First Pics: Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2

Aston Martin has finally released pictures of its GT2-spec V8 Vantage sports car. The E85 fueled racer will be driven by customer teams in the ALMS, LMS and FIA GT series. It's set to make it's American debut at Long Beach when Drayson-Barwell will finally be able to ditch the GT3-spec DBRS9 they've started the ALMS season with and switch to the new V8 Vantage. Hopefully the increase in performance will allow the team to keep up with the class leading Porsches and Ferraris.

UPDATE: New gallery link!

Homestead Recap

Well, you can’t say it was a boring race. Couple points of interest.

Tony George cheated in his own series. And then punished himself.

Milka did a Duno in the middle of the track. Invited Briscoe to join in. Those crazy Venezuelans…

Marco seems to have broken the curse. It is rumored that his dad threatened that if he crashed early, he would have to go hang out with Rahal Jr for the rest of the night.

Dan Wheldon almost managed to come from behind to win the race. I don’t know exactly how to prove this, but I think it was his hair. Hippies…

They have brought back multiple fuel settings. (Shhhhh… they really didn’t. They just decided to put the knob back to make the driver think he is saving fuel… you know… the placebo effect…)

TK got ripped off…

Oh well. Good race, lots of excitement. Now if they could just get Race Control working..

Rolex - Time Keeps Ticking

Rolex prides itself in producing watches that last forever. So it just makes sense that the races do as well. It is rumored that they actually lost the green flag during the race and figured they could get by without it.

Too bad, but I need to switch over to the IRL coverage now.....

It was great to see Christiano out there. I cannot wait to see him racing again. During an interview he still sounded a little concerned about getting back into a car, but who can blame him.

IRL: "We Like Fatties!"

It seems the IRL has decided to change the weight rules for its IndyCar series in an effort to help out those drivers that are, shall we say, good eaters. The previous rules favored smaller, lighter pilots by not taking the driver’s weight into account when determining minimum car weights. The newly devised rules will force some IndyCar drivers to carry extra ballast (yes, Dan Wheldon I’m looking at you).

This is a great development for the bigger drivers like Justin Wilson and certainly levels the playing field. But I have to wonder, what does it say about our society when not even professional race car drivers can “just say no” to a Krispy Kreme? Have we no shame?

Alonso Moving to Ferrari?

You have to admit, Fernando Alonso got a raw deal. He goes from being World Champion in 2006 to being stuck in a car that has no chance of competing with the big dogs in less than 2 years. Say what you will about how he behaved at McLaren; I certainly won’t defend him on that. But, I will point out that the team as a whole shares some blame for that debacle. Nevertheless, he is an incredibly talented driver that deserves to be in much better machinery. So how about a Ferrari for lil’ Fernado?

According to rumors that have been going around, Alonso has a “pre-contract” with Ferrari for 2010. But, hints have been dropped that the switch may come even sooner. According to Alonso, “…Massa has had two bad races with errors and it is logical that people are talking about Vettel and me."

So how likely is a midseason switch? Not very, if you ask me. Massa will certainly improve as the season goes on and the rumors will die down. So the real question is: how likely is it that Massa will be in a Ferrari next year? Hmmm…

Graham Slam and No Fire

As I read the news that young Rahal played patty cake with the safer barrier this morning, I figured we are in for it. To me it feels that some are secretly hoping for failure, to prove that this whole merger thing is no good. So I decided to visit a certain forum that tends to be, shall we say “skeptical” of the recent events.



To my surprise, the outburst of jeers were no where to be found.

The fact that these particular fans did not use this as one more anti merger cry, leads me to conclude that most (if not all) who are still interested are rooting for the CCWS teams to some extent. Which I think is great. What this series needs is rivalry and lots of it. I believe that rivalry turns the casual fan into the obsessed fan. And although it still smells of AOW split, I think it will eventually evolve into team followings that are ultimatly good for the sport.

So hopefully N/H/L can get things rolling again. It is critical that these teams become competitive. It may not start this week… but give it some time. I know I am pulling for them.

Da Matta Confirmed for Laguna Seca

Cristiano da Matta will take the final step in his amazing recovery this May by returning to auto racing less then two years after a life threatening crash at Road America. Da Matta will partner with Jimmy Vasser, his former ChampCar teammate, in a Grand-Am Rolex sports car race taking place at Laguna Seca. He has already begun testing for GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing and feels that all of his old skills are back. “Even driving a new car for the first time, that was something that I was able to quickly do, to figure out how it worked, what I need to do.”

In August of 2006, da Matta was testing at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin when he hit a deer crossing the track just after turn 5. He sustained major head injuries in the crash and had to be airlifted to a nearby hospital. There, da Matta spent more than a month slowly making progress towards an eventual full recovery. Doctors finally cleared him to return to auto racing earlier this year.

Welcome back, Cristiano!

New IndyCar Site

Looks like IndyCar.com has been updated and they will be offering online race control this year. I am guessing that it will work like the CCWS version (its probably the same software and equipment). In addition to the stuff CCWS had last year they are adding a 360 degree in-car view. It will be interesting to see how well it works.

Homestead 1996

Before the mess.. (which we shall speak of no more..)

Well That Was Boring

After the mayhem and carnage that was last Sunday's Australian Grand Prix, today's F1 race at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia turned out to be a bit of a snooze fest. There were some moments to remember (like Heidfeld's pass on Coulthard and Alonso) but after the final round of pit stops it was completely forgettable. Okay, so this is nothing new for Formula One. I guess it’s just the contrast with last week that really made the boredom-factor stand out.

I suppose if Massa hadn't brain-farted there would have been some excitement near the end as he battled with his team mate for the lead. And, sure, if Hamilton's first pit stop hadn't been a disaster, he could have really made things interesting. But it was not to be. Instead we watched the podium finishers parade around the beautiful road course in Kuala Lumpur for the last 15 or so laps, none with a chance in hell of catching the driver in front of them.

In the end, it was a well executed race by all (well, mostly all), a big change from last week. It seems the old F1 is back, for good (the driving) or bad (the drama). At least now the Chicken Littles of the racing world can stop their incessant chant: “the ECU is failing, the ECU is failing”.

Ferrari Front Row at Sepang

Clearly wanting to put the nightmare of Melbourne behind them, Ferrari's Felipe Massa and Kimi Räikkönen were out to prove something in Saturday's qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix. While it was generally accepted that Ferrari had the strongest pre-season of all the teams, their disastrous performance in the opening round of the World Championship had at least a few people wondering if they may have been overrated. But much of that doubt has been alleviated after the pair put together impressive qualifying runs that see them sitting #1 (Massa) & #2 (Räikkönen) on the starting grid. With only one technical problem encountered so far, the Ferraris are showing much better reliability than they did last weekend, and this in spite of the intense heat and humidity of Kuala Lumpur.

Things aren't so rosy for Ferrari's main competition, McLaren. While the provisional results had Heikki Kovalainen and Lewis Hamilton in 3rd and 4th respectively, stewards later dropped the pair 5 places for blocking. With less than a minute left in the last qualifying session, both drivers completed their final attempts. Then, in an effort to save fuel for the start of Sunday's race, they began a slow crawl to the pits. But BMW's Nick Heidfeld and Renault's Fernando Alonso were still making a final run. According to race officials, Hamilton held up Heidfeld while Kovalainen did the same to Alonso. As a consequence, the McLaren drivers are well back of the archrival Ferraris for the start of the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Homestead - 26 Cars

So the official entry list for Homestead has been posted on IndyCar.com with 26 entries. It is great to see some new sponsor names on there, including Menards and the National Guard. I will admit it is not the flood of big names we need, but it’s a start. Hopefully the 500 will produce some more big names. Another interesting note is that Marco’s car is still listed with NYSE. It is rumored that they are no longer the primary sponsor, so I guess we will find out what the deal is when they roll out for practice.

So it looks like we are off to a good start. I am sure the car count will fluctuate as the season progresses. But you have to admit that 26 is a whole lot better that 18.

Sebastien Speaks

During an interview Sebastien spoke about what it was like to participate in his first F1 event. I guess he misses his power to pass, since he seemed suprised at the difficulty involved in overtaking within the series. He also used the word "horrified" when reffering to the start of the race.

So the question is, will the 4 time CCWS champ change his driving style and become more aggressive, or will he rely on the low risk consistent driving that has always worked for him in the past? We shall see.

ChampCar Champs Sitting Out (For Now)

Former ChampCar team Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, winner of that series' last four championships, has decided to sit out the first test of their new IRL-provided cars. The reason cited for not participating was lack of spare parts. While several other ex-ChampCar teams have hit the Sebring track this week, NHL will have to wait for the Miami test to get some seat time in a Dallara-Honda IndyCar. That's only a few days before the season opens under lights at Homestead Speedway. One has to wonder, if the former top team in ChampCar is struggling to get IndyCar parts how are the other teams getting by?

Are You a Kimi Wannabe?

Hard to believe but this is an actual screenshot from Polyphony Digital's Gran Turismo 5 Prologue for the PlayStation 3. It's just recently been annouced that the game will include a drivable version of the 2007 Ferrari F1 race car. This is, of course, the same car that Kimi Räikkönen won the world championship in last year. So if you fancy yourself a Formula One driver, you may want to check out the game when it hits U.S. stores mid-April. Let's just hope they don't use the same horrible tire noise they put on all the other cars.

Enrique Bernoldi Joins Conquest

Conquest Racing announced today that Enrique Bernoldi will be driving the teams second car this year. With this announcement Enrique is now the 26th driver listed on IndyCar.com.

A Test of Endurance

Okay, so this is at least a day late. Maybe two if you want to get picky. But you have to understand, Sebring takes it out of me.

Sure, we all know what the drivers go through in a race like this. Everyone is aware that this 12 hour race is a mental and physical torture test, run on track so rough it breaks components that easily go 24 hours elsewhere. Everyone knows about the multiple car classes running on the same track, each with its own pace and strategy. Isn’t it common knowledge that drivers in the slower classes must be constantly on the look out for faster cars overtaking them while, at the same time, try to keep their peers from getting any advantage? Similarly, who doesn’t know that drivers in faster classes must weave their way through traffic, gambling on the best place to pass larger cars that, most likely, can’t see what's right next to them? Sebring is hot, it’s grueling; it’s the kind of event that defines international sports car racing.

Yeah, yeah we know all that. But has anyone taken the time to think about what it takes to watch the damn thing?

No doubt, Sebring is a great way to start the ALMS season. After the long winter break, it serves as a kind of bacchanalia for sports car racing fans. We gorge ourselves on the sights and sounds of the historic 12 hour race: the fans filling the starting grid before the race, the classic beauty of an Aston Martin in British Racing Green and the sinister shape of the Peugeot LMP1 are mixed with the hum of turbo-diesels, the roar of naturally aspirated V8 engines and the sweet terror that blasts forth from the pointy end of a Panoz Esperante. It’s the kind of celebration that we desperately need in the wake of the dull off season.

But all of this bounty has its drawbacks. Like the feeling that sets in after a huge Thanksgiving meal, race fans who watch the entire 12 Hours of Sebring are left overstuffed and sleepy. Not that we would go back and leave anything on our plate but we still realize we may have overdone it. And so I come to the reason why I waited this long to post about the great American endurance race: Sebring leaves me knackered. But I have recovered and now have the energy to tell you about the actual race.

Of course, if you got this far in my rambling post, you probably watched the race yourself. You undoubtedly saw Peugeot take off like a rocket only to surrender like the Frenchmen they are a little while later. You witnessed Audi run into more problems in one Sebring than they have experienced in the previous eight - races they so easily dominated. It’s impossible that you missed that huge Zytek crash or last year’s GT2 winner, Jaime Melo, spearing a Farnbacher Loles Porsche for some unknown reason (did he think it was a Flying Lizard?). And I’m sure you caught the end of the race. With a record four cars on the lead lap, an LMP2 Porsche crossed the line first making Roger Penske the only team owner to win the Daytona 500, the Indianapolis 500 and the Sebring 12 Hours. The way things are going, this Memorial Day, he may able to say he did it all in the same year. Talk about achievements.

Overall, I really enjoyed the race. Sure, the audio/video glitches in the first two hours of SPEED's coverage nearly drove me insane. And we didn’t get an amazing finish line dash like we had last year. But how often does something like that happen in a 12 hour race? What we did get was another dose of that old Sebring magic. And it has left me very excited for the remainder of the sports car racing season. However, I'll say this, I am definitely taking a nap at some point during the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Ferrari, Ferrari, Where Art Thou?

It turns out that 2 hours at Melbourne can be just as tough on a field as 12 hours at Sebring. At this point I am trying to figure out which race had more DNF’s.

First of all, hats off to McLaren and Lewis Hamilton. Everything they did was timed and executed with the highest degree of perfection. They were alone within there own race, far from the chaos and confusion only seconds behind. And I have to admit each time Lewis pulls this off, Michael Schumacher’s reign seems to get just a little fuzzier in my mind.

One has to wonder if the mighty Ferrari is up for a troublesome year. Plagued by mechanical problems both in qualifying and during the race, they are starting the season under the absolute worst possible circumstances. And it wasn’t limited to the factory team either. Not one Ferrari engine made it through that race. It sounds like they have already shipped the engines back to Italy in hopes of finding out what the problem is.

And I am sure I was not the only one who expressed disgust with Ferrari when Bourdais lost his engine with only 3 laps to go. On the bright side he proved that not only can he race with the big boys, he is one of the big boys. No traction control and a former F1 world champion on his tail seemed to have no effect on the “Rookie”.

So we are off. It appears that the new ECU will take some getting used to. Just wait until it rains. Hopefully Bernie hires some landscapers to check for dirt ramps on the remaining tracks. Oh, and Mr. Hobbs, may I remind you that they pay you to provide commentary - not cheer for McLaren.

A weird and wonderful season opener in a little place we like to call.. the F1 Zone.

Australian GP: The Race Before The Race

So often, to be the pole sitter in F1 is to be in charge of one’s own destiny. In no other series is qualifying so crucial. Just ask Kimi Raikkonen. In yesterday’s qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, last year’s champion experienced a fuel pump failure, stranding him just yards from the pit lane and, in the process, stranding him in the 16th position on the grid.

But that wasn’t the only excitement that was witnessed. With Ferrari’s Raikkonen out of the final round of qualifying, the mantle of favorite fell on the shoulders McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton. However, going into the final minute it was BMW’s Robert Kubica (pictured above) on the provisional pole. During his last run of the day, Kubica was putting together an amazing lap until he nearly had a disastrous off in one corner. The lack of traction control meant that Kubica had to wrestle his immensely powerful car back onto the track without the aid of electronics. His efforts paid off as he was able to lay down the fastest lap of the session in spite of the miscue. One little problem: Lewis Hamilton had yet to make his final attempt.

As he did so many times last year in qualifying, Hamilton dominated the track with a spectacular 1:26.714 lap time, edging Kubica by less than 2 tenths of second. While Kubica is left to wonder what could have been if not for his trouble in turn 12, he still recorded the best grid position of his F1 career and will start on the front row next the McLaren star.

ALMS News Round Up

There's been a staggering amount of news coming out of the American Le Mans Series in the past 48 hours. Rather than bombard you with posts we have decided to roll it all into one big, fat mega-post:

• The 12 Hours of Sebring Starting Grid


• Peugeot Fastest, But Audi Takes The Pole?


• Pictures of Crashed Mazda Prototype


• Eco Racing Withdraws From Sebring


• Audi Commits to Full Season With Two Cars


• Risi Competizione Announces More Drivers


• ALMS Takes Center Stage at Energy Conference

Open Wheel Stars Struggle In NASCAR

It seems success in open wheel, even winning the Indianapolis 500, is not enough to guarantee a ride in America’s top stock car series. First it was A. J. Allmendinger's failure to qualify for Cup races most of last season eventually leading to his replacement by Mike Skinner. Then it was Jacques Villeneuve losing his seat in a Cup car after failing to secure sponsorship. Now comes word that Dario Franchitti (pictured) and Sam Hornish are in trouble of seeing some bench time.

autosport.com reports that both Dario and Sam must score enough points at Bristol to keep their automatic qualifying spots. While Hornish has certainly performed better neither he nor Franchitti have been having a rookie year anything like former open wheel star Tony Stewart had when he switched racing series. Heck, they aren’t even close to where Juan Pablo Montoya was this time last year. Things can change quickly in any form of motorsport but, right now, it's starting to look bleak for the NASCAR careers of the two most recent IRL Champions.

You Want Drama?

With only a few hours before the first F1 practice sessions, it is time to get ready for what should be a fantastic season. Last year proved that F1 is full capable of hosting an interesting championship race... even without all for that "Chase" nonsense. It came down to three drivers, in the final race.

And this year could be better. Fernando is back at Renault, Lewis has his rookie year under the belt, Kimi is ready for another one, and don't forget about the always under estimated Felipe Massa. And there is plenty of rivalry between them all.

- No more traction control will prove interesting. I suspect that the first few starts may be a little bit more dramatic than usual.

- Ex CCWS champion Sébastien Bourdais will begin his F1 career this year for Toro Rosso. We know he can drive with a good car, now lets see what he can do with a mediocre one.

- The first ever F1 night race to take place at the Singapore GP. Now McLaren can steal things under the cover of darkness...

- This year Bernie Eccleston will be claiming his right as a F1 noble to feast and sleep with the wives of all track owners who wish to continue hosting the events.

Ok, maybe that last one is made up..

Bowling Stars Visit Chip Ganassi Racing

Since the premier bowling news site(s) seems to have missed this one, I felt it was worth mentioning. Last month several PBA members, including Danny Wiseman (who is an avid racing fan), visited Target-Chip Ganassi Racing while at Indy. Looks like they were over there only a few days before all the merger stuff fired up.

Forsythe Back In?

Looks like Forsythe and Conquest will be forming a "technical" partnership this year within the IndyCar Series. Conquest has already announced its intention to participate with rookie Franck Perera in one of two cars. Forsythe will be providing engineering and technical expertise.

And one has to wonder if that second car might belong to Paul Tracy....

Road America Announces Replacement For ChampCar

On Monday, officials at Road America announced that the SCCA SPEED World Challenge has signed on to replace the canceled August 10th ChampCar event. In addition, they have confirmed that the American Lemans Series 4-hour endurance race will be held as scheduled on Saturday, August 9th. Further bolstering the weekend action, a second Atlantic Championship race has been added. With Star Mazda, Formula BMW and Skip Barber National Series also on the program, Midwest race fans are in for quite a treat later this summer. We hope to see you there!

Reality Hits Hard For Another ex-ChampCar Team

Walker Racing will not participate in the 2008 IRL season due to lack of sponsorship funds. Long time CART veteran Derrick Walker has decided to shutter the doors of his racing operation just weeks before the season begins. “I’ve been keeping this thing going for the last four months because I thought we could work things out, but I finally ran out of time and money.” It seems the costs of converting his team to a new series and a new chassis were just too great.

Ironically, Walker was one of the strongest voices pushing for the unification of American Open Wheel Racing. He was planning to bring both of his drivers, Will Power and Simon Pagenaud, to the IRL in hopes of contesting the championship. But his partner, Craig Gore, has apparently pulled the rug out from under him. Gore, who allegedly owes millions of dollars to Walker, looks to be moving to KV racing – the team owned by former ChampCar principle Kevin Kalkhoven. Walker does not have the resources to fund the operation on his own.

At this point, there is no word on what will happen to Walker's drivers. With fewer and fewer ChampCar teams deciding to transition to the IRL, there may not be enough seats to go around. Rumor has Will Power joining KV Racing and Simon Pagenaud returning to Europe to drive sports cars. The intrigue continues...

UPDATE: More on this story from Crash.net

Superleague Formula Makes Some Noise

Superleague Formula is a new open wheel series where the racing teams are based on international soccer (fine, I'll call it football) clubs. How ironic, then, that the cars of this very European series will be the product of two American owned companies. The chassis is being built by Georgia-based Panoz Auto Development and has been named the DP-09. It certainly bares more than a passing resemblance to the Panoz DP-01 used by the now defunct ChampCar series. The engine that powers this attractive racer is a 750hp 4.2L V12 designed by Menard Competition Technologies (based in England but US-owned). Check out the wonderful noise it makes in the video below.

Bernie and Tony Considering Discussion On the Possibility of a Discussion which could lead to Even More Discussions

It sounds like Tony is pursuing an F1 return for 2009 at IMS. And F1 might be interested. Or at least Bernie's people are. I am a little suprised at this, considering that it was rumored that the US Grand Prix was not a profitable venture for IMS. Not to say that it couldn't be, but I would think Tony's pocket book would be focused on the IRL right now..

In my perfect world, they would run a triple header between ALMS, IRL, and F1 at Road America instead of IMS. Also the A-Team would still be running new episodes, NASCAR would be a swear word in the public (and private) school system, and I would have a McDonalds drive through in my living room.

Either way, 2009 could quite possibly be one of the most exciting years for open wheel fans in a long time. A united American series and the return of F1 can't be a bad thing. And then again.. this could all end in tears.

Take Your Partner By The Hand

In true square dance fashion, IRL officials have decided to pair up former ChampCar teams joining the League with established IndyCar teams. No, they won't be doing any ‘Dosey-Does’ but they will be helping their partners get up to speed on the chassis/engine combination used in the IRL. It really is a great example of camaraderie in the competitive world of motorsport.

IndyCar-ChampCar Team Pairings:

Andretti Green Racing - Dale Coyne Racing
Target Chip Ganassi Racing - KV Racing
Rahal Letterman Racing - Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
Vision Racing - Conquest Racing
A.J. Foyt Racing - Pacific Coast Motorsports
Team Penske - Walker Racing
Roth Racing - Team Minardi

Given the Indiana corn country roots of the IRL and ChampCar, I imagine these pairings might look a little something like this:

Buy Your Very Own Dallara

...Well sort of. The KTM X-Bow is an open wheel, street legal (in Europe anyway) track toy with plenty of power and hardly any weight. Full production is slated for later this year at KTM's plant in Austria. However, the first 100 vehicles sold to customers on the rather long waiting list will be made by Italian coach builder, Dallara. Yes, that's the same Dallara that builds the chassis used by teams in both IndyCar and GP2. KTM have dubbed these early examples the 'Dallara Series'.

Indy 500 One-Offs Starting to Roll In

Speed TV has reported that Max Papis will be driving the Indy 500 for the one-off Rubicon Race Team. This team is owned and operated by Jason Priestley.. better known as "The mature and sensative guy with a passion for writing articles for the high school newspaper that solve every day issues from 90210". Geico will be sponsoring the car.

Closest Finish World Record

According to IndyCar.com, last years final IPS race at Chicagoland Speedway has been recognized by Guinness Book of World Records as the closest margin of victory in a car race. I can gladly say that I was there, and it almost made the horrible parking lot experiance worth while.

Grand Prix of Houston Canceled

In the wake of the American Open Wheel Racing "merger", officials in charge of the 2008 Grand Prix of Houston have decided to cancel this year’s combined ALMS/CCWS event. While thought was given to running the race with ALMS as the main attraction, the costs involved could not be justified.

It seems the consolidation of AOWR has claimed its first non-OW victim. This action reduces the number of races on the ALMS schedule to 11 unless another race can be picked up later in the season. However, the likelihood of that happening is very remote.

One has to wonder if another ALMS/CCWS event might also be on the chopping block. The Long Beach Grand Prix is confirmed to take place this year by IRL officials but what about Road America? Could the same fate of Houston befall this year’s event at the historic road course in Elkhart Lake, WI? As always, we'll keep you updated.

Bourdais No Likey

Four time Champ Car Champion Sébastien Bourdais does not approve of the way consolidation in the world of American Open Wheel racing has been handled. In an interview with autosport.com, Bourdais gives his opinion of the situation: "It's not a merger, it's the death of Champ Car and the IRL taking over - the schedules, cars, everything.".

He goes on to say that combining the two series only weeks before the season opener is a "disaster" for the former Champ Car teams.
"What are the Champ Car teams going to be able to do? Nothing."

Way to be a wet blanket, Sébastien. Don't you know this is the greatest thing ever for AOWR? I guess he must have forgotten to drink the Kool-Aid. Silly Frenchman!

Hush AJ.. Daddy is going to buy you a Dallara

The IRL rumor mill has been running at peak production the last few weeks. The latest, is the expansion of Foyt Racing. It is believed that a second team will be announced soon. And it doesn’t sound like Paul Tracy is going to be the driver as some thought.

So this opens up some new questions. Obviously PT is going to continue looking for a job, but I find something even more interesting. Back in February, AJ claimed he would throw a fit if the CCWS teams were given incentives. So when AJ provided his blessing after the merger, I was kind of stunned.

Now he may be adding a new car to his team. That must have cost some money…

ALMS Car Count on the Rise

Recent announcements from VICI Racing and ECO Racing have pushed the full season ALMS car count to more than 30, with at least 35 cars competing at the season opener, the 12 Hours of Sebring. VICI Racing will be running a 2 car campaign in the GT2 class with the venerable Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. ECO Racing will be taking a much more "radical" approach. Their 2 car team will consist of Radical SR10 Biodiesel-powered LMP1 prototypes. They will be only the second team (after Audi) to run a full season in the ALMS with a diesel engine. And, yes, that pun was really lame... I will now go and eat some razorblades as punishment.