November 19, 2008
Carl Edwards, Roush Fenway Racing. Carl Edwards (No. 99 Roush Fenway Racing Office Depot Ford) did all he could last Sunday night to catch Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Lowe's Chevrolet) for the Sprint Cup championship. Edwards lead 157 of 267 laps on his way to winning the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway - his series leading ninth win in 2008 - but Johnson only had to finish 36th or better to sew up the championship, and he came home in 15th. Still, it was a great season for the 29-year-old driver.
(Autostock Image)
Dindo Capello. Winner of this season's 24 Hours of Le Mans and Petit Le Mans, Dindo Capello, Audi’s Italian factory ace, capped his 2008 season with a victory at the Rally di Monza over the weekend in a field that included MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi. The three-time Le Mans winner and two-time American Le Mans Series LMP1 champion teamed with countryman Luigi Pirollo to beat a star-studded grid. The victory was Capello’s fourth, the first such achievement for any driver in the event. He also has won with three different cars: Subaru Impreza, Skoda Fabia and Ford Focus. Capello’s Ford beat Rossi by nearly 20 seconds.
(BMW Rahal Letterman Racing)
The BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team debuted the new BMW M3 GT2 machine today at Road Atlanta. Jörg Müller, the 2001 GT champion in the American Le Mans Series with BMW Motorsport, had most of the seat time Wednesday in the brand-new M3. Among those on hand for the two-day test was Rahal Letterman Racing co-owner Bobby Rahal, no stranger to Road Atlanta or the American Le Mans Series. Rahal Letterman Racing fielded a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR in GT2 during the 2007 season, and Rahal himself is eager to begin this new chapter. “It’s a great relationship between Rahal Letterman and BMW North America,” Rahal said. “Sports car racing is where I got my start so there were a lot of emotional reasons for being involved but there also were a variety of business-related reasons as well. With all due respect to our prototype friends, GT2 will truly be one for the ages. We are part of BMW returning, you have Corvette moving from GT1 to GT2 plus Panoz, Porsche and Ferrari. It will be extremely tough, competitive racing.” The new BMW M3 GT2 car also will test Thursday at Road Atlanta before another test session next week at Sebring International Raceway, site of the 57th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team is planning to enter a pair of M3s. Monday, the team announced Bill Auberlen and Joey Hand as its first two drivers.