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From nascar.com

Jeff Gordon took the checkered flag in Sunday's AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway, but four other drivers got the axe in the first Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup elimination race in the history of the sport.

AJ Allmendinger, 2004 series' champion Kurt Busch, Greg Biffle and Aric Almirola missed the cut for the next round of the Chase, as the field was pared from 16 drivers to 12 following the third and final Challenger Round race.

Jeff Gordon fighting against Kyle Larson. (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)

After the dominant car of polesitter Kevin Harvick had a major issue with the left front wheel on lap 254 of 400, Gordon took control of the event on lap 305, passing runner-up Brad Keselowski for the lead on lap 305.

After a cycle of green-flag pit stops, Gordon led the last 71 laps, pulling away to win by a comfortable 4.352 seconds.

Jimmie Johnson ran third, followed by Joey Logano and Matt Kenseth, as all of the top-five drivers advanced to the Contender Round, a three-race elimination with visits to Kansas Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.

Only 12 drivers can now clinch the 2014 driver's title:

Brad Keselowski
Joey Logano
Kevin Harvick
Jimmie Johnson
Jeff Gordon
Kyle Busch
Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
Matt Kenseth
Ryan Newman
Carl Edwards
Denny Hamlin
Kasey Kahne

Jeff Gordon celebrates in Dover. (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)

American Tristan DeGrand claimed the 2014 title of the Formula Tour 1600 series at the Mont-Tremblant circuit.

The driver of the powerful Exclusive Autosport team won Race 1 held Saturday.

His archrival in the title chase, Olivier Bedard, finished second, just 0.138 second behind. Zacharie Robichon drove his Piper to third place.

To take the title Bedard had to win the second race with DeGrand finishing fourth or worse.

In Race 2 held Sunday, Bedard drove his Spectrum-Honda to victory, with DeGrand finishing second six second down to Bedard. His second place gave De Grand the title.

Marc-Antoine Cardin claimed third in his Van Diemen.

If you like being looked at, you will love the i8. It turns the heads of seemingly everyone who sees you on the road, and even more so in carparks. To drive, it's like no other super car - BMW has created something very special.

The Chevrolet Colorado can haul 7,000 pounds. But it also must carry the weight of General Motors' entire truck strategy. GM's three-truck approach is among the biggest wagers Detroit has seen in a long time.

J Mays, retired Ford global design chief, recruited Amko Leenarts in 2012 as a strategy director, and Leenarts quickly stepped up to the top global interiors job in 2013.

Mercedes-Benz USA and its dealers are spending about $30 million over the next four years to train 26,000 dealership, corporate and finance employees and immerse them in the brand's culture.

From WRC.com

By bringing out a new range of asphalt tires ahead of the Rallye de France-Alsace, Michelin might have changed the hierarchy in the World Rally Championship (WRC).

The French tire manufacturer has upgraded its Pilot Sport rubber in both soft and hard compounds for the Strasbourg-based event that runs from 3-5 October.

The new S4 (soft) tire, suitable for use in cool and damp conditions, and the new H4 (hard) ideal for warmer and drier weather, feature a new tread pattern and a revised construction that reduces the weight of each tire by 0.5kg.

(Photo: WRI2)

All of the leading factory teams have been testing Michelin's new rubber in the build up to the penultimate asphalt rally of the season and their findings are set to force them into making some crucial set-up changes in readiness for the event, described as a cross between the stages that are typically found in Spain and Germany.

Didier Clément, Citröen's Chief Operations Engineer, said: "We need the car to be very balanced in terms of downforce and testing enabled us to work on this particular aspect with the new Michelin range of tire which have been completely redesigned to include a fairly deep, third longitudinal line.

"Our two drivers have adapted well to the new tire and they had the same feeling and agreed on the same set-up in preparation for this rally," added Clément.

From press release

Jacques Villeneuve returned to rallycross action with a determined performance in round ten of the FIA World Rallycross Championship at Franciacorta.

The former Indycar champion thrilled the local crowds with a sterling drive against 2003 WRC champion and current World RX points leader Petter Solberg in a heat that saw the French Canadian grab the lead into the first corner.

Villeneuve looked set for an overall top 12 finish, but a heavy hit on lap two cost him around five seconds, dropping him down the order. Despite that he netted the fastest lap of the race to confirm his intention of progressing to the finals.

But a broken driveshaft in the second heat sent him into a spin, and ultimately out top 12 in the overnight standings.

"I'm pleased to be back racing in rallycross this weekend but a little disappointed with the overall overnight standings," said the French Canadian who still hopes to make the top 12 as Sunday action begins.

"We made some positive changes between open practice and the first heat, which allowed me to improve my best lap time by a second, but in the second heat I suffered a driveshaft failure, which ruined my race."

From press release

Red Bull's Carlos Sainz Junior made a big step towards the Formula Renault 3.5 title, this week-end at the Paul Ricard circuit.

The young Spaniard recorded his seventh win of the season to extend his lead over Robert Merhi to 44 points with one race to go.

Sainz, who was expected to jump to F1 next year before Max Verstappen was signed by Toro Rosso, absolutely dominated the race right from the start.

Carlos Sainz Jr (Photo: WRI2)

"It was a perfect race," admitted the son of former WRC champion Carlos Sainz.

"After the tricky qualifying session because of the red flag, I knew I had to get a good start and that was the case even though Pierre also got off the line well. The first corner was tricky as well, but I somehow managed to stay in front.

"The first stint was very fast. The team made the right decision at the right moment bringing me in late, although I did worry about a safety car. They did a great job and I just had to bring it home."

Former rally champion Petter Solberg claimed the drivers' title in the inaugural World Rallycross Championship (World RX), this week-end in Franciacorta.

Swede Timmy Hanssen won the race, but Solberg finished third to take the title with two rounds to go.

Petter Solberg (Photo: World RX)

Solberg, who made a name for himself in rallying, actually began his career in rallycross, or "bilcross" - a Norwegian variant of the sport. He entered his first event at the age of 18 and went on to become national champion only a few years later.

For several years, he then drove for Subaru in the WRC, where he clinched the world title in 2003.

After the Japanese manufacturer pulled out of the sport, Solberg cling on as a privateer, running his own Citroën rally cars. In 2012, he became a factory driver again with Ford, but was dropped after a disappointing season.

Only then, in 2013, did he get back to rallycross, in the European championship, and eventually in the World championship when the series was created a year later.

McLaren's big boss Ron Dennis and F1 rookie Kevin Magnussen have known each other for quite a long time.

That's because Magnussen's father, Jan, drove for McLaren in the late 1990's. Without his father, Kevin might have never met joined McLaren or reached F1.

"I don't think I would be here if it wasn't for him (Jan) because McLaren probably wouldn't have looked at me," Magnussen Jr told Crash.net.

"I can't say for sure, but I can't say they would because they looked at me so early and took me in to the Young Driver Program very early, before I had any good results. All my results came after; I wasn't even in F3 when I joined them."

Ron Dennis with Kevin Magnussen (Photo: WRI2)

The F1 rookie still remembers one of his first encounters with the McLaren supremo.

"When my dad was with McLaren, I got a birthday present from Ron and I must have been four years old or something," he says.

"He gave me that birthday present and bought a card and it just said 'If you get as good as your dad one day give me a call'. Then one day about ten years later, my manager saw that card - my mum had saved it and showed my manager - and my manager said 'Ah, let's call him!'"

From press release

Mattias Ekström scored the first victory for Audi in the 2014 season, this week-end in Zandvoort.

With his Audi RS 5 DTM, he ended up ahead of already-crowned DTM champion Marco Wittmann. At the finish, the Swede had an advantage of 7.4 seconds. BMW's Martin Tomczyk completed the podium.

(Photo: DTM.com)

"After all the bad luck of the past months, now, things were running perfectly for us at last. I enjoyed every lap of this race," said a delighted Ekström after scoring his fourth DTM career win at Zandvoort.

Marco Wittmann, who claimed the championship title in the Lausitzring round, was in contention for victory for a long time. Having started from second place, the German already took the lead in the first corner.

(Photo: DTM.com)

Eventually, however, he didn't have a chance against Ekström, who got maximum benefit from his soft option tire in the closing stages of the race.

"This wasn't an easy race for us as there were plenty of incidents. Initially, I had a perfect start, but our option tires degraded more quickly than we had expected.

(Photo: DTM.com)

"In spite of the chaos on the track, my team always made the right decisions and called me into the pits at the right time," Wittmann said after the race.

Martin Tomczyk was also delighted after his first podium finish since August, 2012.

With his BMW M4 DTM, Maxime Martin finished sixth and thus contributed to the early title win for the BMW Team RMG in the teams' standings.

(Photo: DTM.com)

After winning the drivers' title with Marco Wittmann, this is already the second title for Stefan Reinhold's team.

In the battle for the manufacturers' title, Audi is still in contention with BMW.

As usual, the Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg will be the venue for the season finale, October 19.

Race results* - Zandvoort (9/10)
1 - Mattias Ekstrom (Audi RS5) - Abt - 43 laps in 1.16'35"761
2 - Marco Wittmann (BMW M4) - RMG - 7"414
3 - Martin Tomczyk (BMW M4) - Schnitzer - 11"144
4 - Edoardo Mortara (Audi RS5) - Abt - 12"234
5 - Christian Vietoris (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 12"730
6 - Maxime Martin (BMW M4) - RMG - 14"260
7 - Pascal Wehrlein (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 15"128
8 - Bruno Spengler (BMW M4) - Schnitzer - 15"591
9 - Daniel Juncadella (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 15"729
10 - Robert Wickens (Mercedes C-Coupe) - HWA - 16"182
11 - Timo Scheider (Audi RS5) - Phoenix - 16"792
12 - Joey Hand (BMW M4) - RBM - 20"736
13 - Vitaly Petrov (Mercedes C-Coupe) - Mucke - 21"518
14 - Timo Glock (BMW M4) - MTEK - 23"799
15 - Antonio Felix Da Costa (BMW M4) - MTEK - 24"233
16 - Jamie Green (Audi RS5) - Rosberg - 25"008
17 - Mike Rockenfeller (Audi RS5) - Phoenix - 36"746
18 - Miguel Molina (Audi RS5) - Abt - 1 lap

Retirements
Gary Paffett
Nico Muller
Augusto Farfus
Paul Di Resta
Adrien Tambay

Championship
1.Wittmann 146; 2.Ekstrom 81; 3.Vietoris 69; 4.Mortara 68; 5.Rockenfeller 54; 6.Martin 47; 7.Wehrlein 46; 8.Tomczyk 43; 9.Spengler 42; 10.Wickens and Farfus 39.
*Unofficial results

(Photo: DTM.com)

Infiniti executives think that its brand new London design studio will help it create models that appeal to customers purchasing some of Britain's most exclusive vehicles.

Cadillac this week confirmed plans that it will move its headquarters to New York next year. Like Lincoln, its decision to be in one of the country's top luxury markets was tied to remaking the luxury marque's image.

VW Group's quest to be the world's top-selling automaker is being threatened by a host of problems at its massive Wolfsburg plant that include strained labor relations, spiraling costs and technical problems with production.

Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Mong-koo got what he wanted: a spacious corporate home in Korea's most prestigious neighborhood. Now he is paying the price.

VW Group and Renault-Nissan have expanded their reach. The two automakers now jointly account for more than 40 percent of all the vehicle assembly plants in Europe, according to Automotive News Europe data.

Tokuo Fukuichi, the avant-garde, nonconformist global design chief at Toyota, is the kind of creative free spirit who counts brainstorming in the sauna as an essential part of his daily work regimen.

French automakers are putting a big emphasis on fuel efficiency at the Paris auto show this year, having received financial help from the French government ahead of tougher new EU regulations.

From press release

Kevin Harvick has qualified on pole seven times this season. But he's won only won once so far. Can he change all that this week-end at Dover?

Maybe. One way or the other, Harvick is not losing any time pondering over what might be.

"There are a lot of circumstances that go into winning a race," he says.

Kevin Harvick (Photo: Todd Warshaw/NASCAR via Getty Images)

"(Over time) you'll win some that you shouldn't win, and a lot of times you don't win the ones that you think you should have won, and you win the ones that you don't think you should have won.

"So you just keep finishing in the top five or top three, and everything else will fall into place."

The AAA 400, the first elimination race of the Chase, starts at 2 pm on Sunday.