March 31, 2010
(Ron McQueeney/IndyCar)
Will Power (No. 12 Team Penske Verizon Dallara/Honda/Firestone) held off Justin Wilson (No. 22 Team Z-Line Designs/DRR D/H/F) by .8244 of a second to win the rain-delayed Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on Monday to remain perfect through the first two IZOD IndyCar Series races of 2010. It was Power's third victory of his IndyCar career. Team Penske's Ryan Briscoe (No. 6 D/H/F) and Helio Castroneves (No. 3 D/H/F) came home third and fourth, with Briscoe storming up from a 19th starting position. Power now leads Wilson, Ryan Hunter-Reay (who finished 11th in the No. 37 IZOD D/H/F for Andretti Autosport) and Dario Franchitti (who finished fifth in his No. 10 Ganassi Racing Cottonelle D/H/F) by 44-points heading to the next two events, which are both road/street courses. "It's just great," Power said. "It's Verizon's first year, and we're out to win the championship. Perfect pit stop, good race. Perfect weekend - pole and a win. Can't get much better than that." Up next for the IZOD IndyCar Series is the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama presented by Legacy Credit Union on Sunday, April 11 at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala. 
(Ron McQueeney/IndyCar)
J.K. Vernay (No. 7 Lucas Slick Mist/Sam Schmidt Motorsports) won his Firestone Indy Lights debut March 28, dominating the rain-soaked Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Jan Heylen (No. 17 Team E) finished 11.2338-seconds behind in the shortened (from 45 laps to 35) race on the 1.8-mile, 14-turn temporary street circuit. Stefan Wilson drove from the 14th starting position to finish third in the No. 28 Bryan Herta Autosport car.
(Mark Weber/SCCA)
Randy Pobst (No. 6 K-Pax Racing Volvo), of Gainesville, Ga., won Round One of the 2010 World Challenge GT season with a flag-to-flag win at the Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg on Saturday, while Dino Crescentini (No. 4 Centric Parts/Stoptech/GMG Porsche 911 GT3, above), of Manhattan Beach, Calif., rocketed away from his second starting position and led all the way to take Round Two on Sunday. Pobst averaged 72.367 mph over the 33-lap, 59.4-mile race that was slowed by one caution, and Crescentini took his third-career World Challenge series victory by 0.848-second over teammate James Sofronas, of Newport Beach, Calif. He averaged 66.764 mph in a race slowed by a pair of caution periods and limited to 50 minutes.
(Mark Weber/SCCA)
For the second-straight day, Peter Cunningham led start-to-finish in his No. 43 Acura/RealTime Racing Acura TSX to capture the World Challenge GTS-class win in St. Petersburg, the record-extending 34th of his career. While he dominated Saturday's event, Sunday was different, as teammate Brandon Davis pressured him in the No. 1 Acura/RealTime Racing Acura TSX in the race’s closing laps. Cunningham beat Davis to the checkered flag by just 0.544-second.
(Mark Weber/SCCA)
After winning in his series debut on Saturday, Todd Buras (No. 49 Irish Mike’s Racing Volkswagen Jetta) repeated the feat on Sunday, giving him his second-consecutive World Challenge Touring Car win. The World Challenge races from St. Petersburg can be seen on April 18 at 2 p.m. (EDT) on Versus. Next up for the World Challenge series is the Toyo Tires World Challenge Grand Prix of Long Beach Presented by Bondurant.
(Mark Weber/SCCA)
MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development today confirmed that Patrick Dempsey will race a GTS-class 2010 MAZDA3 prepared by Tri-Point Motorsports in the World Challenge Championships race during the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach weekend. Dempsey normally races a Mazda RX-8 in the Rolex Grand-Am GT series.
(GM)
The Chevrolet Cruze is competing in the 2010 World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) for its first full season. The Cruze WTCC effort is directed by British stalwart racing organization Ray Mallock Limited (RML), which has been in charge of the technical and sports aspects of Chevrolet's touring car program since 2005. The WTCC rules package emphasizes cars close to production models. "Real cars, real racing" is the championship’s tag line and it features racing on different continents including Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa. The race-prepared Cruze weighs 2535 lbs. (the required minimum) and develops 285HP from its 2.0-liter Ecotec 4-cylinder engine.
WE'RE OPENING THE VAULT!
The AE wearables are back - and only in extremely limited quantities and sizes, we might add - and once they're gone, they're gone! We're starting with our most popular items, the classic AE Sweatshirt and AE Hat. Click on a PayPal button below to order yours now! (If you prefer to pay by check, please send us an email with AE STORE in the subject line, and we'll reserve your item.)
AE Sweatshirt - Crewneck, sturdy 80/20 cotton/poly, in black with throwback lettering - the original AE logo in our Chiller typeface shown above. Size XL only. 40 bucks, including shipping. US orders only.
AE Hat - Black with throwback lettering - the original AE logo in our Chiller typeface shown above. 25 bucks, including shipping. US orders only.
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