| GRAND AM: Matt and Hugh Plumb Win VIR Finale to Give Acura ST Title | | Posted Sunday, October 29, 2006 6:46:54 AM by Blog57 Team | | A championship battle to the finish between the No. 95 Turner Motorsport BMW 330i of Will Turner and Don Salama and the No. 27 Bill Fenton Motorsports Acura RSX of brothers Hugh and Matt Plumb stole the spotlight in the Bill Black Chevrolet Street Tuner Six-Hour Enduro at VIRginia International Raceway Sunday as the Acura drivers won the race but the second-place finishing BMW teammates sealed both the Grand-Am Cup Series ST driver and team championships. The victory was the second of the season for the Plumb brothers after winning at Barber Motorsports Park in July and their success helped Acura clinch its fifth Grand-Am Cup ST manufacturer championship in the last six years. Matt Plumb crossed the finish line 6.255 seconds ahead of Turner in the No. 97 BMW and the winners averaged 81.529 mph in the six-hour race.... | |
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| | | Virginia International Raceway offers wide variety of fun for auto enthusiasts | | Posted Friday, October 06, 2006 6:46:05 AM by Blog57 Team | | Better than Tom Cruise in a stock car, better than Nicholas Cage boosting cars and yes, even better than Paul Walker acting as if he knows how to drive a car, is this weekends international motorsports festival, held at the Virginia International Raceway in Danville, VA. Virginias elite racing venue is preparing to host the GT Live and Grand-Am Cup Series October 6-8. The GT LIVE/Grand-Am Cup Weekend is going to be a non-stop smorgasbord of automotive fun for enthusiasts, said VIR general manager Josh Lief. There is going to be so much going on simultaneously around our 1,500-acre campus that it will be nearly impossible to take it all in. Its such a big event, logistically, that it has been quite a challenge for our staff to organize, but were confident that we have laid a solid foundation for what we think will grow into one of the biggest annual events on the East Coast in the years to come.... | |
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| | | The lively new Volkswagen 2.0 GTI is a buy | | Posted Thursday, September 07, 2006 8:47:35 AM by Blog57 Team | | (09-03) 04:00 PDT Brunswick, Maine -- We want everything. We want our cake without the calories, our minimansion without the hefty mortgage, our suburban lifestyle without the commute. We want fuel-efficient cars and trucks -- the more miles per gallon the better. But we also want more power, the more the better there, as well. We want style. But we'll take it absent the flash, thank you very much. Volkswagen AG thinks we want the latest iteration of its GTI coupe. And considering our penchant for wanting the best of everything without substantial penalty, either in terms of the purchase or operating cost, Volkswagen could be right. The new 2.0 GTI, which is not to be confused with the old 1.8 GTI -- although both are derived from Volkswagen's Golf/Jetta platform -- offers a reasonably acceptable compromise for the conflicted automotive consumer.... | |
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| | | Honda Reports August 2006 Sales | | Posted Monday, September 04, 2006 2:46:17 AM by Blog57 Team | | TORRANCE, Calif., Sept. 1 -- American Honda light truck sales increased 10.5 percent for August and set an all-time record with sales of 69,385 light trucks. American Honda year-to-date sales are up 5.3 percent to 1,044,284 units, while sales for the month are down 6.7 percent to 151,253 units based on the daily selling rate. Honda Division light truck sales also posted an all-time record with 63,731 units delivered, up 11.4 percent. Odyssey sales of 18,773 units broke the all-time record, increasing 11.6 percent over year-ago results. Also setting records for the month were the Pilot and CR-V, both posting record August sales of 19,100 and 16,321 units, increasing by 31.6 and 6.8 percent respectively. Total Honda division sales were down 6.5 percent for the month to 132,990 units, while year-to-date sales are up 7.5 percent to 911,517.... | |
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| | | Grand-Am Cup at Trois-Rivieres: Camirand, Thilenius Win ST Race | | Posted Sunday, August 13, 2006 4:46:17 PM by Blog57 Team | | Grand-Am Cup at Trois-Rivieres: Camirand The last time the Grand-Am Cup classes got to run their own races, both the Grand Sport and Street Tuner races had a lot of competition and not a lot of crashing. During Saturday's Street Tuner race at Trois-Rivieres, though, there was some of both. At the end of a race that included a very rare red flag (though, strangely, coming just after a red-flagged race at Barber Motorsports Park last weekend), local racer Marc-Antoine Camirand and co-driver David Thilenius in the No. 86 Powell Motorsport Chevrolet Cobalt had gotten their first win of the season. Charles Espenlaub had earned the ST pole earlier in the day, and he took the lead at the start in the No. 142 Davis Motorsports Acura RSX-S. The carnage began on lap four when three cars got together and hit the retaining wall in turn seven of the street course.... | |
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| | | Camirand/Thilenius Score Grand-Am Cup Street Tuner Victory at Trois-Rivieres | | Posted Saturday, August 12, 2006 6:45:51 AM by Blog57 Team | | Hometown favorite Marc-Antoine Camirand made a triumphant return to the historic 1.52-mile, 10-turn Trois-Rivieres temporary street course, scoring a Grand-Am Cup Series Street Tuner victory for himself and co-driver David Thilenius Saturday afternoon in the No. 86 Collision Craft Chevrolet Cobalt. Camirand took control of the No. 86 machine during the races second caution period, steadily picking off positions while moving to the front. The Canadian passed Matt Plumb in the No. 27 Bill Fenton Motorsports Acura RSX-S for the lead in Turn 2 on Lap 48 and never looked back, finishing 3.217 seconds ahead of the No. 27 machine to score the first Grand-Am Cup victory of the season for himself, Thilenius and Powell Motorsport. "Thanks to the Plumb brothers, this was a really clean, safe race for us, Camirand said.... | |
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| | | Acura gives TSX new look, more power | | Posted Friday, July 21, 2006 4:45:47 PM by Blog57 Team | | Another new Acura model went on sale two years ago: the TSX - a $36,000 sport sedan cheaper than any cars sold by Acura's Japanese luxury-car competitors. It's not really a new car, though - it's a version of the smaller Honda Accord sedan sold in Europe, and comes only with a four-cylinder engine. For 2006, it gets a bit more power, though, up to 205 horsepower from last year's 200. And there are some exterior enhancements, including a new grille, hood, side sills, wheels, headlights and tail lights. It's a popular car with Acura fans even though it has less power than lower-priced mass-market sedans such as the V6 versions of the Honda Accord, Nissan Altima and Toyota Camry. And rather than introduce a higher-priced model to fill the larger void between the RL and the more expensive Lexus and Infiniti high-end sedans, Acura chose to roll out the TSX into the narrow space between the RSX coupe and the TL sedan.... | |
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| | | Herr Nabs Quick SPEED Touring Car Practice Time in Final Lap | | Posted Thursday, July 20, 2006 6:45:47 AM by Blog57 Team | | Chip Herr, of Lititz, Pa., lurked for much of the day and then stole the quick time of the day in the final moments of the afternoon practice session in preparation for Saturday's SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car Championship Round Five race, part of the Larry H. Miller Dealers Utah Grand Prix at the brand new, 4.486-mile Miller Motorsports Park. Peter Cunningham, of Grafton, Wis., and Brandon Davis, of Denver, Colo., completed the top three. Driving his No. 17 STaSIS Engineering/Clear Capital Audi A4, Herr was sixth in the opening practice session and hovered just outside of the top 10 of the second 30-minute session. Beginning his final lap, just before the checkered flag flew on the 30-minute late afternoon session, Herr cracked off a fast time of 3:09.218 (85.349 mph), 0.634-second ahead of Cunningham.... | |
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