NASCAR has approved the Simpson Hybrid Pro device for use in its touring series including the Sprint Cup Series. Reportedly NASCAR has been testing the Simpson version of the Head and Neck restraint system similar to the HANS for some time and is not a reaction to the crashes of Dan Weldon in IndyCar or Jimmy Johnson at Charlotte.

The design minimizes the size giving you the first device requiring no seat modification. It also is better for the smaller-sized cockpits in today’s cars.

Dan Wheldon died Sunday at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway at the age of 33. The 2-time Indianapolis 500 winner  was caught up in a fiery 15-car pileup. His car took flight over another vehicle and landed in a catch fence just outside turn 2.

Three other drivers, including championship contender Will Power, were injured and sent to a nearby hospital. The race was officially canceled after a 2 hour Red flag and the remaining teams did a five lap salute to Dan Wheldon around the Vegas track. The last time a fatality occurred at an Indycar event was in 2006 when Paul Dana was killed at Homestead. Many drivers and teams had expressed concerned about the high speeds at the track, where they were hitting nearly 225 mph during practice.

Wheldon was in Sunday’s at Las Vegas the Indycar season finale,  thanks to Indycar CEO Randy Bernard’s promotion that promised $5 million to any moonlighting driver who could win the IndyCar season finale at Vegas. At the time of the crash Wheldon gained over ten spots on the track.
“IndyCar is very sad to announce that Dan Wheldon has passed away from unsurvivable injuries,” Bernard said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family today. IndyCar, its drivers and owners, have decided to end the race. In honor of Dan Wheldon, the drivers have decided to do a five-lap salute to in his honor.”
Wheldon was rumoured to replace Danica Patrick next season in the Go-Daddy-sponsored car for Andretti Autosport.

DAN WHELDON:
June 22, 1978-October 16, 2011
Hometown: Emberton, England
Residence: St. Petersburg, Fla.
16 wins, 134 Indycar Starts, 5 Poles, 93 Top 10′s
2005 Indycar Championship

The 106-year-old, six-tenths-of-a-mile racetrack caled Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway is looking for a new life. NASCAR’s top series has not raced there since 1984 but Sterling Marlin, Richard Petty & others are trying to keep the historic track from turning into another big construction project. The track sits on the city owned Tennessee State Fairgrounds. Cars started racing on the track back in 1904 msaking it one of the oldest tracks. Marlin said if Dover closes the superspeedway, the only NASCAR racing in Tennessee would be in Bristol which is a five-hour drive.
Sterling Marlin’s group’s proposal detailed Thursday calls for replacing the swath of asphalt parking lots with trees and grass to retain rain and help drainage, a wind farm to take advantage of the hilly location, solar panels and bike paths and walking trails for neighbors. Charging stations for electric cars also are on tap with sound barrier walls to dampen track noise to keep neighbors happier. They want at least a 15-year lease from the city although in the past the city has refused any long-term leases.

 A lot recently has been said about blocking in racing. In NASCAR there is the ongoing movements between Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski. In last week’s Indycar race Helio Castroneves was penalized for blocking teamate Will Power in the race at Edmonton. Many question the call as the track was wide enough for several cars where the incident took place. Castroneves simply took the best line away from Power a reasonable thing to do when leading the race.
Today’s Hungarian Grand Prix had seven-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher in the Mercedes blocking the faster Williams Cosworth of Rubens Barrichello. As can be seen in the video here, Schumacher nearly put Barrichello into the pit wall. This could have had catastrophic consequences as it was only inches from a solid concrete wall. Barrichello said that it was the most dangerous manoeuvre ever used against him. 

The penalty leveled againsy Schuey is ten positions on the starting grid for the August 29th Belgian Grand Prix. Does the penalty fit the crime? How does this compare to the blocking in recent Indycar and NASCAR races? Is blocking just part of the sport or will it eventually kill someone? Blocking has always been a part of racng from local short-track racing to the big leagues. It really comes down to what is defined as blocking and what is part of the competition.

 Indycar driver Mike Conway suffered a horrific crash at the 2010 Indy 500. Just this week, Mike finally had his leg cast removed. He is still undergoing massive rehabilitation which includes time in a  Kriotherapy rehabilitation chamber. The Kriotherapy chamber exposes to Mike temperatures as low as -130 degrees for up to 4 minutes at a time. This treatment speeds up the healing process of the bones in his left leg by creating a flushing effect (vasodilatation and constriction of the blood vessels) which helps to remove the waste products at the site of the injury, whilst also supplying the vital nutrients for the healing process.  He also spent time in a single seater racing simulator.  Mike expects to be in an actual race car later this year.

Top Alcohol Funny Car driver Neal Parker, 58, of Millville, N.J., died from a crash at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Old Bridge, New Jersey. Parker ran through a containment area at the end of a track and died of head injuries after crashing his alcohol-fueled funny car at a “high rate of speed” during a qualifying round at the NHRA SuperNationals at a New Jersey raceway Friday, according to state police. 
 A statement by NHRA released today: “On behalf of everyone at NHRA and Raceway Park, we are deeply saddened and want to pass along our sincere condolences to the entire Parker family.”

The car ran through a containment area with soft barriers, sand and a safety net and wound up in pieces in front of a wall at the edge of the raceway property. State police declined to comment on whether the car hit the wall or on eyewitness accounts that a drogue chute designed to slow the car failed to deploy properly.
 This accident is nearly two years after Scott Kalitta died when his Funny Car burst into flames and crashed at the end of the same track.

Points Position	Name	Starts	Finish: Daytona	California	Las Vegas
11	James Buescher	3	8	13	29
17	Brian Scott	3	19	10	31
26	Colin Braun	3	34	18	28
34	Danica Patrick	3	35	31	36
36	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	3	36	39	30
38	Parker Kligerman	2	dns	22	35
57	Chrissy Wallace	1	43	dns	dns

There are five drivers running for the Raybestos Rookie of the year in the Nationwide Series. After the first three races and since Danica is only a part-time stock car driver and Full time Indycar driver & swimsuit model we thought right now is the time to compare statistics for rookies in the first three races of the season.

Both James Buescher and Brian Scott have scored Top Tens. Parker Kligerman did not start the race at Daytona due to qualifying being rained out. Chrissy Wallace and Danica Patrick are running limited schedules (hence the did not starts for Chrissy) and neither will be running for Rookie of the year.
One Rookie note is this is the first time a rookie has not scored a top-10 finish in the last four consecutive Nationwide Series races at Las Vegas. Last year four rookies finished in the top 10:  Michael McDowell, 6th; Brendan Gaughan, 7th;
Justin Allgaier, 8th; Scott Lagasse Jr., 9th.
In the Rookie stats Danica is fourth. Below many peoples expectations and on par for others but what did you expect? Her highest finish was 31st at California. Every other rookies has a higher finish than her except Chrissy Wallace who has only one start.
Another comparison is the teams. James Buescher is driving the #1 car for Phoenix Racing owned by James Finch, in a basically unponsored car. Phoenix Racing owned the car Brad Keselowski won with at Talledage last year. This year is Cup competition they have struggled to qualify for races with Aric Almirola as driver.
Brian Scott drives the #11 for Braun Racing. Braun competes only in the Nationwide series although it at times has shared  connections to Sprint Cup teams as it has been a part of driver development programs.
Colin Braun, a Raybestos Rookie-of-the-Year in the NASCAR Camping World Truck series, is in the #16 for Roush Fenway Racing. It should be noted Colin has six previous starts (7 or less starts in a season keeps you qualified for Rookie of the year) in two seasons where he earned two poles and a top five finish. Jack Roush and Roush Fenway Racing is well knowned in NASCAR. Since 1988 it has earned Championships in all three of NASCAR’s top series. They have competed not only in NASCAR but drag racing and sports cars. Anyone remember Tommy Kendall’s 12 SCCA Trans-Am wins in 1995? That was a Roush Ford.
Danica Patrick is driving the #7 car for JR Motorsports which is “in partnership” with Hendrick Motorspors. JR Motorsports is co-owned by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Rick Hendrick. Hendrick Motorsports competes in all three of NASCAR’s top series. They have earned nine Sprint Cup, one Nationwide (driver only) and three Camping World Truck Series championships. They have 188 wins in Sprint Cup competition, 29 in Nationwide/Busch and 25 in the truck series. They build and supply engines and chassis for many other top teams.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. drives the #6 car for Roush Fenway Racing. See above for details.
Parker Kligerman is a Penske Racing development driver driving the #42 car for Team 42 Racing, formerly known as Smith-Ganassi Racing. Because of sponsorship issues he is not set to compete in the entire season. The sponsor of his car Smith Iroworks is a company owned by team owner Eddie Smith. It is unknown how much involvement Penske has with the #42 car. Penske racing competes currently not only in NASCAR but in Indycar as well. They have had no NASCAR championships but have earned them in Indycar, CART and USAC. They also have on the Indianapolis 500 fifteen times. Did you know that the first car in NASCAR from Penske was an AMC Matador? Some may ask, “What’s a Matador?” Justin Allgaier won the 2009 Rookie of the year in a Penske Racing car.
 Next week is Bristol. Danica Patrick and Chrissy Wallace will not be at that race. The remaining Rokkies will battle it out short track style. Should be a good one!

Sunday at Atlanta, Carl Edwards bumped Brad Keselowski. The end result was Brad’s #12 Penske car flipped end over end. At the beginning of the season NASCAR told drivers they would let them sort out their differences. But people asked after the race is this different because of the severity of the wreck? Carl admitted he took Brad out but denied he wanted to make his car flip.
Everyone watching the race could see even the previous lap Carl made an attempt.
 Race car drivers, whether NASCAR Sprint Cup or at the local short track, have a different attitude than the general public do. On the track adrenaline is coming out their ears. Then when another driver bumps into them sending them into the wall or another car ruining their race all they can think about is payback. That was what Carl Edwards was thinking about after being taken out by Brad Keselowski early in the race. He returned 153 laps down. What else was there to do?
 This depends on the person. There are some that would never do this. Mark Martin has been racing in NASCAR for over 25 years but when is the last time he took out another driver who took him out? I myself can say regardless of what was done to me I never used my race car to take them out. Because I worked on my own cars. Paid the expenses. Begged for sponsorship money. Today many of these drivers have never tightened a bolt on these cars. They will thank “The guys in the shop” but then cause hours or days of work for them just to get a little revenge. Plus add thousands of dollars of expenses to their owners. There are better ways of getting back at other drivers. (Email me privately for what works!) And anyone who has driven for me will attest that if there was an incident on the track, I immediatly was on the radio calming them down.
 Having said that, I do not put a lot of fault in Carl’s actions. NASCAR also felt that way. They suspended him for a mere three races. NASCAR was in a hard place. After saying the drivers could handle things themselves, if they imposed a hefty fine and took away a hundred points, then they went back on their word. I do not believe Carl inteneded to get Brad’s car airborne. This was caused most likely by the stupid rear wing and aerodynamics of the car when it was backwards. It will be fixed in a couple of weeks when NASCAR replaces the wing with the spoiler. So that is in part NASCAR’s fault for not making the change earlier. Carl did not know that what happen because NASCAR did not know. NASCAR looked at Brad’s car after the race and will be testing another car to see why it got airborne. 
  There are other drivers who either publicly or privately have stated they agree with Carl’s actions. Many have said Brad had it coming from his driving style. Indeed last year Denny Hamlin took out Keselowski at the Nationwide race at Homestead last year. Payback for an earlier incident. So while Carl Edwards is on probation, we might yet see another driver involved with Brad. Then again we will have to see if NASCAR lets the drivers sort it out themselves. Keep watching!