2nd Annual Carroll Shelby Tribute and Car Show

The invitation only Founders Reception unveiled the plans for the museum. It included some of Mr. Shelby’s collection followed by a presentation about the museum. Image Credit: Brandon O'Brien - Motor Driven Images (2014)

2^nd Annual Carroll Shelby Tribute and Car Show

Entry Written and Photography by: Brandon O’Brien / Motor Driven Images

The weekend of May 17, 2014 was a big one for Carroll Shelby fans in the greater Los Angeles area. 

The single day event took place at the new home of the Carroll Shelby Automotive Museum at 19021 S. Figueora  Street, Gardena, California.  It featured at least one original example of the cars produced during the life of Carroll Shelby.   

The only models that appeared to be absent were the Toyota 2000 GT, and the Dodge powered Shelby’s. Did you realize that Shelby had a hand in these?

Mr. Shelby’s children, Pat and Mike Shelby, were in attendance, along with their spouses and children. They shared personal stories of their father. Image Credit: Brandon O'Brien - Motor Driven Images (2014)

Featured speakers included the legendary Bob Bondurant who was a factory team driver and co-drove with Dan Gurney  the 1964 Le Mans winning  GT class Daytona Coupe; A.J. Baine a journalist and author of “Go Like Hell”; Lucas Foster a film producer; Lynn Park an avid Cobra collector and a close friend of the late Carroll Shelby; and finally Aaron Shelby, Carroll Shelby’s grandson.  The fans loved hearing the many stories from these individuals.

The car show featured over 75 Ford and Shelby offerings including authentic early and current Shelby American cars as well as some very historic Cobras.  The building which also houses the Shelby American engine shop was full of the authentic Cobras while the outside area contained all the old and current Shelby American offerings as well as “replica” cars including, Cobras, Daytona Cobras, and a GT-40.  

Shelby AC Cobra badge. Image Credit: Brandon O'Brien - Motor Driven Images (2014)

Those historic Cobras included the prototype 260 Cobra CSX2000 that was assembled during one long day and night in 1962 at Dean Moon’s shop in Santa Fe Springs; CSX2005 another 260 Cobra was used exclusively by the Shelby School of High Performance Driving located at Riverside Raceway; CSX2589 the final 289 Cobra built, personally owned by Carroll Shelby until the time of his death; and CSX2299 the 1964 Le Mans winning Daytona Cobra. For Cobra fans these can be considered “holy” (images below).

This was a fun filled event and we can now look forward to the 3^rd Annual Tribute and car show next spring.

NOTE: The Carroll Hall Shelby Trust unveiled plans for the new Carroll Shelby Automotive Museum (CSAM) at a founder’s reception on May 16, 2014, in Gardena, California. The museum is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization created to educate the public about the high performance automotive industry. The CSAM is being formed by the Trust around the private collection of Mr. Shelby to celebrate his legacy and to inspire future generations.

... notes from The EDJE

A 50's Bumper Car Revival For Towncar Use

With vanity license plates that read DMV OK, HOT IDEA, IS 2 LEGL, NOBUMPN, IBBUMPN, and etc., these fun house rides are one of the best ways to bring a custom green ride to reality. Image Credit: Tom Wright via email

 A 50's Bumper Car Revival For Towncar Use

Nostalgia, art, and recycling combine in an efficient use of energy and resources to just get around ... locally.

Take a hulk of an electric-powered amusement park and traveling carnival bumper car and turn it into a head-turning conversation piece that can get one easily around for local errands in an artistic style that is more fun than a Smart car, mo-ped scooter, bicycle, or ... skateboard.

A man in San Diego got an idea to revive bumper car hulk bodies originally from a ride that use to operate at the infamous Long Beach PIKE Amusement Park and have them become motorized transportation on the go.

With how well this concept turns out, it is amazing that more folks and/or enterprises do not jump in and make more of these personal, recycled, and efficient towncars for local jumps and errands (more photos). Image Credit: Click Orlando

This excerpted and edited from Click Orlando -

Old bumper cars turned into street-legal beauties
San Diego man working on 10th project
Click Orlando Author: Patrick Santomauro - May 06 2014 08:27:51 AM EDT

For the past 15 years, San Diegan Tom Wright has turned old bumper cars into street-legal vehicles capable of driving alongside normal cars and SUVs on the highway.

Wright's original plan was to remodel one bumper car and put it in the middle of a room in his San Diego home as a piece of art. However, the rush and enjoyment he gained from the work was too much to stop.

"It's a fun hobby that got a little bit out of control," Wright told KFMB-TV.

Fifteen years later, Wright has fixed up nine bumper cars and is working on his 10th project.

Wright turned his first bumper car into a 1950s yellow hot rod with flames and chrome finish. He has since created several themed bumper cars, including a police car, a woody wagon and a military car with a survival knife as a gear shift and a machine gun hood ornament.

Wright's current project is a taxi-themed bumper car with an early-1900s meter.

The street-legal bumper cars are powered with Yamaha and Kawasaki engines, enabling Wright to drive up to 50-60 miles per hour. One of Wright's cars reached 132 miles per hour on a dynamometer. However, Wright prefers to drive much slower.

"Anything over 50 is beyond scary," Wright told San Diego's KFMB 8-TV.

Wright has received multiple offers to buy his bumper cars. However, he says he has no plans to sell them.

"Got too many hours and busted knuckles putting them together," Wright said. "It's a full-time job keeping them running but that's my hobby. In retirement, that's what I'll do -- keep them running."
[Reference Here]

The first one he created was powered by beefy and vibration-heavy two cylinder Harley Davidson Motorcycle engine. As time went on, Wright saw fit to replace the great sound in favor of smooth running four cylinder Honda or Kawasaki 750cc engine ... and a couple have been measured as capable of 160 MPH, which is terrifyingly fast in machines with such a short wheelbase.

If anyone in the Southern California area would like to see Tom's recycled and converted bumper cars, he will be taking all of them on the road July 4th, 2014. They'll be the featured attraction in Escondido near the corner of Broadway and Grand from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

"Outta' My Way ... I'm Comin' Through"!

... notes from The EDJE

A Detroit Grand Prix 2-fer benefits Penske Racing's Verizon champ bid

Penske Racing's Helio Castroneves led a race-high 42 laps in Race 2 t the Detroit Grand Prix, including the final 35 as he steadily pulled away to the point he could save his tires and make the final pit stop without the usual degree of pressure. Image Credit: David Yowe via Motorsport.com (2014)

A Detroit Grand Prix 2-fer benefits Penske Racing's Verizon champ bid

One week after Andretti Autosport served notice that it intends to capture the Verizon IndyCar Series (VICS) championship with its win utilizing a "Flood The Zone" 5-car strategy in the INDY500, Penske Racing answered back in their own 2-race Grand Prix on their own track at the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit doubleheader at Belle Isle.

Andretti Autosport rolled into Detroit on a high created by winning one of motor culture's biggest prizes ($2.5 million winner's share) with the highest single race championship points payouts (double) for all the cars that finished - the 98th Indianapolis 500. Andretti Autosport 2012 IndyCar champion Ryan Hunter-Reay beat Penske Racing's 3-time INDY500 champion Helio Castroneves by the second smallest margin (0.06 seconds/about 3 feet separating the end of the DHL DW12 from the trailing Pennzoil DW12) with three additional Andretti Autosport cars landing at P3-Marco Andretti (so, that's two on the podium), P4-Carlos Munoz, and P6-Kurt Busch.

Up until about Lap 175 of 200 laps, Andretti Autosport was in contention to place all five cars fielded in the top 10 positions ... that is until a wild restart crash that saw Ed Carpenter in P3, Townsend Bell P4 and James Hinchcliffe at P5 - that had Bell passing, and ahead of Carpenter, who touched Bell, while Hinchcliffe trailed into an inside position setting up an impossible 3-wide competition through Turn-1 - sending Carpenter and Hinchcliffe careening into the wall.

Ryan Hunter-Reay came to the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit doubleheader at Belle Isle with a 40 point lead over his closest rival, Will Power. If this weekend were just a single race weekend event, the ability to erase this type of deficit would be nearly impossible. In fact, after the two practice sessions, the lap times the two drivers were logging (Power at P4 with a 1:17.8966 and RHR at P5 with a 1:18.1674 fastest lap) would have one guess that even with two races and double the points being awarded, this would still be a nearly impossible task.

Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit doubleheader at Belle Isle RACE 1:

Celebrating his best result in a season filled with frustration, Graham Rahal is happy to douse Detroit Race 1 winner, Will Power, from his P2 Podium position. Image Credit: Verizon IndyCar Series (2014)

This excerpted and edited from Crash.net -

Power overcomes poor qualifying to win  
Being mired down in 16th place on the grid in Detroit proved no obstacle to Will Power in his pursuit of a second Verizon IndyCar Series race win in 2014 
By crash.net - 31 May 2014

It had not been the best build-up to the first race of the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit doubleheader at Belle Isle for Will Power, with Penske president Tim Cindric earlier admitting that the team was struggling to find pace in the #12 car this weekend as they qualified in a lowly 16th position.

A few hours later and the car - and driver - were transformed, thanks to tapping Power's team mate and polewinner Helio Castroneves for set-up tips and then by adopting a race strategy that gave them a fighting chance, thanks to a healthy amount of good fortune along the way.

Castroneves held the early lead of the race despite struggling to get off the grid for the formation laps, while fellow front row man James Hinchcliffe lost an early duel with Jack Hawksworth down into turn 1. There was an early yellow on lap 5 when Power made contact with Simon Pagenaud: the Australian was distracted by a simultaneous threat to the right from Marco Andretti and ended up pinching Pagenaud into the wall which left the #77 Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsport car in the turn 4 run-off with broken suspension.

A few of the cars toward the back of the field - Power among them - opted to pit under the caution, but the leaders stayed out and the race resumed on lap 8. However there was another early caution on lap 15 when Mike Conway understeered into the wall at turn 12 - meaning that both of the 2013 race winners were early retirements this time - and the leaders found it hard to pass up the opportunity to pit under yellow a second time.

The two drivers who stayed out were Graham Rahal and Marco Andretti, who duly resumed in the lead ahead of Power and the rest of the cars that had pitted on lap 6 that included Mikhail Aleshin, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Charlie Kimball, while Castroneves found himself down to eighth just ahead of Hinchcliffe.  
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The pit stops cycling through had put Castroneves back out in front when a new caution materialised on lap 36 for Josef Newgarden getting into the tyre barrier and wall at turn 7. The clean-up proved longer than expected because of water that had spilled out of the tyres when they were hit, and that brought the fuel window to reach the finish tantalisingly close - several cars including Ryan Briscoe and Marco Andretti tried pitting under the yellow for fuel top-ups in case the rest of the race ended up with an excess of cautions to make an extreme fuel conservation strategy viable.

The leaders stayed off pit road under the caution only to come in shortly afterwards in accordance with their pre-arranged race strategies: Castroneves and Hinchcliffe came in on lap 46 and dropped to 15th and 16th respectively as a result, which ended up removing both from contention for the race win in the latter stages of the race.

Effectively the field was now split into three groups of differing strategies: Power led the race ahead of Tony Kanaan and Graham Rahal, all of whom needed to pit shortly and had no intention of easing off their fuel use. From sixth on down was the second group headed by Marco Andretti and Justin Wilson who were going to try and make it home on fumes; and then there were the former leaders Castroneves and Hinchcliffe who led the lack of cars who could make it to the finish but who now lacked track position.

Power came in for his final stop on lap 53 with 18 laps remaining, and a fast stop saw him re-emerge just ahead of Andretti.
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Graham Rahal driving the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's No. 15 DW12 Honda, gave Penske Racing's Chevy-Powered DW12 Will Power a chase over the final 10 laps to capture a P2 Podium position at Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit Race 1 at Belle Isle race's end. Image Credit: Graham Rahal Instagram

The final ten laps saw Power on the ragged edge as he was forced to apply every bit of his talent to hold off Rahal to the chequered flag. Kanaan was well out of this battle and was five seconds off the pair as Power successfully clinched the win by just 0.3308s from Rahal.

"Just a great job by the team, putting me in a position to use our speed," said Power. "It's a massive win. It's a massive win for me, massive win for the team and especially for Roger and for Chevy. They've been trying to win here for a long time and we finally did it with a Honda trying to charge by."

"We've been fighting awfully hard to just finish where we have been finishing and so to finally get a result like this it means more than words," said Rahal, who had been suffering a frustrating season up to now in 2014.
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"That was hard work, very hard work," admitted Power. "I'm very exhausted."
[Reference Here]

Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit doubleheader at Belle Isle RACE 2:

Helio Castroneves and Chevrolet were the class of the field in Detroit on Sunday as he led his Chevy-Powered competitors, Penske team mate Will Power / Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing's Charlie Kimball, to the checkered flag and podium in the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit Race 2 Belle Isle. Image Credit: Team Chevy (2014)

This excerpted and edited from Racer -

IndyCar: Castroneves finds redemption in Belle Isle race 2  
By: Robin Miller - Racer.com - Sunday, 01 June 2014

Helio Castroneves may have had the fastest car Saturday and, due to some untimely caution flags, he wound up finishing fifth while teammate Will Power came from 16th to first.

The three-time Indianapolis 500 winner definitely had the fastest car Sunday afternoon at Belle Isle and nothing could deter him from victory lane.

Starting third in the Hitachi Dallara-Chevrolet, Castroneves completed a Penske perfect weekend with a dominating drive in the second of the Chevrolet Dual at Detroit. The 39-year-old veteran took the lead on lap 35, stretched his advantage to 13 seconds and then overcame a couple of late restarts to score the 19th win of his career and tie Rick Mears for 11th on the all-time win list. He led the final 35 laps and was clearly in a class of his own.
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Power, who made four pits stops and suffered a drive-through penalty for contact with Josef Newgarden on the opening lap, battled back to take second in the Verizon Dallara-Chevrolet.  
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Polesitter Takuma Sato led the first 10 laps in the AJ Foyt Racing Dallara-Honda but as his strategy went awry, he fell back in the pack, got spun by Ryan Briscoe, and eventually tagged the tire wall with five laps left to wind up 18th.

Mike Conway, with a first and a third at Detroit a year ago, crashed out of Saturday's race but qualified his Ed Carpenter Racing car fourth Sunday morning. He looked like the only driver with the pace to give Castroneves fits but a long stint on fading optional tires was not the way to go, and he plummeted down the field. He finished 11th.

Indy winner Ryan Hunter-Reay suffered through a miserable weekend. He crashed in qualifying Saturday and finished 16th in the first race. He smacked the wall in almost the same place Sunday on his first flying lap, started 21st and dropped out in 19th place with ECU failure.
[Reference Here]

Best descriptive Tweet:

Troubles give Andretti Autosport's Ryan Hunter-Reay 67-point weekend swing DOWNWARD - loses P1 lead to P3 in title #VICS #DetroitGP #IndyCar
— Edmund Jenks (@TheEDJE) 

With Penske Racing holding down the top two positions in the championship points race over Andretti Autosport's Ryan Hunter-Reay in P3, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports' Simon Pagenaud P4, and Andretti Autosport's Marco Andretti P5, one has to get past Andretti's Rookie Carlos Munoz and Penske's Juan Montoya before reaching any Target Chip Ganassi driver. Last year's IndyCar champion Scott Dixon sits behind seven other drivers after seven races with eleven races to go ... just not the right direction for Scott or Chip.

Next weekend the Verizon IndyCar Series takes the show to the high banked tri-oval turns in Fort Worth, Texas, site of the most close finishes in IndyCar where Helio Castroneves grabbed onto, and held the championship points lead until the last race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana last year.

This excerpted and edited from NBC Sports -

IndyCar title chase may shape up as a battle of mental chess match
Tony DiZinno Jun 2, 2014, 1:30 PM EDT

This weekend saw Power take on the role of the villain, the masked avenger who made contact with Pagenaud on Saturday (no penalty, just as he also did not receive one in Long Beach) but did make contact with Josef Newgarden and Graham Rahal on Sunday (which did trigger a penalty).

Meanwhile Castroneves came out revitalized with arguably his best weekend in the series in years. He’s won races with the DW12 before, yes, but not with as much “he’s still got it” pace and gusto as he delivered both races this weekend, particularly Sunday. It was a seriously impressive mental bounce back after losing out in Indy.

Power’s mind has long been hard to decipher. He’s consistently been IndyCar’s out-and-out fastest driver since he joined Team Penske, but he’s never been fully able to keep it all together over the course of the season, and hasn’t yet captured an elusive championship. This year, he’s not making any friends, and he’s not focusing on points – only on driving the best he can every race. It remains to be seen whether that mindset will ultimately pay dividends.

Hunter-Reay is arguably IndyCar’s most versatile driver, as he excels on any of road courses, short ovals and big ovals. If he has even the tiniest of weak points, it’s on street courses, where he’s been plagued either by mechanical issues or slight mistakes the last year and a half. After Indy, RHR had a weekend nearly as bad as AJ Allmendinger’s last year in Detroit, and now must find a way to recover in Texas.

Pagenaud and Dixon are similar in that they both have a seriously steely resolve and exterior, and haven’t let issues get to them this year, at least publicly. Dixon’s Sunday drive from 22nd and last to fourth was one of those classic “don’t forget how good the Iceman/defending champion is” type-performances. Pagenaud, too, came back on Sunday following a rough Friday and Saturday.

What about Castroneves? He might have the best mindset going forward. At 39, he’s closer to the end of his career than the beginning. He nails the game outside of the cockpit; he’s still IndyCar’s most recognizable star on a national level and he’s won everything he’s ever needed to in IndyCar. Except, of course, that elusive first championship.

The Brazilian is basically IndyCar’s walking, talking version of Pharrell’s “Happy!” but there’s still a burning desire to be the best when he straps his helmet on. He’s driving so much calmer, cooler and consistently than he was three years ago.

If Power and/or Hunter-Reay self-destruct around him, Dixon can’t make up the 140-plus point deficit (he’s 142 back now, and we’ll know likely by Pocono whether he still has a shot) and Pagenaud isn’t consistent enough to match the “big teams,” Castroneves may well samba into this year’s title.

Marco Andretti’s the remaining driver in the top five still with a shot at the title, but he’s at the point where he has to win – particularly at Pocono, given double points there – before you can really begin to factor him into title contention. Given his results consistency level though, you can’t rule him out of it, either.

How drivers and teams manage this summer stretch, both on-track and in their heads, will be fascinating to watch. 
[Reference Here]

The season now begins in earnest ... no excuses. Tune in to Twitter, RaceControl.IndyCar.com and/or NBC Sports to catch the action and assess to see who wants this championship the most:

6 JUN Friday - Practice 1 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM ET

Qualifications 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM ET

Practice 2 7:45 PM - 8:15 PM ET

7 JUN Saturday - Race 8:30 PM - 10:45 PM ET

... notes from The EDJE

Ryan Hunter-Reay ... from 'Rookie Move' to Indy500 winner

"GOT MILK?!!!" - Andretti Autosport's Ryan Hunter-Reay pours the traditional award of a post race winner's quart of milk over his head in celebration of being the 98th winner of the Indy500. Partial Caption & Image: Eric Schwarzkopf (2014)

Ryan Hunter-Reay ... from 'Rookie Move' to Indy500 winner

The Verizon IndyCar Series (VICS) 2014 championship season has been a real roller-coaster ride for the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series champion, Ryan Hunter-Reay (RHR), through these first five races of an 18 race season.

The lowest point for RHR and Andretti Autosport had to have been at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. With Ryan Hunter-Reay followed by James Hinchcliffe running strong in the lead for most of the race, Josef Newgarden threatened this march to the eventual win through a superb final pitstop from his Sarah Fisher Hartman crew to leapfrog to the lead on Lap 56 in Turn1.

On cold tires, Newgarden had a little wheel spin coming out of the Fountain Turn (Turn3) and RHR placed his nose diving into the apex of Turn4 causing a crash into the wall and collecting several drivers ... ending the races of Newgarden, Himself, Hinchcliffe, Kanaan, and etc. causing Andretti Autosport team-mate Hinchcliffe to say on a post wreck television pitlane interview: "a rookie move" "sad for Newgarden, TK etc."

RHR was a total goat for the move and he even had his team owner, Michael Andretti, was visibly very upset at messing up what would have been a double-podium finish for his team at the 40th running of the Long Beach Grand Prix. Of course ... Ryan Hunter-Reay, at the time, did not apologize.

The Indy500 opening ceremony along the front straight-away at the Pagoda. Image Credit: P29 qualifying/P23 finishing AJ Foyt Racing No. 41 driver Martin Plowman (2014)

Enter Alabama and the reworked, and famed, "Month Of May" at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway which, for the first time, featured a dedicated road course race, The Grand Prix of Indianapolis, and The Greatest Spectacle in Racing ... the Indy500.

Just four weeks ago, Ryan Hunter-Reay was crowned the winner of the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at the Barber Motorsports Park.

After a huge crash marred the standing start of the  inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis, Simon Pagenaud went on to win where Ryan Hunter-Reay finished second and Helio Castroneves was third.

So far, so good for RHR who was looking to redeem himself ... but was still points behind Penske Racing's Will Power who had benefited from Ryan's "rookie move" at Long Beach with the win and a strong position on the VICS season points lead.

Ryan Hunter-Reay shares an intimate moment with his young son, Ryden, on pitlane before the Indy500. The Andretti Autosport family had custom firesuits made for the drivers who had young ones attending the race ... duplicated down to the very logos their father's suits had on them - to scale. Image Credit: @Liz Kreutz via Twitter

This excerpted and edited from The Detroit News -

Ryan Hunter-Reay excited to follow up Indy 500 triumph with race in Detroit
By David Goricki - May 26, 2014 at 11:44 pm - The Detroit News

Ryan Hunter-Reay is giving American motor sports fans a hero to cheer for in the IndyCar series.

Hunter-Reay will take the Belle Isle race track this weekend for the Detroit Grand Prix doubleheader with the prestigious title of Indianapolis 500 champion.

Basically, Hunter-Reay beats Castroneves by a mere 3 feet. Image Credit: INDYSTAR

Hunter-Reay, 33, became the first American to win the Indy 500 since Sam Hornish in 2006, and he earned the win in thrilling style, passing three-time champion Helio Castroneves on the final lap Sunday, then holding him off to win by less than a car length for the second closest finish in race history.

Penske Racing's 3-time Indy500 winner Helio Castroneves consoles himself just after the end of one of the most memorable Indy500 races since maybe the 1960's. An Indy for the ages. 150 laps without a yellow flag - followed by a crazy wild series of yellows and a red flag - followed by an intense battle between RHR and Castroneves. Helio started to get out of his car and then just dropped back in and held his head for a minute in complete disbelief. Somebody had to finish 2nd ... Caption & Image Credit: Norm DeWitt (2014)

Hunter-Reay talked about his win at Indy, his busy schedule and how he is excited to come to the Motor City in a few days during a phone interview Monday afternoon.

“I was running on instincts the last four or five laps, just went as hard as I could,” said Hunter-Reay, talking about how the lead changed hands several times between Castroneves and himself. “Helio knows how to win at Indy and he was tough to hold off. We ran hard but clean against each other and I felt we put on an excellent show.

“It feels so great to be an American Indy 500 champion. I idolized the Unsers, Andrettis and A.J. Foyt, all legends while growing up, had all their posters on my wall so hoisting that flag was so cool.”

Yes, Hunter-Reay quickly IS becoming the face of the IndyCar series, winning the series championship in 2012 and now the Indy 500. He has won eight races during the past three seasons, more than any other driver, and holds a 40-point lead over Penske driver Will Power (274-234) for the top spot in the standings.

Now, it’s on to the Motor City where Honda-powered drivers have won the last two years, spoiling the party of title sponsor Chevrolet and Roger Penske, car owner of Chevrolet-powered cars driven by Castroneves, Power and Juan Montoya.

“I love coming to Detroit,” said Hunter-Reay, who finished runnerup to Mike Conway in Race No. 1 last year and 18th in the second race. “It’s 180-degree opposite from Indy (2.5-mile oval). It’s a bumpy course, physically demanding, a street course similar to Toronto or Houston. There’s also a lot of points on the line so it’s going to be important and exciting.”
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Hunter-Reay ended Ganassi/Target racing’s run of four consecutive series championships in 2012 when he won four of the final six races to slip past Power by a 468-465 margin to become the first American to become series champion since Hornish in ’06.
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When Hinchcliffe was asked of the Long Beach fiasco in days leading up to the Indy 500, he replied: “Every driver is competitive and will go for it (lead) when an opportunity presents itself and Ryan will make that right move nine out of every 10 times. He’s the complete package, a very rounded driver. He knows how to get everything out of the car on qualifying and brings it on race day.”

Well, Hinchcliffe was also in position to win the Indy 500 with less than 30 laps remaining Sunday when he took out pole sitter Ed Carpenter while both were in the top 5. Hinchcliffe made it a three-wide situation and the two collided, taking them both out.

When Andretti and Hunter-Reay were in the press conference Sunday, the topic of Hinchcliffe’s move came up.

“Hey, he was going for it. It’s the Indy 500,” Andretti said of Hinchcliffe. “Had he pulled that move off, he’s in position to win the race.”

“Not enough patience,” joked Hunter-Reay. “Rookie move. James is a great friend of mine (laughing).”
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Yes, it is a game changer, a reason Hunter-Reay was set to open the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday, then appear on “The Today Show” before heading to Dallas Wednesday to promote a future race. And, an appearance on the David Letterman Show follows the Belle Isle doubleheader next week.

“It’s been crazy, not time to take a breath yet,” Hunter-Reay said. “I only had four hours of sleep.”

Well, that’s what happens Ryan when you win the Indianapolis 500. In fact, your life will never be the same.
[Reference Here]

So there is a fully redeemed Ryan Hunter-Reay in the VICS season points lead with Andretti Autosport team-mate James Hinchcliffe pulling a "rookie move' to change the complexion of the entire event.

The finishing drivers accomplishments in the top ten positions reads like a Who's Who in American motorsport racing at its highest levels.

As stated by The EDJE on Facebook soon after the event:

What a grand race for the DW12 era - Ryan Hunter-Reay and 3-time Indy500 winner Penske Racing's Helio Castroneves battle the last six laps to the end with RHR taking the win by the 2nd closest margin in 98 years.

Look at the names in the top 10 as well - Marco Andretti on the podium, Andretti Autosport's Carlos Munoz gets a 4th after finishing last year in P2, Penske Racing's Juan Pablo Montoya ... fresh from NASCAR finishes ahead of NASCAR driver stand out Kurt Busch who, again, drove a car fielded by Andretti Autosport. Four-time ChampCar World Series Champion Sebastien Bourdais at 7th followed by Penske Racing's former 2014 points leader Will Power ... who seems to be getting the hang of ovals, last row starter and Mazda Ladder rookie Sage Karam in 9th with J.R. Hildebrand in tenth who was going to win last year's race until he hit the wall on the last corner of the last lap handing the win to Tony Kanaan.

W-O-W !

Ryan Hunter-Reay can now lay claim to something that Helio Castroneves can not say for himself ... with this win during the "Month Of May", RHR has an Indy500 and an IndyCar season championship in his trophy case ... nice move!

... notes from The EDJE

Mr. Hank Williams and his 289 Cobra CSX-2227

Image Credit: Brandon O’Brien / Motor Driven Images (2014)

Mr. Hank Williams and his 289 Cobra CSX-2227
Article and Photographs:  Brandon O’Brien / Motor Driven Images

I had the pleasure of meeting up with Hank Williams at the recent “2nd Annual Tribute to Carroll Shelby” held in Gardena, California. 

Williams was an aspiring musician in the 1950’s when he determined that, “there was no future in it”.  Working at USC County hospital gave him enough money to acquire his first true sports car, a black MGA, which required some work.  Taking night classes at a local school he learned metalwork and was able to fix it up.  After joining the local sports car club he discovered that he was competitive in slalom-style events.  Around this time he was becoming frustrated with the lack of performance the MGA had and soon found a 1963 Healey 3000 Mk III. Once he stiffened it up he started winning events.

Image Credit: Brandon O’Brien / Motor Driven Images (2014)

By the early 1960’s he became good friends with a young lady from Oklahoma whose family was in the oil business.  Her allowance and his salary gave them a good lifestyle.  His hard work and talent was paying off in the competitive events when he noticed the Cobras that were turning up.  In 1964 he saw his Cobra at Norman Ford in Pomona.

Image Credit: Brandon O’Brien / Motor Driven Images (2014)

Possibly because he is an African American he was told that in order to purchase the Cobra he needed approval by the dealership, required cash, and due to safety considerations needed to pass a high-performance driving class (this was a Shelby American requirement). By this time he had his his SCCA license and was considered a professional race driver. One obstacle down and two to go.  Thanks to some assistance from his lady friend he was able to show up for one more “negotiation” with the $6,390.00 needed in hand.  After that it was relatively easy for him to get “dealership approval” and in December he drove out of the dealership in his new Cobra.

Image Credit: Brandon O’Brien / Motor Driven Images (2014)

Like all original Cobras Williams’ car (CSX-2227) was assembled by AC Cars in England and shipped sans motor, transmission, and differential  to Shelby’s Venice California facility.  The original order called for “Princess Blue” with Red interior, 1 of only 3 built in that exterior color. Although not an official Shelby color it was an AC Cars color and the car contains a certificate stating that fact.  For reasons unknown by Williams the color on his car is not true “Princess Blue” but more of a metallic silver-green shade.

The Cobra has over 140,000 miles on the odometer and shows a patina that comes with 50 years of driving. Although given a repaint in 1980 the car has never been to a body shop, rare for any car that age and even rarer for a Cobra. The car is all original down to the brass brads that attach the headlight bezels to the fenders.  Williams states that due to its originality it is used as a benchmark when judging other Cobras at Concourse events. Under the hood is the original 289 V-8 that has been rebuilt by Marvin McFee. The only competition modifications done were; “I fitted five-spoke American Mag wheels, headers, a 715 Holley, and modified the exhaust to the side.  Those English Armstrongs (shocks) were quickly swapped for Konis.  I bought all the bits from Shelby American and did the work myself.”  All the original parts he took off are still in his possession enabling him to bring the car back to original, as sold, 1964 specs.

Image Credit: Brandon O’Brien / Motor Driven Images (2014)

The Cobra was a daily driver into the early 1970’s. After that time it was used solely for competition events until 1979. Williams gave up using the Cobra in competition and started attending Shelby American Automobile Club  (SAAC) events. The car is considered the “worlds winningest 289 Cobra”, had the honor of being the only original privately owned 289 Cobra at the opening of the Shelby American Museum in Las Vegas, and made history when it was the first Cobra driven by an African American around Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 

Mr. Hank Williams considers the car a keeper and has no intension of parting with it.  One of the reasons, “It’s always a hit with the ladies”. Did he trailer the car to the event?  No, he drove it from his home near Rancho Cucamonga, about 65 miles away.

... notes from The EDJE

Inaugural Grand Prix Of INDY road course event pleases on many fronts

Gasoline Alley and the Pagoda at Indianapolis Motor Speedway - The inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis, by almost any measure, was a success. The month of May opened up with more than a few thousand people wandering the Speedway waiting for cars to get on track to shakedown. This second race added in the "Month Of May" wasn't a bad change at all. Image Credit: Helio Castroneves via Twitter

Inaugural Grand Prix Of INDY road course event pleases on many fronts

Last weekend, Speedway, Indiana hosted the first of two racing events that it hopes to package and fuse into an annual "Month Of May" motorsports celebration. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS), famous for the endurance test and race that grew into the INDY 500 reworked the Formula 1 road course and the Verizon IndyCar Series held its first race on the 2.434-miles 14 turn infield road course that utilizes a portion of the famed IMS oval as part of the circuit with racers driving Turns 1 and 2 of the oval as well as the a long portion of the front straight ... in the opposite (clockwise) direction.

Racing on the road course in May went from being downright sacrilegious to highly anticipated. The track has received near universal praise from everyone who has walked, golf carted, or driven it. The typical response from drivers is that it will adequately highlight the abilities of the DW12 from an acceleration, braking, and cornering perspective. Image Credit: WFOpenWheel Network

When the race broadcast and venue is watched on phones, tablets, computers, and television screens one is struck by the unfamiliar familiarity. The Dallara DW12 cars belong here at this track but they look oddly different heading down the front straight with the famed Pagoda on the car's right hand side.

For those fans that have followed American open wheel racing over this last 10 years or so, this track layout plays on broadcast a little like the Portland International Raceway in Portland, Oregon. The G.I. Joe's Grand Prix of Portland was a Champ Car World Series race that was last held through 2007 and this venue still holds the record for the closest road course finish in Indy car racing history.

The pace and feel of a race on the road course at INDY felt a lot like watching a race on the Portland track only much larger to scale (the race held a Cleveland's Burke Lakefront Airport also qualifies ... but not as tight). The long front straight flowing into a contentious right-hander, followed immediately by a left with some speed at the end and, of course, some dodgey esses to contend with.

Simon Pagenaud wins third race in less than a year at the inaugural Verizon IndyCar Series Grand Prix of Indianapolis and pulls to P3 ... within 6 points of VICS championship points leader Will Power. A member of the European press mentioned that the road course reminded him of Magny Cours. Simon agreed. Image Credit: Simon Pagenaud via Facebook

This excerpted and edited from Road & Track/Hearst Digital Media -

GP of Indy quiets the doubters
IndyCar's month in the motherland starts strong.
By Marshall Pruett May 11, 2014

According to the experts on the Internet, IndyCar’s inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis was destined to fail from the beginning. What some called an exercise in trampling more than 100 years of tradition at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway—where Indy cars had only run on the 2.5-mile oval since 1911—the GP of Indy, run on a revised road course, was an unqualified success.

Fans, the Indy traditionalists maintained, would reject the event, but something north of 30,000 people turned out in beautiful weather to watch Simon Pagenaud put in a picture-perfect drive to claim the win. It marked the Frenchman’s third Verizon IndyCar Series win in less than a year, and proved that even in the huge shadow cast by IndyCar giants Roger Penske and Chip Ganassi, a modest operation like Pagenaud’s Honda-powered Schmidt Peterson Motorsports outfit can play the role of giant killer at any time.

Grand Prix Of Indianapolis race start from above (Image Credit: INDYSTAR via Twitter) ...

And Grand Prix Of Indianapolis race start 6-wide from below (Image Credit: Marshall Pruett/RACER via Twitter) ...

Pagenaud’s memorable finish was overshadowed by a frightening start to the GP as pole-sitter Sebastian Saavedra stalled when the lights went green and was clobbered twice from behind—by Colombian countryman Carlos Munoz and then by Russian rookie Mikhail Aleshin. All three emerged unscathed, but that couldn’t be said for a number of bystanders, including the Mayor of Indianapolis, who was hit in the shoulder by a flying chunk of carbon fiber.

More contact later in the race led popular Canadian driver James Hinchcliffe to pull off track and retire after he was struck in the helmet by a front wing endplate from a car he was trailing. Approaching 180mph on the long infield straight headed towards Turn 7, the hit was hard enough to cause a concussion, leading Hinch to sit out Sunday’s Opening Day for Indy 500 practice, if not longer.

Safety improvements are expected for next year’s race, including F1-style debris fencing on pit lane.

Racing aside, it was a welcome change to see IMS take a bold step to build new fans with a road course that some felt was little more than sacrilege. Thankfully, after seeing the positive reaction from curious fans and first-timers, IMS has a new tradition that should stand the test of time.
[Reference Here]

Track view from a position in the stands around Turns 5 & 6. Image Credit: Brandi Iaria via Twitter

The track plays well on television and if the powers that be (Drivers and Race Control) figure out how to frikken START and RE-START the dang race, some folks would be in the points and not have to spend so much time and money on car repairs.

To some, however, this is why they tune in. A venue and a race pleasing on many fronts.

... notes from The EDJE

Will the Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix deliver results?

Memo Rojas and Scott Pruett share race insights with the press at the post race press conference. Pruett and Rojas, co-driving the No. 01 Telcel Ford EcoBoost/Riley, dominated the Tequila Patrón Sports Car Showcase on Saturday at the Long Beach Street Circuit, for their second-straight victory in the inaugural TUDOR United SportsCar Championship season. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2014)

Will the Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix deliver results?

The stop at Long Beach was not a full IMSA event as it had been in years past. It was just a showcase involving two of the four classes the new, TUDOR Unified SportsCar Championship series (TUSCC) currently has outlined.

For the fan, the Tequila Patrón Sports Car Showcase at Long Beach event turned out to be just a zest of what they had come to expect after seeing the American Le Mans Series with its full compliment of classes and cars, 33 cars in 4 classes in 2013, these last few years.

The Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach celebrated it's 40th year and it appeared as though that, through its trimmed down field of 21 entrants, the TUSCC did not really come to party at "The Beach" for its 100 minute (1.66 hour) sprint session - as this was the main event for Saturday. The overall main event would be the Verizon IndyCar Series race on Sunday scheduled for 120 minutes (2 hours).

For a formally endurance racing focused series, this seemed to have left most fans asking ... Is this all there is? There is always the next race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca - there is sure to be some endurance racing there.

Brothers Ricky and Jordan Taylor ushered in the No. 10 Konica Minolta Chevrolet Corvette Dallara Daytona Prototype (pictured on grid above) era for Wayne Taylor Racing by co-driving to a solid runner-up finish in Saturday's Tudor United SportsCar Championship Tequila Patron Sports Car Showcase on the scenic Grand Prix of Long Beach seaside street course. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2014)

This excerpted and edited from IMSA - 


Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Celebrates New Race Series with Laps on the Streets of San Jose
IMSA Press Release

The Streets of San Jose may never be the same after drivers from the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship get their race cars into full gear as they do a few laps around Plaza de Cesar Chavez in the Mini Grand Prix of San Jose on Wednesday, April 30, 2014.

The TUDOR Championship competitors are in San Jose to share the high-revving powerful new race cars with fans in advance of the Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix powered by Mazda. Since it is the first race of the year at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, May 2-4, 2014, the circuit wanted to share its motorsports passion with new audiences to kick-off the season.

San Jose Earthquakes defender Jordan Stewart will serve as Grand Marshal for the Mini Grand Prix of San Jose. He will be accompanied by TUDOR United SportsCar Championship drivers who include:

- SRT Motorsports, SRT Viper GTS-R, driver: Jonathan Bomarito;
- Performance Tech Prototype Challenge, driver: Charlie Shears;

#70 Mazda SKYACTIV Diesel-Powered Prototype - Credit Edmund Jenks (2014)

- SpeedSource, Mazda Prototype, driver: Sylvain Tremblay;
- Krohn Racing, Ferrari 458, GT Le Mans, driver: Nic Jonsson;
- TRG-AMR, Aston Martin V12 Vantage, drivers: Al Carter/James Davison;
- BMW Team Rahal, BMW Z4 GTE, driver: Bill Auberlen;
- Spirit of Daytona, Corvette DP, driver: Richard Westbrook/Michael Valiante,
- Michael Shank Racing, Riley DP Conti 2-seater, drivers John Pew/Oswaldo Negri, Jr.

The Mini Grand Prix of San Jose begins with race cars on display at 11 a.m., demonstration laps around Plaza de Cesar Chavez begin at noon and a fan autograph session with the TUDOR Championship drivers and Jordan Stewart begins at 12:30 p.m. There will also be prize giveaways including race gear and event tickets.

The Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix powered by Mazda, features the Monterey debut of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, America's all-new premier sports car racing Series. The Series was created by the merger of the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car and American Le Mans organizations, both of which had a long history of competing at Mazda Raceway. The TUDOR Championship features two styles of cars, Prototype and GT (Grand Touring). Each style of car has two classes, Pro and Pro-Am, meaning there are four classes of racing on track together, each with their own battle for the lead.
[Reference Here]

The problem is ... according to the schedule, there will be two separate races of two-hours apiece not any endurance racing, say all classes for four hours for example, as suggested - there are four classes of racing on track together - in the above press release.

The world has gone crazy and the uncertainty may push the interest off a bit if the product is not what fans have come to expect. Heck, on Saturday there is more endurance in the Continental Tire Challenge race which is scheduled for 150 minutes/2.5 hours, than there is for the TUSCC.

There is no need to mislead but there is a need to deliver and two sprint races (in the context of endurance racing) may not have the desired fan interest effect.

GTLM Class TUDOR United SportsCar Championship 40th Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach grid walk. Image Credit Edmund Jenks (2014)

Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix, powered by Mazda 

EVENT SCHEDULE

2 May - FRIDAY

Practice 1 - Lamborghini 11:40 AM - 12:20 PM ET [8:40 AM - 9:20 AM PT]

Practice 1 - Continental Tire Challenge 12:35 PM - 1:20 PM ET [9:35 AM - 10:20 AM PT]

Practice 2 - Lamborghini 3:00 PM - 3:40 PM ET [12:00 PM - 12:40 PM PT]

Practice 2 - Continental Tire Challenge 4:40 PM - 5:25 PM ET [1:40 PM - 2:25 PM PT]

Qualifying - Continental Tire Challenge (ST) 7:10 PM - 7:25 PM ET [4:10 PM - 4:25 PM PT]

Qualifying - Continental Tire Challenge (GS) 7:40 PM - 7:55 PM ET [4:40 PM - 4:55 PM PT]

Qualifying - Lamborghini 8:10 PM - 8:40 PM ET [5:10 PM - 5:40 PM PT]

3 May - SATURDAY

Practice 1 - TUDOR Championship 12:35 PM - 1:35 PM ET [9:35 AM - 10:35 AM PT]

Race 1 - Lamborghini 1:50 PM ET [10:50 AM PT] (50 minutes)

Race Start - Continental Tire Challenge 3:45 PM ET [12:45 PM PT] (150 minutes/2.5 hours)

Practice 2 - TUDOR Championship 6:45 PM - 7:45 PM ET [3:45 PM - 4:45 PM PT]

Qualifying - TUDOR Championship (GTD) 7:55 PM - 8:10 PM ET [4:55 PM - 5:10 PM PT]

Qualifying - TUDOR Championship (GTLM) 8:15 PM - 8:30 PM ET [5:15 PM - 5:30 PM PT]

Qualifying - TUDOR Championship (PC) 8:40 PM - 8:55 PM ET [5:40 PM - 5:55 PM PT]

Qualifying - TUDOR Championship (P) 9:00 PM - 9:15 PM ET [6:00 PM - 6:15 PM PT]

4 May - SUNDAY

TUDOR Championship (PC/GTD) 1:15 PM ET [10:15 AM PT] (120 minutes/2 hours)

Race 2 - Lamborghini 3:40 PM ET [12:40 PM PT] (50 minutes)

TUDOR Championship (P/GTLM) 5:45 PM ET [2:45 PM PT] (120 minutes/2 hours)

As the old saying goes ... Racin', is racin' ... so let's go to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and see the first (and only) West Coast stint of the full field of TUDOR United SportsCar Championship teams, drivers, and race cars at the Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix, powered by Mazda - May 2-4, 2014.

... notes from The EDJE