Tag: nascar

Followup: NASCAR driver’s girlfriend fined, banned for Papis slap [w/video]

Filed under: Motorsports, Etc., Videos

Max Papis getting slapped

According to Fox News, NASCAR has handed down an indefinite ban from all series events and a $2,500 fine to Kelly Heaphy, girlfriend of Camping World Truck Series driver Mike Skeen. Heaphy open-hand slapped her boyfriend’s rival, Max Papis, after Sunday’s race.

The incident, which we reported on yesterday Tuesday, came about after Papis and Skeen came together while battling for third position on the last lap. Papis made some statements on air that led Heaphy to pounce, delivering a slap that reportedly led to Papis claiming his jaw had been dislocated. It’s unclear if punishments were handed down to the pit crews, which rumbled ahead of Heaphy slapping Papis. If you missed it the first time, you can catch the incident on video below.

Continue reading NASCAR driver’s girlfriend fined, banned for Papis slap [w/video]

NASCAR driver’s girlfriend fined, banned for Papis slap [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 05 Sep 2013 11:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Followup: NASCAR driver’s girlfriend fined, banned for Papis slap [w/video]

Filed under: Motorsports, Etc., Videos

Max Papis getting slapped

According to Fox News, NASCAR has handed down an indefinite ban from all series events and a $2,500 fine to Kelly Heaphy, girlfriend of Camping World Truck Series driver Mike Skeen. Heaphy open-hand slapped her boyfriend’s rival, Max Papis, after Sunday’s race.

The incident, which we reported on yesterday Tuesday, came about after Papis and Skeen came together while battling for third position on the last lap. Papis made some statements on air that led Heaphy to pounce, delivering a slap that reportedly led to Papis claiming his jaw had been dislocated. It’s unclear if punishments were handed down to the pit crews, which rumbled ahead of Heaphy slapping Papis. If you missed it the first time, you can catch the incident on video below.

Continue reading NASCAR driver’s girlfriend fined, banned for Papis slap [w/video]

NASCAR driver’s girlfriend fined, banned for Papis slap [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 05 Sep 2013 11:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorsports: New NASCAR tire tech to debut in Atlanta this weekend

Filed under: Motorsports, Safety, Technology, Racing

Goodyear Eagle Multi-Zone Racing Tire for NASCARAside from the antics of the Busch brothers and Tony Stewart’s uncensored comments, some of the biggest controversies in NASCAR are directed at the tires used on the cars. Goodyear can’t do anything about Kurt, Kyle or Tony, but it is looking improve the quality of its rubber by introducing a new type of racing tires for this weekend’s event at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Developed from the same technology behind Goodyear’s Assurance TripleTred passenger tire, the new Multi-Zone Tread Technology debuting in NASCAR uses multiple rubber compounds in the hopes of optimizing performance, safety and durability. Goodyear says that Atlanta is a good test track for the new technology since it has an abrasive surface, long race length and high vehicle speeds. The new compound will only be used on the right-side tires only (click on the image for a larger view of what’s a work here).

Scroll down for the official press release about the new tires, and check out how they perform this weekend at the Nationwide Great Clips-Grit Chips 300 tomorrow and the Sprint Cup Advocare 500 on Sunday.

Continue reading New NASCAR tire tech to debut in Atlanta this weekend

New NASCAR tire tech to debut in Atlanta this weekend originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 30 Aug 2013 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: The story of NASCAR’s Richie Parker asks you to leave your excuses at the door

Filed under: Motorsports, Videos

ESPN: Richie Parker video

This is Richie Parker. He’s a number of things: car enthusiast, engineer, employee, son. He’s a normal guy for his age, working a job in a field he loves. Oh, he also happens to have no arms. After watching this video from ESPN, we can’t help but think that Richie might describe himself in just such a way, with his birth defect a secondary part of his life, scarcely worth mentioning. His story is a remarkable one, about not letting bumps in the road stop you and about finding ingenious solutions to problems you or I have never thought about.

Richie was born with bilateral amelia, a non-genetic birth defect in which limbs aren’t formed. While the idea of not having any arms might be terrifying to many, as shown in the video, having dealt with it since birth has lead Richie to develop a number of interesting solutions. He can ride a bike, open the fridge and microwave on his own, use a computer and drive a car with his feet – virtually everything we can do (and take for granted) Richie can do with a bit of determination and creativity. Not surprisingly, finding those interesting solutions to everyday problems teamed with his love of cars led to a job at one of the finest NASCAR teams in the country. Take a look at the full video from ESPN, embedded below.

After that, perhaps you’d be interested in hearing a bit about some more people who have managed to overcome similar issues in equally impressive ways.

Continue reading The story of NASCAR’s Richie Parker asks you to leave your excuses at the door

The story of NASCAR’s Richie Parker asks you to leave your excuses at the door originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 22 Aug 2013 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: NBC recaptures NASCAR coverage through 2024

Filed under: Motorsports, TV/Movies

NASCAR Sprint Cup Race at Bristol Motor Speedway

NASCAR has pared its broadcasts down to two providers – Fox and NBC. According to a report from USA Today, the recently inked deal will give the Peacock Network exclusive rights to the last 20 Sprint Cup races, the last 19 Nationwide races, all K&N and Whelen Modified races, the NASCAR Toyota Mexico series, Hall of Fame and banquet ceremonies, live-streams for both Sprint Cup and Nationwide races, and Spanish broadcasting rights on Telemundo and Mun2. Got all that?

The deal is in effect until 2024, but won’t officially kick off until the 2015 season, when NBC and Fox will begin sharing in earnest. The two networks are likely to air some of the races on the NBC Sports network and Fox Sports 1 (which replaces Speed TV), respectively.

Financial details have not been revealed for the NBC deal yet. Fox and NASCAR’s tie-up, which was renewed last fall, was valued at $2.4 billion, and gets the News Corp-owned network broadcast rights for the Daytona 500, 12 Sprint Cup races, practicing and qualifying, and the Camping World Truck Series.

The network shift will see ABC/ESPN and Turner Broadcasting end their NASCAR programming with the 2014 season.

NBC recaptures NASCAR coverage through 2024 originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 24 Jul 2013 14:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Arrest warrant issued for NASCAR driver Mike Harmon

Filed under: Motorsports, Government/Legal

Mike Harmon

The next step in the off-track saga involving NASCAR Nationwide Series drivers Mike Harmon and Jennifer Jo Cobb has been taken, with arrest warrants issued for Harmon and business associate David Novak. In May, Harmon was charged with stealing a car hauler and other goods worth hundreds of thousands of dollars from Cobb’s shop, and after saying he didn’t steal them and maintaining his innocence, seven of the stolen vehicles were found on two of his properties that same month.

The issue is an acrimonious commercial separation with Cobb on one side, Harmon and Novak on the other. Harmon drives for Novak’s team – and Cobb did too until last year – and Harmon and Novak allege that the stolen property actually belongs to the team, but Cobb took it. Novak and Cobb are in court over the matter, but when a judge declined Novak’s request to have Cobb return the property, it appears he worked with Harmon to get it back the five-finger way.

Harmon and Novak have been charged with breaking and entering, as well as larceny after breaking an entering. At the time of writing, neither man had been arrested, the hauler still hasn’t been found, and as for the cars that were recovered it’s been claimed that they were stripped and are worth something like $10,000 apiece, a steep drop from their original reported value of $150,000 apiece.

Arrest warrant issued for NASCAR driver Mike Harmon originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Raikkonen moves up the NASCAR ladder with respectable Nationwide Series debut

Filed under: Motorsports

Kimi Raikkonen

Between the Indy 500 and the Monaco Grand Prix – both packed with nail-biting action right to the finish line – there was no lack of excitement for racing fans this Memorial Day weekend. But open wheels weren’t the only ones turning yesterday as NASCAR headed back to its heartland at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. And while the top-tier Sprint Cup was the headline event, our eyes were on the second-step Nationwide Series as Kimi Raikkonen made his next step up the stock-car racing ladder in the Top Gear 300.

Following his solid debut last week in the Camping World truck series, the former F1 champion turned rally driver took the next step up, driving the #87 Toyota Camry fielded by NEMCO Motorsports and prepared by the same Kyle Busch Motorsports with the same Perky Jerky sponsorship from his truck debut.

So how’d he do? Not bad. Not amazing, but not bad, considering this was only his second oval-track race, his second outing in a stock car and the first in the Nationwide Series. Kimi was up to fifteenth for much of the race, running on the lead lap and taking advantage of green-flag restarts to gain position. He struggled, however, with the car’s front-end handling, as well as heat burning his feet inside the cockpit, and dropped down several laps after a series of disadvantageous trips to the pit lane – one for fresh fuel and rubber, one to remove debris from a crash and another to serve a drive-through penalty.

In the end Raikkonen finished 27th out of 43, running but four laps down on the race leaders. Sprint Cup drivers ended up dominating the race, with Matt Kenseth taking the checkered flag. So what’s next for Kimi? Well he’s back in the WRC next month for the Acropolis rally in Greece, but there’s no telling when he might be back Stateside for more NASCAR action. The Sprint Cup road-course race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California, could give Raikkonen a chance to shine, but his team fears there’s precious little time to put it together with less than a month to go.

Raikkonen moves up the NASCAR ladder with respectable Nationwide Series debut originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 30 May 2011 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Raikkonen makes a solid debut in NASCAR

Filed under: Motorsports, Truck, Racing

Kimi Raikkonen's NACAR debut

Former F1 champion Kimi Raikkonen made his NASCAR debut yesterday, driving the No. 15 Perky Jerky Toyota Tundra in the Camping World Truck Series NC Education Lottery 200.

Starting from the 31st position, Raikkonen finished 15th, crossing the line on the same lap as the race leaders. At one point, Raikkonen ran as high as seventh, but fell back when he missed a crucial pit stop. Along the way, he survived several close calls as multi-car collisions unfolded in front of him and he picked his way through the debris. Raikkonen’s teammate Kyle Busch took the win.

What’s next for Raikkonen? The Finn plans to return to Charlotte next weekend to run the Nationwide Series race. He’ll pilot a Toyota Camry fielded by NEMCO motorsports in partnership with Kyle Busch Motorsports.

The NASCAR race conflicts with the WRC rally in Argentina, but Raikkonen isn’t scheduled to contest that round. His next WRC appearance will be at the Acropolis Rally in June. As for F1, the former champion hasn’t ruled out a possible return if the conditions are right, but for now he appears to be taking things one step at a time.

Raikkonen makes a solid debut in NASCAR originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 22 May 2011 11:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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100-year-old NASCAR fan tackles the track, lives to see 101

Filed under: Motorsports, Etc., Videos

rachel gilbert toyota camry new hampshire motor speedway

100-year-old NASCAR fan drives NHMS – Click above to watch the video after the jump

We’re not the biggest NASCAR fans in the world, but we can’t think of a much better way to celebrate a 100th birthday than with a few laps around New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Rachel Gilbert, a NASCAR follower since the 1960s, took five live laps around the speedway in a Toyota Camry pace car. Ms. Gilbert, we salute you.

The great grandmother of nine never passed 50 miles per hour, but she seemed pretty darn pleased with her shot at NASCAR glory. The good people at the speedway also gave Gilbert VIP tickets to the July Spring Cup and a shirt signed by Carl Edwards. Hit the jump to watch video of Gilbert as she cruises around NHMS.

[Source: The Daily What]

Continue reading 100-year-old NASCAR fan tackles the track, lives to see 101

100-year-old NASCAR fan tackles the track, lives to see 101 originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 29 Apr 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NASCAR could test fuel injection as early as July

Filed under: Motorsports, Technology

Chances are that just about every car you’ve ever owned featured some form of fuel injection, but the long-standard engine tech remains foreign territory in NASCAR. The sport has used carburetors since the racing series began in 1949, but that looks set to change later this year.

NASCAR reports on its website that fuel injection testing could happen as soon as July 7 at Kentucky Speedway. The date has been singled out due to the fact that this is the first time the Cup Series has raced there, and NASCAR has given racing teams an extra four hours of testing on the Thursday before the race.

Danny Lawrence, chief engine builder for Earnhardt-Childress Racing Engines, is hoping NASCAR comes up with specifications so the teams can prepare, adding “I know they’re working on it really hard, and hopefully, they’ll have it figured out in a few days.”

NASCAR is working with McLaren and Freescale Semiconductor to develop and manufacture engine control units to manage fuel and ignition systems. A wiring harness has reportedly already been developed, and the fuel-injector specification will be the next step. Teams are still wondering at this point if they’ll receive a specification for the fuel injection system or if NASCAR will provide systems that everyone must use. Hat tip to Pawager!

[Source: NASCAR | Image: Todd Warshaw/Getty]

NASCAR could test fuel injection as early as July originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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