Subaru Road Racing Team debuts new Impreza WRX STI at Daytona Raceway
Subaru of America, Inc. opened the 2010 road race season with a strong 15th place finish out of 41 entries in the Grand Sport class of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series at the Daytona Raceway. The Subaru Road Racing Team (SRRT) is fielding two Impreza WRX STI racecars in the series this year. SRRT campaigned a single Subaru Legacy 2.5GT spec.B in the series’ Street Tuner class in 2009, taking second in both the Drivers’ and Team Championships, along with 3rd in the Manufacturer chase.
Four-time Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Touring 1 Northeast Champion Andrew Aquilante, from Chester Springs, Penn., will lead the Subaru road racing effort for 2010. He is in his third year driving for Subaru. Aquilante achieved nine top-ten finishes to complete 2009 tied for 2nd in the Drivers’ Championship. Bret Spaude of St. Petersburg, Fla. has joined SRRT as Aquilante’s teammate. Spaude finished 2009 seventh in points in the Grand Am ST class and is a two-time SCCA Regional title holder. Each driver is seeking his first Grand-Am win.
The 2010 Impreza WRX STI is the ultimate-performance Subaru, powered by a 305-horsepower turbocharged/intercooled Boxer engine and featuring driver-selectable powertrain and dynamic handling controls for world-class sports car performance. The WRX STI is built exclusively as an aggressively styled, wide-fender 5-door model with a design strongly influenced by the brand’s competition heritage. Its drivetrain, which is exclusive to the WRX STI model, combines a six-speed manual transmission with the advanced Driver Controlled Center Differential (DCCD) version of Subaru Symmetrical All Wheel Drive. High-performance chassis elements include aluminum suspension components and a Brembo® Performance Brake System.
Since 2009, the SRRT has been managed by SRRT Phoenix, LLC, through Joe Aquilante from Phoenix Performance, Inc. in Phoenixville, Penn. The senior Aquilante is a multiple race and title-winner in various series across different classes.
Source: Subaru of America, Inc.
MLB.com offers high def MLB.TV with full season of portability
Live baseball available on several platforms including Apple’s iPad, iPhone and iPod touch
MLB.com, the official Web site of Major League Baseball, announced that the eighth season of MLB.TV, one of the largest subscription video offerings on the Internet, is now available at http://www.mlb.tv/ with portability for the upcoming 2010 season.
In addition to the PC-based accessibility more than two million subscribers have enjoyed over the past seven seasons, fans for the first time will be able to take a complete season of 2,430 games on MLB.TV wherever they go through a variety of interactive media platforms, including the newly unveiled Apple iPad and the MLB.com At Bat 2010 app for iPhone and iPod touch mobile devices. Additional platform offerings for live streaming are expected to be announced and available to subscribers for Opening Day.
The 2010 MLB.TV media player will deliver a fleet of enhancements in a convenient, cutting-edge Adobe Flash format, offering an unparalleled live viewing experience for every out-of-market regular season game.
In addition to portability, some of the features available in 2010 MLB.TV include:
HD Quality Picture – MLB.com’s proprietary speed detection allows high-speed users to receive live high definition video at the industry standard of 720p on any size monitor.
Home and Away Feeds - Watch or listen to either the home or away teams’ broadcasts.
Live Game DVR Functionality – Pause and rewind or fast-forward live games.
Clickable Linescores – Go directly to any half-inning to watch only that portion of the game.
Multi-Game Viewing Options - Watch up to four games simultaneously.
Picture-in-Picture – Choose one game and track another or watch in-game highlights simultaneously in a secondary window.
Live Game Highlights - Real-time highlights and player stats automatically load into the media player. With one click, the clip instantly launches in a picture-in-picture window.
Player Tracker - Customize alerts to feature entire fantasy rosters or just a list of favorite players. Subscribers will be notified any time a listed player is on deck. Click the real-time alert to watch live at-bat look-ins.
Spring Training – Watch more than 150 live games from Florida and Arizona as teams prepare for the 2010 season.
Source: MLB.com
Lingerie Football League season finale set to take place at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA RIVALRY WILL FEATURE SAN DIEGO SEDUCTION VS. LOS ANGELES TEMPTATION
A different kind of “Friday Night Lights” will take center stage this Friday at the historic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as Lingerie Football League (or “LFL”) and Los Angeles Temptation officials announced today the LFL’s season finale will be played at the famed football stadium. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum has been home to the first-ever Super Bowl, Olympics, Los Angeles Raiders, Los Angeles Rams and now Los Angeles’ newest pro football team, the Los Angeles Temptation. The LFL season finale will include a Southern California rivalry game with Playoff implications as the San Diego Seduction visit the Los Angeles Temptation. The Temptation will need a win for an opportunity to advance to Miami, Florida next week for the LFL Conference Playoffs and possibly Lingerie Bowl VII set to air Super Bowl Sunday opposite Super Bowl XLIV halftime’s show.
The inaugural season of the LFL has been incredibly successful with nearly 30% higher than projected attendance, record TV ratings, record internet traffic and 2010 expansion markets. The LFL features 10 franchise teams which include the Seattle Mist, Los Angeles Temptation, San Diego Seduction, Dallas Desire, Denver Dream, Chicago Bliss, New York Majesty, Philadelphia Passion, Tampa Breeze and Miami Caliente. LFL games include 7-on-7 full-contact tackle football played by some of America’s most beautiful and athletic women.
The Chicago Bliss and Miami Caliente of the Eastern Conference have already secured Playoff berths as has the Dallas Desire in the Western Conference. The final seed in the Western Conference has come down between the Seattle Mist and the Los Angeles Temptation.
Source: Lingerie Football League, LLC
NASCAR sanctioned Online Racing begins
iRacing.com is Home to Five NASCAR Series
A vision that Bill France Jr. articulated more than fifteen years ago will become reality this season with the formation of the NASCAR iRacing.com Series, an official NASCAR racing series.
On February 9th, online racing competition commences with the first event of the inaugural 18-race, 39-week NASCAR iRacing Drivers World Championship. This series will feature the 50 top-rated drivers currently racing in iRacing’s Pro Series and will include NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., who recently clinched entry into this elite series.
Selected races from the series will be carried over the internet on iRacing.com. Weekly iRacing news coverage and standings will be featured on NASCARmedia.com.
NASCAR and iRacing have worked together since the announcement of the partnership in 2009 to refine the structure of the series, establish a “sporting code” or rule book, as well as develop an identity for the series.
While entry for the NASCAR iRacing Drivers World Championship is limited to the top 50 drivers, iRacing will also host five NASCAR amateur series open to all NASCAR fans through membership in the iRacing.com online service.
Just below the World Championship series, the 2010 NASCAR iRacing Pro Series is reserved for the 250 top-ranked oval-track iRacing drivers and commences in May to determine eligibility to participate in the 2011 NASCAR iRacing Drivers World Championship.
“Bill France Jr. was ahead of his time when he initially had the vision of an online racing series. Thanks to evolving technology NASCAR fans can virtually compete at their favorite track and have their chance to end up in a victory lane,” said NASCAR Senior Vice President Paul Brooks.
Tony Gardner, iRacing’s president, explained that iRacing’s staff has been busy fine-tuning the infrastructure and creating the organization that supports the vision of NASCAR online racing.
“We’ve created our online racing service for racers and fans,” Gardner said. “We’ve done the hard work to make it simple and easy for NASCAR fans to join iRacing and get behind the wheel. You don’t have to be a computer engineer to do this, all you need to know is how to turn on a computer and connect to the internet. For PC owners with a broadband connection you just buy an inexpensive wheel-and-pedal set from your local consumer electronics store or online and in an hour you can be racing. It’s that simple. Everything you need to know to get started is right there on our Web site, at www.iracing.com.”
The opportunity for NASCAR fans to have extremely affordable but highly meaningful racing careers of their own will become a reality with the launch of these NASCAR-sanctioned amateur online racing series organized and hosted by iRacing.com.
Featuring four 12-week seasons each calendar year, these series feature modifieds, late models, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series trucks, NASCAR Nationwide and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series cars and mirror the skill ladder that NASCAR athletes typically follow, beginning with short-track racing and proceeding through virtual versions of the three premier real-world NASCAR series.
While iRacing competition licenses to participate in organized races are issued in progressive skill levels, all members are permitted to practice with any car on any track. In conjunction with the Daytona 500, the spring NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Talladega race and the NASCAR season-ending Championship Weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, as part of its 2010 World Tour, iRacing will organize races that are open to any member of the service, regardless of license level.
Source: iRacing.com
2011 Ford Mustang GT becomes Daytona 500 Official Pace Car
Ford’s new 2011 Mustang GT will serve as the Official Pace Car at this year’s 52nd Daytona 500, the first time in 40 years a Ford vehicle has paced NASCAR’s biggest and most prestigious race.
Under the hood of the Mustang GT Glass Roof Coupe will be Ford’s all-new 5.0-liter V-8, which will be available to customers in dealer showrooms this spring.
“This is the resurgence of Ford, and pacing the field at the Daytona 500 is a great opportunity to showcase all of the technology that the new 2011 Mustang 5.0 brings to deliver 412 horsepower and projected unsurpassed highway mileage of 25 mpg,” said Mark Fields, president, The Americas.
Before the new Ford Mustang takes to the track, one lucky enthusiast will have the rare opportunity to own the pace car pony and help a deserving charity at the same time.
The Race Red Mustang, which carries a special Daytona 500 striped paint scheme, will be auctioned at the 39th Annual Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Collector Car Auction on Jan. 23 at WestWorld of Scottsdale, in Scottsdale, Ariz. The event will be televised live on the SPEED
channel. All proceeds from the car over MSRP will benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), a leader in research leading to a cure for Type 1 diabetes.
“Over the past three years, Ford is proud to have raised more than $2 million for JDRF through the sales of vehicles at Barrett-Jackson,” said Jamie Allison, director, Ford North America Motorsports. “This year, one lucky bidder will not only experience the thrill of seeing his or her 2011 Mustang pacing the Daytona 500 in front of 43 of the world’s greatest race car drivers, but will contribute toward finding a cure for juvenile diabetes at the same time.”
According to Steve Davis, president of Barrett-Jackson, while many collectors have experienced the thrill of buying pace vehicles and historic racers on the Barrett-Jackson auction block, buying a pace car before it hits the track has never happened before at the famed auction house.
“It would be a thrill to own this early VIN, one-of-one 2011 Mustang GT Glass Roof Coupe Daytona 500 Pace Car and watch it lead the famous race in February,” he said. “And knowing that you helped an amazing organization like JDRF would make it even better.”
This is the first time in four decades that a Ford Motor Company vehicle will pace the Daytona 500. The last time was in 1970 when the Ford Torino GT convertible had the honors.
In addition to the special paint, the Mustang pace car features a Brembo brake package, Ford Racing suspension, strut tower brace and mufflers, unique 19-inch painted wheels, summer-only tires and a special interior treatment, including lit sill plates. It also carries an early VIN and will be among the first 2011 Mustang GT 5.0-liter V-8s made available for sale to the public.
2011 Ford Mustang GT: Heritage, high technology and horsepower
The all-new 5.0-liter V-8 engine is the next chapter in the development of the world-class Mustang powertrain portfolio, delivering the performance and fun-to-drive factor that enthusiasts want, while improving fuel economy.
The modern 5.0-liter four-valve Twin Independent Variable Camshaft Timing V-8 engine in the new Mustang GT will deliver 412 horsepower and 390 ft.-lb of torque. At the same time, fuel economy is projected to be better than the previous model and unsurpassed in the segment. For 2011, the new Mustang GT adds specially tuned Electric Power Assist Steering, 11.5-inch front and 11.8-inch rear vented disc brakes, and an enhanced suspension featuring an improved rear lower control arm and stiffened rear stabilizer bushings.
A Brembo brake package upgrade – featuring larger rotors and calipers from the Ford Shelby GT500® Mustang – will be available for serious enthusiasts. Unique 19-inch wheels and summer performance tires also will be offered.
The new Mustang GT also offers drivers new convenience technologies, including:
– Standard message center
– Integrated blind spot mirrors
– MyKey(TM) programmable vehicle key
From the signature 5.0 fender badges to the new engine cover, Mustang GT honors and continues the proud heritage of its predecessors. The speedometer increases to 160 mph, and the tachometer redline advances from 6,500 to 7,000 rpm.
Three vibrant new colors are being added for 2011; along with Race Red, these include Yellow Blaze Tri-Coat and Ingot Silver.
Source: Ford Motor Company