Teams get down to business, up to decent speeds with new cars

Bristol track hosts 'car of tomorrow' testing

What they were, were race cars.

"My car,” Jeff Burton said Wednesday at Bristol Motor Speedway, “doesn’t drive like a spaceship.”

Even though the Nextel Cup cars running around the 0.533-mile high-banked Bristol oval Wednesday looked very different, before the much-anticipated two-day “car of tomorrow” test had been going very long at all the teams were doing many of the same things they always do when preparing for a race.

“From a driver’s perspective, once you get in the car it’s just a car,” Burton said. “In my world, it’s no longer about the car of tomorrow, it’s just about me doing better in it than anybody else. My car needs to turn better, which is what I said the last time we raced here.”

The fact that more than three dozen teams quickly got down to the business of making their cars get around the track better was the headline of the opening day of the test. There were no surprise issues, inspection horror stories or startlingly obvious flaws to create any kind of major crises.

Yes, the new car with its “splitter” on the front and a wing in place of a spoiler on the back, looks different. The drivers seemed to quickly grow fond of the extra room they have inside the taller and wider greenhouse area. And speeds were, not surprisingly for the first major full-scale test of a brand new racing vehicle, off the track record by seven-tenths of a second.

“It’s not about trying to go out and blister a lap,” Ricky Rudd said. “It would be nice if when I go out every time we had something new that worked better than the last time. But the real world is we’ll come out of here knowing which way do we need to go with our car and that’s all everyone is trying to do.”

Greg Biffle, who had two No. 16 Fords among the fastest in the morning session, was more than pleased with his team’s effort. “We went to Rockingham and tested and that was a disaster,” Biffle said. “…It was bouncing around, but we got on the race track here after they did a lot of work back at the shop.”

Burton said he saw a lot of different agendas at the test, which continues today as teams prepare for the first race using the car of tomorrow on March 25 at Bristol.

“Some people are here to win the test, and some are here to try and learn by doing a lot of different things,” Burton said. “Some teams are really just getting their first shot at this car.”

Burton said he has laughed at preseason talk that Richard Childress Racing had moved ahead of the rest of the teams in developing the new car through extensive testing.

“Do you think the Hendrick teams’ guys have been just hanging around at the lake?” Burton said. “For some reason, word got out there that we were working hard on it and that would give us some big advantage. I am proud of the work we’ve done, but a lot of people have done a lot of work.”

Jimmie Johnson said the four Hendrick Motorsports teams came to Bristol with specific areas to work in as they broke in their new cars.

“We’re hoping to cover a lot of ground, and then we’ll get together and see what everybody has learned,” Johnson said. “I feel like we’re off to a decent start.”

GPS heads-up display gives your car a Top Gun feel

If you've longed to have some type of fighter-jet technology in your car you'll be happy to know GlobalTop Technology is showing off the GPS HUD Speed Meter at a trade show this week. What's cool about this gadget is it displays driving information like your speed and direction on the windshield of your car.

The GPS HUD (as in "heads-up display"), while placing critical driving data in your line of sight, also alerts you when you might draw the attention of the fuzz via a user-defined speed-warning function. It even interfaces via wireless Bluetooth for connection to smartphones and the like, according to Digital Reviews Network (though we aren't quite sure why yet). No word on availability on this auto accessory, but we would also ask GlobalTop to develop plug-ins like a dog tracker so we can follow Fido after he wanders off.

Satellite radio rivals agree to a merger

Regulatory hurdles remain before XM, Sirius can fuse

XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. and Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. have agreed to merge, the two companies said Monday. The deal would consolidate the only two companies in the emerging business of subscription-only satellite radio, and is sure to face tough scrutiny from federal regulators. Investors and analysts have been speculating about a deal for months

The two companies said in a statement that Mel Karmazin, the CEO of Sirius, would become chief executive of the new company while Gary Parsons, the chairman of XM, would remain in that role. XM's CEO Hugh Panero will remain to oversee closing the of the deal, they said.

The deal would face significant regulatory hurdles in Washington, including a Federal Communications Commission rule that clearly states that one satellite radio provider cannot buy the other one. However, that rule could be waived.

A combination would also have to meet antitrust approval from the Department of Justice. The companies are expected to argue that they compete not only with each other but also with a growing base of digital audio sources such as iPods, mobile phones, and non-satellite digital radio.

XM and Sirius have both posted significant financial losses as they built up their programming lineups and recruited subscribers. Both stocks declined more than 40 percent last year on concerns about their continued growth in subscribers and softness in the retail market, but investors have held out hopes that a merger could bring costs down significantly.

Shareholders of XM and Sirius would each own approximately 50 percent of the combined company. XM shareholders would receive 4.6 shares of Sirius stock for each share of XM they own.

That would value XM shares at $17.02 each, based on Friday's closing prices, representing a premium of 22 percent from XM's closing value of $13.98 Friday. Markets were closed Monday for the Presidents' Day holiday.

The companies didn't say what the new company would be called, though they described it as a merger of equals. The new company's board will have 12 members, including Parsons, Karmazin, four independent directors named by each company, and one representative each from General Motors Corp. and Honda Motor Co.

News of a possible merger was reported earlier Monday by the New York Post.

On Friday, a Bear Stearns analyst said in a research note that a merger would have a good chance of overcoming regulatory obstacles.

Other analysts remain less sure. Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett said he gives the deal a "50-50" chance of passing regulatory muster.

Moffett said the deal could have a particularly tough time getting through the FCC, and is likely to opposed by the National Association of Broadcasters, a lobbying group that includes radio broadcasters. Moffett said it was "anyone's guess" as to whether the FCC would change its rule barring a consolidation of the two satellite radio companies.

Plan Ahead: Total Lunar Eclipse March 3

Soon after sunset on Saturday evening, March 3, skywatchers in eastern North America can watch the rising full Moon undergoing its first total eclipse in nearly 2-½ years.

In Europe and Africa the eclipse takes place late at night high in a dark sky.

For North Americans, the farther east you are the better. The eclipse will already be in progress when the Sun sets and the Moon rises, two events that happen almost simultaneously on a lunar eclipse night.

In New England and the Canadian Maritime Provinces the Moon rises before total eclipse begins; be on the watch for a thinning sliver of the Moon’s edge coming up just above the eastern horizon. Across much of the eastern United States, the Moon rises during totality. In this region, depending on just how clear your eastern sky is on eclipse evening, you might have to wait a half-hur or more after the Moon rises, since the twilight sky will still be quite bright and the full Moon will be shining 1/10,000 to 1/100,000 as bright as it normally would; you’ll be hunting for a dim ball.

BUD BOWL

Me and the Bud Girls

Road Trip

Me Jeff and Troy headed to Moncton on Wednesday night to check out Emerson drive who were playing at the Rodeo. Jeff and Troy had already meet them at the CCMA's in Saint John a couple of months back as Troy owns a Limo service and was Driving them around. So we were able to get on the Tour Bus after the show. The Rodeo was indeed rockin from the show. The First Picture is Us and Emerson Drive on the Bus and the Second one is Troy with a couple hotties lol at the Rodeo after the Show was over, the One on the right also has her own CD out, I think her name is Melody Moore.