When the IRL and Champ Car reunited a few years ago, the fear among drivers from the latter series was that the calendar would remain dominated by oval speedways. But these days the resulting IndyCar Series races on more street circuits and road courses than it does speedways, and soon we’ll be able to add one more as the series has announced its return to Houston, Texas.
Dubbed the Grand Prix of Houston, the race – scheduled for the first week of October, 2013 – will be held on the concrete parking lots of Houston’s Reliant Park adjacent to the Astrodome (where the Astros played baseball and the Oilers played football) and Reliant Stadium (where the Houston Texans football team currently plays) – the same location where Champ Car raced in 2006 and 2007.
Drivers at the time criticized the track’s rough surface for its devastating effect on tire wear, something that race organizers – who’ve outlined plans to use the same 1.7-mile, 10-turn layout as the previous races – will have to try and fix for next year. The event will be promoted by veteran open-wheel race organizer Mike Lanigan and title sponsored by Shell and Pennzoil, who are undoubtedly as eager as the series organizers to tap into the fourth largest market in the United States.
has a rather unique way of ringing in the new year. Back in 2007, motorcycle freestyle daredevil Robbie Maddison jumped 322 feet over a football field in Las Vegas, setting a world record for the longest motorcycle jump. A year later, the Australian stuntman jumped 96 feet into the air, at Paris Las Vegas… and then he let gravity take over as he jumped his motorcycle back down.
Four-wheeled machinery has taken part in the festivities as well. in his trophy truck in 2008. The perennially insane made history in 2009 when he from one boat-mounted ramp to another on a barge, clearing about 250 feet of open water in the process. Sadly, there was no record-setting feat in 2010 after Levi LaVellee crashed his snowmobile in a practice run, though he did set a 361-foot record before it was all said and done.
Which leads us to 2011, which ended in spectacular fashion as Maddison and LaVellee performed a flawless tandem jump over the water in San Diego, California. Maddison recorded a distance of 378 feet on his motorcycle while LaVellee set a new snowmobile distance record by soaring 412 feet from takeoff to landing. See the feat go down from multiple video angles (including one from LaVellee’s helmet cam) .
The Rose Bowl – The Grandaddy Of Them All, as they say – is one of the most storied bowl games in college football, and the pre-game parade is a big part of the pageantry of the event. Last year, Natural Balance broke the record for the world’s largest float with an 84,300-pound rolling display, but the pet food company seems thirsty for more world-record glory.
For 2012, Natural Balance is building a 100,000-pound monstrosity that is 116 feet long and contains a 65-foot wave pool built specifically for one Tillman the Dog. Tillman will be surfing the waves on the float, which sounds impressive if you didn’t already know that this super dog is also an avid skateboarder.
To tow this massive float, the folks at Natural Balance are counting on power from the tried-and-true 6.8-liter V10. The 362 horsepower mill, which boasts 457 pound-feet of torque, is completely stock. The same can be said for the six-speed automatic transmission, save for a custom gear reduction setup behind the output shaft to get the float moving. The beefy 10-pot was pulled directly from an , but we’re guessing the 28-foot long truck won’t be getting a 100,000-pound tow rating anytime soon.
to check out the entire infographic for yourself. You’ll learn that the float is larger than 2,000 Tillmans, and you’ll also catch a glance of the custom rig that will house Ford’s big V10.
The Supreme Court has long maintained that police can not forcibly enter someone’s home without a warrant on the suspicion of driving under the influence, but a federal appeals court recently upheld a case in which a Virginia officer did just that.
On October 3, 2004, Alan J. Cilman had dinner at a local restaurant where he drank and watched a footballgame. When he left the establishment, officer M.A. Reeves saw Cilman take off at a high rate of speed and proceeded to follow the sports fan to his home. Reeves claims that Cilman ran a stop sign, didn’t use his turning indicators and accelerated quickly from each turn.
It’s unclear whether Reeves actually activated his cruiser’s lights while following Cilman. What is clear is that Cilman made it to his home and quickly walked to his front door while Reeves told him to stop, but did not say that he was under arrest. Cilman then locked his door and told the officer to get off of his property. Reeves called for back up, proceeded to kick in Cilman’s door and arrested him for being drunk in public and evasion without force. Those charges were later dropped when a U.S. district court found that entering Cilman’s property without a warrant was a violation of his Fourth Amendment rights.
Reeves then proceeded to appeal the decision. Virginia state law declares that if he were later found guilty of a another constitutional infringement, he would be removed from duty. The appellate judges decided that there is no precedent protecting someone from warrantless entry in a case like Cilman’s. The court reversed every decision in Cilman’s favor and dismissed the case entirely.
Football is big the the UK, but when the Brits talk about football, they’re referring to what we call soccer. Even so, American football has its fans in Great Britain, and not just when Peter Griffin got traded from the New England Patriots to the London Silly-Nannies or when the Marines stationed at our embassy get the night off to watch the big game.
In fact, the Chicago Bears faced off against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last Sunday, not at Soldier Field in Illinois or Raymond James Stadium in Florida, but at Wembley Stadium in London. It was the fifth NFL International Series game played there in as many years at the venue that’s used to hosting the other kind of football.
It’s the kind of opportunity an American automaker trying to make a name for itself in the UK couldn’t pass up. And since is well established there and GM is represented by its local brand Vauxhall, that could only mean one company: . While Lancia markets Chrysler models in continental Europe, the inverse is the case in the UK, where the American brand has a better reputation than its Italian counterpart.
And so Chrysler was there in full force as the Official Car of the NFL (in the UK), sponsoring the International Series (as well as the Super Bowl broadcast there), displaying the new Chrysler Ypsilon and transporting VIPs around in Grand Voyagers. The arrangement follows a between and the New Orleans Saints that saw the German luxury automaker acquire the naming rights to the Louisiana Superdome.
Tailgating is an important part of going to see a sports event in person, and in the city of Detroit, that pastime also includes something called the Booty Lounge. The Booty Lounge is a low-rent strip-club on wheels, and it has been a somewhat shady part of the game-day experience in Detroit since 2005.
Owners of the mobile strip club were likely hoping for a big payday thanks to a Lions appearance on the NFL’s Monday Night Football, but instead, the bus was impounded by Detroit Police. Detroit’s NBC affiliate reports that the bus was towed way because it was parked illegally, the driver didn’t have a commercial license and the vehicle wasn’t inspected by the Michigan Department of Transportation. The fuzz reportedly weren’t targeting the rolling tribute, but the bus recently came under fire after a local TV station uncovered the goings-on inside the bus.
The Booty Lounge will reportedly be cleared to exit the impound once it provides proof of inspection, but we’re getting the feeling that this tailgater is going to be sitting out a quite few more games. Click to watch Sports Time Out’s coverage of the Booty Lounge.
A Long-Overdue Entry In An Otherwise Overlooked Segment
A round of applause broke out as Marc Buoniconti, former linebacker for The Citadel, ascended the ramp of the very first VPG Autos MV-1 to roll off the assembly line inside AM General’s plant near South Bend, Indiana. Buoniconti was rendered a quadriplegic after a gruesome tackle while playing football for his South Carolina alma mater. That was back in 1985 and Buoniconti has been wheelchair-bound for the past 26 years. Since then, he has gone on to start , the fundraising arm of The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, and been heavily involved in the development of what you see here – the very first purpose-built, OEM-backed vehicle designed specifically to accommodate the needs of the disabled.
The MV-1 is a strange hodgepodge of engineering, but its mission is clear: To offer a mobility solution for the disabled that costs substantially less than aftermarket minivan conversions available today. Right now, VPG says there are some 1.5 million vehicles on the road that have been converted for wheelchair access, all from third-party companies who augment a factory vehicle’s chassis and interior at substantial cost. “Aftermarket means afterthought,” says Buoniconti, and the team at VPG Autos aims to offer a factory-crafted solution for an otherwise overlooked segment of the automotive landscape.
We want to be in that number when the Saints go marching in. And so does , apparently, as the German automaker has acquired the naming rights to the stadium where the New Orleans football team plays.
The deal will see the recently renovated stadium (which is also set to host the 2013 Super Bowl and the 2012 Final Four of men’s college basketball) renamed as the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, and will see the Silver Star appear next to the team’s Fleur-de-Lis logo for the next ten years as official and exclusive vehicle of the Saints.
This isn’t the first time that a sports venue has been named for an automaker. Racetracks aside, the Detroit Lions play at Field, the Vancouver Canucks at Place and the Houston Rockets at Center. There are even Mercedes-Benz venues in Stuttgart, Shanghai and South Africa. It is, however, the first time a luxury automaker has acquired such naming rights in the United States, and you can bet it’s one which MBUSA will be keen to leverage and bank on for years to come. Details in the press release .
2010 Race of Champions – Click above for high-res image gallery
Over the course of its three decades of history, the Race of Champions has been held in various locations around the world. Following over a decade in the Canary Islands, the annual event was held for three years at the Stade de France, then two years at London’s Wembley Stadium before moving to Beijing and on to Düsseldorf, Germany, last year.
This year’s race was to take place at the Commerzbank-Arena in Frankfurt, but a change in the venue’s soccer calendar has forced the race to change locations. The team that plays its home games at the stadium was relegated to the Bundesliga (union football league) second division, resulting in a scheduling conflict for both the race’s primary and back-up dates.
Event organizers have yet to announce a new location, however they’ve indicated that the race will still take place somewhere in Germany, whose four-time Nations’ Cup defending champions Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel – F1 champs both – are both confirmed to follow the race wherever it goes. for the official announcement, and stay tuned for details of the new venue.
Jeep 70 year anniversary commercial – Click above to watch the video
is celebrating its 70 year anniversary this year, and the festivities won’t be relegated to these United States. The off-road capable brand is celebrating its milestone anniversary in Australia with the help of 79-year-old Australian rules football legend .
The retired football star is also a very motivated exercise aficionado with a can-do spirit; attributes Jeep marketing types are hoping translates well to the brand’s “Don’t Hold Back” mantra. to watch the one-minute ad.
Hafey may be 79, but the commercial shows that he can likely kick some serious butt if the need ever arose. After all, the man appears to have more energy than most men half his age, and it’s not like he’s famous for his knitting skills. Jeep is hoping utility buyers will see the ad and think that Hafey’s is almost as tough.
For die-hard sports fans, a home-team win can make the whole week better. But according to a study by researchers at North Carolina State University and the University of South Carolina, winning can also be deadly-at least for motorists.
The schools focused on fatal accident rates the cities involved in 271 significant (i.e. playoff, rivalry, etc.) pro and college football and basketball games from 2001 to 2008. Fans were then asked to rank close games, and the results were compared against National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data for those game days. The results were startling; in areas where the winning team team won a close game and had a high number of fans on site (whether at the actual game venue or in the team’s hometown if it was playing on the road), road fatalities increase significantly.
The results don’t show that those involved in these accidents actually watch the games, but they illustrate a pattern of more aggressive road behavior following close games. In fact, prior studies found that fans’ testosterone levels of fans increase with a close win, while the losing team sees no rise. The research shows that alcohol also plays a factor, which comes as no surprise. It’s interesting to note, however, that while some fans on both sides are obviously to partake in a drink (or several) while watching the game, the cities of losing teams didn’t show an increase in fatalities.
The moral of the study might be to stay off the road after your team wins.
Ford Mustang drives out of the rubble in Tuscaloosa, AL – Click above to watch the video .
The death toll from Wednesday’s tornadoes has reached a staggering 204 in the state of Alabama alone. The once proud university town of Tuscaloosa, home to the multi-time NCAA National Champion Crimson Tide football team, lies in ruin. For now, there isn’t much in the way of inspiring news from the state.
This morning, though, a video hit the web of a Tuscaloosa resident driving his convertible out of the wreckage. The Mustang is far from a pretty sight, and likely won’t be moving anywhere else under its own grunt any time soon, but it’s inspiring nonetheless – a small glimmer that not all is lost.
True, a ragged, fifteen-year-old dragging itself from the ruins of a terrible natural disaster isn’t exactly the feel-good hit of the summer. True, the car’s miraculous survival doesn’t serve as a sign that Alabama’s return to normal is right around the corner. What it does show, on however small a level, is that there’s always hope, no matter how bleak things get. Check out the video . Thanks for the tip, Douglass!
Kimi Raikkonen at the Brickyard for the 2007 United States Grand Prix – not his last time at the speedway?
What does a U.S. president do after he’s finished his term in office? Whatever the heck he wants. That’s because he’s already reached the top of his game and has nothing left to prove but to use his considerable influence and experience towards whatever end he chooses. The same might be said of a Formula One World Champion. Take Kimi Raikkonen, for example, who won the title in 2007. He turned his back on F1 when he’d had enough, and is now trying his hand at rallying in the World Rally Championship. But if the latest reports are any indication, the Finnish driver has had enough of that, as well, and is eager to try something new.
That something, according to the latest reports from his home country, is NASCAR. Now, we could chalk this up to a slightly premature April Fool’s Day gag, but if accurate, Raikkonen could be preparing an assault on America’s oval speedways. The report alleges a new team under Kimi’s ICE 1 Racing banner is being established in conjunction with Foster Gillett – the sports arm of American businessman George Gillett’s enterprise that formerly owned the Montreal Canadiens (the winningest team in all of professional sports), the Premier league Liverpool Football Club, and (previously known as Gillett Evernham Motorsports).
If the reports prove accurate – and we’re still taking this with a big grain of salt – Raikkonen will start off in the Craftsman truck series before moving up to the Nationwide series and finally the top-tier Sprint Cup. In doing so, he’d be joining his old McLaren teammate Juan Pablo Montoya, as well as fellow former champion Jacques Villeneuve in migrating from F1 to NASCAR. Watch this space for more as it emerges.
Super Bowl XLV car ads – Click above to see the videos and their rankings
The Super Bowl is a contest of advertisers as much as it is for two football teams seeking championship rings, the big trophy and bragging rights.
The Super Bowl is one of the few times a year that most of the country is gathered around a single event.
This year, twelve of the advertisers are from the auto sector: , , , , , , , , , , Cars.com and .
Why so many car related ads? 2011 is widely seen as a breakout year for the auto industry. In 2008 and 2009, sales fell below 11 million, about one-third less than the industry had been doing in the early part of the decade. Sales in 2010 were better and sales are forecasted to come back even stronger this year.
The slowly recovering economy has kept a lot of consumers out of the new car showrooms. But cars and trucks are getting older. The U.S. has seen a sales rate below the annual scrap rate for a few years now. The stock market is back to where it was before the 2008 economic meltdown. Unemployment is ticking down. Things are looking up.
“The Super Bowl is one of the few times a year that most of the country is gathered around a single event,” says marketing chief Joel Ewanick, who bought five ads at $2.7-$3 million per to advertise models. marketing chief Olivier Francois says, “There is no better place for a real coming out,” referring to a slate of newly designed vehicles Chysler is releasing this year. Chrysler bought an unprecedented two-minute ad.
Continue reading and to see the rankings of the Top 10.
Hundreds of millions of people watch the Super Bowl each year, but the day after, most water cooler conversations are focused on the commercials than the actual game. That’s sure to continue in a few weeks, and hopes it is part of the conversation.
Reuters reports that GM will lead a pack of up to nine automakers buying ad space for the annual football extravaganza. The fact that so many automakers are willing to shell out up to $3 million for a 30-second spot could be considered a sign that the industry is primed for more growth. It surely illustrates that GM is in far better shape than it was in 2009 or 2010, when the Detroit-based automaker avoided the big game all together.
Thousands of football fans will soon converge on Arlington, Texas for Super Bowl XLV. Those visitors will fill area hotel rooms and jam eateries and pubs. That’s good news for local businesses, but thanks to impossible traffic it’s a bum deal for anyone who travels through town. And since the Super Bowl also brings massively increased security, many streets will be closed so police and private security details have fewer avenues to inspect. Thank goodness for GPS, right? Not so much.
Super Bowl organizers have asked that game attendees skip the GPS in favor of the directions printed on their parking passes. That’s an awfully analog process for our digital world, but owners of OnStar-equipped vehicles can still receive turn-by-turn directions. Subscribers will be have “special access” to routes and road closures relayed by specially trained OnStar advisers during the event. You won’t need to have the turn-by-turn subscription package to receive this service, either; GM is providing it free of charge just for the big game. Hit the jump to peruse the official OnStar press release.
Don’t get us wrong; we really and truly enjoy ourselves some every now and again, just so long as it’s in measured doses, of course. But to consider the top bloke at Top Gear as a role model for boys? Now, that there might just be a bridge too far.
All the same, a new poll administered by Disney XD asked 601 male children in the UK between the ages of eight and 14, and the results suggest that the litl’uns chose Clarkson as their second favorite role model, behind only football superstar David Beckham. *Sigh.*
Also placing highly in the minds of young British boys was another footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo, Alan Sugar (self-made billionaire and host of the UK version of The Apprentice) and Daniel Radcliffe (star of the Harry Potter movies). Bill Gates, Simon Cowell, Barack Obama, Justin Bieber and Roger Federer rounded out the list.
Can we all just agree that one Jeremy Clarkson is all the world is capable of handling? And really… wouldn’t you just rather be The Stig?
Ray LaHood, the Department of Transportation’s boss, recently had the revelation that looking down at your phone for four seconds while behind the wheel means you’re “driving the length of a football field without watching the road.” The DoT goes on to claim that distracted driving took the lives of up to 6,000 Americans in 2008 alone, with many more severely injured. knows the stats and believes that texting while driving should be banned, but at the same time, many of the company’s vehicles come with SYNC, arguably the most interactive infotainment system on the market.
The Detroit News reports that Ford’s second generation SYNC system will address distracted driving head-on with the ability to block out all external stimuli while the vehicle is in motion. The “Do Not Disturb” switch will be available first in the MyFord Touch-equipped and Lincoln MKX models. The DND button will block phone calls and text messages while retaining hands-free calling and 911 Assist, which dials up 911 in the event of an emergency. Also blocked is typing on a keypad for text or Internet and narrowing navigation and phone choices. The only question now is: Who’s going to turn the feature on?
D1 GP comes to SpeedTV – Click above to watch the trailer
The wide, wide world of sports is getting so small it’ll soon be able to dance on the head of a pin. First soccer (i.e., The OtherFootball) took over ESPN, now the original drifting series, Japans’ D1 GP, is headed to SpeedTV for a multi-episode engagement from September to November.
There will be 15 one-hour programs, nine covering races in Japan, three U.S. races, plus an exhibition and a wrap-up show. It all begins with the event in Tokyo on September 12. You’ll want to turn off your smoke alarms, for burning rubber is headed this way. for the press release and the teaser.
As much as we enjoy Jeremy Clarkson and Top Gear, we do occasionally marvel at how thoroughly the man seems to have gripped the attention of Brits. When 1,182 residents of the Sceptered Isle were polled about who they’d like to have most as a celebrity housesitter, Clarkson was the top choice. Jeremy Clarkson, the host of a car show, beat BBC presenter Christine Bleakley, home improvement guru Sarah Beeny and singer Cheryl Cole in the top four, then a Lord at number five and some unknown soccer player named Rooney at number six.
The fact that a notoriously fiery soccerfootball superstar and tabloid staple made the list at all as someone you’d want tending your valuables while you’re out of town does put respondents’ mindsets into a new perspective. But still, Jeremy Clarkson? Full details in the press release after the jump.
