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RALLY – David Higgins Wins Sno*Drift in New 2015 WRX STi

February 3, 2015 Mike Shaw

Round one of the Rally America National Championship kicked off this last weekend with the iconic Sno*Drift Rally in Atlanta, Michigan. The snow covered and icy roads of Montmorency County played host to both national and regional competitors with just 36 entries this year. Although a little light in car count vs. some of the past seasons, this is an event that seems to have an ebb and flow of entrants from year to year. What makes Sno*Drift so unique isn’t just that it is a winter rally, but that it is…

IndyCar – Back to the Dark Ages!

January 30, 2015January 30, 2015 John Olsakovsky

As it came to pass during the excessively long off-season, the Verizon IndyCar Series was awash in malaise. The long five months of nothingness wore the denizens of 16th & Georgetown to weak-willed and impressionable puddles, allowing that most foul of demons, Brian Barnhart to work his most dark magick and infiltrate their realm once again. And lo, in the year two thousand and fifteen, dark times have returned to the series of the wheels that are open. Yes, that’s right. IndyCar announced that Brian Barnhart is returning as Race…

RALLY – They’re Baaaaack! Toyota to Return to WRC in 2017!

January 30, 2015 Mike Shaw

Today’s highly anticipated motorsports announcement from Japan didn’t disappoint. President Akio Toyoda went on stage and told the rallying world what we had all hoped was true, that Toyota was returning to the WRC beginning in 2017. That makes 4 full auto manufacturers and one “pseudo” manufacturer (MSport) competing at the top level of the sport. Akio Toyoda said that his visit to Finland was a big influence on him as many fans asked him when Toyota would return to the WRC. The last time Toyota was in the WRC…

RALLY – NASA Rally Sport Announces Affordable Testing Program

January 29, 2015 Mike Shaw

I have to say that NASA Rally Sport has been extremely innovative the past few years. From adding “Rally Moto” and experimenting UTVs to timing and scoring using jailbroken Nook tablets. Not every idea works out, but some things just make logical sense and today’s press release is one of those ideas that makes sense. Usually only top teams can afford to shut down a section of road and do proper testing, however NASA Rally Sport’s grassroots mantra is all about being inclusive. Newberry, MI (January 29, 2015)The mantra…

RALLY – Subaru Rally Team USA Releases 2015 Car and Livery

January 29, 2015 Mike Shaw

So we finally have the new livery that Subaru Rally Team USA will be using for the 2015 season. 4 time consecutive Rally America Champion David Higgins and co-Driver Craig Drew will be piloting the new 2015 Subaru WRX STi sedan in the white wintery conditions of the Sno*Drift Rally in Michigan this Friday and Saturday. Sno*Drift is round 1 of the Rally America National Championship. Subarus new livery is more dramatic than what they’ve used in the past, but still contains plenty of Subaru Rally Blue. What do you fans think of it? Let us…

Episode 261- OpenPaddock.net Podcast

January 29, 2015 Mike Shaw

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadFrom Tuesday, January 27th 2015. Tonight we start with our preview of this weekend’s Rally America season opener with special guest Jim Beaver of the Down and Dirty Radio Show. Jim is kicking off the new Rally America Radio show at Sno*Drift and he gives us details on what we might expect from this new endeavor. I then go into a long review of Rallye Monte-Carlo. I apologize for the length, but a whole heck of a lot went down with the season opener and the changing…

Exciting New R-GT Class Is Fan Favorite You Won’t See On TV

January 26, 2015January 26, 2015 Mike Shaw

There were only 3 entrants in the new for 2015 R-GT class and all were essentially the same car (Porsche 911 GT3s). With the cheers from the crowds you would have thought the battle was much closer than it turned out to be. That was no matter as these glorious beasts with their musical turbo flat 6 engines reverberated through the canyons and echoed off the mountains filled everyone with joy. It seems everyone agrees that the new R-GT class is one of the great highlights of the 2015 Rallye…

Rally America to Launch “RALLY AMERICA RADIO” with Jim Beaver

January 23, 2015 Mike Shaw

We at Open Paddock have been calling for Rally America to offer some sort of live coverage for a long, long time. The excitement of an event is easily lost due to time, so interviewing at stage ends when drivers are quite honestly the most emotional after a tough stage is what adds drama and excitement to rallying. Today Rally America announced it will be working with Jim Beaver of the “Down and Dirty Radio Show” to pull off this new Rally America Radio program. Jim’s Down and Dirty Radio…

IndyCar 2018 – JohnTheRaceFan

January 22, 2015 John Olsakovsky

In December, Racer magazine began a series of pieces about what people in and around the series think the direction of the Verizon IndyCar Series should take for 2018. Mario Andretti, Will Power, Bobby Unser and others have lent their opinion as well as others, with more pieces forthcoming. Each has a unique idea of how they would like to see the series improve over the next few years. I’m hardly an industry insider. I’m pretty much a hack blogger with an opinion. And opinions are neither right nor wrong,…

WRC – Sebastien Loeb Returns to Rallye Monte Carlo in Dominant Fashion

January 21, 2015 Mike Shaw

Nine times World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb didn’t quite start the week’s event the way everyone expected. Word on social media was that he actually slid off the road and wrecked his recce car. No matter though, because by late afternoon he showed who was boss of the Monte by laying down the fastest shakedown time of the bunch on his very first run. Granted this is far from determining who will win the entire rally, especially with tire choices being the primary element deciding the victor. Be that as it may,…