The racing world is reeling from the untimely death of one of its most beloved. British open-wheel racer Justin Wilson passed away August 23rd after a horrfic on-track crash at the ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway. The 37-year-old was struck in the head by the carbon-fiber nosecone of race leader Sage Karem when Karem's Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet hit the Tricky Triangle's outside wall, sending debris flying up and down the track as it essentially disintegrated. Footage shows that Wilson appeared to lose control and spear left into the track's inside wall. He was immediately airlifted to an Allentown, PA hospital, where he never emerged from a coma.In homage to Wilson, a husband and father of two daughters from Sheffield, England, fellow racers gathered on Thursday to parade five...

Statistics show that drunk driving kills one person every 52 mintues throughout the United States. You might think that these accidents are more frequent in larger party cities like Los Angeles, New York or Miami. But you'd be wrong. Turns out that drunk driving crashes are far more likely to happen along the long stretches of open road that connect small towns in rural western areas, where drivers often are tempted to drive faster and less carefully for longer distances. A new study commissioned by the National Highway Traffic Safety Adminsistration took a look at road fatalities stats associated with drunk driving all across the country. The data turned up a total of 94,550 drunk driving deaths between 2004 and 2013, and identified the roadways where these accidents happened most....

In 2013 pro motocross racer Zack Bell experienced one of the most harrowing crashes the industry and its fans would see all year. It happened at the Dallas Supercross event where Bell was making his 250SX debut. He was leading his heat race and launching off a triple when it all went wrong and he found himself soaring through the air sans-bike, then landing hard on the dirt-covered concrete track. Those in the stands were sure Bell's career and possibly his life were over. So, you can imagine the shock when he got up and walked away.In most any other case, Bell likely would have suffered a major head injury. But on that day, he just happened to be wearing a 6D Advanced Imact Defense helmet designed by someone who knows all too well the daily dangers that competitive bike racers...

With Old Glory again flying over the American Embassy building for the first time in over half a century, there's renewed interest in all things Cuba. And for vintage car enthusiasts, that means the eventual possibility of a firsthand look at the one thing the Pearl of the Antilles is best known or - Classic American rides. Meanwhile, for speed-loving children of the Revolution, those storied American-made machines are much more than simple modes of transportation. They represent freedom, thrill and the competitive spirit, as beautifully illustrated in the new documentary, Havana Motor Club. Says the film's website: "Punctuated by a lively Cuban soundtrack, Havana Motor Club captures a nation at a crossroads. Changing international relationships and economic reforms have offered...

If you're a vintage car buff, no doubt you've pined for the ever-elusive chance to drive or even own a classic Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe, perhaps the most iconic of American sports coupes. We here at E3 Spark Plugs certainly have. Well, now's our chance - sort of. Shelby American recently debuted the two versions of its 50th Anniversary Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe at the Gordon McCall's Motorworks Revival. The exclusive event, held at Monterey Airport's Jet Center, is the official kickoff of the annual Monterey Car Week and features the crème de la crème of automotive and aircraft. The original Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupes were built specifically to take on Ferrari and its 250 GTO in the GT class on the track. Their shape was developed by Shelby's Pete Brock for a...

Which car brand is America's best? Consumer Reports recently rolled out its Annual Automotive Report Cards, listing its top picks based on a 78-point overall score that combines road-test and predicted reliability scores. One surprise this year is Detroit-based Buick, which makes a strong showing in a list that typically is dominated by Japanese brands. In fact, Buick this year has the highest percentage of tested models being Consumer Reports-recommended at 83 percent. Subaru follows closely with 80 percent and by Lexus and Kia, both at 78 percent. "For years, domestic automakers built lower-priced and lower-quality alternatives to imports, but those days are behind us," Jake Fisher, Consumer Reports director of automotive testing, told reporters. "Today, many domestic models...

If you were a child of the MTV generation, no doubt you popped the collar on your pastel colored blazer, rocked a mullet and dreamed of cruising down the street and picking up girls in your Ferrari Testarossa - just like the guys on Miami Vice. Now, if you've got the cash, that dream can become a reality come this weekend's Mecum auction at Monterey Car Week on California's coast. In the hit show, Det. James "Sonny" Crockett (played by Don Johnson) and his partner Det. Ricardo Tubbs (Philip Michael Thomas) were undercover narcotics investigators posing as high-level drug dealers in sexy, violent, cocaine-soaked Miami, Florida. After the dramatic and untimely destruction of his Daytona Spyder, and a fair amount of complaining to boss, Lieutenant Martin Castillo (Edward James Olmos),...

The 2016 line of Toyota Tacoma model versions will have a cool new standard feature, thanks to a Toyota marketing pro's inspired travels to several serious off-roading hotspots including Moab, Utah. Throughout the trip, the guy noticed dozens of GoPro cameras mounted to various spots on many of the trucks, Jeeps, bikes and other off-road rides - some sporting as many as four mounts and cameras. These increasingly popular cameras with amazing stability control are used to record off-roading adventures and post them on YouTube and other social media sites. That's when inspiration hit. A suggestion to the company's higher-ups and a phone call to GoPro launched a series of custom design meetings as well as visibility, durability and crash survivability tests to assure that the new mount...

In our last blog, E3 Spark Plugs brought you the story of Queen Elizabeth's wild ride to church one otherwise peaceful Sunday morning. Commandeering her sleek Jaguar X-type, as she's known to do now and then, Lighting Liz got a bit antsy with a young family blocking her path at Windsor Great Park and handled the matter by veering into the grass, busting a polite-but-pointed royal wave and going on her way, presumably with David Bowie's "Modern Love" blaring from radio. OK, so we dreamed up that last part, but if the song fits… Church on time terrifies meChurch on time makes me partyChurch on time puts my trust in God and man The episode was met with a range of reactions from mild amusement to mad props. But it also raised the question as to just how safe it is for elderly...

As E3 Spark Plugs reported a few months back when she took Formula One champ Lewis Hamilton to task for his lack of proper lunch table manners, England's Queen Elizabeth is a bit of a badass - Legit. She proved it all over again recently when she told her chauffer to park his non-royal rump in the passenger's seat and took command of the steering wheel herself on a Sunday morning jaunt to church. Oh, but the world was in for another surprise. Royal watchers with ready cameras snapped a series of pics of the soon-to-be nonagenarian Queen as she went all hell-on-wheels in her sleek Jaguar X-type, scaring the daylights out of a young couple walking with their two young children in Windsor Great Park. Apparently, they were blocking her path and she simply was not having it....