NOVEMBER 18, 2015

(Photo courtesy of GM/Chevrolet Racing)
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Nationwide Chevrolet SS) leads Kevin Harvick (No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Budwieser/Jimmy John's Chevrolet SS) in the Quicken Loans Race For Heroes 500 at Phoenix International Raceway Sunday night after an interminable seven-hour on-and-off rain delay. The race was ended early because of rain as well, with Harvick finishing second and Joey Logano (No. 22 Team Penske Pennzoil Ford Fusion) finishing third. That makes it three victories for Dale Jr. this year. Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. are the four remaining drivers eligible for the Sprint Cup championship going into the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. That means that the series’ top three winners this year – Joey Logano (six victories), Jimmie Johnson (five) and Matt Kenseth (five) – will not compete for the title in NASCAR's convoluted, gimmicky and contrived "Chase," which is simply more Bush League Bullshit from those wonderful folks who brought the racing world debris cautions. You can get more NASCAR info here. And you can read Peter's "Fumes" column on what NASCAR's championship should look like here.

(Sky Sports)
Nico Rosberg (No. 6 Mercedes AMG Petronas F1) won the Brazilian Grand Prix, a processional snoozer of a race that had exactly zero appeal on any level. The race was effectively over in the first corner. Lewis Hamilton (No. 44 Mercedes AMG Petronas F1) was second and Sebastian Vettel (No. 5 Scuderia Ferrari) finished third. F1 insists it is taking steps to make its circus more exciting - in 2017. We couldn't care less because as long as "the world's tiniest dictator" and racing's most unlovable carpetbagging mercenary - one Bernard Ecclestone - is involved, F1 will never be great again.

(John Thawley  ~  Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com  ~ 248.227.0110)
One of the world's most successful racing teams is reloading for the first two rounds of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Marcel Fassler and Mike Rockenfeller will complete Corvette Racing’s driver lineup for the Rolex 24 At Daytona and Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in the team's Chevrolet Corvette C7.R racing machines. This will mark Fassler's second stint with Corvette Racing. The Swiss native was part of the team’s endurance lineup in 2009, competing at Sebring, Le Mans and Petit Le Mans in a Corvette C6.R. He has not raced at Daytona but Fassler won overall at Sebring in 2013. Fassler is a past World Champion in the FIA World Endurance Championship and won Le Mans overall in 2011, 2012 and 2014 driving for Audi. He also recorded a win driving a Corvette at the 24 Hours of Spa in 2007. Rockenfeller is a past overall winner at the Rolex 24 and Le Mans – both in 2010. In each of the last three years, he has driven Corvette Daytona Prototypes at the Rolex 24 with a third-place finish with VisitFlorida.com Racing in 2015; he and VisitFlorida.com also were third at Sebring. Rockenfeller has a pair of additional podium finishes at Daytona. He won the 2013 DTM championship and is a past GT2 winner in the American Le Mans Series and at Le Mans. Corvette Racing continues its preparation for the 2016 season in an open IMSA test Nov. 17-18 at Daytona International Speedway. Corvette Racing’s first race of the season is the 54^th Rolex 24 At Daytona on Jan. 30-31. What about the driver line-up for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, you're wondering? Jordan and Ricky Taylor will join full-time Corvette Racing teammates Antonio Garcia, Jan Magnussen, Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner in France for the 84th running of the world's most prestigious endurance race. 

(Audi)
Magnus Racing and Stevenson Motorsports will be running the new Audi R8 LMS GT3 racing machine in the 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series. “We are thrilled to be going into the 2016 season with two teams that bring such credible endurance racing experience to the effort" said Erin Keating, General Manager, Motorsport of Audi of America. “We feel confident that both Magnus Racing and Stevenson Motorsports will be competitive with the new Audi R8 LMS  in what is shaping up to be an exciting race season in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series." The Audi R8 LMS features improved aerodynamics, chassis rigidity and overall performance, according to Audi. Magnus Racing and Stevenson Motorsports - the official Audi Sport® customer racing teams - will kick off the 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series at the 54th Rolex 24 At Daytona, January 30-31st. The teams will compete as part of the GTD class. Both teams will compete for the full 2016 IMSA race season.

(Audi)

(Ford)
The drivers for the factory Ford GT racing program in the 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship are (from left) Dirk Müller and Joey Hand (No. 66 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT) and Richard Westbrook and Ryan Briscoe (No. 67 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT) .

Editor's Note: Watch the latest episode of AutoextremistTV on YouTube here. -WG