2007: This Ain't Your Daddy's NASCAR

2007: This Ain't Your Daddy's NASCAR:

"CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Buckle up, race fans, for a season that promises to be like nothing ever seen before.

With the mandated Car of Tomorrow, changes to the Chase for the championship, Toyota's arrival, ESPN's return and the introduction of former Formula One driver Juan Pablo Montoya, 2007 will prove this ain't your Daddy's NASCAR.

Indeed, this season will be a pivotal one for NASCAR, which looks to rebound after a mediocre 2006 that saw television ratings slip and made many wonder if the sport had reached its plateau.

But NASCAR chairman Brian France hasn't strayed from his belief that all is well in his family-owned business.
'We're in a very strong position,' he insisted. 'We are still the No. 2 sport on television. Promoters continue to enjoy great ticket sales throughout the year, and I know 2007, with all of the things that are going on, will make for an exciting season.'"

The Enquirer - Time for Toyota's NASCAR initiation

The Enquirer - Time for Toyota's NASCAR initiation:

"Toyota will make its highly anticipated NASCAR debut tonight in the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway. There are two Camrys in the 21-car exhibition event, including the one Dale Jarrett will start from the pole after winning a blind draw.
'I'll be glad to finally get into those race conditions to see where we stack up and see how we can compete,' Jarrett said. Because the Shootout is an all-star event for 2006 pole winners and past event winners, Jarrett and Brian Vickers are the only drivers from Toyota's seven-car fleet participating.
'It's the first entry of a non-American manufacturer, so it's going to be a historical day,' Dodge car owner Ray Evernham said."

Journal Gazette | 02/10/2007 | NASCAR spreads global wings

Journal Gazette 02/10/2007 NASCAR spreads global wings:

"I feel your pain, Bubba. While you were off drinking another Bud (’cause, you know, that’s Dale Jr.’s fave), somebody swiped your “3 Forever” flag, made Ken and Barbie the first couple of your sport and turned all your favorite races into the USG Sheetrock 400.
Sorry, Bubba. But NASCAR – and by that I mean, your NASCAR – is dead. Or to put it another way: “NASCAR es muerto.”
Brush up on your Spanish (and Japanese), because the sport’s goin’ international, and there isn’t a thing you can do to stop it. Juan Pablo “Hut” Montoya, F1 glamour puss, is coming to Nextel Cup as a sort of life-imitates-art Jean Gerard from “Talladega Nights.” Toyota, having tested the waters in the Craftsman Truck Series the past few seasons, is jumping into Cup, too. Old-school types are all up in arms about it, particularly the Toyota part."

Classic Driver Dealer: Oakfields - Classic Driver - MAGAZINE - features

Classic Driver Dealer: Oakfields - Classic Driver - MAGAZINE - features:

"Click on the Oakfields website and two startlingly different feature cars stare back at you from the home page. First, an MG SV – in fact, a whole group of SV 4.6 Coupes and SV R 5.0 Coupes, including the very last SV ever to have been built at the MG Sport and Racing facility. These high-performance, track-bred rarities with V8 power are described by Oakfields as a heavenly means of getting to deathly dull business meetings.

But the second feature vehicle offers an alternative way to spice up meetings: the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter AMG VIP provides accommodation for the meeting itself. With a luxurious cabin containing four, electrically-operated leather seats facing into the central area and such essentials as Hi-Fi and sound system, video and TV – plus an integral bar – you get all the best aspects of a VIP office inside a high-performance, diesel-powered AMG Sprinter.

“The AMG is one of three built for the Sultan of Brunei,” explains Oakfields supremo Ian Donaldson. “He ordered them to watch camel racing in air-conditioned luxury. New, the vehicles cost over £300,000 from AMG.” "

News - SilvertonAppeal.com

News - SilvertonAppeal.com: "Classic cars make a pit stop in Silverton


Sheldon Traver / Appeal Tribune

BY SHELDON TRAVER
Appeal Tribune
February 7

Car show at The Oregon Garden draws auto enthusiasts

On Saturday, there was just enough color in The Oregon Garden's J. Frank Schmidt Jr. Pavilion to attract a crowd.

However, the focus wasn't the flowers, it was the Buicks, Chevys, Fords and other automobiles that colored the inside of building. Hundreds attended The Garden's First Invitational Car Show to admire and dream about cars of a bygone era.

Most of the 34 cars at the show were from local Silverton Flywheels car enthusiasts, but visitors from as far away as Portland and Vancouver, Wash. were on hand to see the waxed and shined restored coupes, trucks and roadsters.

For 12-year-old Jarrid Hughes of Newburg, the Orange '69 Camero was the best in the show."

The Hutchinson News, Hutchinson, Kans. | Local News

The Hutchinson News, Hutchinson, Kans. Local News: "Classic cars, memories on display at show
By Amy Bickel
The Hutchinson News

abickel@hutchnews.com

Maybe it took a smitten couple to the drive-in movie.

Or maybe it dragged Main Street on a Friday night.
Either way, the 1955 Chevy Sedan has stories - including one that involves a teenager and his love for fast metal.
However, it wasn't until two years ago that Arlington resident Mike Baughman got his hands on the classic car, nearly 30 years after he graduated from high school.
But let's start before that, with the teenage kid whose after-school hobby developed his career as a mechanic - a kid whose first car in high school was an old Camaro.
Then he bought a 1957 Chevy, fixing up the piece of driving history. He's been working on old cars ever since."

The Daily Times - www.delmarvanow.com - Salisbury, Md.

The Daily Times - www.delmarvanow.com - Salisbury, Md.: "Classic cars, motorcycles to be auctioned off in OC
By Patrick Gavin
Staff Writer

OCEAN CITY -- Want to make your first million bucks? Auctioneer Larry Makowski thinks attending the first Ocean City Collector Car and Motorcycle Auction might be your best move.
The Roland E. Powell Convention Center will host a unique car show and auction today and Sunday that Makowski and his partners hope will be the city's signature winter event.

Unlike most other auto shows, car buffs are invited not only to drool over the assortment of vintage, classic and muscle cars, but bid on many of them as well. Among the cars rolling off the auction block will be a 1925 Ford Model T Fire Chief Buggy, a 1968 Chevelle Supersport and a 1973 Dodge Challenger. A 1956 Ford Thunderbird featured in a soon-to-be-released film and a rare 1968 Chrysler 300 Convertible -- of which only 2,000 were made -- will also be auctioned. "

Motorsport.com: News channel

Motorsport.com: News channel:

"Hot Rod Reunion - Fast Five with Ted Harbit
Racing series NHRA
Date 2007-02-05

'Fast Five' with Ted Harbit
Holley NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion Honoree built and raced cars for a half-century
*Holley NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion: June 15-17, National Trail Raceway, Columbus, Ohio
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- (Feb. 5, 2007) -- Teacher. Coach. Builder. Racer. Winner. Studebaker lover. That's Ted Harbit, an Honoree at the Holley NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion, June 15-17 at National Trail Raceway near Columbus, Ohio.
Harbit raced his 'Chicken Hawk' 1951 Studebaker and won the Stock class at the NHRA Nationals an incredible seven times in 11 tries. A retired teacher and basketball coach in the Frankton, Ind. school system, he has raced continuously in cars he's built himself for more than 50 years. Ted retired from class racing after the '72 U.S. Nationals and drove the Studebaker occasionally until 1987 when he decided to see how fast it would really go. With twin turbochargers and twin four barrel carbs, he's turned a best of 10.07 at 137.8 mph. In the Studebaker Drivers Club publication, Turning Wheels, Harbit explained why he still uses a Studebaker engine. 'My own experience has been that it is not necessary to go to expensive extremes to develop over 500 HP in a Studebaker V-8. . . and that the engine is so basically sturdy that one need not fear immediate disintegration when higher horsepowers (sic) have been developed.'"

Signorello Distribution to Unveil Their Newest Custom Car at the 36th Annual Detroit Autorama - PR.com

Signorello Distribution to Unveil Their Newest Custom Car at the 36th Annual Detroit Autorama - PR.com:

"Detroit, MI, February 07, 2007 --(PR.COM)-- Signorello Distribution is set to unveil their latest custom car creation at the 36th annual Detroit Autorama which is being held March 9 – 11, 2007 in the heart of the city that put cars and hot rods on the map - Detroit, MI. This year's show car is a custom one of kind hand built 1970 Dodge Super Bee created and built by President and Co-Owner of Signorello Distribution, Michael Signorello. Michael has built numerous award winning cars in his career but this Dodge Super Bee is unlike any he has built before and shown in the Autorama. “This car has a few tricks under the hood and I think it will surprise people,” said Michael. Signorello Distribution built the car to help promote the Jax Wax Family of Car Care products which they distribute throughout Michigan and Canada. While at the Detroit Autorama, visitors will be treated to product and detailing demonstrations on the Super Bee and after the show the car will go on tour with the company to various automotive events around the country. What makes the Detroit Autorama the center of the car building universe is that they will have over 2500 custom cars, trucks, motorcycles and special exhibits and over 300,000 people in attendance over the three day period. They also have the oldest and most prestigious award in automotive building, The Riddler Award, being hotly contended for. "