By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Thu Aug 25, 2011 at 1:30 PM ET
Nissan has run into several problems as the drivers of its trucks and SUVs are reporting transmission failures. [New York Times]
High-MPG SUVs and trucks are the wrong answers to the question of improving fuel economy. At least according to this Prius and Leaf driver. [Huffington Post]
More on the demise of the Mazda RX-8 and the “nice” 2012 Toyota Camry. [Jalopnik]
Here the question is posed: is the Fiat 500 out of Italy New York’s new “It car?” [New York Observer]
It is official that the most expensive car ever sold publicly is a 1957 Ferrari Testa Rossa prototype that sold for $14.9 million on August 20th. [Jalopnik]
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Thu Aug 18, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
Here is a pretty definitive and comically-executed tug-of-war between a Ford truck and Chevy truck. (The Ford is on the left). [Youtube]
The California DMV has released their list of banned vanity license plates. It is a pretty interesting article. If you’ve ever wondered if that risque vanity plate you have been considering would be allowed, this will give you a good idea. [NBC Bay Area]
Jalopnik has the “Ten signs it’s time to let your car die.” My favorite is “when Google no longer helps.” [Jalopnik]
Your most recent ESPN NASCAR power rankings keep Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson at 1 and 2. Also featured is Kurt Busch taking a tumble and Junior gaining a few spots. [ESPN]
A GM engineer managed to squeeze 3,108 mpg out of a Chevy Volt. That equates to driving 1,554 miles on half a gallon of gas. You have to admit that the new technology we are seeing come from the auto industry can do some pretty awesome things. [Jalopnik]
By Rod Jetton, on Tue Aug 16, 2011 at 8:30 AM ET  When I first saw the name of this race I wondered why they called it 1 Insane race, but after running it I totally understand.
First of all, who starts any kind of race in July at 5:00pm? I don’t know what I was thinking when I registered for this 15k or why I thought it would be cool by 5pm, but I was wrong. In July the sun is not even close to going down at 5pm; as a matter of fact it was still quite high in the sky, and I am slightly sunburned from the “late” afternoon race.
I made a wise decision before this race and stopped at a gas station to use the bathroom. Turns out there were no bathrooms at the race, so I avoided the problem with going I had at the July 4th half marathon I ran.
 For the record, it was 102 degrees when we started this painful session at 5pm. As soon as I got out of the car to go check in at the registration table I started sweating. I checked in at 4:43, changed into my running shoes and put on my camelback. Unfortunately, I didn’t double tie my shoes and when the race started they came untied, and I had to stop about 50 yards into the race to retie them.
I really didn’t worry about that much because I wasn’t running for time, but I thought how that would have driven me crazy back in my college days. Needless to say I was in last place at that point.
Soon after the start, another aspect that drove many of us insane were the course markings and turns. I have no idea what language they were written in but it was not English. This race took place at Camp Galilee so I assume it was Hebrew, or maybe Greek, but I had no idea what they met. While it seemed like most of us were nice Christian runners, I don’t think we had many Hebrew Bible scholars in the crowd because we all got lost (except for me- Marines are never lost just occasionally disorientated). I knew things were not going as planned when I met the fast runners coming towards me about a mile into the race.
Read the rest of…
Rod Jetton: The 1 Insane Race
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Thu Aug 11, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
Jalopnik has the story of a 20-year-old abandoned BMW dealership in Ontario, Canada with two mint-condition BMWs visible through the window. The whole place looks like it frozen in time. Very cool. [Jalopnik]
The CEO of General Motors recently bought up 10,000 more shares of GM stock after they took a 25% hit. [Autoblog]
Some sad news coming from Mazda, with the discontinuing of the RX-8 model, they are also putting their rotary engine program on hiatus. It’s doubtful that it will go away forever, but it’s still a bummer for piston-less engine fans. [Wards Auto]
Here are the weekly NASCAR power rankings from ESPN, featuring a big jump from Brad Keselowski after a win last weekend. [ESPN]
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Thu Aug 4, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
Hyundai and Kia, the two largest South Korean automakers, gained more market share in the US from 2010 to 2011 than any other company. Additionally, their combined jump helped them overtake all European automakers combined. I agree with the article that the biggest reason for the jump in sales is simply that Hyundai and Kia are building cars that Americans want to buy. In the end, that is what it all comes down to. [Jalopnik]
A proposed law in Illinois would allow motorcyclists to treat red stoplights as stop signs. This has stemmed from complaints from motorcycle riders that their smaller vehicles often fail to trigger red lights to turn green. I’ll keep an eye on this and we’ll see if it passes. [Daily Herald]
Here is an article about the realization that the Formula 1 broadcast team on the SPEED channel does a much better job than the regular NASCAR crew. I haven’t listened to enough F1 broadcasts to weigh in on the matter. However, when the author mentions how the NASCAR crew often feels a need to be a part of the story instead of simply presenting it, I know where he is coming from. In my opinion, any analyst/commentator should focus first on presenting the event they are covering in an effective manner and worry about the fluff after. [All Left Turns]
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Thu Jul 28, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
Tomorrow, the Obama administration will announce the the compromised fuel economy standards set to take effect in 2025. The original goal was to make the standard 56.2 mpg, however that number was met with opposition from several automakers. The compromise is by the year 2025 54.5 mpg will have to be the average of automaker vehicles. This is all-things-considered a good step for fuel conservation and the environment. [Reuters]
Those of you who are Chrysler fans will be happy to hear that even though the company is merging with the Italian automaker Fiat, CEO Sergio Marchionne has recently confirmed that Chrysler will remain American. [The Detroit News]
Due to the recent earthquake in Japan, Toyota has lost its hold on the global sales lead. At the half-year mark it has been overtaken by the Volkswagen Group and Renault-Nissan. Once, General Motors release their figures they are expected to take the lead. Of course, Toyota’s slip is only due to the natural disasters. [Go Auto]
Although Ford was the only Detroit automaker to avoid bankruptcy after 2009, they still lag behind others in Asian markets. That is why they are investing $1 billion to build production plants in India. [NY Times]
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Thu Jul 21, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
After taking some heat from American auto makers the Obama administration has trimmed back proposed fuel economy standards for future trucks and SUVs. [autoblog]
Here is a very cool story about a McLaren F1 that raced British RAF helicopters in Hong Kong. [Jalopnik]
I always enjoy it when I can combine my WWG worlds. This week Tech and Speed meet as Chevrolet agreed to be one of the launch advertisers for Spotify, the British music streaming service that just made the move to the U.S. [autoblog]
Here are some of the more amusing in-car radio rants in NASCAR. These cover the spectrum from the volatile Kurt Busch to the lovely Danica Patrick. Oh, and if you can’t guess, the audio is certainly NSFW. [All Left Turns]
By John Johnson, on Fri Jul 15, 2011 at 12:00 PM ET  I am not a particularly gifted athlete. Growing up, I was known more as the “smart one” not the “athletic one”. In fact, I have had somewhat checkered athletic experiences. I earned a yellow belt in Judo in 3rd grade, but my martial arts career ended shortly thereafter when a very strong 4th grade girl beat me in one of the Judo competitions. I played Little League as a kid as well, but that ended with a fly ball and an unfortunate fainting spell in left field due to heat exhaustion. I ran cross country in high school but had the distinction of coming in last in a race my freshman year, behind an athlete with a musculoskeletal disease.
My athletic streak continued last year. I had made the decision to start biking on a regular basis. On my first bike ride of the season, 7 miles into a ride on a beautiful spring day, I slipped on an old train track and went down in a big heap. I landed pretty squarely on my left arm.
As I lay on the ground, my business partner Matt and about 8 strangers circled around me. It was reassuring that strangers were quick to lend me a hand. I surely needed it. A quick trip to the ER and I found I had broken my arm. Elbow actually. That led to a summer laid up. No biking, no swimming. No driving for several weeks. I had my arm in a sling. My wife had to help me tie my tie, not to mention other things! John’s athletic curse continued.
Since then, I have rehabbed, started weight training and swimming. I found two great trainers at the gym I joined downtown (shout out to Jibreel and Jessica). I have been pretty religious about working out several mornings a week. But, after a year, I was pretty slow to get back on the bike. Recently though, mildly encouraged (pressured) to participate in an aqua bike event by my best obsessive compulsive tri-athlete friend (and fellow Friend of RP) Steve, it was time to get back on the bike. And so, two weeks ago, it was time for the big race.
 Steve and I trekked to Philadelphia. After a long afternoon stuck in traffic, a restless night sleep in a hotel, and a 4:30am wake up due to nerves, it was event day. I tried to ignore Steve’s pre race rituals….four water bottles with different nutritional additives, a cup of black coffee, a banana, nutrition bars, seemingly endless clothing, and enough other gear to outfit a small village. I had a bottle of water, my helmet, and my shoes. While Steve would be doing a triathlon, I would be aqua biking, which meant an 800 yard swim in the Schuylkill river, then a 14 mile bike ride. At least 1000 people went in the triathlon waves first, and I was surprised to find I was one of only 10 in the aqua bike. I also was quick to notice I was approximately 30 years younger than my fellow AQBs.
Read the rest of…
John Johnson: A Recovering Biker
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Fri Jul 15, 2011 at 10:00 AM ET Traffic at the Kentucky Speedway
Last week I told you about Kentucky Speedway finally getting to host it’s first Sprint Cup race. Since it was first built 10 years ago, the folks at Kentucky Speedway have been longing for one of the coveted Sprint Cup races to visit their track. The previous owners went as far as suing NASCAR to get a Sprint Cup race (at that time called the Nextel Cup).
So, after 10 long years of waiting, how did the Quaker State 400 turn out?
It definitely wasn’t what you would call smooth. Being located in the small town of Sparta, KY, the highway system was not at all prepared to handle the more than 100,000 fans, racing teams, vendors, etc. that descended. Due to this, these good people waited for hours in traffic and walked for miles to get to the event they payed top dollar to see. In some cases fans had to be turned away entirely! All of the frustration from fans manifested on the Facebook page for Kentucky Speedway. The comment released by Track General Manager Mark Simendinger received over 1,100 comments, most of which were not exactly glowing. The statement from Simendinger only said that he was aware of, “challenges related to traffic” and that they were planning improvements.
The problem with that statement should be fairly obvious. As GM you better realize that NASCAR fans are what drives the sport forward. I believe that NASCAR executives, drivers, teams, and owners realize this, therefore, when something like this angers and frustrates fans as much as it did, it should jump to the top of your priority list. Do not try and sugarcoat it. Thankfully, it seems that they were mostly just slow reacting to the fan and media backlash.
Speedway Motorsports, Inc. (the organization that manages Kentucky Speedway along with several others) has responded by offering fans that missed out on the race a ticket exchange opportunity. Any fan with a Kentucky Speedway ticket will be able to redeem it at any Sprint Cup race at an SMI track for the rest of the year or at the 2012 Kentucky Speedway race. Indianapolis Motor Speedway is also offering a few incentives to the fans that missed out.
This is well and good, however, as the title suggests, the point of all of this is that first impressions are important. I’ll say now that I am a fan of anything I deem to be a positive thing for the state of Kentucky. I believe that having a Sprint Cup race in the state (making it Kentucky’s only professional sporting event) is a huge plus. That is why it is so disappointing that the Quaker State 400 offered such a poor fan experience. Sure, the Sprint Cup will be back in 2012, but what about after that? I can’t imagine NASCAR executives lingering in Kentucky very long if they do not see marked improvements next year.
Kentucky Speedway has begged for 10 years, changed ownership, and made extensive improvements and expansions to the track, all in the hope of having a consistent NASCAR presence in this state that is home to many fans of the sport. Now we are left to hope that it wasn’t all naught.
Oh, by the way, Kyle Busch won the race and took over the points lead. So there’s that.
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Thu Jul 7, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
Here is a really nice article explaining how the feud between ESPN and Comcast/NBC is killing the already sputtering sport of Indycar racing. Even though Indycar racing in America is old and well-established, in today’s sports world if you aren’t making money, you’re out. [The Daly Planet]
A street-legal, modified Ford GT set the record in a newly-established category for the Guiness Book of World Records: “standing-mile speed by a street-legal car.” The official record time is 223 mph, even though this car has reached speeds of up to 267 mph. [Jalopnik]
If, for some reason, you are not acquainted with rally car racing – this is the article for you. It explains, in detail, why this sport is “The Toughest Motor Sport in the World.” [My Ride Is Me]
This week’s ESPN NASCAR power rankings feature Kyle Busch taking over the top spot, his brother Kurt falling to #5, with Harvick, Edwards, and Kenseth in the middle. [ESPN]
For the first time in 10 years NASCAR’s Sprint Cup will race at a new track: Kentucky Speedway in my home state. After adding around 40,000 seats and selling a total of 107,000 tickets, it’s safe to say that the Bluegrass state is plenty excited to see it’s first Sprint Cup race at Kentucky Speedway. [ESPN]
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