“3 killed in suspected street racing crash in Fla. - The Sun News” plus 4 more

3 killed in suspected street racing crash in Fla. - The Sun News
Rally Australia: Stobart M-Sport shakedown summary - Motorsport.com
Indianapolis Motor Speedway test summary - Motorsport.com
FARIA WINS SPEEDWAY CYCLE MAIN @ INDUSTRY SPEEDWAY - Racing West
Michael Jordan coming to M'ville track - Daily Journal

3 killed in suspected street racing crash in Fla. - The Sun News

Posted: 03 Sep 2009 09:27 PM PDT

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Rally Australia: Stobart M-Sport shakedown summary - Motorsport.com

Posted: 03 Sep 2009 03:43 PM PDT

Stobart star's shakedown with Aussie motorsport hero

Daryl Beattie is most famous in his native Australia for his achievements during a high-profile motorcycle racing career, but the Channel Ten commentator swapped his motorbike for a World Rally Championship car today as he took a run in the Ford Focus RS WRC with Stobart VK M-Sport Ford driver Matthew Wilson.

The British WRC star and Aussie motorsport hero Beattie, now a well-loved television personality in his home country, teamed up during shakedown for this week's Repco Rally Australia with the young Brit taking his guest for a high-speed ride over the 3.29km course in Pottsville.

In an eight-year career Beattie contested 59 500cc World Championship races, taking three wins and 13 podium finishes. Meanwhile Wilson will be starting his 58th WRC event tonight giving the pair plenty of experiences and anecdotes to share.

Beattie, who finished a close second to another Australian motorsport legend Mick Doohan in the 500cc World Championship in 1995, is a fan of all forms of motorsport and no stranger to rallying, having contested events in Australia after retiring from motorcycle racing 12 years ago. But he was keen to take the opportunity to experience a WRC car in full flight with one of the championship's young chargers behind the wheel.

Wilson, currently lying seventh in the WRC drivers' standings, now turns his attention to the start of Rally Australia which kicks off with two Super Special Stages in the town of Murwillumbah tonight.

Channel Ten motorsport presenter Daryl Beattie said:

"That was amazing. Matthew is a great guy and is massively talented behind the wheel; the feeling in there was fantastic. The level of commitment these drivers have is so impressive, I only had a short run but to be able to maintain that concentration and commitment through a 30km stage is just incredible. We were reaching nearly 200kph then Matthew flicked it sideways through a gate post that was barely wide enough for the car to go through. For a guy like me to come from a track environment and have trees and fences flying past so close to the car is a really special feeling. It's probably the best thing I've ever done; I will remember it for the rest of my life."

-credit: stobart

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Indianapolis Motor Speedway test summary - Motorsport.com

Posted: 03 Sep 2009 03:22 PM PDT

GRAND-AM SPORTS CARS BRING NEW SIGHTS, SOUNDS TO INDY SEPT. 3

INDIANAPOLIS, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2009 -- Only four days after playing host to the world's top motorcycle racers in the Red Bull Indianapolis GP, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was the site Sept. 3 of the first Grand-Am Rolex Series-sanctioned test in track history.

Five Daytona Prototype and four GT cars participated in the test on the IMS road course. The cars used the 13-turn, 2.534-mile Formula One road course for the two-hour morning session. The drivers navigated the 16-turn, 2.621-mile MotoGP layout for the first 15 minutes of the afternoon session before switching back to the Formula One layout for the remaining one hour and 45 minutes. In both sessions, the cars were traveling clockwise, the opposite direction of the oval events.

The teams that participated in the test:

*Daytona Protoype: No. 01 TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Lexus Riley with drivers Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas; No. 6 Michael Shank Racing Ford Riley with drivers Michael Valiante, John Pew and Michael Shank; No. 10 SunTrust Racing Ford Dallara with Wayne Taylor and Ricky Taylor; No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Racing Porsche Coyote with Buddy Rice, Ed Carpenter and Jonathan Klein; and No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley with Jon Fogarty and Bob Stallings.

*GT class: No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports with drivers Robin Liddell and Andrew Davis; No. 66 TRG Porsche GT3 with Spencer Pumpelly and Kevin Buckler; No. 70 Speedsource Mazda RX-8 with Sylvain Tremblay and Nick Ham; and No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche GT3 with Dirk Werner and Leh Keen.

The No. 70 Mazda is a history-making addition to the test, as it marks the first time a car with a rotary engine has tested at IMS.

Rice, Pruett and Carpenter all have extensive experience on the iconic IMS 2.5-mile oval, with Rice winning the 2004 Indianapolis 500. He also sat on the pole for the "500," that year and has a total of five starts.

"I'm not going to lie, coming through (oval) Turn 1, backwards, didn't feel normal at all," Rice said. "It's great to come back here; it's a beautiful day and it's great for Grand-Am. It's a great course, the track's really wide. To be able to come here and run on the F1 course -- obviously nobody thought anything other than F1 cars would run here -- we have five DP's and three GT's, I think it's good."

Pruett competed in the Indianapolis 500 four times, earning a 10th-place finish his rookie year in 1989 and was named co-Rookie of the Year; he also has two Brickyard 400 starts and finished 10th his rookie year in that NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, in 2000.

Pruett said the road course suits the Grand-Am Rolex Series cars well, and just appreciates the opportunity to drive a sports car at "The Racing Capital of the World."

"The speed -- we were just doing about 190 (mph), so that itself is pretty awesome," Pruett said. "The curbs need to be taller; we'll be tempted to go over the top of the curbs onto the grass. Other than that, the layout is pretty good. I'm pleased with the flow and the speed.

"Indianapolis is the epitome of motorsports. It's the center of everything that happens, and I'm proud to be back."

While the test is the first at IMS sanctioned by Grand-Am, it's not the first time a Daytona Prototype has turned laps on the IMS road course. IMS Board of Directors member Tony George, along with Carpenter and Stephan Gregoire, turned laps in a private test with Vision Racing prior to the Rolex 24 At Daytona in January 2007.

Earlier sports car tests -- on the IMS oval -- also have contributed to Indianapolis Motor Speedway's 100-year history as an automotive proving ground.

In fall 1957, several months after 10 American open-wheel drivers competed in the Monza 500 in Italy, Pat O'Connor drove a D-type Jaguar owned by Indianapolis-based team owner Jack Ensley on the IMS oval in a feasibility test.

In 1965, Jim Hall, a two-time Indianapolis 500 winning-car owner, drove his Chaparral Can-Am car at IMS in a private test. The car featured an automatic transmission and Chevrolet engine, and Hall ran the car both clockwise and counter-clockwise on the oval to get a feel for turning left and right. Hall's "500" wins came in 1978 with driver Al Unser and 1980 with Johnny Rutherford.

***

IMS tickets: Established in 1909, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has long prevailed as an icon of motorsports excellence. Beginning in 2009, the Speedway celebrates its Centennial Era, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the facility in 2009 and the 100th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race in 2011.

Tickets can be purchased online at www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com at any time. Tickets for groups of 20 or more also are on sale. Contact the IMS Group Sales Department at (866) 221-8775 for more information.

-credit: ims

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FARIA WINS SPEEDWAY CYCLE MAIN @ INDUSTRY SPEEDWAY - Racing West

Posted: 03 Sep 2009 03:08 PM PDT

INDUSTRY, California — Mike Faria, a speedway motorcycle racing star from Reno now residing in Colton, led all four laps from pole position Wednesday evening at Industry Speedway. He scored his second 500cc Division 1 feature victory on the dirt track in The Grand at Industry Hills Expo Center in front of about 800 spectators. Jimmy Fishback trailed by two lengths, with Buck Blair a length back and last chance race winner Shawn McConnell another length back in fourth. Neil Facchini was the final finisher in the five rider field. Blair and Faria won the two semi-final races.

Joey Holt won the six rider Division 2 500cc main after starting from the middle of the front row. It was the fifth D-2 triumph this season at Industry for the 14-year old from Oak Hill. Chris Jones, of Aliso Viejo, started and finished first in the 500cc Division 3 race for rookies and riders with minimal experience. It was the initial triumph for the rider was has competed only during the 14th and 15th weeks of the Industry season.

Paraplegic Brian Motis, of Garden Grove, and his sidecar rider, Brandi McElroy, of Ontario, won their first sidecar 4-lap feature in their second week as a team. Motis has been a paraplegic and uses a wheelchair since 1984 when he crashed in a desert sand-drag event. He has driven sidecars for several years. "This is my first win," he stated after picking up his trophy. McElroy, one of two female sidecar riders in the four sidecar field, teamed with Joe Jones several years ago to win many sidecar features. Jones and his current rider Jimmy Olsen placed a close second. Gerard Jackson/Dave German were third. The husband/wife team of Sean and Missy Driggers finished fourth after overturning on the initial lap in turn two and causing a complete restart.

Rocco Scopellite, 13, from Huntington Beach, won the three-rider Junior main on his 250cc cycle. Nicky Reimer, 10, won the four-lap, four rider pee-wee main and logged his 100th main event victory. The 10-year old Seal Beach resident races a 50cc mini cycle in pee wee events and has raced for the last two years in Junior Division 200cc races. He began racing at age 5 and has raced flat track, super-moto and speedway cycles

The Harley-Davidson Night major winner in an eight rider field was Joe Pape, 53, from Culver City. Known as "horny guy" because he wears a Viking-style helmet with horns on both sides, Pape also won his heat race. The other Harley heat winner rode a long-wheelbase Harley. Pape made his winning pass on the third lap and won the four-lap race easily over the long-wheelbase Harley. Pape earlier won a five-rider "go as slow as you can without being disqualified for putting a foot on the ground race". Next Wednesday will be Industry track championship night and the final mid-week event. The final three races of the 19 race sixth season of speedway cycle racing at Industry will be Saturday nights, November 28 plus December 5 and 12.

[ News Index ]

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Michael Jordan coming to M'ville track - Daily Journal

Posted: 03 Sep 2009 02:39 PM PDT

MILLVILLE -- It's true that American Motorcycle Association brings the best and the brightest of the world of motorcycle racing to the track every weekend, but one of the world's most recognizable non-racing celebrities will also be part of the action this weekend at New Jersey Motorsports Park.

Basketball legend Michael Jordan is the team owner of Jordan Suzuki, a two-bike team in AMA's premier class, the American Superbike series.

While he is heavily involved with his team and scheduled to be at this weekend's race, Jordan does not plan to participate in any autograph sessions, and it is unlikely fans will be able to get very close to the NBA legend because of his security detail, according to members of his team and park officials.

The Superbike class will run a pair of races this weekend, the final two on the schedule for the series. Aaron Yates will ride the No. 23 Jumpman Jordan Suzuki, and Geoff May will be on the No. 54 National Guard Jordan Suzuki.

While his foray into sport bike racing began as a hobby, Jordan is a serious team owner with serious goals.

"He looks at it the same way he did basketball," May said. "He wants to win."

Yates and May enter this weekend seventh and eighth, respectively, in the points standings.

"As far as riding for him, it's great," Yates said. "It's a good team. It's a great group of guys and they've got some pretty big goals, and I'm proud to be a part of it."

According members of the race team, Jordan was an avid sport bike rider. Through friends, he was introduced to track days. The progression led to organized racing, which eventually landed Jordan in the AMA series.

This year, Yates has four podium finishes and eight top-five finishes to put him in No. 7 in the overall points standings. He has finished in the top five in six of the last eight races.

May sits just behind his teammate in points after finishing in the top five six times. May is also on a bit of a hard-luck streak entering Millville, having finished no better than 20th in his last three outings.

Friday September 4

8-11:30 a.m. Practice

11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Lunch Break

12:30-5.p.m. Qualifying

Saturday September 5

8-10:40 a.m. Practice and qualifying

11 a.m.-1 p.m. Moto-GT 2 Hour Team Race

1-2 p.m. Lunch Break

1:45 p.m. American Superbikes on Grid

2 p.m. Fan Walk/Opening Ceremonies

3 p.m. American Superbike 23 Laps, 50 Mi/80 Km

4 p.m. Daytona SportBike 23 Laps, 50 Mi/80 Km