From the monthly archives:

September 2011

Petit Le Mans will be the anniversary of Scott Tucker’s professional debut

by Cassandra E. Wheaton on September 30, 2011

The pinnacle of the 2011 American Le Mans series takes place on Oct. 1 with the 14th annual Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. For Scott Tucker, driver and owner for Level 5 Motorsports, the race marks the beginning of his sixth year of professional racing. In 2006, he made his professional debut at Petit Le Mans, and from there, his career took off.

“There are not many Americans that get to race there, first and foremost, so I feel very privileged to be among that group,” he said. “This year, we’re the only American prototype team there. We feel very fortunate we were selected to race there.”

The Petit Le Mans race is an endurance race modeled after the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which is its equivalent for the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup series. Road Atlanta owner Don Panoz founded it, and the first iteration ran on Oct. 10, 1998-and Panoz must have had a thing for tens, because the race covers a maximum of 1,000 miles or a minimum of 10 hours, whichever comes first. Class winners of Petit Le Mans automatically qualify for the following year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Tucker has increasingly focused on the American Le Mans Series as his career has continued. After he founded Level 5 Motorsports in 2008, his main actions have included drafting talented veterans known for incredible precision even at maximum speeds. This year’s Petit Le Mans has unofficially been the holy grail in Tucker’s eyes: Mid-season, he announced the switch from the team’s Nos. 55 and 95 Microsoft Office-sponsored LM̢ cars to a brand new, right-off-the-line HPD ARX-01g chassis, the result of a partnership between Honda Performance Development and Wirth Research. Tucker pushed hard to get the car finished as quickly as possible, of course without sacrificing quality. While making the transition between cars, Tucker even withdrew from ALMS races in Lime Rock Park and a huge one at Silverstone in Great Britain, choosing instead to focus on the all-important Petit ahead.

Now, Tucker has added a fourth elite driver to his already well-stacked team. Marino Franchitti will join the team and its new car-which Tucker marks as best in its class-for the 2011 race at Road Atlanta. Franchitti has extensive experience with the HPD prototype family, having participated in the first year of development of the ARX-01a with Andretti Green Racing before spending some LM̢ time with Dyson Racing. The addition of Franchitti to the lineup is an obvious sign that Tucker is going for the win at Petit Le Mans, though that’s never not the case when Tucker enters a race track. He is a three-time national driving champion. Level 5 Motorsports’ performance in 2010 during its debut year in the American Le Mans Series sent them to the top of the podium and bumped them into the LM̢ category.

Tucker has made giant strides since his Petit Le Mans professional debut in 2006, and this year he’s possibly the most prepared he’s ever been. A victory would mean another addition to Tucker’s unbelievable record in the past five years, and moving to the LM̡ category would mean that Tucker has made it to the top class in the sport he seemingly was born to compete in. Whatever the results end up meaning for Level 5 Motorsports, the work they′ve already put in this year make it clear that the team is one of the most prolific, aggressive racing organizations in the world.

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Spotters provide an extra set of eyes for elite motorsports teams

by Shelly Newman on September 30, 2011

When sports car racers sail into the boards or another car, spin out and skid to a stop with only pieces of their cars in tact, spectators, engineers, managers and drivers alike start to whisper, what happened? Amazingly, most of the time it’s not because a driver forgot to check his blind spot; many people can′t avoid accidents traveling 70 mph on the freeway, so it’s remarkable that racing drivers can maintain speeds upwards of 150 mph on a closed circuit and avoid sideswiping one another.

For example, Level 5 Motorsports, a team owned by driver Scott Tucker that has competed in the American Le Mans Series, the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup series, the Ferrari Challenge series, the Rolex Grand-Am series and the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge series, has had its fair share of crashes. One of the most disappointing in the 2011 season was at the ILMC competition of the 1,000km of Spa-Francorchamps. A suspension failure sent Tucker’s co-driver Christophe Bouchut spinning out into the boards, and the contest was over for the Madison, Wisc.-based team. Tucker’s team is unique in its five-series schedule; for many professional sports car drivers, a race represents a one-time opportunity to increase their star power and reputation in the industry. Save for mechanical failures and flukes in the cars, drivers will do anything to ensure they have all their bases covered in order to be able to race at maximum speed with the smallest chance for error.

One way professional motorsports teams accomplish the feat is with the use of spotters, who stand at the top of the grandstands with the sole purpose of watching and alerting the team of any potential problems or opportunities.

“We look to see opportunities for racers to get by, and we check out the race strategy and the track to help out the drivers and the engineers,” said Ian, one of Tucker’s Level 5 team spotters. Spotters, from their perch atop the entire race venue, can see a lot: They can help drivers recognize a chance to pass competitors they can alert team engineers that a driver is pulling off for a pit stop; they can alert drivers and mechanics about debris on the track that could cause problems and they can even help drivers with crash strategy in the event that the car is headed directly toward a crash, in order to minimize the damage that the car will undergo.

A history between driver and spotter is fundamental to being successful together. During intense, fast-paced action races, spotters and drivers must communicate seamlessly and efficiently together, and so they must fully understand the meaning of what the other says.

Tucker’s own spotters must have been doing a good job this year, because he and his Level 5 team have enjoyed several successful races with hardly a scratch or a smudge on their cars-and that’s important. Level 5 making podium at four races within the first five months of the year, winning at the 12 Hours of Sebring, winning at the American Le Mans Series Monterey, and leaving the podium with clean cars to boot proves that a dynamic, cohesive team is paramount to success. Spotters and drivers represent one important relationship; certainly, engineers, mechanics, team managers and other positions must streamline their operations to make for the greatest chance of success. As Tucker and Level 5 Motorsports forge ahead for the Oct. 1 Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta, the entire team will work to make the ALMS season′s closing race a victory. Said Ian, the Level 5 spotter: “We aren′t the most crucial element to the race; we’re just another member of the team.”

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Recent Alabama drug busts a concern after major police budget cuts announced for 2012; Scott Tucker Arrest

by Edward Booker on September 30, 2011

Birmingham, Ala., area police departments might have their hands a little fuller starting next year. Earlier this week, Jefferson County Sheriff Mike Hale announced significant layoffs and budget restrictions for the 2012 year. One hundred and one deputies and 38 support personnel will be laid off from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department, and four substations will be closed to compensate for a $6.5 million reduction to next year’s fiscal budget.

The units that will be most decimated are the vice and narcotics units, with the number expected to drop from 251 to 150. It’s unclear how this will affect Jefferson County and the surrounding areas such as Shelby County and Tuscaloosa County, which are also losing Sherrif’s Department personnel. Earlier this month, Shelby County Pelham sheriff’s detective Lieutenant Scott Tucker arrested a woman who had allegedly deserted her children for several days and admitted to purchasing the prescription anti-anxiety and pain medications Xanax and Latrob illegally on the streets. That same week, Tucker retired from the Pelham Police Department.

The budget cuts and layoffs in Jefferson County could completely “do away” with the vice and narcotics unit in the Bessemer Cutoff, said Jefferson County Sheriff Mike Hale. He called the effect “devastating,” and said that the entire county would then have to rely on the few vice and narcotics deputies left in the Birmingham division after all the cuts have been implemented to cover the whole county area.

The Jefferson County cuts come after the 2012 budget for the county was shorted $100 million from the $312 million plan originally approved for 2011 because the county lost the job tax and other revenue. Concern for public safety is a major result of the widespread cuts in the Birmingham, Center Point, Forestdale, Oak Grove and Mt. Olive areas, which are expected to be impacted greatly by the reduction in law enforcement, especially for crimes originally handled by the vice and narcotics divisions.

In addition to the narcotics problems Tucker’s Pelham division has seen and the possibility of increased narcotics use if the Birmingham deputies don’t have the numbers to control such a large county area, the general west Alabama area has faced other narcotics busts in recent weeks.

Last week, the West Alabama Narcotics Task Force arrested six people after finding active methamphetamine labs in a home. A day before that, the agents had arrested four people for meth trafficking after deputies said they saw materials used for making the drug in the car during a traffic stop. After conducting an investigation, the agents found two meth labs that needed to be processed for usable meth, a third that was inactive and a fourth that was actively boiling. Department guidelines mandate that agents dispose of the chemicals when found. Of the 10 people under arrest, none were older than 35, and one woman was just 19 years old.

With an already widespread narcotics problem, the obstacle of reducing or completely eliminating vice and narcotics divisions in Jefferson County is hardly an ideal situation.

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Use Plastic Eggs For The Best Easter Egg Hunt Your Kids Have Ever Had

by Elton Joy on September 30, 2011

The Easter story is about a promise, and a gift. It is about the life of a man, his death, and his fulfillment of the ultimate gift giving sacrifice.They then hide these eggs for the kids to find. What, then, are these kids supposed to do with the eggs once they find them? Are they going to eat them? Most kids at Easter time are more interested in candy and toys than they are in eating real, hard boiled eggs, no matter what color they’ve been painted.

It’s the story of Pontius Pilot ending the life of the King of Kings and sentencing him to not only die, but to be assassinated, to be beaten and abused, to be crucified. That way, you can stuff them with whatever you want. This is great for the kids because not only do they get to participate in the Easter egg hunt but they also get to keep whatever they find inside the eggs they find.

The beauty of having the plastic eggs, is that the kids never know what they’re going to find in their eggs on their Easter egg hunt. For example, you can fill the eggs with candy, money, trinkets, toys, or whatever else you choose. The money part doesn’t need to be a lot, even a dollar is a lot of money to small child, but it’s the excitement it creates that makes it for one fun Easter egg hunt. By shopping at the dollar store, you can find all sorts of things to fill your plastic eggs with. You’ll probably end up spending less than you would had you used real eggs with Easter egg coloring kits, and the kids will have much more fun than if you would have used real eggs.

When you are planning an Easter egg hunt, you want it to be difficult for the children but not impossible. Don’t hide the Easter eggs on top of anything tall, for instance, so that the children can’t even reach them. A better place to hide them is under chairs, behind the couch, on the stairs, or anywhere that will force them to look but just make sure it’s not so easy that the Easter egg hunt is over in a couple of seconds.

The Easter story isn’t just about the death, though that is the key asset to the gift of eternal life it’s about the resurrection. Jesus promised that he would rise again on the third day to show the world that he paid the price for their sins. This was the finish to his purpose in life, he died, and by rising again he showed that his death was exactly what he said it would be, a payment.

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Prom Dresses This year : Getting Your own personal Fashion Statement For The Upcoming Promenade Period

by Caroyln Keranen on September 30, 2011

A party is really a official boogie kept to get a high school graduation or college school or graduating celebration, usually kept at or perhaps near the finish with the educational 12 months as well as prom dresses have been in the top from the record for female’s party programs. Regardless if you are searching for developer prom gowns, trend-setting designs or perhaps need to pick affordable evening ensemble for your party; there will always be the right outfit to fit equally your own creativeness as well as budget. Whenever you purchase prom gowns on the internet, an individual become a member of the actual rates of varied girls that are content using the comfort, value and quality of their buying expertise. The choices are usually nearly endless; thus, it is possible to undoubtedly find the proper gown. It is still best to find out the minds and remember it is not nearly acquiring a relatively inexpensive gown or making use of the best looking website.

However some may gravitate toward prom dresses that expose the newest craze don’t disregard the influence with the classic outfit that could most likely provide you with the actual belle of the basketball upon promenade evening. A few basic things to consider in selecting prom dresses needs to be the body type, gown color and style. The key to creating an effect should be to transform your greatest features and this can be quickly attained with well-placed embellishments as an example rhinestones, embelleshment or even ruffles. Style inside shades regarding prom dresses may change annuallyBridesmaid Dresses while not everyone is able to accomplish the intense neon’s or perhaps fuchsia in which features since the fashion at the moment. Should you really want to produce a good entrance, decide on a outfit that enhances your skin, eyes and also hair colour or even, at the very least, include components that will help you stick out.

Accept heart period at your high school promenade simply by stunning the actual visitors in a dress in which echoes volumes relating to design, style, along with the head-spinning artwork of creating a way declaration. Faviana Design: 6550 is actually alluring knit jersey night time outfit inspired from the red floor covering. It’s manufactured in plum, monochrome. Or perhaps if you think about wearing a short outfit Faviana Type: 6216 is really a stylish quick dress. This is a brief stretch out silk outfit with back again drawing a line under. This particular sweetheart neck-line as well as thick connectors is available in colours dark, reddish, teal, and white.

Clearly, prom dresses are at the top of virtually any checklist regarding girls’ prom programs. And also, while you are making that list, put a camera as well as film, due to the fact prom photos will immortalize a person within the conventional outfit you have selected. Prom dresses are simply just one group of cocktail dress, thus take the time to store the numerous websites on the internet accessible. You need to plenty of amount of time in getting yourself ready just about any adjustments you could need or reap the benefits of nice come back policies, whenever necessary.

Prom gowns should be very carefully chosen regarding top quality as well as fit, ensuring you might have the exact, the most recent measurements readily available any time buying. Enable adequate time period when ordering, in the event you will need minor adjustments to have it entirely fit before that crucial night. Ultimately, another essential consideration when selecting out your numerous prom dresses accessible is to pick a dress which conveys your personality and also self-confidence. If you believe beautiful, confident, you will broaden these types of attributes and become noticed on yourFormal Dresses crucial night actually content.

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Reasons For Buying From Jewelry Shops Online

by Lorena Wilder on September 29, 2011

Most women love jewelry and whenever you are going to work or on a party, your look is not complete until you wear one which complements your dressing. There are two different ways in which you can select and purchase these items which include over the internet stores and over the counter shops. Here are some of the advantages of purchasing from jewelry shops online.

There is a great variety of goods offered by these shops as compared to conventional ones. A wide collection of items are offered by just one shop making it easy for a buyer to find a specific item she is looking for. These stores are also popular with stocking the latest pieces available in the market.

Their prices are also cheaper as compared to conventional stores. Internet shops are managed at low cost compared to conventional ones hence retailers are able to make a profit while selling at lower prices. You can hence save a good amount of money if you search from a number of stores over the internet.

Buying from the internet provides a great deal of convenience. By just few clicks of the mouse you are able access many retail stores at any time. You no longer need to go to individual stores asking for a particular item and then trying out the next one. If you miss an item, it will only take few seconds to find it from another shop.

You will have all the time selecting a piece of item you need. This means that as a buyer you have an opportunity to fully explore all the available goods in detail before finally making your own decision. Items are displayed in there dimensional figures to facilitate easy scrutiny.

People are able to source for items from leading outlets in the world and obtain a wide collection of goods by using this mechanism. It hence reduces the need of traveling to different cities in order to purchase the same items. By shopping jewelry online is hence an option to go for.

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Why You Ought To Hire Industry experts for Your Online Video Production NYC

by George Harris on September 29, 2011

Online video production NYC can give online marketing with video services that help to set a business a step ahead of their competitors. There are lots of different advantages for you to employ an online media production company for your company needs. These significant reasons will let you understand why you ought to be using a skilled firm to take complete advantage of internet marketing films as a standard advertising tactic.

One of the greatest advantages for you to rely on a production firm for your marketing video is professionalism and trust. Pros in the field of internet promotion videos know precisely what you ought to do to find strong results. From the technical aspects of your internet video production to dealing with all the day’s strategies you can depend on them. Whenever you rely on professionals, you count on tested success. Web video creation companies be aware of strategies that you need to utilize in your videos to determine the greatest success. They know what you must do to get more hits, conversions plus they know what will help you to produce a stronger bond between the people that you target and your firm’s workers, services and products.

Quality is surely an important part of any marketing and advertising piece that you create. You would like to ensure your videos have quality that looks as professional as you would in an important sales presentation. A lot of the videos that people create on their own fail to have a professional touch. Dealing with experts will give you the dependability that you need to genuinely wow your target audience.

A qualified studio or multimedia production company is aware of more than merely how to make your business to business video clip have an attractive appearance. They also understand what communication will resonate with your projected audience to accomplish your aims. They can inform you just where you need to show it, and just how you should attempt showing that video. An organization which specializes in video marketing even offers the advertising power needed to put your sales video within the right channels like YouTube, on your own web site and other online video distribution channels. They cover all of the bases to ensure that your corporate online video is as successful as it can be and is in places that will raise the level of views that the video gets. In the end, the promoting strength of a video marketing company is viewed in precisely how they publicize and share these corporate videos.

When your organization is looking for a competitive edge, then it’s time for your business to begin utilizing online video production NYC to get your video clips to push business targets and sales revenue. Dealing with pros will help you obtain the best business to business media format which will break through to your audience. Take time to understand why you should use a good online video production company. This may be the right step for driving more sales for your organization.

There are lots of ways an artistic online video production can benefit your business in these competitive days. It would be to your higher advantage to choose the best online video production nyc organization to utilize in the future.

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Custom Printed T-shirts Allow For Cultural Determination

by Gladys Holland on September 29, 2011

In many cultures clothing plays its fascinating part in reflecting the values, beliefs and tastes of people. Custom printed t-shirts have come of age as signs of computer culture since they can be designed online as manifestations of the late post modern period. Not long ago in fashion history they would have been thought of as underwear.

The front of a T shirt is like a blank sheet, waiting to receive a design or decoration. Designs, slogans and walking advertisements find their way onto shirts like colorful graffiti. The simple and comfortable cuts are popular at all levels of society from the very young to the very old, and both genders.

Individuality is under some threat in post modern society. There are many more people on the planet than ever before and considerable pressure towards conformity. Clothing seems to be one way in which people can conform and yet present some individual identity through the design on the shirt that they wear.

In popular culture there are many signs such as billboards and hoardings. The signs provide important messages. Some of them convey fashion statements, others jokes, some mission statements and others political slogans. In general there is a sad lack of wit in the signs that surround people, but some do manage to print statements on their clothes that give out amusing or witty statements.

A garment can serve as a memento of experiences or achievement. For example, joggers often get a t-shirt on completion of a race and wear it with pride. In other cases a product such as drink or cosmetic can be advertised on a promotional piece of clothing that has been given out in return for free advertising.

The advent of the Internet and its associated consequences has perhaps put an end to the post modern era and introduced a new era, yet to be named. It is radically affected by computer technology. Custom printed t-shirts that can be designed online according to chosen specifications are manifestations of this new age. It is possible to exploit technology to create truly original clothes. Read more about: custom printed tshirts

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A Garden Wedding Favor Tips

by Dora Kate on September 29, 2011

A wedding is by far one of the most special days of our lives, where everything and everyone is present for the same reason to enter your families history forever. The guests present are important to the couple not only because they are witness to their vow of eternal love but also because they make this day special with their presence and blessings.

Wedding favors started as a thank you note in Europe where usually sweets and other home made items were handed out in appreciation of the guests’ attendance at the wedding. The tradition caught on along the years and the wedding favors as well for everyone who does attend a wedding is special in order to be part of such a magical and unique moment in one’s life.

Professional photographers often miss numerous moments of joyful celebration, leaving you wondering why you never thought of having our own wedding favor camera for capturing the invaluable moments of wedding.However, for a garden wedding favor you don’t need to actually give a plant or flower to your guest just some special seeds in a silk sachet will be enough.

Before buying a favor camera for the wedding, consider what kind of theme will be dominating the party. The color and style of the camera should match those adorning the wedding occasion.Another garden wedding favors suggestion is a the lucky Asian bamboo tied with a red ribbon and this can be presented to all your guests for everyone knows the meaning of it and if they don’t you can always enlighten them with the story behind the lucky plant.If you are not sure whom to present with garden wedding favors or if you need advice on what type of garden wedding favors to choose you can always check with the experts in the domain and those are the one that manufacture wedding favors.

They are loaded an ISO 400, 35 mm film (usually Agfa or Fuji Film). Wedding favor cameras of 27 exposures are more liked for wedding occasions.Wedding favors are not expensive yet the gesture behind them is what makes it worth the world to the guest who receives the same. Remember to always personalize your wedding favor as much as you possibly can, a thank you note or a signature is fast yet makes a great impact.

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Tucker’s new Honda isn’t the first cutting-edge set of wheels he’s had

by Sarah Barnes on September 29, 2011

Level 5 Motorsports owner Scott Tucker isn’t just a professional sports car driver; he’s a sports car man, by nature drawn to the powerful engines and maneuverability of the fastest cars on the planet. In fact, before he raced professionally, Tucker built a veritable sports car museum in his Leawood, Kansas home.

Now that he is on the circuit, Tucker’s passion for racecars is less so diminished than it is amplified. Tucker has quickly accepted every opportunity to get behind the wheel of the latest and greatest productions from some of the highest regarded manufacturers in the industry. Tucker’s latest acquisition, a cost-capped chassis by Honda Performance Development and Wirth Research, made an exciting debut last weekend at the American Le Mans Series Monterey at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, Calif. The car, which sports modifications allowing for greater increases in speed than its older LMP2 counterparts, ran like a charm and delivered on its promises with the talented Level 5 drivers behind the wheel. The HPD ARX-01g was fresh out of the box for its motorsports debut because Tucker had reserved the first two models out of production for his team, which also comprises Luis Diaz and Christophe Bouchut.

Ever the proactive team owner, Tucker keeps his finger on the pulse of motorsports innovation, development and production. He had been following the Honda prototype’s testing and specifications closely before he decided it would be worth switching to the new model in the middle of the current season. But the HPD ARX-01g is hardly the first time Tucker’s driven on the cutting edge of racing vehicles. His lifelong interest in the cars has translated into a unique facet to his professional racing career as owner and driver for his Madison, Wisc.-based team: As much as he’s driving the cars, he’s scouting them, too.

Tucker began his sports car racing career with Ferrari in 2006 at the age of 44. As he got a feel for the track, he began making podium appearances, finishing first at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., by the 2007 season, his second full season. Even as he created Level 5 Motorsports in 2008 and began building a superteam of elite drivers with a heavier focus on ALMS, ILMC and Grand-Am competition, Tucker was committed to the Ferrari Challenge series. Since last year, he has contributed to Ferrari North America in testing and developing the Ferrari 599XX for the 2011 season. With a focus on technology, mechanical and technical features and clever design applied in a modern way, Tucker and the Ferarri team developed a car Tucker himself was excited to drive. “The gas pedal is real sensitive on that thing,” Tucker said. “There’s just so much power, you have to be gentle. It’s almost a 50/50 equal balance, and the way they’ve done it, it’s just a whole new generation of GT cars.”

Perhaps one of Tucker’s most envy-evoking moves, though, was to be the first American allowed behind the wheel of one of Audi’s multimillion-dollar, 200-mph diesel prototypes on a race track. Thanks in part to his connection with series veteran Bouchut, Tucker scored the driver’s seat in one of Audi’s ‒ diesel prototypes in the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans. And it wasn’t an easy task; in order to even qualify for the race, Tucker had to complete a minimum of 10 laps-the same amount as a driver’s stint in the actual race-and maintain speed at a certain percentage of the class’s fast time. Tucker took advantage of his historic opportunity and delivered a performance that got the world of motorsports talking about the middle-aged rookie from Leawood, Kansas that could drive with the best of them.

Tucker’s reputation for getting his hands on the wheels of some of the most impressive car in the industry is directly related to his unrelenting pursuit of victory-in his driver roster, vehicle quality and also his own development as a motorsports star. Still, at 48, Tucker reveals a sense of the man he was before he made his mark in sports racing. Although its performance is important to podium finishes and the Level 5 Motorsports LMP2 reputation, to Tucker, the HPD ARX-01g is ultimately one thing: another really cool car.

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