Smith takes maiden Cup victory
Regan Smith claimed his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory by fending off Carl Edwards in a close green-white-chequered finish at Darlington Raceway.
Smith, the 2008 rookie of the year, had crossed the finish line first at Talladega in October of that year but was deemed to have passed Tony Stewart by driving bellow the double-yellow line which limits where cars can race for position. Officials stripped him of victory back then, but nearly two and a half years later, the 27-year-old finally got to celebrate in victory lane at one of NASCAR's most legendary venues.
The Furniture Row racer grabbed the lead of the race when the caution waved with eight laps remaining after the engine of Jeff Burton's Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet expired. Smith was one of only three drivers who stayed on the track while the leaders pitted for two new tyres for the final sprint.
The green flag waved with five laps to go and Smith was able to remain up front before the caution came out three laps later for the final time following an incident ignited by contact between Joe Gibbs Racing's Kyle Busch and RCR's Kevin Harvick, with Clint Bowyer also getting involved as they fought hard for eighth place.
The final restart saw Smith get a nice push from the third-placed Penske Dodge of Brad Keselowski, who helped him stay ahead of a charging Carl Edwards as the penultimate lap of the race started. The Roush Fenway racer quickly moved up to second and placed Smith under pressure ahead of the final lap.
Smith drove right on the edge out of Turn 2 for the last time, getting sideways while trying to get on the power as quickly as possible. With the chequered flag within sight he did enough to keep Edwards behind him out of the last two corners, taking his first victory at NASCAR's top level in his 105th Cup start.
Having qualified better than any of his rivals this season with seven top-10 starts out of a possible 10, Smith was finally able to translate his speed into a top result - which was also the first victory for his squad and team-owner Barney Visser.
"I don't really know how to put it in words right now. It is so surreal," said Smith in disbelief. "We had a good car all night and we had to work for a way back. We kept working on it and these guys kept digging and digging and digging. We got track position. It was good out front with clean air. I hit the wall on the white-flag lap but the chances of me checking up there were about zero.
"My biggest concern on the initial restart, I wasn't as worried. It was the second restart when Carl was on the outside and he had the fresh tyres also or fresher tyres than I did. I spun them real bad on the first one and I just backed it up a bit of a notch on the second restart and went with it.
"It stuck and I held it wide open in [Turns] 1 and 2 on the first lap and tried to hold it wide open in [Turns] 3 and 4 also. The car was good when I got in clean air. That is all I say. I can't be prouder of this team."
Edwards led the race for 57 laps and was up front when he pitted for the last time under the penultimate caution. His second place further strengthens his lead in the standings, although he lamented not being able to wrap up what could have been his second win of the season.
"First of all, congratulations to Regan. He earned that," said Edwards. "On the restart, he spun the tyres a little bit and I thought, 'Alright, I'm not going to beat him to the line because I've got a good enough car with fresh tyres. I can beat him here.' And as soon as I started pedalling, Brad hooked on his rear bumper and they took off. I thought, 'Oh, man. I'm in trouble now.'
"I drove down into turns real hard and Brad did a good job not wrecking underneath me and then we raced hard and he won the race... I'm sure that will feel good tomorrow, but, right now, I wanted to win that race."
Keselowski, who also ventured on staying out when the leaders pitted for the last time, capitalised on his strategy to claim his best result of the season thus far on a day that saw his team-mate Kurt Busch go through yet another tough outing, finishing 27th.
Behind Keselowski, Red Bull's Kasey Kahne seemed poised to take victory as the lap-count faded but despite leading the most laps from pole position, he had to be content with fourth ahead of Stewart-Haas front-row partner Ryan Newman. Hamlin was a solid sixth, while Tony Stewart recovered from being a lap down due to an untimely green-flag stop to finish seventh.
Martin Truex Jr was 10th, recovering from a spin while entering the pits, with Kyle Busch following him in 11th. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver was at the centre of controversy following a late exchange with Harvick which dragged into the post-race as the RCR racer tried to show his displeasure to Busch when they drove into the pits after the race concluded.
A furious Harvick confronted Busch, who tried to avoid physical contact but still pushed his rival's car while driving away from the scene as Harvick attempted punching him with his right arm. The pair met with NASCAR officials in the sanctioning body's hauler after the race. Harvick was classified 17th in the end, having led the event for 47 laps.
Reigning champion Jimmie Johnson was 15th, recovering from contact with Juan Pablo Montoya and then a spin on his own later during the second half of the race.
As usual at Darlington the race was action packed, the caution waving 11 times, seven of them due to incidents.
Results - 370 laps:
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Regan Smith Furniture Row Chevrolet 3h53m51.000s
2. Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford + 0.196s
3. Brad Keselowski Penske Dodge + 0.861s
4. Kasey Kahne Red Bull Toyota + 1.100s
5. Ryan Newman Stewart Haas Chevrolet + 1.406s
6. Denny Hamlin Gibbs Toyota + 1.682s
7. Tony Stewart Stewart Haas Chevrolet + 1.796s
8. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Ford + 2.594s
9. Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet + 2.635s
10. Martin Truex Jr Waltrip Toyota + 2.827s
11. Kyle Busch Gibbs Toyota + 3.419s
12. Jeff Gordon Hendrick Chevrolet + 3.682s
13. Marcos Ambrose Petty Ford + 4.392s
14. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet + 4.430s
15. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet + 4.874s
16. David Reutimann Waltrip Toyota + 8.646s
17. Kevin Harvick Childress Chevrolet + 9.729s
18. Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Toyota + 27.111s
19. Mark Martin Hendrick Chevrolet + 1 lap
20. AJ Allmendinger Petty Ford + 1 lap
21. David Ragan Roush Fenway Ford + 1 lap
22. Paul Menard Childress Chevrolet + 1 lap
23. Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet + 2 laps
24. Dave Blaney Baldwin Chevrolet + 3 laps
25. Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Ford + 4 laps
26. Travis Kvapil Front Row Ford + 5 laps
27. Kurt Busch Penske Dodge + 6 laps
28. Ken Schrader FAS Lane Ford + 6 laps
29. Landon Cassill Phoenix Chevrolet + 6 laps
30. Casey Mears Germain Toyota + 6 laps
31. Clint Bowyer Childress Chevrolet + 7 laps
32. David Gilliland Front Row Ford + 8 laps
Retirements:
Jeff Burton Childress Chevrolet 358 laps
Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota 332 laps*
Joey Logano Gibbs Toyota 318 laps*
Tony Raines Front Row Ford 172 laps
Robby Gordon Gordon Dodge 87 laps
TJ Bell LTD Toyota 67 laps
JJ Yeley Whitney Chevrolet 34 laps
Mike Skinner Germain Toyota 29 laps
David Stremme Inception Chevrolet 27 laps
Joe Nemechek NEMCO Toyota 22 laps
Michael McDowell HP Toyota 7 laps
Source : www.autosport.com
Read More
Add your Comment
0
komentar
Kids Educational Computer Games
Whether you’re looking for a free website Education Games The fun for your child? I will try to help and introduce where the place to get Kids Educational Computer Games.
I introduce a website dedicated to kid’s educational computer games. Hopefully useful for you. Here I quote from the official website.
ABCya.com is a leader in children’s free computer games and educational activities for elementary students to learn on the web. All educational activities children computer created or approved by certified school teachers. All games are free education and modeled from primary grade lessons and enhanced to provide an interactive way for children to learn. Grade level lesson incorporates such fields as mathematics and language arts while introducing basic computer skills. Many kindergarten and first grade activities are equipped with sound to enhance understanding. Holiday Fun children’s activities available at the class level!
You can accompany children in learning through play activities. Just Tenty Educational Computer Games & Activities is useful for the development and you’re thinking power.
There are several other similar sites that provide free Art of Mathematics and language games, Example is Starfall.com. Introduce the Kids Educational Computer Games to your baby. And accompany them in play and learning.
Source : www.softwareilove.com
Read More
Add your Comment
21
komentar
Great "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World"
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World feels an awful lot like those paint-by-numbers films in that it tries very hard to push the right “cool” buttons. In casting Michael Cera as the slacker/musician/Canadian/gamer, the filmmakers essentially planted their feet in mumblecore and worked outward. While the movie can be entertaining in small doses, it doesn’t break as much new ground as it thinks it does.
Cera is Scott Pilgrim, a Canadian bass guitarist in the band Sex Bob-omb. He’s dating a high schooler curiously named Knives Chau (Ellen Wong). This is somewhat taboo, as she’s just 17 and he’s 23. Pilgrim has a problem: he’s losing interesting in Knives. This is compounded when he discovers an infatuation with Ramona (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a girl from America. We know she’s cool because she’s aloof and because she colours her hair routinely.
Pilgrim’s infatuation lands him in a difficult and weird spot. See, he must battle Ramona’s seven evil exes. The fights take place with all the finery of video games, leading Scott to develop some seriously sick skills in the process. Throughout the fights and adventures, he also must deal with his evolving relationship and must decide what exactly to do with Knives Chau and his band. OMG, life is tough.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World does well to explode the relationship problems of its hero into a video game extravaganza, I suppose. The line-up of exes isn’t nearly as fun as it could have been, however, and the last few combatants feel like rush jobs to wrap before the runtime explodes. Cera isn’t the greatest about mastering the fight choreography and the sequences take familiar paths that would have had more life had the star been better equipped. For fun, ridiculously comic fights, Kung Fu Hustle is still the one to beat.
The optical gimmicks are admirable. I enjoyed how the movie embraced its graphic novel roots, but is that really such an accomplishment given what can be done with effects? Seeing hearts flutter about after a kiss is cute and watching the words or “fight sounds” manifest themselves visually like they did in the old Batman TV series is a neat form of nostalgia, but there’s not much more to it than that.
The biggest problem isn’t how original Wright’s vision is or isn’t; it’s that Scott Pilgrim vs. the World tries so hard to convince us of its hipness. From the absurdly pretentious character names (we should probably blame the source material for that) to the hollowness of Pilgrim’s relationship with Ramona, a basic humanity is missing. In its place is a completely shallow smattering of memes and catchphrases delivered in hectic, disorganized fashion as if to reinforce how cool everything’s supposed to be.
We’re to buy the relationships without question and buckle up for the visual treats to follow. We must accept the characters as labels and archetypes and not colourful people, simple as that. There’s no development, no complexity, no real reason to care beyond the superficial. It’s a world almost entirely comprised of memes, reading like a visit to a “hip” gamer website replete with vapid sloganeering and mumbled “whatevers.” Oh, and there’s a throwback Seinfeld reference complete with laugh track.
Part of me wishes I could still be satisfied fully by glossy energy and too-cool-for-school fun. I wish I enjoyed Scott Pilgrim vs. the World more than I did, but there wasn’t enough meat here to keep my full attention. As the fight scenes began to look like earlier fight scenes, the effect of the effects waned and I lost interest in Wright’s film. It’s too bad, as hisShaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz were consistently entertaining. This picture fizzles out far too soon and it winds up feeling an awful lot like watching someone else playing a video game.
Source : www.canadiancinephile.com
Read More
Add your Comment
0
komentar
U.S. Olympic Committee, USA Boxing and Freddie Roach Training, Inc. partner in run-up to London 2012
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – In an effort to ensure American boxers have access to the very best training and support in the world in advance of the 2012 Olympic Games in London, the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC), USA Boxing and Freddie Roach Training, Inc. have formed a unique partnership which will give America’s elite amateur boxers access to the world class services of Freddie Roach and his Wild Card Boxing Club, a USA Boxing registered club since 1997.
“I’d like to thank Freddie and his team for their willingness to help our boxers achieve their highest potential,” said USOC CEO Scott Blackmun. “I’m thrilled that we were able to make this happen and can’t wait to see the results.”
A former amateur and professional boxer himself and one of the most sought after trainers in the world, Roach has been training elite boxers for more than 20 years and has been in the corner of 17 World Champions at the professional level. Roach has also been honored as Trainer of the Year in 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010 by the Boxing Writers Association of America and has been inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame, the New England Boxing Hall of Fame, and most recently the California Boxing Hall of Fame.
“An Olympic medal is one of the greatest accomplishments in all of sport, and I promise to do all I can to ensure that these young men and women are fully prepared to go to London to proudly represent our country,” said Roach. “A special thanks to USA Boxing and the USOC for supporting this initiative and Casey Wasserman and Nick Khan for helping to put this together. This partnership is an exciting new chapter in my career and I can’t wait to get started.”
The program being instituted by this new partnership is designed to act as a resource for up to ten medal-potential athletes to attend multi-day training sessions at the Wild Card Gym with their personal coaches and USA Boxing’s National Coach Joe Zanders. These sessions will be established under the leadership of Freddie Roach and his staff and will be used to help provide feedback and strategy on the athletes’ preparation for the Olympic Games. The USOC will support this program as an add-on to the 2011-12 approved high performance plan with the intent of providing a unique and valuable resource for the designated athletes as a supplement to the existing coaching structure.
“President Harold Adonis and the USA Boxing board of directors fully support and thank the USOC and Scott Blackmun for facilitating these efforts as well as Freddie Roach for the generous gift of his time,” said USA Boxing Executive Director Anthony Bartkowski. “The addition of Freddie Roach to the USA Boxing High Performance and National Coaching structure is an innovative concept that will aid in our mission of winning Olympic medals. Freddie’s extensive expertise will augment our high performance and training plans, and we look forward to working with him to build international success in London and beyond.”
USA Boxing has identified the lack of integration of its athletes’ personal coaches into past training plans as a key weakness in the organization’s major event preparation. The inclusion of the U.S. medal hopefuls’ own coaches in Freddie Roach’s training sessions will be a critical component. These unique training opportunities will provide USA Boxing’s grassroots coaches with innovative training plans and tips they can take to their local gyms and share with additional athletes and fellow local coaches.
Roach’s work with USA Boxing will begin later this month as he joins USA Boxing’s coaching team at a High Performance retreat at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. and will continue at additional key events throughout the summer. As women’s boxing will make its Olympic debut at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Roach will be working with top medal hopefuls on both the men’s and women’s side during his training sessions at the Wild Card Boxing Club.
Source : http://www.boxingnews24.com
Read More
Add your Comment
4
komentar
PlayStation Network Back Online Tomorrow
PlayStation Network back online tomorrow is something that you have read many times over the past few days, but maybe tomorrow could truly be the day. We say this because on April 30, 2011 Sony said that they hoped to have PSN back up within a week. Well, tomorrow will be when that week is up.
There is a strong possibility that the PSN status could go from down to online. They did not even say that part of the service might be back up, but the entire service completely. This is not the official confirmation that we need, but at least it’s something. However, we do hold out hope that Sony will deliver, we can only but hope.
It is not worth getting angry with Sony over this issue, as this might take their focus away from getting the PlayStation Network back up and running; we would advise just to let them get on with it and leave the blame game down to the government.
The reason we say this is because there is now an ongoing investigation in to how such a breach could happen. Sony has been sharing as much detail as possible with the committee in charge of the investigation, and will take some time to learn what went wrong.
Read More
Add your Comment
0
komentar
Kentucky Derby 2011 post positions
No. 1: Archarcharch (Jon Court)
Archarcharch is in a tough spot on the rail. It can easily be boxed in, ruining its chances of winning.
No. 2: Brilliant Speed (Joel Rosario)
Borel might be the most well-known jockey in the sport. He has been a part of two straight Derby wins and three of four overall. He doesn't have a great horse this year and another win would be a surprise
.No. 3: Twice The Appeal (Calvin Borel)
Borel might be the most well-known jockey in the sport. He has been a part of two straight Derby wins and three of four overall. He doesn't have a great horse this year and another win would be a surprise
No. 4: Stay Thirsty (Ramon Dominguez)
With 20-1 odds, Stay Thirsty having the fourth position doesn't help or hurt. Much like Twice The Appeal, a win would be a surprise.
No. 5: Decisive Moment (Kerwin Clark)
This is another horse that is just here hoping to pull off the upset. Clark is a veteran jockey, but will be making his first Derby appearance.
No. 6: Comma to the Top (Patrick Valenzuela)
This horse won two races in late 2010 and has an experienced jockey. Valenzuela won two legs of the Triple Crown in 1989.
No. 7: Pants on Fire (Anna Napravnik)
Napravnik become a known commodity in 2005 and will race in her first Kentucky Derby. The horse won the Louisiana Derby in March but is still at 20-1 odds.
No. 8: Dialed In (Julien Leparoux)
The odds on favorite is in a great position in the eight spot. At 4-1 odds, this Nick Zito trained horse is looking to win it all.
No. 9: Derby Kitten (Javier Castellano)
Derby Kitten is the first of four straight long shots in the race.
No. 10: Twinspired (Mike Smith)
Smith won the 2005 Derby, but doesn't have as talented a horse as he did then (Giacomo).
No. 11: Master Of Hounds (Garrett Gomez)
Gomez has appeared in nine Derby's but has not finished higher than second.
No. 12: Santiva (Shaun Bridgmohan)
This Jamaican jockey has experience, but Santiva was last seen finishing ninth at the Toyota Blue Grass in April.
No. 13: Mucho Macho Man (Rajiv Maragh)
Maragh is a son of a jockey and could have a long career. The horse is at 12-1 odds and finished third at the Louisiana Derby in March. This is a good post for him to make a move.
No. 14: Shackleford (Jesus Castanon)
Castanon is making his Derby debut and has won numerous races over his career. This post is one that could work well for the horse with 12-1 odds.
No. 15: Midnight Interlude (Victor Espinoza)
The horse won it's only race of the year at the Santa Anita Derby and has a favorable post position to move towards the front.
No. 16: Animal Kingdom (Robby Albarado)
This veteran has won over 4,200 races in his career, but his horse is a long shot to win.
No. 17: Soldat (Alan Garcia)
Garcia is a third generation jockey making his second Derby appearance. At 12-1 odds, Garcia has a chance to win the big race.
*No. 18: Uncle Mo (John Velasquez)
It was announced on May 6 that Uncle Mo will not run in the Derby.
No. 19: Nehro (Corey Nakatani)
At 6-1, this horse also has the speed to get where it needs to go and will give Uncle Mo and Dialed In a run for their money.
No. 20: Watch Me Go (Rafael Bejarano)
The Peruvian will be making his Derby debut on who finished sixth in its last race in April.
Read More
Add your Comment
0
komentar
Deep Dive: 2015 Audi A2
The Audi A2 will return to market in 2015 with an aluminum body and electric variants but will be more affordable than its predecessor. The original Audi A2, built from 2000 to 2005, had an influence beyond its somewhat limited sales. With an advanced aluminum spaceframe that kept the curb weight below 2000 pounds plus an extremely low coefficient of drag, it achieved about 80 mpg (on the European test cycle) without the benefit of electric or hybrid assist. Design editor Robert Cumberford credits its Kammback profile with inspiring the now-ubiquitous shape of the Toyota Prius. And yet, for all its significance, the A2’s exotic construction priced it out of the small-car segment -– only 175,000 A2s found buyers in six years on the market, and it was never sold in the United States.
With all this in mind, Audi spent the past several years trying to formulate a new A2 that retains the first car’s technological aura at a more realistic price. First, the brand considered deriving it from the subcompact New Small Family, better known as Volkswagen Up!. Next, they looked at the VW Polo platform. After that, a spaceframe architecture like the original A2’s was under discussion. Most recently, the corporate masterminds had settled on MQB, the components set that will spawn the next Golf. But after three years of intensive board meetings, Audi managers realized that they needed to do better than that, especially since BMW is working on the ambitious Project i.
It was only at the beginning of 2011 that research and development chief Michael Dick and chairman Rupert Stadler came up with a satisfactory combination of advanced design and affordability. The second-generation model will still ride on the low-cost MQB chassis, but it will have an aluminum body. This combination holds true to the lightweight, high-tech ethos of the first A2 but will be cheaper than a car that employs a full aluminum platform. It also will be less costly to build than the carbon-fiber-bodied Project i. According to those in the know, the cost difference between a body shell made of aluminum and one made of carbon fiber is in the neighborhood of 3000 euro (about $4100).
“The A2 is a lighthouse car for Audi,” states Dick. “It must ooze innovation out of every pore, demonstrating the brand motto, “Vorsprung durch Technik” [Progress through Technology].”
The biggest part of the technology statement will be the electric and plug-in hybrid powertrains. The electric version would offer a range exceeding 150 miles and would produce 75 to 110 hp -– “plenty to swim with the flow on the autobahn,” says Dick. The plug-in variant will reportedly be fitted with a choice of gasoline or diesel three-cylinder engines paired with a dual-clutch automatic (the electric vehicle will use a single-speed transmission) and will boast an electric range of 40 to 60 miles.
The new A2 won’t be as feather light as the 1900-pound original but should weigh less than the 2400-pound A1. To meet this target, some panels will be made of composites, the greenhouse will boast thinner glass, and some components -- including the battery, alternator, and AC compressor -- will need to be downsized. The shape will remain similar to that of the original car but will incorporate styling cues from Audi’s upcoming E-tron line, such as air curtains, wind deflectors and a radically downsized, single-frame grille. To broaden the A2’s appeal, the new car will be wider and roomier, and it will seat five people instead of four. At this point, A2 is only a single-body-style enterprise, but if it does catch on, stretching or shortening the wheelbase should be very easy thanks to the versatility of the MQB components set.
Due to the drawn-out decision-making process, the launch time had to be postponed from 2013 to early 2015, but this is a relatively small price to pay for what promises to be a major advance in compact-car development.
Source : www.automobilmag.com
Read More
Add your Comment
0
komentar
