MRTI – Champion of the Future Contest

Doug Patterson

Our good friend, Peter Portante, is participating in the Champion of the Future contest and needs your help! Champion, you know, the spark plug people, are holding a contest to find the racer they will back for the 2014 season with a $50,000 scholarship. Right now, the contest is in Phase 2, meaning that all the participants have uploaded a two-minute video entry and are now looking for your vote! You can cast your vote for Peter at Champion’s website, http://alwaysachampion.com/search-for-a-champion/entry/1568560#.UsxSJvRDvT8 With your vote, Peter will make it to Phase…

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TUSCC – Roar Before the 24 Highlights

Josh Tons

TUDOR United SportsCar Championship’s three-day Roar Before The 24 test at Daytona International Speedway took place this past weekend with teams getting in final testing sessions prior to the 24 race January 25th & 26th. As the Roar Before The Rolex 24 testing concluded, IMSA officials delivered the 2014 sporting rules package to teams participating in the inaugural TUDOR United SportsCar Championship (TUSCC). Teams have been patiently waiting for these rules to be delivered for some time now as they begin to prepare for the 2014 season. Following the announcement,…

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USCC – Thoughts on the Roar

Shaun

Well it is finally here! The 2014 Tudor United Sports Car Championship has completed the merger process and also completed their first major test in preparation for the Rolex 24 Hour race. I have said since last season that I was excited at the prospect of having both championships merged together and the exciting racing we could expect! Like a lot of folks who tuned into the great coverage of various media outlets worldwide of the Roar Before the 24 test session, I was interested in speeds and lap times…

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Rally – WRC’s Manufacturing Winner is M-Sport

Mike Shaw

Wait, does that title infer what I think it does?  Didn’t Volkswagen win the FIA WRC manufacturers title in a dominant fashion last season?  Yes, Volkswagen did win the manufacturer’s title as far as the FIA is concerned, but please note that I said “manufacturing” not “manufacturer” title. First let me be clear, I’m not a Ford fanboy or a Malcolm Wilson fanboy or anything like that.  Regardless I think I can make a good case as to why M-Sport is the current rally manufacturing winner even if they don’t…

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The Missed Shift – Get It In Gear, Already!

John Olsakovsky

Welcome to The Missed Shift, a new weekly column about my favorite subject, racing. What else, right? I’ll do my best to be thought-provoking, entertaining and even insightful on occasion. I welcome discussion, contrasting opinions, criticisms and suggestions.  I’m honored to be a part of the OpenPaddock family. I’ll try not to be that one relative that everyone tries to avoid at Thanksgiving dinner, but I can’t promise anything. This past year has been a tough one for a lot of reasons.  First and foremost, the loss of my brother-in-law…

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INDYCAR – One Final Dance with 2013

Mike Shaw

Eric Hall here, you may remember me from such word-hack outlets as anotherindycarblog and Podium Magazine. After the tragic passing of Mr. Kevin Neely, I have been tapped to continue his fantastic work here at OpenPaddock.net. There is no way I, nor anyone, will be able to fill Mr. Neely’s shoes, but I do promise to keep spreading the love of IndyCar to the best of my ability. 2013 was another historic year for IndyCar, with the highest of highs and nearly the lowest of lows experienced at different times…

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Rally – Kubica, A Rally Legend in the Making?

Mike Shaw

When Robert Kubica came on to the World Rally Championship scene in the WRC2 category last year, it caused quite a stir.  Rally had another former F1 winner coming over to what many of us rally fans deem to be the pinnacle of motorsport.  This would help draw considerable attention to rally which has been recovering from a period of lackluster spectator and TV viewer counts.  Unlike Raikkonen though, Kubica feels he has unfinished business in Formula 1.  Most recall that Kubica’s F1 career was cut short after a nasty…

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SCCA – World Challenge Participation Booms

Doug Patterson

Whitesell and I have been saying for a number of years now that the SCCA Pro Racing’s Pirelli World Challenge series is some of the best racing you’re ever going to see. It’s one of the things we look forward to the most when we go to Mid-Ohio. For a time, the World Challenge series suffered from small grid sizes and perinnial teams like Bimmerworld Racing moving from the SCCA’s World Challenge to Grand-Am’s Continental Tire SportsCar Championship. As the series retooled, redefined their classes, and took a close look…

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IMSA – Rolex 24 Promo

Doug Patterson

Off-season? Bah! Off-season is for chumps! It’s a new year, time to go racing! We have the Dakar at the beginning of the month, Rallye Monte Carlo in the middle, and the Rolex 24 at the end. If you’ve been missing the beautiful sounds of motorsports over the holidays, we offer to you this promo for the 2014 Rolex 24 at Daytona. Enjoy and Happy New Year! [youtube_sc url=http://youtu.be/RQDKeLFNgNw]

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