EVENT> Toyota Camry Takes First Place In Fontana
NASCAR was pigeonholed many years ago as a redneck, Southeastern cultural phenomenon. It still has some of that down home feel, but when you drop the Sprint Cup and Nationwide series into the heart of Southern California car country, it melds almost seamlessly with so much of the culture surrounding things that go vroom-vroom.
Consider NASCAR evolved out of the uncanny abilities of drivers who spent most of their time trying to outrun the police... No, really. Most of NASCAR’s original heroes cut their driving chops running moonshine (illegal grain alcohol) in the 1920s to the 1940s. Not only were these guys phenomenal drivers who regularly escaped certain prison time, they were clever mechanics, who could tune a 1930s Chevy to outrun just about any municipal vehicle of the day. Read more...
Consider NASCAR evolved out of the uncanny abilities of drivers who spent most of their time trying to outrun the police... No, really. Most of NASCAR’s original heroes cut their driving chops running moonshine (illegal grain alcohol) in the 1920s to the 1940s. Not only were these guys phenomenal drivers who regularly escaped certain prison time, they were clever mechanics, who could tune a 1930s Chevy to outrun just about any municipal vehicle of the day. Read more...
GALLERY> Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
Nearly two weeks ago, some of you saw a portion of the 1.968-mile temporary street course in Long Beach, CA when Formula DRIFT slid into town. Just this past weekend, fans were treated to the full street course with the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. During the three-day event, fans were able to see a variety of races - IndyCar, Firestone Indy Lights, American Le Mans Series, Pirelli World Cup, and the infamous Formula DRIFT team competition. Local Long Beach drifter Kyle Mohan and 2011 Rookie of the Year Aurimas "Odi" Bakchis won the team DRIFT competition. Read more...
PERSPECTIVE> An Outsider’s Look At NASCAR
Most of our readers already know that @MotorMavens Crew doesn't normally do coverage of stock car racing. However, when we got the official invite and media passes to the NASCAR Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway (California Speedway) in Fontana this past weekend, we decided it might be interesting to experience NASCAR through the eyes of an outsider.
I was unsure of what to expect. A lot of people portray the NASCAR crowd to be a certain demographic - yielding confederate flags and trucker caps with flames on the bill, screaming "Yee-haw!" but that stereotype couldn't be more incorrect, at least at the Fontana event. Read more...
I was unsure of what to expect. A lot of people portray the NASCAR crowd to be a certain demographic - yielding confederate flags and trucker caps with flames on the bill, screaming "Yee-haw!" but that stereotype couldn't be more incorrect, at least at the Fontana event. Read more...
GALLERY> Scenes from the Long Beach Grand Prix
This past weekend, the Toyota Grand Prix took over the streets of Long Beach, CA. This annual three-day festival of speed consisted of the Izod IndyCar Series, the American Le Mans Series, Firestone Indy Lights, Toyota Pro Celebrity Race, SCCA Pro World Challenge Championship, and a team tandem competition from Formula Drift. We don't normally cover open wheel racing on Motor Mavens, but since we were all in Long Beach two weeks ago for Round 1 of the Formula Drift series, we thought it would be pretty interesting to experience the annual Long Beach Grand Prix to show a little bit of contrast on the site.
Britain's Mike Conway (above) emerged as the winner of the IZOD IndyCar race. Last year, Conway fractured a vertebrae and broke his leg during the Indianapolis 500. An injury like that would spell the end of a racing career for some people, but Conway was able to overcome that incredible setback and take his first IndyCar win at Long Beach. What a way to make a comeback! Read more...
