Formula One leader Jenson Button heads into the European Grand Prix wary of his car, while Ferrari’s Luca Badoer returns to the track after a decade for the injured Felipe Massa.
Button’s championship has been whittled from 26 points to 18.5 since winning six of the first seven races. Button has finished off the podium in the three since then, while Red Bull’s Mark Webber has moved up to second place in the standings.
“We can be strong again. This car is not bad, I just think we went slightly in the wrong direction,†the Brawn GP driver said Thursday. “We need to get back on top of it. I’ve got an 18.5 point lead, but that can disappear quite quickly.â€Â  … Details
Three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson had the gas to get to the White House on Wednesday, where President Barack Obama honored the 2008 winner as well as auto racing.
“NASCAR is a uniquely American sport,†Obama said beneath the South Portico, flanked by nine of the 12 drivers who competed last year for NASCAR’s top prize. Three drivers had scheduling conflicts and could not attend.
Obama said NASCAR drivers work to support U.S. troops, local schools and environmental innovation. Obama said the sport certainly has grown since “moonshiners†raced in Daytona Beach, Fla., to become a service-oriented organization known around the world.
“One of the core values of the NASCAR community is … Details
The Obama administration plans to end the popular $3 billion Cash for Clunkers program on Monday, giving car shoppers a few more days to take advantage of big government incentives.
The Transportation Department said Thursday the government will wind down the program on Monday at 8 p.m. EDT. Car buyers can receive rebates of $3,500 or $4,500 for trading in older vehicles for new, more fuel-efficient models.
“It’s been a thrill to be part of the best economic news story in America,” Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. “Now we are working toward an orderly wind down of this very popular program.”
Through Thursday, auto dealers have made deals worth …Â Details
YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley is putting some of his fortune into Formula One as primary investor in the new U.S. F1 team due to enter the sport next season.
“I am thrilled to be a part of America’s first Formula One team in more than 40 years,” the multi-millionaire told the autosport.com website.
“Getting in on the ground floor of a project of this size and scope is a tremendous opportunity, and I look forward to helping shape the US F1 vision and corporate strategy for years to come.”
Hurley, CEO of the video-sharing website that was sold to Google in 2006 for $1.65 billion in 2006, said he was attracted by the mix of technology, design and sport that Formula One represented …Â Details