THE LINE

September 22, 2010

  NASCAR. Publisher's Note: An AE "up" arrow for NASCAR? Yes. Why? Well, it seems my never-ending crusade to have stock-dimension bodywork (aka real cars) become part of NASCAR's rules package in Sprint Cup going forward just may have won favor in The Halls of the People Who Matter. Watch for details and plans for a "new" Sprint Cup formula come into focus over the next 15 months, with the likelihood that real cars - not just massaged front clips on the dreaded CoT - are coming to NASCAR. Yes, that means Mustangs, Camaros, Challengers (and foreign competitors to be named later) will eventually be racing in Sprint Cup in stock dimension body configuration. That means we'll go back to the days of the manufacturers "lobbying" in Tech Inspection for a little more depth on the air dam, or a little more length on the rear spoiler, but the cars will be instantly recognizable - and fundamentally more interesting - to the fans. Best guesstimate as to the timing for this massive re-think? Figure 2013 at the earliest. You read it here first. - PMD

(Chris Jones/IndyCar)
Helio Castroneves (No. 3 Team Penske Honda-Powered Dallara) passed Team Penske teammate Ryan Briscoe on a Lap 118 pit stop and held on to win the Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi. It was his second win in a row and second at the 1.5-mile track. "Team Penske is about execution and they gave me a fantastic car," said Castroneves, who backed up his win at Kentucky Speedway with the dominating win from the pole. "Every time I wanted to go for it, the car was responding."

(Ron McQueeney/IndyCar)
Dario Franchitti (No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing D/H/F) beat Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske D/H/F) to the finish line by 0.4997 of a second to grab second place and close the championship points gap to 12 heading into the season finale Oct. 2 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.  This is the fifth consecutive year that the championship will be determined at the final race of the season. "The race started very well. I was really the only person that could mix it up with Ryan (Briscoe) and Helio (Castroneves) all day. We were very good on restarts. We did make a small mistake on the down force level today, but we did OK.  Helio was just in a class of his own in terms of sheer speed but we could get him on the restarts occasionally. I was fighting as hard as I could with those guys. Will's guys did a great job in the pits and got him back up into contention. We can only control what we do and we did our best." Power added: "It's great for us to put the Verizon car on the podium. I've never finished ahead of him (Dario) on an oval and one day I'll get it, hopefully this year because if I don't, he'll win (the championship)." The second-place finish also earned Franchitti the inaugural IZOD IndyCar Series A.J. Foyt Oval Championship.

(Chris Jones/IndyCar)
Franchitti and Power battled all day, on the track and in the pits.

Ryan Briscoe (No. 6 Team Penske D/H/F) finished fourth, matching a career-best finish at Motegi. Here, he burns out of the pits with Franchitti and Castroneves.

(Ron McQueeney/IndyCar)
Helio hustles out of the pits at Twin Ring Motegi on his way to his third win of the 2010 IndyCar season.

(Chris Jones/IndyCar)
The crowds are always enthusiastic at Twin Ring Motegi.

(Ron McQueeney/IndyCar)
Enjoying some of the local scenery.

(Ron McQueeney/IndyCar)
A low pass by a F-16 wowed the crowd during the pre-race show, or, as reader Dan Hudgins corrected us, it's actually a Mitsubishi F-2, which is a development of the Lockheed F-16.

(Ron McQueeney/IndCar)
A happy young Danica Patrick fan. Danica finished fifth, extending her record streak of races running at the finish to 32.

(Chris Jones/IndyCar)
Will Power gets pit service at Twin Ring Motegi. He leads Dario Franchitti by just 12 points going into the final IZOD IndyCar Series race of the 2010 season - the Cafes do Brasil Indy 300 - on Oct. 2 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It will be broadcast in high definition at 6 p.m. (ET) on VERSUS. The race will air live on the IMS Radio Network, XM channel 145 and Sirius channel 212. The race also will be carried on www.indycar.com. The 2010 Firestone Indy Lights season also concludes with the Miami 100 on Oct. 2 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

(Mothers)
Mothers® Polishes-Waxes-Cleaners has presented its first annual Brilliance Award to a historic vehicle raced at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, honoring exceptional history and unquestionable provenance. The winner of this unique award at this inaugural motorsports event is the 1960 Maserati Tipo 61 "Birdcage," chassis #2458, owned and driven by Jonathan Feiber. The Tipo 61 models, built by Maserati between 1959 and 1961 for racing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, became famous for their intricate tubular space frame chassis, containing hundreds of steel tubes welded together, hence the nickname "Birdcage." This construction provided a more rigid and lighter chassis than other sports cars of its day. This front-engined race car also featured a 2900cc, 4-cylinder engine, producing 250 hp, weighed 1,323 lbs., and was capable of speeds up to 177 mph. This particular Tipo 61 has a storied history. It was originally purchased by Lloyd "Lucky" Casner in early 1960 for Team Camoradi, and was first driven in February of that year by Stirling Moss to a win at the Cuban Grand Prix. The car was also driven by Moss and Dan Gurney in the 12 Hours of Sebring, where they were leading when the transmission failed. "Jonathan Feiber's Birdcage Maserati has great provenance, race history, and a period-correct restoration," says Jim Holloway of Mothers®, who presented the trophy. Judging was executed by renowned automotive historians and journalists Bill Warner, Ken Gross and John Lamm. They scored vehicles based on the quality and accuracy of restoration, while considering exceptional racing history and unquestionable provenance. To qualify, the vehicle must also have been raced during the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion.

(BMW)
BMW swept the Grand-Am Road Racing Rolex Sports Car Series and the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge GS Drivers’ and Manufacturer’s Championships. The 2010 Series finale wrapped up on September 11th at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah. Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates swept the 2010 Daytona Prototype Driver and Team Championships and the Manufacturer’s title for BMW with a record ninth Rolex Sports Car Series victory on September 11th. Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas drove their No. 01 Dinan Motorsport-prepared BMW 5.0-liter V8-powered Riley to lead a total of 785 laps in a season that saw the duo finish first or second in 11 of 12 events. Also on September 11th, the No. 13 RumBum.com BMW M3 Coupe driven by Nick Longhi and Matt Plumb secured the GS Manufacturer’s Championship for BMW by winning the Salt Lake City 200 finale event. BMWs captured the win at 6 of 10 events: Daytona International Speedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway, Virginia International Raceway, Lime Rock Park, Watkins Glen International, Trois Rivieres and Miller Motorsports Park. Charles Espenlaub and Charles Putman (No. 48 Fall-Line Motorsports BMW M3 Coupe) locked up the GS Driver’s Championship at the Salt Lake City 200.

Editor-in-Chief's Note: If you really must keep up on all of the latest F1 developments and the potential U.S. GP in Austin, Texas, go here. - PMD

Editor-in-Chief's Note: Check out Michelin's racing website - "Michelin Alley" - and get in on all of the behind-the-scenes buzz. Go here. - PMD

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.

See another live episode of "Autoline After Hours" with hosts John McElroy, from Autoline Detroit, and Peter De Lorenzo, The Autoextremist, and guests this Thursday evening, at 7:00PM EDT at www.autolinedetroit.tv.

By the way, if you'd like to subscribe to the Autoline After Hours podcasts, click on the following links:

Subscribe via iTunes:

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=311421319

Subscribe via RSS:

http://www.autolinedetroit.tv/podcasts/feeds/afterhours-audio.xml