by Jonathon Ramsey

Perhaps there are some of you who haven’t found the music, dancing, passion, heartache, drama, and redemption that manage to find their way into every Bollywood film exciting enough. If so, and the addition of NASCAR-style trading paint and Turn Three excitement is what you’re looking for, then the new Bollywood film Ta Ra Rum Pum is just the ticket.

According to the storyline, it looks to be a cross between Days of Thunder, The Truman Show, and every Andrew Lloyd Weber production. But as any Bollywood fan knows, no mere words or comparisons could begin to describe the movie is actually about. It is equally difficult to describe why the movie’s creators chose to have the hero drive a NASCAR-ready Chevy Aveo (race on Sunday, sell on Monday . . . in India?). Go here to check it out for yourself, and to get songs, videos, and downloads (note: adjust your volume first). And if you want to sing along, it goes a little something like this: “Jab bhi ho gham, zyada ya kam, muskuraayenge, gaayenge hum, ta ra rum pum, ta ra rum pum. . . .”

[Source: Hemmings Auto Blogs]

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by Sam Abuelsamid

No, Cadillac has not decided to slap their grille and headlight stickers on one of the standardized NASCAR body shells. The SCCA World Challenge will be running a 50 minute sprint race as one of the supporting events for the Memorial Day weekend festivities at Charlotte Motor Speedway. I refuse to call venues that once had real names by their bought and paid for names, hence Pine Knob and Laguna Seca will always go by those names as far as I’m concerned, but I digress.

2006 NASCAR Champ Jimmie Johnson will make a special appearance behind the wheel of one of the Cadillac CTS-Vs campaigned by Team Cadillac at the May race in Charlotte. Apparently, they’ll be putting some barrels or other obstacles on the high banks to force the drivers to swing the steering wheel to the right occasionally for this race. The 2007 World Challenge Series opens up at Sebring next weekend. The GM press release is after the jump.

[Source: General Motors]

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by Dan Roth

Only in Vegas. Madame Tussaud’s unveiled their latest ghastly likenesses; we’re not sure if the fact that the subjects are still alive makes it more creepy. The work is uncanny in its accuracy and lifelike look, and if you’re in Vegas, Tussaud’s is a veritable family attraction. The reason for the paraffin-ization of the left-turning legends was the kickoff of this weekend’s races at Las Vegas’s own Motor Speedway. The flesh and blood Petty and Earnhardt were on hand for the debut of there inanimate doppelgangers at the Neon Garage, though we’re not sure if they’ll be paying any visits to the exhibit’s permanent home at the Venetian. They could roam the exhibit halls and catch glimpses of such luminaries as John Holmes (we’re not sure if it’s all of “Wad,” or a partial model) Siegfried and Roy (before or after the mauling, again, not sure), and of course Fat Elvis. Good times, good times. Now, where’s that buffet…

[Source: TCC]

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by Noah Joseph

Who ever would have thought a Will Ferrell movie would ever be considered “prophetic,” even jokingly? The absurd story of a French racing driver switching over from F1 to stock cars as the last remaining challenge is coming to life again and again. But unlike Jacques Villeneuve (or Colombian driver Juan Pablo Montoya), Jean Alesi isn’t gunning for NASCAR. The former Formula One star is the first big name to sign on to the Speedcar Series.

The new racing league will pit 24 drivers against each other in identical 600-hp stock cars in 18 races over 9 weekends across Asia. We hope to get a glimpse at the cars in a few days when Alesi hits the Virginia International Raceway for the first test session on March 5-6. What we know now is that the specially-built cars will feature a tubular fiberglass chassis and power from 600-hp engines built in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The inaugural season of the Speedcar Series, which is backed by F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone, kicks off in November and runs through April 2008.

[Source: Speedcar Series via F1-Live]

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by Noah Joseph

Who ever would have thought a Will Ferrell movie would ever be considered “prophetic,” even jokingly? The absurd story of a French racing driver switching over from F1 to stock cars as the last remaining challenge is coming to life again and again. But unlike Jacques Villeneuve (or Colombian driver Juan Pablo Montoya), Jean Alesi isn’t gunning for NASCAR. The former Formula One star is the first big name to sign on to the Speedcar Series.

The new racing league will pit 24 drivers against each other in identical 600-hp stock cars in 18 races over 9 weekends across Asia. We hope to get a glimpse at the cars in a few days when Alesi hits the Virginia International Raceway for the first test session on March 5-6. What we know now is that the specially-built cars will feature a tubular fiberglass chassis and power from 600-hp engines built in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The inaugural season of the Speedcar Series, which is backed by F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone, kicks off in November and runs through April 2008.

[Source: Speedcar Series via F1-Live]

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by Alex Nunez

Joining the endless ranks of officially-licensed Barbie dolls (tie-ins have ranged from Harley-Davidson to the X-Files and literally everything in-between) are a pair of new plastic fantastic NASCAR fangirls– Jeff Gordon Barbie and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Barbie.
The Jeff Gordon NASCAR Barbie sports a #24 t-shirt, a DuPont jacket, jeans and cowboy boots, while the Dale Jr. Barbie rocks a #8-logoed minidress, a read headband, red go-go boots and a Dale Jr. flag for her to wave from the imaginary grandstand. You’ll be fascinated to learn that both dolls use the Model/Muse body sculpt. Too much information? Clearly, but it’s the kind of thing that will likely remain in your “useless information I can’t forget” memory banks until the reaper calls your name.

Adding the dolls to your permanent collection will run you a somewhat ridiculous $34.95 a pop. Hey, Mattel’s got to recoup that (undoubtedly) sizeable licensing fee they paid NASCAR, right? Call us when a Richard Petty edition comes out, and maybe we’ll talk.

[Source: Mattel via The Car Connection]

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