roselynrossto: July 2013

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Newman claims Indianapolis pole

Ryan Newman, Stewart-Haas Chevrolet, Indianapolis NASCAR 2013 Ryan Newman claimed his first pole in nearly two years in qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup’s Indianapolis round.

Newman, who recently learned that he would lose his Stewart-Haas seat at the end of 2013, was the final driver to qualify.

His lap of 47.992 seconds and 187.531mph squeezed him ahead of four-time Brickyard 400 winner and dominant championship leader Jimmie Johnson by 0.024s.

Carl Edwards was only 0.096s off pole in third place.

Newman had not taken pole since the September 2011 New Hampshire Motor Speedway round, while the result marked the first SHR pole since Danica Patrick led the Daytona 500 grid five months ago.

Denny Hamlin was top Toyota in fourth, followed by Newman’s team-mate and boss Tony Stewart, and final practice pacesetter Kurt Busch.

Kasey Kahne and Juan Pablo Montoya had both looked strong on Friday and will share row four.

A 45-car entry meant the possibility of non-qualification for the first time since Charlotte in late May. Mike Bliss and Scott Speed were the drivers who missed out.

Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap
1. Ryan Newman Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 47.992s
2. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet 48.016s +0.024s
3. Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford 48.088s +0.096s
4. Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Toyota 48.097s +0.105s
5. Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 48.173s +0.181s
6. Kurt Busch Furniture Row Chevrolet 48.200s +0.208s
7. Kasey Kahne Hendrick Chevrolet 48.223s +0.231s
8. Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet 48.248s +0.256s
9. Jeff Gordon Hendrick Chevrolet 48.264s +0.272s
10. Marcos Ambrose Petty Ford 48.314s +0.322s
11. Joey Logano Penske Ford 48.399s +0.407s
12. Brad Keselowski Penske Ford 48.408s +0.416s
13. Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Toyota 48.442s +0.450s
14. AJ Allmendinger Phoenix Chevrolet 48.477s +0.485s
15. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet 48.486s +0.494s
16. Jeff Burton Childress Chevrolet 48.531s +0.539s
17. Clint Bowyer Waltrip Toyota 48.534s +0.542s
18. Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet 48.601s +0.609s
19. Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Toyota 48.622s +0.630s
20. Austin Dillon Childress Chevrolet 48.659s +0.667s
21. Aric Almirola Petty Ford 48.703s +0.711s
22. Travis Kvapil BK Toyota 48.734s +0.742s
23. Paul Menard Childress Chevrolet 48.742s +0.750s
24. Kevin Harvick Childress Chevrolet 48.756s +0.764s
25. Ricky Stenhouse Jr Roush Fenway Ford 48.771s +0.779s
26. Mark Martin Waltrip Toyota 48.832s +0.840s
27. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Ford 48.901s +0.909s
28. Trevor Bayne Wood Brothers Ford 48.938s +0.946s
29. Landon Cassill Circle Sport Chevrolet 48.962s +0.970s
30. Casey Mears Germain Ford 48.979s +0.987s
31. David Reutimann BK Toyota 49.092s +1.100s
32. Josh Wise Front Row Ford 49.168s +1.176s
33. Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 49.197s +1.205s
34. Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Toyota 49.227s +1.235s
35. Michael McDowell Parsons Ford 49.229s +1.237s
36. David Ragan Front Row Ford 49.329s +1.337s
37. David Stremme Swan Toyota 49.539s +1.547s
38. Martin Truex Jr Waltrip Toyota 49.577s +1.585s
39. JJ Yeley Baldwin Chevrolet 49.658s +1.666s
40. Joe Nemechek NEMCO Toyota 49.772s +1.780s
41. Dave Blaney Baldwin Chevrolet 50.034s +2.042s
42. David Gilliland Front Row Ford 50.126s +2.134s
43. Timmy Hill FAS Lane Ford 50.344s +2.352s

Did not qualify:

Mike Bliss Humphrey Smith Toyota 49.483s +1.467s
Scott Speed Leavine Ford 50.780s +2.692s

Source: http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/nascar-news/nascar/newman-claims-indianapolis-pole

Mark Anthony Martin Jeremy Allan Mayfield James Christopher McMurray Casey James Mears

Marc VDS BMW leads Spa into night

Marc VDS BMW, Spa 24 Hours 2013 The Belgian Marc VDS BMW squad led the Spa 24 Hours at the eight-hour mark as rain began to full for the first time in this year’s event.

The #4 Marc VDS BMW Z4 led by over two minutes in the hands of Henri Moser, who was on slick tyres, unlike his pursuers.

Second-placed Richard Lietz had just stopped for wets in the Manthey Porsche 911 GT3-R, while the second Marc VDS Bimmer was also on grooved Pirellis in the hands of Maxime Martin.

The #4 BMW, which Moser shares with Nicky Catsburg and Markus Palttala, had battled with the Porsche driven by Lietz, Marc Lieb and Patrick Pilet for the better part of four hours.

The two cars swapped positions on multiple occasions and were separated by just a handful of seconds for much of their battle.

The status quo was restored shortly after the eight-hour point when Moser pitted, leaving a wet-shod Catsburg with a narrow lead over Lietz in the Porsche.

The other car to lead during this period was the HTP Motorsport Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG in which touring car legend Bernd Schneider joined team regulars Maximilian Gotz and Maximilian Buhk.

HTP Mercedes, Spa 24 Hours 2013 The Mercedes, which ran fourth at one-third distance, was out of sync on pitstops with its rivals after making its first two stops under safety-car conditions early in the race.

Fifth place was held by the Vita4One Racing BMW driven by Frank Kechele, Greg Franchi and Stephano Colombo, with the best Audi R8 LMS ultras, the WRT entry shared by Frank Stippler, Andre Lotterer and Christopher Mies, in sixth.

Points were awarded at the six-hour mark of this double-scoring round of the Blancpain Endurance Series.

The #4 Marc VDS car was ahead at this point, while the seven points won by Martin and team-mates Yelmer Buurman and Bas Leinders moved them to within seven points of the championship-leading Kessel Racing Ferrari squad of Davide Rigon, Daniel Zampieri and Cesar Ramos.

Source: http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/real-world-racing/3rdparty/marc-vds-bmw-leads-spa-into-night

Peter Hirt David Hobbs Gary Hocking Ingo Hoffmann

NASCAR - Camping World - Pocono Mountains 125 Preview

Source: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/07/30/3070426/nascar-camping-world-pocono-mountains.html

Gary Hocking Ingo Hoffmann Bill Holland Jackie Holmes

Official: Climb to the Clouds returning thanks to Subaru title sponsorship [w/video]

Filed under: Motorsports, Videos, Subaru, Racing

The Mt. Washington Hillclimb, otherwise known as the Climb to the Clouds, hasn't been done since 2011. That year, Subaru Rally Team USA driver David Higgins set a new record for the event first held in 1904, running the 7.6-mile vertiginous course in 6:11.54. The race will be return in 2014 with the help of that very carmaker, Subaru of America having stepped in to the title sponsor role for what will be the Subaru Mt. Washington Hillclimb.

Taking place from June 26-29, 75 modern and vintage cars will spend three days racing up the 6,288-foot-high mountain. It's not as long nor as high as Pikes Peak, but it does have something that the Colorado competition doesn't: gravel; about 13 percent of the Mt. Washington Carriage Road still hasn't been paved.

If you want to know what a record-breaking run up the northeast's highest peak looks like, check out Higgins behind the wheel in the video below.

Continue reading Climb to the Clouds returning thanks to Subaru title sponsorship [w/video]

Climb to the Clouds returning thanks to Subaru title sponsorship [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 31 Jul 2013 18:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.autoblog.com/2013/07/31/subaru-sponsor-climb-to-the-clouds-video/

Romain Grosjean Olivier Grouillard Brian Gubby André Guelfi

WSBK: Guintoli Leads Sykes Into Silverstone

Kawasaki's Tom Sykes will look to strike back as the Superbike World Championship arrives in his homeland this weekend.

Source: http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/wsbk-guintoli-leads-sykes-into-silverstone/

Kenny Dale Irwin Jr Dale Arnold Jarrett Jimmie Kenneth Johnson Kasey Kenneth Kahne

Indian GP dropped from F1 for 2014

Indian Grand Prix 2012 The Indian Grand Prix has been dropped from next year’s Formula 1 calendar – but is set to return at the start of 2015.

After intense speculation about the future of the event amid tax issues with Indian authorities, F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone confirmed on Tuesday that the race was off.

But rather than being dropped because of the tax matters, he says that its private owner Jaypee has shied away from a 2014 grand prix because of calendar issues.

Dieter Rencken: F1′s calendar convolutions

It wants to move the race to a March slot to fit in with other flyaway events – and reckons having two races within the space of six months does not make sense.

Ecclestone told the Indian news agency IANS: “When we signed the five-year deal with Jaypee, we were keen on going to India in the first half and Jaypee wanted it to be in October.

“We gave in at that time, but now it looks we will have the race early 2015. It was too close.

“Therefore, after speaking to promoters, we think it is best not to have a race in 2014 and have one in 2015.”

The ditching of the Indian GP clears the way for Ecclestone to slot in the Russian Grand Prix in October next year.

Source: http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/formula-one-news/f1-formula-one-news/indian-gp-dropped-from-f1-for-2014

Robert Allen Labonte Terrence Lee Labonte Randy Joseph Lajoie Kevin Paul Lepage

Report: PSA Peugeot-Citroën gets EU approval for life-line loan from France

Filed under: Car Buying, Europe, Government/Legal, Earnings/Financials, Peugeot, Citroën

PSA Peugeot Citroën is approved by EU to receive governent bailout.

PSA Peugeot-Citroën has been struggling to offer low finance rates to customers since its banking arm, Banque PSA Finance, had its credit score downgraded, which in turn has made it hard for the French carmaker to compete with brands that offer lower finance rates, such as Volkswagen. The French government recognized the catch-22 and, after negotiations with PSA and European Union approval, has guaranteed the banking arm seven billion euro in bonds to secure its debt and lower borrowing costs, Automotive News reports. The infusion of bonds will be spread from January 1, 2013 through December 31, 2016.

As part of the requirements for EU approval, PSA agreed to refrain from acquisitions in excess of 100 million euro per year and curb its debt levels, Automotive News reports. The EU Comission was required to approve the bond infusion before it could take place in an effort to reduce to a minimum "the damaging effects for competitors who have not received support from public funding," said Joaquin Almunia, EU Competition Commissioner.

In addition to the bonds for Banque PSA, a diesel-hybrid program will also receive 86 million euro from the French government, which was also approved by the EU Commission.

PSA was hit hard by the European auto-market recession and posted a loss of five billion euro last year, and it still has an appetite of 100 million euro per month. We hope this is the start of a turnaround for the struggling automaker.

PSA Peugeot-Citroën gets EU approval for life-line loan from France originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 31 Jul 2013 10:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.autoblog.com/2013/07/31/psa-peugeot-citroen-eu-approval-loan-from-france/

Ingo Hoffmann Bill Holland Jackie Holmes Bill Homeier

Red Bull: no pressure to take junior

Red Bull F1 2014 Red Bull says it is under no pressure to take one of its young drivers as Sebastian Vettel’s team-mate next year, with Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso also in contention.

Amid an increased focus on Red Bull’s 2014 line-up, after it emerged in Hungary that Alonso’s management held talks with its team boss Christian Horner, the reigning champion team is still considering its options.

Daniel Ricciardo and Raikkonen are on the shortlist, and the team is considering Alonso a contender even though it is unclear if he is contractually available for next year.

Although Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz created the Toro Rosso team as a means of bringing on young talent, Horner says his outfit will not be pushed to take Ricciardo if it does not feel that is the best decision.

“The situation we are in is that we want to run the strongest team,” explained Horner.

“We won the world championship the last three years and we want to make sure we are in the position to fight for the world championship in future years.

“There has never been any pressure that we must take a junior driver.

“Of course the junior drivers are under consideration but there is not a prerequisite that it has to be a junior driver next year.

“Obviously you want to put the strongest drivers in the cars that you possibly can – and Mark [Webber] leaves some big shoes to be filled.”

Ricciardo impressed the team with his speed and attitude during a recent informal audition at the Silverstone young driver test.

However, Red Bull is equally aware that drivers of the calibre of Raikkonen and Alonso would bring a guaranteed level of competitiveness.

NO RUSH FOR DECISION

Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull F1 2013 It was suggested several weeks ago that Red Bull would make a swift decision on the matter, but the state of negotiations with Raikkonen, as well as the tantalising prospect that Alonso could be available, means the team is willing to hold fire.

“We are going to take a bit of time to make sure we make the right decision,” said Horner.

“We have some great options and we don’t need to be in a rush.”

Source: http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/formula-one-news/f1-formula-one-news/red-bull-no-pressure-to-take-junior

Armour Vienna Sausage Kroger Chevrolet Clint Bowyer Zaxby s Chevrolet Brad Keselowski

Duchardt promoted to No. 3 at Hendrick Motorsports

Source: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/07/30/3070145/duchardt-promoted-to-no-3-at-hendrick.html

Copart Ford Denny Hamlin Z Line Toyota Kyle Busch

MATT ARTIN JOINS NHRA AS DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING AND PROMOTIONS

NHRA
GLENDORA, Calif. (Jan. 4, 2012)

NHRA announced today that Matt Artin, an eight-year veteran in media planning, advertising and promotions, has joined the world's largest motorsports sanctioning body as director of advertising and promotions.

"We are excited to bring someone of Matt's caliber to NHRA to spearhead our advertising and promotions for the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series," said Glen Cromwell, vice president of national event marketing, NHRA.

As director of advertising and promotions, Artin will work in partnership with national event track owners and operators on all advertising and promotions for the 23-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. His primary and day-to-day focus will be to increase ticket sales at national events through creative and innovative strategies designed to reach the core as well as a broader fan base.

Artin comes to NHRA from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim where he spent the last six years as a senior marketing manager. In that capacity, he played an integral role in brand management, advertising, ticket sales marketing, game entertainment, special events and promotions. During his tenure with the Angels, he maintained a strong relationship with Major League Baseball and was responsible for the team's brand and logos making sure the look and usage of core assets aligned with brand standards.

Prior to the Angels, Artin was a media planner at the Los Angeles-based agency PHD US, implementing media plans in the Pacific Northwest for Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep. Before that, he was a media assistant at Davis-Elen Advertising in Los Angeles, working on the McDonald's account.

Headquartered in Glendora, Calif., NHRA is the primary sanctioning body for the sport of drag racing in the United States. NHRA presents 23 national events featuring the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series and NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by ProCare Rx. NHRA provides competition opportunities for drivers of all levels in the NHRA Summit Racing Series and the NHRA Drags: Street Legal Style presented by AAA. NHRA also offers the Jr. Drag Racing League for youth ages 8 to 17. In addition, NHRA owns and operates five racing facilities: Gainesville Raceway in Florida; Atlanta Dragway in Georgia; National Trail Raceway in Ohio; Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis; and Auto Club Raceway at Pomona in Southern California. For more information, log on to NHRA.com, or visit the official NHRA pages on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

Source: http://www.motorsportsjournal.com/archives/2012/01/matt_artin_joins_nhra_as.php

Patrick Gaillard Divina Galica Nanni Galli Oscar Alfredo Gálvez

Don't Worry SPEED Fans: Fox Sports 1 Has Motorsports covered!

Fox Sports 1 launch weekend coming August 17th...

Source: http://nascar.speedtv.com/article/nascar-programming-major-part-of-fox-sports-1-launch-weekend/

Lucas di Grassi Cecil Green Keith Greene Masten Gregory

Access AMA Live Timing & Scoring and official race results for 2013 AMA Supercross at www.amasupercross.com

PICKERINGTON, Ohio -- Fans seeking live timing and scoring of the 2013 AMA Supercross season will find it just a click away at www.amasupercross.com. In addition to live, lap-by-lap updates that keep fans plugged into the action, the site includes archived results, photo galleries, rider interviews, race reports and the official series media guide, including rider biographies and the exciting history of AMA Supercross.

"Although we know everyone wants to be in the stadium, that just isn't possible for our millions of fans across the country, and AMA Live Timing & Scoring is their direct connection to the on-track action," said AMA Director of Supercross Kevin Crowther. "Through AMA Live Timing & Scoring, fans can access statistics such as average lap times, fastest lap times and gaps between riders, providing a perspective of the entire field. These features make AMA Live Timing & Scoring the perfect supplement to other online coverage, such as the Supercross LIVE! Webcasts available from series promoter Feld Motor Sports."

In addition to free access at www.amasupercross.com, fans can plug into AMA Live Timing & Scoring through the official AMA Supercross app for smartphones. New for the 2013 season, the AMA Supercross app for Apple and Android smartphones includes live timing and scoring, series news and historical results. It also is built from the ground up to work on compatible smart phones, providing a smooth and reliable user experience.

The AMA Supercross app is regularly priced at $1.99, but is still available for the pre-season price of $0.99. It can be downloaded from iTunes or the Google Play store. To find and buy the app, search for "AMA Pro Supercross."

In addition to live timing and scoring, www.amasupercross.com includes archived practice, qualifying and results information; on-location race-day photography by one of the sport's premier shooters, Jeff Kardas; the official AMA Supercross Series Media Guide; official rider numbers and biographies; schedule and ticket information; the official 2013 AMA Supercross Series Rulebook; rider bulletins and competition notices from AMA Racing.

AMA Supercross live timing and scoring will begin Saturday, Jan. 5, as timed practice gets under way at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif. Photos, race reports, interviews and commentary will be posted as soon as they are available.

To buy tickets to events on the AMA Supercross calendar, visit www.supercrossonline.com.

Follow AMA Supercross at the series' official Facebook page at www.facebook.com/AMASupercrossChampionship.

Source: http://www.motorsportsjournal.com/archives/2013/01/access_ama_live_timing_sc.php

Joe James John James Jean Pierre Jarier Max Jean

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

NYPD Looking for Criminality in All the Wrong Places

I was gratified to learn in March that NYPD had re-christened its “Accident Investigation Squad” the “Collision Investigation Squad” (CIS), and reportedly beefed up its 19-person force of crash investigators by 50 percent. But as a lawyer representing pedestrian and cyclist crash victims, I have yet to see the impact of these changes on the ground. Instead, NYPD continues to waste a significant portion of the resources it devotes to traffic law enforcement on “garbage” summonsing of cyclists. Looking at NYPD’s overall traffic law enforcement program — including both crash investigations and traffic law enforcement — it seems like little has changed.

Ten days ago I was asked to help a pedestrian crash victim. This 30-year-old woman sustained serious multiple fractures and other injuries that may prevent her from walking normally again. She remains in the hospital two weeks after her crash, half that time spent in an intensive care unit. But because she remained conscious at the crash scene, her case apparently was not deemed “critical” and therefore the CIS was never called.

Only because her family acted quickly was videotape and other evidence concerning the crash recovered — without NYPD assistance. This evidence revealed that the motorist responsible was speeding at approximately 45 mph on a zebra-striped “no drive” lane, attempting to illegally pass other vehicles, and then swerved back into another lane striking his victim.

That driver will never receive a summons, or a suspension or revocation of his license, because NYPD did not investigate the crash as it is required to do in all cases of serious injury. “No criminality was suspected,” because no NYPD officer looked or even considered the possibility that the driver’s conduct was reckless enough to justify a criminal charge — even though witnesses told the police responding to the scene that the driver was speeding and swerving recklessly. NYPD was not looking for criminality at the crash site, so it never found any.

While NYPD likes to claim that the agency lacks the resources to properly investigate all serious crashes, at the same time it assigns police to give out garbage summonses. And when it comes to summonsing cyclists, NYPD clearly is looking for criminality in the wrong places. The recent case of Hilda Cohen provides a clear example of how NYPD officers, either by design or ignorance, fundamentally misunderstand how the traffic laws apply to cyclists (disclosure: I am Hilda’s friend and fellow StreetsPAC board member).

Cohen received two summonses for bicycling in a manner which, if you accept her account, was completely lawful. But the most remarkable thing about these summonses is that they purport to be for criminal offenses. In the case of the “reckless bicycling” charge Cohen received (violation of New York City Administrative Code 19-176(b)), this is a violation which according to the regulation can result in a “civil penalty” only and must be adjudicated before the New York City Environmental Control Board. This provision is written in language almost identical to another Administrative Code provision for enforcement of solid waste separation for recycling, and should be enforced in the same manner. But NYPD officers routinely charge sidewalk cyclists using a criminal summons returnable in criminal court.

Simply by using the wrong form of summons, NYPD forces cyclists like Cohen to appear in person at criminal court to enter a plea, and often a second time if the plea is not guilty. Despite the wording of the regulation, there is a substantial risk that a cyclist mistakenly “convicted” in criminal court for a violation of Section 19-176(b) would be deemed to have a criminal record, something that must be disclosed on many job and other applications. Instead of simply paying a fine by mail — like a motorist who commits a traffic violation or a resident who doesn’t separate her trash — cyclists issued criminal summons for reckless bicycling face days of work missed, the possibility of a criminal “conviction,” or significant legal fees if they wish to plead not guilty.

In addition, “reckless bicycling” in violation of Section 19-176(b) is an offense that can only occur on the sidewalk. But according to Cohen’s account, the officers never even accused her of riding on the sidewalk.

Why did the officers write Cohen a criminal summons for a violation that was not even a crime, without even bothering to check whether she had violated the actual prohibition in the regulation against sidewalk cycling? While motorists complain of arbitrary summonses and “fish-in-a-barrel” checkpoints for tinted windows or cell phone use, at least those summonses are properly issued as traffic violations — not criminal charges — and usually only when the law has been violated. In contrast, NYPD traffic law enforcement against cyclists routinely takes the form of improper criminal charges alleging conduct that, arguably, did not even occur.

The other criminal charge Cohen received was for disorderly conduct, specifically, for “obstruct[ing] vehicular or pedestrian traffic” with “intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly creating a risk thereof.” Like most criminal statutes, this one specifies that the wrongdoer have an “evil mind,” that is, act with either an intent to cause harm or with recklessness as to a risk of harm.

How probing must these NYPD officers be, to discern the intentional and reckless “evil minds” of cyclists, based on conduct like riding counter-flow, going through a red light, or, in Cohen’s case, simply exiting a bike lane momentarily in order to circumvent a police car obstructing it?

When it comes to criminality by bicyclists, NYPD is on it! But in the case of the recent pedestrian crash discussed above and many others, criminal charges are never even considered as a possibility. NYPD is looking for criminality in all the wrong places, and it will take an Inspector General and legislation specifically aimed at crash investigations and traffic law enforcement to fix it.

Steve Vaccaro is an attorney with the Law Office of Vaccaro & White.

Source: http://www.streetsblog.org/2013/07/30/nypd-looking-for-criminality-in-all-the-wrong-places/

Jim Hurtubise Gus Hutchison Jacky Ickx Yuji Ide

First Drive: 2014 Toyota Tundra

Filed under: Truck, Toyota, First Drives

Raising A White Flag To The Competition

We all benefit from highly competitive battles. In the automotive sector, few campaigns are so closely fought as the decades-long struggle for supremacy in the fullsize half-ton pickup truck segment. The Ford F-150 has dominated for ages, but Chevrolet, Ram and GMC have been closing the gap with freshly redesigned trucks that are rocking the industry.

Today's half-ton trucks are better than they've ever been, and we have fierce competition to thank for that.

But where does the segment leave a truck from an automaker that has chosen to no longer fight and deliver its best product? What kind of vehicle comes from a company that has relinquished any desire to strive for the top of the class - one who is now content offering nothing more than minor updates and mediocrity in an aim to placate brand loyalists?

Such a calculated underachiever would look a lot like the 2014 Toyota Tundra.

Continue reading 2014 Toyota Tundra

2014 Toyota Tundra originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 30 Jul 2013 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.autoblog.com/2013/07/30/2014-toyota-tundra-review-first-drive/

Nick Heidfeld Theo Helfrich Mack Hellings Brian Henton