Stewart hires Steve Addington as crew chief
November 28, 2011
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP)—NASCAR champion Tony Stewart has fired Darian Grubb and hired a new crew chief.
Stewart-Haas Racing says Steve Addington has taken over the No. 14 Chevrolet effective immediately. Addington quit as Kurt Busch’s crew chief last week.
Stewart won his third NASCAR championship a week ago, and begins his celebration this week in Las Vegas. Grubb will also be honored, but it will likely be awkward.
Grubb was told midway through the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship he was out at the end of the year. That didn’t change even after Stewart won five of the 10 Chase races and beat Carl Edwards for the title.
Grubb will have no shortage of job offers, and Rick Hendrick said Monday he’s offered Grubb an engineering position.
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Pic to drive for F1 team Marussia next year
November 28, 2011
PARIS (AP)—Charles Pic will drive for Marussia in Formula One next year,replacing Belgian driver Jerome d’Ambrosio.
Virgin Racing, which will re-brand as Marussia Virgin Racing next season,announced on its website late Sunday that the 21-year-old Frenchman will drivealongside Timo Glock of Germany in their new-look team.
D’Ambrosio drove with Glock at last weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix in thefinal race of the season. Neither managed to score a point during the entire F1season.
“I’m very happy to be making the step up to Formula One with MarussiaVirgin Racing. As a driver you always feel you are ready for the nextopportunity,” Pic said. “But this is just the beginning, and I know that a lotof hard work is ahead of me.”
Pic impressed during the young drivers’ test held during the Abu Dhabi GP,and spent the past two seasons competing in the GP2 Series. He ended the year infourth place with two wins, three pole positions and five podium finishes.
Pic, who started out in kart racing, will spend the next few weeks at theteam’s technical center in Banbury, England, before preseason testing beginsnext February.
“We worked well together in the test and I feel very comfortable. They wantto do things the right way and I can see that there is a lot of determination tosucceed,” Pic said. “I’m looking forward to working hard in every area overthe winter to ensure I am ready for the start of testing and my first GrandPrix.”
Moscow-based sports car manufacturer Marussia Motoring became VirginRacing’s controlling stake-holder last February.
“Charles is certainly someone we have been watching over the past fewyears,” team principal John Booth said. “Winter testing will be upon us beforewe know it, so it is actually a relatively short space of time ahead with a lotfor Charles to get used to, but he is an extremely determined young guy.”
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Webber wins Brazilian GP ahead of Vettel (PA SportsTicker)
November 27, 2011
By TALES AZZONI Associated Press
SAO PAULO (AP)—Mark Webber won the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday after Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel struggled with a gearbox problem.
Vettel, who had already secured the Formula One title, still finished second after letting Webber get past him almost halfway through the race at the 2.6-mile Interlagos track.
Jenson Button of McLaren finished third to secure second place in the drivers’ standings.
Webber easily passed Vettel on lap 30 after his teammate reduced his pace after being told by the team that there was something wrong with his gearbox.
Webber finished third in the championship, boosted by his first victory of the season.
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Vettel wins record 15th pole at Brazilian GP (PA SportsTicker)
November 26, 2011
By TALES AZZONI Associated Press
SAO PAULO (AP)—Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel set the record for most poles in a season, capturing his 15th at the Brazilian Grand Prix on Saturday to break Nigel Mansell’s 19-year record.
Vettel finished in 1 minute, 11.918 at the 2.6-mile Interlagos track. The German drew even with Mansell after winning his 14th pole at the Abu Dhabi GP two weeks ago.
Vettel parked his car and extended his finger to show who was No. 1 again, his trademark celebration all year.
“This is really special,” he said. “It’s different from the other poles.”
Mansell set the record with Williams in a 16-race season in 1992, when he also won nine races to win his only F1 drivers’ title. He failed to start from the pole only at the Canadian GP and at the Hungarian GP that year. He had six straight poles to start the season and five consecutive to finish it.
Vettel broke the record in 19 races. He failed to win the pole only in Spain, England, Germany and South Korea. His worst starting position was third, in Germany.
Vettel’s Red Bull teammate, Mark Webber, was second with a lap of 1:12.099. Jenson Button of McLaren was third in 1:12.283, and teammate Lewis Hamilton will start fourth with a time of 1:12.480. Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso will be fifth with Ferrari.
With the title already decided in favor of Vettel since the Japanese GP, virtually the only thing at stake in Brazil is the fight for second place. Button, Alonso and Webber still have a chance to finish runner-up. Button is 10 points ahead of Alonso and 18 ahead of Webber.
Vettel dominated the season with 11 victories, but it was Hamilton who won the last race in Abu Dhabi after a tire failure forced Vettel to retire on the first lap.
Red Bull has already won the constructors’ championship, with McLaren finishing second and Ferrari third.
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Vettel fastest in final practice at Brazilian GP (PA SportsTicker)
November 26, 2011
SAO PAULO (AP) —Sebastian Vettel was fastest in the final practice before qualifying at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver has already won the F1 title and later in the day will try to break the record for most pole positions in a season later Saturday. Vettel has won 14 poles going into Sunday’s season-ending race, tying Nigel Mansell’s feat in 1992.
Vettel finished in 1 minute, 12.460 seconds at the 2.6-mile Interlagos track. Jenson Button of McLaren was second in 1:12.547 and Vettel teammate Mark Webber third in 1:12.597. Lewis Hamilton of McLaren was fourth and Fernando Alonso of Ferrari fifth.
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NASCAR fines Kurt Busch $50,000 for poor behavior
November 25, 2011
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP)—NASCAR fined Kurt Busch $50,000 on Friday for his poor behavior during the Sprint Cup finale last weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
NASCAR cited both an obscene gesture Busch made inside his car and him being verbally abusive to a reporter in fining the 2004 Cup champion.
“Kurt Busch showed disrespect toward a media member, an incident that followed similar inappropriate media confrontations earlier in the season,” NASCAR said in a statement announcing the penalty.
Busch had a transmission problem early in Sunday’s race that sent his Penske Racing Dodge to the garage. His in-car camera caught him making an obscene gesture during that time.
While his team made repairs, Busch waited to be interviewed by an ESPN reporter, and a fan videotaped Busch being verbally abusive while waiting to go live.
That video was posted on YouTube, and both Penske officials and Busch have apologized in separate statements for his behavior.
“Unfortunately, our result in the season-ending race at Homestead on Sunday was not what we had hoped for as a team,” he said. “In my frustration with the loss of my transmission early in the race, I let my emotions get the better of me. I regret having done this and apologize to the sponsors of Penske Racing, to NASCAR, its fans, to the media and in particular, Dr. Jerry Punch.”
Penske officials said earlier this week that Busch’s “inappropriate actions” were being reviewed internally.
“These actions do not represent Penske Racing and are inconsistent with the company’s standards for behavior, respect for others and professionalism,” the team said in a statement.
The penalty comes just days after Busch crew chief Steve Addington quit the team, and three weeks to the day that Busch’s younger brother, Kyle, intentionally wrecked Ron Hornaday Jr. under caution in a Truck Series race.
NASCAR suspended Kyle Busch for the remainder of the weekend at Texas—he was entered in both the Nationwide and Cup events—and fined him $50,000 for the Hornaday wreck. He then spent the next week fighting to keep his seat with Joe Gibbs Racing because sponsor M&M’s was embarrassed by his actions.
It’s not clear if primary sponsor Shell/Pennzoil will take action against Kurt Busch, who has embarrassed the sponsor repeatedly this season with his many meltdowns. He lost all composure during a race at Richmond in May, when he berated his team and Penske management over his in-car radio.
At the same track in September, he had an angry post-race confrontation on pit road with another reporter, then continued the argument before his formal news conference. He also ripped apart another reporter’s papers the same evening.
Busch was a two-time winner this season and opened the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship confident he could be the one to dethrone five-time defending series champion Jimmie Johnson—his nemesis. Although he beat Johnson at Dover in the third Chase race, he faded as rumors spread Addington was bolting.
Busch wrecked at Talladega, ran out of gas while leading at Phoenix and had the transmission problem at Homestead. He ended the season 11th in the final standings. Kyle Busch, who opened the Chase tied for the top seed, finished 12th. Neither Busch brother will be part of the formal ceremony at next week’s banquet in Las Vegas—their hometown.
It’s not clear what action, if any, team owner Roger Penske will take against Kurt Busch. He’s remained largely silent when Busch has acted out in the past, but the emergence of teammate Brad Keselowski has given Penske reason not to tolerate Busch’s behavior any longer.
Keselowski, in his second Cup season, won three races this season and finished fifth in the final standings. He’s also become a fan favorite for his outspokenness—candor that proved last week can get him in trouble: Keselowski was fined $25,000 by NASCAR for comments critical of electronic fuel injection.
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Aumann: Competitive season also provided some oddities (NASCAR.com)
November 25, 2011
Jeff Gordon led just three more laps this season than in 2010 but had three times as many victories. (Autostock)
Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart finished off 2011 with a hot streak not seen since Rusty Wallace. Carl Edwards accomplished an odd piece of trivia that hadn’t been done since the Modern Era began. And a California driver named Jim Cook shares one unusual trait with Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne.
Now that the season’s over, it’s interesting to look back on some of the odd facts behind the figures. And there were certainly a number of oddities to a season which had 18 different winners and a new face holding the championship trophy for the first time in six seasons.
It actually shouldn’t have come as a surprise to see Stewart winning in the title in 2011. After all, his three championships seem to be spaced in three-year intervals. He won his first in 2002, repeated in 2005, wrecked the pattern with an eighth-place finish in 2008, and then returned to form this season.
And when Stewart’s on top, Jimmie Johnson is not. His worst three championship finishes—including a career-worst sixth this season—have come in years when Stewart has won the title. He finished fifth in both 2002 and 2005.
Stewart’s win at Homestead gave him a record five victories in the Chase. So when was the last time a driver won at least half of the final 10 races of the season? You have to go back to 1993, when Wallace won five of eight—Richmond, Dover, North Wilkesboro, Rockingham and the season finale at Atlanta.
Edwards was the captain of consistency in 2011, leading the series in top-fives, top-10s and average finish. He was also one of only three drivers—Ryan Newman and Juan Montoya being the others—to be running at the finish in all 36 races.
Much was made of the fact that with his lone win at Las Vegas, Edwards was poised to become the first Cup champion with one victory since Matt Kenseth did it in 2003. But with 19 top-five finishes, Edwards’ season more mirrored that of Benny Parsons when he won the 1973 championship.
Parsons’ only win that season came at Bristol, but his 15 top-fives were equal to runner-up Cale Yarborough. And a crazy points system that included laps completed—with Parsons having one fewer DNF than Yarborough—gave Benny the title.
How unusual was Edwards’ year? Since James Hylton had 22 top-five finishes in 47 starts to go with his one win in 1970, a driver has scored a single victory with 14 or more top-fives eight other times. Mark Martin did it twice—in 1989 and 1991—and Jeff Gordon was the most recent to do it with one win and 16 top-fives in 2009.
Gordon, who turned 40 this year, finished eighth in the points for the first time since his second full season. Just to show how statistics can be misleading, Gordon led 922 laps in 2011 and won three races. In 2010, Gordon led 919 laps—and failed to win.
Newman wonders what the numbers have against him. His 2011 season is almost a mirror image of 2005. He won the same number of races this year, had one additional top-five and top-10 finish—and yet, he wound up 10th, whereas he was sixth six years ago.
Kevin Harvick finished third in the points for the second consecutive season. He likes repeat performances, apparently—having two fourths and two 14ths in his career.
Kyle Busch may have finished outside of the top 10, but he led a season-high 1,455 laps. That makes four consecutive years in which Busch has led at last 1,000 laps. Only Johnson—with five—has more.
On the other hand, Trevor Bayne led just 11 laps all year—the fewest of any 2011 winner. And after his season-opening Daytona 500 upset win, Bayne failed to crack the top 10 again in 16 additional starts. His next best finish was 15th at Talladega in the fall.
How odd was Bayne’s feat? The last driver to record a victory as his only top-10 finish of the season was in 1960, when Jim Cook won a 100-lap race on the mile horse track at the California State Fairgrounds in Sacramento. It was Cook’s third and final start that year. In fact, Cook never made more than six starts in any of his 16 years in NASCAR. He finished with seven top-10s in 39 races.
One thing that was decidedly different: Cook took home $1,100 for his win in 1960, a far cry from the $1,463,813 Bayne received at Daytona. That big payday allowed Bayne to accumulate a total of $2,888,863 in purse money this season—or approximately $5,000 more than Joe Nemechek made in 36 starts.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. wasn’t the only driver to go winless in 2011. Jamie McMurray, Greg Biffle, Montoya and David Reutimann failed to repeat their successes of the previous season. But Junior’s streak—which dates back to 2008—is mind-boggling.
Astute reader Coady Thibodeau pointed out that 26 different drivers have won at least one race since Earnhardt last visited Victory Lane. That list includes first-time winners Brad Keselowski (who has since won a total of four times), David Reutimann (who has two wins), Joey Logano, Bayne, Regan Smith, David Ragan, Paul Menard and Marcos Ambrose.
How freaky is Junior’s lack of success? All three of his Hendrick teammates have won during his tenure there. Each current full-time driver who was employed by Roush, Gibbs, Childress, Stewart-Haas, Ganassi, Penske and Red Bull at Homestead had at least one victory in that time span.
Despite a successful season in which Earnhardt made the Chase, consistently ran near the front for much of the summer and seemed destined to win at Charlotte before running out of fuel, he led just 52 laps all year. His previous low was 146 laps in 2009. For comparison, Junior led 106 laps on his way to his first Cup win at Texas in 2000.
The silver lining for fans of the No. 88 Chevrolet? Junior had his best points finish since 2006, and most top-fives and top-10s since 2008. And his totals have been steadily increasing the past three seasons.
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Aumann: Competitve season also provided some oddities (NASCAR.com)
November 25, 2011
Jeff Gordon led just three more laps this season than in 2010 but had three times as many victories. (Autostock)
Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart finished off 2011 with a hot streak not seen since Rusty Wallace. Carl Edwards accomplished an odd piece of trivia that hadn’t been done since the Modern Era began. And a California driver named Jim Cook shares one unusual trait with Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne.
Now that the season’s over, it’s interesting to look back on some of the odd facts behind the figures. And there were certainly a number of oddities to a season which had 18 different winners and a new face holding the championship trophy for the first time in six seasons.
It actually shouldn’t have come as a surprise to see Stewart winning in the title in 2011. After all, his three championships seem to be spaced in three-year intervals. He won his first in 2002, repeated in 2005, wrecked the pattern with an eighth-place finish in 2008, and then returned to form this season.
And when Stewart’s on top, Jimmie Johnson is not. His worst three championship finishes—including a career-worst sixth this season—have come in years when Stewart has won the title. He finished fifth in both 2002 and 2005.
Stewart’s win at Homestead gave him a record five victories in the Chase. So when was the last time a driver won at least half of the final 10 races of the season? You have to go back to 1993, when Wallace won five of eight—Richmond, Dover, North Wilkesboro, Rockingham and the season finale at Atlanta.
Edwards was the captain of consistency in 2011, leading the series in top-fives, top-10s and average finish. He was also one of only three drivers—Ryan Newman and Juan Montoya being the others—to be running at the finish in all 36 races.
Much was made of the fact that with his lone win at Las Vegas, Edwards was poised to become the first Cup champion with one victory since Matt Kenseth did it in 2003. But with 19 top-five finishes, Edwards’ season more mirrored that of Benny Parsons when he won the 1973 championship.
Parsons’ only win that season came at Bristol, but his 15 top-fives were equal to runner-up Cale Yarborough. And a crazy points system that included laps completed—with Parsons having one fewer DNF than Yarborough—gave Benny the title.
How unusual was Edwards’ year? Since James Hylton had 22 top-five finishes in 47 starts to go with his one win in 1970, a driver has scored a single victory with 14 or more top-fives eight other times. Mark Martin did it twice—in 1989 and 1991—and Jeff Gordon was the most recent to do it with one win and 16 top-fives in 2009.
Gordon, who turned 40 this year, finished eighth in the points for the first time since his second full season. Just to show how statistics can be misleading, Gordon led 922 laps in 2011 and won three races. In 2010, Gordon led 919 laps—and failed to win.
Newman wonders what the numbers have against him. His 2011 season is almost a mirror image of 2005. He won the same number of races this year, had one additional top-five and top-10 finish—and yet, he wound up 10th, whereas he was sixth six years ago.
Kevin Harvick finished third in the points for the second consecutive season. He likes repeat performances, apparently—having two fourths and two 14ths in his career.
Kyle Busch may have finished outside of the top 10, but he led a season-high 1,455 laps. That makes four consecutive years in which Busch has led at last 1,000 laps. Only Johnson—with five—has more.
On the other hand, Trevor Bayne led just 11 laps all year—the fewest of any 2011 winner. And after his season-opening Daytona 500 upset win, Bayne failed to crack the top 10 again in 16 additional starts. His next best finish was 15th at Talladega in the fall.
How odd was Bayne’s feat? The last driver to record a victory as his only top-10 finish of the season was in 1960, when Jim Cook won a 100-lap race on the mile horse track at the California State Fairgrounds in Sacramento. It was Cook’s third and final start that year. In fact, Cook never made more than six starts in any of his 16 years in NASCAR. He finished with seven top-10s in 39 races.
One thing that was decidedly different: Cook took home $1,100 for his win in 1960, a far cry from the $1,463,813 Bayne received at Daytona. That big payday allowed Bayne to accumulate a total of $2,888,863 in purse money this season—or approximately $5,000 more than Joe Nemechek made in 36 starts.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. wasn’t the only driver to go winless in 2011. Jamie McMurray, Greg Biffle, Montoya and David Reutimann failed to repeat their successes of the previous season. But Junior’s streak—which dates back to 2008—is mind-boggling.
Astute reader Coady Thibodeau pointed out that 26 different drivers have won at least one race since Earnhardt last visited Victory Lane. That list includes first-time winners Brad Keselowski (who has since won a total of four times), David Reutimann (who has two wins), Joey Logano, Bayne, Regan Smith, David Ragan, Paul Menard and Marcos Ambrose.
How freaky is Junior’s lack of success? All three of his Hendrick teammates have won during his tenure there. Each current full-time driver who was employed by Roush, Gibbs, Childress, Stewart-Haas, Ganassi, Penske and Red Bull at Homestead had at least on victory in that time span.
Despite a successful season in which Earnhardt made the Chase, consistently ran near the front for much of the summer and seemed destined to win at Charlotte before running out of fuel, he led just 52 laps all year. His previous low was 146 laps in 2009. For comparison, Junior led 106 laps on his way to his first Cup win at Texas in 2000.
The silver lining for fans of the No. 88 Chevrolet? Junior had his best points finish since 2006, and most top-fives and top-10s since 2008. And his totals have been steadily increasing the past three seasons.
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Hamilton fastest in practice for Brazilian GP (PA SportsTicker)
November 25, 2011
By TALES AZZONI Associated Press
SAO PAULO (AP)—McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton had the fastest time Friday in practice for the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix, outpacing Red Bull teammates Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber.
Hamilton had a time of 1 minute, 13.392 seconds at the 2.6-mile Interlagos track. Vettel was second with a time of 1:13.559 ahead of Webber with 1:13.587.
Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso was fourth-fastest in 1:13.598.
With the title already decided, Sunday’s race features the fight for second place, with Webber, Alonso and Jenson Button all with a chance to finish runner-up.
Webber had been the fastest in the first practice session in South America’s biggest city, followed by Button and Hamilton.
A mechanical failure forced Alonso to stop with about five minutes to go in the morning session and change his engine. He was not penalized for the change, however, because he switched to a used engine instead of a new one, which would have incurred a grid penalty for the race.
The two-time world champion, who had clocked the sixth-fastest time in the morning, appeared to struggle with the car in the afternoon and went off the track a couple of times.
Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, a four-time winner in Brazil, was fifth in his Mercedes with a time of 1:13.723. Crowd favorite Felipe Massa, in his 100th race with Ferrari, was sixth in 1:13.750 on a hot day at Interlagos.
Button has a 10-point advantage over Alonso and a comfortable 18-point lead over Webber in the standings. The British driver will secure the runner-up spot just by finishing ahead of Alonso and Webber.
Vettel clinched the championship at the Japanese GP – with four races to spare – after dominating this season with 11 victories and 14 pole positions. If Vettel can win the pole in Saturday’s qualifying, he will surpass Nigel Mansell for the single-season record. Vettel won his 14th pole at Abu Dhabi to tie Mansell.
Hamilton won the race in Abu Dhabi after Vettel retired on the first lap because of a punctured tire that damaged his car.
It will be the first time in seven years that the title will not be decided in Brazil. The season had its champion crowned at Interlagos for five straight years until 2010, when Vettel clinched the trophy in Abu Dhabi, which ended the season last year.
The constructors’ championship also has been decided in favor of Red Bull, with McLaren set to finish second and Ferrari at least third no matter the outcome in Sunday’s race.
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F1 boss not optimistic about US race in 2012 (PA SportsTicker)
November 25, 2011
By TALES AZZONI Associated Press
SAO PAULO (AP)—Formula One’s boss says he is “not really” optimistic about the U.S. Grand Prix taking place next year and has set a Wednesday deadline for American organizers to guarantee its long-term financial backing.
Organizers for the proposed race in Austin, Texas, say they have agreed to pay the sanctioning fee to secure a spot on next year’s race calendar, but that’s not enough for F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone.
Speaking on Thursday ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix, Ecclestone says “they might pay something now but it’s the future we are looking for, we are not looking for (a) short term” solution.
He also says he’s “confident” the Bahrain GP will be back on the calendar next season and that it “should have been there this year.”
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