NASCAR announced today the base NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rules package to be used during the 2016 season. The package was delivered to teams after an extensive collaborative process between NASCAR and industry stakeholders.

The base package will include a 3.5-inch spoiler, a 0.25-inch front leading splitter edge and a 33-inch wide radiator pan. These components will provide lower downforce on the cars, and Goodyear will develop tires to complement them. Earlier this season, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Kentucky Speedway and Darlington Raceway featured a similar aero package.

FCA US LLC today reported U.S. sales of 193,019 units last month, a 14 percent increase compared with sales in September 2014 (169,890 units), and the company’s best September sales since 2000.
The Dodge, Jeep, Ram Truck and FIAT brands each posted year-over-year sales gains in September. The Jeep brand’s 40 percent increase was the largest sales gain of any FCA US brand during the month. The company extended its streak of year-over-year sales gains to 66 consecutive months.

“On the back of a strong sales industry we were able to achieve our best September sales in 15 years and our 66th consecutive month of year-over-year sales growth,” said Reid Bigland, Head of U.S. Sales. “Last month’s sales strength was broad based with five FCA vehicles setting September sales records and two others posting their best monthly sales ever.”

"It's never gonna happen."
If you had told me a few years ago that NASCAR's Tony Stewart would be retired from the Sprint Cup series career as soon as 2017, that would have been my response.

Tony Stewart loves racing more than anything, I would have said, and he will be here as long as he can compete -- possibly longer.
But of course, that's not the case. On Wednesday, Stewart is expected to announce that he will be competing in his final season in the Cup series in 2016, with Clint Bowyer expected to take over behind the wheel of the 14 car starting in 2017 (no 2016 stopover destination for Bowyer has yet been announced).

Lately, it’s all about going smaller, at least in the world of SUVs and crossovers.

As a result, there’s a rush for any automaker without an entry in the compact crossover segment to get into the mix, and this is true on the luxury side of things too.

Lexus is well-represented in almost all styles of vehicles, but their 2015 NX200t is the automaker’s first stab at the compact crossover, smaller than their RX and LX models, and I recently got a chance to put a 2015 Lexus NX200t F Sport model to the test to see how it measures up against the heavyweight competition it faces from Germany (Benz, BMW, etc.) and elsewhere in the luxury world.

Every vehicle isn’t for everyone, as we all have our own unique needs in life.

The Dodge Dart, a compact sedan with room for a very tight five passengers, is one vehicle with a definite audience -- namely those without a large group to shuffle around town.

It’s competing against cars like the Ford Focus, Nissan Sentra, Toyota Corolla, Mazda3 and Chevy Spark, trying to get young buyers to latch on to the Dodge brand when they first start to get their own wheels.

I had a Dart for a weeklong test driver and I’ll let you know my impressions on how it holds up in this category.

Ford has all angles covered in the SUV/crossover arena. Folks looking for a smaller ride can opt for the Escape, those who want three rows can opt for the Explorer, and then there’s the mid-range area -- that’s where the Ford Edge comes in.

The Edge is still two rows, but much more roomy than an Escape. I recently spent a week behind the wheel of an Edge and I’m back with a full report.

Ford has all angles covered in the SUV/crossover arena. Folks looking for a smaller ride can opt for the Escape, those who want three rows can opt for the Explorer, and then there’s the mid-range area -- that’s where the Ford Edge comes in.

The Edge is still two rows, but much more roomy than an Escape. I recently spent a week behind the wheel of an Edge and I’m back with a full report.

Depending on the size of your family and what you need from a vehicle, there are a lot of options to consider in the SUV/crossover marketplace.

A couple of vehicles that have been around for a while and are aimed at the family crowd, but each with their own style, are the 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee and the 2015 Mazda CX-9.
I recently drove both of them and I’m back with a full report on who might gravitate to the Mazda and who will be thinking Jeep when given the option of these two vehicles.