Nascar Race News!» FanHouse Newswire

Peter Lenz’s Death Will Not Be Investigated by Racing Group

FanHouse Newswire — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:01:00 +0000

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- The U.S. Grand Prix Racers Union does not plan to hold a formal investigation into the death of a 13-year-old motorcycle racer in Indianapolis over the weekend.

Stewart Aitken-Cade, a spokesman for the sanctioning body, says the union will discuss ways to make the sport safer. He also says safety measures will be reviewed.

"I don't believe there are grounds for anything drastic," Aitken-Cade said in a phone interview. "That doesn't mean we're not going to look at anything that we can do to prevent something like this from happening again. This is the first accident we've had like this in nine years, and that's a tremendous safety record."

On Sunday, Peter Lenz of Vancouver, Wash., died after being run over at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Boris Said Beats Max Papis in Montreal Photo Finish

FanHouse Newswire — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 18:55:00 +0000

Filed under: Carl Edwards, Robby Gordon, Nationwide Series, NASCAR

MONTREAL (AP) -- Boris Said has made a living helping NASCAR drivers master road courses with the expertise he's accumulated racing around the world. With his 48th birthday looming in three weeks, he finally helped himself.

Said came back from an early spin and won the Nationwide race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Sunday, edging Max Papis by a nose on a green-white-checkered finish.

Papis passed Said entering the final chicane for a split second, but Said never lost momentum and sped back by and outraced Papis to the line. The margin of victory was .012 seconds, fifth-lowest all-time and closest since 1998 at Homestead.

It was the first Nationwide victory for Said and his second in NASCAR. He also won a truck race at Sonoma in 1998.

"I can't believe it!" Said shouted over the radio of his 09 Ford to team owner Robby Benton. "I'm going to keep trying until I win a Cup race."

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Marcos Ambrose Wins Pole at Montreal

FanHouse Newswire — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 19:33:00 +0000

Filed under: IRL

MONTREAL, N.Y. (AP) -- Marcos Ambrose again took care of business in Nationwide qualifying at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

All he has to do now is finally take advantage of starting up front at the tricky 14-turn layout. Ambrose turned a fast lap of 97.079 mph Saturday to edge Canadian star Jacques Villeneuve's 96.924 mph and take the pole for Sunday's Nationwide Series race.

"I've led more laps here than anybody else and haven't been to Victory Lane," said Ambrose, who won the pole a year ago, led 60 of 76 laps over the 2.7-mile circuit, and was passed by Carl Edwards in the final turn. "The race tomorrow could go any way. This race is hard on equipment, hard on tempers."

Joey Logano, who finished second to Ambrose at Watkins Glen three weeks ago, qualified third at 96.650 mph, while defending race winner Carl Edwards was fourth at 96.344 mph. Series points leader Brad Keselowski will start eighth.

Qualifying was divided into eight groups, with assignments based on practice times from the first session, which Villeneuve and Edwards topped with identical speeds. Villeneuve and Ambrose kept leapfrogging one another on each of their three laps before Ambrose finally won.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Ryan Briscoe Wins Chicagoland IndyCar Pole at 216 MPH

FanHouse Newswire — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 18:34:00 +0000

Filed under: IRL

JOLIET, Ill. (AP) -- He might be Australian, but Ryan Briscoe is as quick with an American pop culture reference as he is on the racetrack.

Asked what his secret was to going fast on 1.5-mile oval tracks in the IndyCar series, Briscoe pulled out a famous Tom Cruise line from the 1980s jet fighter-jock movie "Top Gun."

"If I told you, I'd have to kill you," he joked.

Briscoe won the pole position for the IndyCar series race at Chicagoland Speedway, turning a lap average of 216.346 mph in Friday's qualifying session for Saturday night's race.

"The car today was just spot on," Briscoe said. "You never want to be too overconfident, but I was thinking after that run, I was like, 'Man, that's got to be hard to beat.' "

It's the third straight pole position start at Chicagoland for Briscoe, the defending race winner.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

One Ranger Patrolled 50-Mile Off-Road Course Where Eight Died

FanHouse Newswire — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 17:39:00 +0000

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A federal agency said Wednesday it had just one ranger patrolling a 50-mile off-road race where a competing truck killed eight spectators gathered close to the Mojave Desert course.

The Bureau of Land Management said the ranger was patrolling the course in the Johnson Valley off-highway vehicle area on Aug. 14 when a spectator flagged him down and reported the truck had slammed into the crowd and overturned.

"The ranger immediately responded, and once at the scene, quickly assessed the situation, and called for emergency support," said Jan Bedrosian, BLM deputy state director of external affairs, said in a statement.

The BLM, which issued permits for the California 200 race, has maintained that the event's organizer was responsible for spectator safety.

The tragedy has raised questions about the agency's oversight of such events.

"It's clear that the law enforcement presence was inadequate the night those people were tragically killed," said Daniel Patterson, Southwest director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. "Those deaths were preventable. Better decisions from the BLM could have helped keep those people alive."

The BLM's field office in Barstow, which oversees the Johnson Valley, has 10 rangers on staff to patrol approximately 300,000 acres of land that are open to off-road vehicles, according to documents filed by the BLM.

In an effort to step up enforcement following the crash, the BLM had eight employees, including three rangers, staff a motorcycle race in the same area last weekend.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

California Off-Road Racing Resumes Week After Tragic Event

FanHouse Newswire — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 22:50:00 +0000

Filed under: Other Racing Series

LUCERNE VALLEY, Calif. (AP) -- An off-road motorcycle event in the Southern California desert went off without a hitch Sunday, a week after a modified pickup truck plowed into race fans in the same area, killing eight people.

Jerry Grabow of the American Motorcycle Association says last week's tragedy was on the minds of organizers and riders alike at the Desert Scramble in the Mojave Desert's Johnson Valley.

Grabow says representatives from the Bureau of Land Management were on hand and came away satisfied with the event's safety procedures.

The event sponsored by the Invaders Motorcycle Club featured up to 300 riders on a 35 mile loop.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Will Power Takes Fifth IndyCar Victory With Sonoma Win

FanHouse Newswire — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 20:12:00 +0000

Filed under: IRL

SONOMA, Calif. (AP) -- Back broken, front teeth scattered somewhere, head ringing, Will Power left the 2009 race at Infineon Raceway in a helicopter.

A year later, he walked away, a bit of payback and a trophy in hand, his first series title well within reach.

Shaking off a touch of early anxiety, Power returned to Infineon Raceway with a dominating win on Sunday, padding his IndyCar Series lead on a course that nearly ended his career.

"Unbelievable. I watched this race from a hospital bed last year," Power said. "I said it all year, I'm coming back to win this because I thought this track owes me because of what happened."

Other than a few first-day jitters early in the week, the Team Penske driver never showed any sign of fear in his return to Sonoma. Power set an IndyCar record with his eighth pole of 2010 on Saturday and led 73 of 75 laps over the technically-demanding 2.303-mile circuit through the hills of the California wine country.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Will Power Sets Record With Eighth IndyCar Pole

FanHouse Newswire — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 20:40:00 +0000

Filed under: IRL, Danica Patrick

SONOMA, Calif. (AP) -- Thinking he was a lock to move on in qualifying, Will Power drove into the pits, ready to park his car for the next session. Instead of greeting him with open arms, Power's crew members were waving them, imploring him to get back out on the track.

Power did, worked his way into the top six and made the most of a last-grasp opportunity, locking up his IndyCar Series-record eighth pole of 2010 in the final round of knockout qualifying at Infineon Raceway on Saturday.

"We thought that that time would sit. In fact, six guys were covered by a tenth and a half or something," Power said. "Halfway around that lap on my dash I was two-tenths down. I figured, I'm done. It's going to be tough to make that up. But I made it up, which was surprising. It was very tight."

Taking a chance by saving his fastest tires for the final six session, Power appeared to be safe late in the second qualifying round before being bumped out of the top six in the closing minutes.

Waved back onto the course by his crew, he jumped up to fifth in his final lap to get into the final round and pulled off another late-in-the-session speed run, making it around the 2.303-mile, 12-turn road course through California's wine country in 1 minute, 16.5282 seconds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Brian Vickers Will Be Back in 2011, Reveals He Had Heart Surgery

FanHouse Newswire — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 15:44:00 +0000

Filed under: Brian Vickers, NASCAR

BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) -- Brian Vickers had heart surgery last month as part of his treatment for blood clots, but the NASCAR driver said he fully expects to resume his racing career next season.

Vickers has been out since May because of clots in his leg and lungs. In his first update in three months, Vickers said Saturday he had two procedures in July to close a hole in his heart and insert a stent into a vein in his left leg.

Although doctors diagnosed him with the blood-clot disorder May-Thurner syndrome, Vickers believes he'll be off blood thinners by Jan. 1 and driving for Red Bull Racing when next season begins.

"They gave me full clearance for next year," the 26-year-old driver said at Bristol Motor Speedway. "I will be back next season racing in January. I'm really excited about that. I had two issues I never knew about fixed. It's a bit of fresh air for me to really kind of know part of what caused this."

Vickers was hospitalized in May with chest pains that led to the discovery of blood clots in his leg and lungs. He said he'd stop driving the rest of the season while undergoing treatment, and revealed Saturday the discovery of a third clot, in his finger, that doctors believe moved through a hole in his heart.

He had surgery July 12 to close the passageway, and a second procedure to insert the stent was done the next day.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Jimmie Johnson Wins Bristol Pole

FanHouse Newswire — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 19:22:00 +0000

Filed under: Carl Edwards, David Reutimann, Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, Bristol Motor Speedway, Sprint Cup, Joey Logano, NASCAR

BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) -- Jimmie Johnson has won the pole for Saturday night's race at Bristol Motor Speedway, where he will attempt Saturday to duplicate his win in March.

The four-time defending NASCAR champion turned a lap at 123.475 mph in Friday's qualifying to put his Chevrolet on the front row. It was Johnson's first pole of the 2010 season.

"Everybody wants to win here," the Chevrolet driver said. "We all know how hard I fought this track myself, my own demons, whatever it is that we finally got over in the spring to win here. I would love to go out and win again. If not, just have a really solid race."

Johnson bettered Carl Edwards, who earned the second starting spot in a Ford. His hold on the pole was for just a few minutes-Johnson ran his lap two cars after Edwards' attempt.

"I was on it for 15.54 seconds or however long it took Jimmie to run that thing," Edwards said.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments