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To the point.

New CT5 pictures show f..ugly chunky greenhouse. Is this a common Nissan or Infiniti? Reminds me, too, of the afterthought SLT quarter emblem on the latest GMC Terrain. Who's minding the store?

REL
Round Mountain, Texas



Plastic. Not fantastic.

So the Cadillac CT5 has been shown with a giant piece of plastic on the C-pillar. Tennis anyone?

Tom Pease
AE's L.A.-based correspondent
Beverly Hills, California



Too many egos, too little intelligence.

I was in attendance for my 30th 12 Hours of Sebring this past weekend. Crowd was great. Weather was ok. Beer was cold. The 8 Hour support race Friday night was a great GT battle in both classes. I stuck around until my native Floridian nose smelled rain, then bailed out to the hotel (clean sheets, hot water and A/C are priceless). Especially when it rains. I’m with you; if the FIA/ACO want to race at Sebring, they need to be racing in the 12 Hours of Sebring. Not this contrived thing that they put on Friday night. If being at Sebring is so important, where have they been this past six years? They obviously couldn’t draw the fans anywhere else and had to piggyback on to the 12 Hours. Too many egos, too little intelligence.

Greg A.
Lake Worth, Florida



Sebring and F1.

I was looking forward to this past weekend, the first F1 race, and Sebring, one of my very favorite endurance races. But, yawn, another F1 race won in the first corner (by Mercedes, as usual) and a 1-2-3 by the “Cadillac” cars resulted in my going out in the yard watching my tulips grow. It was just as exciting. But yeah, a very class display by the Michelin people. 

Ted R. 
Raleigh, North Carolina



Another great car ad.

To add to the “Somewhere West of Laramie” ad…it and Cadillac's “The Penalty of Leadership” are definitely on the podium for great automotive advertising. Without true emotion, advertising is nothing but words on a page.

W.J. Jones
Syracuse New York

Editor's Note: Peter has written about "The Penalty of Leadership" Cadillac print ad several times over the years. It is one of his favorites. -WG

Michelin.

Great call pointing out the excellence the Michelin team brought to the Super Sebring Weekend. Continental did a great job, but Michelin appears to be taking it to another level. Thanks to the guys for giving this fan a real behind the scenes look at that amazing race tire production operation.

Rich A.
Michigan City, Indiana



 

Racing, racing, racing.

Two Things: How can Jim France do such a masterful job of resurrecting IMSA, and yet NASCAR feels like it's being handcuffed to the handrail on the stern of the Titanic???

I got to hand it to the FIA and F1, in that it allows me to simply watch Q3 to get the final starting order, watch the pre-race interviews, then after watching the first few laps, go on and do productive things with the rest of my day... because barring a big screw-up, how they're running at the end of lap 2 is how they're going to finish. I know how the race will end 56 laps later BEFORE it's run. Thanks!

J. Wilson
Nashville, Tennessee

    


More on racing.

As much as my son and I enjoy all types of racing I agree it becomes difficult to stay focused when watching a 12 or 24 hour race. Add in the multiple classes and the casual fan will lose interest and may just tune in for the final hour or so to see how his/her favorite marque has done. I agree that LMP2 is a joke and should just go away.

We appreciate the opportunity to watch these live rather than in tape delay but still it is challenging. These races may never reach ratings like NASCAR but hopefully generate enough to ‘pay the bills’ and will continue to be covered. The IMSA races are certainly more interesting than F1; yesterday's season opener a prime example. Position changes below the top 5 or so and that's about it. IndyCar has been putting on a good show of late and hopefully that will continue. The segmented NASCAR is not on my viewing list any longer.

Although Kyle Busch is definitely an accomplished driver, I don't quite get why he needs to regularly compete in the truck and other lesser series. His talent and equipment seem to be above the rest of the competition and in my opinion it discourages interest and viewership for what should be a ‘feeder’ series for the top step. The ‘news’ is when he doesn't win, and even then he's usually second. Sure it gives the other drivers a look at what the top rung is all about, but it's got to be discouraging as well - and boring for the fans.

WG
Shoreview, Minnesota




Depressing times.

Twice in the last couple of weeks I've had someone give me the blank stare when I mention that my Corvette has a 427 engine. I was talking to a late 30-ish couple in a parking garage about my Corvette while standing next to it. I pointed out that it had a 427 engine. They both gave me the blank stare, then the husband asked what that was in liters. When I said 7-liters, he and his wife were like “WOW,” that's twice as big as most cars. That wasn't the worst though. There was a new car exhibit at the fairgrounds a couple of weeks ago. I was chatting with a lady in the Chevrolet display and she asked me about my Corvette (I was wearing a Corvette jacket). I told her I had a 427 Convertible and I got a blank look out of her. She didn't even know that Chevrolet had named a C6 Corvette model the “427 Convertible.” I tried to tell her that it was 427 cubic inches and she said that 'we don't talk cubic inches any more. Everything is liters. I said 7-liters and she (the GM/Chevy representative) was like “WOW. Our biggest engine is only 6.2 liters now.” I walked away and found someone that actually knew something about the cars they were representing.

Tuna
Mustang, Oklahoma



Exactly.

Congratulations to Kyle Busch for being the first to tie Richard Petty's record of 200 NASCAR wins. Of course, there's a slight difference. King Richard earned all his 200 wins in the big league, whatever NASCAR's top series was called in a given year. Kyle's was won primarily in the second-tier Xfinity, a few wins in third-tier Trucks, and the rest with the big boys.

You know, sorta like sending Bryce Harper down to the Phillies AAA and AA clubs, and then letting his results there count with his MLB stats.

Syke
Ashland, Virginia