InTheDriversSeat

Brad Keselowski mentioned during his post race interview at Chicagoland Speedway that his win was the first ever for Ford at Chicagoland. That track opened in 2001, so it took 14 Sprint Cup races for a Ford to finally win a race. Fords have performed better at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the site of tomorrow's Sprint Cup race. 39 total Sprint Cup races have been held at New Hampshire, and Ford teams have won 12. Broken down, Fords have won 8 out of 22 July races (which began in 1993), and Ford won 4 out of 17 September races (which began in 1997 at New Hampshire).

They were hired by both Ford and Roush. Manufacturers are involved, and they contribute to driver's salaries. With top-tier teams, joint decisions are made by the manufacturer, the race team, and sponsors.

Quote from Jamie Allison, Ford Racing Director: We at Ford Racing did everything to facilitate keeping Carl a part of the Ford Racing & Roush Fenway family, but in the end that option did not come to fruition. While we are disappointed in his decision to leave Roush Fenway Racing, we certainly want to extend our appreciation for Carl's contributions winning races and a NASCAR Nationwide Series Championship in a Ford, and especially for his outreach to Ford fans. In the case of Matt Kenseth, Roush Fenway Racing was not even given an opportunity to offer a contract extension. Kenseth went to Gibbs behind Roush's back. I remember Jack said at time that Kenseth is moving to "the dark side". They were both given careers in NASCAR. These 2 clowns were hired by Jack Roush when they were unknown on a national level.

The sponsors that were on Matt Kenseth's and Carl Edwards' cars at Roush have not followed to Gibbs. In both cases, the sponsors remained at Roush with the replacement drivers. In 2012, Kenseth had sponsorship from Best Buy and Zest soap, and now the sponsors are still on the 17 car but with Ricky Stenhouse driving. Matt Kenseth's sponsors at Gibbs, Home Depot and Dollar General, were already with Gibbs prior to Kenseth joining. Carl Edwards' primary sponsor Fastenal has already announced they are staying with Roush in 2015, but moving to the 17 car (because 99 apparently won't be used). IMO, Kenseth and Edwards are TRAITORS. Money is more important to these clowns than loyalty to Ford. Bizarre that these guys choose to drive Toyotas. I hope they enjoy racing their Camrys in the Nationwide Series against Mustangs and Camaros, LOL!

This is cool. I want a Mustang pinball machine for the mancave: http://www.autoblog.com/2014/02/05/mustang-themed-pinball-game-debuting-in-chicago-w-video/

This is really boring looking. What happened to the 2-door and convertible? Previously the Brazilian Ka was was different from the more sporty-looking European Ka. So is the car going to be same now in both Latin America and Europe?

The next event of the Australian V8 Supercar Series was the 'Armor All Gold Coast 600' at Surfers Paradise Street Circuit in Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia. The race will be televised in the USA on Fox Sports 2 this Sunday night, November 3rd, from 8:00 PM-11:00 PM Eastern Time. The telecast will not be repeated. As of this week, AT&T U-verse is now showing 'Fox Sports 2' in High Definition. Again the outcome of this race is a good one : http://racing.ford.com/road-racing/news/articles/reynolds-takes-maiden-win-on-australians-gold-coast-1293055657237/

For anyone interested, the 'Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000' will be televised in the USA for 3 hours on Sunday night, October 20th, 8:00 PM-11:00 PM Eastern, on Fox Sports 2. The Australian V8 Supercar Series used to be carried on Speed, but when that cable network was discontinued in August and replaced by 'Fox Sports 1', the Australian Series sadly was demoted to 'Fox Sports 2'. 'Fox Sports 2', which used to be named 'Fuel', is a network that airs mostly kickboxing and foreign soccer matches. As far as I know, Comcast cable does not carry 'Fox Sports 2', however DirecTV has the network in HD, and Dish Network and AT&T U-verse have the network in SD only.

http://www.za3collectibles.com/greenlight_casting/glGL057.htm The above link shows all of the Greenlight 5th Generation, 1:64 scale Explorers produced so far. 3 were produced that do not have police lights on the roof, or the word 'Police'. On the top row, the 1st and 4th Explorers are readily available on ebay. The 2nd, plain white Explorer was a promo produced for Ford, who in-turn sold the vehicle at fordcollection.com, but is no longer available. The plain white one used to show up on ebay, but has now dried up. Another company, Toy State, has produced dis-proportioned Explorers in two scales. Red 1:32 scale metal, and various colors 1:43 scale plastic. http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=13164771 http://www.toystate.com/our-toys/dub/rim-rockerz/ Matchbox (Mattel) has produced 3 different 1:64 scale Explorers, but they have painted graphics indicating 'Forest Ranger', 'Fire Chief', and 'MBX Construction'.

Contrary to recent rumors, I learned that the Ford Ka is not going to be discontinued. That's good news. The bad news is that the car is going to be larger, and will be based on the Ford Figo / previous generation Fiesta. The new Ka has been spotted testing at both Germany and Brazil. According to this article from Auto Express, the next Ka will be a 5 door only (4 doors if you don't count the hatch). Gone is the unique, stylish 2 door of the first 2 generations. http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/ford/ka/65049/new-ford-ka-2014-pictures#disqus_thread I suspect that production will be going away from the Fiat-owned plant in Poland which also builds the Fiat 500, instead moving to Ford plants that currently build the Figo, Ikon, or previous generation Fiesta. Currently the European and Latin American Ford Ka's look different at both the front and back. Perhaps the new car will be the same in both continents. I also wonder if the Figo, Ikon, and older generation Fiesta will be discontinued now that those cars appear to be re-badged "Ka". http://www.motoroids.com/news/next-gen-2015-ford-kafigo-to-enter-production-in-brazil-in-march-2014/ http://www.motoroids.com/news/ford-kafigo-2015-continues-testing-brazil/ http://www.motoroids.com/news/next-generation-2015-ford-figoka-spotted-brazil/

The Bathhurst 1000 will be televised on 'Speed' tonight, Sunday, October 14th for 2 hours stating at 11:00 PM Eastern. http://www.speedtv.c...n-v8-supercars/

In my mind, 5 doors = 4 doors, because I don't like to consider a back / trunk door (which is not used by people to enter the car) as a door. Also, in my mind 3 doors = 2 doors. I think most people will understand what I meant. But to make my original point more clear, the 2012 Focus (USA version) will not be offered as a 2 door / 3 door, but other countries will have this available. Likely I won't be buying anything for a couple of years. For $18,000-$20,000, if I can't get exactly what I what, I would rather buy nothing at all, and will keep my 2003 Ford ZX2 a few more years. I happen to big a big fan of Ford's European and compact cars. I was very impressed when the Verve concept (a 2 door hatch) was introduced a few years ago. Sadly, that is not available in the US with the re-named Fiesta. Down the road, if Ford still does not offer any 2 door / 3 doors (not including the boxy Mustang), I may end up with a used Mercury Cougar (1999-2002), Ford Probe (1993-1997), or Focus ZX3 (2000-2007). I don't care for the current Focus (which was produced with a 2 door from 2008-2010) because the styling reminds me too much of a pathetic Toyota Corolla. But Ford is not alone with eliminating 2 door / 3 doors. GM and Chrysler have done the same. Perhaps in a few years, I may look at some European cars like Volkswagen or Volvo, who continue to produce 2 door / 3 door compacts that are sold in the USA.

Lack of 3 door / 2 door version I would have already bought a Fiesta, but Ford blew it by not offering a 3 door / 2 door version. This is a deal-breaker for me. What is Ford thinking??? When the original Ford Verve concept was shown, the car was a 2 door version. Europe, Australia, and some Asian countries can have a 2 door Fiesta, but not the USA! Does anyone know if the Fiesta plant in Mexico is making any 2 doors for other countries? Now I'm learning that the new 2012 Focus also will only have 4 doors. WTF!

Here's another link with photos of the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series Ford Mustang: http://www.examiner.com/x-543-NASCAR-Exami...stang-unveiling (click on 'View Slideshow') IMO the real race car that was unveiled today looks much better than the computer-generated image from a couple of months ago, which was strange looking.

I was changing channels last night expecting to watch international news on 'MHZ Worldview'. MHZ is an English-language international channel which airs on free digital sub-channels of some PBS affiliates in the US. Instead, MHZ was airing extended coverage of the AFL "Grand Final' between Geelong Cats (sponsor: Ford) and St. Kilda Saints (sponsor: Jeld-Wen windows and doors). I'm in the U.S., so I don't understand much of the AFL rules but I watch it when the Cats are playing because they have the 'Ford' logo on the front and back of their uniforms. The game shown last night was held in Melbourne with 99,251 fans! Today I learned that Ford has sponsored Geelong since 1925! This is the longest running continuous sponsorship in the world. AFL_trophy.bmp