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From NASCAR.com

Newly crowned Sunoco NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year Kyle Larson has added yet another new title: dad.



Larson, 22, and his longtime girlfriend Katelyn Sweet welcomed their first child, son Owen Miyata at 11:09 p.m. ET on Monday in Charlotte. He weighed 7 pounds, 14 ounces and measured 19 1/2 inches.

The couple announced the news on Twitter, sharing that both mom and baby are doing well.



The baby's middle name "Miyata" is a nod to Larson's Japanese heritage. It is his mom Janet's maiden name, and Larson wanted the name to continue in the family.



The birth of the baby punctuates an already "big" year as Larson has called it -- his success and driving style in his first year in NASCAR's big league making him one of the sport's most popular young drivers.



The Chip Ganassi Racing driver had eight top-five finishes highlighted by three runner-up efforts. He scored his first Sprint Cup Series pole position at Pocono Raceway this summer and his 17 top-10 finishes in the No. 42 Target Chevrolet was more than eight of the 16 Chase drivers.

From GMM

Renault's F1 chief Cyril Abiteboul has hailed the new collaboration with engine expert Mario Illien.

"It is great that Renault are now working with Ilmor," said Christian Horner, the boss of Renault's works team Red Bull, who in 2014 failed to win the title for the first time since 2009.

Renault faltered badly at the start of the all-new turbo V6 era in 2014, as Mercedes utterly dominated.

So it was significant that, as the 2014 season ended in Abu Dhabi recently, a notable VIP in the Red Bull garage was the multiple title-winning former Mercedes F1 designer Illien.

Mario Illien with Renault's Rob White (Photo: WRI2)

"Ilmor is a strong company with extensive experience with simular engines used in other series," Abiteboul told France's Auto Hebdo.

He confirmed that Illien's UK based company is now "performing some tasks" on behalf of the Renault F1 project.

"This is very useful in situations where it is necessary to analyse a set of solutions," Abiteboul added.

Another key reason for the Illien alliance, he admitted, is that it is "not so easy to create such a very complex hybrid system in the centre of France".

"We are not in the English 'Motorsport Valley', where in pubs every evening engineers from all over meet over a beer," he added.

From GMM

Lewis Hamilton will not wear the coveted number 1 on his Mercedes in 2015, the FIA has announced.

Shortly before Christmas, F1's governing body released a revised entry list for next season confirming that Briton Hamilton, although the new champion, has opted to defend his title wearing his usual number '44'.

"44 is my number," Hamilton said after winning the 2014 drivers' title.

"I won my first championship with 44 in karting so I'll ask the team if I can keep it on my car now," added the 29-year-old, who even has '44' tattooed behind his right ear.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W05 (Photo: WRI2)

Meanwhile, three of F1's eleven teams are listed as "subject to confirmation" on the new entry list.

It is no surprise that two of them are Caterham and Manor, the latter of which is the revised name for the team that competed in 2014 as Marussia.

But also listed as conditional is Lotus, despite the fact the official entry includes the names of drivers Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado, and Mercedes power for the Enstone team.

Hertz Global Holdings raised prices for rental cars to be picked up January 1 or later. The stock had its biggest gain of the year, and Avis shares soared, too.

Hertz Global Holdings raised prices for rental cars to be picked up January 1 or later. The stock had its biggest gain of the year, and Avis shares soared, too.

Porsche is recalling 205 of the limited-edition 918 Spyder, the German carmaker's most expensive model, to replace defective chassis parts.

It's still 2014, but not for much longer. In the global automotive business, plenty happened in 2014. Seasoned observer Dave Leggett offers a personal take on some of the year's most significant developments. This instalment considers major car products covered on just-auto.

French auto parts maker Faurecia said today it would appeal against a 2 million euro ($2.44 million) fine imposed by the country's AMF stock market regulator for alleged selective disclosure of financial information to stock analysts in 2012.

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