WELCOME! "THE CAR NUT" --- AWARD-WINNING AUTOMOTIVE JOURNALIST STEVE PARKER'S WEBSITE

FAA APPROVES "VLJs"; JUST IN TIME FOR HONDA'S NEW JET

We told you recently about the all-new HondaJet for business users. Now, these new light, cheap and fast jets are expected to be certified for flight Thursday, August 3rd. Eclipse Aviation's E500 will be the first "very light jet," or VLJ, to receive a provisional certification by the Federal Aviation Administration. Thousands more are expected to take wing over the next decade. The announcement, at the annual AirVenture air show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, is one of the biggest things to happen to general aviation in years.

Eclipse's "500" model is on-sale and commercially available. The price is $1,295,000.

The NBAA (National Business Aviation Association) defines VLJs as single-pilot jets that weigh 10,000 pounds (4,500 kilograms) or less. They generally have two engines, five or six passenger seats, electronic cockpits and cost half as much as the most inexpensive business jet now in service. (Photo above: Eclipse Aviation expects its E500s to be used as air taxis or flying limousines for corporate travelers).

Six other very light jets are in the process of being certified by the FAA. Honda Motor Co. announced Tuesday (July 25th) at Oshkosh that it will start accepting orders for another VLJ, the HondaJet, this fall.

The FAA officially predicts that 4,500 VLJs will be in service 10 years from now. FAA chief Marion Blakey has called that a conservative estimate. Eclipse alone has orders for nearly 2,500 of the little jets.

The big question surrounding VLJs is who will use them and where they will fly.

Vern Raburn, the founder of Albuquerque-based Eclipse Aviation Corp., predicts VLJs will be used as air taxis: for-hire limousines-with-wings that will take off and land at thousands of small airports. Businesspeople, he says, will be attracted to them because they will get where they need to go faster and with less hassle than on a commercial flight -- and cheaper than on a chartered business jet. (Photo: HondaJet).

VLJs can land on runways as short as 3,000 feet (900 meters), compared with the 4,000 (1,200 meters) or 5,000 feet (1,500 meters) required by the smallest jets now being flown. The FAA says there are more than 5,000 small, underused airports in the United States.

Two other companies hope to have similar jets certified by the end of the year: Englewood, Colorado-based Adam Aircraft and Wichita, Kansas-based Cessna Aircraft Co.

Cessna considers its Citation Mustang an inexpensive business jet, not a VLJ, said Doug Oliver, company spokesman. But, Oliver said, "If the air taxi market comes along, the aircraft is perfectly suited for high utilization." Cessna, which has produced more than 4,500 business jets for the global fleet, has about 250 orders for the Mustang, Oliver said. (Photo: HondaJet engine).

The other VLJs seeking FAA certification, or FAA validation of their home countries' certification, are:

Javelin, by Aviation Technology Group, Inc.;

Phenom, by Embraer, or Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica SA;

G180 SPn Utility Jet, by Grob Aerospace;

Spectrum 33 by Spectrum Aeronautical LLC.

A Spectrum 33 crashed in a test flight Tuesday, July 25th, in Spanish Fork, Utah, killing both pilots aboard. The cause of the crash is unknown. (Thanks to CNN.COM for this story).

LOTUS TO BUILD TESLA EV SPORTS CAR

According to a report on EDP24.com, (the Norfolk Eastern Daily Press website), Group Lotus' involvement with the Tesla Roadster project is now very much official: the Roadster will be built by Lotus at its Hethel facility.

The move is part of Lotus chief's Mike Kimberley's announced ongoing plan to increase the company's involvement in outside design and engineering projects. It comes on the heels of Lotus' new deal with Nanjng Automotive to aid in the development of new MG vehicles, which will be assembled in Nebraska (you got that?).

Kimberly had been one of the bosses at Lotus over two decades ago, and he absolutely understands that companies such as his (for instance, Porsche) make much, if not most, of their monies from doing R&D work for other car companies, and even other manufacturers, outside of the car business. (Photo: California Governor Arnold "happened" to show-up at the unveiling of the Tesla EV on July 26th in very-ultra-hip-and-trendy Santa Monica --- Apparently the luckiest break the Tesla folks may ever have!).

MEL GIBSON: DUI, RESISTING ARREST AND ANTI-SEMITIC TIRADE; LA SHERIFF COVER-UP ALLEGED

8-3-06 - Latest On Gibson: LOS ANGELES TIMES (Tribune Corporation; they also own KTLA/TV5 in Los Angeles) and TMZ.com (which is owned by AOL Entertainment) both report that Gibson was traveling over twice the legal speed limit when he was stopped by the Sheriffs' officers (86mph in a 40 zone) and he had an OPEN BOTTLE OF TEQUILA with him in his Lexus LS430. (Photo: Mel after a tough night at "Moonshadows", a tourist hangout in Malibu --- "The Official Mugshot").

Anyone who has had any dealings with the LA County Sheriff knows that if it were 'you or me' stopped at 2am in Malibu doing twice the legal speed limit on PCH, extremely drunk and obnoxious to boot, and with open liquor bottle in the car, then calling a female Deputy "Sugar tits" at the station house: We would NOT have been freed on $5,000 bail that same evening! In fact, it would take you or me a week or so to recover from the BEATING we would have gotten! My latest prediction: Gibson (after completing "Celebrity Rehab") will soon visit either the Holocaust Museum in Los Angeles or Washington, DC, where he will write a large check, or Israel, to pray at the Western Wall to ask forgiveness. And he will still be full of shit. These guys never change ... Not at his age! I do feel some sympathy for Mel: Gibson's father needs to be held responsible for raising his son with these sick, disgusting concepts. Gibson needs to publicly reprimand his father for teaching him to hate the Jewish people. Then BOTH of them should retire to the shadows, where they belong, to meditate and pray about their sick, hate-filled lives. And, here's something I never thought I'd say (though I am a big fan of "People's Court"): Thank goodness for Harvey Levin, who exposed this entire episode! Latest from TMZ.com ... Gibson has been stopped by officers in Malibu at least two other times when he exhibited erratic driving, and both times was let go without receiving a ticket or being arrested. Also, Gibson was driven by the SHERIFF in a patrol car to the impound lot where his car was being held. And, finally, it was originally reported that Gibson was freed on $5,000 bail --- Turns out, he was released on OR (own recognizance) ... There was NO bail. Gibson has also been formally charged with two misdemeanors, including the open bottle of liquor in the car and driving above the alcohol breath limit of 0.08%. Why he has not yet been charged with speeding, reckless driving (typical in these cases) and attempt to escape is not yet known. (photo: Mel in make-up for his new film, "My Buddy Saddam").

(Saturday, July 29th): We all know Gibson's film, "Passion of the Christ", was one of the most filthy, disgusting and anti-Semitic pictures made before, during or since Hitler. We also know that Gibson (and his father, who is a world-known "Holocaust Denier"), belong to a Catholic "cult" which disavows any Pope they disagree with ... Such as Pope John Paul II, who ordered the church and its followers to stop any hatred towards the Jewish people, and made it clear that the Jewish population had nothing to do with Christ's death. Gibson's movie told another story, the same old story which Jew-haters have told for 2,100 years. This film was shown to literally millions of young, impressionable Christians around the world who now think that Gibson's view of Christ's death is the 'true' one.

Well, thanks to our tenacious and free American media, the entire world knows for certain and without question tonight that Mel Gibson is a dyed-in-the-wool, common, obnoxious, drunken Jew-hater who over the years lucked into enough money and financiers to tell his version of the "truth". Thank goodness he has been stopped before running for political office in our country.

And now, thanks to TV producer and reporter Harvey Levin and the website tmz.com, we get the REAL story of Gibson's arrest the other night: His attempted escape, his profane insults to the Sheriff's Deputies, the complete original and official on-scene report which the arresting officer was told to "re-do" by his superiors.

He also says in his mea culpa that he has battled alcoholism all his life (now there's a real shock, huh?), is ashamed of his "relapse" (yeah, like his first drink in years was this past Friday night ...) and said things he "does not believe to be true". I bet he'll be in rehab in Malibu (or somewhere else 'secret') by Monday, July 31st. Guaranteed. At the least, he should be taken off the streets.

Hollywood gave Gibson a huge "pass" on "Passion of the Christ", because he has made that industry SO much money over the years. Hollywood heavyweights figured the less anyone said about the film, the better, and it did come and go pretty quickly. With no awards or nominations.

Well, those 'accepting' days are officially over. Mel Gibson is 'persona non grata' for any decent person. And he does not get another chance. Let him love Jesus, retire to the church he has on his Malibu land and wait to go to heaven. That's a good plan for him, I think. (Photo: Mel Gibson in a calmer moment, or getting worked-over by the LA Sheriff).

Now where will Gibson get the money to finance any future productions? Will some Hollywood buddies use him as an actor in their films to someday (and soon) show how far Mel has come in his social "rehab"?

There is plenty of anti-Semitic money of all kinds in this world, so he can always find financiers; but will Gibson want to be publicly associated with those people? Well, I suppose it won't bother him too much: He IS one of "those people". Maybe he can get some Al Queda cash or get a taste from Hezbollah or the "Palestinians".

As Gibson's statements and actions and films have gone totally OVER the line, it's time for Mel to not bother apologizing --- Our world has ,sadly, seen his kind come and go with with a disgusting regularity. Just hope the DMV takes his license and gets him off the road permanently. Or out of the country. Anyone check his immigration papers lately?

And the less said about the LOS ANGELES COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT at this point, the better.

Mel Gibson: True American Scumbag! 

CHAMP CAR'S 2007 PANOZ SPEC CAR UNVEILED

June 29th, and the public unveiling of the Panoz spec chassis for the "Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford and Malted Milk Service Available" has happened in Indianapolis! The DP01 will serve as the exclusive chassis of the series in 2007, becoming the first American-built chassis to compete in the series since 2000. Replacing the fabled Lolas that have dominated Champ Car in recent years, the Elan Motorsports-built DP01 chassis features the latest in aerodynamic technologies and has allowed the design team to reach its goal of providing a car that runs better in traffic while allowing for closer racing and more passing opportunities. Now the BIG question remains: How compatible will this DP01 be with whatever the Indy Racing League specs call for in 2007, or will the race car be a "one-year wonder", with other manufacturers already working on the spec chassis for 2008 and beyond, when Champ Car and IRL unite? (Photo: Click on the photo to see the car and the crowd at the unveiling in a larger format).

Here's the PR release from Champ Car:

"Aerodynamically we have broken away from various existing Champ Car features, which have been a product of the existing regulations," said Elan Motorsports Chief Designer Simon Marshall. "We have to create the downforce in a sensible manner that is not as setup critical, and which is less affected by traffic turbulent wakes. (Chief Aerodynamicist) Nick (Alcock) has produced a superb underbody for this car, and an awesome looking topside which should keep the fans (and drivers) excited."

The design incorporates a number of changes to the existing car, including paddle shifters, additional 'sharkfin' elements as well as wing improvements, and a change of the seat angle for the drivers designed to improve driver safety. The Elan Motorsports design team, working in conjunction with Champ Car officials, has created a car that represents the latest in vehicle technology while still featuring the sleek silhouette unique to the Champ Car World Series.

"We were able to maintain the Champ Car look," said Champ Car Technical Director Scot Elkins. "There's a lot of F1 elements to it but it still looks like a Champ Car. The exposed roll hoop, the slope of the engine cover, it's low to the ground, it's a look that the fans will recognize as a Champ Car. One of the key design elements for us was that it look like a Champ Car."

But there is far more than flash to the DP01. More than 20,000 man hours went into the design and construction of the new chassis, which is designed to be faster, lighter and safer than the current Champ Car. The chassis is more than 100 pounds lighter than the current car, but features a number of safety innovations, including a collapsible fuel cell, that will provide even more protection to the drivers. (Photo: Kevin Kahlkoven, co-owner of Champ Car, in the car, with driver Mario Dominguez).

The DP01 also features such improvements as the addition of an on-board starter, which is designed to lessen caution periods for stalled cars, and paddle shifters replacing the gear shifter. The semi-automatic paddle shifter system is also tied into the throttle system of the turbocharged Ford-Cosworth engine, allowing drivers to downshift without lifting off the throttle, something that is not possible in the current car.

The sharkfin look in the rear of the car aids in downforce, benefiting from a change in the air induction system designed into the DP01. The sidepod radiator inlet allows air to flow completely through the sidepod, providing the airflow that makes the sharkfin more effective.

"It creates downforce without the penalty of drag." Elkins said. "The air would get all bottled up in the current design. We like the feature and feel that it will really help the car."

But while given the chance to create a world-class car from the ground up, Elan and Champ Car also tasked themselves with building a chassis that provided more affordable entry into the series. The cost savings has already attracted new interest in the series, and Elan will be ready to handle the demand.

"One of the requirements for this project was not necessarily to make things cheaper to make, but faster and easier to produce in higher volume and at a higher rate," Marshall said. "Design thinking started around production techniques. The design is still evolving as we move through the prototype and testing phase."

"The 2007 Champ Car was designed with three objectives in mind," said Champ Car co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven. "First, to increase the excitement for the fans by allowing closer racing and more overtaking. Second, to level the playing field for all teams, which will also increase fan excitement. Third, to make a dramatic decrease in the costs for the teams thereby allowing new teams to join the series. This car achieves all three objectives." (Photo: 2007 Champ Car chassis; paint by Troy Lee, famed helmet artist).

$2 MILLION PRODUCTION CAR HAS PRE-SOLD 1O UNITS

The Bugatti Veyron EB16 is currently priced at $1.6 million and the company (owned by Volkswagen), claims to have sold 40 units as of press time. Not to be outdone, a southern California entrepreneur with a background in building some well-known instantly-classic and -collectible automobiles, has thrown his hat in the "Big Money" ring with the "Natalia SLS 2". A Las Vegas development company now says they have already placed orders for 10 of these "World's Most Expensive Cars", which are slated to be outfitted with all-American-made engineering and serve as a running laboratory and showcase of the best American hardware and software. The company is headquartered in Palm Springs, California --- Famed in the auto world for being the place where Raymond Loewy designed the original Studebaker Avanti in only three weeks, with his design team using a home designed by Albert Frey as their base camp.

Luxury Resort Villas, which owns at least 10 luxury resort estates around the world, says they have ordered a fleet of 10 Natalia SLS 2s from DiMora Motorcar. These handcrafted super sedans will be built in Palm Springs, CA, and feature a 1,200-horsepower "Volcano" V16 engine. A Natalia will be available for use by luxury resort home owners in Las Vegas, Hawaii, Tuscany and Dubai, among others locales.

The Natalia SLS 2 Sport Luxury Sedan has too many features to list, but some of the more outrageous and impressive ones include video screens and a video projector housed in the headlights that enable the car to project a video while parked, rear-seat massagers, heat-sensitive color-changing paint, biofeedback sensors that measure the driver's physical condition, a night vision heads-up display, and a $12,000 limited-production Natalia lady's purse and bottle of Natalia wine that features a self-uncorking system that comes with the car. The DiMora Motorcar website is still a little unfinished, though Luxury Resort Villas claims that it's taking delivery of its Natalia fleet in 2008.

Palm Springs and modernistic styling have gone together since the town became the "Playground of Presidents" and "The Rat Pack" hung out there, starting in the 1950s. Here's what one Avanti site says about the place: "Hollywood legends built world class residences in the Modern Style designed by architects now recognized as modern masters. Studebaker's startling Avanti coupe looked perfect beside houses designed by architects Richard Neutra and John Lautner and locals like William Cody, Stewart Williams, and Albert Frey. In the late nineties, Frey's house for Avanti designer Raymond Loewy, with its amoeba-shaped indoor/outdoor pool and its view-framing trellis, was restored by metalware manufacturer Jim Gaudineer. Loewy kept a 1963 Studebaker Avanti parked at the Frey house. Palm Springs architect Stewart Williams, designed a house for Avanti owner Frank Sinatra complete with a piano-shaped pool in which Ava Gardner, Greta Garbo, and Lana Turner splashed."

HONDA JETS AIRBORNE; TOYOTA IS NEXT

Toyota beats Honda into NASCAR, but Toyota teams might be using HONDA JETS to fly their teams to the tracks! For several years, Toyota has owned a hangar at the Long Beach, (CA) Airport, just a few minutes drive south on the 405 Freeway from their USA corporate headquarters complex in lovely Torrance. Toyota has an air division in Japan, but it's been only a small secret that Toyota has for several years been working on their own version of a corporate jet for not only their home market, but for the US as well and other countries where they think they can find an audience. In fact, Toyota has stated that their intention is to make an airplane for the average commuter which will be as easy and simple to fly as a modern car is to drive! Because there is little commercial air traffic in Japan, compared to other countries of its size and wealth, and while the Japanese public is "encouraged" (exhorted, really, with affordable fares for most and to-the-second reliability) to use the nation's excellent train system, Toyota still sees a need for their executives to get to and fro quickly and safely. For instance, Toyota is one of the very few large Japanese corporations which do not have their headquarters in Tokyo; Toyota's HQ is located in Toyota City (yep, their own city --- pretty cool, huh?) just outside Nagoya, a couple of hundred miles from Tokyo. In spite of all this, it appears Honda has beat Toyota to the punch in the US market, as their announcement the week of July 25th makes clear.

Honda has announced that after using (and, you can bet, secretly testing, de-constructing and reverse engineering) various versions of small business jets for about nine years, the company has decided to enter the very light jet market with its airborne equivalent of the Honda Civic.

Honda has now partnered with established American aircraft manufacturer Piper to bring the innovative small jet to market. Honda will establish a new U.S. company for the venture, with production likely to start in 3-4 years, after the lengthy FAA testing and certification process is completed. Eager buyers will be able to place orders by the fall of 2006.

The 7-seat HondaJet features, as Honda-watchers might expect,  innovative aerodynamics for increased fuel efficiency and performance, and a new jet engine designed and developed by Honda (shown at right).

NEW MAZDA WATER-PRESSURE TESTING

Most of you have probably seen the scary photos of the Mitsui-OSK Lines ship "Cougar Ace" (which sounds like a bad NASCAR movie starring Burt Reynolds and his toupee) listing, well, pretty badly in waters off the Alaska coast. What you didn't see was what is inside the ship: Almost 5,000 Mazda vehicles bound for the Canadian port of Vancouver, the Washington state port of Tacoma and the California port of Hueneme (just south of Ventura, for you map freaks). What follows is the official Mazda press release, probably from their "Disaster" department. What we especially enjoy is how Mazda terms the ship's predicament as having "run into trouble". Well, like-a yeah --- We guess!

[Sources: Mazda,  Alaska Report, Photos: US Coast Guard)


PRESS RELEASE:

Mazda Vehicles Aboard
Stricken Car-Carrying Vessel, Cougar Ace

On July 24, 2006, Mazda was advised that the Mitsui OSK Lines' Cougar Ace had run into trouble off the Alaskan coast. Although it is reportedly still afloat, the vessel is on its side,

What caused this incident or the extent of the damage to the vehicles is currently unknown. Just over 4,700 Canadian- and U.S-bound Mazdas were on board. Approximately 60 percent of the cars are MAZDA3s and close to 30 percent are Mazda CX-7s. The vehicles were headed to the ports of Vancouver (Canada), Tacoma and Hueneme in the USA.

A plan for salvaging the vessel is being developed and will be executed by Mitsui OSK Lines as soon as possible.

Mazda will wait until the situation has been fully evaluated and understood, before disclosing further information.

And here's the story as covered by the ALASKA NEWS REPORT:

Coast Guard says Cougar Ace is stable and listing 60 degrees near Aleutian Islands, Alaska

7/25/06

Adak, Alaska

The Cougar Ace maintains its position 240 miles south of Adak in the North Pacific Ocean. As of noon Tuesday, the ship is listing 60 degrees to port. The keel and the propeller are out of the water.

It is stable, and does not appear to be sinking.

After accomplishing the primary mission of safely evacuating the stranded crewmembers, the Coast Guard continues to monitor the vessel for possible environmental threats and hazards to navigation. For this purpose, the Coast Guard cutter Rush is on scene with the Cougar Ace. A small boat crew, deployed from the Rush to more effectively observe the Cougar Ace, described the oil sheen around the vessel as "very light".

No one will be permitted to board the Cougar Ace at this time.

The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation is monitoring the situation, and has offered their help if it becomes necessary.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, the vessel's owners, have contracted a commercial salvage company. The salvage company is expected to arrive on scene within a week.

Mitsui O.S.K. will also be responsible for further transportation of the rescued crew members.

The Coast Guard is actively engaged with state, local and tribal officials in making preparations in case the salvage company requests to tow the vessel into Alaskan waters.

WORST SECRET IN F1 REVEALED; TOYOTA TO POWER WILLIAMS

It's ALL finally official! Danica Patrick goes to Andretti/Green racing for 2007 in the IRL (unless her father can pimp her up a NASCAR ride for some real money), Juan Pablo Montoya will drive for Chip "Biggie" Ganassi in NASCAR starting this season (and perhaps get Chip to drop a few, uh, kilos), and now the last best-known secret in motorsports (this week, at least) is revealed: Toyota will supply engines for WilliamsF1 in 2007.

Toyota Motor and WilliamsF1 announced Thursday, July 27,  that Toyota will supply engines to the WilliamsF1 team for the next three years, beginning in 2007. The agreement explicitly states that WilliamsF1 will use "the same specification of engine as Panasonic Toyota Racing," ensuring a level playing field for all concerned, and putting even more heat on Toyota's "factory" team to produce race wins, after years of big budgets and mediocre results.

Toyota will continue at least for the next year with their own in-house F1 team, constructing their own engines and race chassis. However, this deal leaves Toyota with a convenient exit strategy if they do decide to abandon their underperforming factory team in favor of a support deal with WilliamsF1. (Photo: Frank Williams).

And Sir Frank Williams gets access some of the best engines in all of Formula 1, and at a considerable saving over his outright purchase of engines from Williams' current engine supplier Cosworth.

The announcement also means Cosworth may be without a team for 2007, although the engine plans of the other "non-factory" teams, Red Bull Racing, Torro Rosso and MF1 (Midland) are yet to be finalized, and David Richards' new Prodrive team is also a potential customer.

BENNY PARSONS, NASCAR CHAMP, NBC COMMENTATOR, RECEIVING LUNG CANCER TREATMENT

Sad news from the world of motorsports. Benny Parsons, NASCAR's 1973 driving champion, chosen as one of "NASCAR's FIFTY GREATEST DRIVERS" in 1998 and NBC's color commentator for their NASCAR broadcasts, is suffering from lung cancer. Treatment began Wednesday, July 19. Parsons is receiving chemo and radiation therapy; no surgery was announced nor talked about publicly, which may not be a good sign for Parsons, as it might mean the cancer is "inoperable". Parsons came to NASCAR after stints as a taxi driver in Detroit, a story which only adds to his legend.

Parsons, known as "BP" to almost everyone and humorously as "Buffet Benny", a nod to his large girth, says he'll continue with his NBC work as long as the treatments allow him to stay healthy enough to do so. Parsons is one of the most-honored NASCAR racers of all time, with a tough exterior belying the warm human being beneath the "wall" which is necessary of champions in almost any sport.

Though Parsons says he stopped smoking in 1978, his years of heavy cigarette smoking, second-hand smoke from friends in the garage area, and the fumes of the many chemicals, fuels, burning rubber and other expected parts of the "NASCAR racer's lifestyle", appear to have sadly done their damage. Looks like WINSTON has nailed another one.

Here is the complete story courtesy Associated Press:

Benny Parsons has beaten the odds before, rising up from the foothills of North Carolina to a job driving taxis and then all the way to the top of NASCAR.

Now he'll try to win an even bigger battle - this time with cancer.

Parsons, the 1973 champion and current NASCAR commentator on NBC and TNT, was diagnosed with cancer in his left lung and began treatment Wednesday.

"It is winnable," said Parsons, affectionately known throughout NASCAR as "BP."

"But positive attitude is very important in this - you need to think you can win before you will win, and I will do it. I've got races to see won and champions to see crowned, and I've got granddaughters to see raised."

Parsons said he'd never really been sick before, but began having trouble breathing a few months ago. It led him to the family physician, who diagnosed the cancer two weeks ago.

"The first thing everyone asks me is, 'Are you a smoker?' The answer is that I smoked my last cigarette way back in 1978, and since then I've hated being around smoking. I don't even allow anyone in my foursome to smoke on the golf course."

The 65-year-old Parsons will undergo chemotherapy three days a week for three weeks, and also will receive radiation five days a week. He's seeing Dr. Steven Limenpani, who treated NASCAR car owner Rick Hendrick during his battle with leukemia in the late 1990s.

Parsons was in good spirits and said he felt fine after his first treatment on Wednesday.

"It's only in the left lung. It's not spread to any other organs. This is a small-cell cancer that is no place else," he said. "I am assuming these are all good things."

Parsons, who lives in Concord, plans to remain in the booth during his treatments.

"One of Benny's greatest qualities is how unconditionally supportive he is to the racing community," said Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC Sports. "Now it's our turn to provide that support to him. I ask all of his friends and fans to put him in their prayers tonight."

Named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers in 1998, Parsons made 526 starts from 1964 until his 1988 retirement. He won 21 races, including the 1975 Daytona 500, and 20 poles.

He also had 283 top-10 finishes, led at least one lap in 192 races and finished no lower than fifth in the points from 1972 to 1980 while earning more than $4 million. He also won back-to-back ARCA titles in 1968-69 when he lived in Detroit, before getting his shot at NASCAR.

Parsons said he's been overwhelmed by the outreach from the NASCAR community and fans, and had a short conversation earlier Wednesday with former chairman Bill France Jr., who had his own successful battle with cancer.

"We talked for five minutes and we never mentioned the word racing or NASCAR," Parsons said. "We talked about friendship and cancer."

NASCAR chairman Brian France, Bill's son, said the entire organization was praying for Parsons.

"As one who has seen this battle fought head-on in my own family, I am confident that with the support of his family and the entire NASCAR community, Benny will show all of us, once again, why he is a true champion," he said.

Parsons was born at his parents' rural home in Wilkes County and eventually moved to Detroit, where he worked at a gas station and a cab company owned by his father. After winning back-to-back ARCA titles in 1968-69, he returned to North Carolina in Ellerbe to become a full-time racer, often listing "taxicab driver" as his occupation on entry forms.

He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1994, and the National Motorsports Press Association's Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame in 1995.

Parsons began his broadcasting career in the 1980s as a pit reporter for ESPN and TBS, when he was still racing a partial schedule. He moved into the booth for good in 1989 for ESPN and won a Cable ACE Award for best sports analyst.

He said he hoped to remain in the booth for years to come.

On March 17, 2006, longtime NASCAR driver Bobby Hamilton Sr. announced that he had been diagnosed with neck cancer. On June 7, he finished his chemotherapy treatments and radiation. His son, Bobby Hamilton Jr,. has been filling-in in the driver's seat for his father until the Senior Hamilton recovers. (Photo: Bobby Hamilton at press conference announcing his neck cancer).

NEW VW SUV IS "TOUCAN", UH, WE MEAN "TIGUAN"

Volkswagen has picked another tongue-twister name for an SUV. The VW Touareg's baby brother will be called the Tiguan ---pronounced "tih-gwan."  The moniker was chosen by 350,000 readers of Germany's gigantic Auto Bild Magazine and its affiliate publications in 10 European countries. Tiguan was the choice from among five candidates. The others: Nanuk, Namib, Rockton and Samum.

What's a Tiguan? VW marketers made up the word, a combination of tiger and iguana. (Photo: VW Tiguan 'spy shot' cover of Auto Bild magazine).

I like "Nanook", though VW can't seem to spell it correctly (if "Nanook of the North" is the word they are aiming for). "Rockton" sounds like a shoe for people like me with fat, wide feet. Namib sounds like it must have African roots (as did Touareg) --- And isn't Samum a North Korean radio-making company which has fallen on hard times?

But "Tiguan"?

There are marketing companies, and, even more specifically, "naming" and "branding" companies which come up names like Acura, Lexus, Infiniti, Scion (a real word, but a ton of "focus group" work went into figuring out if it was right for a car) ... And sometimes, the car company people themselves simply "create" a new word to name one of their products.

One of the top execs at Daihatsu told me during a trip to one of their plants in Osaka, Japan, when asked about the sort-of strange name "Charade" for one of their most important USA-market cars, "Oh, yes, well --- The President of our company is a big Audrey Hepburn fan". Hepburn starred with Cary Grant in the movie "Charade". "Charade" is as poor a car name as "Mirage" --- They both refer to "trickery" and "invisible sights". Worst car name of the modern age has to be "Precis": It was the name for a 1990 - 1994 Mitsubishi-badged version of the second-generation US-market Hyundai Excel, and meant absolutely nothing, but sounds way too clincially frightening.

Funny, but I was told essentially the same thing when talking at the 2005 TOKYO MOTOR SHOW with Tsunehiro Kunimoto, Project Design Director for the upcoming Nissan Skyline GT-R, when I asked him about the original name for their Z-cars, which are still known in Japan as "Fair Lady Z". Basically, the story goes that while Katsuji Kawamata, then-President of Nissan Motors Ltd., was visiting the United States in 1958 he attended a Broadway performance of the hit musical "My Fair Lady".  However, true automotive trivia freaks will note that Audrey Hepburn starred in the film version of the show, while Jule Andrews played "Eliza Doolittle" on Broadway. And the stories continue ...

                          Anyway, AUTOMOTIVE NEWS reports that the Tiguan will be based on the Concept A, a small SUV unveiled at the Geneva auto show in March. It will be built in Wolfsburg, Germany, and will go on sale in the United States in 2008. (Photo: VW Touareg). Volkswagen has picked another tongue-twister name for an SUV. The VW Touareg's baby brother will be called the Tiguan -- pronounced "tih-gwan."

The moniker was chosen by 350,000 readers of Germany's Auto Bild weekly car magazine and its affiliate publications in 10 European countries. Tiguan was the choice from among five candidates. The others: Nanuk, Namib, Rockton and Samum.

In a press release, VW says, "Not only the vehicle but also the decision on the name is a brave journey into new terrain." Wolfgang Bernhard, head of the VW brand, says the name is evidence "of how Volkswagen is opening up."

Well, I don't know about that. VW did get everyone tongue-tied with their "Touareg", a word which actually had a meaning. At least if you were talking about a specific nomadic North African tribe ...

And no word yet on whether Porsche (which recently purchased another 20% of cousin's VW stock) will bring out their own version of the Tiguan (which is thankfully easier to spell and type than Touareg).

Porsche's Cayenne is selling as fast as they can make them, and with a gas-electric hybrid version of Cayenne due in 2008, that vehicle will gain some real media attention as the first environmentally-sound Porsche (though the cars have also achieved relatively high mileage and low emissions). Audi's all-new Q7 is also closely related under the sheetmetal to both Touareg and Cayenne.

(Photos: Top, Porsche Cayenne Turbo S, priced at $123,000; easy price to remember! Below, Audi Q7, one of the best-looking cars to come down the pike in quite some time).