PRESENTING a product to customers in the most favorable setting is a basic tenet of marketing, but rarely is the effort to influence shoppers taken to this extreme.
Next Sunday in Maranello, Italy, an auction of vintage Ferraris will be held in the logistics center of the automaker’s famed Formula One racing team. The sale follows four days of buildup during which bidders registered for the auction can visit the Ferrari museum; tour the production facilities and factory Classiche division, the department that authenticates racecars and vintage road cars, and the Ferrari factory; see a private car collection housed in a 15th century castle; and sample some of the … Details
 On a “green” race track washed by a hard afternoon rain, Matt Kenseth laid down the best qualifying lap in the history of Darlington Raceway.
Touring the 1.366-mile egg-shaped circuit in 27.394 seconds (179.514 mph), Kenseth won the pole for Saturday night’s Southern 500, edging Jeff Gordon (178.861 mph) by a tenth of a second in a session that saw three-time defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson wreck in Turn 2 on his first lap.
Ryan Newman (178.757 mph) qualified third, followed by Sam Hornish Jr. (178.744 mph) and rookie Joey Logano (178.549 mph)…Â Details
Roger Penske said Friday that he know he’s operating in a “short time frame†if he wants to bid for the Saturn brand of General Motors Corp.
Penske said his company, Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based Penske Automotive Group Inc., hasn’t yet made an offer for Saturn. Penske Automotive confirmed Monday it had an interest in Saturn.
GM is looking to sell or phase out Saturn by the end of the year as it races to a meet a government-imposed June 1 deadline to restructure or seek bankruptcy protection.