THE LINE - SEPTEMBER 4, 2013

(John Thawley  ~  Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com  ~ 248.227.011)
Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr (No. 6 Muscle Milk Pickett Racing HPD ARX-03c) combined to clinch their second consecutive American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón P1 championship with a victory in the Grand Prix of Baltimore presented by SRT, their sixth consecutive victory of the 2013 season. The race - conducted on the "joke" of a circuit utilizing the streets of Baltimore - was shortened to one hour, 13 minutes after a multi-car crash completely blocked the front straight seconds after the green flag was waved. It was the shortest race in ALMS history. Jan Magnussen (No. 3 Corvette Racing Compuware C6.R) made a third-to-first move to take the GT lead shortly after the final restart, holding off teammate Tommy Milner (No. 4 Corvette Racing Compuware C6.R) by .457 seconds in a 1-2 finish for Corvette Racing. Marino Franchitti took his fourth P2 victory of the season in the No. 552 Siemens/Alpina Watches/Ohiya Casino Resort HPD ARX-03b, joined by new Level 5 Motorsports teammate Guy Cosmo. Tristan Nunez went from third to first in the closing minutes to win in Prototype Challenge presented by Continental Tire (PC) in the No. 18 VisitFlorida.com/Ric Man/Signature ORECA FLM09. And Dion von Moltke and Seth Neiman led most of the way in GTC in the No. 44 PR Newswire/eSilicon Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Check out John Thawley's wonderful images from Baltimore here. The next ALMS event will be at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas on Saturday, Sept. 21.

(John Thawley  ~  Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com  ~ 248.227.011)
The aftermath of the multi-car pileup at the start of the ALMS race in Baltimore.

(Photo by Nigel Kinrade © 2013 LAT Photo USA, courtesy of Toyota Racing)
Kyle Busch (No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing M&Ms Toyota Camry) won the AdvoCare 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway Sunday night, beating Joey Logano (No. 22 Penske Racing Shell/Penzzoil Ford Fusion) to the finish line by .740 seconds. The win was Busch’s fourth of the season, second at Atlanta and the 28th of his stellar career, tying him with Rex White for 23rd on the career victory list. Busch also locked-up a top-10 spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, adding three bonus points to his Chase-opening total. Busch struggles with his car early, labeling it "a joke" over the radio. "It was at first," Busch said frankly. "That’s why we race 500 miles, I guess. Man, I don’t know where it came from but these guys - (crew chief) Dave Rogers - the guys never gave up. They made some really good calls, and I commend them. It was their race today."
Watch NASCAR videos from Atlanta here.

(Photo by Matthew T. Thacker ©2013 Autostock, courtesy of Ford Racing)
Joey Logano (No. 22 Penske Racing Shell/Pennzoil Ford Fusion) is putting together an impressive season for Penske Racing in 2013. He finished second in Atlanta Sunday night and is now eighth in The Chase for the Sprint Cup standings going into Richmond, the last race before The Chase begins.

(Photo by Nigel Kinrade © 2013 LAT Photo USA courtesy of Toyota Racing)
Martin Truex Jr. (No. 56 Michael Waltrip Racing NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry) finished third in Atlanta Sunday night. Short of a win at Richmond, his chances for a Wild Card berth in The Chase are tenuous.

(Photo by Brian Czobat © 2013 LAT Photo USA courtesy of Toyota Racing)
Kevin Harvick (No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Bad Boy Buggies Chevrolet Camaro) won Saturday night’s Great Clips/Grit Chips 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway over Kyle Busch (No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Monster Energy Toyota Camry, above). Harvick beat Busch to the finish line by .579 seconds after passing Busch with five laps left. Watch NASCAR videos here.

(Photo by Bret Kelley/INDYCAR)
Simon Pagenaud (No. 77 Schmidt Hamilton HP Motorsports Honda-Dallara) survived ahead of Josef Newgarden (No. 67 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda-Dallara) and what was left of the 24-car field to win the Grand Prix of Baltimore presented by SRT. It was the second IZOD IndyCar Series victory of the season for the 29-year-old Pagenaud, who has now risen to third in the INDYCAR standings with three races left. Editor-in-Chief's Note: Conducted on a absolute joke of a "track" jury-rigged on the streets of Baltimore - one barely suited for passenger vehicles let along high-strung - and fragile - Indy-type cars - the INDYCAR "race" last Sunday was a kaleidoscope of carnage and a mind-boggling exercise in futility, with the team owners and those in attendance watching as drivers slowly but surely turned their cars into junk. The fact that there's talk of actually extending the contract for INDYCAR to continue running there is a perfect example of why team owners - Michael Andretti's race promotion company is in charge of the event - should not be in the business of promoting races. The ALMS and the soon-to-be United SportsCar Racing series have had enough of the Baltimore "track" and they won't be back next year, under any circumstances. Too bad INDYCAR apparently isn't smart enough to do the same. See more of my thoughts about this in this week's "Fumes." - PMD

(Photo by Bret Kelley/INDYCAR)
Josef Newgarden (No. 67 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda-Dallara), 22, the 2011 Firestone Indy Lights champion, finished 4.1 seconds back of Pagenaud in Baltimore after giving him a real run, securing a career-best runner-up finish after starting a season-best fifth. Here Josef is dealing with the "track" in the Sunday morning warm-up. There were six full-course cautions, with almost every car sustaining some damage during the 75 laps on the 2.04-mile, 12-turn temporary street circuit in downtown Baltimore.

(Photo by Phillip Abbott courtesy of Chevrolet Racing)
Sebastien Bourdais (No. 7 McAfee Dragon Racing Chevrolet-Dallara), stands on the podium after finishing third at the Grand Prix of Baltimore.

(Photo by Bret Kelley/INDYCAR)
Sunoco Pole Award winner Jack Hawksworth (No. 77 Schmidt Peterson c/w Curb-Agajanian, shown here in practice on Saturday) led all 35 laps on Sunday to win the Firestone Indy Lights Grand Prix of Baltimore. Sage Karam (No. 8 Schmidt Peterson c/w Curb-Agajanian) was second and Gabby Chaves (No. 7 Schmidt Peterson c/w Curb-Agajanian) finished third. The championship points chase tightened significantly with two races remaining as Carlos Munoz (No. 26 Dialy-Ser/Andretti Autosport), the front-runner entering the race on the 2.04-mile, 12-turn street circuit, made contact on Lap 6 and finished ninth. Hawksworth, who entered the race 39 points behind, won his third street course race of the season and returned to title contention. "It was the perfect weekend for us from start to finish," he said. "We rolled off the truck, we were quick straight from the off. When it's like that it makes your life a lot easier."

(Porsche)
The countdown to the 2014 sports car racing season has begun for Porsche. Following its successful launch in June on the company’s test track in Weissach, near Stuttgart, Germany, the Porsche LMP1 sports prototype racing machine – which has been completely redesigned – is working its way through a series of functional tests at hand-picked international racing circuits.

(Porsche)
In the most recent test drives, Neel Jani (Switzerland) took the wheel for the very first time. The former Grand Prix test driver has been part of the pool of regular LMP1 drivers supporting Timo Bernhard (Germany) and Romain Dumas (France) with the testing duties since July 1st of this year. The fourth driver is Australian Grand Prix ace Mark Webber, who will fortify the Porsche LMP1 team in 2014. The new Porsche LMP1 racing machine will debut in the 2014 World Endurance Championship (WEC) and contest the 24 Hours of Le Mans next June.

(Porsche)
"The current test drives are enabling us to collect huge amounts of vital data; every single kilometer driven is important. However, in order to develop the highly complex LMP1 racing car so that it is fit to compete by the start of next year's season, many more kilometers of testing are required," said Fritz Enzinger (above), vice president of the LMP1 program. "We are pleased with the progress being made with each test."

(Porsche)
A new set of rules applies to the WEC for 2014, which are clearly focused on efficiency and require the use of the latest hybrid drive technology. The aim of the new rules is to significantly reduce fuel consumption of the participating racing cars. The new Porsche LMP1 will need to balance optimum efficiency while delivering maximum performance, which coincides with the development of the next-generation Porsche road cars. The development of each and every future Porsche will benefit from the developmental breakthroughs derived from the motorsports program, according to Porsche. As most enthusiasts know, the company has been pursuing this transfer of technology from the field of motorsport to the road since the launch of the 550 Spyder in 1953. From dual ignition, disc brakes, optimized suspension, aerodynamic spoilers, turbocharged engines, double-clutch transmissions to powerful hybrid drives — all of these forms of pioneering road car technology were initially tested by Porsche in racing cars. "After 16 years, we once again want to be a works team in the top category with the LMP1 in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2014. It is also our aim to contest the entire WEC season", said Wolfgang Hatz, Member of the Porsche AG Executive Board responsible for Research and Development. "The Porsche legacy of success in long-distance races really spurs us on, but also increases the level of expectation placed on us. However, we are happy to rise to this challenge." You can follow the preparations of the LMP1 team ahead of its appearance in the 2014 WEC and the 24 Hours of Le Mans at www.porsche.com/mission2014.

(McLaren Automotive)
Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Limited was formally incorporated on September 2 1963, when the 26-year-old New Zealander mustered together a small crew of committed individuals to design, build and race cars bearing his own name, while operating from a small, cramped workshop in New Malden, Surrey. From that tiny base the team migrated through various premises in Colnbrook and Woking before settling upon its current site at the McLaren Technology Center, in Woking, England, home to all of the team’s businesses and workplace to more than 2000 people. In celebration of the team’s 50 years, McLaren staff joined together at the McLaren Technology Center in Woking to celebrate a half-century of race winning by one of the most successful names in motorsport. The celebrations were marked by current Vodafone McLaren Mercedes drivers Jenson Button and Sergio Perez, who took part in the display in the two latest models from McLaren Automotive. Perez arrived in the 3,000th production 12C – a 12C Spider finished in striking Volcano Yellow - while 2009 Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button showcased the McLaren P in front of the entire McLaren Group staff, dressed in Rocket Red T-shirts to honor the landmark occasion.

(McLaren Automotive)

(McLaren Automotive)
With first deliveries scheduled in the coming weeks the testing program for the McLaren P1™ continues, with the development team pushing the limits of the car to further extremes across North America in some of the hottest and most arid conditions on the planet. Finished all in Carbon Black, the McLaren P1 is captured on the road undisguised for the first time, working through a number of final durability tests before the first of the limited run of 375 models is delivered to customers. The extreme temperature testing saw the McLaren P1 pushed to the limits, experiencing heat in excess of 52°C / 126°F through Arizona, California and Nevada, as the western coast of America experienced some of the hottest temperatures on record. September is the 50th anniversary of McLaren, and the company will see the first deliveries of the McLaren P1 commencing in the coming weeks as celebrations continue. This final extreme test can be viewed at the official McLaren Automotive YouTube channel – http://youtu.be/yV2pEXK_zIM.

(McLaren Automotive)

The Street Giveth and The Street Taketh Away.

By A. J. Morning

Baltimore. Ten years ago, while working a stint for the Mayor’s Office in Baltimore, the thought occurred to me as I was driving home through the streets, “It sure would be cool to see a sports car race through here some day.” Of course, I’ve probably said that about three-fourths of the cities I’ve driven through over the years – and who would ever think of doing a race on the streets of Baltimore, anyway? In those days, the city was known nationally as little more than the backdrop for HBO’s The Wire, a show sometimes criticized for being too true to life. Too gritty. Too brutal. Too real. If Los Angeles has a polar opposite, it’s covered in Old Bay seasoning, hon. Baltimore is a picture of working class hard times, and not unlike Detroit has suffered economically for decades. The city’s got scars, ugly ones, and they’re front-and-center.

Of course, there was no way a major race could ever happen. Baltimore, for all its picturesque aerial shots of the Inner Harbor, has way too many counts against it. It’s one thing to whip-up a concrete canyon in a city where snow is something you only see on TV (that’s you, Long Beach & St. Pete), but here? With streets in such characteristically mid-Atlantic shape, they’ll turn a new car’s suspension into crab cake mush in a few months. It’ll never work.

Except that, for the last couple of years, it mostly did.

In the face of local media trashing the race weekend at every turn, and mixed support from the surrounding community (some businesses won, others lost), the first two years of the Grand Prix of Baltimore at the very least showed some promise. That is, literally the promise that much of the hazardously bumpy street surface at the rail tracks would be remedied. Hastily-poured chicanes on the Pratt St. front stretch were problematic in 2011 and 2012, but assurances had been made from all sides that “next year” the chassis-crunching curbs and rail gulleys would be tamed and the track would be so much better.

This year, all hell broke loose. Every series that showed-up – Indy Lights, ALMS, and IZOD Indycar – saw critical damage to numerous cars in every class, the chicanes and tire-barriers turning the circuit into a stunt course more worthy of “Ironman” Ivan Stewart’s off-roader than Patrick Dempsey's Porsche. Starting with a massive crash at the beginning of Saturday’s ALMS race before the field could even take the green flag (resulting in an hour-long delay that shortened the race duration from 2 hours to 1 hour 15 min), and Race Control for each series that seemed to be watching a NASCAR race somewhere, nearly everything that could go wrong, did. For every driver on every team, the ALMS race was hardcore penance for all sins real or imagined that have ever been committed in the name of competition.

As long as we’re complaining, even the humidity was awful. Again.

Sunday’s Indycar race may not have seen half the field turned into a carbon fiber modern art sculpture before it could even get started, but was yet another carnage-laced crash fest. With virtually no suspension travel, the Indy cars simply launched off the chicane curbs – and sometimes plowed into the tire barriers, keeping pit crews at the ready with new nose-pieces. On the dramatic side, the ongoing soap opera between Scott Dixon and Will Power added another chapter, courtesy of Power’s brain-fart which crashed-out Dixon’s car. It wasn’t good racing, but it was still a better story than Twilight.

Indycar may be comparable to vampires vs. werewolves, but for 2014 USCR is taking the shape of a hastily-cobbled together Frankenseries. As yet, teams and suppliers are still awaiting crucial specifications, schedules, pretty much the whole framework they should expect to be working with… and it’s not there yet. Memo to the offices in Daytona Beach: You’re late, and it looks bad.

Back to Baltimore: For all its faults, the city known for gritty TV shows, Super Bowl champs, and white marble steps, still has something to work with. Other circuits have gone through growing pains, and the harsh reality is that more of them are consigned to the scrapheap of history than on an active schedule.

We’ll know, soon.

That’s it for now; I’ll see you at the next pit stop.