Brad Keselowski has performed admirably during his tenure with Penske Racing. He’s already won twice this year with the first win coming at Bristol.

CONCORD, N.C. – I daresay that anyone who saw Brad Keselowski for the first time would never picture him as a race car driver.

With his boyish looks and wry smile, Keselowski looks more like a teenager who is up to something.

Come to think of it, given his “tweeting” and picture taking during races, Keselowski has, indeed, been up to something – to the fans’ delight, I might add.

But at age 28, Keselowski hasn’t been a teenager for quite some time. And, yes indeed, he is a race car driver – a darn good one at that.

In NASCAR circles many suggest that Keselowski may become a superstar in the not-too-distant future. There is reason for that.

After competing in just 17 races on the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit from 2008-2009, Keselowski has been driving  for Penske Racing, one of the most respected and successful teams in stock car racing history, for the last three seasons.

Keselowski caught everyone’s attention in the spring of 2009 when he won at Talladega driving for James Finch’s Phoenix Racing team.

That season, Keselowski was also competing in selected races for Hendrick Motorsports and Penske, which meant his potential was widely recognized.

Circumstances developed at the end of 2009 that led to Keselowski’s full-time union with Penske as part of a three-car operation with Kurt Busch and Sam Hornish Jr.

That lasted another season before, in 2011, the team was reduced to two cars with Busch and Keselowski.

Keselowski won twice last year, at Kansas and Pocono, before another Penske shift was completed. This season, A.J. Allmendinger is Keselowski’s teammate.

Busch, ironically, currently drives for Finch.

Keselowski is now the senior driver at Penske. He drives a well-recognized blue No. 2 Dodge sponsored by Miller Lite, which has been a Penske staple for years.

Many veteran fans instinctively associate a No. 2 Miller Lite-sponsored car with Rusty Wallace, who raced and won with Penske for many seasons and was elected into the NASCAR Hall of Fame on May 23.

Wallace was one of Keselowski’s racing heroes.

“I’ll never forget, there was this NASCAR video game and Rusty was always the man to beat,” Keselowski said. “I was about 10 years old and I remember how good he was at Bristol and Martinsville and places like that.

“When I think back to him, I think of that black and gold Miller car, too. It’s pretty cool to think of him in the Hall of Fame and what that means for Miller.”

Keselowski’s career is young but he continues to display his potential. He has already won twice this year, at Bristol and Talladega, and returns to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600 after a strong performance in the Sprint All Star race a week earlier.

Penske, who has been a team owner in both NASCAR and IndyCar for years, will, as usual, be very engaged in both the Coca-Cola 600 and the Indianapolis 500 today.

In that special race, he won a $50,000 segment and finished second overall.

“We had a good run in the all star race and in the truck race, too,” Keselowski said. “I’d like to get one more position in the Nationwide and Cup races this weekend.

“I think we’ve got a good shot at it. Hopefully, we’re able to make some small improvements on the car during the week and if we do that, I think we could do it.”

Keselowski took a big step toward that goal in the History 300 Nationwide race. A gamble on fuel mileage worked and he was victorious over Denny Hamlin. It was his second career victory at CMS.

He now has a win and two seconds in a little over a week at Charlotte.

He’ll start 24^th in the Coca-Cola 600, certainly not a stellar qualifying effort but, given the race’s 600 miles, one that can be overcome.

Incidentally, he was fastest in the final Cup  practice session Saturday with a speed of 183.692 mph. He made only five laps and was, obviously, very satisfied.

There were predictions the 600 could evolve into a battle between Keselowski and Jimmie Johnson, the pre-race favorite.

If so, it will take time to develop, for several reasons.

“I definitely think there’s a transition from other races here to the 600,” Keselowski said. “As a driver, You have to be a little more patient.

“But it’s probably more of a transition for the crew chiefs than it is for the drivers because, at the end of the day, it’s still our job to drive the cars very, very hard and make ‘em go fast.

“The crew chiefs have to make sure the cars have a more appropriate balance of speed and reliability. Speed being on a long run versus a short run and reliability being parts and components that don’t fail in such a long race.”

Keselowski added that the month of May is huge for Penske Racing because it competes in NASCAR and IndyCar – where Penske has been hugely successful for years – on the same day.

Keselowski would like nothing more than to see Penske enjoy victory in both the 600 and the Indianapolis 500.

“Roger has had a lot of success at the Brickyard and that’s great to see,” Keselowski said. “We want to have success here, too.

“But pulling off a weekend sweep isn’t an easy thing to do. I don’t know if it’s ever been done. I know how much it would mean to Roger to pull it off.

“It’s a great opportunity – and that’s the key word I want to use. I’m just happy that I have fast enough race cars to have a legitimate opportunity.

“Roger cares so much about both programs. I feel very lucky to have an owner that engaged.”

If Keselowski wins the 600, it’s very likely thousands and thousands of fans will know sbout it only minutes – perhaps seconds – after the race is over.

Why? Simple. He’ll be “tweeting.”

Author: Steve Waid

Source: http://motorsportsunplugged.com/?p=7957

- WWE announced on last night’s SmackDown that Sin Cara will be returning next week. Here’s a promo video:

- Former WWE Diva Ashley Massaro turns 33 years old today.

- The Miz replaced Chris Jericho in the main event of last night’s RAW live event from Guayaquil, Ecuador, losing to WWE Champion CM Punk. David Otunga and John Laurinaitis opened the show, announcing Jericho’s suspension and The Miz replacing him.

Source: http://network.yardbarker.com/wwe/article_external/hype_for_sin_caras_smackdown_return_the_miz_replaces_jericho_ashley_massaro/10877930

During Thursday’s WWE Raw Live Event in São Paulo, Brazil, Chris Jericho denigrated the Brazilian flag during a match against WWE Champion CM Punk. This has resorted to WWE suspending Jericho indefinitely.

This is said to be a major issue for WWE at the moment.

The official WWE website features an update on the situation with comments from Jericho regarding the incident.

“I made a bad judgment call in the course of entertaining [WWE] fans in Brazil,” Jericho told WWE.com. “I apologized to the people in the crowd for showing disrespect.”

During his match with Punk, Jericho took the Brazilian flag Punk was holding, threw it to the ground, and stomped on it. Desecrating the national flag is a crime in Brazil and is a punishable offense. Jericho was almost arrested and ended up being rushed to the airport to get out of the country into Ecuador.

WWE.com’s report confirm police stopped the event and gave Jericho the option to apologize or be arrested. Jericho immediately told the crowd he regretted his actions, allowing police to let the event continue.

Due to his actions, WWE officials suspended Jericho indefinitely.

“It was a bad move,” Jericho said. “I did it with [our] fans’ entertainment in mind and I’ll accept the consequences for that.”

Source: http://network.yardbarker.com/wwe/article_external/major_update_details_on_chris_jericho_suspended_indefinitely/10870442

- WWE.com has shortened Lord Tensai’s name as he is now simply being referred to as Tensai. This is not the only character tweak as last week during his match against Tyson Kidd on WWE Superstars, he appeared sans robe, shoved Sakamoto and competed more aggressively.

Source: http://network.yardbarker.com/wwe/article_external/wwe_changes_lord_tensai_039s_name_mick_foley_working_house_show_jessicka_havok/10842593

According to a new report on TMZ.com, John Cena has been a “wreck” and “miserable” over his marriage behind the scenes for months, leading up to him filing for divorce from his high school sweetheart. Sources told TMZ, Cena was not shy about discussing his problems at home while hanging out backstage before WWE events.
Cena complained that his relationship with his wife Liz Huberdeau began to deteriorate shortly after they got married in 2009. Arguing between the couple began to escalate in the last few months, including spats over the remodeling of their Florida home.
Just 2 months before he filed for divorce, Cena was seen kissing his wife on Raw in Boston during the WrestleMania build-up on March 5, which was in the midst of their escalating problems.
TMZ reached out to Cena for a comment on the story, but he has not responded.

Source: http://network.yardbarker.com/wwe/article_external/new_details_on_john_cenas_divorce_cena_a_wreck_miserable/10768067

Jeff Gordon won the pole for the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega, which is one of the few highlights he’s had during what has been an extremely unproductive season for him.

DARLINGTON, S.C. – It has been well documented that Jeff Gordon is having, what is for him, a horrendous season.

The four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, who has won 85 races during his career, has gone through the first 10 races of this season without a victory.

Worse, he has only two finishes among the top-10, an eighth at Phoenix and a fourth at Texas, and currently stands a dismal 23^rd in the driver point standings

The word has already spread: Points-wise, Gordon may have too much ground to make up before the Chase begins. Therefore, he must win to give himself a “wildcard” shot at the 2012 “playoff” – and the sooner the better.

The “sooner” is this weekend’s Bojangle’s Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway which is, once again, scheduled to be run under the lights.

It could well be the race where Gordon makes something positive happen – even a victory.

Why not? He will surely be listed as a pre-race favorite, if for no other reason than he leads all active competitors with victories at the old, treacherous 1.366-mile track.

He has seven for his career, behind only David Pearson (10) and the late Dale Earnhardt (nine).

His last win came in 2007, the third year after NASCAR’s oldest superspeedway race became Darlington’s only event, and was run at night.

As said, it’s been speculated that if Gordon is going to win, and therefore turn his season around, it absolutely must begin at Darlington.

Frankly, given that after this weekend there are still 25 races remaining before the Chase begins, it may not be as serious as all that – at least for now.

But, for Gordon, it’s serious enough. He knows his season has to change for the better by one means or another.

“I think this year we have had some fast race cars,” said Gordon, whose last championship came in 2001. “When you have fast race cars it makes it easier to win.

“But just because you have a fast race car, that doesn’t necessarily mean you are going to win.”

Gordon and his Hendrick Motorsports team are a testament to that. As fast as they may have been from track to track this season, they have encountered all manner of problems that have repelled victory and sent them plummeting in the standings.

For example, Gordon suffered engine failure after just 81 laps into the Daytona 500, which led to a 40^th-place finish. Pit road mistakes took him out of a top-five run at Fontana.

He seemed to have victory in hand at Martinsville, a track on which he has nearly always performed admirably.

He led 328 laps but a late-race maneuver by Clint Bowyer sent Gordon into a crash with teammate Jimmie Johnson. Gordon finished 14^th.

For Gordon last week at Talladega things were, in a word, bizarre. He won the pole but never really contended because he was constantly fighting an overheating problem – which, incidentally, he predicted he might.

Gordon suggested that restrictor-plate rules applied by NASCAR at Talladega were “going to be a big issue here because we all knew how hard it was to keep the water and engine temperatures cool at Daytona – and that was a night race.”

Even so, in the Aaron’s 499 Gordon might have overcome his problems and achieved a decent finish. But any chance to do so was taken away after he became involved in a nine-car accident – not of his own making – after 142 laps. He drifted to 33^rd place.

“Man this is one of the most bizarre years that this Hendrick Motorsports team has ever gone through,” Gordon said afterward on national television. “I mean it’s almost comical at this point.

Gordon won at Phoenix in 2011, the year in which he won three times and made the Chase. He has yet to win in 2012 and may be in danger of missing the “playoff.”

“That was not fun. I didn’t like hitting the wall. I was just cruising by on the inside and it looked like somebody got into Martin (Truex Jr.) and turned him into me.

“That’s just the way our season has been going.”

As a competitor on NASCAR’s top circuit since 1993, Gordon has seen it all. He knows full well drivers can enjoy seasons that are productive – but they can also frustratingly endure ones that are not.

He admits that productive seasons are tougher to accomplish. The level of competition in NASCAR today, along with an established equality in the cars across the board, makes the difference.

“I think these days there is so much more depth in all the teams,” he said. “More than there ever has been.

“And there is more competition because of the car itself. With this car it’s so hard to get an edge on the competition, so everybody is equal.

“There’s a lot of great talent behind the wheel, the crews are training harder than ever before, there’s pit strategy and there’s engineering. It’s harder to get an edge.

“But I don’t think that means it is necessarily harder to win.”

Gordon referred to his previous point – that if a driver routinely has a fast car, no matter how it’s attained, he can, and should, win.

Gordon has had a fast car. But he hasn’t won.

Sure, he’s had his share of misfortune. But he won’t blame that for all of his woes.

“I’m not one to think big about luck,” he said. “I feel like you don’t luck yourself into wins, you work your way into wins. You have to have those fast cars and all that comes with them – pit strategy and all those things. They all play a role.

“We have had a lot of things that have kept us from winning this year. We’ve had parts break and bad pit stops. We have had engine issues.

“But we have always had a fast car.”

If that is the case at Darlington Gordon suggests strongly he will have a very good chance to win. Rest assured, if all goes at it should for his Hendrick team, he’ll say that more than once during this race weekend.

He believes a fast car should be enough – provided, of course, one of those dreaded “things” doesn’t occur.

Again.

Source: http://motorsportsunplugged.com/?p=7682

Call me crazy, but after coming off of Wrestlemania 29 which headlined with John Cena vs. The Rock, and then rushing into Extreme Rules to get the John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar nut off prematurely, who in their right mind would pay to see Super Dave take on the face of the organization?

I’m still trying to figure out exactly what creative is doing with Cena. I understand the concept of letting him work “featured” matches and letting other young stars rise to the top of the title scene. But creative is literally riding their golden horse into the ground and devaluing his impact on the business.

What is the point of making John Laurinaitis your top heel in the entire company? Other than portraying a character that hides behind his abuse of power, how does this one man become the main antagonist of a weekly story? In the beginning, it made sense that there would be heel heat against the VP of Talent Relations and the play on the phrase “…wish you the best in your future endeavors”, but enough is enough. He is not a wrestler…at least not anymore. I still question whether he was a real wrestler when he was romping around looking like a 40 year old surfer and Point Break reject. He’s not a contender and he’s not worthy of main eventing a pay per view. Plan and simple, anyone who orders this PPV will be subjected to numerous run-ins and false finishes. it’s the equivalent of Vince McMahon being Stone Cold Steve Austin’s arch nemesis. Yeah, it worked for a moment, but how long can you really ride it out before it gets stale? At what point do we cut the cord from the soap opera and get back to wrestling?

As if it weren’t bad enough that there are monthly PPV events throughout the entire year, now you have non-wrestlers filling in the gaps for your main events. I urge wrestling fans to save their money from this debacle. What do you REALLY think you are going to get for your money? Do you think you are going to witness history? Do you think you’re watching something so memorable that it will be replayed and highlighted for years to come? This will be forgotten faster than Braden Walker’s career.

WWE creative, if you want our money – then we demand something worth our money.

Author: DieHardDerek

Source: http://network.yardbarker.com/wwe/article_external/will_you_buy_cena_vs_laurinaitis/10742264

As previously reported, Paul Heyman returned to WWE for the first time since late 2006. He appeared on this week’s Raw as Brock Lesnar’s “legal representative.”

Heyman cut a promo taking shots at today’s WWE for being so “image conscious,” and then read a statement from Lesnar, stating that he had quit the company and was “never coming back.” This is all part of a new storyline for Lesnar.

Heyman’s involvement with the company will become valuable as a mouthpiece for Lesnar, limiting the amount of acting that Lesnar is asked to do. With Lesnar being limited to a certain number of dates in his WWE contract, Heyman will be able to keep Lesnar’s storylines active while he is off television.

WWE Champion CM Punk teased Heyman’s return on his Twitter earlier today, writing, “Trust me when I say this #RAW will be fantastic. I love knowing stuff nobody knows. I tweet happy today. Hell, I’m just happy. Nice spending time with an old friend.” As previously noted, Punk spoiled the return of Heyman with the following Tweet and also uploading a photo of Heyman posted at 10:32 PM EDT, “Okay. I’m having a blast with this. Here he is. The man. MY man. And he’s headed to the ring….”

Source: http://network.yardbarker.com/wwe/article_external/details_on_paul_heymans_wwe_return_brock_lesnar_update/10742021

Linda McMahon’s latest campaign financing report revealed that she is heavily outspending her opponents for the Republican nomination for US Senator. McMahon’s campaign has her spending $531,959 on “campaign consultants” during the first quarter of 2012. That number is around seven times the amount spent by her main opponent Chris Shays at $73,152.

Linda also spent money for “political research and advice on policy, campaign strategy, and communications” relating to the Senate campaign in Connecticut. The filing also shows that McMahon’s monthly payroll is “about twice as large” as Shays’.

Sources: http://www.wzronline.com/wrestling-news/linda-mcmahon-seriously-outspending-political-opponents.html