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Testing Times

6/16/2008

It's time for our annual Mid-Season Motorsports Exam. If you've been paying attention, it should be easy to determine the correct answers.

1. The Mid-Season Driver of the Year is:
a) Carl Edwards
b) Scott Dixon
c) Tony Schumacher
d) Kyle Busch

2. The Mid-Season Team of the Year is:
a) Roush-Fenway Racing
b) McLaren-Mercedes
c) John Force Racing
d) Joe Gibbs Racing

3. The Mid-Season Manufactuer of the Year is:
a) Honda
b) Ferrari
c) Porsche
d) Toyota

4. NASCAR's main series could have been renamed:
a) Sprint Car
b) RJR Cup
c) America's Cup
d) Busch Series

5. Best move:
a) Rick Hendrick hiring Dale Earnhardt Jr.
b) Roger Penske telling Ryan Briscoe to lower his visor at Indy
c) Ryan Newman on the last lap of the Daytona 500
d) Joe Gibbs hiring Kyle Busch

6. Worse move:
a) Gerry Forsythe not running IndyCar Series with Paul Tracy
b) Atlantic championship left without a real home
c) NHRA fining Don Schumacher Racing for unapproved nitro
d) IRL and Champ Car taking 12 years to reunify

7. The biggest surprise in NHRA is:
a) Antron Brown
b) Mike Neff
c) Ron Krisher
d) Tim Wilkerson

8. Driver comment that deserves the most attention:
a) Tony Stewart saying he's exploring his options
b) Danica Patrick blaming Ryan Briscoe for Indy 500 accident
c) Michael Waltrip thanking his sponsors
d) Jeff Gordon, Jeff Burton and Dale Earnhardt Jr. complaining about Pocono International Raceway

9. The smartest thing that could happen, but won't:
a) Convertibles in the Nationwide Series
b) Indy 500 going to earlier starting time to allow NASCAR driver participation
c) Run-what-you-brung race at Bristol
d) ALMS and Grand-Am creating one sports car series

10. Most missed in NASCAR:
a) Robert Yates
b) Aaron Fike
c) Junior Johnson
d) Ricky Rudd

11. Best idea:
a) NHRA switching from Powerade to Full Throttle sponsorship
b) Funny Car of the Future
c) Richard Childress' plan to add fourth Cup team
d) Toyota joining forces with Joe Gibbs Racing

12. Worst idea:
a) 3 crew chiefs for Juan Pablo Montoya
b) Long gaps between Grand-Am and ALMS series races
c) All-Star burnout contest
d) Thursday night IndyCar race at Phoenix

13. The "Whatever Happened to . . .?" Award goes to:
a) Nelson Philippe
b) Charles Zwolsman
c) Andrew Ranger
d) Katherine Legge

14. Looking over his right shoulder at Joey Logano:
a) Bryan Clauson
b) Landon Cassill
c) Brad Coleman
d) All of the above

15. Most Improved Driver:
a) David Reutimann
b) David Coulthard
c) David Martinez
d) David Ragan

16. Gotta feel sorry for:
a) Tony Stewart; flat tire cost him Coca-Cola 600 win
b) Sarah Fisher; trying times at Indy 500
c) Kyle Busch; dominated Daytona 500 but finished fourth
d) Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz Jr.; DQ'd for technical violation after hard-fought second place in Sebring 12 hours

17. Most newsworthy returnee:
a) Gil de Ferran
b) John Force
c) Frank Hawley
d) Indy 500 ticket scalpers

18. Can You Believe That Really Happened? Award:
a) No accidents during NASCAR All-Star race
b) Danica won
c) Marco Andretti-Tony Kanaan incident during Indy 500
d) Michael McDowell walking away uninjured from Texas qualifying crash

19. That was great, but enough already:
a) Hype of Danica's fuel-mileage win in Japan
b) Victory burnouts
c) Digger
d) Promotion of Helio winning Dancing With the Stars

20. If this is the Year of the Woman, the credit goes to:
a) Hillary C
b) Katie
c) Oprah
d) Ashley, Melanie, Danica, Hillary W

[ Next column: July 7 ]

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(I.N. Sider is the pen name for an independent motorsports business-person who has a quarter-century of professional experience working in almost every major North American racing series. The writer is not an employee of Valvoline or Ashland Inc. The column is intended to inform, entertain, and stimulate thought on the contemporary motorsports scene. The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of Valvoline or Ashland Inc.)

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