Up against tough odds, Genesis continues putting up a tough battle to gain market share in the luxury realm.
A boost has come this year for Hyundai’s luxury brand from the award-winning G70 model, but the reality is that quality is constant throughout the Genesis lineup. 

The Genesis brand is ranked among the most reliable luxury cars, and it compares well in most spec areas to many of the long-standing big boys in the luxury world. 

Here’s a look at their midsize sedan offering: The Genesis G80. 

LOOKS

The G80 features extremely sharp designs on both the exterior and interior of the vehicle, though to be fair it doesn’t exude quite as luxurious a feel as you’ll get from some of its rivals.

The interior is quite roomy for the class, and features a sharp-looking dashboard with both analog and digital clocks. Another nice addition was the panoramic sunroof, and you also get sunshades in the rear and sides.

The Nappa leather seating surfaces were plush and comfortable, even on longer drives. There was also some attractive carbon fiber and aluminum interior trim. The steering wheel is leather-wrapped, and heated, and feels good on the driver’s hands.

Phoenix weekend is done and the final fours are all set. Here’s my predictions on how things will shake out at Homestead next weekend in all three top series.

Trucks:
1. Ross Chastain — Without a doubt, a Ross Chastain championship would be the best feel-good success story of the season in all series. After his 2019 Xfinity plans with Chip Ganassi were derailed by loss of DC Solar sponsorship after an FBI raid, he had to dip down to the Truck series and launch a late campaign with Niece Motorsports to earn enough points to make the playoffs. He did just that, won several races along the way, and now the Melon Man is potentially going to be a champion. Doesn’t get much better than that. I’d say he’s the favorite.

2. Brett Moffitt — Moffitt was last year’s champ with Hattori Racing, and was promptly let go. Thankfully he found a new at GMS pretty quickly, and has impressed in 2019 with four wins. Always a contender up front, Moffitt is Chastain’s biggest competition for the title.

3. Stewart Friesen — Friesen, long overdue for Victory Lane in the Truck series, finally got there in 2019: Twice in fact, including Friday night at Phoenix. It’s very possible that breakout season could end in a title if strategy plays out properly, but even if it doesn’t this has been a career year for Friesen.

4. Matt Crafton — Truck series veteran Crafton snuck into the playoffs on the strength of a strong finish at Phoenix. And while it would be an amazing comeback story if the former champion took the crown again, the reality is he has zero wins in 2019, and only 6 top-5 runs. That’s not exactly promising for his title chances, but if the other contenders run into trouble he could capitalize.

Thoughts as NASCAR leaves Phoenix and heads to Homestead for the 2019 season finale:

— It’s imperative that NASCAR does something with the Cup aero package for shorter tracks before the 2020 season, at least in regard to shorter tracks. They simply can’t have the title race decided by 10 seconds. This was one of the worst races of the season, and we can’t have a repeat of that in 2020 when a championship is being decided at Phoenix. 

— There’s a lot of talk about young guns in NASCAR, and there is definitely lots of young talent in the ranks in all three major series. But look at the top ranks in Cup, and what do we see?: An average age of 38.5 among the final four at Homestead. The lesson: For now, experience rules. Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman, William Byron and others will get their shot at the title soon enough. But they’re going to have to get past the veterans to do so, as long as they’re around.

BMW has announced the next step in the evolution of the BMW M2, the M2 CS coupe.

The new high-performance coupe blends racetrack optimization with everyday usability to create the most capable version of M’s smallest model.

Power and torque are listed at 444 hp and 406 lb-ft (preliminary), an increase of 39 hp over the M2 Competition. Newly available, select CFRP body panels and components help reduce weight, lower the center of gravity and improve aerodynamics. Exclusive Carbon Fiber and Alcantara interior trim help set this M2 apart from all previous versions.

The new M2 CS has also been developed side by side with the new M2 CS Racing model, which will be offered by BMW Motorsport as a new entry model into customer racing. BMW M GmbH and BMW Motorsport worked closely together to take the learnings from the M2 street car and from the M4 GT4 customer program and apply them to the new M2 CS Racing model. A level of cooperation which we will see repeated with select limited edition M models in the future.

The 2020 BMW M2 CS Coupe will make its World Debut at Automobility LA on November 20th 2019.

The ARCA Menards Series East officially enters a new era with a seven-race slate in 2020 that will provide a mix of short-track showcases and national series companion events. The compact stand-alone schedule will also allow for the opportunity for competitors to compete for the new ten-race ARCA Menards Series Showdown championship. 

The East season will kick off as the main event of the 54th World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway on Monday, February 10. The champion will be crowned on Saturday, September 12 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway’s Full Throttle Fall Weekend.

Sam Mayer captured the 2019 East title at 16 years of age to become the youngest national or regional series champion in NASCAR history. He’s already counting down the days until the green flag at New Smyrna.

“I am looking forward to returning to the East series to defend my title in 2020,” Mayer said. “I had so much fun racing in that series this year and learned so much at every race. The competition was tough, and I’m sure it will be even better next year. With the series combining, it will give me the opportunity to race against some new drivers and become more competitive. Hopefully we can go out and win a bunch of races and take home another East series championship.”