TUSCC – Changes abound as the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship takes over Long Beach

Josh Tons

As the 2014 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship continues following the two of the longest races of the year, significant changes in both scene and format will be evident at Saturday’s Tequila Patron Sports Car Showcase on the streets of Long Beach, California. Moving from 24/12 hour events to shorter sprint type events, we will see a reduction in driver line-ups and car classes in addition to much different race strategies compared to the longer events. Marking the shortest event on the 2014 calendar, the Tequila Patrón Sports Car Showcase at Long…

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SCCA – KCRSCCA Solo Event #1 in Photos

Doug Patterson

Well the Solo season is underway in the Kansas City Region of the SCCA, and it’s time for me to start the defense of my Street Touring FWD class championship. Some maintenance on Friday to replace the passenger side drive shaft on the Focus SVT didn’t go as planned thanks to a rounded-off nut. …and we were two nuts away from having the damned thing out, too. Oh, well, screw it. Popped the top on another beer, bolted it all together, and went to the pre-season testing session on Saturday…

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IndyCar – Relive the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in Photos

Doug Patterson

Two of our top photographers, Brian McKay of TenPesos.com and Tom Turk of PiraticalPhotography.com, were down in Florida for the season opening races for the Verizon IndyCar Series, Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires, the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, the Cooper Tires USF2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda, and the SCCA Pro Racing Pirelli World Challenge. Yes, it was a busy weekend and a crowded race track! Brian and Tom did incredible work, and you can enjoy the fantastic racing action all over again through their photos.…

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PR – ESM Patrón Seeks Long Beach Repeat

Josh Tons

TUART, Fla., April 8, 2014 – One year ago, Extreme Speed Motorsports (ESM) made team history with its first 1-2 finish on the streets of Long Beach. Hungry for a 2014 win, the Florida-based team has its sights set on conquering the concrete canyons of southern California again for the third round of the 2014 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. As the shortest event on the calendar, the Tequila Patrón Sports Car Showcase at Long Beach is 100 minutes and traverses the picturesque streets of the 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit. In the last two events…

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Pirelli World Challenge 2014 TV debut

Mike Shaw

Last Sunday, SCCA Pro Racing’s Pirelli World Challenge kicked off its 2014 racing season with a ‘brawl between the walls’ of Saint Petersburg’s 1.8-mile race track. The race will be shown on Sunday afternoon on NBC Sports Network. Tune in! Here’s a view from the race winner’s car, provided by Racer.com: Tomas Enge, in a Lamboghini Gallardo, raced from first, backward to eleventh-place, forward to win the season’s first race. The season-opener that had been scheduled for Saturday was cancelled due to a thunderstorm in Saint Petersburg.

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From the Pocono Pulpit: 2014, Off to a Better Re-Start than the Drivers

Mike Shaw

HUZZAH FOR BROADCASTING!!! Well, the Verizon IndyCar season is officially underway. (Do you have your fine jars ready for every time you say ‘IZOD IndyCar’)? The race was really nice to have IndyCar back—-but it was not really all that exciting, like most St. Pete races. Still, it did bring about some very, very refreshing changes. First was in the radio booth, the voice of IndyCar radio changed—-for the better. We gained a true fan of the sport and series in the one and only, Paul Page. Since I was…

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Rally America Returns to TV Tomorrow …and it Looks Good!

Mike Shaw

[youtube_sc url=”http://youtu.be/k_51JVOg1uo”]

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Episode 225 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Doug Patterson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadShaun, his co-host Mike, and his other co-host Mike (yeah, that joke never gets old) lead you through our first big open-wheel weekend with IndyCar and the Mazda Road to Indy in St. Petersburg, and Formula 1 in Malaysia. Mr. Shaw reviews the news in rally and previews WRC’s Rally Portugal and looks with excitement to his time this week down in LA with the GRC. OpenPaddock.net Podcast: Episode 225 – Tuesday, April 1st, 2014 Misc. Talk that Formula E could replace F1 in…

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PR – Enge, Aschenbach, Palmer Take St. Petersburg Victories in Season Opener

Mike Shaw

March 30, 2014 St. Petersburg, Fla. – A mix of new drivers and cars, along with some past Pirelli World Challenge champions, opened the series’ 2014 25th Anniversary season with a classic battle in the Cadillac Grand Prix of St. Petersburg brought to you by StopTech. When the race had concluded, open-wheel and sports car veteran Tomas Enge, a series newcomer, took the overall and GT class victory. Meanwhile three-time series champion Lawson Aschenbach took the GTS class victory, and Andrew Palmer took the top honors in the new GT-A…

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