THE LINE - FEBRUARY 26, 2014
Monday, February 24, 2014 at 12:13PM
(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.0110)
John Thawley was at the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Winter Test at Sebring, Florida, last week and captured all of the action. Check out John's excellent work here.
(Photo by Harold Hinson/HHP courtesy of GM/Chevrolet Racing)
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports National Guard Chevrolet SS) celebrates winning the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway Sunday night. After a six-hour rain delay, Earnhardt stormed to the front and held off a furious bunch of challengers to capture his second win in NASCAR's premier event. ''We could fight off battle after battle," Earnhardt said. "We got a little help at the end there from Jeff (Gordon) to get away on the restart,'' Earnhardt said. ''This is amazing. I can't believe this is happening. I never take this for granted, man because it doesn't happen twice, let alone once.'' Watch the end of the race here.
(Photo by Alan Marler/HHP courtesy of GM/Chevrolet Racing)
Dale Earnhardt Jr. steams toward the finish line at the end of the Daytona 500 with Denny Hamlin (No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing FedEx Express Toyota Camry), Jeff Gordon (No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet SS) and Brad Keselowski (No. 2 Team Penske Miller Lite Ford Fusion) right behind him.
(Russell LaBounty LAT Photo USA ©2014, courtesy of Toyota Racing)
Denny Hamlin (No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing FedEx Express Toyota Camry) gets pit service from his crew on the way to a second-place finish in the Daytona 500.
(Nigel Kinrade/Nigel Kinrade Photography, ©2014, courtesy of Ford Racing)
Brad Keselowski (No. 2 Team Penske Miller Lite Ford Fusion) looked to be a real contender for the win in the last few laps of the Daytona 500 but he came up short, finishing third.
(FIA World Rallycross Championship presented by Monster Energy)
Jacques Villeneuve began preparations for the all-new 2014 FIA World Rallycross Championship presented by Monster Energy over the weekend as he tested his Albatec Racing Peugeot 208 at Lydden Hill. Villeneuve, a former F1 World Champion, Indianapolis 500 winner and IndyCar star completed 40 laps at the home of British rallycross to allow the 42-year-old driver vital seat-time in the machine. Andy Scott, Team Principal at Albatec Racing, was delighted with his new teammate’s performance behind the wheel of the 600HP Peugeot 208: “As expected, Jacques was immediately fast once we’d addressed the power steering issue this morning, and just got quicker and quicker as the day progressed. We will test again before the season starts, but where and when has not yet been decided.” The opening round of the 2014 FIA World Rallycross Championship will take place at Montalegre in Portugal the weekend of May 3-4. Villeneuve will make his "home" debut in the series at Trois-Rivières in Québec on August 7-8.
(FIA World Rallycross Championship presented by Monster Energy)
(Rally America)
Ken Block with co-driver Alex Gelsomino (Hoonigan Racing Ford Fiesta) won the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood - round two of the Rally America National Championship - held on February 21-22 in Salem, MO. The victory marks the seventh time the team has won the event out of their last eight attempts.
(Photo by Chris Jones/INDYCAR)
Jacques Villeneuve will return to the Indianapolis 500 as part of Schmidt Peterson Motorsports' lineup this May. Schmidt Peterson Motorsports co-owners Sam Schmidt and Ric Peterson and driver Jacques Villeneuve (by video) made the announcement at a press conference in Indianapolis today. Asked about returning to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway 20 years later, Villeneuve responded: "Trying to get back to those memories, the speed of driving on that track, on the edge with traffic, it's something that hasn't been reciprocated in any other form of racing. That was a level of excitement that was crazy. Also, it's the biggest race event in the world... it's also a question of opportunity. The opportunity came about with Sam Schmidt. We started talking not long ago, actually a few weeks ago. It all went fast. The discussions happened at the right time because I'd been watching the Indy cars last year and it looked extremely exciting with the new cars, to the point where I was angry and jealous that I wasn't racing. So that got me going again."