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When Michael Waltrip was riding “the streak” — an astounding 0-for-462 in Cup Series competition — he wasn’t exactly the sport’s hottest commodity.Â
Yet, going into the 2001 season, there was one believer. Driver and team owner Dale Earnhardt gave Waltrip a ride. The seven-time NASCAR champ knew his severely snakebitten driver could win, and he devised a plan to deem it so at NASCAR’s grandest race, the Daytona 500Â Â …Â More
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Chip Ganassi Racing secured its fourth Daytona 24 Hours victory in six years with a one-two finish in the 2011 edition of the race.
Ganassi’s #01 Riley-Ford MKXI/XX driven by Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas, Joey Hand and Graham Rahal crossed the line just two seconds ahead of its sister car. Scott Dixon, who shared the second Ganassi entry with Juan Pablo, Dario Franchitti and Jamie McMurray, was unable to exploit a late-race safety-car period, which turned the race into a one-lap sprint to the flag  … More
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On January 29, 1886, Karl Benz filed a Patent No. 37435 at the Reich Patent Office in Berlin – it is generally regarded as the birth certificate of the automobile and became the first of over 80,000 patents to the Mercedes Benz marque. Benz’ Patent Motor Car was equipped with a horizontal single-cylinder four-stroke engine, which developed an output of 0.55 kW at 400 rpm from a displacement of 954 cubic centimetres. The vehicle’s top speed was 16 km/h. Happy birthday to the automobile and congratulations to   … Pictures & More
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2010 MERCEDES-BENZ E550
By DAVID COLMAN
This is one sweetheart of a Mercedes. You can fall in love with it on looks alone. Or you can become enamored of its stellar performance. If neither of these criteria motivate you, then try practicality, because this is a car with two-seater looks and go, but room enough for four and their luggage. By any quantifiable measure, this all-new for 2010 pillarless coupe is the best bargain to come out of Stuttgart in decades with a base price of just $54,650. Of course, you’ll want to up the ante a bit with the $3,950 optional “P01” Premium Package which adds a 40GB Navigation hard-drive with COMAND control stick, Logic7 Surround Sound, plus all the entertainment and information sources any sentient being could possibly want (Realtime Traffic Data, HD and Sirius Radio, and iPod/MP3 interface with cable connector included). The P01 Package also adds really nice 3 setting heated front seats (used every day), a power rear window shade (didn’t use), and a rear backup camera (which we ignored).Â
Mercedes could easily market this svelte new coupe as a sports car, since its got the looks and performance to compete with Chevy’s Corvette and Porsche’s 911. That’s a pretty heavy league, but … Read the rest of this entry »