Full Throttle

He has been voted the most overrated driver in V8 Supercars and only has one race win to his name, but James Courtney will next year become one of the sport’s richest drivers after signing a mind-boggling $1 million-a-year deal.

Championship leader Jamie Whincup kept his nose clean to pull off the win for race two at Symmons Plains this weekend. And teammate Craig Lowndes put in an 11th hour move on Jack Daniel’s Racing’s Todd Kelly for a TeamVodafone one-two finish.

Ambrose was well on his way to a Jimmie Johnson-like third V8 championship until the Bathurst 1000 when he was involved in a controversial crash with Greg Murphy approaching The Cutting late in the race.

The “buzz” this week in NASCAR Nation is sponsorship, the economy, and the possibility of reduced starting fields. I’ll be addressing that topic specifically shortly (or not, but will get to it) in another post.
My point for now being, things can be much worse on the sponsorship front, much worse.
A case in point:
This past weekend [...]

Most NASCAR fans have heard, read or personally seen some of the craziness that occurs race weekends at Talladega Superspeedway.
BBQ’s a plenty. Beer. Girls. Beer. RV’s a far as the eyes can see. Beer. More girls (”Thanks for the mammaries!”). Hell you might even catch Grandpa chasing his granddaughter around with a super soaker. Fun [...]

Call this funny or sad, your choice. I call it politicians meddling in something they have little understanding of. (OH, what a shock!)
The New South Wales Government, headed by its Premier Nathan Rees, recently approved a $30 million AUS (24 mil plus in USD) expenditure of tax dollars to hold an event through the streets [...]

For today’s slice of comedy we go south of the Earth’s belt-line to Australia and the Australian V8 Series.
Remember when Dale Jr. got a slap on the wrist and wallet for saying something to the effect; “It don’t mean shit right now… Daddy’s won here 10 times.”
Several other drivers have been docked cash for have [...]

Environmentalists, and a 4.3 in frog, may have a profound impact on the Australian V8 Series’ event held annually at Olympic Park in Sydney.
The future of V8 Supercar racing in Sydney is being held ransom by the green and golden bell frog, cementing its place as the nation’s most powerful amphibian.
Environmental groups have raised concerns [...]

After more than 30 years as a Blue-Oval battler Dick Johnson, often fighting single-handed against a horde of Holdens (GM), has been tossed to the curb by Ford in a dash for cash.

Australian Marcos Ambrose will have his closest thing to a home event in the Carquest Auto Parts 300 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway this weekend.
Ambrose will have 30 fans from his homeland at the 1.5-mile speedway this weekend on the second Marcos Ambrose tour of NASCAR Nation. The tour is a sell-out and a second tour [...]

First the premise:
Every V8 Supercar Championship Series and Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series driver will be required to have a minimum $500,000 (465,000 USD) insurance coverage in order to compete in either category.
The board of V8 Supercars Australia has made the insurance mandatory as of next week’s third round of the Championship – the Hamilton 400 [...]

Owen Kelly will be leaving Australia this week (Tuesday) on a flight headed to North Carolina and his eventual home in Mooresville, NC.
Following in the footsteps of fellow Tasmanian Marcos Ambrose Kelly has signed a development contract with JR Motorsports with the eventual goal of competing alongside Ambrose in one of NASCAR’s top three series’.
Kelly, [...]

There’s more than one way to skin a cat.
The Stone Brothers Racing team proves there’s more than one way to utilize the brute horsepower in their Ford Falcon. James Courtney, you ROCK!!

The loudest murmur (sometimes a roar) heard around NASCAR Nation are changes to occur in the current Sprint Cup qualifying rules.
NASCAR made a small change by allowing the go home crowd to qual as a group after the top 35 cars timed in. The idea being the go homers would be on equal footing between [...]

No, not the T-Shirt Salesman NASCAR’s Jim Beam, the V8 Supercars Jim Beam and its driver Will Davison.
In a turn around from the first race, Ford drivers dominated the second race in the 2008 V8 Supercar Series at Eastern Creek today, finishing in the top three places.
The first Holden across the line was Ford defector [...]

“Ford mutes its stars!” - the headline reads.
WHAT! I thought that was the job of PCNA and NASCAR! You know that whole “make our drivers as plain-jane as, well… Plain Jane.”
What the hell is FoMoCo HQ silencing its drivers for? Don’t they know there are hard working “word-wonks” whose phony-baloney jobs at NASCAR depend on [...]

Fujitsu V8 Supercar driver, Ashley Cooper, succumbed last Monday to brain injuries received from a high speed racing accident at the Clipsal 500 meeting in Adelaide.
As terrible as this incident was for his partner, Casey, and their two young children Ella and Bailey, their families, friends, and motorsport fans; Ashley has provided the greatest gift [...]

NASCAR, take note what follows is what many fans think has been missing from America’s premier tin-top series. Trash talkin’!
The V8 Supercar Series last weekend featured both a war of sheet metal between the sports biggest stars and afterwards a war of words has ensued.
First the on track melee: The biggest incident occurred on lap [...]

It took the death of NASCAR’s biggest star Dale Earnhardt Sr. in 2001 to add urgency to the sanctioning bodies efforts at producing a safer vehicle. The resulting car is getting its first full season test this year and at this point has generally received passing grades.
This past weekend saw the tragic death of Ashley [...]

The Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) has confirmed V8 Supercar driver Ashley Cooper has passed away in Royal Adelaide hospital.
Cooper 27, of Ulladulla in NSW, died following a crash in last Saturday’s Fujitsu development series race at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide.
An experienced motor racing competitor, Cooper was critically injured when his vehicle impacted [...]