Wednesday
17Feb2010

The Future of IndyCar Racing

I’ve been inundated with email from readers wondering what my take is on the DeltaWing IndyCar concept http://deltawingracing.com/ ever since it made its debut at the Chicago Auto Show last week. I must admit my initial reaction was negative. Though I applauded the thinking behind it, I felt that it was too cartoonish-looking to bring the sport forward. Needless to say, my first impression didn’t last. But before I give my final assessment, some background is called for here.

Peter M. De Lorenzo is a national columnist who founded Autoextremist.com, a highly-regarded website devoted to news, commentary and analysis of the auto industry. He is considered to be one of the most influential voices commenting on the business today.Three years ago I attempted to push the sport forward with my Hydrogen Electric Racing Federation concept at an invitation-only meeting in Detroit. I presented my proposal to a group of industry representatives from GM, Ford, Chrysler, Honda, Nissan, Toyota, Firestone and motorsport leaders - including Tony George and Scott Atherton - in a speech entitled “The Future of Racing,” and though interest in the concept was initially high and it was deemed visionary, the realities of the automobile business at that moment in time prevented the interested manufacturers from going forward.

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Thursday
04Feb2010

Mud In My Blood? Maybe

[VIEW GALLERY]Since moving to Florida, I’ve missed one scheduled Swamp Buggy race… five out of six.

I have to tell you, it just fascinates me on so many different levels. I keep trying to assess what it is that makes this form of motorsport so intriguing to me. Sure, it’s got all the basics… noise, speed, horsepower and all the human passion that comes along with racing. But I see that at every race I shoot. There are lots of forms of racing out there… so what makes this show so unique?

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Wednesday
03Feb2010

Dole at Daytona

The 2010 Rolex 24 hours of day - part wet, part cold, unpredictable as ever.  The Daytona International Speedway is a great place to kick off the racing season, except for any decent or new shooting locations.  Two horseshoes, a chicane, an outside start shot and a pan shot inside of turn 4 pretty much covers the entire shooting locations.  I did find one new place to shoot this year, thanks to nice security folks who let me wander without a hassle.  So what do you do when the photos are essentially the same year after year?  Photoshop baby.  Crank it up to 11.” View the Gallery

Tuesday
02Feb2010

Slipping Quietly Through the Night

Photos by Rick DoleThough they are not scheduled to participate in this year’s running of the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring, Audi Sport quietly pulled into Sebring this week to do some testing on the legendary air field. Of course, Sports Car Insider had people on the ground.

Rick Dole sent over a few spy shots of the updated Audi R15 Plus and the Audi R8 GT3 slated to run compete in the FIA European GT3 Championship. The R8 is also rumored to be coming to ALMS GTC in 2011.

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Monday
01Feb2010

Setting the table for a new, more relevant NASCAR.

Photo by Rick DoleEditor’s Note: In Part Three of an exclusive three-part series (please see Sources at the bottom of this article of follow Business as Usual No Longer Applies and Charting A New Course.), Peter outlines the most substantive and wide-ranging package of changes coming to NASCAR in years. Due to the news breaking nature of this column we’d like to give you a reminder that the entire contents of this website are ©2010 Autoextremist.com, Inc. We are more than happy to give permission to other media outlets for quotes and use of this content as long as proper attribution is given.

Peter M. De Lorenzo is a national columnist who founded Autoextremist.com, a highly-regarded website devoted to news, commentary and analysis of the auto industry. He is considered to be one of the most influential voices commenting on the business today.After a highly-confidential meeting that took place over the weekend before the Daytona 24 Hour race - and in subsequent meetings that will be played out in the early spring - it’s clear that we are on the precipice of a dramatically different direction for NASCAR, one that not only marks a new era of NASCAR involvement and cooperation with the manufacturers, but a new willingness on NASCAR’s part to move the needle in a positive direction, embrace change, and make genuine, substantive progress when it comes to creating more relevance between what the car companies are selling, and what NASCAR is racing.

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