It can be a shame for true car enthusiasts to see an otherwise impressive sports car driving down the highway, only to notice one lagging area that ruins the car’s initial given impression. One area that continually lags in many people’s cars, even when all other areas are superior to average car settings in their vehicles, is lighting. Poor lighting doesn’t only make a driver less safe on the road; it also detracts from the appearance of the car. If you’re still relying on all of your car’s stock lighting components, you may be hurting your car’s looks without even knowing it.

For performance car drivers, lighting should be bright to the point of overcompensating (just don’t go too overboard). One lighting technology that really illuminates the roadways well is HID lighting. High Intensity Discharge headlights come in a variety of customized colors, so you can pick out headlights in blue, purple, or even white. HIDs can last up to ten times longer than stock halogens, and they shine nearly 3x as brightly. If you hook up your sports car with some bold purple headlights that illuminate half the highway, it will be hard not to notice your car as it blazes down the road.

Tail lights shouldn’t be forgotten either, however. Many drivers are now turning to LED lights for their tail light needs, thanks to LED technology’s longevity and the light’s incredible brightness. If you’ve seen incredibly bright red tail lights on a recent car that look very modern, chances are you’ve witnessed LED tail lights in action, and they make an easy, powerful first impression.

Interior lighting is important to remember too, because you do spend quite a bit of time inside of your car as well. You can stay classy and simple with interior lights if you want, but this approach often works better on luxury passenger cars than it does on sportier vehicle types. For a sports car lighting upgrade in the interior cabin, consider flashy dash gauges with digital displays that utilize LED lights, and strip lighting that runs along either the windows or the doors. LEDs are also great for larger lighting needs, as they’re efficient but also can light most of the interior cabin without much effort (compared to the poor lighting job most stock interior car lights do).

With the use of new lighting technologies and a bit of innovative design choice, you can make your performance car have performance lighting that’s a perfect match.

Finally, it seems Gordon is gelling with a crew chief, he and Alan Gustafson have put three wins together so far this year, but, more importantly, they broke the three way tie and have taken sole possession of third place in all time wins with 85. They could’ve easily won a couple more races this year and look to be strong in tonight’s race in Richmond. This is a great time to get on a streak of good runs as these last ten races are really the only ones that count nowadays, of course you have to get in those 12 spots to compete in the Chase, but that is a lot easier than winning the Chase.

The end of the race in Atlanta was certainly exciting, Gordon had led a bunch of laps already and was looking to close it out, when Jimmie Johnson showed up and tried to ruin his party. In the final laps Johnson had five or six good attempts at passing Gordon and said he was glad he grew up racing on dirt or he could’ve spun out on every attempt. Gordon was able to hold him off, winning by just .598ths of a second.

“Hell yeah! That’s what I’m talking about boys!” an elated Gordon yelled after crossing the finish line .598 second ahead of Johnson.

Gordon was strong early, leading 100 of the first 164 laps. And after two brief stops for rain — one that brought a halt to the action for nearly 25 minutes — he slowly worked his way back into the lead on Lap 276, passing Johnson, and then held his advantage through a final round of green-flag pit stops on Lap 284.

He had nearly a 2-second lead with 22 laps remaining in the 325-lap race, but Johnson closed the gap and the two battled furiously through the closing moments.

“That was fun. I was slipping, he was slipping,” Gordon said. “There were a couple of times I thought he had me.

“This team is on a roll.”

Just call them butter, and let’s hope they keep on rolling.

The top eight drivers are set for the Chase, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman, with Brad Keselowski clinching at least a wild card berth and is still eligible for a top ten spot, where his three victories will give him extra points to start the Chase. 12 more drivers have a chance to make it, some need to win and need help with other people having bad days, but, Earnhardt Jr and Tony Stewart have the best chance, as they just need to finish in the top 20 to clinch.

Here is how they finished:
1 24 Jeff Gordon
2 48 Jimmie Johnson
3 14 Tony Stewart
4 22 Kurt Busch
5 99 Carl Edwards
6 2 Brad Keselowski
7 29 Kevin Harvick
8 11 Denny Hamlin
9 17 Matt Kenseth
10 43 A.J. Allmendinger
11 83 Brian Vickers
12 16 Greg Biffle
13 31 Jeff Burton
14 56 Martin Truex Jr.
15 42 Juan Montoya
16 1 Jamie McMurray
17 5 Mark Martin
18 27 Paul Menard
19 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
20 39 Ryan Newman
21 9 Marcos Ambrose
22 51 Landon Cassill
23 18 Kyle Busch
24 20 Joey Logano
25 38 J.J. Yeley
26 32 Mike Bliss
27 36 Mike Skinner
28 13 Casey Mears
29 195 David Starr
30 71 Andy Lally
31 00 David Reutimann
32 46 Scott Speed
33 78 Regan Smith
34 4 Kasey Kahne
35 6 David Ragan
36 33 Clint Bowyer
37 34 David Gilliland
38 47 Bobby Labonte
39 7 Robby Gordon
40 87 Joe Nemechek
41 66 Michael McDowell
42 55 Travis Kvapil
43 60 Dave Blaney

Talk about a penalty, Kyle Busch has lost his license for 45 days after the May 24th speeding ticket when he was caught driving 128 mph in a 45 mph zone. Kyle was also fined $1,000, sentenced to 30 hours of community service and put on one year of unsupervised probation.

WOW!

Not sure how often this happens, but Kyle was definitely not shown any favoritism as most celebrities are nowadays. His lawyer said that Kyle was not treated like a normal citizen.

Busch attorney Cliff Homesley argued that his client wasn’t being treated the same as other people in similar circumstances, citing a July case of a 21-year-old convicted felon who was caught doing 128 mph and received a $300 fine and no loss of license.

“In 25 years of practicing law I’ve never seen someone not being offered better than this,” Homesley argued before the court. “All I am asking is to treat Kyle Busch like any other citizen that appears before the court.”

Homesley, calling Busch one of the best drivers in the world, said: “He had full control of that vehicle at all times.

“That automobile in his hands was like a scalpel in the hands of a surgeon. Not a knife in the hands of a 5-year-old.” Source: Fox Sports

While I am sure Kyle’s lawyer thinks that Kyle had complete control of his vehicle, he most assuredly did not have full control of everything around him. What if a kid had wandered into the road, or, more likely, an animal? Would he have been able to avoid it? Would he have crashed and killed himself and his wife, who was in the car with him? There are so many what if’s that it is hard to tell what could have happened had he not passed those three police cars. Here’s hoping he keeps the speed down on the highways and other roads and stays on the track with those kinds of speeds. And, here’s hoping they put that judge in the courtroom when other celebrities get caught doing stuff, if this judge had handled the first Lindsay Lohan troubles, she might have already straightened up by now.

Here is the auto-tuned version of Pastor Joe Nelm’s prayer from the Nationwide race in Nashville.

No, this isn’t for the speeding incident that Kyle Busch had a few weeks ago, Nascar has penalized crew chief Dave Rogers $25,000, Kyle Busch 6 driver points and Joe Gibbs six owner points because of rule infractions discovered in a post race inspection this past Sunday.

The No. 18 car was found to be in violation of Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4-J (any determination by NASCAR officials that race equipment used in the event does not conform to NASCAR rules); and 20-12.8.1B (body height requirements — car failed to meet the minimum front car heights) of the 2011 NASCAR rule book. Source:NASCAR penalizes No. 18 team for Pocono issues

Anybody know why they chose six championship points?

Maybe I wasn’t paying as much attention, maybe the tv coverage was different, or it could’ve been the fact that Jeff Gordon won at Pocono again, but yesterday’s race was better than the previous several Pocono races I remember watching. This was his fifth win all time at Pocono and 84th victory, tying him for third all time with Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison. Gordon told his crew this victory was theirs;

As Nascar’s elder statesman and four-time champion later pointed out, the race was won on pit road. The No. 24 Chevrolet crew got Gordon out ahead of Busch on a stop under caution for debris on Lap 156 of 200, enabling Gordon to streak away from eventual seventh-place finisher Juan Montoya after a restart on Lap 160.
During a green-flag stop on Lap 177, the No. 24 crew again performed flawlessly, increasing the cushion Gordon held over Busch. “If we can just get out front, I think we’ll be OK,” Gordon had told crew chief Alan Gustafson before the Lap 156 pit stop — and that’s exactly what happened. “You guys won that one in the pits — way to go,” Gordon radioed to his crew after crossing the finish line. Source: Gordon claims 84th win to tie for third all time

Kevin Harvick messing with Kyle Busch was pretty funny, I’m assuming that Nascar hasn’t said anything about it, but I’ve been wrong before.

Here is how they finished:
1 24 Jeff Gordon
2 22 Kurt Busch
3 18 Kyle Busch
4 48 Jimmie Johnson
5 29 Kevin Harvick
6 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
7 42 Juan Montoya
8 17 Matt Kenseth
9 39 Ryan Newman
10 56 Martin Truex Jr.
11 20 Joey Logano
12 4 Kasey Kahne
13 00 David Reutimann
14 27 Paul Menard
15 78 Regan Smith
16 33 Clint Bowyer
17 6 David Ragan
18 10 5 Mark Martin
19 11 Denny Hamlin
20 31 Jeff Burton
21 14 Tony Stewart
22 83 Brian Vickers
23 2 Brad Keselowski
24 51 Landon Cassill
25 43 A.J. Allmendinger
26 36 Dave Blaney
27 16 Greg Biffle
28 47 Bobby Labonte
29 34 David Gilliland
30 13 Casey Mears
31 32 Mike Bliss
32 71 Andy Lally
33 13 1 Jamie McMurray
34 9 Marcos Ambrose
35 38 Sam Hornish Jr.
36 38 37 Tony Raines
37 99 Carl Edwards
38 7 Scott Wimmer
39 150 T.J. Bell
40 87 Joe Nemechek
41 66 Michael McDowell
42 46 J.J. Yeley
43 181 Scott Riggs

Kyle Busch was pulled over for doing 128 miles per hour in a 45 mile per hour area in North Carolina in a yellow Lexus sports car. He was cited for careless and reckless driving and speeding. Who wants to bet he was going faster than that right before they got him, 128 in a sports car? Come on…

Busch was cited for careless and reckless driving; deputies observed and clocked him running at 128 mph in a 45-mph zone on Tuesday afternoon.

Busch was driving on Perth Road between Troutman and Mooresville, N.C. The road, which runs parallel to Interstate 77, is rural, closely lined with trees and has few residences in the area. Source: From the Marbles

Kyle released this statement the same day:

“Today I received a traffic citation in Iredell County. I was test driving a new sports car and I got carried away. I went beyond the speed I should have been going on a public road. I apologize to the public, my fans, sponsors, and race teams for my lack of judgment. I take responsibility for my actions and I can assure you that something like this will never happen again. I thank the Iredell County Sheriff’s Department and all law enforcement for the hard work they do every day to protect the public and to enforce the laws in a fair and equitable manner.”

After their little “incidents” at Darlington this past weekend, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch have both been fined 25,000 and put on probation for the next four “points paying” races. I have heard that Kevin Harvick has decided to run this weekend’s truck race, so he could give some payback then and not violate his probation, will certainly make me more likely to watch the truck race.

Busch, driver of the No. 18 car, and Harvick, driver of the No. 29 car, have each been fined $25,000 and placed on NASCAR probation for the next four Sprint Cup Series championship points events until June 15 for violating Section 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing — involved in an altercation on pit road after the conclusion of the race).

“These penalties are a result of what occurred on pit road after the race was over,” said Kerry Tharp, senior director for communications, competition. “They are about maintaining a safe environment on pit road.” Source: Harvick, Busch put on probation, fined $25,000

If you ask me, and no one has, Busch should have been penalized a lot more than Harvick, now I know Harvick stopped and jumped out of his car to discuss it with Busch, but Kyle pushed Harvick’s racecar and caused it to slam into the pit road wall. An action that could’ve seriously hurt someone or worse had they been standing where the car struck the wall. Dangerous.

I say Nascar should make a squared circle inside the oval, race track, and let these guys get their frustrations out in the ring, that will keep them from doing stuff like this more than any old fine would. Do you think Kyle would wreck Harvick on purpose if he knew he’d have to fight him after the race? I know that his older brother Kurt would’ve never gotten into it with Jimmy Spencer if he knew he’d have to fight him after the race. Think about it. Ratings would sky rocket. Heck, I’d pay extra money for that.

Regan Smith wins his first race at the track too tough to tame. It was a wild finish, but Regan Smith finally gets his first win, even though his crossed the finish line first once before…

The driver whose apparent victory at Talladega Superspeedway in 2008 was nullified because NASCAR judged he crossed below the yellow line to advance his position, whose strong run in this year’s Daytona 500 was scuttled by a crash late in the event, who has the best qualifying average but perhaps the worst racing luck of any competitor on the sport’s premier series, survived a wall-banging final two laps to record a long-awaited win at a track where typically only current or future legends reach Victory Lane.

“I can’t believe it, you guys,” Smith said over the radio. “This is the Southern 500. We’re not supposed to win this thing.” Source: At Darlington, Smith finally finds his breakthrough

The most interesting part of the race was the end, with the little incidents on the track and pit road between Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick, for which I’m sure both will suffer penalties.

Here is how they finished:
1 78 Regan Smith
2 99 Carl Edwards
3 2 Brad Keselowski
4 4 Kasey Kahne
5 39 Ryan Newman
6 11 Denny Hamlin
7 14 Tony Stewart
8 16 Greg Biffle
9 1 Jamie McMurray
10 56 Martin Truex Jr.
11 18 Kyle Busch
12 24 Jeff Gordon
13 9 Marcos Ambrose
14 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
15 48 Jimmie Johnson
16 00 David Reutimann
17 29 Kevin Harvick
18 47 Bobby Labonte
19 5 Mark Martin
20 43 A.J. Allmendinger
21 6 David Ragan
22 27 Paul Menard
23 42 Juan Montoya
24 36 Dave Blaney
25 17 Matt Kenseth
26 38 Travis Kvapil
27 22 Kurt Busch
28 32 Ken Schrader
29 09 Landon Cassill
30 13 Casey Mears
31 33 Clint Bowyer
32 34 David Gilliland
33 31 Jeff Burton
34 83 Brian Vickers
35 20 Joey Logano
36 37 Tony Raines
37 7 Robby Gordon
38 150 T.J. Bell
39 46 J.J. Yeley
40 60 Mike Skinner
41 30 David Stremme
42 87 Joe Nemechek
43 66 Michael McDowell

Jimmie Johnson wins at Talladega.

It was an exciting race at the end, I really don’t like the two car racing but it did make for a good ending, and if Jeff Gordon had waited about a half a lap to start his run to the front, he’d have won another Talladega race. At least he’ll have good notes for the next one.

Here’s how they finished:
1 2 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe’s
2 10 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet BB&T
3 1 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Drive to End Hunger
4 4 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet National Guard / Amp Energy
5 38 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Budweiser
6 20 99 Carl Edwards Ford Aflac
7 17 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3M Scotch-Blue Painter’s Tape
8 3 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet Carquest / GoDaddy.com
9 39 34 David Gilliland Ford Taco Bell
10 36 20 Joey Logano Toyota The Home Depot
11 16 43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford Best Buy
12 5 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet Schrock Cabinetry / Menards
13 26 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota NAPA Auto Parts
14 14 00 David Reutimann Toyota Aaron’s Dream Machine
15 18 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet Furniture Row Companies
16 27 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Cat Financial
17 30 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet Office Depot / Mobil 1
18 8 22 Kurt Busch Dodge Shell / Pennzoil-AAA
19 37 71 Andy Lally * Ford Interstate Moving Services
20 42 7 Robby Gordon Dodge Fast Five / Speed Energy
21 21 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker
22 40 13 Casey Mears Toyota GEICO
23 29 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Office
24 15 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota Bush’s Baked Beans
25 23 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet Haas Automation
26 43 46 Bill Elliott Chevrolet Red Line Oil
27 35 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet Golden Corral
28 12 115 Michael Waltrip Toyota Aaron’s / Auburn National Champions
29 28 38 Travis Kvapil Ford Long John Silver’s / TMone
30 13 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet Target
31 6 09 Landon Cassill Chevrolet Thank A Teacher Today / Security Benefit
32 24 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford Dewalt
33 19 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge Miller Lite
34 41 32 Terry Labonte Ford C&J Energy
35 34 18 Kyle Busch Toyota M&M’s Pretzel
36 25 17 Matt Kenseth Ford Crown Royal Black
37 31 4 Kasey Kahne Toyota Red Bull
38 9 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull
39 7 6 David Ragan Ford UPS “We Love Logistics”
40 11 21 Trevor Bayne Ford Good Sam Club / Camping World
41 22 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota NEMCO Motorsports
42 33 135 Steve Park Chevrolet Tommy Baldwin Racing
43 32 97 Kevin Conway Toyota Extenze