Autoblog

Race Recap: 2013 Daytona 500 runs 200 laps, six of them count [spoilers]

Jonathon Ramsey — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 22:40:00 EST

It's been a huge month, leading up to the Super Bowl of NASCAR, the Daytona 500. This is the first year of the new Car of Tomorrow, the "Gen Six" car, and all of the drivers have been trying to figure out its intricacies. The Ford Fusion and Chevrolet NASCAR SS has joined the field and its street-legal equivalent, the SS, was introduced. A huge wreck in the Nationwide Series race the day before the Daytona 500 tore a car in half, tore a hole in the fence, sent car parts flying into the crowd and injured some 33 spectators.

And then, of course, making just her 11th Sprint Cup Series start, there was Danica Patrick on pole position. She'd lead the way for the 43 cars on the grid to start the 200 laps of the 2.5-mile oval called the Daytona International Speedway, with its five-story-high turns banked at 31 degrees and the 3,000-foot front stretch banked at 18 degrees.

Perhaps all that excitement is why James Franco, the honorary race starter there to promote Disney's new film, Oz the Great and Powerful, yelled "Drivers, and Danica, start your engines!" to begin the 65th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship...

Continue reading Race Recap: 2013 Daytona 500 runs 200 laps, six of them count [spoilers]

Race Recap: 2013 Daytona 500 runs 200 laps, six of them count [spoilers] originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 24 Feb 2013 22:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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REPORT: NASCAR seen fretting over ratings drop

Jeremy Korzeniewski — Mon, 18 May 2009 17:58:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports

According to Nielsen, ratings for NASCAR on Fox are down by an alarming 11.5% so far this year, and while we're sure that many NASCAR haters will suggest that it's just not that interesting watching non-stock "stock cars" turning left over and over again as they circle oval tracks, race organizers and TV ratings researchers believe there's much more to the decline in viewership than that.

Certainly, the sorry state of affairs surrounding the world's sagging economy doesn't help matters any, and neither did the rain that forced an early end to the Daytona 500, the sport's pivotal first race of the season. Paul Brooks, president of NASCAR Media Group, also points a finger in the direction of Dale Earnhardt Jr, who's second season as part of Hendrick Motorsports isn't exactly going as hoped.

Regardless of its downward ratings trend in '09, it seems most experts on the subject predict the NASCAR brand will pull through over the long haul, although it will be interesting to see if/how the auto industry crisis affects the cash-intensive motorsports series. In the meantime, NASCAR and Fox are reportedly "looking at every angle" to boost viewership in the short term.

[Source: Sports Business Journal | Image: Roger Smith]

REPORT: NASCAR seen fretting over ratings drop originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 18 May 2009 17:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SEMA 2008: Camaro Accessories, Camaro Black, and Earnhardt, Jr. Camaro LIVE

Jonathon Ramsey — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 20:32:00 EST

Filed under: Aftermarket, Concept Cars, SEMA Show, Tuners, Coupe, Performance, Chevrolet, GM

Click the image above for a high-res gallery of 2008 SEMA Camaro concepts

You read about them earlier, but GM pulled out every joker it had in the Camaro deck today. One of them was bathed in yellow and filled with a host of GM Accessories options, like contrasting side sills and front spoiler, the hockey stick stripe package, and 21-inch wheels in machined aluminum with black accents. One thing we realized when getting up close and personal is that the inside of the Camaro is as dark as a coffin. It might not be a bad idea to splurge for the interior lighting package if you want to see who's in the car with you.

The Dale Jr. Camaro is something old and something new, with a biofuel V8 that's been tweaked for a little more horsepower, and the monster is shifted with a Hurst short-throw. Outside, gray-over-white goes will all sorts of stripes and emblems, whereas inside the car is black with orange stitching and gets a nice set of white center console gauges. And that ducktail dovetail spoiler? Straight out of '69. The car should come with an 8-track of Bryan Adams' Greatest Hits, which probably wouldn't sound too bad on the Boston Acoustics system.

The Camaro Black Concept is the car this blogger equated to pure badass one year ago, after driving the Camaro Convertible Concept. The blacked-out gloss exterior offset by a matte hood go perfectly with the red halo rings around the headlights. Frankly, we'd lower it even more over the 21-inch wheels, but we wouldn't touch the black interior with red interior lighting. We didn't expect GM to put the 6-cylinder in it, but based on the sound it made rolling by, it's not a problem. The Camaro got its first star turn in Transformers, and if Hollywood ever decides to remake The Car, this one is the star. Until then, you can check out the gallery of high-res photos below.

Gallery: SEMA 2008: Camaro Concepts LIVE

Continue reading SEMA 2008: Camaro Accessories, Camaro Black, and Earnhardt, Jr. Camaro LIVE

SEMA 2008: Camaro Accessories, Camaro Black, and Earnhardt, Jr. Camaro LIVE originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 03 Nov 2008 20:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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U.S. Navy wants you... to join the Dale Jr. Division

Alex Nunez — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 08:26:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Marketing/Advertising, Military

Click image to enlarge

The U.S. Navy and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are partnering on a national recruiting program that'll officially kick off when Junior pilots the above #83 car in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race on May 24. On that very same day, prospective sailors will also be able to visit their local recruiting stations and sign up to be a part of the new "Dale Jr. Division" being formed at the Navy's Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, IL. We are not making any of this up.

This new boot camp division is limited to 88 slots, a nod to the number worn by Dale Jr.'s NASCAR Sprint Cup ride. The Navy will support the new recruiting effort with a full media offensive, and Earnhardt Jr. will be on hand to christen his namesake division when its recruits report in August. Junior will also make a return trip to visit the group when it completes the basic training course. We eagerly await the logical next step in this high-profile partnership with Dale Jr. -- a Navy announcement that funding for a high-banked oval at Great Lakes has been approved.

[Source: Navy NewsStand]

U.S. Navy wants you... to join the Dale Jr. Division originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 29 Apr 2008 08:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Barbie lets her hair down for NASCAR

Alex Nunez — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 12:54:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Etc., Marketing/Advertising

Joining the endless ranks of officially-licensed Barbie dolls (tie-ins have ranged from Harley-Davidson to the X-Files and literally everything in-between) are a pair of new plastic fantastic NASCAR fangirls-- Jeff Gordon Barbie and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Barbie.
The Jeff Gordon NASCAR Barbie sports a #24 t-shirt, a DuPont jacket, jeans and cowboy boots, while the Dale Jr. Barbie rocks a #8-logoed minidress, a read headband, red go-go boots and a Dale Jr. flag for her to wave from the imaginary grandstand. You'll be fascinated to learn that both dolls use the Model/Muse body sculpt. Too much information? Clearly, but it's the kind of thing that will likely remain in your "useless information I can't forget" memory banks until the reaper calls your name.

Adding the dolls to your permanent collection will run you a somewhat ridiculous $34.95 a pop. Hey, Mattel's got to recoup that (undoubtedly) sizeable licensing fee they paid NASCAR, right? Call us when a Richard Petty edition comes out, and maybe we'll talk.

[Source: Mattel via The Car Connection]

Barbie lets her hair down for NASCAR originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 11 Feb 2007 12:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Super Bowl XXXVIII - Budweiser & Dale Jr. "Lipstick"

Alex Nunez — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 20:06:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Performance, Marketing/Advertising, Chevrolet

The only Bud connection other than the closing logo shot in the commercial is that the beer is the primary sponsor of driver #8's Monte Carlo. No matter, we love this spot that sees Dale Jr. blast across the country in his vintage 'Vette to give his girlfriend back the lipstick she left in his ride. Thing's aren't as they seem, however, and things get awkward for Jr...

Watch and enjoy after the jump.

[Source: YouTube]

Continue reading Super Bowl XXXVIII - Budweiser & Dale Jr. "Lipstick"

Super Bowl XXXVIII - Budweiser & Dale Jr. "Lipstick" originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 04 Feb 2007 20:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GM bringing 27 rides to SEMA

Alex Nunez — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 15:04:00 EST

Filed under: Aftermarket, SEMA Show, GM

GM will certainly be making its presence felt at SEMA this year, arriving with 27 vehicles in tow. Naturally, the new Silverado is going to be well-represented, with a monster off-road concept done in conjunction with Dale Jr., an OCC-themed lowrider, and best of all, a Silverado 427 concept with the Z06's LS7 V8 underhood. They're joined by a bevy of tricked-out GMC Sierras, making for one big happy pickup truck family.

If trucks aren't your thing, not to worry. Look for performance goodness like a '69 Camaro by Reggie Jackson, a facelifted Solstice GXP called the GXP-R, and a Saturn Sky by Gravana. Many Lucernes will be present, headlined by the Lucerne CXX Luxury Liner concept, and even the new Saturn Outlook will be there sporting an "Adventure" package.

And there's much more, like an E85 HUMMER H3 and a canvas-topped H3 as well. Naturally, Caddy will represent with an Escalade and an SRX, and GM is playing coy with the details surrounding a celeb-sponsored high-performance car. There's plenty to go around, no matter what kind of vehicle interests you have, and the General will be showing off its latest bunch of factory accessories to boot. Fun will be had by all. Read about the GM SEMA roster in more detail in the attached press release, and for now, whet your whistle with the three Silverado sketches GM's released so far.

(Press release, photos after the jump)

[Source: GM]

Continue reading GM bringing 27 rides to SEMA

GM bringing 27 rides to SEMA originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 20 Oct 2006 15:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EBay find of the day: Dale Earnhardt Jr. continues to unload cars with a 2005 Corvette

Erin Mays — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 15:57:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Auctions, Chevrolet

After selling his very sweet MINI Mania-suped MINI Cooper S to the highest bidder for $33,800.00, Dale Jr. is in the process of unloading another of his magnificent stable inhabitants, a 2005 Corvette C6 with paint work of cherry red and flames and only 2,096 miles on the odometer. As a side note, he might want to start thinking about another venue besides eBay... the aftermarket upgrades alone probably cost close to the bidding price, minus the actual car. At any rate, the bidding is up close to $70K and Jr. has even offered to sign the hood, so pony up the cash (and save some to redo the paint if fire isn't your thing).

"Looking to upgrade his car collection," hmm? We're furiously scanning the tabloids for more information on the reason for Dale's fire sale, we'll keep you posted.

[Source: eBay]

EBay find of the day: Dale Earnhardt Jr. continues to unload cars with a 2005 Corvette originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 10 Jul 2006 15:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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