The several twists and turns of this year?s IndyCar Series have provided entertainment and thrills of all kinds for IRL fans nationwide Camiseta Sergio Ramos , and despite the 2008 season coming to a close the parties are just getting started for IndyCar drivers, teams and crew members alike. The conclusion of this year?s IRL season ended with the Nikon Indy 300 at the All Surfers Paradise Street Circuit in Queensland, Australia, and even though Team Penske?s Ryan Briscoe beat out Target Chip Ganassi?s Scott Dixon to win the race, it is Dixon who is being honored tonight in Las Vegas as the 2008 IndyCar Series champion.
A blowout awards ceremony will take place at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas tonight celebrating Dixon?s victory in the IndyCar Series Camiseta Jesus Vallejo , while Andretti Green Racing and AFS Racing?s number 27 driver Raphael Matos will also be honored at the celebration as the champion of the 2008 Firestone Indy Lights series. The Championship Celebration will take place at the Palms, and the after party will commence at the resort?s Rain Nightclub following the presentation of checks and hardware to both Dixon and Matos.
Anyone who had Indy Racing League (IRL) tickets to one of the races this season knows it?s an understatement to say that the 2008 IndyCar Series was full of ups, downs and surprises of all kinds. The first surprise came in the unification of the IRL, as both the IRL and Champ Car finally settled and let the sport become whole again, tacking on six teams Camiseta Dani Carvajal , two races and floods of fans to next year?s IndyCar series. Another gratifying shock in the 2008 season occurred with a handful of first time winners in the league, most notably Danica Patrick winning her first race (other first time winners included Ryan Briscoe, Ryan Hunter Reay, Justin Wilson and Will Power.) Another drastic change to the league? The domino effect of drivers and teams that started with news of Tony Kanaan negotiating for Dan Wheldon?s ride at Target Chip Ganassi Racing and resulted in Wheldon?s switch to Panther Racing and Vitor Meira?s consequential switch to A.J. Foyt Racing, further resulting in Darren Manning?s contract not being renewed and Camiseta Iker Casillas , because Kanaan ended up with Andretti Green instead of Ganassi, Dario Franchitti rounded out the shake up by signing with Ganassi Racing in the end. As if this wasn?t enough to digest, IRL heavyweight Helio Castroneves topped off the 2008 IndyCar season with a shocking scandal, ending in an indictment by the U.S. government on one count of conspiracy to defraud and six counts of tax evasion, facing 35 years in prison while potentially losing his coveted spot with Penske Racing.
It?s undisputable that the 2008 IRL season has been one wild ride Camiseta Keylor Navas , and it was Ganassi?s Scott Dixon who held on the longest, crossing the finish line the most and coming out on top of the IndyCar Series with a total of 646 points, beating out Penske?s Helio Castroneves (629), Andretti Green?s Tony Kanaan (513), Ganassi?s Dan Wheldon (492) Camiseta Real Madrid , Penske?s Ryan Briscoe (447), Andretti Green?s Danica Patrick (379) and Marco Andretti (363), Rahal Letterman?s Ryan Hunter Reay (360), KV Racing?s Oriol Servia (358) and Andretti Green?s Hideki Mutoh (346), who round out the top ten in the IndyCar standings for the year.
Although this year?s IndyCar season is officially over Camiseta Vinicius Junior Real Madrid , it won?t be long until these gentlemen (and ladies) start their engines once again. The 2009 IndyCar Series will commence on April 5, 2009, so dust off that checkered flag and head over to http:www.stubhubirl tickets indy car series to get tickets for next year?s IRL season, as seats to these big shows sell out early! "
MANILA, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- Four people, including a six-year-old girl, were injured in a grenade blast in Cagayan de Oro City in Northern Mindanao on Tuesday night, Philippine military said Wednesday.
Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said three men on board a motorcycle stopped in front of one victim's store before throwing a hand grenade and fled shortly after on Tuesday.
""Accordingly, three unidentified persons onboard a Honda STX motorcycle... stopped and one who sat in the center threw a grenade in front of the abovementioned store, around 8 pm,"" said Padilla.
He said the explosion injured four people, including a six-year-old girl.
The victims were brought to a hospital nearly for medical treatment.
Recovered at the scene were hand grenade fragments and its safety lever.
Padilla said authorities are eyeing ""old business grudge"" as the motive.
France produced one of soccer's most famous comebacks on Tuesday to scrape into next year's World Cup finals via the playoffs while Portugal blazed through after Cristiano Ronaldo conjured up a sensational hat-trick.
The two European heavyweights will be joined in next June's finals by Croatia, Greece Camiseta Luca Zidane Real Madrid , Ghana and Algeria after they prevailed in their second leg playoffs.
France had to overturn a 2-0 deficit at home to Ukraine and did so with aplomb, Mamadou Sakho, an offside Karim Benzema and an Oleg Gusev own goal after 72 minutes sending the Stade de France wild as the fans celebrated a 3-2 aggregate triumph.
The 1998 winners had not missed a major tournament since 1994 when coach Didier Deschamps was on the field and he was determined not to let it happen again as France became the first side to fight back from 2-0 down in European World Cup playoffs.
He brought Benzema back into the team and although the striker's goal looked well offside, he had an earlier effort wrongly ruled out by a linesman's flag.