january 7, 2014

(Corvette Racing)
Corvette Racing has announced that Simon Pagenaud (above) will make his debut with the team at Daytona International Speedway for the opening round of the IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship and that Ryan Briscoe (below) will return to the Corvette Racing camp for the second straight year. Briscoe will share driving duties of the No. 3 Corvette C7.R with Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia, and Pagenaud will join Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner in the No. 4 C7.R at the annual Roar Before the 24 starting Jan. 9th. The Roar serves as a three-day test ahead of the 53rd Rolex 24 At Daytona and the start of the TUDOR Championship. Briscoe and Pagenaud will also join the Corvette C7.R team at the 12 Hours of Sebring.

(John Thawley  ~  Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com  ~ 248.227.0110)
Editor-in-Chief's Note: We are honored to have John Thawley's superb photographic work on display in Autoextremist.com throughout the racing year. I consider John to be one of the most talented people working in the business today, and it's a privilege to be able to share his work with our readers. As we always do at this time of the year, I've asked John to put together a gallery of his best images for us in his "2014 Year in Review." You can see them here. Once again our sincere thanks go out to John for livening the pages of Autoextremist.com. - PMD

Editor-in-Chief's Note: Sprint will call it quits at the end of the 2016 season as the presenting sponsor for NASCAR's premier division. The telecommunications company is giving NASCAR a full two years to beat the bushes for a replacement. It won't be easy, however, what with NASCAR tracks all over the country ripping out seats and TV viewing numbers flat-lining, so the powers that be in Daytona Beach may have to take a very significant haircut when it comes to negotiating their next deal. - PMD

(Chevrolet/newspressUSA)
An online update including the Chevrolet Chaparral 2X Vision Gran Turismo (VGT), introduced at this year’s Los Angeles International Auto Show, is now available worldwide for fans of the PlayStation® 3 racing game, Gran Turismo® 6.Developed by Chevrolet’s Advanced Design team with direct input from Chaparral founder Jim Hall, the racecar concept was developed exclusively for the Vision Gran Turismo project, which celebrates the future of automotive design and innovation. “The Chevrolet Chaparral 2X Vision GT serves as an example of what our designers are capable of when they are cut loose, no holds barred,” said Ed Welburn, vice president of GM Global Design. “It’s a fantasy car in every sense of the word.”

(Chevrolet/newspressUSA)