Joe Gibbs Racing Switches to Toyota

Tony Stewart (left) with Joe Gibbs Racing President J.D. Gibbs

Joe Gibbs Racing, a leading team in the NASCAR Nextel Cup series, announced Wednesday that it would swap Chevrolet race cars to Toyotas beginning in 2008.

Gibb�s move gives rise to Toyota�s competitiveness from being just a struggling newcomer in stock-car racing's premier class. The Japan-based automaker expands from three teams to five teams next year. Gibbs team, which is owned by NFL Coach Joe Gibbs, include as driver two-time Cup champion Tony Stewart.

"We want to be the team to beat," said J.D. Gibbs, Gibbs' son and team president. "They (Toyota) want to be the manufacturer to beat."

In switching car manufacturers, Gibbs ends its 16-year relationship with General Motors. The change was a blow for General Motors, which provided Gibbs Chevrolets and Pontiacs since the team was formed in 1992. Gibbs has been racing Chevys since 2003.

"While we understand the business nature of racing, we are disappointed in J.D.'s decision," according to a statement by General Motors Vice President Brent Dewar. "We hoped they would remain with Chevrolet."

But Stewart, who will be driving a Toyota Camry next year, is ecstatic over the recent changes.

�I�m excited about this,� Stewart said. �I feel like the only way you constantly stay ahead of the game is by putting yourselves in position to be leaders and not followers. That�s why I signed up with Joe Gibbs Racing in the first place and why I�m going to extend my contract.�

There has been an ongoing negotiation on the extension of Stewart�s contract with Gibbs beyond 2009.

M3 Tuned

Nordschleife 2007

Car Movie Review - "Redline"

Well, that was an hour and a half of my life I'll never get back. I know, I know I should have known it was going to be bad. In reality I did, it was in theaters for about 5 minutes and the only buzz it generated was when Eddie Griffin crashed an Enzo Ferrari during a publicity event for the movie. I just didn't expect it to be as bad as it was. In fact, it was easily one of the worst movies I have ever seen in my entire life! Let's put it this way, it made the Fast and the Furious movies look Oscar worthy. And we all know how bad they were.

Now, you would think that the movie would provide some enjoyment for a car guy like me since it features a collection of fantastic exotic cars racing around for a good part of the movie. Wrong! I did enjoy looking at the cars and if they had just made a movie showing just the cars racing around, it may have been watchable. Instead they insisted on including the really bad acting, awful dialog and all around stupid story. Again, I shouldn't have expected anything less, the movie was the brainchild of a mortgage broker/real estate developer (Daniel Sadek) not a movie producer or writer. The whole movie seemed like an attempt to show everyone how much money he has since it was well publicized that the exotic cars featured in the movie were all his own private collection. Hell, he wrote off an Enzo Ferrari as part of the publicity for the movie.

The plot of the movie involves a bunch of really rich guys illegally racing their exotic cars around against each other for money. From there it degenerates into a lame attempt at an action movie. Eddie Griffith plays Infamous, a music producer, Tim Matheson is Jerry Brecken, a movie producer or something like that, and Angus Macfayden (he was good in Braveheart!) is Michael, a mob boss type. The rest of the cast is a bunch of no-names.

If you have to watch it, rent the DVD, turn down the sound when anyone is speaking and just fast forward to the car scenes. Maybe then it will be somewhat bearable.

Formula One driver�s comeback to NASCAR

Jacques Villeneuve, a Formula One champion in 1997 and winner of the Indianapolis 500 and CART championship in 1995, is back to NASCAR a decade later.

"It's a new challenge, something fun," Villeneuve said. "Everyone here is so open and warm, and it's always better racing when you have a roof over your head."

This week, Villeneuve tested a truck for the Bill Davis Racing program and will pace a Nextel Cup "Car of Tomorrow" next week in Kentucky. He is also slated to compete in seven truck races this season, gunning for a full-time Cup launch in 2008.

Villeneuve is a source of renewed optimism for a team that struggles against NASCAR's megateams. "We have a lot to prove. Jacques has a lot to prove, but he's relaxed about being part of the rebirth of Bill Davis Racing," said general manager Mike Brown. "Neither of us would have done this if we didn't think we would be successful."

Villeneuve's arrival comes in the middle of various speculations. Last year, Juan Pablo Montoya�also an Indy 500 winner and CART champion�left a problematic situation with the BMW Williams F1 team to reunite with team owner Chip Ganassi and his NASCAR program. Villeneuve's situation is comparable to that of Montoya�s, establishing a career after Formula One. However, Villeneuve is five years older than Montoya and this may be a last chance for a comeback.

High Performance Racing

NASCAR returns to its origin

Marking the 70th anniversary of the Sit-Down Strike in Flint, three NASCAR-related exhibits with UAW sponsorship are in Flint. The exhibits are open to the public this weekend.

With the theme "Ordinary People Changing the World," the activities are sponsored by UAW Region 1-C and the Flint Cultural Center. The free exhibits, which arrived in three semitrailers Friday morning, are among numerous activities taking place Labor Day weekend in the Flint Cultural Center and other areas. The exhibits, located in the parking lot next to the Sloan Museum in the Cultural Center, are open 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

According to Gary Alred, head of the exhibit, people coming to the exhibit will not only learn about NASCAR and the UAW, they'll be a part of history. This is the first time the UAW-Dodge, UAW-GM, and UAW-Ford car racing exhibits have all been on display in the same location at a non-racing event, Alred explained.

"It's like remembering the signing of the Declaration of Independence," Alred added. "People need to know where they came from and (the Sit-Down Strike) was the birth of the union."