Autoblog

Penske's Indy racing team suffered disaster early this morning when their transporter truck – en route from the team's headquarters in Mooresville, North Carolina, to Sonoma, California – caught fire at 4 a.m. on Interstate 80 outside Cheyenne, Wyoming. The two Penske personnel on board managed to escape unharmed, but could not extinguish the fire, believed to have been caused by a faulty bearing in one of the trailer's wheels. They detached the truck cab from the burning trailer and could do nothing more but watch as an estimated $2 million worth of equipment – including two Dallara-Honda race cars – went up in flames.

click above for more high-res images from the Daytona 500

[Spoiler Alert] The run up to the Daytona 500 this past week was monopolized with news of Hendrick Motorsports' Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the fast Toyotas of Joe Gibbs Racing. In the end, however, neither camp could pull out a win in Daytona. The checkered flag went to Ryan Newman of Penske Racing, who owes his first win at Daytona and the end to an 81-race-long draught to teammate Kyle Busch. We'll forego the theatrics of the first 499 miles and skip right to the last lap, which began with Tony Stewart in the lead. Stewart on the inside, however, couldn't stop Newman who slipped his Dodge in front of Busch's car on the outside as the latter emerged from a draft. The two cars flew by Stewart, and for his unselfish act, Busch earned a second place finish. Stewart, however, called his 3rd place performance "one of the most disappointing moments of my racing career." Ouch.

The win was also the first Daytona victory for team Penske Racing, which, despite winning the Indy 500 a record 14 times, had never crossed the finish line first in Daytona. And what about the other drivers who everyone expected to finish fast? Jeff Gordon had suspension trouble and dropped out on lap 186. Denny Hamlin, who gave Toyota its first ever NASCAR win earlier this week, finished 17th, while Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won both the Bud Shootout and his Gatorade Duel qualifying race, finished 9th.

As for which automaker has the most reason to celebrate after Daytona, the answer is Dodge, whose cars nabbed six of the top ten finishes, including first and second. Toyota, meanwhile, grabbed 3rd and 4th thanks to Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch, respectively. Earnhardt Jr.'s 9th place finish gave Chevy one spot in the top ten, while Greg Biffle drove his Blue Oval car to a 10th place finish.


[Source: NASCAR, Photos - Getty Images]

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The 2006 ALMS season will wind down next weekend at Laguna Seca, and teams are already looking toward next year's effort. To that end, Penske Racing and Porsche have made the official announcement that they will once again partner for the 2007 ALMS season. As was the case this year, Penske will field two cars and contest only the ALMS races. Other events, such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans, are out. Penske has already locked up the 2006 LMP2 team championship, while Porsche has clinched both manufacturer's titles (chassis and engine). Penske/Porsche drivers Sascha Maassen and Lucas Luhr sit 1-2 in the LMP2 driver's championship standings heading into the final race.

Earlier this month, Porsche unveiled the 2007 RS Spyder, which is more aerodynamic, more powerful, and easier to maintain than the 2006 car. This week, the automaker showed it off in the yellow and red DHL livery that the Penske cars will once again sport next season.

ALMS '07 should be enormously entertaining, as the LMP2 class will see Acura join the fray, creating an instant rivalry with Porsche. Add in the independents like Intersport and you've got the makings for some compelling drama on the track. One could make a strong case that LMP2, and not the Audi-dominated LMP1, is going to be the class to watch.

Starting next year, the RS Spyder will be available to privateer efforts as well, though it remains to be seen if any other than the Penske duo will contest ALMS. It will be interesting to see if someone decides to independently run one of the Spyders at Le Mans.

So, even though the 2006 American Le Mans Series is wrapping up, there's no shortage of things to talk about. After the jump, we have a set of galleries that'll let you compare the 2006 and 2007 cars, as well as a selection of photos of the Penske Spyders contesting their inaugural ALMS season.

(Gallery, press release after the jump)

[Sources: Porsche, ALMS]