Hold on to your butts, people. Ford Racing and Roush Fenway Racing have unveiled their new stock car based on the poniest of pony cars. Prior to this, Ford teams in NASCAR have driven Fusions. Well, all right, none of them were actual Fusions or will be actual Mustangs. Rather, they'll be normal stock cars like everyone else in NASCAR drives that are covered with enough stickers and fake grilles to make you think that you might be looking at a Mustang from the stands. Man, "stock car" has really become a contradiction in terms.
Now you won't see Mustangs turning left next week in Charlotte at Lowe's Motor Speedway. The new car will compete in four races next year and only in the Nationwide Series, not the Sprint Cup. As such, it won't be based on the Car of Tomorrow platform that the Sprint Cup series uses, but rather the newer, different Car of Tomorrow platform designed specifically for the Nationwide Series. This first new Mustang to race in the Nationwide Series will be the No. 16 Con-way Freight Mustang driven by Colin Braun for Roush Fenway Racing. Is it enough to make us love NASCAR? Not quite, but if we had to race a bathtub on wheels, we'd pick this one.
"It feels like I'm down on power!" yells Tanner Foust in the general direction of the gathered throngs containing both his crew and assorted media. Tanner and myself are currently five-point bolted into his new stock car-engined Formula D Scion tC. We've just exited an aborted lap around the Toyota Speedway at Irwindale because something – so says Foust – is amiss with the car.
Rockstar Energy Drink Drift captain Stephan Papadakis comes charging towards the Scion and begins earnestly, if not frantically, checking the car's vitals through the steering wheel's digital readout. Steph floors the motor a few times, checks the numbers and exasperatedly tells Foust that everything looks fine. "Oh," says Tanner, patting me on my beer belly. "Must be him." Very funny, jerk.
Gallery: Autoblog Goes Drifting with Tanner Foust
Photos copyright ©2009 Drew Phillips Weblogs, Inc.
Rockstar invited us out to Toyota Speedway at Irwindale to take a few laps in Tanner's ludicrous new sideways ride. In fact, the last time we'd seen Tanner drift it up was at the Speedway last year when he became the first ever back-to-back (and first ever two-time) Formula D champion. Meaning he knows the track pretty darn well, thank you.
Today is a shakedown day: aside from giving husky journalists hot laps, Papadakis and the rest of the Rockstar crew are trying to iron the kinks out of the mighty Scion before next weekend's 2009 Formula D final event known as Judgment Day, taking place October 16-17. They've been having some sort of fuel problem and are (obviously) hoping to get it fixed.
In case you haven't heard, Mr. Foust is no longer behind the wheel of a supercharged Nissan 350Z. Instead he's been rocking the absolutely earth-shaking NASCAR Scion. Why earth-shaking? Well, the Toyota V8 for one. Yup, the same Toyota V8 that Toyota runs at NASCAR events. While it's ostensibly a Toyota motor, it was 100% designed in the USA by TRD and Ed Pink Racing Engines.
The carburetor has been removed and replaced with fuel injection, but other than that, this is the same engine you'd find under the hood of a NASCAR stock car (with shorty track pistons, shorty pipes, etc). Power? "Oh, about 600 or so to the wheels," says Papadakis. All that small block fury gets routed to the smoky rear tires via a four-speed Muncie-style dog-engagement G-force gearbox, then through a MKIV Supra rear end. The car is essentially a little ball of wow. And you have to hear it to believe how deaf I am.
Ace photographer Drew Phillips and I spent the morning standing behind concrete barricades in the middle of Irwindale's infield watching Tanner and fellow Scion dorifto driver Ken Gushi (in his Avensis-based tC) make dozens upon dozens of practice runs. You'd think they'd take fewer runs than that, seeing as how a set of rear meats is only good for about two laps, but hey – that's what tire sponsors are for.
Eventually, they both left the track but then Foust came back in golf cart to set up the clipping cones. Tanner was nice enough to give us a lift back to the paddock as long as we helped him with the cones. I should have been asking him auto-journo type questions at this point ("compare this new car to your old Z") but instead we just joked about the golf cart's Momo wheel and how Tanner's should take it drifting.
Right, so after Tanner's little joke (the one where he made fun of my fat gut), it was time for two laps with arguably the world's best drifter on his home track in a snorting monster of a car. And we're off. There's a Mitsubishi EVO IX camera car in front and to the right of us filming the laps. At first the acceleration isn't all that. But then Tanner drops it into second gear. I've felt some epic thrust in my time, but the only way I can describe the experience of a 650+ hp Scion at full tilt is to ask you to imagine a big guy standing behind you and swinging a baseball bat as hard as he can into the small of your back. CRACK! The little "Scion" takes off like a moonshot. A moment later we are traveling at well over 100 mph, rocketing towards both the EVO and a cement wall. Suddenly, up goes the handbrake.
Somehow, and honestly I really have zero idea how, Tanner threaded the Scion through a maybe seven-foot wide gap between the Mitsu and the wall. We're totally sideways at this point, with the Scion's rump pointing at the curving concrete barrier and its snout nearly facing the middle of the track. I was reminded of a time when I got a couple laps in a decommissioned stock car on the California Speedway's big oval. My right ear was less than a foot away from a huge wall and we were going over 180 mph. In both instances, what's actually taking place is so loudly violent, so cataclysmically crazed, so on the ragged edge of both the laws of physics and my own sense of self-preservation that I just let go. It's as if you must turn to faith to get you back alive in one piece, as logic and reason have long ago exited the car. Doing so turns everything almost serene.
We slow down (a little) as we approach the first clipping point and by doing so some of the seemingly endless smoke generated by the quickly-melting tires begins filling the cabin. I would later ask Papadakis what the lung-cancer rate amongst drifters is, and he replied, "The sport's too young to tell!" It turns out, that tire smoke not only tastes awful, it prefers clinging to exposed metal over human flash and t-shirts. Which is why for a second I'm convinced that the A-pillar corner of the roll cage is on fire. Before I have time to process that thought, the handbrake goes up again and we're pointed nearly 180 degrees in the other direction. Oh look, another solid concrete wall accompanied by triple digit forward velocity. Were today actually a Formula D event, this particular part of the track would be home to the VIP grandstands. Meaning that this is where the real actionshowboating happens.
And dude, did it happen.
Tanner yanks hard on the handbrake and the Scion pitches itself more than 180 degrees to the left. I was told later that for some reason, Tanner took this particular run a little deeper than he'd been doing earlier with other passengers (jerk). As the turn is such an incredible change of both direction and momentum, the result is almost nothing but smoke. Tons of it. So much smoke that people on the other side of the wall (and probably riding in the camera car) lose sight of us for a second. Tanner quickly transitions it back the other way (more like fishtailing it from where I'm sitting) for the last set of cones and this time, he really punches it, trying to use up what's left of the Hankooks for a sort of mini grand finale. More smoke, more stupid silly sideways g forces, more deafening roar. I'm beginning to really like this.
I'm in a daze as we make a U-turn in the paddock for lap two. Foust asks me how I liked it. I begin applauding. First of all, I'm stunned that not only didn't we crash and burst into flames, but somehow, I'm still breathing. Second, how in the hell did he just do that? I make up my mind to watch Tanner's hands and feet on this lap to try and see how he's able to maintain such phenomenal control. Big mistake. Foust is making so many moves, and dancing between the pedals, wheel, stick and handbrake so quickly, that it's nonsensical. I just can't process it. To me, he's having a seizure. My poor little brain can't cope with what my eyes are telling it and for the first time I'm frightened. Best to just look out the side window at the looming mass of approaching concrete. Honestly, that calms me down.
Gallery: Autoblog Goes Drifting with Tanner Foust
Photos copyright ©2009 Drew Phillips Weblogs, Inc.
Up until a few years ago, seeing a driver switch from one motorsport discipline to another was practically unheard of. A Formula One driver might compete at Le Mans, sure, but with few exceptions, that was about the extent of it. Now we've got drivers interested in switching between F1, rallying and even motorbikes in a big game of musical chairs. Once unfathomable, however, the biggest trend is a growing cadre of F1 drivers migrating to NASCAR.
Following similar moves by Juan Pablo Montoya, Jacques Villeneuve and Scott Speed, to name just a few, and rumors of Nelsinho Piquet's intended move, comes news that Toyota's Jarno Trulli (pictured above) is scheduled to test drive a stock car next month at USA International Speedway in Lakeland, Florida. After attending a Sprint Cup race last year in Michigan, and reportedly several more to observe Montoya's progress, Trulli asked his employers at Toyota to arrange a test session for him, so they set him up with the Michael Waltrip Racing team – which races under the Toyota banner – for a two-day test in November.
Joining Trulli at the test session will reportedly be one Mika Salo, the Finnish driver who competed in F1 from 1994 to 2002. Over his career, Salo raced for Lotus, Tyrrell, Arrows, BAR, Sauber and Toyota, but his best results were a pair of podiums scored when filling in for an injured Michael Schumacher at Ferrari in 1999. Recently, he's been racing for Risi Competizione in the Le Mans Series, and took the GT2 class win at Le Mans last year, but now he's looking to switch to oval tracks.
Crashing in Formula One is taken pretty seriously. Especially if you did it on purpose. Which goes a long way towards explaining why the motorsport community is calling for the blood of Nelson Piquet Jr. The disgraced Renault driver was, in the end, the perpetrator of the so-called Crashgate affair. But while his boss and manager Flavio Briatore was kicked out of Formula One (and any involvement in any FIA-sanctioned racing series) as a result, and technical director Pat Symonds received a five-year ban. For his part, Piquet walked as part of the whistle-blower deal brokered with the FIA. So it may be a little hard to appreciate the young driver's standpoint that he's suffered the most out of the affair.
On this side of the Atlantic, however, stock cars crash all the time. It's just part of the spectacle. So while Piquet, Jr. may have a hard time finding a race seat in Formula One or any other Euro-centric racing series, he may – like Juan Pablo Montoya, Jacques Villeneuve and Scott Speed, to name just a few – try his hand at stock car racing. Well, stock truck racing, more specifically.
According to new reports, Piquet is scheduled to test a Toyota Tundra race truck fielded by the Red Horse team in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series over the next couple of weeks. The report, originating from Brazil's Globo television, further suggests that Piquet has a strategy in place to spend one year in trucks and another year in the second-tier Nationwide Series before graduating to the top-tier Sprint Cup in 2012. The question is, how will American racing drivers – and just as importantly, American racing fans – greet the embattled grand prix driver?
As expected, Richard Petty Motorsports will no longer race in NASCAR using Chrysler vehicles after the current season, instead turning to Ford and joining forces with Yates Racing. The first sign of discontentment between the Pentastar and Petty came shortly after Chrysler filed for bankruptcy and halted payment to Petty's racing organization.
For the 2010 season, the new group will field a team of drivers consisting of Kasey Kahne, A.J. Allmendinger, Paul Menard and Elliott Sadler. At this point, its unclear what will happen with Reed Sorenson, Bobby Labonte and Erik Darnell, the three drivers currently left out of the new team's plans.
You'd have to turn back the clock a full 40 years to see the last time Richard Petty raced with Ford. Petty won a total of nine races in 1969, his lone season driving a car from the Blue Oval, before eventually losing out on the title to David Pearson's Holman Moody-prepped Ford Torino.
The rumors were apparently true. According to ESPN, IndyCar driver – and, without a doubt our favorite Go Daddy spokesmodel – Danica Patrick will "all but certainly" take part in NASCAR racing next year. It seems Patrick will be limiting her exposure to the Nationwide Series and Truck series and will continue to race the full IndyCar schedule for Andretti Green Racing.
If ESPN's sources are accurate, Danica will join Stewart Haas Racing and partner up with Tony Stewart, who will serve as her mentor in the sport. Stewart enjoyed a successful career in open wheel racing before switching to stock cars. As you might expect, the top female driver here in the States shouldn't have an issue with sponsorship money and the move could provide just the ratings boost NASCAR sorely needs.
Besides the gradual thawing of most of the country, March means the beginning of the Formula One season as well as Sebring, the Geneva Motor Show, the Amelia Island Concours, and NASCAR ramping up to full speed. Those events alone would be enough to sate even the healthiest automotive appetites, but there's plenty more going on in the motoring world. As always, we tried to list the highlights as well as a few smaller events that we hope will be of interest to you. Feel free to use the comments section to add or modify listings.
more ...
Besides the gradual thawing of most of the country, March means the beginning of the Formula One season as well as Sebring, the Geneva Motor Show, the Amelia Island Concours, and NASCAR ramping up to full speed. Those events alone would be enough to sate even the healthiest automotive appetites, but there's plenty more going on in the motoring world. As always, we tried to list the highlights as well as a few smaller events that we hope will be of interest to you. Feel free to use the comments section to add or modify listings.
more ...
Hardcore NASCAR fans might not recognize their favorite sport when the season picks back up on February 15th at Daytona International Speedway in Florida. Chrysler, General Motors, Ford and Toyota have all cut back funding 20 to 30 percent, and once strong teams like Petty Enterprises have merged with rivals and closed up shop. What's more, fewer fans will be able to afford a weekend at the races, and that equals less revenue. Still, Brian France remains optomistic that the 2009 season will remain compelling. Top-shelf drivers like Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch will be back to battle for the championship and there are still 50 teams that have signed up to race at Daytona in 2009. Come what may, it's a virtual guarantee that NASCAR racing will go on, though perhaps with a bit less sparkle, flash and income than in previous years.
Ford is set to debut its first-ever clean-sheet NASCAR racing engine later this year. Known internally as the FR9, the new V8 shares no parts with its predecessor and is the first modern Ford engine designed specifically for NASCAR. Unlike the last-generation race engine, which, though thoroughly modified, was based on a production Ford 351 engine block, the new FR9 makes full use of the allowable 4.500-inch bore spacing that NASCAR has dictated in its rules. Further, the FR9's cooling and lubrication systems have been completely redesigned, allowing teams to configure their car's grille areas for better aerodynamics. Ford claims that the engine has been on the drawing board for the last three years, and the new engine has logged thousands of miles on the dyno. The first successful testing on the track also took place last November. Expect to see various NASCAR teams using the new FR9 around the middle of this season.
