WOW!! 850BHP from an electric drive, an estimated 4 figures of torque, zero emissions...this machine sounds awesome! Lord Paul Drayson and co-driver Jonny Cocker have been testing this thing in England, and recently set the track record for electric cars at Goodwood. The car is so quiet, you can hear the stones in the wheelwells. This is the future of motorsports. Turn it up.

All of these threads going on about punting. I've read them all. I've been punted, and I have punted. Happens every race to someone. Happens to me quite a bit. But there is another rule at R2P that is even more flagrantly broken. And the rule-breaking is overlooked by the stewards as far as I can tell as well. And that is the "no speeding in the pitlane" rule. I dont imagine it's as much of a headache in the road racing series as it is in the oval racing series, although I have experienced this in many road racing series firsthand. But I can count on one hand the drivers that obey this rule. Why is that? And why isnt this rule ever enforced? Some of us do practice pitting. I like to know what RPM I need to be at to not speed in pitlane, as the tach is the centermost gauge in the stock car dash, and most visible. Also, with enough practice, I can learn what the engine note should be at the proper RPM to not speed in pitlane, so I dont need to even look at the tach. So you see, some of us are actually practicing for the event while others are blasting down pitroad trying to get out on track, without regard for anyone else on pitroad. I've been taken out on pitroad because of this situation more times than I've been taken out on the track because of a punt. How come nobody ever complains about this? I understand that the act in itself doesnt effect the actual race, and it happens during practice sessions when there usually isnt a steward looking in, but it is an official R2P rule nonetheless. And it happens dozens of time per event.

Both drivers get a chance to drive each others' machine. I'm a Tony Stewart fan, and I always wanted him to either go to Champ Car or Formula 1 after the IRL. At any rate, HOW ABOUT THE SOUND OF A MODERN FORMULA ONE CAR AT WATKINS GLEN!!!! Music to my ears! And in one of the few times in NASCAR history, they put rain tires on the Cup car.

Watch it before it gets removed! It's already been trimmed from the full video. The part that is omitted is Lewis talking about how impressed he was with the Cup car after he drove it, and didnt rule out running them for points sometime!

Thank you to YouTube poster theNARLtv.

PART ONE

PART TWO

PART THREE

Part Four

PART FIVE

PART SIX

by RUSH, recorded 2012. The title track to their latest album, released June 12th. RUSH vowed 35 years ago to never write music this difficult to play ever again. Never say never, because this album is totally out there! Because of this, non-musician types will miss much of what is going on. Listen carefully!! See if you can pick out all of Neil Peart's fills. The production is top notch...I can watch Geddy's bass lines almost pop screwheads through the sheetrock walls in my house! I have dedicated high-end Mirage BPS-400 bi-polar subwoofers alongside a pair of Klipsch KLF-30 loudspeakers that are driven by a Sony STR-DA50ES receiver that really makes it crank. Not to mention, it's easy to forget these guys are in their 60s! Got my tickets for this tour coming in October already, only 15 mins from my house (5 mins if I still had my Stealth Turbo, and no cops, right down the Crazy 8). They've never played Bridgeport CT before, so it's a pretty big deal here in The Valley.

ROCK AND ROLL!

Thank you to YouTube poster CheezandHoney.

I dragged my ass into work yesterday, Friday, and when I opened the gate on my Audi shop counter, I was greeted by this....

What a car! This was the first time I'd ever seen an R8 Spyder in person.

We were all able to play with it, although the only person able to drive it was the R8 certified technician. Needless to say, he was shaking like a leaf after his initial test drive, where he topped out at 1??MPH before he felt the need to get out of the throttle. We all asked him where the photo was, be we could all see he was shaking so badly from the adrenaline rush that he couldnt have snapped a photo at that speed even if he tried. He took me out in it, but by that time the CT State Police were now patrolling the area, no doubt from all the complaints from the Mercedes and BMW owners that got spanked on Interstate 91 by the R8, so I was only able to see 1??MPH.

The tech had to deal with a headache the whole rest of the day after the adrenaline crash. And we have another R8 coming in next month. Cant wait!

BTW, pics were taken with a shitty phone camera, sorry if they suck.

Unbelievably excellent rendition of RUSH's 1974 classic, Anthem, from the Fly By Night album. ANTHRAX absolutely brings the tune to a whole new level. A "must listen" by all RUSH and ANTHRAX fans! A quote from drummer Charlie Benante...

"When I was first learning to play drums, I would strap on my headphones, play along with [Rush's live album All the World's a Stage] and be transformed," Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante tells Rolling Stone. "I remember talking with Cliff [Burton] and Kirk [Hammett of Metallica] back when we first met, and we all agreed how much of an influence Rush was on all of us. I don't [know] if you would hear anything that sounds like Rush in Anthrax's music, but the passion, the drive, the musicianship and the appreciation is all there."

ROCK ON!

I havent said a peep about the New York Giants all this season, but here we are, fkin Super Bowl weekend! Since the game is being played in Indianapolis, IndyCar's got into the spirit too. Check out the new DW12 in Giants livery!

And no, I will not waste my time posting a pick of the Patriots' car.

Giants 2
Patriots 0

WOW! As recorded on 02/15/13. TURN UP THE VOLUME!

I'm sure everyone is sick of hearing me continue on and on about this, but having yellows enabled for the ARCA San Jose road course events proved yet again that it keeps more drivers in the hunt for the lead, and lets guys get repaired and get to continue on for points, and possibly pick up more positions. With no yellows, the field continues on while you're in the pits getting repaired, so when you come back out a lap or 2 down, and have no hope of a yellow to help you catch back up to the leader or to try to unlap yourself, most people pull the plug and just park it. Having yellows keeps it more interesting. I know there's fast guys here that always pull out a huge lead and would hate to lose that gap to the field due to a caution, but that's not even real racing. It may be nice to sit in a comfortable lead, but it's much more fun and satisfying to actually have to race with other drivers for a win. Besides, it's not even realistic to run without yellows. Every major racing series in the world throws a full course yellow for a major shunt, even F1 has had many more cautions recently. Not to mention, throwing some pit strategy into the mix and having a busy pitroad for mistakes to happen (contact, speeding on pitroad, etc) makes it all even more interesting. There'd be alot less DNFs. And it would be much more realistic as well.

When will the officials finally pull the trigger on this and mandate yellows as part of R2P rules at all events (except off-road racing)?

The ARCA guys have proven it can be done. All I ever hear about this is "I dont want to spend all that time running under yellow" or "all the other sims/mods dont handle yellows as well as the ARCA sim". Guess what, there's ways around all of that if you just try it and find out how...

Just trying to keep it fun for the whole field, for an entire event. After all, it shouldn't be all about winning, this isnt the pros...