I'm a big F-1 fan and Hamilton is amazing. Last year, he took the series by storm. REminded me of Tiger Woods first year on the tour.

I did follow the DTM series. Loved ther German Touring Cars. Alltime favorite car was a CLK GTR: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_CLK_GTR

My car was the 190E 2.3-16 and was a duplicate of one driven by Nikki Lauda in the mid 80s. It was a 4 cylinder rocket. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_W201

Miss those days.

Please don't call me a "joker" just because of the driver I support and do not assume what I believe or think about the driver I choose to support. I do honestly think Jr. will win a championship because he has determination. He has the drive to drive in my opinion and I believe if you have that determination and drive you will eventually be rewarded. After listening to his radio at Michigan (I was fortunate to be at the race yesterday) he wants to win. He wants that championship. Whether or not he will achieve those goals is unknown to you and to me, but I believe that with determination and the drive he has he can an will win. I'm sure you will counter that, but that is what I believe and really nothing you say will change my mind. He can't help his last name. Did he ask to be an Earnhardt? Nope. Does he have a whole lot of pressure because of that last name? Absolutely. He isn't Dale Sr. and never will be. He will never achieve what his father did, and that's fine with me. I want Jr. to be Jr., not Sr. Even if Jr. never wins a championship, he has still been successful in my eyes with his Nationwide team and his bar in Charlotte.

Interesting about that Gibbs Nationwide team infractions though.

:rolleyes:

Yup. Lewis is the man. He would have won the championship, but unfortunately he made a few rookie mistakes which cost him. Yeah, the CLK GTR is nice. If I had to choose though as my all time favorite racing series, it would by far be the FIA GT (the cars that race at the 24 hours of LeMans and 12 hours at Sebring). Lamborghini, Ferrari, Benz, Porsche, Maserati ect ect all compete in that series which is why I like it so much.

Yeah, I like 190s a lot. I didn't like it's replacement that much though unti now. The C220 that's currently available is one of the best styled Benzes I've seen in a long time. If I'm not mistaken, I think the 16vs only came in grey. I may be wrong though.

Smoke Silver, which was the one that I had and Black Pearl. Most people got the Silver, which changed colors depending on the light. I use to laugh at those that ordered it with automatic transmission (ok, maybe "tormented" was a better word than laugh).

I absolutely loved that car but hated having parts shipped in from Stuttgart when something needed to be replaced.

LOL, BTD I wasn't trying to offend you. I use the word joker all the time. It's a habit that I have. I certainly do apologize if I did offended you, and I'll try not to use that word when I quote you. My apologies.:)

I wasn't trying to change your opinion. If you like Junior then so be it. IMO, I just don't think he's got the skills to win a championship. I bumped this thread because I was trying to make my point. About a year ago I said Kyle was going to be "The Man" and that he would win a championship before Junior does. When I said that, I almost got laughed off of this thread. You, shinerbock and other greekchat members posting on here said that Kyle was no comparison to Junior. I agree with you 100% when you said neither one of us can predict the future, you are absolutely right. What I can do though is make a judgement call based on the way a driver drives. I used to watch Kyle when he was racing in the Busch series before he entered cup racing. I knew at that point that he was going to be the next Jeff Gordon, or close to it. The question I have is, what is Kyle doing now? He's doing exactly what I said he was going to do. WIN. He almost won at Michigan which would have been race win #9. The next question I have is who is at the top of the food chain as far as points are concerned? Kyle. I said that he would win a championship before Junior. You all thought I was insane. What's about to happen? I'll be surprised if Kyle doesn't take the Sprint Cup home this season. Sure, I agree with you, Junior is a successful business man "off" the track, but on the track he is not. I'm sure when he retires he'll also be inducted into the NASCAR hall of fame too. But for what?:confused: How is he the most popular driver in NASCAR with 0 championships and his father a 7 time champion and Gordon a 4 time champion never, not once got that honor? Last but not least. IMO Junior will not win a championship. He doesn't have the skills nor does he have enough time. He'll be 34 soon. If he was as good of a driver as Eury Jr. is a crew chief, that team would more than likely win no less than 2 championships. Eury Jr. is by far one of the best crew chiefs in the business.

I haven't been keeping up with the Nationwide series. What's up with Gibbs?

What do you think about Tony leaving Gibbs as an owner/driver? I like Tony and I hope he succeeds, but I have yet to see a successful owner/driver.

I hate automatics. And to buy a car like that with automatic tranmission is pathetic. LOL. I didn't know they came in other colors though. Well, I learned something new. I know the parts were expensive.

Speaking of automatics and Stuttgart, that reminds me of Porsche 928s. Most of those were automatics. I went on autotrader and there were only a few manual 928s listed. I was looking at the S4s. I can't afford a new Porsche, but I do want a 911. I've been looking at them from the years 82-86. Great prices, but I have to watch for problem areas. Still looking. I was disappointed when they went from air cooled flat 6s to water cooled. They still sound great though.

ETA: 190 16vs are hard to find. I haven't seen one of those since 92 or 93. Great car though.

Ha ha it's ok. No harm no foul. :) Supposedly Nascar found magnets on the 18 and 20 of the JGR Nationwide cars that kept the throttle from going wide open in dyno tests at Michigan. Here is the link to the article on Nascar.com

http://www.nascar.com/2008/news/head...est/index.html

I agree with you 110% that Kyle is racing much better then Jr. and Kyle is the better driver right now. Jr. will be inducted into the Hall of Fame for being so popular, if he was to be inducted right now (if he wins a championship or 2 he would probably be inducted for that, but as of now that is not the case). 4 Years in a row he has been voted most popular driver, and that has to say something. He brings in the cash monies for Nascar. Money talks and Jr. is the NASCAR cash cow in my opinion.

I wish Tony all the best in his new venture. I think it was very important to him to go back to Chevy, and I hope he is happy in thte future with his decision. I think it is interesting that Newman is going with Tony though. I didn't think they were alike in very many ways....

What do you think about Childress' grandson possibly running the #3 someday? There was an article this week on nascar.com about him possibly doing that. I personally think that is a bad bad idea because of the emotions and history tied to that number. Of course I would be for it is it was Jr. going into the #3, but i can only dream of that right now.

:)

Hey thanks for that article. Speaking of Joey Lagano, is he going to be driving the 20 car next season? Rumors say he is. He's a good driver and young too.

BTD, I agree with you, yes, money talks and yes Junior has brought more money to NASCAR than any other driver in NASCAR history. Sponsors love that dude. Bill Elliot got most popular dirver more than any driver so far though. Everyone liked his personality. Awesome Bill from Dawsonville.:rolleyes::D

Too bad Jeff never got it. I think he should have at least gotten it once.

I heard that Jr. was going to drive the #3. I read his book and he mentioned it. IMO, I don't think they should ever bring the 3 back. It should never see track time again. That number is known as a winning number and to put a driver in it who isn't or never will be as good as Big E is insane. Yeah, but I haven't heard about Richard's grandson driving the 3 though.

Yeah I heard Lagano is going to drive the #20 too. Official word is coming August 25. I say give Jr. some more time and he will catch up with Elliott. He is the article about Childress' grandson. The #3 is mentioned near the end.
http://www.nascar.com/2008/news/head...but/index.html
I wouldn't mind Jr. driving it like in his last Daytona 500 then the number is retired only because I would cry and the thought of it even now gives me chills.
Gordon never got most popular driver probably because most of his successes to date on the track (championships & won races) came at a time where he was a "rival" to Sr. which made him the man everyone loved to hate or when he had to compete against Jr. for the title of Most Popular. Poor timing.

You are correct. They were rare.

Here is the deal. When the Baby Benz came out in the 16v, there were very few made (will get the website for you on stats when I have a minute). Add that to the fact that it set a speed record in Nardo over 50,000 km averaging some unGodly speed.

Most of the people who bought them, only raced them. The other 50% drove them hard and a large percentage were wrecked while driving too fast.

When I sold mine, it had less than 70,000 miles on it and it was 16 years old (ok, so they were hard miles). The guy that bought it from me had just finished an apprenticeship through MB and trailored it from Cleveland to Denver in a snow storm. He was the perfect individual to buy it because he could do the $$$$$costly repairs $$$$$.

Since it was a cult-car, I knew a lot of the owners. At one time, I dated a guy who had a smoke silver 16v too (isn't that too sweet).

Thanks for this article. I'm about to read it. It won't let me click on it while quoting at the same time.

Bill Elliot is more known for his Daytona and Dega speed record than he is for his wins and championship.

I was reading Gordon's book and he said that he and Earnhardt never really had a rivalry. He said it just looked that way. Those two were really good friends and business partners. He also said that he didn't know why Earnhardt fans hated him so much, because it was Earnhardt who taught him how to win cup races. He said Earnhardt also taught him how to react to all of the booing. At 1st Gordon said it bothered him. He said that Earnhardt told him that if they boo you that means you're winning. If they cheer you, that also means you're winning. He said that if it's quiet when you're introduced, that's when you have to worry. So he taught Gordon a lot. Listen to this. Gordon also said that it's hard for him to recognize his 4th cup win as a championship, because since he wasn't challenged by Earnhardt, it just didn't feel as though he earned it. He said the previous three were a challenge because it was always a challenge when he was racing against him.

I won't be surprised if Gibbs puts Lagano in the 20.:)

In the pictures I saw it is the same font of 3. I think he is running the 33 in Nationwide with him someday possibly moving up into Cup with the 3.