february 25, 2015

(Photo by John Harrelson/NKP ©2015)
One cool - and very talented - customer, Joey Logano (No. 22 Team Penske Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion) drove the race of his life to win the Daytona 500 on Sunday. See more coverage in "Fumes."

(Photo by HHP/Alan Marler for GM/Chevrolet Racing)
Kevin Harvick (No. 4 Hendrick Motorsports Budweiser/Jimmy John’s Chevrolet SS) finished second and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Nationwide Chevrolet SS) finished third in Sunday's Daytona 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race.

(Matthew T. Thacker, LAT Photo USA ©2015, for Toyota Racing)
Denny Hamlin (No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing FedEx Express Toyota Camry) was a factor all day at Daytona.  Watch a NASCAR video here.

(Photo by HHP/Harold Hinson for GM/Chevrolet Racing)
Jeff Gordon (No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet SS) ran up front most of the day leading 87 laps, but got caught up in a multi-car wreck on the last lap, finishing 33rd. Jimmie Johnson (No, 48 Hendrick Motorsports Lowe's Chevrolet SS) finished fifth. The Hendrick Motorsports squad was formidable as always, but Joey Logano and Team Penske came through at the end. It was Logano's ninth win in NASCAR's top series.

(Matthew T. Thacker/NKP, ©2015)
Logano will have his first win at Daytona etched in his memory for the rest of his life.

(Ford Racing/newspressUSA)
Ryan Reed (No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Lilly/American Diabetes Association Ford Mustang) won Saturday's inaugural NASCAR XFINITY Series event at Daytona International Speedway - his first major race win. Roush Fenway Racing teammate Chris Buescher (No. 60 Kellogg’s/Cheez-It Ford Mustang) finished second. It was also the first NASCAR win for Roush Fenway Racing at Daytona.

(FIA World Rallycross Cahmpionship presented by Monster Energy)
Tanner Foust has confirmed he will compete in at least four rounds of the 2015 FIA World Rallycross Championship presented by Monster Energy at the wheel of a Marklund Motorsport run Volkswagen Polo RX Supercar. Foust, who won the World RX of Finland in Kouvola last year, will run at Lydden Hill at the end of May in the British RX round, the World RX of Canada (August 7-8), the World RX of France (September 4-6) and the World RX of Barcelona, which will be held at the F1 Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya (September 19-20).

(Bentley Motors, Inc/newspressUSA)
Bentley Team Dyson Racing is gearing-up for a full season of racing in the 2015 Pirelli World Challenge with the Bentley Continental GT3. Butch Leitzinger will return for his 21st season with Dyson Racing, piloting the No. 20 machine, while Chris Dyson - two-time American Le Mans series driver champion - will return to full-time competition at the wheel of the No. 16 team car. Leitzinger has won three championships, been runner-up four times and third twice. Among Leitzinger’s 34 victories for the team are two in the 24 Hours of Daytona. Leitzinger also finished second overall in the Bentley EXP-8 in the 2003 24 Hours of Le Mans. The 2015 Pirelli World Challenge season begins at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, TX, March 6-8.

(McLaren Automotive images/newspress)
McLaren says that its new, track-focused 675LT "re-establishes the McLaren 'Longtail' heritage, focusing on light weight, optimized aerodynamics, increased power, track-focused dynamics and driver engagement." We don't see the "longtail" connection - at all - but McLaren seems hell-bent on wringing every last dollar out of this platform, so, it is what it is. Lighter by 100kg, with a third of parts changed compared to the 650S (the M838TL engine has more than 50 percent new components, according to McLaren), the 675LT goes 0-100 km/h in 2.9 seconds and 0-200 km/h in 7.9 seconds. It will make its debut at the Geneva Motor Show.

(Images courtesy of Mercedes-Benz)
Mercedes-AMG will introduce the new Mercedes-AMG GT3 at the Geneva Motor Show. Designed and developed to comply with the FIA's GT3 race rules, the new GT3 is based on the production Mercedes-AMG GT sports car. Following an intensive test program, the new AMG racing car will be shipped to the first customer teams at the end of 2015.