was a matter of putting in place all the pieces of the puzzle.

"The team knows how hard I've worked, and am still working, to get everything in place to grow as a grand prix driver, and to grow with the team."

A major piece of the puzzle, Gutierrez revealed, was adjusting to his new fame.

"Many things changed for me," he said.

"We have a big family in Mexico, and the life of each member, not only mine, was affected radically, and in a really fast way.

"Inevitably, this has created tensions.

"This is not something I've ever mentioned or shown in the media, but it was unavoidable -- and it has an impact," added Gutierrez.

Beyond 2013, he admitted that his future is essentially "not in my hands".

Baltimore's port, a gateway for autos from BMW and Mazda, partially reopened with car shipments still idled even as striking longshoremen resumed work on container vessels.

The trust responsible for paying the health-care costs of some union retirees of Chrysler Group faces $3 billion in unfunded obligations as it works to get the most for its stake that Fiat wants to buy.

Lapo Elkann, the brother of Fiat Chairman John Elkann, said he was sexually abused as a teenager while at boarding school.

Lapo Elkann, the brother of Fiat Chairman John Elkann and an heir to Italy's biggest industrial dynasty, said in an interview published on Friday that he was sexually abused as a teenager while at boarding school.

VL Automotive, a Detroit venture backed by former General Motors' vice chairman Bob Lutz, is moving ahead with plans to convert

With its successor set to bow at the Detroit auto show in a couple of months' time, word's come down from

The global transmissions market has changed rapidly in the recent past. The requirement for greater fuel efficiency in particular has brought a great deal of dynamism to the global transmission market. In this month's management briefing we bring you selected extracts from just-auto QUBE's research service, Global light vehicle transmissions and clutches market, starting with an overview of the market.

VL Automotive, a Detroit venture backed by former General Motors' vice chairman Bob Lutz, is moving ahead with plans to convert Fisker Karmas from hybrid power to Corvette power.

News 18 Oct, 2013

Here's our handy round-up of the biggest new stories to break this week

The insane Lamborghini Veneno has spawned a roadster version, if Internet rumors and pictures are to be believed.

I spent my formative automotive years along the eastern shores of the San Francisco Bay, and so I visited some of my old haunts during a brief visit earlier this week.

2014 Mercedes-Benz E550: White Heat

Ultimate Fantasy Number Two.

Editor's Note: This is the second of eight automotive fantasies from our November 2013 print issue. We'll be publishing the fantasies over the next few weeks on automobilemag.com. Look for the issue on newsstands now or download our iPad issue to read them all.

Photo Gallery: 2014 Mercedes-Benz E550: White Heat - Automobile Magazine

Photo Gallery: 2014 Mercedes-Benz E550: White Heat - Automobile Magazine

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"Some people paint. Others write. Some design a rocket to the moon. But for us it's trying to build a machine that'll cover a quarter of a mile quicker than anything else on four wheels."

Tesla Motors picked ATandT to provide high-speed wireless service to its vehicles, giving the carrier a boost in its effort to expand beyond mobile phones.

Valeo has posted third-quarter sales of EUR2.9bn - up 2.2% compared to the the same prior-year period.

News 18 Oct, 2013

The Alfa 4C is the fastest production car to lap the Nurburgring with less than 250bhp, with a time of 8 minutes and 4 seconds